ESPH Blog

May 25th:  Arsenal's midflield maestro Cesc Fabregas took part in a full training session on Monday boosting Spain's preparations for the World Cup. Fabregas has been out since April after cracking his fibula in Arsenal's Champions League quarter final against Barcelona. He is widely tipped to be moving back to Barcelona this summer, the club he served his apprenticeship with. Spanish striker Fernando Torres, who had surgery to repair torn knee cartilage, trained on his own and is in a race to be fit in time for next month's World Cup.

 

May 7th: England & Manchester City player Gareth Barry is out for four weeks following an injury he sustained in Man City's 1-0 loss to Tottenham on Wednesday. Barry fell over one of his team mates, injuring his ankle and now faces a race to be fit in time for the world cup. England manager Fabio Capello names his provisional 30 man squad on Tuesday and he has  previously stated that he will not take any players who are not 100% fit. Man City's manager Roberto Mancini commented:

"I feel very sorry for him, Gareth is a fantastic guy and a fantastic player. I don't know exactly how bad, maybe three to four weeks. I hope he can play in the World Cup but Fabio Capello and his medical staff must decide."

May 5th: World number five and reigning US Open champion, Juan Martin del Potro underwent wrist surgery in the US on Tuesday and faces a battle to return to competitive action this season. Del Potro attended the world-renowned Mayo clinic in Minnesota where it was decided that surgery was the best option. "It's not a happy moment in my life," the Argentine said, adding that "the recuperation time is prolonged but it depends on many factors which today one cannot measure because it's all very recent". Del Potro, 21, suffered with tendinitis in his right wrist as far back as October and has not played since January's Australian Open.

Member's story:esph member Steve Hamilton broke through the 3 hour barrier for the first time at this year's London marathon. Having fallen just short in his seven previous marathons, musician and composer Steve came home 1062 out of 40,000 in a time of 2 hours 59 minutes and 22 seconds, averaging 6 minutes 52 seconds per mile for the 26.2 mile course. Congratulations to Steve from all of us at ESPH on his fantastic achievement. Truly inspirational!