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mpted Boston 74-60. We had some opp

MANCHESTER, England - While he rotted away on Chelseas substitutes bench this season, Juan Mata could see his chances of playing for Spain at the World Cup slip away. Scarpe Salomon a Poco Prezzo . Mata had already been dropped from Spains squad once this season and with the country blessed with so many playmakers, he was in real danger of being overlooked for the trip to Brazil to defend their title. That was one of the key reasons why Mata pressed for a move away from Chelsea once Manchester United registered its interest in signing him. "It was really important," said Mata, who completed his 37.1 million pound ($61.2 million) switch to United on Saturday. "The Spain squad is really difficult to get into, there are a lot of players fighting for positions to be in the last 23 going to Brazil. "I hope this is a great chance for me to keep playing, keep fit and show the manager of the national team I want to be there, I have to be there. I dont know what would have happened if I had stayed at Chelsea." The likelihood was that Mata would have remained on the bench, playing second fiddle to Chelsea manager Jose Mourinhos preferred attacking trio of Eden Hazard, Oscar and Willian. Even Andre Schuerrle was seeing more game time than Mata, whose last match for Chelsea was on Jan. 1 against Southampton — when he was substituted just after halftime and showed his displeasure at being taken off. At United, however, Mata is sure to play more regularly. "Now I am here, now the moment is here," Mata said Monday at his official presentation by United. "Now Im trying to play as much as I can to help the team and if things are good in the final part of the season, the World Cup is going to be closer for me, for sure." United manager David Moyes is still pinching himself that he managed to lure Mata from Chelsea, where the playmaker wasnt just the clubs player of the year for the past two seasons, he was also one of the Premier Leagues best players. "I got wind a month or two ago that it could be a possibility," Moyes said, "but I never believed we would pull it off. I have been saying that I didnt think we would get a chance to do much business in January — I didnt think the players we would be interested in would be available. But when we got the sniff that Juan would be available, we went after it right away." Moyes now has to decide where to play Mata, whose best position is undoubtedly in a central role behind the striker rather than out on the wings. He has big competition at United for the "No. 10 role," though, in Wayne Rooney, who has been Uniteds best player this season. Thats for Moyes to decide. For now, Mata is solely concentrating on making an impact at United and linking up as best he can with Rooney to restore Uniteds fortunes after a demoralizing first half of the season. "I cant wait to play alongside him," Mata said of Rooney. "For me, he is one of the best players in the history of this country, he is unbelievable." As well as being the most expensive player in Uniteds history, he is also being seen as the cure to Uniteds current ills. After romping to the Premier League title by 11 points last season, the team is seventh in the standings this campaign — 14 points behind leader Arsenal and six off fourth-place Liverpool. Mata says he can handle the expectations. "I like the pressure. I think it is good for a footballer to try and improve when you have pressure and people are expecting big things from you," Mata said. "And I am really looking forward to it, to try my best and help the team and make these amazing fans happy." At least he will be spared the pressure of wearing the mythical No. 7 shirt at United made famous by George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo. United announced Monday he would be wearing the No. 8 jersey, taking it over from Anderson following the Brazilians move to Fiorentina this month. Scarpe Salomon Offerta . Durant finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds, Jackson matched his career high with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting and Lamb scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, lifting the Thunder to a 94-88 win over San Antonio and snapping the Spurs 11-game winning streak. Salomon Outlet Italia . Its other five picks were all six foot or better, with three at 6-1 or above. Third-round pick Brett Lernout stands six foot four and weighs 206 pounds.UNIONDALE, N.Y. - Kevan Miller helped the Boston Bruins get off to a winning start after the All-Star break.Miller scored the go-ahead goal with 3.4 seconds left in the second period, leading the Bruins to a 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday night.Tuukka Rask stopped 43 shots, and Reilly Smith, Patrice Bergeron, Torey Krug and Zdeno Chara also scored for Boston, which won for the seventh time in 10 games. Smith and Milan Lucic also had two assists each.We definitely wanted a good start after the (All-Star) break, Rask said. We had a good start and (that was) very key.We played our system (from) start to finish.John Tavares and Michael Grabner scored for New York, while Jaroslav Halak stopped 28 shots. It was the Metropolitan Division-leading Islanders fifth loss in 22 games (17-5-0) at home this season.I thought we didnt play a 60-minute game but we played well enough to win, New York coach Jack Capuano said.Miller put the Bruins ahead for good when he intercepted Halaks clearing attempt at the right wing boards just inside the blue line, and fired a quick shot that found the back of the net to give Boston a 3-2 lead.(The puck) had eyes, Capuano said of Halaks attempted clear. Its one of those things. Im not going to blame the goaltender.Krugs goal 1:45 into the third essentially decided a game that had seen wild momentum shifts. Chara added an empty-netter with 2:06 left.Smith opened the scoring with 6:01 left in the first period by driving to the net and redirecting Milan Lucics feed past Halak. Bergeron pushed the lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal 2:10 later.Rask tried to make the lead stand. His toughest stop was a diving save on Miichael Grabners goalmouth backhand attempt 5:34 into the second. Salomon Scarpe Outlet. The Boston goalie was also the beneficiary of some good fortune as Brock Nelson had a wide open net 46 seconds later, but his shot hit the post.Our goaltender was very good, Julien said.However, a misplay by Rask allowed the Islanders back into the game.Rask couldnt control Tavares dump-in from the neutral zone, and the New York captain lifted a backhander into the net 8:25 into the second to cut the deficit to 2-1. The goal was Tavares 23rd of the season and his fourth in four games.Grabner drew the Islanders even with 4:48 left in the second with his fifth of the season, setting the stage for Millers tiebreaking score.I thought we responded well in the second, Tavares said. New York finished with a 45-33 advantage in shots on goal, and out-attempted Boston 74-60. We had some opportunities to score.Boston evened the season series against New York at 1-1. New York won the first game, 3-2 on Oct. 23 in Boston. The teams will end the season series Feb. 7 at Boston.NOTES: As part of the franchises commemoration of its final season on Long Island, the Islanders feted Hall of Famer Mike Bossy prior to the game. Bossy scored 573 goals in 752 games, and won four Stanley Cup championships in nine seasons with the Islanders. This whole season is a little surreal, Bossy said during a morning press conference at Nassau Coliseum, when asked about the Islanders 2014-15 campaign. I dont think anybody expected to be the team to be where they are. They seem to (have found) a chemistry. ... Boston scratched D Matt Bartkowski and RW Jordan Caron. New York scratched D Matt Donovan. ' ' '
  • Created: Feb 22 '19
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