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TORONTO -- A "devastated" Jermain Defoe will be watching the World Cup from afar, barring an injury call-up from England. The 31-year-old Toronto FC forward did not make Englands main 23-man squad which features Wayne Rooney, Daniel Sturridge, Danny Welbeck and Rickie Lambert at forward. Instead the Major League Soccer star was one of two strikers named to Englands seven-man standby list. Defoe said he felt sharp, was scoring goals and thought he had done enough to make the team. He added he had also been looking forward to representing his country in Brazil. "You cant expect anything but I did feel like I had a good chance of going because Ive been in most of the squads if not all the squads," he told BBC Radio. "So to miss out, I dont know, I just feel devastated to be honest," he added. Asked by the BBC if coming to Toronto was a mistake, Defoe said "Not at all." On a personal level, Defoe said it was difficult. But he wished the England team the best of luck. Toronto manager Ryan Nelsen said Defoe will remain with the MLS club unless summoned by England. "I was a bit surprised and disappointed for Jermain because he arguably deserves it," Nelsen said from Vancouver, where Toronto plays the Whitecaps in the second leg of their Amway Canadian Championship semifinal Wednesday. "Its a shame for him. But hes on the standby (squad) and you never know." Torontos practice was closed Monday. "Of course hes disappointed. Anybody would be," said Nelsen. "But theres nothing you can really say when a situation like that happens. Thats the managers decision. So hes just got to keep scoring goals, keep fit and maybe he gets that call-up." Toronto will be losing Brazil goalie Julio Cesar and U.S. midfielder Michael Bradley to the soccer showcase. Bradley will play for Toronto on Wednesday and then join the American camp. Cesar is expected to leave Toronto after the weekend game against the New York Red Bulls. Age and geography probably played against Defoe in his bid to go to Brazil. The first-team England strike force has combined for 51 international goals and 124 caps in Rooney (38 goals, 89 caps), Sturridge (3, 10), Welbeck (8, 21) and Lambert (2, 4). Manager Roy Hodgson also has attacking options in midfield in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Adam Lallana, Ross Barkley and Raheem Stirling, among others. "Certainly once you move into that front six position, I think we have a lot of options. I think theres a lot of possibilities," Hodgson told a news conference Monday in London. "A lot of players can play in different positions. And Id like to think thats that a very exciting group we have for those front six positions." Defoe, a veteran of the 2010 World Cup who has 19 goals and 55 caps with England, had figured in all but two of Hodgsons matchday squads before this. But Defoe, who has three goals in four MLS games, may not have been helped by playing overseas. According to Opta Sports, only four of the 114 players chosen for Englands last five World Cup squads played for non-English teams (Calgary-born Owen Hargreaves twice, David Beckham and Fraser Forster). Hargreaves played for Germans Bayern Munich, Beckham for the Los Angeles Galaxy of MLS and Fraser for Glasgow Celtic. "Jermain Defoes international career could be over," the Daily Telegraph said after the squad announcement. Veteran fullback Ashley Cole, a 33-year-old fullback with 107 caps, announced his international retirement Sunday. Hodgson had opted for veteran Leighton Baines and 18-year-old Luke Shaw over Cole. Monday was the deadline for teams to provide FIFA with their 30-man provisional squads. The final 23-man squads must be declared by June 2. Injuries could still change the face of the England squad with Defoe and West Hams Andy Carroll selected as cover for up front. The England squad heads to Portugal next week to begin World Cup preparations, before playing Peru at Wembley on May 30. Nelsen, who captained New Zealand at the 2010 World Cup, has been torn about Defoe and the World Cup. While backing his players skills on the international stage, he also wants his top striker wearing a Toronto jersey as often as possible. "If I was the England manager, I probably would pick him," Nelsen said last week. "Because you know what youre going to get with him -- you absolutely know what youre going to get with him." Defoe offers experience and a scoring touch off the bench. He has scored everywhere he has played. Hodgson opted for youth in most cases although he went with the 32-year-old Lambert up front. Rooney is 28, Sturridge 24 and Welbeck 23. Lambert, a late bloomer on the international scene, has two goals and four caps. The average age of the Englands squad is 26 years 117 days, more than two years younger than 2010 but older than 2006 (25 years 258 days), according to Opta. Barkley, Sterling, Luke Shaw and Jordan Henderson have a combined 14 caps. Eleven of the 23 players have 10 caps or less while only six have been to a World Cup. "Bags of attacking talent, much unproven but exciting nevertheless, blatantly short defensively through the centre," tweeted former England striker and current TV pundit Gary Lineker. The greybeads on the squad are Frank Lampard (35), captain Steven Gerrard (33) Phil Jagielka (31), Lambert (32) and Ben Foster (31). Youngsters include Sterling (19), Oxlade-Chamberlain (20), Henderson (23), Phil Jones (22), and Jack Wilshere (22). After the Portugal camp, England flies to Miami for warmup games against Honduras and Ecuador before opening the World Cup on June 14 against Italy. England is in a group with Costa Rica, Italy and Uruguay at the summer tournament in Brazil. The England standby list also includes uncapped defenders John Stones (19) of Everton and Jon Flanagan of Liverpool, less than a year after featuring for England in the U20s World Cup in Turkey last summer. Flanagan is the nephew of Toronto FC defender Bradley Orr. The other standby players are Norwich goalkeeper John Ruddy and midfielders Michael Carrick and Tom Cleverley of Manchester United. New Balance Baratas España .com) - The Toronto Raptors are paying Rudy Gay a visit on Wednesday night when they head into the Sleep Train Arena to take on the Sacramento Kings. New Balance Ofertas España . The Jays responded to the three-spot Detroit placed on Casey Janssen the evening before with an attack on the Tigers Achilles Heel, its bullpen, tying the game in the ninth and winning the game in the 10th. The result absolved Marcus Stroman, brilliant once again, of a tough luck loss while at the same time robbing Max Scherzer, brilliant once again, of a deserved win. http://www.newbalancebaratas.es/ . "Im proud, obviously. Its been a long day, but now Im a Crystal Palace player, Im very happy," Bannan said. "The seasons been started now for a couple of weeks and Ive not featured at Villa. Zapatillas New Balance Baratas . Sami Salo scored two goals as the Canucks overcame a hat-trick from Edmonton Oiler rookie sensation Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to win 4-3 in NHL action Saturday. New Balance Outlet Online España . Nix is a career .218 hitter in 425 games over six seasons. The 31-year-old right-handed hitter batted .270 with a homer this spring for Tampa Bay.WASHINGTON -- A U.S. judge has refused to dismiss the governments lawsuit against disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong and associates for alleged doping and use of banned performance-enhancing techniques. From 1999 to 2004, Armstrong was the lead rider on a team sponsored by the U.S. Postal Service, and he won the Tour de France every year during that period. On Thursday, Judge Robert Wilkins ruled in favour of the governments position that Armstrong and associates owed an obligation to pay money due to the alleged breach of the sponsorship agreements with the Postal Service. The Postal Service paid about $40 million to be the title sponsor of Armstrongs teams for six of his seven Tour de France victoriies.dddddddddddd The judge said the governments complaints are rife with allegations that Armstrong had knowledge of the doping and that he made false statements to conceal it. The Justice Department says the cyclist violated his contract with the U.S. Postal Service and was "unjustly enriched" while cheating to win the Tour. The Justice Department stepped into the case last year, joining a whistleblower lawsuit brought by former Armstrong teammate Floyd Landis under the federal False Claims Act. Wilkins, a newly appointed appeals judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, is sitting as a U.S. district judge in the lawsuit against Armstrong. ' ' '