News » being taken off. At United, however, Mata is sure to play more reg

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. 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. John Tavares Jersey . On Sunday, hell attempt to become the youngest driver to win a NASCAR Nationwide race on Iowas short track. The 20-year-old Blaney wont be the only kid pushing a podium finish. Custom New York Islanders Jerseys . Solomon Elimimian did not make the trip with the team after suffering what appeared to be a right leg injury in the teams regular season finale against the Calgary Stampeders. http://www.islanderssale.com/authentic-m...landers-jersey/. Terms of the contract were not disclosed by the club. Clemons spent his first five NFL seasons with the Miami Dolphins, who selected him in the fifth round of the 2009 draft out of Clemson. Clark Gillies Jersey . Green-Ellis was Cincinnatis leading rusher each of the last two seasons. His role was reduced last year when Giovani Bernard was added to the backfield. Green-Ellis ran for 756 yards and a career-low 3. Bryan Trottier Jersey . -- Chris Crawford hit a 3-pointer with 1:36 left to put Memphis ahead to stay, and the 21st-ranked Tigers beat seventh-ranked Louisville 72-66 Saturday, sweeping the season series from the Cardinals.The St. Louis Blues absence from top spot in the TSN.ca NHL Power Rankings was short-lived, as they returned to the No. 1 ranking, overtaking the San Jose Sharks. Neither the Blues nor Sharks had their best week last week, but the Sharks three-game losing streak was enough to flip-flop the top two teams, and both held off the Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings. Rising up, on the strength of having lost just once in their last 14 games, the Montreal Canadiens climb from ninth to fifth, while a four-game winning streak helped the Vancouver Canucks jump from 13th to ninth. Despite losing another defenceman to injury, the Dallas Stars did get centre Tyler Seguin back last week and they bounced back from 19th to 13th as a result. The Pittsburgh Penguins lineup has taken a beating, with Evgeni Malkin and Brookss Orpik injured, then James Neal suspended, so the Penguins slide from eighth to 11th, matching their season low.dddddddddddd With no regulation wins in the last five, the New Jersey Devils are down four spots, from 22 to 26, one spot ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers, who just lost centre Vincent Lecavalier to injury, again. Among the other Canadian teams, the Winnipeg Jets and Toronto Maple Leafs each fell one spot, to 16th and 21st, respectively, and the Ottawa Senators inched ahead one spot, to 23rd. The Senators are followed by the Calgary Flames, who are up three spots to 24th, and the Edmonton Oilers, up one spot to 25th. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. 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