And to everyone, sure enough those devils of the Boko Haram will surely go out and cause troubles while the World Cup is going on. Prayer for the people of Nigeria. For all I know, the government could be another corrupt ruling regime, I don't know.
Posted on 06/07/2014 12:44:20 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
In anticipation of the World Cup, we sent the magazine’s contributing illustrator, Christoph Niemann, to Brazil in search of the soul of soccer. What he found instead is a curse that still hangs over the country, decades after the highly favored home team lost in the final game of the 1950 World Cup in Rio de Janeiro. In this animated storybook, Niemann meets this curse — and befriends him — and does his part to unmake that goal that has haunted Brazil for 64 years.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
BTW, if you are currently in Germany, you can watch Argentina-Slovenia (from 20.35) and England-Honduras (from 22.35) live on sportdigital. I could not find a station that would cover USA-Nigeria, though, unfortunately. And Sky seems to ignore the world cup completely.
They have a good chance of finishing 2nd. The USA...not so lucky.
And to everyone, sure enough those devils of the Boko Haram will surely go out and cause troubles while the World Cup is going on. Prayer for the people of Nigeria. For all I know, the government could be another corrupt ruling regime, I don't know.
I’ve been saying for years that for the most part, Brazil now really plays no differently from the very good European teams. The 82 World Cup was the last time we saw the unique “beautiful game” style of play that Brazil was so famous for. A pity. They’ll still be very tough to beat at home though.
A record-breaking crowd is expected to attend Nigeria‘s friendly match against the USA on Saturday in Jacksonville, USA.
US Soccer announced yesterday that ticket sales have already exceeded the record of 44 438 set in Jacksonville in 2012.
“Meaning a record-breaking crowd will be on hand to send off the USA off to Brazil for the 2014 Fifa World Cup,” said the statement.
Thanks for the link moose07!
Even after Green's 27-minute cameo in Sunday's 2-1 win vs. Turkey, a match which saw the youngster struggle to make an impact, Klinsmann continued to offer praise for the 19-year old winger and continued to insist that he is coming along nicely.
Klinsmann's positive comments about his team's youngest player have done little to slow down growing sentiment that Green is a wasted roster selection and a player who should have been left home in favor of the ever-popular Landon Donovan. As unfair as it may be to already be writing off Green after such a small sample size, the reality is U.S. fans simply don't have much to go on and have been shown little to make many of them dismiss their own worst fears.
Following on from a 3-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina will play their final warm-up game in front of their home fans before traveling to Brazil for the start of the tournament.
Spain has reached unparalleled global heights over six years with an innovative style and a cast employed by the sport’s leading clubs. It will arrive in Brazil on Monday seeking to become the first repeat World Cup champion in 52 years and extend its streak of major international trophies to four.
A small, poor country that has fallen behind Central American rivals, El Salvador has not qualified for the World Cup since 1982 and sends few players to leagues beyond its borders.
Salvadoran problems deepened last year when a match-fixing scandal resulted in lifetime bans to 14 players and sanctions against six others.
Coach Vicente del Bosque said defending World Cup champion Spain will include Diego Costa on the roster to face El Salvador on Saturday, in its last tuneup game before heading to Brazil.
"If we thought that having him in the game would be a risk for his physical shape we would not include him", del Bosque said Friday about the striker who was forced to leave the field during the Champions final he played with Atletico Madrid due to an injury in his leg.
"In the main, everyone is serene.
"There is no nervousness. We know what we can set ourselves without putting any extra pressure on."
Tunisia should provide stern opposition for Belgium, they were unlucky not to qualify for the World Cup and they have only lost twice in their last twelve matches.
The 26-year-old defender was dismissed after an ugly altercation with striker Kevin Doyle, who was left with blood pouring down his face four minutes before the break at PPL Park in Philadelphia, and now faces an anxious wait to discover his fate with Costa Rica, due to launch their campaign against Uruguay on June 14.
"You have players who are forcing their way into the team and will divide opinion. My favoured XI for Italy might divide opinion. That's good for a start.
"It'll give us enormous opportunities on the bench to change things around. It's going to be hot. Most teams won't be able to get through three 90-minute games with the same team.
"It's definitely going to be a 14-man game. You won't see too many teams starting with 11 and finishing with 11. And you'll see teams changing game to game as long as they have the depth to do that.
"I have the opportunity to make changes.
Will try, thanks :-)
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What he found instead is a curse that still hangs over the country, decades after the highly favored home team lost in the final game of the 1950 World Cup in Rio de Janeiro.
By "curse" maybe they mean Heleno's syphilis which killed him a few years back.
There is a very long and sad and boring film about the Brazilian soccer great who did not undergo treatment which could have saved his life.
The former Celtic idol accused the Three Lions of conceding “ridiculous goals” and making “incredible mistakes”.
Di Canio claimed England’s squad lacks depth. And the Italian said the players will wilt in the Brazilian heat after arriving burnt out from their domestic seasons – tipping his countrymen and Uruguay to progress from Group D.
The Three Lions will take on underdogs Honduras in Miami in their final warm-up match before they fly to tournament hosts Brazil.
Roy Hodgson’s side played out a rather disappointing 2-2 draw against Ecuador in Miami on Wednesday, and the players will be determined to put up a good show to inspire their fans back home.
England skipper Steven Gerrard: We won’t hold back on tackles against Honduras
England captain Steven Gerrard has claimed that he and his teammates will not hold back from any tackles against Honduras for fear of injury despite the World Cup starting in under a week.
Honduras are England’s final warm-up opponents before facing Italy in exactly a week for their Group D opener. Despite that, Gerrard believes that whoever plays this evening will not pull out of tackles as there is still a game to be won.
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