FIFA World Cup 2014: The opener Brazil-Croatia

10. We are going to scrutinize the teams and the players, to evaluate them and figure out which team was best and who was worthy to become the best player in the end of day. Each team will get maximum 1 point per half for their defence, midfield, attack and interplay. The players can maximum get 1 point per half. Here we go:

Brazil-Croatia

FIFA World Cup 2014: Right before the official opening

The World Cup starts tomorrow!

2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ Official Book

5. The Costa-Rican side had to make a change in their squad, as the injured Heiner Mora of Saprissa was substituted by Dave Myrie of Herediano.

4. The strikes in Sao Paolo made the teams of Belgium and USA to cancel the

FIFA World Cup 2014: Marco Reus out of the World Cup

We can already smell the approaching World Cup, as only two days part us from the biggest football event since 2010. It takes a lot of time to sort the important news out of the stream. Let’s take a look at the top 5 news of the past couple of days.

2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ Official Book

5. For the first time in World Cup history FIFA has agreed to

FIFA World Cup 2014: Ribery out of the tournament

Following up yesterday’s shock news from the Russian camp, Fabio Capello has dropped his captain 32-year-old Roman Shirokov, though the replacement hasn’t been announced yet.

As for today, we have chosen 5 of the most interesting global stories related to the World Cup 2014 in Brazil.

2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ Official Book

 5. The older fans would probably remember

FIFA World Cup 2014: One week to go

It’s the 5^th of June and the World Cup 2014 in Brazil is only one week away.

The coaches have now announced their final troops and FIFA has officially confirmed them. Every football fan has already skimmed through the squads, the groups, the bookmaker odds and there is not much to do other than reading the news and waiting for the opener to come.   I decided to try something new this time. I am going to follow all the mass media in the countries participating in the world cup and bring the news to my readers. Sounds ambitious, but let’s see how it will work.  

But for now, as the teams are getting ready to take off to Brazil, let’s take a look at the top 5 world cup news of these days.

2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ Official Book

5. The Eastern European news threads of the day are full of information about the captain and brain of the Russian team, Roman Shirokov, who will most probably join the Falcao club. The Russian news agency correspondent ITAR-TASS has confirmed the news, though there has not been any official announcement on this from the Russian delegation. No smoke without fire, as they say.

4. Bad news turn into good news on the 4^th position, as the Brazilian international Oscar asks permission to leave the national team camp to be next to his wife, preparing to give birth to his first child. Luiz Felipe Scolari required the Chelsea player to be back for the friendly match against Serbia on Friday, as the Associated Press informs.  

3. The third place is occupied by the whole Squadra Azzurra, one of the favourites of the tournament. The European vice-champions were unable to win their friendly match against Luxemburg - the team ranked as number 120 in FIFA/Coca Cola ranking. Italian newspapers are shocked. La Gazzetta Dello Sport quotes the national anthem wondering “Dov’ E’ la Vittoria?”, meaning “Where is the victory?”, though the most optimistic ones find parallels between the previous World Cup results and the friendlies prior to the tournaments.  

2. One of the heroes of the day is Atuallah Guerra King. This is the 26-year-old Trinidad and Tobago international, currently playing for the Central FC, representing his home country. Still no clue what this dude is doing in the World Cup news threads? Then watch him bow at Lionel Messi before the friendly match yesterday. The short video has had more than 100000 viewers in a period of less than 24 hours.

      

1. However, the news of the day is definitely the famous Ghanaian witch doctor Nana Kwaku Bonsam, who claims to be the main and only reason why Cristiano Ronaldo might not play in the opening match of the World Cup due to an injury. When reading the doctor talk about this in February, you just laugh. Then reading The Guardian quote Nana “I know what Cristiano Ronaldo’s injury is about, I’m working on him”, you think “OK, leave me alone”. But as soon as the doctor says “I am very serious about it. Last week, I went around looking for four dogs and I got them to be used in manufacturing a special spirit called Kahwiri Kapam”, you have to simply accept the power of the doctor. Let’s hope the witch will leave the four dogs and the rest of the football fans alone for the next month or so. The Official 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ Fact File

Champions League 2012-13: Before the final, Part IV

The Champions League has already seen all-Spanish (2000), all-Italian (2003) and all-English (2008) finals, and now it’s Germany’s turn. The second leg of the semifinals confirmed the Wembley-places for the two German clubs Bayern and Borussia Dortmund. But the scenarios were different in these semifinals. Borussia was getting closer and closer to eventual elimination, but the final whistle caught Real still looking for the crucial goal. Bayern had absolutely no problems in Barcelona, as the team devastated Tito Vilanova’s boys one more time.

First Germany took the

Champions League 2012-13: Before the final, Part III

Celtic, Glasgow, Scotland: The glorious fans of Celtic saw their favorite team win the Scottish League. The team has also reached the Scottish FA Cup final, scheduled on the 26^th of May, but the League Cup wasn’t meant to go to Glasgow, as Celtic lost to St. Mirren in the semifinal.

Shakhtar, Donetsk, Ukraine: The Ukrainian champions successfully defended their title and won the Ukrainian Cup, scoring three in the final match against Chernomorets. Mircea Lucescu needs to fight for his leaders to remain in the club for another season, otherwise the team will find it really hard to play as well as they did in the Champions League 2012-13 group stage.

AC Milan, Italy: Massimiliano Allegri’s team, together with the winter signing Mario Balotelli, managed to do what seemed to be impossible half a year ago – they took the bronze medals, earning the right to participate in the Champions League qualification round next season. The cup run, as last year, had ended after the draw had made them meet Juventus.

Schalke 04, Gelsenkirchen, Germany: Despite the mid-season crisis, where the team appeared deep in the middle of the table, Jens Keller’s leadership made the team occupy the desired fourth position in the Bundesliga, so there is a chance for Schalke-fans to see Champions League football again next season. The cup run was ended right in the middle of the crisis mentioned above.

Porto, Portugal: Not losing a single match and winning the most important one against Benfica, Porto defended the Portuguese League title. The Cup runs didn’t bring any gold, though, as the team lost to Braga two times: the League Cup was lost in the final, and the national cup - in an even earlier stage.   

Arsenal, London, England: As Milan and Schalke 04, Arsenal was also believed to be missing from the list of the Champions League 2013-14 participants, but a strong finish made them appear on the 4^th place. Any medal opportunity was lost in the period before February.    

Paris Saint-Germain, France: Finally PSG won the French title, without serious problems though. The team has conceded only 22 goals in the French League 37 matches. But despite the huge difference between the capital city-based team and the other ones, Carlo Ancelotti’s side didn’t win the French Cup, losing to Evian in the quarterfinal. The League Cup was also lost in the same round: this time to the eventual winners St. Etienne. Losing three out of three quarterfinals is probably not the best result for a team spending so much money on recruiting stars, so Ancelotti’s successor is definitely going to be under pressure from the management and the fans.

Galatasaray, Istanbul, Turkey: Fatih Terim’s team won the Turkish League once again, but lost the national cup in a very early stage, not even reaching the group stage of the competition. Together with rivals Fenerbahce, the Turkish football set a high benchmark this season.

Malaga, Spain: Malaga’s appearance in the Champions League quarterfinals was predicted to be a rare achievement for the team for years to come. Seems like the predictions are coming true, as the team will not be in the competition next year. Even if Malaga wins the two last matches of the league, they will not find themselves higher than the 6^th position. The Cup run didn’t get successful either, as the team lost to Barcelona in another quarterfinal stage of the season.

Juventus, Turin, Italy: The Italian champions defended their title and reached the semifinal of the national cup competition, losing to Lazio in a dramatic semifinal. Antonio Conte’s team was way too stronger than the Italian competitors this season, so now they need to start competing with European giants to make life interesting.

Barcelona, Spain: Tito Vilanova’s players managed to return the league title to Catalonia, but the way they lost to Bayern and Real in the semifinals of the Champions League and Spanish Cup respectively doesn’t wake optimism. The time is up to move forward and build something new to repeat the glorious achievements.

Real Madrid, Spain: Jose Mourinho had come to Madrid to win the Champions League, but what he achieved was the semifinals all three seasons. Losing the league title to rivals Barcelona and the Cup final to the city rivals Atletico, the team cannot boast of anything special this year. Let’s see what the next manager is going to do with the team.     

Champions League 2012-13: Before the final, Part II

CFR Cluj, Romania: Cluj has been the biggest disappointment of the Romanian season. The team was defeated 0-5 in aggregate in the Europa League round of 32. By the end of the season the team is too far from the Europa League zone. The only positive news for the fans is the place in the Romanian Cup final, which is going to take place on the first day of summer.

Montpellier, France: Only one match to go, Montpellier is on the 8^th position in the French League, which prevents the fans of seeing their team play in continental tournaments next season. Both the national and league cups were lost already in January, so the golden season was followed by a very bad one for Rene Girard.

Lille, France: As Montpellier, Lille has also lost everything possible, but there is a chance for the team to appear in the Europa League next season, as the team is on the 5^th position of the French League before the last matchday.

FC Nordsjælland, Farum, Denmark: The Danish champions were much worse than last season, but they still managed to bring a bit intrigue in the Danish league, until they lost the crucial match and thus the title to FC Copenhagen. There is still a chance for the team to enter the Champions League group stage, if they get through the qualification round. The Danish Cup run was stopped in October.

Olympiacos, Pireus, Greece: There are no serious competitors for Olympiacos in Greece. The team completed the second double in a row, winning both the Greek league and the national cup. There were also chances to lift the third trophy, but the team lost to Levante in the Europa League play-off.

Dynamo Kyiv, Ukraine: A season to forget for Oleh Blokhin’s team: Dynamo came only third in the Ukrainian League. However, the position gives the team a chance to fight for the Champions League group stage next season. The team, as many other Champions League group stage participants, was defeated in the Europa League round of 32. The national cup was also lost in the earlier stages.

Zenit, St. Petersburg, Russia: The Russian champions, predicted to have a successful season after spending lots of money during the summer transfer window, lost everything possible, as they were eliminated in the Europa League round of 16, were defeated by Anzhi in the national cup semifinal, and lost the league title to CSKA. Zenit will have to win in the Champions League qualifying round, if they plan to enter the group stage next season.

Spartak Moscow, Russia: The other Russian team had an even worse season, where it was necessary to fire the manager in the middle of the season. The new old manager Valery Karpin seems to have fixed something and the team is in the Europa League zone before the last match of the league. The cup match was lost already in October.

 Manchester United, England: The last season of Sir Alex Ferguson could have been better, although the team showed how strong they stand compared to the other English clubs. It was already clear after the winter break that Manchester United was going to return the English title. But the hard defeats to Real Madrid in the Champions League round of 16 and to Chelsea in both League Cup and FA Cup still complete an average season for Ferguson’s benchmark.

Valencia, Spain: After being the third force of the Spanish League for a long time, Valencia struggles to earn a Champions League place this season. However, the change of the manager has had a positive impact on the performances, so the team has had a much better period under Ernesto Valverde’s management. The team was beaten in the Spanish Cup quarterfinal.

Champions League 2012-13: Before the final, Part I

Before the final match will decide the most successful team of the Champions League 2012-13, let’s take a look at the 30 participants beaten on the road to the final in Wembley and see where they ended up after being eliminated at various stages of the tournament.

Ajax, Amsterdam, Netherlands: Ajax won the third consecutive Eredivisie this season. The most important match was won on the 14^th of April, when the champions defeated their main competitors PSV at Eindhoven. After leaving the Champions League Ajax had appeared in the Europa League. The team got unexpectedly eliminated in the stage of last 32 after losing to Steaua on penalties. A couple of days later they lost to AZ Alkmaar in the semifinal of the Dutch Cup.  

BATE, Borisov, Belarus: The Belarusian League normally starts in spring and ends in autumn. The champions BATE had defended their title while still being involved in the Champions League. As Ajax, BATE was also transferred to Europa League and eliminated right away. The cup run was not meant to be successful either, as they were already eliminated in the earlier stages.

Anderlecht, Brussels, Belgium: The Belgian champions managed to defend their title only in the last match of the league, where they had to earn a point against the followers Zulte Waregem. The visitors were close to win the crucial match, but Anderlecht didn’t concede the vital goal despite being a man down. The cup run was less successful as the team lost to the eventual champions Genk in the semifinal stage.

Dinamo, Zagreb, Croatia: This is another team having the chance to show up again next year. Dinamo easily won the domestic league long time before its climax. The team had been eliminated from the national cup already in October.

Chelsea, London, England: Not having a successor on the Champions League throne yet, the team managed to climb up on top of another continental tournament, the Europa League. Despite the negative atmosphere at the Stamford Bridge, Rafa Benitez did a great job, also winning a place in the next Champions League edition, securing the third place in the Premier League. Both the FA Cup and the League Cup runs ended in the semifinals, while the Club World Championship was lost in the final.

Manchester City, England: After the second dreadful Champions League campaign the team needed to win the Premier League again as a consolation for the fans, but the neighbors from Manchester United were determined to return the title and did so confidently long before the last match of the tournament. When City lost in the final of the FA Cup, the manager Roberto Mancini had no excuses any more. Now the next manager knows that two silver medals in one season are not enough to satisfy the board.

Benfica, Lisbon, Portugal: Everything was going in the right direction for Benfica until the two possible gold medals turned into silver in two disastrous matches. First they lost to Porto in the second last match of the league, conceding on the 93^rd minute and thus handing the title in to the winners, and then the same happened 4 days later, when the team lost its 7^th consecutive European final, conceding deep inside the injury time and leaving the Europa League trophy to Chelsea. The fans hope that the third final will not turn into yet another third place on Sunday, the 26^th of May, when Benfica plays against Vitoria Guimaraes in the Portuguese cup final. 

Sporting Braga, Portugal: The team made it to the Portuguese League Cup final and won it thanks to Alan’s penalty in the last minute of the first half. The rest of the season doesn’t impress much, as the team lost the third vital position to Pacos de Ferreira and will not be a part of the Champions League next season.