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Won’t celebrate a goal against Germany: Jones
Fans take to twitter to pan penalty call
Peralta strike gives Mexico win in rainstorm
Brazil’s prez says World Cup jeers will not affect her
brazilian bash
Injuries casting a shadow
short passes
Australia set up title clash with Netherlands
Archers assure 2 medals for India
SL solid after Root's double-ton
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Neymar at the forefront
Tonight
Live on Sony Six Sao Paulo, June 13 Midfielder Oscar capped an outstanding performance with a goal of true quality in stoppage time that sealed the three points for Brazil and brought an enormous roar of relief from the 62,103 crowd at Sao Paulo's Corinthians arena. For 22-year-old Neymar, scoring twice on a night when the World Cup returned to the spiritual home of football was beyond his wildest dreams. “I'm very happy, really happy indeed, more than I ever dreamed or imagined,” the man of the match told reporters. And how the home fans reveled in the win. A delirious, dancing sea of yellow hailing the victory as the first step towards a record-extending sixth World Cup title. SIMMERING ANGER
Scattered violent protests before the game were a reminder that many locals remain frustrated over the billions spent to host the tournament, but for 90 special minutes it was football's chance to shine. Winning the World Cup on hallowed, home soil would no doubt go some way to soothing some of Brazil's wounds and the Selecao are now six more wins away from achieving that. 'OUTRIGHT THUGGERY'
Inevitably it would be Neymar who answered their prayers. He marked his 50th appearance for Brazil with a superb equalizer in the 29th minute, dragging a low shot into the corner of the net past the despairing dive of Stipe Pletikosa. Neymar's 33rd international goal arrived in more controversial circumstances after Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura awarded the home side a 71st-minute penalty. Brazil striker Fred fell to the ground under the slightest contact from Dejan Lovren and, after Nishimura pointed to the spot, the referee was surrounded by furious Croatian players questioning the call. Once the dust had settled, Neymar kept his cool to stroke the penalty home. Croatia coach Niko Kovac warned that the World Cup could become a “circus” after Nishimura's decision. “This was ridiculous today, and if we continue in this way we will have a circus,” he told reporters at a post-match news conference dominated by questions about the spot kick. “If that's a penalty, we don't need to play football any more. The lads played their hearts out but that was outright thuggery by a referee who was just out of his depth for a game of this magnitude.” Kovac's Brazil counterpart, Luiz Felipe Scolari, did not agree with his counterpart's thoughts on the contentious award. “I'm not going to comment on what my colleague said. The only comment I can make is that Brazil has 5 World Cup titles. Those weren't five circuses in favor of Brazil. “I perfectly understand my colleague's remarks, and I respect them ... But I don't see any favoring of Brazil in those five World Cup titles.”
— Reuters |
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Team-mates, fans help Marcelo get over self goal
Sao Paulo, June 13 Marcelo's mistake came in the 11th minute after Croatia forward Ivica Olic found space on the left to put in a teasing cross which his team mate Nikica Jelavic misdirected. The unfortunate Brazilian appeared to swing his right foot to clear the ball, but the late deflection saw it spin off his toe and roll tamely into the net. The 26-year-old left back looked in mild shock as he stood in the goalmouth contemplating his blunder. Marcelo later said he worked hard to remain calm. “I thought, if I get down about it then I could damage the team,” he said in a televised interview. FANS HELP
Goalkeeper Julio Cesar showed there were no ill feelings, patting his team mate on the head, but for the next 18 minutes, Marcelo, and Brazil, looked on nervously as the hosts pressed for an equaliser. “The fans helped me after I scored the own goal, they chanted my name and my team mates supported me and so I forgot about it and I got into the game again,” added Marcelo. As the match was being played, Brazilians took to social media sites to poke fun at Marcelo. One photograph circulating showed him with a snide grin, with the caption: “Dilma, I dedicate that one to you” — a reference to Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff, whose popularity has tumbled in recent months.
— Reuters |
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Hurt Ronaldo gives Portugal scare
Sao Paulo, June 13 The Real Madrid forward, 29, missed two of Portugal's pre-tournament friendlies with knee and thigh problems. Ronaldo, who returned in the 5-1 win over the Republic of Ireland, featured early on in Portugal's session before stretching on his own. Ronaldo trained with the rest of the team for about 15-20 minutes doing physical exercises but then did not take part in the rest of the session with full ball drills. Instead, he stretched on his own and signed a few shirts for fans before going to sit on the bench. When he left, he had an ice pack over his left knee. Ronaldo has been bothered by left leg injuries ahead of the World Cup, and was sidelined for two weeks with tendinitis in the knee and a thigh problem. However, Portugual midfielder Joao Moutinho said there was nothing to worry about concerning Ronaldo's health. “Ever since he started to train with us he has been 100 percent like the rest of us,” Moutinho said. “Everything is fine with him but there is some caution, not only with him. Today many other players were using ice as well. There is nothing to worry about. The ice is normal after training.”
— Agencies |
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Won’t celebrate a goal against Germany: Jones
Rio De Janeiro, June 13 Born in Frankfurt to a German mother and American father, Jones was a Germany Under-21 international and played three times for the full national team in friendlies before switching his allegiance to the United States where he is coached by German Juergen Klinsmann. “If I score against Germany, I will not celebrate. I think it's in respect. I grew up in this country (Germany) and it gave me a lot,” he said on Thursday. “I had my first caps for the national team in Germany... so I will not celebrate if I score. If somebody else scores, they can celebrate,” he said. Jones is one of five German-Americans in the squad along with defenders Timothy Chandler, Fabian Johnson and John Brooks and winger Julian Green. The 32-year-old, who plays for Besiktas in Turkey, said there had been no problem integrating the quintet into the squad and suggested that any different treatment came from the media.
— Reuters |
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Fans take to twitter to pan penalty call
Paris, June 13 According to Twitter —who have 255million users around the world — tweeters from more than 150 countries participated in the exchanges. Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura featured in many posts following his decision to award a penalty despite there being no evident contact between Brazil striker Fred and Croatian centreback Dejan Lovren. It isn't the first time that a Croatia game at a World Cup finals has attracted the wrong type of headlines for the referee. Englishman Graham Poll managed to book Croat Josip Simunic three times in their group game at the 2006 finals with Australia before finally sending him off. Poll, nevertheless, took to Twitter to express his opinion of Nishimura's decision. “Very soft penalty. People say big teams get the big decisions. That's a prime example. Not a penalty for me,” tweeted Poll. However, 50-year-old Poll was kinder when Oscar scored a late goal to make the scoreline 3-1. “Quality goal to finish the game. Ref will be relieved and I think he get another game. One mistake not 3!”
— Agency |
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Peralta strike gives Mexico win in rainstorm
Natal, June 13 The Mexicans had two Giovani Dos Santos efforts controversially disallowed in the first half but Peralta's goal means they will now feel they have a good chance of progressing from Group A, which also includes hosts Brazil and Croatia. Cameroon, who only arrived in Brazil after a player strike was averted by last-minute negotiations, had packed their midfield in an attempt to stifle the Mexicans and lone striker Samuel Eto'o failed to find the goal with his few opportunities. Mexico came out to attack as coach Miguel Herrera had promised and "El Tri" dominated the opening exchanges with wingbacks Miguel Layun and Paul Aguilar getting plenty of space out wide. Dos Santos first found the net after 11 minutes but was called back despite appearing to be in line with the defenders. If the decision to deny Dos Santos a first goal could be called a marginal call, the second was a clear error. A corner swung in from the left was flicked on by one Cameroon defender and, as another raced off the line, Santos managed to turn back and angle the ball into the net with his head. — Reuters
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Rumble in Brazilian jungle
With South American champions Uruguay also lurking in Group D, along with Costa Rica, both Roy Hodgson's England and Cesare Prandelli's Italy approach the game knowing they can scarcely afford to lose if they are to reach the last 16. The rainforest humidity, which hovers at around 80 per cent, is likely to weigh heavily on the tempo of the game and the two sides must also get to grips with a desiccated playing surface at the purpose-built Amazonia Arena. Head groundsman Carlos Botella has admitted that the pitch is in "bad shape" and emergency work was required on Thursday to cover up its dry brown patches with green dye. The teams last met in the quarter-finals of the 2012 European Championship in Kiev, when Italy prevailed on penalties after a 0-0 draw that they largely dominated. Possession of the ball will be key amid the intense heat, but England striker Wayne Rooney is convinced that his side now possess the weapons to unsettle opponents of Italy's calibre. "We've got a lot of energy, a lot of pace in the team, and if we can pick the right moments, we can really hurt teams with the pace and tempo that we can hit them at," said the Manchester United forward. “But in international football, you can't just go out there and attack, attack, attack. We have to be a bit cautious. "This is the top end of football and you might get picked off. We have to stick to our plans that we've worked on the last few weeks and pick the right moment." While expectations of an English triumph in the final on July 13 are low, Hodgson's squad is dotted with exciting young players who thrilled neutrals during the 2013-14 Premier League season. Everton midfielder Ross Barkley, 20, and 18-year-old left-back Luke Shaw will start on the bench, but 19-year-old Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling could line up in attack alongside Rooney and club-mate Daniel Sturridge. — Reuters
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Brazil’s prez says World Cup jeers will not affect her A defiant President Dilma Rousseff shot back at her detractors on Friday, saying she will not be cowered by the jeers and insults she endured at the World Cup's opening match. Visibly angered by the rude welcome, the Brazilian leader said the "verbal aggression" was nothing compared with the physical abuse she withstood four decades ago when she was tortured at the hands of the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil at the time. Many of the 62,100 soccer fans packed into the Corinthians arena in Sao Paulo to watch Brazil play Croatia on Thursday booed loudly and chanted profanities at Rousseff, whose popularity is falling four months ahead of a re-election bid."Insults will not intimidate me. I will not be cowered," Rousseff said in a speech to inaugurate the opening of a rapid transit bus system in Brasilia. "This will not weaken me," Rousseff said, as supporters of her Workers' Party chanted calls for a second term for the leftist leader. Recent polls show Rousseff losing her comfortable lead ahead of the Oct. 5 election among voters concerned with the weakening of the Brazilian economy and the rising cost of living under her administration. Many Brazilians are angry about the high cost of the stadiums built to host the World Cup. They say the $11 billion Brazil is spending on the sporting event should have gone to improve deficient health, education and public transport. Rousseff was also booed last June at the opening game of the Confederations Cup. — Agencies
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brazilian bash
The 20-month-old guinea pig has already tipped Switzerland to beat Ecuador in their opening Group E game on Sunday, said the international development charity Swissaid, which put Madame Shiva’s skills to the test. She was placed on a mini soccer pitch with the colours of Switzerland and Ecuador at either
end. With a brief sniff of the pitch, Madame Shiva darted to the Swiss end, where in a sign of approval, she left a single dropping. She was watched by former Switzerland manager, Frenchman Gilbert Gress, who said she was spot on. "Her prediction tallies with what’s going to happen on Sunday, when Switzerland beat Ecuador," Gress said. Madame Shiva’s next job will be to forecast the result of her team’s crunch clash with neighbours France on June 20, and their final group match against Honduras five days later. Her job will continue if the "Nati" achieve their goal of at least a berth in the knock-out
stages. Swissaid said Madame Shiva’s new role was about more than football.
— Agencies |
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Uruguay vs Costa Rica Suarez had keyhole surgery on his left knee just three weeks ago and although he appears to be recovering well, coach Oscar Tabarez is unlikely to risk him against what promises to be the weakest team in the group. The Liverpool striker was sensational in the English Premier League last season, scoring 31 goals in 33 appearances, way more than any other player. But although his absence is a concern for the Uruguayans, they are blessed with an abundance of attacking riches. Cavani comes to Brazil after a successful first season at Paris St Germain and while Forlan's star has faded somewhat since the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, he still has the intelligence and dead-ball expertise to unlock any defence. He will need it because if there is one thing that Costa Rica do well it is defending. The Ticos conceded fewer goals than any other team in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers, averaging well under one goal a game to finish as runners-up to the United States. In Keylor Navas, they boast one of the best goalkeepers in the competition. He was instrumental in securing a mid-table finish for his modest Spanish club side Levante last season. columbia vs greece Belo Horizonte: Containing Colombia's potent attacking game, even without injured striker Radamel Falcao, will be key to defensive-minded Greece's attempt to upset the Group C favourites. The Greeks have long said their first game will be the most crucial one with Colombia, who finished second in the South American qualifiers after a superb campaign, seen as the team to beat. "We have it in our own hands to beat them," said Greece's versatile defender Giorgos Tzavellas. "Colombia will have to find a way to score against us and that will be very difficult and I hopeful we will win this game. This first game is extremely important." Ivory Coast vs japan
The three-times African player of the year picked up the injury in April playing for club side Manchester City as they went on to win the English Premier League title. He joined up late with the Ivory Coast squad after undergoing treatment in Qatar and missed the two warm-up matches in the United States where the Africans lost 2-1 to Bosnia but beat El Salvador by the same score. Toure's absence for the match against Japan, their likely main rivals for a knockout berth with Colombia tipped to win the group and Greece expected to struggle, would be a huge blow for the Ivorians. The 31-year-old's powerful bursts from midfield, leadership and goal-scoring ability are enough to give sleepless nights to a defensively liable Japanese side. — Agencies
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Eto’o defends himself in OPEN letter
In an open letter to the Cameroon people, Eto'o said last weekend’s strike – which included refusing to accept a symbolic flag from the prime minister and delaying their departure for Brazil by almost a day in a haggle over World Cup money – was a search for “improvements that will benefit future generations”. “I fought for what I believe to be legitimate: the right of my team mates for their bonuses so that they can give the best of themselves for their country,” said Eto'o ahead of Cameroon's opening Group A match against Mexico in Natal on Friday. He was at the forefront of a torrid pre-World Cup weekend which saw the players snub Prime Minister Philemon Yang and then refuse to get on their expensively-chartered airline for Brazil. “There have been misunderstandings, certainly. However, we are satisfied with a happy end. We hope that all those who were offended by our insistence are able to forgive us,” Eto'o, 33, added in the letter distributed to reporters on Friday. Political blogger develops SPI for WC outcome
American political blogger and statistician, Nate Silver, who has been forecasting results in political elections and sporting contests for years, has reportedly turned his attention to the ongoing FIFA World Cup. Silver, who correctly predicted the winner during the last US presidential election in all 50 states, has developed a predictive model called the Soccer Power Index (SPI), which goes through huge amount of data to rate every team's chances on a match-by-match basis. According to News.com.au, Silver said that technically SPI is two ratings systems rolled into one, with one system based solely on a national team's play and the other that reflects a composite of player ratings for what SPI projects to be a team's top line-up. Silver's SPI gives Brazil a 99.4 percent chance of progressing in Group A and a 94.8 percent chance of topping the group, while he has branded Group B as the 'group of death' with Australia guaranteed to crash out with a 92.2 percent chance. 'Magical Magyars' goalkeeper Gyula Grosics dies
Gyula Grosics, goalkeeper for the 'Magical Magyars' Hungarian soccer team that were virtually unbeatable in the early 1950s, died on Friday, his family told the national news agency MTI. He was 88. He had been ill for some time with lung problems. Grosics was considered the cornerstone of Hungary's legendary team that rose to prominence when they thrashed England 6-3 at Wembley Stadium in 1953, the first side from outside the British Isles to defeat the English on home soil. “We played very well that time but basically we have to give credit to the English, who made a big fuss about the 6-3. They blew it up to be a world sensation, they treated the match as the game of the century,” Grosics said in a 2012 interview. Grosics made 88 appearances for Hungary between 1947 and 1962, winning an Olympic gold medal at the Helsinki Games in 1952, with the side considered heavy favorites to lift the 1954 World Cup on the back of a four-year unbeaten streak.
— Reuters Beckenbauer banned for failing to cooperate German World Cup-winning player and coach Franz Beckenbauer was banned for 90 days by FIFA on Friday after failing to cooperate in a corruption enquiry into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Beckenbauer was part of the FIFA executive committee which voted to give the tournament to Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022, with the Qatari bid marred by allegations of vote buying. "The apparent breach relates to Mr Beckenbauer’s failure to cooperate with an Ethics Committee investigation despite repeated requests for his assistance," FIFA said in a statement. "The case is now the subject of formal investigation proceedings being conducted by investigatory chamber member Vanessa Allard as chief of the investigation." — Agencies
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Australia set up title clash with Netherlands
Australia have won the World Cup twice (in 1986 and 2010), while Netherlands have inscribed their name on the trophy three times — in 1973, 1990 and 1998. Before the men's final on Sunday, the same two nations will clash in the women's final tomorrow.
Jeremy Hayward converted two penalty corners for the rampant Australian team that stamped its supremacy against first-time semifinalists Argentina. Four of the Australian goals came through penalty corner conversions. Before Hayward came into the frame, Kieran Govers opened Australia's scoring with low penalty corner shot into the boards in the fourth minute. Hayward then duly capitalised on the next penalty corner in the 22nd minute. Jacob Whetton picked up a long through ball inside the circle in the 33rd minute and sent a rising reverse hit past goalkeeper Juan Vivaldi to make it 3-0 at half-time.
Meanwhile, India will take on South Korea for the ninth position. — Agencies
CLASSIFICATION MATCH |
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Archers assure 2 medals for India
Patiala, June 13 Talukdar and Bombayla stunned top seed Koreans 5-4 in the tie-breaker to storm into the final, while Chauhan defeated Sergio Pagni of Italy 143-139 in the semifinals. Archer Rajat Chohan has been assured of a medal in the individual Olympic round of the compound event and this will be the first ever individual medal for India in the compound event as far as World Cup performance is concerned. Rajat has set up the title clash with the Korean archer Choi Yong Hee. The recurve mix team of Jayanta Talukdar and Bombayla Devi also moved to the gold medal match defeating their opponents in the hard fought matches. They will now play against China for the gold medal. Meanwhile, compound women team consisting of Trisha, P Lily Chanu and Purvasha lost the semifinal match to Russia and will play against Mexico for the bronze medal. |
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After falling behind to an 11th minute own goal from unfortunate defender Marcelo, forward Neymar equalized with a terrific strike from outside the box before converting the softest of penalties late in the second half.
“We started off on the right foot, with a victory. The merit belongs to the team as a whole, which remained cool and calm to come from behind and win.”
The buildup to this World Cup has been tarnished like no other, with simmering public anger over the $11 billion spent on construction projects while much of the country struggles to keep itself out of poverty boiling over on to Brazil's streets.
Manaus, June 13
Geneva: A Swiss guinea pig has joined a menagerie of soothsaying animals tasked with predicting World Cup scores after the 2010 success of deceased soccer oracle Paul the Octopus. Madame Shiva is setting her sights lower than other animal pundits, however, by focusing only on her home team’s matches in Brazil.
Fortaleza: Luis Suarez (in pic) looks certain to sit out Uruguay's World Cup Group D opener against Costa Rica on Saturday but in Edinson Cavani and Diego Forlan the South Americans still boast a formidable attacking partenership.
Recife: Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure (in pic below) is struggling to shake off a hamstring injury in time for their Group C opener against Japan on Saturday, with his likely absence compounded by the return to fitness of Blue Samurai captain Makoto Hasebe.
Cameroon captain Samuel Eto'o defended himself on Friday over his role in the squad's pre-World Cup strike action in the wake of blistering criticism back home, including media allegations of “treason”.
The Hague,
June 13