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South Korea World Cup draw factbox


South Korea will play at their eighth consecutive World Cup finals next year, but their qualification campaign was far from routine and ended with the departure of their coach amid concerns the team were headed for embarrassment in Brazil.

A 1-0 home loss to Iran in the final qualifier meant South Korea grabbed the last automatic berth on goal difference. Coach Choi Kang-hee stepped aside and former national skipper Hong Myung-bo took over.

Tasked with shoring up a suspect defence and sharpening up a one-dimensional attack, Hong tinkered with personnel and formations and won just once in his first seven games in charge.

However, a stoic display in a 2-0 loss to Brazil in October was followed by an impressive 3-1 win over Mali and a superb 2-1 victory over Switzerland.

As impressive as the result was against the Swiss, who went through their World Cup qualifying campaign unbeaten, the manner in which South Korea controlled possession in a dominant second half and opened up their opponents at will bodes well for Brazil.

Coach: Hong Myung-bo

Local fans love to relive the glory days of 2002 when Guus Hiddink led South Korea to the semi-finals on home soil. In Hong Myung-bo, now 44, they not only have a manager who played under the Dutch master but one who cut his coaching teeth by his side.

South Korea's most capped player took over from Choi Kang-hee after the much-maligned manager stepped down following an uninspiring qualifying campaign in which the Koreans made it through by the skin of their teeth.

Hong impressed as coach of Korea's Olympic team, winning the bronze medal at the London Games, and assisted Hiddink at Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala before the Dutchman resigned.

While Hong's first few games in charge of the national team have been difficult, a recent 2-1 win over Switzerland suggests he has them moving in the right direction.

Key player: Son Heung-min

Son Heung-min has all the makings of becoming South Korea's next soccer icon, and like his predecessor Park Ji-sung, he has never played club football on home soil.

Son left Seoul's Dongbuk High School to join German side SV Hamburg's youth academy and has flourished in the Bundesliga, earning a €10 million transfer to Bayer Leverkusen in the close season.

Still only 21, the striker has made an immediate impact in the Bundesliga, and scored a hat-trick against his former club in early November.

Son has yet to replicate his club form with the national team but under new coach Hong Myung-bo he is imposing himself more and delivered his best performance in a Korean shirt in their 2-1 win over Switzerland in Seoul.

How they qualified: Asian zone: Group A runners-up

2012

June 8 Qatar A W 4-1 Lee Keun-ho (2), Kwak Tae-hwi Kim Shin-wook
June 12 Lebanon H W 3-0 Kim Bo-kyung (2), Koo Ja-cheol
Sept 11 Uzbekistan A D 2-2 Filiposyan (OG), Lee Dong-gook
Oct 16 Iran A L 1-0

2013

March 26 Qatar H W 2-1 Lee Keun-ho, Son Heung-min
June 4 Lebanon A D 1-1 Kim Chi-woo
June 11 Uzbekistan H W 1-0 Shorakhmedov (OG)
June 18 Iran H L 1-0

World Cup record:
Previous appearances: Eight (1954, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010) 
Best: Semi-finalists as co-hosts: 2002

Odds: William Hill odds to win World Cup: 500-1
Filed Under: , , on Sunday, April 6, 2014

ARSENAL TRANSFER NEWS

Arsenal are among this season’s Premier League title contenders and may be forced to bolster their strike force after the recent injuries to Olivier Giroud, Niklas Bendtner and Theo Walcott. Arsène Wenger failed to sign Liverpool talisman Luis Suárez in the summer and may look abroad for a striker.

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Brazil 2014 host city 'may drop out'


Porto Alegre may pull out of hosting matches during the 2014 Brazil World Cup if important legislation isn't passed this week according to the city's mayor.

Jose Fortunati, during an interview with a local radio station, said "there was no plan b" when it came to securing extra funding.

Unlike other cities, the stadium in Porto Alegre, which is due to host five matches, is close to completion. The problem lies in delays in building temporary structures which are required for the media and sponsors among other things.

The stadium exterior needs completing but Fortunati says he is concerned about ensuring everything else that is needed is provided.

"If the project is not voted on, we won't have the World Cup in Porto Alegre. There's no Plan B, nor C nor Z," he warned.
Filed Under: , , , on Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Brazil 2014 World Cup

The 2014 World Cup is heading to Brazil. In less than a year, the greatest football spectacle of them all will be heading to the country that introduced the notion of the beautiful game. For the first time in 64 years, football’s biggest event will grace Brazil’s shores and a feast of football is sure to be served up in front of passionate crowds.  True, there is the small matter of the World Cup in South Africa in 2010 to contend with first, but football fans across Brazil and indeed the world are rubbing their hands in anticipation of the 2014 Brazil World Cup.

Who will be there? Who will be defending champions? These are questions we have no answers to. Yet. Follow the route to the Brazil World Cup in 2014 with us as we will keep you up to date with all the ups and downs right up until the trophy is lifted at the end of the 2014 Brazil World Cup.
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A Celebration of Football


With the 2014 World Cup being awarded to Brazil, it could be easily argued that football is going home. Ok, so football originated in Britain and we invented the game but the Brazilians have perfected it. They’ve taken the game to their hearts and elevated it to the extent that it is a religion to the people. The blue and yellow clad players of Brazil have given us some memorable moments and play the game with a style and rhythm that no other nation on earth seems capable of. The game is played to a samba beat that runs through the heart and soul of the entire country. When they are on song, they are unstoppable and people the world over clamour to see them play. Chances are, if you asked people to name the team they want to see win aside from their own it would be the magicians from Brazil.

Over the years, the Brazilians have given us players that are routinely rated as the best in the world and of course given the game arguably the greatest player ever to have lived, Edson Arantes du Nascimento or Pele as we know him best. If you look through the annals of Brazilian Internationals it reads like a who’s who of footballing greats. From Gerson, Garrincha, Rivelino and Jarzinho in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, to Socrates and Zico in the 80’s. In more recent times we have enjoyed the skill of Romario, Ronaldo, Rivaldo and of late Ronaldinho, Kaka and Adriano. All of these players at their peaks would waltz into a world XI. It's not as though they’ve had a few stars in the sides over the years but full squads of players that other international coaches would dream of having in their starting elevens.

Having great individuals does not always make a great side but the Brazilians have won more World Cups than any other nation. They stand at 5 wins, with Italy in 2nd place with four. But they’ve also played in a number of finals where they’ve been beaten, most recently in 1998 against the host nation France. Winning, however, isn’t the only thing, it’s winning with style that matters to Brazilians. The World Cup win in 1994 was a triumph but was not won in Brazilian attacking flair and flamboyance. The 1982 side of Zico and Socrates, that were foiled by Italy, probably bring more of a misty eyed response than the side that were victorious in the USA.

The 2014 finals will be a celebration of football. The fans will embrace it and produce a carnival of colour, noise and passion that the local people are already world famous for. It will be a fantastic world cup to travel to and see how the Brazilians party. It will have been 64 years since the last world cup was held in Brazil and those who were alive to see it will hope that it doesn’t end the same way. The hosts were beaten in the final by South American rivals Uruguay. Anything less than a win will send the country into mourning, but a victory will spark the biggest party Brazil has ever seen and that in itself would be saying something.
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World Cup 2014: Roy Hodgson must show loyalty to his England stars, says Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho

Jose Mourinho has told Roy Hodgson to repay the loyalty of his players when he chooses his squad to go to the World Cup this summer.

Chelsea’s Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole are not sure of their places in Hodgson’s 23-man squad, to be announced on 13 May. But Mourinho said that if he were a national manager he would respect a moral obligation to the players who took him to a tournament.

“It’s not my decision,” the Chelsea manager said last night. “But I try to be pragmatic, so if one day I am the national team manager of any country, I think the players that take me to the Euros or to the World Cup are the players I’m going to take to the Euros or the World Cup. They took me, by qualifying; after that, I take them on my plane. I don’t think it makes a lot of sense if you trust some players to do qualification and, after that, you don’t select them and pick others.”

Lampard played seven of England’s 10 qualification matches, scoring four goals, second only to Wayne Rooney. Cole played four of the games but both players were in every squad when fit. Cole has missed just 16 minutes of tournament football for England since the start of the 2002 World Cup.

But Hodgson warned this week that he may have to disappoint a senior player when he names his 23 men, and seven replacements, two days after the end of the Premier League season.

“I am very conscious of the fact that I could have to leave a big name out,” Hodgson said. “I am pretty sure there will be a lot of debate.”

Lampard is under threat from the form of Jordan Henderson and Ross Barkley, while Cole, who has lost his place at Chelsea to Cesar Azpilicueta, could suffer from the emergence of Southampton teenager Luke Shaw.

Mourinho also said that national teams should only be for players born in the country, or with close family connections. Fernando Torres has lost his place in the Spain squad to Brazilian striker Diego Costa, while England are interested in the possibility of recruiting Manchester United’s Kosovan-Belgian midfielder Adnan Januzaj.

“When one day I’m a national coach, I will take only players born in my country. That’s for sure. Or if not born in my country, then with parents with a big connection with the country,” Mourinho said. “I will never take a player just because he has a passport from my country, thinking he can make my team stronger. If one day I coach Portugal, I’ll go with the Portuguese.”

Chelsea visit Fulham this afternoon and Mourinho said he has an “emotional connection” with their local rivals and hopes they stay up. “If I could choose I’d take defeat tomorrow, then 10 victories and the title,” he said.

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Barcelona transfer ban: Fifa issues 14-month sanction

Spanish champions Barcelona have been given a 14-month transfer ban by Fifa for breaking rules on signing international players under 18.

The Catalan club cannot buy or sell players until the summer of 2015 after the world governing body imposed a transfer ban for the next two windows.

They have also been fined 450,000 Swiss Francs (£305,000).


Analysis of Barca ban


Andy West
European football writer in Barcelona
"This is a shattering piece of news for a club that had already endured a very difficult season off the pitch following allegations of tax evasion around the signing of Neymar.

"That saga led to the resignation of controversial club president Sandro Rosell in January. Now his replacement, Josep Maria Bartomeu, can expect overwhelming pressure from fans to call new presidential elections as soon as possible.

"The impact upon the team is also hugely significant. With veteran captain Carles Puyol and goalkeeper Victor Valdes leaving at the end of the season, the club had already announced their intention to splash out on top-class replacements. Now that seems impossible, which means the squad will be severely weakened next season.

"It is also yet another massive blow to Barca's previously much-respected global brand, which has taken a huge battering in the last few months and will be further tarnished by this latest development."

The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has been sanctioned by Fifa for the same breaches.
Barcelona are hoping to sign a new goalkeeper at the end of the season, with the long-serving Victor Valdes leaving the Nou Camp at the end of his contract.
The four-time European champions have been linked  with Borussia Monchengladbach keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, while they agreed a deal to sign 17-year-old Croatia midfielder Alen Halilovic last week.
The RFEF has been given a fine of 500,000 Swiss Francs (£340,000) and told to "regularise its regulatory framework and existing system concerning the international transfer of minors in football" within a year.
Fifa rules state  that international transfers are only permitted for players over the age of 18 - unless the player in question meets one of three qualifying criteria.
Under-18s can move to a club in a different country if their parents move there for non-footballing reasons, if they are from another nation within the European Union or European Economic Area and aged between 16 and 18, or if they live within 100km of the club.
A Fifa investigation - centred on several players aged under 18 who were registered and played for the club between 2009 and 2013 - found that Barcelona and the RFEF were guilty of a "serious" infringement of the rules in relation to 10 players.
Fifa told BBC Sport the identity of these players was confidential.
Its disciplinary committee said it sought to protect the best interests of young players, even if an international transfer might be beneficial to their football careers.
"On the basis of this analysis, the committee concluded that 'the interest in protecting the appropriate and healthy development of a minor as a whole must prevail over purely sporting interests'," said a Fifa statement.
Play media

It is the latest off-the-field issue to trouble Barcelona this season.
Earlier this year, the Catalan club were accused by the Spanish authorities of tax evasion relating to the £50m purchase of Brazil forward Neymar. A criminal investigation is under way, despite Barca making a "voluntary contribution" of more than £11m in taxes.
The club's president Sandro Rosell resigned after he was accused of misappropriating funds in the deal.
Rosell and his successor Josep Maria Bartomeu insist the 22-time Spanish champions have not acted illegally.
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World Cup 2014 News: Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez Praises El Tri Boss Miguel Herrera, Says Man U ‘Doesn’t Take Me Into Account’



Though the 2013-2014 campaign with defending Barclays Premier League champion Manchester United hasn’t been the most enjoyable season of his career, Mexico star Javier Hernandez is looking forward to rejoining El Tri for their March 5 friendly against Nigeria. The Super Eagles and Mexican National side will represent their respective nations at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and the international friendly – which will be played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta – will serve as yet another opportunity for each team to evaluate the level of talent available to them some three months before the summer tournament.

Now that Chicharito knows he will in fact be part of Mexico’s contest against Nigeria, a large amount of focus will surely be place on the 25-year-old scorer. Speaking to reporters following a scrimmage, the former Liga MX superstar said that he feels very fortunate to be involved with El Tri because the team and first-year boss Miguel Herrera have consistently been there for him during his struggles in the Premier League. The international talent also noted that he’s looking forward to consistent playing time, since he believes Manchester United doesn’t take his skillset into account.

“He is the first coach to speak of it, of what I have done,” Hernandez said of Herrera. “More than anything whether I have the goals or the statistics or not, the truth is I try to leave my heart and soul in the match, I commit to deliver everything I have. I am truly grateful to him because he didn’t have to support me. He is the coach and we all have to give our souls to earn a spot on the team, but we can’t live in the past either.

“I'm very eager to play as my club don't take me much into account,” he continued. “I hope I have the opportunity to play for Mexico. When you are called up, you have to be thankful and if not called up, you have to keep working. I'm very happy and thankful with this call-up, like I was when I was called up for the first time.”

Hernandez is expected to start alongside Oribe Peralta at the forward position against Nigeria.


Filed Under: , , , on Tuesday, April 1, 2014

'Football needs Falcao' - Ronaldo rues season-ending injury

The Real Madrid winger is hoping the former Atletico striker makes a rapid return from injury as he would love to see the Colombian in Brazil this summer


Cristiano Ronaldo has wished former foe Radamel Falcao a swift recovery and says "football needs" the striker at the World Cup.

The Monaco forward, 27, has been sidelined for the remainder of the season after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament earlier in January, seemingly ruling the Colombia international out of this summer's tournament in Brazil.

However, the doctor who operated on the former Atletico Madrid man has claimed he could recover in time for the World Cup and Real Madrid's Ronaldo is hoping Falcao is able to return in time to grace the game's grandest stage.

"The only message I can give him is that I know he has so much strength and courage," the Portugal international told RCN. "I hope that he recovers very fast because football needs Falcao.

"The World Cup and the Colombia team await him. I hope he recovers soon and can return to action in time. It's what we all want. Stay strong, Falcao."

Falcao was one of La Liga's star players before his mega-money move to Monaco in the summer and he went head-to-head with Ronaldo on a number of occasions during his two-year stay at the Vicente Calderon.

If the Colombian does pull off the unlikely feat of regaining fitness in time for the World Cup, the striker and his team-mates will face Japan, Cote d'Ivoire and Greece in Group C

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