WORLD FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP - BRAZIL

P R E V I E W

G U I D E

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World Football Championship

2014 FIFA WORLD CUP BRAZIL

HOST CITIES AND

STADIUMS

Estadio Mineirao, Belo Horizonte

Estadio das Dunas, Natal

CAPACITY: 57,483

CAPACITY: 45,000

One of the most historic venues in Brazilian football and called home by Atletico Mineiro and Cruzeiro.

The name of Estadio das Dunas stadium relates to the sand dunes that are one of the most impressive natural attractions in the Natal region.

Estadio Nacional de Brasilia, Brasilia

Estadio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre

CAPACITY: 68,009 In keeping with one of the country’s most architecturally advanced cities, Brasilia’s Estadio Nacional is an imposing sight and the second largest venue at Brazil 2014.

Arena Pantanal CAPACITY: 42,968 The capital of the state of Mato Grosso, Cuiaba is located in the exact geographic centre of South America, an equidistant 2,000 km from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Arena da Baixada, Curitiba CAPACITY: 40,000 The historic Estadio Joaquim Americo – better known as the Arena da Baixada – is considered one of Brazil’s most modern and best-appointed stadiums

Estadio Castelao, Fortaleza

CAPACITY: 50,287 The largest football ground in the south of Brazil and nicknamed the “Gigante do BeiraRio” (The Giant of Beira-Rio), the stadium is officially known as the Estadio Jose Pinheiro Borda

Arena Pernambuco, Recife CAPACITY: 42,849 Recife, a city whose passion for the beautiful game is without question, is home to three historic Brazilian clubs in the shape of Nautico, Santa Cruz and Sport

Estadio Do Maracana, Rio de Janeiro CAPACITY: 73,531 Once the largest stadiums in the world, packing in crowds of up to 200,000 – among the highest attendances ever seen in the history of the game – the Maracana now has a reduced capacity of 73,531

CAPACITY: 58,704

Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador

Officially known as the Estadio Governador Placido Castelo, the Castelao is home to both the Ceara and Fortaleza clubs and has been entirely renovated to host matches at the FIFA World Cup Brazil

CAPACITY: 52,048 The first capital city in Brazil’s history, Salvador will welcome the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil at a new, purpose-built stadium

Arena Amazonia, Manaus

Arena de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo

CAPACITY: 42,377

CAPACITY: 65,807

Manaus is situated at the heart of the Amazon rainforest, the largest tropical rainforest in the world and the inspiration for the refurbished stadium.

The Arena Corinthians, in São Paulo, Brazil, is the future home stadium of the club Corinthians Paulista. It is the fifth-largest stadium on the top tier of the Brazilian League.

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FROM 13 TO 203 (PARTICIPANTS)

By Vladimir STANKOVIĆ

When the FIFA Congress decided, in Barcelona in May 1929, that the were the national teams of Romania, Belgium, Yugoslavia and France, next year Uruguay would host the first association football World Cup, who initially refused to participate until Rimet managed to broker the even the visionary who suggested the idea, Jules Rimet (1873-1956), departure of the Frenchman. They went on to enter the history books president of FIFA from 1921 to 1954, could not have predicted the kind of on 13th July 1930, when they played Mexico at the small Pocitos Stadium planetary spectacle the association football world championships would in Montevideo in the first game of the first ever World Cup. France won 4-1, with the scorer of the first goal in the history develop into. Uruguay was awarded that first of the World Cup being Lucien Laurent with a voltournament because it was reigning two-time Bookmakers say ley in the 19th minute... History had begun.

Olympic champion (Paris 1924 and Amsterdam that Brazil is the top Qualifications for Brazil 2014 included the 1928) and because the country was then celebrating the 100th anniversary of its independence participation of 203 national teams of the 208 favourite, but then (which was why the new stadium built for the again Brazil is always FIFA members. In order to whittle them down event was named “Centenario”), but FIFA barely to 31 participants (Brazil, as the host nation, the top favourite gathered together 13 participants. Its emissaries qualified automatically), 816 games had to be roamed Europe, but succeeded in convincing onplayed... Three players each scored 11 goals in ly four federations to send their teams. The main reason for the refus- qualifying and another five netted 10. Some of them will compete al of Europe’s most powerful football nations at that time was the long in Brazil for the title of the best striker of the championship. Robin trip and the need to interrupt or delay their domestic leagues, which Van Persie (Netherlands) and Luis Suarez (Uruguay) were among was unacceptable for the countries where professionalism already ex- those scoring 11, while Leo Messi (Argentina) and Edin Džeko (Bosnia isted. Embarking on the adventure from the old continent to the new & Herzegovina) scored 10 each. Other players who are likely to have 58 |

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World Football Championship

something to say on the Golden Boot issue include Cristiano Ronaldo of 19 titles have been won by just eight countries. The Netherlands (Portugal), Neymar and Hulk (Brazil), Wayne Rooney (England), Marco and Germany have both lost three finals, but the Germans have three Reus (Germany) and many others. titles while the Dutch have none.

From a difficult start in the neighbourhood, in Uruguay in 1930, all Bookmakers say that Brazil is the top favourite, but then again the way to the 20th FIFA World Cup in Brazil in 2014, association foot- Brazil is always the top favourite. Now Brazil’s chances are increased ball’s international body has come a long way and become one of the by the fact that they are playing at home, but this is also the greatest world’s richest and most powerful sporting organisations. According to danger. The pressure of the nation’s expectations will be even higher FIFA’s official website, in the period from 2007 to 2010 almost $4.2 bil- than usual, while the “Maracanazo” – Brazil’s defeat to Uruguay in 1950 lion entered the coffers of the federation, which is $2.66 billion more in front of 200,000 people at Maracana Stadium – is still remembered than in the previous period and represents net profit of $631 million. as the greatest (sporting) tragedy in the history of Brazilian football.

As much as 93% of revenue comes from competitions, primarily the Moacyr Barbosa, Brazil’s goalkeeper at that World Cup, once said that World Cup. The last global tournament, in South Africa 2010, brought even though the most severe punishment in the country was a 20-year $2.4 billion from the sale of TV rights alone and another $1.07 billion prison term, he’d been “imprisoned” for life because he was never forgiven for conceding two goals against Uruguay. from sponsorship agreements.

Spain will arrive as world champions and with almost entirely the A new financial report will be presented at the Congress in Sao Paolo ahead of the opening match of the tournament, between Brazil same players who achieved ultimate victory in South Africa in 2010. and Croatia, and there is no doubt that FIFA is a kind of IMF of the However, one should bear in mind the fact that they are all now four sporting world... It is estimated that Brazil will bring a profit of about years older. They can certainly go a long way, but few would declare €3 billion. FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke has presented a pro- them top favourites. Argentina depends on Messi, who has just comjection of expected revenue of €1.95 billion from the sale of TV rights pleted one of his worst seasons at Barcelona, at least it was certainly and €1.050 billion from 20 sponsor companies which, according to the worst in terms of the team’s results. The Brazil 2104 World Cup could contract level, can be divided into several groups. The first group in- be a great comfort and a chance for Messi to finally prove that he can cludes the companies that are traditionally the largest sponsors of the shine on the biggest stage in world football, having failed to stand out event, including Adidas, Coca Cola, Hyundai, Emirates, Sony and Visa. in 2006 and 2010. Germany, with its spine comprising players from the The second group includes Budweiser, Castrol, mighty Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, McDonalds, Continental, Johnson & Johnson, is also among the group of teams given the best Spain will arrive as Oi, Mozpark and Yinglisolar, while in the third chance of lifting the cup this year. world champions and are ApexBrasil, Centauro, Garoto, Itau, Liberty, The second group of favourites could WiseUp and Football for Hope. be classified as the Netherlands, Italy and with almost entirely Despite the on-going economic crisis, footBelgium, South America’s Uruguay, primarily the same players who ball is still big business, especially for some. We due to great attackers, while Colombia’s form achieved ultimate have entered a period in which revenue from is largely dependent on the recovery of Falcao victory in South Africa in and the form he will be in after recovering from the sale of tickets, even though they are expensive and almost sold out, represent the small2010. However, they are a serious ligament injury. Looking to upset the est item on the list of income generators. all now four years older odds will be some African teams, followed by FIFA World Cup host countries generally Bosnia & Herzegovina and perhaps Mexico, build new stadiums or renovate existing ones which has a lot of players who were Olympic and have huge costs (not everyone in Brazil is delighted that their coun- champions two years ago. Several other countries, including England, try is hosting the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics in the space of two France and Russia, are among those who a lot is expected of, but who years), but leave behind positive PR effects and facilities, while hun- usually provide little or nothing. A good number of countries considdreds of thousands of tourists will spend millions in hotels, restaurants er the very fact that they qualified to compete in Brazil as success. If and on transport, and playing on home soil could help Brazil’s team cap- nothing else, the cash registers of their national federations will be ture the country’s sixth world title. several million euros richer.

Bosnia & Herzegovina will be the only debutant in Brazil and Many factors will influence success or failure, primarily the teams’ will become the 77th national team to appear in the world cup final’s quality and form, but also some external factors, from climate to travtournament. Brazil is the only country to have participated in all of el conditions. The matches will be played in 12 cities and one fact that them, but interestingly Germany has played two more matches: 99 could influence performances is distance travelled, with for instance compared to 97. Both teams will play their 100th World Cup game in the U.S. and Italy having to fly a total of more than 14,000 kilomethe opening group stage this year. Together these two teams have tres each within the country, while Belgium will travel less than 2,000. eight world titles – 5 for Brazil and 3 for Germany – and they are Brazil, as the host nation, has not been spared too much either and the only national teams to have scored more than 200 goals: Brazil will also travel 7,356km.

Regardless of the details, from 12th June to 13th July the most impor210, Germany 206. Italy has won four titles and played 80 matches. None of the former world champions are absent for this tourna- tant event in the world will be the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The winment. There are also Uruguay and Argentina with two wins each, and ner, as always, will be football – this special type of art that represents England, France and Spain, with one title a piece. This means a total the only creative human activity carried out using the feet. ■

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GROUP

A

SCHEDULE

MATCH TO WATCH

12.06.2014

Brazil - Croatia

18.06.2014

13.06.2014

Mexico - Cameroon

23.06.2014 Brazil - Cameroon

17.06.2014

Brazil - Mexico

23.06.2014 Croatia - Mexico

BRAZIL

Cameroon - Croatia

Brazil vs. Croatia

CROATIA

Talent Under Pressure

Fourth Attempt

“Only the Pope, Frank Sinatra and I could shut up 200,000 people at Maracana” - this is one of the most famous phrases from the world of football and it was uttered by Uruguayan Alcides Edgardo Ghiggia (born 12.22.1926 in Montevideo, Uruguay), who scored the goal that saw Uruguay win the second world title on 16th July 1950 in the middle of Rio de Janeiro.

Ghiggia broke the 1-1 deadlock in the 74th minute of the final, sending the whole of Brazil into a state of despair.

Brazil could not take the psychological pressure and had to wait another eight years to win its first world title. It won it in Sweden in 1958, which marked the first appearance of the then 17-year-old Pele, the future king of football. Since then the country has won the world cup four times (1962, 1970, 1994, 2002) and is the only team to have played in all 20 football world cups to date, playing a total of 97 matches.

Brazil, as a force of world football and the host nation, will start the world cup as the top favourites, but the question is whether the players will be able to handle the tremendous pressure from the public, because for Brazilians nothing short of the title will be worthy. The national federation sacked coach Mano Mendez in November 2012 and reinstated veteran Luiz Felipe Scolari, who last led Brazil to the world title in Korea and Japan in 2002.

Of the players Scolari can count on, only a few play in Brazil and the most famous of them is Ronaldinho (Atletico Mineiro). All others are based in Europe: Dani Alves and Neymar at Barcelona, David Luiz, Oscar, Ramires and William at Chelsea, Dante and Rafinha at Bayern Munich, Marcelo at Real Madrid, Hulk at Zenit, Thiago Silva at PSG. If he gets a call-up, Kaka (AC Milan) will play in his fourth world cup and will catch up with Brazilian soccer legends Carlos José Castilho, Nilton Santos, Djalma Santos, Pele, Leao, Ronaldo and Angel.

In March 1994, FIFA ranked Croatia 125th in the world. It was the country’s first appearance on the list after independence.

In January 1999 it achieved its best performance and greatest success – finishing third and earning “bronze” at the France ’98 World Cup. Croatia almost always manages to reach the world cup finals. Since its first appearance on the international scene, it has only missed out on the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Croatia struggled to reach Brazil

after having finished second in its group and only qualifying after a play-off against Iceland (0-0, 2-0) and the change of its coach. After the defeat to Belgium in Zagreb coach Igor Štimac was sacked and former international player Niko Kovač was appointed. The stars of the team are Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modrić, Bayern Munich striker Mario Mandžukić and Sevilla midfielder Ivan Rakitić.

DID YOU KNOW? • There were a total of 13 teams in the first World Cup. Besides host nation Uruguay, there were Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, France, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, the United States and Yugoslavia.

Frenchman Lucien Laurent scored the first ever World Cup goal in the nineteenth minute of France’s 4-1 win over Mexico on the opening day of the 1930 tournament, held in Uruguay.

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PLAYERS TO WATCH

BRAZIL:

CROATIA:

MEXICO:

CAMEROON:

Neymar is Brazil’s biggest star in a squad without a lot of big names, so all eyes will be on him when the hosts begin their campaign against Croatia.

Luka Modrić is the backbone of the Croatian national team and has become a regular in Real Madrid’s central midfield.

Oribe Peralta was the star in Mexico’s gold medal victory at the London Olympics and is set to lead the national team’s attack at the World Cup.

This four-time African Player of the Year is in the twilight of his career, but he is still capable of blistering performances.

Neymar

Luka Modric

MEXICO

Oribe Peralta

Samuel Eto’o

CAMEROON

Olympic Champions

African "Lions"

The two biggest world cup successes of Mexico are the two quarter-finals it reached when hosting the tournament twice – in 1970 and 1986 – when they were close to achieving a semi-final berth and were only eliminated on penalties by Germany. Mexico is one of the most regular participants of the football world cup (15 times), having only missed out on four tournaments: two before the war (1934 and 1938) and two after (1974 and 1990).

Mexico’s last major success was at the Olympics in London, where they beat Brazil 2-1 in the final. At least 11 players from the gold-winning Olympic team will be heading to Brazil: goalkeeper Jesus Corona, defenders Israel Jimenez, Hiram Mier and Diego Reyes, midfielders Javier Aquino, Marco Fabian, Hector Herrera and Carlos Salcido, and strikers Giovani dos Santos, Raul Jimenez and Oribe Peralta.

Mexico qualified for Brazil via a play-off against New Zealand (51, 4-2), after only completing the final North America, Central America and Caribbean Group in fourth position, behind the United States,

Cameroon gained its independence on January 1st 1960 and made its first appearance in the greatest football torunament at the Spain ’82 world cup, when it unhappily went out unbeaten at the second stage. It drew all three games in the group, but many Cameroonian players showed great talent at the tournament, primarily striker Roger Mila and goalkeeper Thomas Nkono.

After missing out on playing in Mexico in 1986, at Italy ’90 Cameroon managed to reach the quarter-finals, where they fell heroically in their knock-out match against England after extra time (2-3), with Gary Lineker’s 83rd minute penalty leading to extra time.

In its next four world cup appearances (1994, 1998, 2002, 2010) Cameroon failed to advance beyond the first group stage, but it did become a constant participant at the world cup, with a number of prominent players going on to ply their trade at major European clubs.

Cameroon has been the champion of African four times (1984, 1988, 2000, 2002).

Costa Rica and Honduras, with two wins, five draws and three defeats and a negative goal difference of 7-9.

The impact forces of Mexico include attackers Oribe Peralta, scorer of 10 goals in qualifying, and Manchester United player Javier Hernandez, popularly known as “Chicharito”. Mexico also changed its coach repeatedly during qualifying. It began the campaign with Jose Manuel de la Torre, continued with Victor Manuel Vucetich and ended the play-offs with Miguel Herrera, the 45-year-old former footballer whose future status depends on results in Brazil.

Cameroon qualified for Brazil by securing first place in its group, ahead of Libya, the Republic of Congo and Togo, before going on to defeat Tunisia in its two-leg play-off encounter - 0-0 away and 4-1 at home.

The star of the current team is still 33-year-old Chelsea striker Samuel Eto’o, who is the top scorer in the history of the national team (41 goals in 86 matches). It is interesting that player Jean-Armel Kana-Biyik, born 1989, is the son of André Kana-Biyik, who shone for Cameroon at the 1990 world cup in Italy.

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GROUP

B

SCHEDULE

MATCH TO WATCH

13.06.2014

Spain - Netherlands

18.06.2014

13.06.2014

Chile - Australia

23.06.2014 Australia - Spain

18.06.2014

Australia - Netherlands

23.06.2014 Netherlands - Chile

SPAIN

Spain - Chile

Spain vs. Netherlands

NETHERLANDS

World Champions

Eternal Aspirant

The Spanish national team has dominated world and European football for the last six years. The team first won the European title in 2008, then the World Cup in 2010, and again the European championships in 2012. All three titles were won with more or less the same generation of players and the same style of play, known as “tiki-taka”, which means superior possession and goals scored by the way of playing and not the player.

By the will of the draw, the finalists from the 2010 World Cup in Johannesburg, Spain and the Netherlands, will play the first match in their group. The Dutch passed through qualifications unbeaten, winning nine of their ten games and drawing one, with a total goal difference of 345. As many as 11 of those 35 goals were scored by Robin van Persie (Manchester United), while Rafel van der Vaart (Hamburger SF) and Jeremain Lens (Dynamo Kiev) scored five each, three were scored by Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich) and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Shalke 04) and Bruno Martins (Feyenord) both scored a brace.

The Netherlands has a very experienced team. Attackers Van Persie, Robben, Huntelaar and Dirk Kuyt are all 30, while midfielder Wesley Sneijder and defender Ron Vlaar are both 29. Defender John Heitinga is also 30 years old. The younger forces include Jordy Clasie (Feyenord, 22), Daley Blind (Ajax, 24) and Bruno Martins (Feyenord, 22). This should be enough for coach Louis van Gaal to make a good mix of youth and experience.

Spain made it through the qualification stage with no problems, winning six of their eight matches and drawing two to finish the group three points ahead of second-placed France. The fundamental question is whether the main players that lifted Spain to the top of the world in the last six years have enough strength and ambition to repeat the success.

Captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas is 32 years old, while other Spanish veterans include Xavi Hernandez (34), Xabi Alonso (32), David Villa (32), Alvaro Arbeloa (31) and reserve goalkeeper Pepe Reina (31). At full playing maturity are Andres Iniesta (29), Cesc Fabregas (26), Sergio Ramos (27), Gerard Pique (27), Sergio Busquets (25), David Silva (28), Juan Mata (25), Fernandno Torres (29), Fernandno Llorente (29) and Raul Albiol (28).

All three major titles were won by Casillas, Xavi, Iniesta, Sergio Ramos, Torres, Fabregas, Xabi Alonso, David Silva, Arbeloa, Raul Albiol and Pepe Reina. They should all be performing in Brazil.

A major boost in attack is Diego Costa, a Brazilian who also has Spanish nationality. Experienced coach Vicente del Bosque has introduced young players as part of plans to painlessly implement a change of generations, but it is clear that the most experienced players will have to perform their best in Brazil.

With 84 matches on Spain’s bench, the current coach holds the record among the 51 coaches who have led the Spanish national team.

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The Netherlands has been world cup runner-up three times, in 1974, 1978 and 2010, and was foruth at France ‘98. This country has provided numerous great players and coaches, but only one title (European Champion 1988) is insufficient considering the football potential of this country.

DID YOU KNOW? • The only player to score four goals in one match and still end up on the losing side was Poland's Ernst Willimowski, against Brazil in 1938. Leonidas of Brazil also scored four goals in that match, which his team won 6-5.

ERNST WILLIMOWSKI

PLAYERS TO WATCH

SPAIN:

NETHERLANDS:

CHILE:

AUSTRALIA:

Spain's wealth of midfield talent is a key differencemaker for the world champions and Andres Iniesta is a key cog in that engine.

Dribbling along the right wing, cutting inside and curling a leftfoot shot into the far top corner.

Robben's been doing it for years and still defenders struggle to stop him.

The attacking skills of Barcelona forward Alexis Sanchez make him Chile's most lethal offensive weapon.

At 34 and playing in his third World Cup, midfielder Tim Cahill is expected to be the heart of the team in Brazil.

Andres Iniesta

Arjen Robben

CHILE

Alexis Sanchez

Tim Cahill

AUSTRALIA

View to the Past

Third Consecutive Appearance

Chileans can boast that they were one of only 13 teams that competed in the first World Cup in Uruguay in 1930, finishing fifth. In Brazil in 1950 they came ninth, while as the host nation in 1962 they finished third – marking by far the country’s greatest success. The most famous Chilean players of the past are Leonel Sanchez, Carlos Caszely, Ivan Zamorano and Marcelo Salas, who is also the top scorer in the history of the national team, with 37 goals.

Australia’s first ever world cup appearance came in West Germany in 1974, which was followed by a break until the country again qualified for the next world cup to be hosted by a now-unified Germany, in 2006. By qualifying for the second knock-out stage, behind group winners Brazil but ahead of Croatia and Japan, the Australians recorded their best ever world cup result. They went on to be immediately knocked out under extremely unfortunate circumstances by Italy, with legendary striker Francesco Totti sealing their fate in the fifth minute of stoppage time with a shot from a non-existent penalty!

In South Africa in 2010 the Australian team did not manage to make it as far as the second round, although it did achieve a memorable 2-1 victory over Serbia.

This will be Australia’s third consecutive world cup appearance, with the team qualifying for Brazil via the Asian qualifiers. Australia finished their qualifying group second behind Japan, having twice played out 1-1 draws with the Japanese and doing enough to ensure that both teams qualified.

The top scorer in qualifying (five goals) was Joshua Kennedy (32), who plays for Japanese club Nagoya. Three goals in qualification were scored by veteran Tim Cahill (34), who has been voted the best footballer in Australia in recent years. He now plays for New York’s Red Bulls, but became famous in England while playing for Milwall (19972004) and Everton (2004-2012).

Chile completed the gruelling South American qualification campaign (16 matches) in third place (9 wins, 1 draw, 6 losses), thereby qualifying directly. Two matches were played by Milovan Mirošević, a player with obvious origins in the former Yugoslavia. For the second consecutive time Chile has managed to “link” two participations in the world championships (1962 and 1966; 2010 and 2014). In South Africa the Chileans finished 10th and they will struggle to repeat that achievement in Brazil.

The top current players are Barcelona striker Alexis Sanchez, scorer of four goals in qualifying, Eduardo Vargas from Valencia, who scored five qualification goals, and Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal.

The coach is a 54-year-old Argentine Jorge Luis Sampaoli, who is a four-time champion of Chile at club level with Universidad Catolica.

BERT PATENAUDE

• The first player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup match was United States' striker Bert Patenaude against Paraguay in the first round of the 1930 World Cup. Some records wrongly have the first player scoring a hat-trick as Guillermo Stabile of Argentina in their 6:3 win over Mexico on 19th July 1930, two days after Patenaude.

Most of the Australian national team’s players make a living in Europe and several of them originate from the former Yugoslavia: Saša Ognjenovski, Matthew Špiranović, Tom Rogić, Dario Vidošić, Ivan Franjić et al.

The coach is 48-year-old Australian of Greco-Turkish origin Angelos “Ange” Postecoglou.

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GROUP

C

SCHEDULE

MATCH TO WATCH

14.06.2014

Colombia - Greece

19.06.2014

14.06.2014

Ivory Coast - Japan

24.06.2014 Japan - Colombia

19.06.2014

Colombia - Ivory Coast

24.06.2014 Greece - Ivory Coast

COLOMBIA

After participating in the world cups of 1962, 1990, 1994 and 1998, Colombia missed out on the next three championships. However, the team qualified for Brazil with some certainty, finishing second in their group with 30 points, two less than Argentina. From its 16 matches, Colombia secured 9 wins, 3 draws and 4 losses. They scored 27 goals and conceded 13. Exactly one third of those goals were scored by Monaco striker Radamel Falcao Garcia, but the problem is that in January he had an operation on his torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee and it is still uncertain whether he will recover in time to compete at the world cup.

Without him, Colombia is 50% weaker. The 27-year-old, known by the nickname “Tiger”, has “football genes”, with his father having played football and his second name, Falcao, being given in homage to the Brazilian ace Paulo Roberto Falcao, his father’s idol.

Almost all of the players available to coach José Pékerman, the Argentinian who led his home country to victory in the Germany 2006 World Cup, play their club football abroad. In defence is the irreplaceable Pablo Armero, the 27-year-old West Ham United defender, while in the midfield is 25-year-old Fiorentina player Juan Guillermo Cuadrado and FC Toulouse’s Abel Aguiliar (28). Up front the most effective after Falcao, with six goals in qualifying, is Teofilo Gutierrez (28) from River Plate.

Interestingly, reserve goalkeeper Faryd Camilo Mondragon, known as “El Turco” (The Turk) – though he is of Lebanese origin – will have his 43rd birthday during the championships, on 21st June, and if he is called on to play he will probably be the oldest participant of the World Cup in Brazil. Colombia has a good chance to qualify for the second round, but much depends on whether Falcao will play and how he will perform after coming back from serious injury.

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Greece vs. Ivory Coast

GREECE

Waiting for "Tiger"

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Japan - Greece

World Football Championship

Renaissance in the 21st Century Up to the start of the 21st century Greece had only had two (unremarkable) performances at major international competitions: at the European Championships in Italy in 1980 (1 draw and 2 losses) and at the 1994 World Cup in the U.S. (3 losses).

The renaissance of Greek football began in the early years of the 21st century. Olympiakos and Panathinaikos are frequent participants in the Champions League and the Greek national team exploded at the

2004 European Championships in Portugal, when Greece unexpectedly became continental champion under the leadership of German expert Otto Rehhagel. Since then Greece has regularly competed at the European Championships (2008, 2012) and also played at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The continuity is visible.

They qualified for Brazil after a play-off against Romania (3-1, 1-1), mainly thanks to Olympiakos centre forward Konstantinos Mitroglou, who scored five goals in qualifying - three against the Romanians.

The only remaining member of the team that triumphed in Portugal in 2004 is 32-year-old striker Dimitrios Papadopoulos (Atromitos FC).

The main player in the midfield is 33-year-old Kostas Katsouranis, a member of PAOK from Thessaloniki, who holds a record number of international caps (98 by mid-April 2014). In defence the key figure is Roma’s Vasileios Torosidis.

Since 1st July 2010 the national team coach has been Portugal’s Fernando Santos, who in his home country has coached Porto, Sporting Lisbon and Benfica, as well as plying his trade in Greece with PAOK, AEK and Panathinaikos.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

COLOMBIA:

GREECE:

IVORY COAST:

JAPAN:

"El Tigre” is by far the biggest name in Colombia's squad, but it remains uncertain whether Radamel Falcao will be able to showcase his talent in Brazil due to a knee injury.

With 132 national team appearances, he has the most caps in Greek history and remains a presence that can still turn a game.

Drogba is the country's leading scorer, with 64 international goals and 157 in 341 matches in a Chelsea career packed with medals.

Widely regarded as Japan's best player, 27-year-old Keisuke Honda is AC Milan's attacking midfielder.

Ramadel Falcao

Giorgos Karagounis

IVORY COAST

Didier Drogba

Keisuke Honda

JAPAN

Drogba, Ivory Symbol

Constant Progress

It is not known whether Didier Drogba (36), the Ivory Coast’s best and most famous footballer, intends to continue to play club football. However, it is highly unlikely that the World Cup in Brazil will be his last major tournament. This expressive goal scorer (63 goals in 99 matches for the national team) was the scorer of the first goal for his country in its first world cup outing at Germany 2006. He has long been a symbol of his country and its football and has been voted African Player of the Year twice: in 2006 and 2009.

The Ivory Coast is set to compete at the world cup for the third consecutive time, which demonstrates the stability of the country’s football and the fact that it belongs to the top echelon of the game in Africa. In the play-off for Brazil the “Ivories” defeated Tunisia 3-1 and 1-1, with Drogba scoring one goal and his successor, Lille hit-man Salomon Kalou, scoring two. Alongside these two, the other stars

The first major success for Japanese football came way back at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico (bronze medal), but more serious progress only began in the early 1990s. The Japanese have learned football from foreign experts. Dutchman Hans Ooft led them to their first of four Asian titles in 1992. He was succeeded by coaches Paulo Roberto Falcao (Brazil), Philippe Toussier (France), Zico (Brazil), Ivica Osim (Bosnia &

of the team are midfielders Yaya Toure (Manchester City), Romaric (Bastia), Emmanuel Kone (CFR Cluj), while the towers of defence are Kolo Toure (Liverpool) and Emmanuel Eboue (Galatasaray).

Coach Sabri Lamouche (43), is a French expert of Tunisian origin. He has been Ivory Coast coach since 2009, when he finished his playing career.

DID YOU KNOW? • The highest attendance at a World Cup match was 199,854 at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janerio for the 1950 final between Uraguay and Brazil.

Herzegovina) and Italian Alberto Zaccheroni, who is still on the bench.

The result of constant progress is Japan’s fifth consecutive appearance at the World Cup, starting in France in 1998.

Japan perhaps lacks big stars, but several of its players ply their trade for leading European clubs, which provides unequivocal confirmation of their quality. AC Milan midfielder Keisuke Honda scored five goals in six qualifying games. Striker Shinji Kagawa plays for Manchester United, while defender Yuto Nagatomo plays for Inter Milan and six other Japan internationals play in Germany’s Bundesliga.

Zaccheroni (61) formerly coached Bologna, Udinese, AC Milan, Lazio, Inter Milan, Torino and Juventus. He has been on the bench for Japan since 2010 and his top success to date is the Asian title of 2011.

• Cameroon’s Roger Milla is the oldest player to have played at the World Cup - he was 42 years and 39 days old when he played his last match against Russia in 1994. Northern Ireland’s Norman Whiteside is the youngest ever finals player, being just 17 years and 41 days when he took the field against Yugoslavia in 1982.

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GROUP

D

SCHEDULE

MATCH TO WATCH

14.06.2014

Uruguay - Costa Rica

20.06.2014

Italy - Costa Rica

14.06.2014

England - Italy

24.06.2014

Costa Rica - England

19.06.2014

Uruguay - England

24.06.2014

Italy - Uruguay

URUGUAY

England vs. Italy

COSTA RICA

Return to the Site of Success

Dreaming of the Second Phase

Uruguay qualified for Brazil through the play-offs after finishing fifth in the South American qualifiers, with 7 wins, 5 draws and 5 losses. Their two-leg play-off tie against Jordan did not pose a problem, with Uruguay winning 5-0 at home and drawing the the second leg 0-0.

For the Uruguayans heading to Brazil means returning to the site of their last great success - in 1950. In Rio de Janeiro they won their second world title. After that the country twice made the semi-finals (1954, 2010). With 3.4 million inhabitants, Uruguay is the smallest country ever to be crowned world champions.

Costa Rica first appeared at the World Cup in Italy in 1990 and, under the leadership of Mexican coach of Serbian origin, Velibor “Bora” Milutinović, reached the knockout stages – marking by far the country’s greatest success to date. In its last two appearances, 2002 and 2006, Costa Rica failed to pass the first round, which is why making it to the last 16 this time would represent a major feat.

Costa Rica qualified for Brazil relatively safely, finishing second in the American-Caribbean qualifying group, behind the United States. The top player in qualifying was Real Madrid striker Alvaro Saborio (32), who hails from Salt Lake City (USA). He scored eight goals in 15 matches, while the other prominent attacker is 21-yearold Joel Campbell, who plays his club football for Olympiacos and scored three goals in qualifying. The top defensive player is 26-year-old Giancarlo Gonzales, who plays for U.S. club Columbus Crew. One of the few players from the domestic league is defender Michael Umana (31, Saprissa). The main playmakers in the midfield are Celso Borges (25, AIK Stockholm) and Christian Bolanos

The strongest part of the current team is its attack. Liverpool striker Luis Suarez shone in qualifying with 11 goals in 16 games, while Edinson Cavani (Paris Saint Germain) scored six and 34-yearold veteran Diego Forlan (Osaka) scored two. The country’s best players all play either in Europe or Brazil and Argentina. Defensive pillar Diego Godin has been brilliant for Atletico Madrid, much like Martin Caceres for Juventus, Maximiliano Pereira for Benfica and Alvaro Pereira for Sao Paulo, while goalkeeper Fernandno Muslera plays his club football for Galatasaray. In the midfield is the irreplaceable Egidio Aravali, who plays for Mexico’s Monarcas Morelia, while other regulars include Alvaro Gonzalez of Lazio and Christian Rodriguez from Atletico Madrid, who can also score goals and netted three in qualifying.

Since 2006 the coach is once again Oscar Washington Tabarez (67), who has already led Uruguay at the world cups in 1990 and 2010.

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(29, FC Copenhagen). Costa Rica’s most famous player was Paulo Wanchope (38), who retired in 2008 after 73 appearances and 45 goals for the national team. He played his club football in England, Argentina, Japan and the United States.

The coach is Colombian Jose Luis Pinto (61), who held this position from 2004 to 2005, before briefly coaching his home country in 2007 and becoming Costa Rica coach again in 2011.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

URUGUAY:

COSTA RICA:

ENGLAND:

ITALY:

He is expected to be Uruguay's main threat. He is having his best season with Liverpool and could get the team back into the Champions League for the first time since 2010.

Bryan Ruiz is the most established Costa Rican player in Europe and its best known after his stint in the Premier League with Fulham.

With 38 goals in 89 international matches, Rooney is the one truly world class striker in the England squad.

When Mario Balotelli gets his mind in focus, there is often no stopping him. He can score goals or find the target with wellplaced free kicks or penalties.

Luis Suarez

Bryan Ruiz

ENGLAND

Looking to the Past The English invented football and that supposedly gave them the right to ignore the three pre-war world cups. The first time they showed up was in Brazil in 1950, when they experienced one of the biggest negative surprises in the history of the sport by losing to the dilettantes from the United States 1-0, which many years later inspired the Americans to commemorate this accomplishment of their players by making the film The Game of Their Lives (2005). With the exception of the title won on home soil in 1966, the English have had no noticeable results. They have gone out in the quarter-finals of the last three world cups.

England heads to every tournament with a lot of hope, but returns disappointed. Will Brazil be any different? That’s unlikely.

This world cup will be the national team swansong for several veterans, such as Frank Lampard (35, Chelsea), captain Steven Gerard (33, Liverpool), Ashley Cole, (33, Chelsea) and perhaps Jermain Defoe (31, Toronto) and Phil Jagielka (31, Everton).

England’s new generation includes Tottenham defender Kyle Walker (23), Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge (24) and midfielders Jack Wilshere (22, Arsenal) and Theo Walcot (25, Arsenal) – though there is a question mark over whether Walcot will recover from cruciate ligament surgery in time.

At the peak of his power is the team’s star Wayne Rooney (28), scorer of seven goals in six games in qualifying. Also in their prime are defensive pillars Glen Johnson (29, Liverpool) and Leighton Baines (29, Everton), as well as Manchester City midfielder James Milner (28).

Coach Roy Hodgson (66) is not worried about his position.

Regardless of the outcome in Brazil, he will remain at the helm of the national team until (at least) 2016. Interestingly, he has already coached the national teams of Finland and the United Arab Emirates.

Wayne Rooney

Mario Balotelli

ITALY

Always Among the Favourites Never in the history of the world cup have three former world champions competed together in the first group stage of the tournament. However, this is the case in Brazil, where Italy (4), Uruguay (2) and England (1) have a combined total of seven world titles.

Along with Brazil, Italy is the most regular participant in world cups – having competed in 18 of the 20 so far played. Italy’s worst result came four years ago, when it fell in the first group stage. Coach Cesare Prandelli (56) has composed a great mix of experienced players, like goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon (36, Juventus), defenders Andrea Barzagli (32, Juventus) and Christian Maggio (31, Napoli), midfielders Andrea Pirlo (34, Juventus) and Thiago Motta (31, PSG), striker Alberto Gilardino (31, Genoa) and several players in their prime: midfielders Ricardo Montolivo (29, Milan), Emanuele Giaccherini (28, Sunderland) and Claudio Marchisio (28, Juventus).

The team’s younger and better players include AC Milan striker Mario Balotelli (24), who is joined up front by Pablo Osvaldo (27, Juventus). These two scored nine goals in qualifying. It is undoubtedly a tough group, but it would be a surprise if the Azzurri failed to make it to the second phase.

DID YOU KNOW? • The 2010 World Cup was the first with no debutant nations, although two of the qualifiers (Slovakia and Serbia) had previously appeared only as parts of former competing nations.

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GROUP

E

SCHEDULE

MATCH TO WATCH

15.06.2014

Switzerland - Ecuador

20.06.2014

Honduras - Ecuador

15.06.2014

France - Honduras

25.06.2014

Honduras - Switzerland

20.06.2014

Switzerland - France

25.06.2014

Ecuador - France

SWITZERLAND

ECUADOR

Dreaming of the Quarter-finals

Constant Progress

History says that Swiss football has a gap of 79 years between medals. The Swiss were finalists at the Paris Olympics of 1924 and the next time they were on the podium was at the 2002 Under-17s European Championships, where they took first place. However, in Nigeria in 2009 they became world champions in the same category.

Switzerland is competing at its 10th World Cup. After a long pause between 1970 and 1990 when the country failed to qualify, it played in 1994 and 2006 (last-16) and 2010 (group stage). As such, eventually reaching a quarter-final in Brazil would be more than a dream come true. In a qualification group that included Slovenia, Iceland, Norway and Albania, the Swiss had no problem qualifying. Their top scorer in qualifying, with three goals, was Fabian Schar, FC Basel’s 23-yearold centre-back. The team is based on naturalised players whose parents or who themselves arrived in Switzerland as a result of economic and political developments in recent decades: Gokhan Inler (Napoli), Blerim Dzemaili (Napoli), Xheridan Shaquiri (Bayern Munich), Mario Gavranović (FC Zurich), Haris Seferović (Real Sociedad), Joseph Drmić (FC Nurnberg), Granit Xhaka (Borussia Monchengladbach), Pajtim Kasami (Fulham FC), Eren Derdiyok (Bayer Leverkusen) etc.

One of Switzerland’s top players is defender Philipe Senderos (28, Valencia), while in the middle of the pitch the standout performer is Tranquillo Barnetta (28, Eintracht Frankfurt), who has 66 international caps.

The Swiss have been coached since 2008 by German Ottmar Hitzfeld (65), a former coach of Germany and trainer of several top clubs in Germany and Switzerland.

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World Football Championship

Ecuador had never participated in the world cup prior to 2002, but since making its debut appearance in Japan and Korea it has only missed out on the tournament in South Africa. The country’s greatest success, 12th place, was recorded in Germany in 2006, when they defeated Poland (2-0) and Costa Rica (3-0) before losing to England (0-1) in the last-16. It is less well known that Serbian expert Dušan Drašković contributed to the development of football in Ecuador. He was national team coach in two cycles and marked the country’s greatest success by securing fourth place at the South American championships of 1993.

In qualifying this time Ecuador beat Paraguay, Colombia, Uruguay

and Chile, as well as securing a draw against Argentina. At the end of qualifying Ecuador finished fourth, equal on points with Uruguay but with a better goal difference, which meant Uruguay had to compete in a qualification play-off.

The top player in qualifying was 25-year-old striker Felipe Caicedo, who plays for Al-Jazira in the UAE Arabian Gulf League and scored 7 of 20 goals in qualifying. In July 2013 Ecuador lost attacker Christian Benitez (27), who contributed 4 goals in the qualifying campaign, before dying suddenly of a heart attack in Doha after signing for club El Jaish SC. The most well-known Ecuadorian is Manchester United striker Antonio Valencia (28). A notable addition to the midfield is Christian Noboa, who plays for Moscow Dynamo, while defender Fricson Erazo (25) plies his trade at Brazilian club Flamengo.

The coach is Colombian (with Honduran citizenship) Reinaldo Rueda (56). It is interesting that three Colombian coaches will sit on the benches in Brazil. Alongside Rueda will be Jorge Luis Pinto (Costa Rica) and Luis Fernando Suarez (Honduras), while Colombia itself is being coached by an Argentine.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

SWITZERLAND:

ECUADOR:

FRANCE:

HONDURAS:

Gokhan Inler (Napoli, Italy) The destructive Inler will be key in providing Switzerland with resilience in midfield.

With his ability to fill in at right-back, as well as his more customary position higher up the flank, Valencia will be an extremely useful member of Ecuador's squad.

The key player to watch out in the side is Frank Ribery, the Bayern Munich forward who has been a contender for FIFA Footballer of the Year in 2014.

Palacios is an integral part of Honduras’ international set up with an abundance of experience, featuring 88 times for his country.

Gokhan Inler

Antonio Valencia

Frank Ribery

FRANCE

HONDURAS

Living on Former Glory France literally caught the last train to Brazil. After managing just second place in the qualifying group behind Spain, France was forced into a play-off and lost 0-2 to Ukraine in the first leg in Kiev. However, in the second leg the French team recorded a miraculous 3-0 victory that took the “Tricolour” to the World Cup. However, the French public do not have high expectations from a fluctuating team that is still living on its former glory – the world title of 1998 and European title of 2000 – although Zidane, Henry, Blanc, Deschamps and company have long since ceased playing.

The team is led on the field by Franck Ribery, one of the old guard (31, Bayern Munich), who scored five goals in qualifying. Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema (26) scored twice in qualifying, as did Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho (24). In the Spanish League the standout attacker is Antoine Griezmann (25), while the pillar of defence is Patrice Evra (32, Manchester United) and progress is being shown by young Raphael Varane (20, Real Madrid).

Coach Didier Deschamps (45) played for the national team 103 times, was a European club champion twice as a player (Olimpique Marseille, Juventus), and a champion of Europe and the world with France, who he has coached since 2012.

DID YOU KNOW? • The fastest goal in a World Cup match was by Turkey's Hakan Sükür after only 11 seconds against South Korea in 2002.

Wilson Palacios

HAKAN SÜKÜR

Second Consecutive Appearance For the first time in its history, Honduras is competing in the world cup for the second consecutive time. After securing just 30th place in South Africa in 2010, Honduras arrives in Brazil after securing third place among the qualifying six best teams (out of 35 who started the competition) of North America, Central America and the Caribbean, behind the United States and

Costa Rica. The most deserving for qualification is striker Carlo Costly (31), who plays his club football for Real C.D. Espana and scored seven goals in qualifying. Interestingly, his father Allan Costly played in the Spain ‘82 World Cup, when Honduras first appeared at the greatest festival of football. Carlo is a real globetrotter, having played club football in Poland, England, Romania, Mexico, the U.S., Greece and China!

Honduran players who compete in the stronger leagues include defenders Maynor Figueroa (30, Hull City) and Juan Carlos Garcia (26, Wigan), while midfielder Andy Najar plays for Belgian club Anderlecht.

The coach is Colombian Luis Fernandez Suarez (54). Prior to becoming national team coach he worked at several local clubs. At the Olympics in London he led the Under-23 selection, which beat Spain 1-0 and passed the first round of a FIFA competition for the first time.

• The latest goal was scored by David Platt of England, in their second round match against Belgium in 1990 after 119 minutes.

• The fastest hat-trick was scored by Hungary's Laszlo Kiss against El Salvador in 1982, when he scored after 70, 74 and 77 minutes.

DAVID PLATT

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GROUP

F

SCHEDULE 15.06.2014

Argentina - Bosnia & Herzegovina

16.06.2014 Iran - Nigeria 21.06.2014

Argentina - Iran

MATCH TO WATCH 21.06.2014

Nigeria - B&H

25.06.2014 Nigeria - Argentina

Argentina vs.

Bosnia & Herzegovina

25.06.2014 B&H - Iran

ARGENTINA

BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA

Waiting for Messi

Inconvenient Debutant

Argentina convincingly won first place in South American qualification, with nine wins, five draws and two defeats. And from the statistics that 24 of the 35 goals were scored by only three players it is easy to conclude that the attack is the strongest part of the team. Lionel Leo Messi (Barcelona) scored 10 goals, Gonzalo Higuain (now Naples, during qualifying Real Madrid) scored nine, while Sergio Kun Aguero (Manchester City) netted five. Messi (26) and Kun Aguero (25) were crowned 2005 junior world champions at the tournament in the Netherlands, but in Germany in 2006 and South Africa in 2010 Messi missed out on a better result, due to which his critics dispute the title bestowed upon him as the best player in the history of football. They say that, unlike Pele, Maradona, Zidane or Cruyff, he has not proved himself on the biggest

The only newcomer at the tournament in Brazil is the selection of Bosnia & Herzegovina. If the Bosnian footballers are competing in the world cup for the first time, their coach, Safet Sušić (58), is not.

He competed at the world cup twice, albeit as a player for the former Yugoslavia, in Spain ’82 and Italy ’90. He played in Sarajevo (1973-1982) and Paris Saint-Germain (1982-1991). “France Football” once named him the best foreigner in the history of PSG and the entire French league!

In qualifying Bosnia & Herzegovina defeated Greece, Slovakia, Lithuania and Liechtenstein, while the team’s strike force consists of attackers Edin Džeko (27) from Manchester City and Vedad Ibišević (29) from Stuttgart. Together they scored 18 goals in qualifying (10 + 8) and are followed well by attacking midfielder Zvijezdan Misimović (32 Dynamo Moscow), who scored five goals during qualification.

Sušić has put together a very compact squad. In goal is the reliable Asmir Begović (26, Stoke City), the defence is held together by Emir Spahić (33, Bayer Leverkusen), alongside Misimović, play in the middle is developed by Miralem Pjanić (23, Roma), Haris Medunjanin (28, Gaziantepspor, Turkey), Senad Lulić (28, Lazio) and Sejad Salihović (29, Hoffenheim).

world stage.

Argentina, twice world champions (1978, 1986), twice world cup runners-up (1930, 1990), four times quarter-finalists and nine times South American champions (last time in 2011) and, above all, a permanent nursery of top players, is always among the favourites.

Few Argentines play for local clubs. First-choice goalkeeper Sergio Romero (27) defends in Monaco, while the group of experienced defenders comprises Hugo Campagnaro (33, Inter), Pablo Zabaleta (29, Manchester City), Marcos Rojo (24, Sporting Lisbon), Ezequiel Garay (27, Benfica) and Javier Mascherano (29, Barcelona).

The main players in midfield are Angel di Maria (26, Real Madrid), followed by Ever Benega (25, Newells Old Boys), Fernandno Gago (Boca Juniors) and Lucas Biglia (28, Lazio).

The coach since 2011 is Alejandro Sabella (59), a former River Plate player who as a coach at Estrudiantes won the Copa Libertadores, the South American Champions League.

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It would not be a surprise to see Bosnia & Herzegovina get through the first group stage and emerge as one of the more pleasant surprises of the tournament. They will be a very inconvenient debutant for some.

DID YOU KNOW? • Bora Milutinović coached in every tournament between 1986 and 2002 but for different teams: Mexico, Costa Rica, USA, Nigeria and China.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

ARGENTINA:

B&H:

IRAN:

NIGERIA:

The key player in the squad, Messi has elevated himself to the level of the greatest football icons by being FIFA Footballer of the Year 3 times.

Bosnia's key player is impressive Manchester City forward Edin Džeko, with a record of 10 goals in qualifying.

The key player to watch in Iran's squad is Javad Nekounam (midfielder). He currently plays for Kuwaiti club Al Kuwait SC.

Emenike was nominated for the 2013 CAF African player of the year award. He is rugged, quick on the ball and scores many crucial goals for his national team.

Lionel Messi

Edin Dzeko

IRAN

On the Hunt for a Surprise Iran had a bad start to Asian qualification, but made up for it with the finish, especially with two 1-0 wins against rival South Korea, allowing Iran to take first place with 16 points, two more than the Koreans.

Iran’s top scorer in qualifying was midfielder Javad Nekounam (28), who scored six goals. He was a noteworthy competitor at the World Cup in Germany in 2006 and has played in the United Arab Emirates and Osasuna in Pamplona

(Spain) for six years (2006-2012). By the end of 2013 he had played 141 matches for the national team and scored as many as 37 goals.

Another prominent player is striker Mohammad Khalatabri (30), who has spent most of his career playing for Iranian clubs, although in 2011/12 he made a short trip to Qatar and the Emirates. One of Iran’s few players in Western Europe is Reza Ghoochannejhad (26), who has just signed for Charlton Athletic from Standard Liege, having previously spent six years playing in the Netherlands. Striker Andranik Teymourian has been based in England since 2006, first at Bolton Wanderers and, since 2008, at Fulham. He scored two goals in 12 qualification matches. Winger Sezed Ashkan Dejagah (28) also currently plies his trade in England (Fulham), after spending eight years in Germany (Hertha Berlin, VfL Wolfsburg).

In its three previous world cup appearances (1978, 1998, 2006), Iran has never made it to the second round, having achieved only one win (2-1 against the United States in France ’98) in nine games.

However, Iran has been crowned Asian champion three times.

On the bench for Iran since 2011 is Portugal’s Carlos Queiroz (61), a former coach of the Portugal national team and a former Real Madrid trainer.

Javad Nekounam

Emmanuel Emenike

NIGERIA

Black Pearls If one country, like Nigeria, has four world Under-17 titles (1985, 1993, 2007, 2013), a gold medal from the Olympic Games in Atlanta (1996) and two finals of the world Under-20 championships, it is clear that we are talking about a permanent factory of talent. However, in four previous world cup appearances Nigeria’s senior national team has made the last-16 twice (1994, 1998) and gone out in the first group stage twice (2002, 2010).

Nigerian football’s “black pearls” are scattered around the world.

The most prominent names are John Obi Mikel (26, Chelsea), Ahmed Musa (21, CSKA Moscow), Joseph Yobo (33, Norwich City), Ogenyi Onazi (21, Lazio), Victor Moses (23, Liverpool), Shola Ameobi (32, Newcastle United) et al.

Nigeria is led to Brazil by a domestic national team coach. After ending his playing career in Africa, Europe and the United States in

1999, Stephen Keshi (52) became a coach and in 2011 was appointed to coach his national team. Alongside Egyptian Mahmoud El-Gohary, he is the only other person to have won the title of African champion as a player (1994) and a coach (2013).

DID YOU KNOW? • Fuleco is the Brazil World Cup 2014 mascot, a cartoon armadillo, modelled on the three-banded armadillo, an endangered species which is indigenous to Brazil and known as the "tatu-bola". The name is derived from a combination of the Portuguese words for football (futebol) and ecology (ecologia).

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GROUP

G

SCHEDULE

MATCH TO WATCH

16.06.2014

Germany - Portugal

25.06.2014

Germany - Ghana

16.06.2014

Ghana - USA

26.06.2014

Portugal - Ghana

26.06.2014

USA - Germany

22.06.2014 USA - Portugal

GERMANY

Germany vs. Portugal

PORTUGAL

Always at the Top

Looking to Ronaldo

Germany, under various names, has missed only two of the 20 football world cups ever played. Germans chose not to compete in the first world cup in 1930, while in the fourth world cup, in Brazil in 1950, the country was unable to compete because the wounds of World War II were still fresh.

However, it “compensated” for this when two Germanies competed in the 1974 World Cup, with West Germany becoming world champions and East Germany only losing to the team from the western part of the then divided country. Germany has been crowned world champion three times (1954, 1974, 1990) and has played more world cup finals than any other country: a total of seven. Its first match in Brazil, against Portugal, will be Germany’s 100th world cup match. Germany has even played two more matches than Brazil, which is the only country to have competed in all 20 world cups. At the last three championships Germany has finished second once and third twice. As always, they are among the favourites to take the title in Brazil.

Germany’s road to Brazil sent the team through Austria, the Republic of Ireland, Kazakhstan, the Faroe Islands and Sweden, with whom they played two spectacular matches: 4-4 in Germany and 3-5 in Stockholm, after the home team had led 2-0 and the star of the match, with three goals, was young André Schürrle (22, Chelsea). He scored a total of four goals in qualifying, as did Thomas Müller (24, Bayern Munich) and veteran Miroslav Klose (35, Lazio), a striker who has scored 68 goals for Germany in 129 appearances and surpassed the legendary Gerd Müller. At the last three world cups he scored 5+5+4 goals and if he heads to Brazil he will have the chance to overtake Brazilian Ronaldo, the top scorer in the history of the world cup, with 14 goals.

The German team is packed with stars and almost half of them play for Bayern Munich, while coach Joachim Low (54) has been leading the German national team since July 2006.

At the beginning of 2014 Portugal lost one of its greatest football legends: Eusébio da Silva.

The legendary Benfica striker scored nine goals at the World Cup in 1966, when Portugal participated for the first time and achieved a third place finish. Nowadays Portugal has another legend, Cristiano Ronaldo, the 2013 World Footballer of the Year and the top scorer in the history of the Portugal national team (49 goals in 110 matches), 8 more than Eusébio and two more than Pauleta. Ronaldo scored eight goals in qualifying, four in the play-off ties against Sweden. He was the only goal scorer against the

Swedes in Lisbon and then in the second leg in the Stockholm spectacle the result was Sweden-Portugal 2-3, Ibrahimović-Ronaldo 2-3!

If a team has Ronaldo in its ranks it can fantasize about anything, particularly if it also has Helder Postiga (31, Lazio) and Silvestre Varela (28, Benfica), comprising one of the best attacking line-ups. Behind them in the midfield opportunites are supplied by Nani (full name Luis Carlos Almeida da Cunha) from Manchester United, Ricardo Quaresma (30, Porto) and Raul Meireles (30, Fenerbahce), while the defence is shored up by Fabio Coentrao (25) and Pepe (30), both from Real Madrid, and Ricardo Costa (32) and Joao Pereira (29), both from Valencia. The team’s first choice goalkeeper is Rui Patricio (26, Sporting Lisbon).

Coach Paulo Bento (44) played 35 times for the national team and has coached it since 2010.

DID YOU KNOW? • Shirt swapping was once officially prohibited in 1986 because FIFA did not want players to 'bare their chests' on the field.

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PLAYERS TO WATCH

GERMANY:

PORTUGAL:

GHANA:

USA:

Müller (Bayern Munich) can play anywhere across the frontline and has an incredible knack of scoring hugely important goals at vital times.

Arguably the best player in the world today, he has been nothing short of extraordinary over the last few years.

A real stalwart in the leftsided berth for Juventus, Asamoah offers the same energetic presence in this Ghana side.

A budding midfielder who’s reputation is continually growing in Italy. Expect Bradley to turn a few heads with some strong performances in Brazil.

Thomas Müller

Cristiano Ronaldo

GHANA

Kwadwo Asamoah

Michael Bradley

USA

Black Stars

Regular and Inconvenient

Despite only becoming a factor on the world stage in this century, with two world cup appearances to date (quarter-finalists in 2006 and 2010), Ghana has been a force in African football for a long time. Crowned African champions four times (1963, 1965, 1978, 1982), Ghana also has a bronze medal from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and its Under-20s team has been world champion in 2009, world runner-up in 1993 and 2001 and African champions three times. The country’s Under-17 team has been the best in the world twice (1991, 1995) and losing finalists twice (1993, 1997), as well as being champions of Africa twice. Ghana is a seemingly inexhaustible source of talent.

Ghana’s best players compete all over the world and the most famous are midfielders Kwadwo Asamoah (23, Juventus), Kevin-Prince

In December 2013, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the establishing of the U.S. Football Federation, the country’s best team of all time was selected: Brad FriedelMarcelo Balboa, Carlos Bocanegra, Steve Cherundolo, Eddie Pope-Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Tab Ramos, Claudio Reyna-Brian McBride and Eric Wynalda.

With the exception of Balboa and Tab Ramos, who began playing for the national team in 1988, all others are from the period between

Boateng, (26, Schale 04) and Emmanuel Badu (21, Udinese), as well as attackers Asamoah Gzan (26, Al-Ain) and Sulley Muntari (30, AC Milan).

Coach of the “black stars”, as the world press dubs Ghana’s national team, is 54-year-old former international player James Akwasi Appiah.

DID YOU KNOW? • The Adidas Golden Ball award is presented to the most outstanding player at each World Cup finals, with a list generated by the FIFA technical committee and the winner voted on by members of the media - 2010 Winner: Diego Forlan (Uruguay).

The Adidas Golden Boot award is presented to the top goal scorer at every World Cup finals - 2010 Winner: Thomas Müller (Germany).

1992 and today, which coincides with the greatest successes of the U.S. team – not counting the third place it shared with Yugoslavia in Montevideo in 1930. Since Italy ’90 the U.S.A. has not missed out on a single championship and this will be its seventh consecutive participation and ninth in total. Its greatest success came in 2002, when the U.S.A. reached the quarter-finals.

The Americans were convincing winners in the final group of the six best teams in the zone, securing four more points than Costa Rica and seven more than Honduras.

The team’s impact strength is composed of strikers Clint Dempsey (31, Fulham) and Landon Donovan (32, LA Galaxy). They have played a combined total of 259 games for the national team (Donovan 156, Dempsey 103) and scored 93 goals (Donovan 57, Dempsey 36). They are followed

by Jozy Altidore (24, Sunderland), who has scored 21 goals in 67 matches.

The defence is held together by Geoff Cameron (29, Stoke City) and Fabian Johnson (27, Hoffenheim), while the main creative forces in the middle are Michael Bradley (26, Toronto) and Jermaine Jones (33 Besiktas).

The coach since July 2011 is former German striker Jürgen Klinsmann (49), who scored 47 goals in 108 matches for Germany and was a world champion in 1990 and also competed in the world cup as a player in 1994 and as coach of his country in 2006.

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GROUP

SCHEDULE

H

MATCH TO WATCH

17.06.2014

Belgium - Algeria

22.06.2014

Korea - Algeria

17.06.2014

Russia - Korea

26.06.2014

Algeria - Russia

26.06.2014

Korea - Belgium

22.06.2014 Belgium - Russia

BELGIUM

Belgium vs. Russia

ALGERIA

Great Comeback

Fourth Attempt

After missing out on the world cups of 2006 and 2010, Belgium qualified safely for the tournament in Brazil, finishing top of their group ahead of Croatia, Serbia, Wales and Scotland with eight wins, two draws and an 18-4 goal difference. Coach Marc Wilmots, a player in four world cups between 1990 and 2002, played 70 times for the national team and has led Belgium excellently since 2012. He has formed a very strong squad that can aim for the country’s best ever world cup result in Brazil if it can beat its fourth place finish from 1982. At the end of his playing career Wilmots dabbled a little in politics and served as a senator on the Francophone “Reformers Movement” list. However, he soon realised that he was much more successful in football.

Algeria caught the “last plane” to Brazil after barely beating Burkina Faso in the African qualifying play-off first leg thanks to the away-goal rule. After losing 2-3 at home, a 1-0 win was enough for Algeria to secure its fourth world cup appearance. Algeria also qualified for the previous world cup in South Africa via the play-offs, beating Egypt in a third game on neutral territory in Sudan. Algeria’s greatest world cup success came in its first participation in Spain ’82, when the team defeated West Germany (2-1) and Chile (3-2), but circumstances combined to ensure it still failed to progress to the second phase.

Nowadays Algeria does not boast the stars it once had, such as Rabah Madjer, Lakhdar Belloumi, Rachid Mekhloufi or Djamel Zidane, but it does have several prominent players. Karim Ziani (27) plays in the midfield for German club Wolfsburg, Madjid Boughera (27) commands the Glasgow Rangers defence, Anthar Yahia also plays in defence for German club Bochum, while the team’s most experienced player is striker Rafi Saifi (35, FC Istres) and the future of Algerian football is represented by attacking midfielder Ryad Boudebouz (24, SC Bastia).

Almost all of Algeria’s internationals play outside their home country, but progressing to the second phase will still be a major achievement.

On the bench is Bosnian coach Vahid Halilhodžić (61), who represented Yugoslavia at the Spain ’82 World Cup and coached the Ivory Coast national team from 2008 to 2010.

Protecting Belgium’s goal is the excellent Thibaut Courtois (21), a Chelsea player who has been on loan at Atletico Madrid for the last three seasons. The defence is commanded by veteran Daniel van Buyten (35, Bayern Munich), who combines well with English club players Jan Vertonghen (26, Tottenham Hotspur), Thomas Vermaelen (27, Arsenal) and Vincent Kompany (28, Manchester City).

There are plenty of Belgian internationals playing in England, including midfielders Eden Hazard (23, Chelsea), Marouane Fellaini (26, Manchester United), Moussa Dembele (26, Tottenham) and Nacer Chadli (24, Tottenham), as well as strikers Kevin Mirallas (26, Everton), Romelu Lukaku (20, Everton) and Christian Benteke (23, Aston Villa).

Interestingly, the most effective player in qualifying was midfielder Kevin de Bruyne (22, Wolfsburg), with four goals.

If he is selected, veteran Thimmy Sanders (37), one of the few who plays for a domestic team (Club Brugge), could break the record for the most national team appearances, having so far played 93 times – just three less than Jan Ceulemans.

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DID YOU KNOW? • The most common surname of World Cup players is Gonzalez or Gonzales. The most common score in a World Cup finals match is 1-0.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

BELGIUM:

ALGERIA:

RUSSIA:

KOREA:

Kompany has won trophies and performed superbly in many big games and that experience will be vital if his team is to go a long way in this tournament.

The Valencia man is capable of playing from the right-hand side or just off the striker and is without doubt the most potent attacking force in this team.

Whilst still young, Dzagoev is one of the most experienced players in this Russian squad now and he has a major role to play in the team.

The Bayer Leverkusen man is the only member of the team playing Champions League football and the clear star of the team.

Vincent Kompany

Sofiane Feghouli

RUSSIA

Alan Dzagoev

Son Heung Min

KOREA

Looking Ahead to 2018

Asian Force

The correct response to the imaginary question “has Russia ever progressed to the second phase of football’s world cup?” would be “no, it has not”. However, only true connoisseurs of world cup history would answer correctly. Since the collapse of the USSR, Russia has qualified for the world cup finals twice, in 1994 and 2002, but on both occasions it recorded only one win and failed to advance beyond the first group stage. The Soviet Union’s greatest success dates back to 1966, when it lost to West Germany in the semi-final and finished fourth.

Italian expert Fabio Capello (67) is tasked with leading Russia to at least the second phase, and since he has a renewed contract until 2018, when Russia hosts the World Cup, it is clear that much more will be expected of him and the team next time.

South Korea’s first appearance at a world cup, in Switzerland in 1954, was a painful one and the team returned home after suffering two heavy defeats, losing 9-0 to Hungary and 7-0 to Turkey. The next time South Korea made it to the tournament was in Mexico in 1986, but since then it has not missed a single world cup tournament. What’s more, as a co-host of the tournament alongside Japan in 2002, South Korea reached the semi-finals and only lost out to Germany (0-1). In 2010 the team finished second in its group, behind Argentina but ahead of Greece and Nigeria, and was only knocked out when Uruguay scored in the 80th minute of their quarter-final t secure a 2-1 win. Progressing to the second phase would also prove a success this time around.

Almost all of South Korea’s players ply their trade for domestic clubs. One of the exceptions is captain Park Chu-Young (28), who plays for English club Watford and scored six goals in seven matches during qualification. The second top scorer in qualifying, with five goals, was midfielder Lee Keun-Ho (29), who plays for Ulasn Hyundai FC. The most prominent player in the Korean defence is Kwan Tae-Hwi (32), who plays his club football for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Shabab FC. The coach is Hong Myung-Bo (45), who holds the record for the most appearances as a player for the national team (135). At the World Cup in Japan and Korea he scored the decisive goal in the penalty shoot-out against Spain in the quarter-finals.

As an experienced coach with many club trophies under his belt (seven league titles in Italy, two in Spain and a European title in 1994 with Milan) and experience on the bench of the England national team (2008-2012), Capello has been selected to move Russian football closer to the top of the world. He has a very experienced team consisting of players who mostly play for Russian clubs. Goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev (26) defends for CSKA Moscow, while the same club provides defenders including the Berezutski twins Aleksei and Vasili (30) and Sergei Ignashevich (34). Alexander Anyukov (30) from Zenit St. Petersburg also has vast experience. Pulling the strings in the midfield are Viktor Fayzulin (26), Vladimir Bystrov (28), Igor Denisov (28) and Roman Shirokov (31), all four of whom play for Zenit, while the fifth player in the middle is Dimitri Kombarov (27, Spartak Moscow).

Up front the goalscoring responsibility lies with Aleksandr Kerzhakov (31, Zenit) and Aleksandr Kokorin (23, Dynamo Moscow), while they will be assisted by Andrei Arshavin (32, Zenit).

DID YOU KNOW? • Hungary holds the record for dealing out the biggest thrashings beating El Salvador 10-1 in 1982 and South Korea 9-0 in 1954.

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REFEREES

MAZIC AMONG THE

BEST IN THE WORLD African Zone REFEREES ALIOUM, Cameroon Daniel BENNETT, South Africa Noumandiez Desire DOUE, Ivory Coast Bakary GASSAMA, Gambia Djamel HAIMOUDI, Algeria

ASSISTANT REFEREES Redouane ACHIK, Morocco Jean Claude BIRUMUSHAHU, Burundi Djibril CAMARA, Senegal Abdelhak ETCHIAL, Algeria Felicien KABANDA, Rwanda Evarist MENKOUANDE, Cameroon Marwa RANGE, Kenya Songuifolo YEO, Ivory Coast

Asian Zone REFEREES Alireza FAGHANI, Iran Ravshan IRMATOV, Uzbekistan Yuichi NISHIMURA, Japan Nawaf SHUKRALLA, Bahrain Benjamin WILLIAMS, Australia

ASSISTANT REFEREES Yaser TULEFAT, Bahrain Hakan ANAZ, Australia Matthew CREAM, Australia

Hassan KAMRANIFAR, Iran Bakhadyr KOCHKAROV, Kyrgyzstan Toshiyuki NAGI, Japan Abduxamidullo RASULOV, Uzbekistan Toru SAGARA, Japan Ebrahim SALEH, Bahrain

European Zone REFEREES Dr. FELIX BRYCH, Germany Cüneyt ÇAKIR, Turkey Jonas ERIKSSON, Sweden Björn KUIPERS, Netherlands Milorad MAZIĆ, Serbia Svein ODDVAR MOEN, Norway Pedro PROENÇA, Portugal Nicola RIZZOLI, Italy Carlos VELASCO CARBALLO, Spain Howard WEBB, England

ASSISTANT REFEREES Roberto ALONSO FERNANDEZ, Spain Mark BORSCH, Germany Darren CANN, England Bertino MIRANDA, Portugal Dalibor DJURDJEVIC, Serbia Bahattin DURAN, Turkey Renato FAVERANI, Italy Tiago TRIGO, Portugal

Kim HAGLUND, Norway Mathias KLASENIUS, Sweden Stefan LUPP, Germany Michael MULLARKEY, England Tarik ONGUN, Turkey Milovan RISTIC, Serbia Andrea STEFANI, Italy Sander VAN ROEKEL, Netherlands Daniel WÄRNMARK, Sweden Juan CARLOS YUSTE JIMENEZ, Spain Erwin ZEINSTRA, Netherlands

North, Central American and Caribbean Zone REFEREES Joel AGUILAR, El Salvador Mark GEIGER, USA Walter LOPEZ, Guatemala Roberto MORENO SALAZAR, Panama Marco RODRIGUEZ, Mexico

ASSISTANT REFEREES Eric BORIA, USA Joe FLETCHER, Canada Sean HURD, USA Leonel LEAL, Costa Rica Marcos QUINTERO, Mexico Marvin TORRENTERA, Mexico William TORRES, El Salvador Juan ZUMBA, El Salvador

Oceanian Zone REFEREES Norbert HAUATA, Tahiti Peter O’LEARY, New Zealand

ASSISTANT REFEREES Jan Hendrik HINTZ, New Zealand Ravinesh KUMAR, Fiji Mark RULE, New Zealand

South American Zone REFEREES Victor CARRILLO, Peru Enrique OSSES, Chile Nestor PITTANA, Argentina Sandro RICCI, Brazil Wilmar ROLDAN, Colombia Carlos ALFREDO VERA, Ecuador

ASSISTANT REFEREES Rodney AQUINO, Paraguay Carlos ASTROZA, Chile Juan Pablo BELATTI, Argentina Emerson DE CARVALHO, Brazil Humberto CLAVIJO, Colombia Eduardo DIAZ, Colombia Christian LESCANO, Ecuador Hernan MAIDANA, Argentina Sergio ROMAN, Chile Byron ROMERO, Ecuador Marcelo VAN GASSE, Brazil

PROBABLY THE BIGGEST MISTAKES BY WORLD CUP OFFICIALS • England v Argentina, 1986 One of the most infamous incidents in World Cup history.

England were just about holding their own in the quarterfinal in Mexico City when Diego Maradona's aerial challenge on Peter Shilton saw the Argentine legend palm the ball past the goalkeeper and into the net. Despite furious protests from the England defence, the 'Hand of God' goal stood.

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• England v West Germany, 1966 Probably the most controversial World Cup goal of all time. With the Wembley final level at 2-2, Geoff Hurst hammered a shot against the underside of the crossbar which bounced down, seemingly over the line, and out. England celebrated and, after consultation with Azerbaijani linesman Tofik Bakhramov, the referee awarded the goal. Subsequent scientific tests have suggested the ball probably did not cross the line but the debate still continues today.

TV COVERAGE DATE

TIME

MATCH

CITY

GROUP

CHANNEL

12.06.2014 13.06.2014 13.06.2014 13.06.2014 14.06.2014 14.06.2014 14.06.2014 15.06.2014 15.06.2014 15.06.2014 15.06.2014 16.06.2014 16.06.2014 16.06.2014 17.06.2014 17.06.2014 17.06.2014 18.06.2014 18.06.2014 18.06.2014 19.06.2014 19.06.2014 19.06.2014 20.06.2014 20.06.2014 20.06.2014 21.06.2014 21.06.2014 21.06.2014 22.06.2014 22.06.2014 22.06.2014 23.06.2014 23.06.2014 23.06.2014 23.06.2014 24.06.2014 24.06.2014 24.06.2014 24.06.2014 25.06.2014 25.06.2014 25.06.2014 25.06.2014 26.06.2014 26.06.2014 26.06.2014 26.06.2014

22:00 18.00 21:00 00:00 18:00 21:00 00:00 03:00 18:00 21:00 00:00 18:00 21:00 00:00 18:00 21:00 00:00 18:00 21:00 00:00 18:00 21:00 00:00 18:00 21:00 00:00 18:00 21:00 00:00 18:00 21:00 00:00 18:00 18:00 22:00 22:00 18:00 18:00 22:00 22:00 18:00 18:00 22:00 22:00 18:00 18:00 22:00 22:00

Brazil – Croatia Mexico – Cameroon Spain - Netherlands Chile - Australia Columbia – Greece Uruguay – Costa Rica England – Italy Ivory Coast – Japan Switzerland - Ecuador France – Honduras Argentina – B&H Germany – Portugal Iran – Nigeria Ghana – USA Belgium – Algeria Brazil – Mexico Russia – S. Korea Australia – Netherlands Spain - Chile Cameroon – Croatia Columbia – Ivory Coast Uruguay – England Japan - Greece Italy – Costa Rica Switzerland – France Honduras – Ecuador Argentina – Iran Germany – Ghana Nigeria – B&H Belgium – Russia S. Korea – Algeria USA – Portugal Australia – Spain Netherlands – Chile Cameroon – Brazil Croatia – Mexico Italy – Uruguay Costa Rica – England Japan - Columbia Greece – Ivory Coast Nigeria – Argentina B&H – Iran Honduras – Switzerland Ecuador – France USA – Germany Portugal – Ghana S. Korea – Belgium Algeria – Russia

Sao Paulo Natal Salvador Cuiaba Belo Horizonte Fortaleza Manaus Recife Brasilia Porto Alegre Rio de Janeiro Salvador Kuritaba Natal Belo Horizonte Fortaleza Cuiaba Porto Alegre Rio de Janeiro Manaus Brasilia Sao Paulo Natal Recife Salvador Cuiaba Belo Horizonte Fortaleza Kujaba Rio de Janeiro Porto Alegre Manaus Cuiaba Sao Paulo Brasilia Recife Natal Belo Horizonte Cuiaba Fortaleza Porto Alegre Salvador Manaus Rio de Janeiro Recife Brasilia Sao Paulo Cuiaba

A A B B C D D C E E F G F F H A H B B A C D C D E E F G F H H G B B A A D D C C F F E E G G H H

RTS I RTS II RTS I RTS I RTS II RTS I RTS I RTS I RTS II RTS I RTS I RTS II RTS I RTS I RTS II RTS I RTS I RTS II RTS I RTS I RTS I RTS I RTS I TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA

28.06.2014 28.06.2014 29.06.2014 29.06.2014 30.06.2014 30.06.2014 01.07.2014 01.07.2014 04.07.2014 04.07.2014 05.07.2014 05.07.2014 08.07.2014 09.07.2014 12.07.2014 13.07.2014

18:00 22:00 18:00 22:00 18:00 22:00 18:00 22:00 18:00 22:00 18:00 22:00 22:00 22:00 22:00 21:00

1 A - 2 B 1 C - 2 D 1 B - 2 A 1 D - 2 C 1 E - 2F 1 G - 2H 1 F - 2E 1 H - 2G W 49 - W 50 W 53 - W 54 W 51 - W 52 W 55 - W 56 W 57 - W 58 W 55 - W 60 L 61 - L 62 W 61 - W 62

Belo Horizonte Rio de Janeiro Fortaleza Recife Brasilia Porto Alegre Sao Paulo Salvador Fortaleza Rio de Janeiro Salvador Brasilia Belo Horizonte Sao Paulo Brasilia Rio de Janeiro

World Football Championship

TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA

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