The FIFA Weekly Issue #1

ISSUE 1/2015, 9 JANUARY 2015

ENGLISH EDITION

Fédération Internationale de Football Association – Since 1904

FIFA Ballon d’Or 2014 in Zurich

SHOWDOWN

ARGENTINA CITIES GRIPPED BY FIVE-A-SIDE FEVER

VIETNAM FRESH START FOR HOANG ANH GIA LAI

LUCAS RADEBE MY MUM’S MOMENT OF INSPIRATION W W W.FIFA.COM/ THEWEEKLY

THIS WEEK IN THE WORLD OF FOOTBALL

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North and Central America 35 members www.concacaf.com

Let the show begin Cables have been laid, spotlights set up, glasses polished – and even the golden trophy is ready and waiting. As the Kongresshaus gears up for theFIFA Ballon d’Or Gala on 12 January 2015, join Alan Schweingruber on a walk around wintry Zurich.

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S epp Blatter The FIFA President discusses the Ballon d’Or 2014 and why individual awards are important and appropriate, even in team sport.

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F ive friends are all you need Whether on rooftops, under motorways or between high-rise buildings, the ball is the centre of attention wherever you go in Buenos Aires.

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Netzer knows!

“The country must try to introduce reforms,” says our expert Gunter Netzer when asked what can be done about Italy’s Serie A.

South America 10 members www.conmebol.com

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Lucas Radebe The South African recalls how an idea from his mother sparked his footballing career into life.

18 Showdown Our cover picture shows the city of Zurich in Switzerland, venue for the Ballon d’Or 2014. The image was captured on 6 January 2015.

Herve Renard The Cote d’Ivoire coach wants to lead his team to victory at the Africa Cup of Nations and hopes Didier Drogba might return one day.

Special edition from the FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala!

On Monday 12 January 2015, a special edition of The FIFA Weekly will be published for guests at the FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala, right after the ceremony. This issue will be available as an e-paper via the FIFA Weekly app on Tuesday.

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The FIFA Weekly Magazine App The FIFA Weekly is available in four languages as an e-Magazine and on your tablet every Friday. http://www.fifa.com/mobile

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Sophie Stieger

THIS WEEK IN THE WORLD OF FOOTBALL

Europe 54 members www.uefa.com

Africa 54 members www.cafonline.com

Asia 46 members www.the-afc.com

Oceania 11 members www.oceaniafootball.com

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Vietnamese V-League Hoang Anh Gia Lai are taking the league by storm, with help from Arsenal and a dash of youthful exuberance.

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Roberto Carlos The Brazilian is staying in Turkey after taking up a new post with Belediyespor.

CAF Africa Cup of Nations · 17 January to 8 February 2015 Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Equatorial Guinea

Zambia

Ghana

Côte d’Ivoire

Burkina Faso

Tunisia

Algeria

Mali

Gabon

Cape Verde Islands

South Africa

Cameroon

Congo

Congo DR

Senegal

Guinea

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UNCOVERED

Legend status assured Stanley Matthews collects the Ballon d’Or in February 1957.

Golden glamour

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essi, Neuer or Ronaldo? The entire footballing world – and thus the world in general – will spend this week asking who will be crowned the world’s best player for the past year. Whatever the outcome, there is no doubt that the recipient will be a deserving winner – something which applies without exception to all of the Gala’s nominees. In his weekly column, FIFA President Sepp Blatter reaffirms the importance of individual accolades in football, and says on page 23: “Especially in an era where teams are increasingly well organised and tactically astute, outstanding individuals assume decisive significance.”

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n the build-up to next week’s main event, our reporter Alan Schweingruber visited Zurich to see how preparations for the FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala are coming along and to sample the mood in Switzerland’s largest city, which becomes the centre of the footballing world for one evening each year. His report begins on page six.

Offside / L’Équipe

lthough major cities often lack the necessary space to provide football pitches for their inhabitants, nowhere is this problem more obvious than in a densely populated, football-mad metropolis like Buenos Aires. From page 24, Karen Naundorf reports on the popularity of the five-a-side game played in small spaces across the Argentinian capital. Å Perikles Monioudis

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Global spectacle Whenever footballers don their tuxedos, an important event is about to take place.

We spend a day in Zurich, where the world’s best players will be honoured on 12 January 2015.

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Alan Schweingruber (text) and Sophie Stieger (photos), Zurich

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Kongresshaus Stars and fans an hour before the Gala begins.

Ballon d’Or The trophy awarded to the world’s best player.

Reigning champion Cristiano Ronaldo on the red carpet (2014).

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Zurich at dusk The world football elite will gather here on 12 January 2015.

Ballon d’Or 2013 Pep Guardiola 8

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the Year; a 27-year-old wunderkind-turned-superstar from Argentina, four-time winner of the award; and an athletic 28-year-old German custodian who has revolutionised goalkeeping. All of them would stand there smiling.

It is 8 a.m. on Monday morning and of course the world’s three best players are otherwise engaged, rather than shivering at a prearranged photo shoot with a perfect backdrop. They are probably drinking an espresso somewhere in Madrid, Barcelona or Munich before heading to the airport to fly to Zurich. Eight coveted trophies will be awarded in Switzerland’s largest city at the glamorous FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala, which concludes at 8 p.m. with the presentation of the World Player of the Year award. Will it be Ronaldo, Messi or

Lionel Messi

Sophie Stieger/13 Photo

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t is not difficult to imagine the big three of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Manuel Neuer standing here in Burkliplatz square on the banks of Lake Zurich, where passenger ships pick up and drop off their travellers. That trio posing together would make quite a picture, especially with the mist hovering over the water’s surface in the background, the silhouettes of the nearby Alps clearly visible and the rising sun warming the subjects’ backs on this cold January morning. It would only take a couple of minutes for a photograph for all eternity to be taken of the game’s most influential stars in 2014.

Their warm breath would dissipate in the air. A 29-year-old expert dribbler from Portugal, the reigning World Player of

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The Kongresshaus is sprucing itself up for a Gala that promises huge excitement.

Pele

Neuer? National team coaches and captains, as well as select football journalists, had until 21 November 2014 to cast their votes.

Calm before the storm The sun burns away the fog and as cars race past Burkliplatz, some drivers turn their heads to glance at the Kongresshaus and see the unique atmosphere that is building there, before continuing on to work. Thick cables are being laid and a British television network has parked a van next to the bushes. In a couple of hours they will broadcast live, with their pictures sent out across the globe. A rugged technician in a pullover still looks a tad sleepy as he gets out of the vehicle. Memories of his nimble compatriot Stanley Matthews flash

Neymar T H E F I FA W E E K LY

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All you need to know Who gets to vote for all of these awards?

How does voting for the FIFA Puskás Award work?

Voting for the four players and coaches awards is open to national team coaches, national team captains and journalists around the world, who are named on a list compiled by France Football and FIFA. The votes are totted up by an electronic system monitored by a notary. The coaches, captains and media that vote for the award make three selections, their first, second and third choice for each particular award with five, three and one points awarded for each respectively. Each award is given to the person who receives the highest weighted percentage of votes, in relation to the other nominees. In the event of a tie, the player or coach with the most ’five-point’ scores receives the award.

The winner of the FIFA Puskás Award is selected by the users of FIFA.com and Francefootball.fr, who choose their favourite goal from an initial shortlist of ten contenders before the first deadline (on this occasion 1 December 2014). The three goals receiving the most votes then go forward to the final round, when the votes cast by the users of both sites are added to those obtained by each goal in the first round to decide the overall winner.

Coaches, captains and specialist journalists are informed of the deadline when they are invited to vote. The deadline for the 2014 vote was 21 November.

What steps are taken to protect the integrity of the voting results and compliance with the rules of allocation?

FIFA and France Football have appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as independent observers to supervise and monitor the award procedures. PwC records the results and keeps them under lock and key until the evening of the FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala.

Every FIFPro-affiliated player is free to vote for any active professional player in the world to make up their ideal XI in a 4-3-3 formation. FIFPro then counts the votes, with the FIFA FIFPro World XI finally being revealed on the day of the FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala.

How are the FIFA Presidential and Fair Play awards chosen?

The winner of the FIFA Presidential Award is decided on by the FIFA President himself, while candidates for the FIFA Fair Play Award are submitted to FIFA by individuals and groups.

The submitted nominations for the Award are reviewed and finalised by the FIFA CSR Department according to the Rules of Allocation. The winner is selected by the members of the FIFA Committee for Fair Play and Social Responsibility.

Gala The FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala will be broadcast live on television, from 18:30 to 20:00.

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Mike Hewitt/FIFA via Getty Images

When is the deadline for voting?

And how is the FIFA FIFPro World XI selected?

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Sophie Stieger/13 Photo , Getty Images (2)

Not long to wait All is still calm at the Zurich Kongresshaus on the morning of the event.

to mind, the winner of the inaugural Ballon d’Or back in 1956. Matthews was 41 at the time and beat greats such as Alfredo Di Stefano and Raymond Kopa to the award, and would continue to play for a further nine years. The Player of the Year honour was created by France Football magazine that year and it is a prize steeped in tradition, although it all seems rather distant as the technician yawns and stretches.

The Zurich Kongresshaus is sprucing itself up for a Ballon d’Or Gala that promises huge excitement. Should Ronaldo win, it would be his third triumph, putting him just one behind Messi. It is therefore probably the Portuguese’s last opportunity to reduce the deficit in the hope of one day levelling the score with his Argentinian rival, as

he turns 30 in February. Ronaldo stands a good chance of defending his crown too, having won the Champions League with Real Madrid and scored an astonishing 25 goals in 15 league matches towards the end of 2014.

Messi is in similarly good form for Barcelona, although he only managed to find the net 15 times. However, he did lead Argentina to the World Cup final and was also voted as the tournament’s best player, whereas Ronaldo and Portugal returned home from Brazil after the group stage. Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer has the advantage of having won the World Cup, as well as being able to look back on almost flawless performances for club and country last year. One thing that may also count in Neuer’s favour compared to other goal-

Zinedine Zidane

Xavi T H E F I FA W E E K LY

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Afternoon The sun burns through the mist on Lake Zurich.

Steeped in history Musical greats such as Miles Davis once played at the Kongresshaus.

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Nobody could have predicted just how much the game would develop. keepers – the last time a custodian won the prize was back in 1963 – is that he is also an excellent outfield player, able to help out in defence if needed. Images of the Gelsenkirchen native’s heroics in helping Germany beat Algeria in the Round of 16 at Brazil 2014 attracted worldwide attention last summer.

Sophie Stieger/13 Photo (2), Getty Images (2)

Trophy in Zurich before Christmas The lake glistens under the midday sun as Asian tourists, wrapped up in thick jackets, buy tickets for a boat tour on the jetty. In the Middle Ages, Lake Zurich – which was formed during the last Ice Age – was an important link in international trade, with metals, textiles, salt and wine all transported across it. Even today it would be possible to carry the golden Ballon d’Or trophy, newly minted in France, across the lake directly to the Kongresshaus. A romantic notion, perhaps, but it would look wonderful in our imaginary photograph. The trophy actually arrives at the Home of FIFA in Zurich before Christmas and is then transferred to the Kongresshaus by truck.

Celebrities enjoy coming to Zurich because they can stay here without fear of being constantly disturbed. The Swiss are known for being reserved and were it not for the cold weather, famous faces would have no need to hide beneath their hats and coats. Nevertheless, the FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala does provide an exception and on the day of the ceremony there is a huge sense of excitement throughout the city. After all, it is not often that so many of the game’s elite are in Switzerland at the same time; around 120 flights are scheduled to land in Zurich on the morning of the event.

to sit on the steps in a t-shirt and eat a ham sandwich. Behind him, to the side of the building, a Portuguese journalist looks earnestly into a camera, only interrupting his report to allow a female colleague to fix his hair as they rehearse for a live broadcast. On the next street, close to the red carpet, three young women sit on the pavement, drinking tea from a thermos flask.

Miles Davis, the legendary musician who passed away in 1991, once said that all melodies had already been composed somewhere, implying that music had lost the capacity to reinvent itself. Davis was a wonderful musician and visionary, but his statement was wide of the mark: years later Supertramp enjoyed great success, to be followed followed by Nirvana and Radiohead. Football fans have experienced a similar process. In the 1950s Alfredo di Stefano left Argentina for Europe and showed the Old Continent that a new kind of football was possible. At the time nobody could have predicted just how much the sport would develop in terms of athleticism and technique. When Johan Cruyff came along in the 1970s, and certainly by the time Diego Maradona arrived a decade later, journalists ran out of superlatives to describe their abilities, leading to the creation of terms such as “wizard” and “god” to describe players’ talents. Whether or not footballers are better now than they were in the days of Di Stefano, Cruyff or Maradona is irrelevant because the game always has the capacity to reinvent itself. For example, in the 1990s Zinedine Zidane demonstrated the kind of touch never before witnessed in football. Was he the best ever?

Capacity for reinvention In the afternoon there is greater bustle around the Kongresshaus and the temperature also rises slightly, enough for the English technician

Pull of the unknown The Zurich Kongresshaus also has a musical history, with Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Jr. and Ray Charles among the artists to have performed here, while even Miles Davis is said to have taken to the stage with his trumpet here in 1960. A wave of melancholy surges with such nostalgic thoughts while standing on-site, as the protagonists have long since moved on. However, the desire to come back here never wanes because the new and the unknown always hold a certain fascination.

Dusk settles over Zurich and the mist returns once more. It is easy to imagine the big three, Neuer, Ronaldo and Messi, standing here.

Another hour and they will be in their tuxedos, waving on the red carpet. They will undoubtedly have their picture taken inside the Kongresshaus - and even without the sun and the Alps in the background, it will still make un unforgettable photograph. Å

Wayne Rooney

Zlatan Ibrahimovic T H E F I FA W E E K LY

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Italy: Serie A

Hot s t u f f i n Ja nu a r y Andreas Jaros is a Vienna-based freelance writer.

With all manner of drama – from sensational victories to back-to-back dismissals and even a “Wembley goal” – the Italian championship served up plenty of talking points as it returned from its short winter break.

Andrea Di Marco / Keystone / EPA

The closest rivals to league leaders Juventus, Roma are now a single point behind the Turin side after recording a 1-0 win against Udinese on Tuesday evening. But there was one key question surrounding the winning goal: did Davide Astori’s header from a Francesco Totti free-kick fully cross the line? The referee’s verdict was a resounding yes as he corrected the linesman to rule that the ball had bounced behind the goal line after striking the underside of the crossbar, but even slow-motion replays could not offer any conclusive evidence. In any event, advocates

I N S I D E Advocates of goal-line technology in Serie A received a huge boost.

of goal-line technology in Serie A received a huge boost during this 6 January encounter.

AC Milan have yet to experience a similar upswing in fortunes, as a shock 2-1 home defeat by Sassuolo marked the first time in 17 years that the Rossoneri have lost their opening game of the New Year. The 18-time Italian champions made a dream start to the match when former Sassuolo midfielder Andrea Poli opened the scoring after just eight minutes, but this proved to be the high point of the seventh-placed side’s performance.

Another big name, Parma, have made an even more catastrophic start to the season than

their Milanese rivals and currently sit 19th in the Serie A standings. Despite their precarious position, the Crociati gave their fans hope for 2015 with a 1-0 victory over Fiorentina.

The visitors seemed content to continue giving gifts a full two weeks after Christmas as an unsettled Mario Gomez conceded a penalty while team-mates Gonzalo Rodriguez and Stefan Savic were both given their marching orders.

Despite all this excitement, the eyes of a nation were fixed on the Derby d’Italia.

Champions Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw

by Inter, who signed Lukas Podolski on loan in time for the world champion to make his debut as a second-half replacement. Teammate Mauro Icardi scored his fifth goal in four matches against the Turin side to cancel out Carlos Tevez’s early strike, while Inter’s Mateo Kovacic was sent off towards the end of an intense and heated encounter. Podolski also provided an entertaining diversion off the pitch by exchanging digs with former Inter playmaker Lothar Matthaus. “He tweets more than he plays. He needs to concentrate on football,” the 1990 Ballon d’Or winner said of the 29-year-old striker. The latter opted to demonstrate his counterattacking skills away from social media after being brought on as a 54th-minute substitute for his new club. Å

Debut boy Lukas Podolski made his first appearance for Inter Milan against Juventus.

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Tu r k e y : S ü p e r L i g

Ro b e r to C a r l o s ’ e n d u r i n g Tu r k i s h l ove a f f a i r Sven Goldmann is a leading football correspondent at Tagesspiegel newspaper in Berlin.

It is next stop Akhisar Bele­ diyespor for Roberto Carlos, whose association with Turkey is not over just yet. FIFA World Cup-winner Carlos spent two seasons playing for Fenerbahce in the twilight years of his career, before taking up the reins as coach of Sivasspor in June 2013. Last summer the Seleção great had spoken of offers coming in from all over the world.

Clubs in China were apparently interested in securing his services, and there was talk of a long-awaited return to Spain. The off-season duly came and went though, and the legend­ ary full-back stayed with Sivasspor, a provin­ cial club in central Turkey, about as far removed as one could get from Istanbul’s glitz and glamour and the famous rivalries be­ tween the nation’s three foremost clubs Fenerbahce, Besiktas and Galatasaray.

New challenge Roberto Carlos is taking over the reins at Akhisar Belediyespor.

The Brazilian did a commendable job in Sivas, leading the club to a fifth-placed finish in his first season. It was a campaign that should have been the springboard to his next chal­ lenge, but offers of a move to somewhere bigger and better did not materialise. So Roberto Carlos stayed, and suffered a case of second season syndrome as Sivas dropped to second-bottom in the table. After a 2-0 defeat against Basaksehirspor shortly before Christ­ mas, the 41-year-old took his leave of the club, and his Turkish adventure seemed to have come to an end.

The move represents another challenging step for the 125-time international. Ostensibly, Akhisar Belediyespor are in a healthy situation, sitting 11th in the table, but another glance at the standings reveals just a three-point cush­ ion over his former employers Sivasspor.

Moreover, Akhisar Belediyespor’s recent form is cause for alarm. Despite being top of the league early on this season, they are now winless in ten matches and their last victory came in mid-October, a 2-0 success against

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This will be Robert Carlos’ third post as a coach after a playing career that spanned 19 years. Before joining Sivasspor in June 2013, he had been interim manager of Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala, taking over from Gadzhi Muslimovich Gadzhiyev. Å

Despite sitting 11th in the table, Akhisar Belediyespor are in a ­p recarious position. imago

As it turned out however, another Süper Lig side, Akhisar Belediyespor stepped in and recently announced that the three-time UEFA Champions League winner had taken the position of technical director. Roberto Carlos is reported to have agreed terms with the club’s directors until the end of this season with the option of a further 12 months. Carlos is also said to be in line to become the team’s new coach, and will start work as the succes­ sor to Mustafa Resit Akcay in the coming days after being introduced to the players at the club’s training ground.

Kasimpasa Istanbul. Their final game before the winter break yielded a 3-1 loss to Bursaspor, meaning the former Real Madrid stalwart has a job on his hands to arrest the current slide.

Vietnam: V-League

Yo u t h a n d v i r t u e Roland Zorn is a Frankfurt-based football correspondent.

The action has resumed in the Vietnamese V-League, with reigning champions Becamex Binh Duong sending out a clear statement of intent in their opening game by thrashing Dong Thap 6-1.

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Impressive as that was, however, a different team stole the headlines in the first round of matches in the new campaign. The youthful passion of Hoang Anh Gia Lai has captured the imagination of a football-crazy nation,

drawing attention away from the experienced professionals lacing their boots for the titleholders. The club, based in the city of Pleiku in the country’s highlands and run by a Vietnamese conglomerate, are aiming to reap the rewards of an audacious strategy: HAGL, as both the company and the team are known for short, terminated the contracts of 17 players, including a number of internationals, in order to give youth a chance. Hoang Anh Gia Lai’s youngsters profit from training at a youth academy which was set up in 2007 with Arsenal’s support and professional expertise. The most promising of the new crop of players made their debuts in the V-League on 4 January and had an instant impact. In front of a capacity crowd of 10,000 at their home stadium, HAGL recorded a 4-2 victory over Sanna Khan Hoal, newcomers in

the 14-team league, expanded from 12 last season.

According to company CEO Doang Nguyen Duc, the triumph of Hoang Anh Gia Lai’s U-19s should serve as an example of the new spirit the V-League should aspire to, having recently suffered from financial problems as well as corruption and manipulation scandals.

“I’m fighting for the purity of football,” Duc said prior to the start of the campaign. “To do so, I’m starting by ensuring our team is clean.

Our fantastic young players are always hungry for victory, with fair play constantly in mind.”

Duc’s words leave little room for misinterpretation as he aims to infuse greater honesty and youthful vigour into the league which was established in 1980. The club’s fans gave their enthusiastic backing during the opening victory and immediately discovered a new local hero: gifted striker Nguyen Cong Phuong, who scored two of the precocious side’s four goals. If the 19-year-old can continue in the same vein, he could well attract Arsenal’s attention one day. Å

One to watch 19-year-old Nguyen Cong Phuong has a highly-promising future ahead of him.

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THE INTERVIEW

“There can only be one king per territory” Just as he did when he was coach of Zambia in 2012, Cote d’Ivoire manager Herve Renard is aiming to lead the Elephants to victory at the Africa Cup of Nations, which kicks off on January 17, 2015.

Usually qualification to the Nations Cup is easy for Cote d’Ivoire but this time you struggled.

Hervé Renard: The players told me, hey, it was never as difficult for us in the qualifiers before as it was this time. But maybe it is a good thing for us because it makes us realise now we are not the favourites and we are in a transition between the old players and new additions, and so that is never easy to make these changes. You can see it happening in Europe too with countries like the Netherlands and Spain after the World Cup. It has been very difficult for them so why wouldn’t it be the same for an African team.

Do you get a sense the manner of the Ivorian elimination from the World Cup in Brazil was a big psychological blow for the Ivorian players and there is still a bit of a hangover?

Yes and this is the reason they explained to me why, at the end of the last qualifier against Cameroon (a 0-0 draw that gave the Ivorians the point they needed to qualify, ed.), they held onto the ball so much near the end of the game without using it effectively.

Kolo Toure told me: “It will always stay in my mind those last 30 seconds against Greece.

We were almost in the second round but because we were not disciplined enough, we got a counter-attack against us, a penalty and we were out.” So, they did not want to have the same thing happen again and that’s why we didn’t get the victory at home at the end against Cameroon. It was not good the way the game ended, it was too nervy and we could have done things better. But for all of the players, it was the same. They all said: “At least we have qualified.”

Is there a big difference in terms of pressure and expectation between your last job in Africa with Zambia and a top ranked country like Cote d’Ivoire?

To be honest I can’t see any difference yet.

Maybe now as we go to the Nations Cup it will be different but everywhere in Africa people think you need to win all the time. Even in Zambia when we were not winning, they were 18

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not happy. They quickly forgot what we did in winning the Nations Cup in 2012. The pressure was always there, even when we went to play friendly games. Fans wanted you to come back with a winning result. They would not accept that sometimes you need matches to try and build something rather than worry about the result. I’m sure that had we not qualified, it may have been terrible for me.

As a coach you always know the rules: if you do not qualify a team like Cote d’Ivoire for a tournament, then I don’t think I’d ever be able to take another step in the country (laughs). But this is football everywhere.

In 2012 you won the Nations Cup with Zambia but in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers you found it hard to freshen up an ageing team and did not qualify for Brazil. Are the Ivorians in a similar predicament?

I’d say yes, it’s exactly the same. The problem in Cote d’Ivoire is the transition and to find a good team spirit. There is a lot of skill, a lot of players are playing around the world for big clubs but maybe we have too many good players for the same positions. If you look at the strikers’ position, there is Wilfried Bony, Didier Drogba, Seydou Doumbia of CSKA Moscow. He’s a Champions League player who can’t get in the team. It’s tough to have to choose between them; all of them want to play and when you leave them on the bench sometimes it is very difficult for them to accept. So far I have not had a lot of problems with that but I know as soon as possible I have to find the right combination to make the strongest team possible … and with a very good team spirit. I don’t think we are 100 percent right now.

That was one of your successes with Zambia, a good team spirit born out of consistent selection. Have you got time to try and achieve the same with the Elephants?

It will be more difficult because to build a very good team spirit in football you need a lot of humility; to forget where you are coming from during the week. When you

wear the shirt of the national team you have to forget sometimes about yourself and only concentrate on playing for the team. When there is a big squad like we have sometimes, especially in Africa, when they come back to their country they think sometimes they are the king. A lot of them. But usually there can only be one king per territory. So it can be difficult (laughs).”

Didier Drogba has not played since you’ve come on board as Cote d’Ivoire coach but from what you’ve been able to understand, how influential was he?

He is a huge loss. When I heard he wanted to stop (playing international football, ed.) for these qualifiers it was a big blow. After the World Cup it was difficult with him as he had his comeback at Chelsea and wanted to focus his energies on his club. Maybe not so much these days in terms of performance, but in terms of charisma I think he is a huge player who gets the players behind him. Even if some are able to do the same, they don’t have the impact he has. I hope he will be able to change his mind … but it’s not sure … and I hope that the other players will accept that he comes back.

Are you talking to him?

Yes, of course. I’m always talking to him. I wanted to hear his explanation why and it was a very honest explanation. I understood why. But now after some time I hope he’ll change his mind. Å Hervé Renard was speaking to Mark Gleeson

Name Hervé Renard Date and place of birth 30 September 1968, Aix-les-Bains, France Position Defender Clubs played for 1983–1990 AS Cannes 1991–1997 Stade de Vallauris 1997–1998 SC Draguignan Teams coached (selection)

Brett Davis / USA Today Sports

1999–2001 SC Draguignan 2005–2007 AS Cherbourg 2008–2010, 2011–2013 Zambia 2010 Angola 2013–2014 FC Sochaux since 2014 Cote d'Ivoire

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First Love Place: Lima, Peru Date: 26 December 2008 Time: 6.27 p.m.

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T HE DEBAT E

PRESIDENTIAL NOTE

Personalities comment on the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2014 Goalkeepers don’t get much recognition and, though Messi and Cristiano also deserve it for the way they manage to keep their standards extremely high, I feel that this time a Germany player should get the award. What’s more, on top of the World Cup, Neuer won pretty much everything with his club team.

Juan Mónaco, tennis pro, Argentina

I thought Stephanie Roche’s goal was fantastic! I also liked (Robin) Van Persie’s header because he showed the kind of agility you need in track and field. In terms of technique, Roche’s goal was pretty similar to James Rodriguez’s. The sisterhood aside, it would be great if she won it.

Leryn Franco, javelin thrower, Paraguay

I don’t think there’s much between Ronaldo and Messi in terms of who’ll win. There are a wealth of other great players out there too, but it’s no accident that Ronaldo and Messi are up there again as favourites. They simply remain consistently good throughout the season and that changes the outcome of games, leagues and championships.

Rory McIlroy, pro golfer, Northern Ireland

“What Simeone has achieved with the team is just extraordinary.”

I think it’ll be Nadine Kessler who wins. She’s one of the three finalists along with Abby Wambach and Marta, but there were good names on the preliminary list as well as the final shortlist.

Everyone on there is someone who is a cut above.

Pia Sundhage, coach, Sweden

It’s tough for me to choose. Carlo Ancelotti and Joachim Low won the two biggest titles of the year, but what Diego Simeone has been able to do with the team and resources he has is just extraordinary.

He would have won the Champions League had Sergio Ramos not scored in the last minute. So for me it’s Simeone.

Nikola Karabatic, handball pro, France

Crème de la crème

W

elcome to football’s gala extravaganza in Zurich. Exactly six months after the World Cup Final in Rio de Janeiro, the game’s outstanding individuals will be honoured in the FIFA Ballon d’Or ceremony. The build-up to the vote for the best men’s player has sparked especially lively debate: will it be Messi, Neuer or Ronaldo, to name the candidates in alphabetical order?

Could a goalkeeper be named World Player of the Year? It has only happened once in the 58-year history of the award, back in 1963 when never-to-be-forgotten Soviet keeper Lev Yashin claimed the prestigious trophy. The man nicknamed the Black Panther after his favoured shirt colour revolutionised his craft. He was the first keeper to extend the position’s scope beyond the limits of the penalty area, marshalling his defence and effectively acting as an outfield player.

Fifty-four years after Yashin and the Soviet Union won the European Championship, Manuel Neuer stood out at the 2014 World Cup for very similar reasons. “Neuer is an outstanding footballer – and a decent goalkeeper too,” a German journalist remarked last November at the ceremony in Berlin where the World Cup-winning squad received the Silver Laurel Leaf, Germany's highest award for achievement in sport.

This Monday in Zurich we will see whether these qualities are enough to win over the jury comprising the head coaches and captains of FIFA’s 209 member associations plus selected sports writers.

One question remains to be answered: is there much sense to individual accolades in a team sport? There’s a great deal of sense, in my opinion. Especially in an era where teams are increasingly well organised and tactically astute, outstanding individuals assume decisive significance. Barcelona would scarcely have become the gold standard in European football without Lionel Messi’s 400 goals.

Without Cristiano Ronaldo’s extraordinary skill, Real Madrid would almost certainly still be waiting for their tenth Champions League triumph. And Germany could well have come unstuck against Algeria in the World Cup Round of 16 had it not been for Neuer’s mastery of the goalkeeping craft. Perhaps more importantly, football would be deprived of three of its most exceptional exponents and biggest characters. I wish everyone an enjoyable FIFA Ballon d’Or.

We all watched the World Cup, and first of all he’s from the winning team. He was fantastic. He wasn’t only playing like a traditional goalkeeper, he was the last man in defence too. He participated in the possession of the ball, helping his defenders a lot. He was not only a fantastic goalkeeper, he was fantastic in everything. All three names are potentially great winners, but my choice is Neuer.

Andriy Shevchenko, former player, Ukraine

Best wishes, Sepp Blatter T H E F I FA W E E K LY

23

ARGENTINA

Five friends are all you need 24

T H E F I FA W E E K LY

ARGENTINA

Argentinians are crazy about football. But where do you play when you live in a city as densely populated as Buenos Aires? The solution: by playing on small pitches wherever space allows!

Karen Naundorf (text) and Toby Binder (images), Buenos Aires

“M

ago, you go in goal!” shouts one of the lads as the game begins, but before long, Esteban Fiori – known to everyone simply as “Mago the Magician” – abandons his post.

He runs to the halfway line, leaving his goal unguarded, but enjoys a stroke of luck as the ball strikes the post. A fast-paced match is unfolding here on the concrete surface of Pitch 7, lit by floodlights that hang from the white plastered ceiling as the Buenos Aires traffic rushes along the motorway overhead. Mago and his friends have been playing here at the Quintino Futbol club every Wednesday evening at 9 p.m. and Saturday afternoon for ten years now, enjoying a game of five-a-side, or futbol 5 as it is known in Argentina.

Mago welcomes us before the match, holding the door open and explaining articulately that friendship is the most important thing in sport: “If someone isn’t a good guy, he doesn’t play with us.” He adds that futbol 5 is his absolute passion – along with magic and women, of course. At this point, the 43-year-old performs a trick.

He holds three coins in one hand, and after a swift movement, reveals that just two of them remain in the palm of his hand while the third is now tucked into his wristwatch. Once out on the pitch, Mago the Magician puts civility to one side, directing his team with a stream of expletive-laden orders. “Move it! Run! Go!”

Palermo district, Buenos Aires The Argentinians enjoy their beloved futbol 5 on pitches sandwiched between the capital’s houses and highways.

Rooftop footbal Futbol 5 is wildly popular across the Argentinian capital.

It is played wherever there is enough space, whether on rooftops, in historic courtyards, between high-rise buildings or under motorways. There is no room for full-size pitches in a metropolis of 13 million people such as Buenos Aires. “As kids we played on the streets or on wasteland,” says Mago. He has short brown hair and sports a green shirt teamed with blue shorts. “But the number of cars means that’s no longer possible, so we meet here instead.” He explains that he and his friends enjoy playing on small pitches: “It’s fun, plus it’s much easier to get ten mates together than 22.”

T H E F I FA W E E K LY

25

ARGENTINA

Up on the roof A fully-fenced pitch in the San Telmo neighbourhood (top left).

Stadium atmosphere The Colegio San Jose offers an imposing backdrop (bottom left).

Tucked away Futbol 5 is played beside and under bridges (right).

26

T H E F I FA W E E K LY

ARGENTINA

“It’s much easier to get ten mates together than 22.”

Esteban Fiori

Toby Binder/fotogloria

The Argentinian Football Association, the AFA, oversees futbol 5 under the internationally recognised name of futsal or futebol de salao – indoor football.

The Association has promoted the sport at both semi-professional and grassroots level for many years now. “We have signed an agreement with the local government of Buenos Aires to make futsal an integral part of the school curriculum,” says Damian Dupiellet, president of the AFA’s Futsal Committee. This ensures that budding stars of the future can learn the official rules at a young age.

Playing by their own rules So just how many futbol 5 pitches are there in the Argentinian capital? “It’s difficult to say,” says Dupiellet. “The five-a-side form of the game is very popular in Argentina, and it’s growing, but we only count clubs where the sport is played by FIFA rules.” There are officially 58 futsal clubs in Buenos Aires alone, plus countless pitches such as those frequented by Mago and his friends. These playing areas vary in size and have no corner flags, and it is unlikely that anyone has ever measured to check whether the penalty spot is actually ten metres from the centre of the goal line. “Matches between friends are usually played by their own set of rules,” says Dupiellet.“We play the way we think is right,” Mago agrees. He invented one rule himself: if a team is more than six goals behind, the match is abandoned so that the opponents do not lose face. “We mix the teams up and start again. Besides, it’s boring when one team are too strong,” Mago explains. He watched Brazil’s World Cup semi-final against Germany with his futbol 5 friends. “Once the score reached 7-1, we were all in favour of calling it off,” he jokes.

Although the Magician’s team eventually lose by four goals on this occasion, it is not long before his previous good mood is fully restored. A small green rubber ball slides through his hands, disappears without a trace and then falls suddenly from his trouser leg. Mago laughs before getting on his bicycle and calling out “Nos vemos el sabado!” to his friends – “See you on Saturday”! Å T H E F I FA W E E K LY

27

THIS IS THE ONE Introducing

Official Mascot for the FIFA U-20 World Cup New Zealand 2015

@FIFAcom #Wooliam

/ďŹ fau20worldcup

IN BRIEF

T

he ball hits the back of the net, but although the scorer sees the fans celebrating and hugging each other for joy, the stadium remains eerily silent to him. The shouts of excitement and delight pass him by. He’s as pleased as the fans of course, but the world around him is noiseless – just as it always will be. Up-and-coming striker Simon Ollert of Unterhaching was born deaf and is currently the only hearing-impaired professional footballer in Germany. His club, third division Munich suburban outfit Unterhaching, recently offered him terms until 2017. Despite his disability Simon is rapidly making a name for himself, club president Manfred Schwabl has approvingly commented. Ollert is still only 17, so perhaps he might one day make the breakthrough at an even higher level, potentially following in the footsteps of hearing-impaired Stefan Markolf who featured in the German second division for FSV Mainz back in 2007. As so often, football produces a special brand of success story. Å Dominik Petermann

Getty Images

I

t has long been common knowledge that social networks are taking on an increasingly important role in professional life, but for a footballer to use them to look for a new employer is something new entirely. Nevertheless, that is the course Netherlands international Demy de Zeeuw has decided to take after being left without a club since last summer. The 31-year-old midfielder is hardly lacking in experience: he has 27 caps for the Oranje, including a the semi­-final appearance at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and has played in the Europa League and the Champions League for AZ Alkmaar, Ajax and Spartak Moscow. Yet instead of relying solely on his agent’s talents to find another team, De Zeeuw has forged a new path by signing up to LinkedIn – the business world equivalent of Facebook. Alongside posting a video showcasing his abilities, De Zeeuw’s written profile states: “I’m looking for a new club in Europe, the Middle East or the MLS. Salary depends on the city, the club and the country. For more information please send me a direct message.” Å Sarah Steiner

E

ager anticipation is one of the most enjoyable emotions, it is said.

But just how enthusiastically should one look forward to something? The event in question should certainly be a realistic proposition, because if it fails to materialise your sense of excited anticipation will fall flat. English fourth-tier club Accrington Stanley recently met Yeovil Town in an FA Cup replay with a plum tie against Manchester United on offer to the winners. Stanley lost 2-0, but the trifling matter of elimination from the cup was not enough to douse the minnows’ excitement about the hoped-for meeting with Wayne Rooney and Co. Instead, keen anticipation was converted into a form of fictional reality. “Man Utd tickets SOLD OUT,” proclaimed the club, days after their involvement in the knockout competition ended. What happened to enable the sale of tickets for the non-existent meeting between Accrington Stanley and United? True to their motto “The Club That Wouldn’t Die” Stanley issued 250 tickets at £20 a throw with the proceeds earmarked for squad strengthening, so that next time a big name appears on the horizon they might earn the right to actually face them. As for Yeovil, their cup adventure ended in a 2-0 defeat to the Red Devils. Å Perikles Monioudis T H E F I FA W E E K LY

29

Years of phenomenal growth FIFA decided to stage the first FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in 1991 (China PR) to give the best female players in world football the opportunity to play on a world stage, thus marking a milestone for the growth of women’s football all around the globe. Around half a million spectators attended the matches. Since then, the women’s game has taken huge strides forward in every aspect, whether in terms of the players’ technique, physical fitness and tactics, or the media coverage, TV viewers and sponsorship interest.

One of the pillars of FIFA’s mission is to touch the world through our tournaments. We take great pride in staging these entertaining and unique festivals of football across the globe.

The FIFA Women’s World Cup™ is a shining example of our commitment to ensuring that women’s football goes from strength to strength in the future.

FREE KICK

F I F A ’ S 11

Goals scored by winning teams at the Club World Cup

No sausages please Alan Schweingruber

W

hen a talented and widely courted footballer decides to open initial discussions with a team, the club in question springs into action. Not even the smallest detail can be allowed to derail a promising deal, which could mean anything from polishing the number plate of the Mercedes picking the young lad up from the airport, to stadium employees writing the player’s still unfamiliar name on a slip of paper to ensure they can greet him courteously when his car pulls up outside.

In all honesty, scrubbing a licence plate to create a positive impression is almost certainly a wasted effort, while giving a young man the idea that a passing plumber would already know his name seems wrong and insincere. So just how do clubs score points when seeking to capture a gifted player’s signature?

Rising star Martin Odegaard, widely tipped to sign for a new club in January, recently paid a visit to Bayern Munich. There are plenty of ways in which a team like the German champions could ingratiate themselves with the talented young Norwegian – the area around the club’s Sabenerstrasse training complex is appealing enough in itself – but because the player in question is only 16 years old, Munich had to assume that: a) Martin would not arrive from Norway alone, and b) the person accompanying the Stromsgodset attacking midfielder would have influence over his choice of team.

As you may have guessed, these business dealings are similar to those found in many organisations. Being on good terms with the boss’s secretary means it will only be a matter of time before you can have that long-awaited discussion about a pay rise.

In Bayern Munich’s case, this would have meant tackling some strangely specific dilemmas. Is it appropriate to offer fried local Stockwurst sausages to a 40-year-old who has spent his entire life in Scandinavia? And how cordial is their relationship with neighbours Sweden?

Should the driver refrain from playing Abba’s greatest hits album as a relaxing accompaniment to the car journey, even “The Winner Takes It All”?

Of course, these are all just silly details, as money may prove to be the key factor in determining where Martin Odegaard ultimately signs his name. Nevertheless, the power of a player’s gut feeling about a place should never be underestimated. Å

The weekly column by our staff writers

1

Barcelona Goals scored: 8 Japan 2011

2

Corinthians Goals scored: 6 Brazil 2000

Manchester United Goals scored: 6 Japan 2008

Internazionale Goals scored: 6 United Arab Emirates 2010

Real Madrid Goals scored: 6 Morocco 2014

6

AC Milan Goals scored: 5 Japan 2007

Barcelona Goals scored: 5 Japan 2009

Bayern Munich Goals scored: 5 Morocco 2013

9

Sao Paulo Goals scored: 4 Japan 2005

10

Internacional Goals scored: 3 Japan 2006

11

Corinthians Goals scored: 2 Japan 2012

Source: FIFA (FIFA Statistical Kit, 07/01/2015) T H E F I FA W E E K LY

31

MIRROR IMAGE

T

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London, England

Queens Park Rangers boss Gordon Jago puts new signing Frank McLintock through his paces.

32

T H E F I FA W E E K LY

Popperfoto / Getty Images

1973

MIRROR IMAGE

N

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Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Richard Heathcote / Getty Images

2014 England international Jack Wilshere works out at the Forte Sao Joao military base in the Urca neighbourhood.

T H E F I FA W E E K LY

33

MEN’S WORLD R ANKING

Germany (unchanged) none none 16 (11 of which were in 2014) Iraq (4 matches) Bahrain (up 43 points) Bahrain (up 12 ranks) Iraq (down 51 points) Jordan (down 12 ranks)

Leader Moves into top ten Moves out of top ten Matches played in total Most matches played Biggest move by points Biggest move by ranks Biggest drop by points Biggest drop by ranks Rank Team

+/- Points

Rank Team

+/- Points

Rank Team

+/- Points

Rank Team

+/- Points

1 Germany

0 1725

55 Panama

2

551

109 Ethiopia

2

294

163 Suriname

0

115

2 Argentina

0 1538

55 Trinidad and Tobago

0

551

110 Bahrain

12

292

164 Swaziland

0

113

3 Colombia

0 1450

57 Congo DR

-1

548

111 Namibia

-2

291

165 Bangladesh

0

103

4 Belgium

0 1417

58 Albania

0

543

112 Canada

0

287

166 Tahiti

0

100

5 Netherlands

0 1374

59 Montenegro

0

537

113 Cuba

0

271

167 Guyana

0

92

6 Brazil

0 1316

60 Egypt

0

531

114 Iraq

-11

269

168 Gambia

0

90

7 Portugal

0 1160

61 Congo

0

529

115 Palestine

-2

268

169 Montserrat

0

86

7 France

0 1160

62 Gabon

3

527

115 Liberia

0

268

170 São Tomé e Príncipe

0

84

0 1142

62 Togo

0

527

117 Kenya

-1

262

171 India

0

79

10 Uruguay

9 Spain

0 1135

64 Burkina Faso

-1

523

118 Equatorial Guinea

2

260

172 Sri Lanka

0

78

11 Italy

0 1103

65 Republic of Ireland

-1

519

119 Niger

-3

259

173 Comoros

0

75

12 Switzerland

0 1091

66 Bulgaria

0

506

120 St Kitts and Nevis

-2

258

173 Nicaragua

0

75

13 England

0 1032

67 Norway

0

500

121 St Vincent and the Grenadines

-2

256

175 Belize

0

74

14 Chile

0 1016

68 Rwanda

0

494

122 Lebanon

4

251

176 Yemen

0

67 66

15 Romania

0 1014

69 Korea Republic

0

487

123 Moldova

-2

250

177 Turks and Caicos Islands

0

16 Costa Rica

0

995

70 Finland

0

468

124 Lesotho

-1

245

178 Seychelles

0

61

17 Czech Republic

0

987

71 Uzbekistan

3

464

125 Kuwait

-1

241

179 Bermuda

0

55

18 Algeria

0

948

72 Honduras

-1

460

126 Georgia

-1

239

179 San Marino

0

55

19 Croatia

0

946

73 Guatemala

-1

458

127 Luxembourg

1

230

179 Cambodia

0

55

20 Mexico

0

913

73 Haiti

-1

458

128 Burundi

-1

227

182 Chinese Taipei

0

54

21 Slovakia

0

891

75 Jamaica

0

449

129 Aruba

0

221

183 Solomon Islands

0

53

22 Tunisia

0

873

76 Paraguay

0

442

129 Philippines

1

221

184 Dominica

0

52

23 Austria

0

863

77 Uganda

-1

441

131 Maldives

-1

220

185 Timor-Leste

0

51

24 Greece

0

856

78 Libya

0

437

132 Liechtenstein

0

219

186 Nepal

0

49

25 Ukraine

0

854

79 Armenia

0

436

133 Vietnam

4

218

186 Macau

0

49

26 Ecuador

0

852

80 United Arab Emirates

1

408

133 Guinea-Bissau

0

218

188 Pakistan

0

45 43

27 USA

0

836

81 Angola

-1

404

135 New Zealand

-1

216

189 South Sudan

0

28 Côte d’Ivoire

0

833

82 Morocco

-1

393

136 Azerbaijan

-1

215

190 Mauritius

0

36

29 Bosnia and Herzegovina

0

817

83 Estonia

1

382

136 Tajikistan

-1

215

191 Vanuatu

0

33

30 Denmark

0

804

84 Bolivia

1

375

138 Mauritania

-1

213

192 Fiji

0

30

31 Russia

0

789

85 Sierra Leone

1

374

139 Kazakhstan

0

205

192 Samoa

0

30

32 Israel

0

788

86 Cyprus

1

372

140 St Lucia

0

202

194 Mongolia

0

29

33 Iceland

0

761

87 Venezuela

1

371

141 Myanmar

0

200

195 Bahamas

0

26

34 Wales

0

748

88 Malawi

2

361

142 Afghanistan

1

190

196 Tonga

0

17

35 Senegal

0

734

89 Benin

0

359

143 Barbados

1

183

197 US Virgin Islands

0

16

36 Scotland

0

729

90 El Salvador

0

358

144 Thailand

-2

182

198 Brunei Darussalam

0

15

37 Ghana

0

714

91 Lithuania

1

355

145 Central African Republic

0

178

199 Papua New Guinea

0

13

38 Serbia

0

713

92 Qatar

3

347

146 Chad

0

172

200 American Samoa

0

12

39 Guinea

0

706

93 Oman

0

346

147 Malta

0

166

201 Andorra

0

9

40 Cape Verde Islands

0

693

93 Jordan

-12

346

147 Turkmenistan

0

166

202 British Virgin Islands

0

8

41 Poland

0

680

95 Antigua and Barbuda

-1

344

147 Madagascar

0

166

202 Eritrea

0

8

42 Cameroon

0

665

96 Latvia

0

339

150 Korea DPR

0

157

204 Somalia

0

6

43 Nigeria

0

654

96 China PR

1

339

151 Syria

0

156

205 Cayman Islands

0

5

44 Sweden

0

646

98 Mozambique

0

332

152 Kyrgyzstan

0

146

206 Djibouti

0

4

45 Hungary

0

632

99 Belarus

0

331

153 New Caledonia

0

142

206 Cook Islands

0

4

46 Slovenia

1

622

100 Australia

0

329

154 Malaysia

0

139

208 Anguilla

0

2

47 Northern Ireland

1

615

101 FYR Macedonia

-1

327

155 Grenada

0

137

209 Bhutan

0

0

48 Turkey

1

604

102 Saudi Arabia

0

318

156 Hong Kong

0

134 133

49 Mali

1

603

103 Faroe Islands

1

317

157 Singapore

0

50 Zambia

-4

594

104 Tanzania

1

315

158 Curaçao

0

125

51 Iran

0

588

105 Dominican Republic

1

310

159 Indonesia

0

122

52 South Africa

0

587

106 Botswana

1

308

160 Laos

0

121

53 Peru

0

565

107 Zimbabwe

1

301

161 Guam

0

119

54 Japan

0

563

108 Sudan

2

296

161 Puerto Rico

0

119

http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/index.html

NET ZER KNOWS!

What’s wrong with Italy’s Serie A? Question from Corrado Ramperti, Genoa

Backyard kickabout Gunter Netzer all in black.

Sven Simon / Ullstein Bild

T

here’s no point sugarcoating it: Italy’s Serie A has fallen behind its international competitors. A nation that was once regarded as the promised land of football can no longer attract the biggest names and is unable to offer top quality football. England, Spain and Germany have long been in a league of their own.

That doesn’t mean that Italian football no longer carries any weight, but it has certainly lost some of its appeal.

When football fans aren’t interested in attending matches, you have a serious problem. In some Italian stadiums you can feel the wind blowing through every crevice. It’s cold in there and there isn’t much catering on offer. It should be the aim of every club to make their supporters feel well looked after. You have to spoil the fans for them to come back and spend their hard-earned money. Serving up an enjoyable football match alone is no longer enough.

The 1990 World Cup was a fantastic tournament and resulted in a big boom in Italian football (as was the case

in Germany in 1974 and 2006). It was unfortunate for Italy that the 2012 European Championships were awarded to Poland and Ukraine. That would probably have been their way out of this crisis. The country must now try to introduce reforms. The old system is no longer effective.

Modern, fan-friendly stadiums would be a good place to start. That way, supporters and big-name players will eventually start to return. Å

What have you always wanted to know about football? Ask Gunter Netzer: feedback-theweekly@fifa.org T H E F I FA W E E K LY

35

TURNING POINT

“Take him instead” The former South Africa ­ captain Lucas Radebe on the day he switched roles with his brother and subsequently took up a pro­fessional footballer’s career.

Jurie Potgieter

I

grew up in Soweto, which was the centre of the internal anti-Apartheid struggle in South Africa. Many areas were no-go for the security forces, with running battles between comrades and the authorities.

There was almost always smoke and gunshots, and even horrible necklacings, where suspected collaborators had a tire thrust over their neck and were set alight.

I was still young and at an impressionable age when the protests against Apartheid grew markedly more violent. I used to write down a lot of the slogans and songs, and I would draw what I saw outside in the streets. When my parents saw the notebooks I had filled, they were so scared the police would find them, that they destroyed them all. In those days you could go to jail for just having the initials of the liberation movement on your coffee mug.

Later as I grew older I went to political meetings and with other teenage boys set up barricades and enforced boycotts. I was swept up in the dissent of the time, but still conscientious enough to worry about my schoolwork. My parents were deeply concerned about what would happen to me as the political situation got worse, and the government declared a state of emergency. When the street justice got out of hand, even I felt I had to get away from Soweto.

My brother Siga had been playing in Lehurutshe, deep in the rural north of the country, for a semi-professional club called ICL Birds United. “It’s on the farm,” he said as he came to visit home, and life there was too boring for him. The club sent an official to come and persuade him to come back, but instead my mother Emily pointed at me and said to them, “Hey, this troubled one, take him instead.”

While I had already shown some potential as a footballer, neither I nor my parents thought about it as a future for me. But the official was also the headmaster of a school and he agreed to take care of me, and oversee my education. I even went to stay with him. I was not only going to play football, but be able to do schooling without any interruption. It proved to be a crucial and insightful move on the part of my mother.

It not only helped me to get back to my books, but also launched me on the path to playing football more seriously; and led to a professional career and playing at the World Cup. Å As told to Mark Gleeson

Name Lucas Radebe Date and place of birth 12 April 1969, Soweto Playing position Defender Career as player 1989–1994 Kaizer Chiefs 1994–2005 Leeds United South African national team 70 appearances (2 Goals)

In Turning Point, personalities reflect on a decisive moment in their lives.

T H E F I FA W E E K LY

37

Football is a brotherhood. It’s peace.

© 2014 Visa. All rights reserved.

Oscar Arias Nobel Peace Laureate

PUZZLE

Published weekly by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)

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Staff Writers Alan Schweingruber (Deputy Editor), Sarah Steiner

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Contributors Luigi Garlando, Sven Goldmann, Tim Pfeifer, Jordi Punti, Thomas Renggli, David Winner, Roland Zorn

Secretarial assistance Honey Thaljieh

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Contact feedback-theweekly@fifa.org

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Art Direction Catharina Clajus

Printer Zofinger Tagblatt AG

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Chief Editor Perikles Monioudis

Translation www.sportstranslations.com

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Director of Communications and Public Affairs Walter De Gregorio

Layout Richie Kroenert (Lead), Tobias Benz, Susanne Egli

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Internet www.fifa.com/theweekly Reproduction of photos or articles in whole or in part is only permitted with prior editorial approval and if attributed “The FIFA Weekly, © FIFA 2015”. The editor and staff are not obliged to publish unsolicited manuscripts and photos.

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T H E F I FA W E E K LY

Puzzles courtesy www.opensky.ca/sudoku

Publisher FIFA, FIFA-Strasse 20, PO box, CH-8044 Zurich Phone +41-(0)43-222 7777, Fax +41-(0)43-222 7878

The objective of Sudoku is to fill a 9x9 grid with digits so that each of the numbers from 1 to 9 appears exactly once in each column, row and 3x3 sub-grid.

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L A S T W E E K’S P O L L R E S U LT S

41+35+7532 Which of these matches will you be looking forward to most in the round of 16 of the 2014/2015 UEFA Champions League?

3%

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T HIS WEEK’S POLL

Which of these former champions will go furthest in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup? Choose from the following: · Iran · Iraq · Saudi Arabia · Kuwait · Korea Republic · Japan Cast your votes at: Fifa.com/newscentre

Manchester City - Barcelona Paris Saint-Germain - Chelsea Juventus - Borussia Dortmund Bayer Leverkusen - Atletico Madrid Shakhtar Donetsk - Bayern Munich Schalke - Real Madrid Arsenal - Monaco Basel - Porto

“I wish I’d met Brendan when I was 24 because I think I’d be sitting here talking about a lot of titles that we’d won together” Steven Gerrard admitted regret over crossing paths with Brendan Rodgers so late in his career.

successive wins was the club record streak that came to

5

an end for Real Madrid on

league places stood between Marseille and

Sunday. Valencia were the

Grenoble, but at time up it was the Ligue 1 leaders’

goals were scored by Tottenham Hotspur last Thursday, and their spree could not have come

team to inflict the European

fourth-tier opponents who were the ones celebrat-

against less likely opponents. Chelsea, after all,

and world champions’ first

ing. That was after Marcelo Bielsa’s high-flying OM

had conceded just three times in their previous

defeat since September,

side crashed out of the Coupe de France 5-4 on

eight Premier League fixtures and, under Jose

emerging with a 2-1 victory

penalties after a pulsating 3-3 draw in which they

Mourinho, had never shipped more than three

at the Mestalla.

conceded a 121st-minute equaliser.

goals in a single game.

imago (2), Getty Images (2)

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WEEK IN NUMBERS