World Cup warm up matches to raise money for Haiti

February 18, 2010

Part of the proceeds from 2010 World Cup warm-up matches will be donated to quake-stricken Haiti, world football’s governing body FIFA said on Thursday.

FIFA said in a statement that it would donate its two percent levy on the friendly games between March 1 and June 11, and appealed to the 32 World Cup teams to match the donation.

“With a greater understanding of the magnitude of the human toll and widespread destruction, it is clear that the relief and recovery effort will require attention for the coming months and years,” said FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

“To achieve more impact and to act in solidarity, we look forward to having all 32 participating member associations join this effort by making an additional donation of two per cent for a total combined donation of four percent from each friendly,” he added in a letter to the football associations.

The governing body had announced some 3.25 million dollars in funding for Haiti’s beleaguered footballing community after the devastating quake there last month.

FIFA said the money from the friendlies would go to the special fund that will finance projects submitted by the Haitian Football Association.

ZURICH (AFP)

Tags: blatter, body fifa, football association, football associations, friendlies, friendly games, governing body, Haiti, Levy, magnitude, march 1, member associations, million dollars, recovery effort, Sepp Blatter, solidarity, world cup teams, world cup warm up matches, world football, ZURICH

England to play Egypt at Wembley

December 21, 2009

England will begin their countdown to next year’s World Cup with a friendly international against Egypt at London’s Wembley Stadium on March 3, the Football Association (FA) announced Monday.

After this month’s draw in Cape Town, England manager Fabio Capello said he wanted the side to play against African opponents – something they’ve yet to do under the Italian – as Algeria will be one of their Group C rivals at next year’s finals in South Africa.

“I think we will play March 3 at Wembley, against Egypt, then we have to find the date to play against Mexico,” Capello said following the draw.

“All the friendly games we played were against European teams and we know the style of these teams. We have to play against South Americans and African teams with a different style.”

However, Monday’s statement from the FA said no other England fixture details had been confirmed at this time.

Group C also features the United States and Slovenia.

Capello would like England to play Mexico in May as he believes they will provide his team with a useful warm-up ahead of their World Cup opener against the United States on June 12 in Rustenburg.

England are planning to play one more friendly ahead of the World Cup, with Japan the likely opponents, following a pre-tournament training camp in Austria.

Egypt, who’ve yet to play at Wembley, only missed out on a place in the 2010 World Cup finals after losing a tense play-off to Algeria last month.

England have played Egypt just twice previously, most recently at the 1990 World Cup in Italy.

Then a goal from England centre-back Mark Wright was all that separated the teams as the late Sir Bobby Robson’s side advanced to the second round.

Four years earlier, again under Robson, England won a friendly in Cairo 4-0.

A home win at Wembley in March would give England their 500th victory.

England have won the World Cup just once in their history, when they beat the then West Germany 4-2 after extra-time at Wembley in the 1966 final.

LONDON (AFP)

Tags: Cairo, cape town, countdown, different style, Egypt, England, england manager, extra time, fabio capello, fixture details, football association, friendly games, Germany, london, Mark Wright, Mexico, opponents, rivals, Robson, Rustenburg, sir bobby robson, South Africa, South Americans, time group, training camp, United States, Wembley, wembley stadium, west germany, world cup opener

England skipper Terry denies fitness worries

September 5, 2009

England skipper John Terry has insisted there is no question mark over his fitness ahead of next summer’s World Cup finals.

Terry pulled out of an England training session on Wednesday with a slight groin injury but has declared himself fully fit for this evening’s friendly international with Slovenia at Wembley.

The Chelsea captain had problems in the past with his back but is adamant surgery has alleviated any fears in that direction and was a virtual ever present for his club last season.

He said: “I am 100 per cent fit. I was a bit tight in my groin from the game for Chelsea on Saturday. I trained Monday and Tuesday.

“The lads were doing an 11 versus 11 game on Wednesday so the manager said ‘don’t train Wednesday, train Thursday-Friday’ and I am ready for the game.

“It is bizarre people question my general fitness. I played something like 63 games last season. Yes, I had a problem with my back before. That was an operation I had to have.

“It was frustrating for me because you play so many games and people still bring up past injuries. I am as fit as I’ve ever been for Chelsea and England.”

Terry acknowledges that friendly internationals are crucial for identifying replacements should key players pick up injuries.

He said: “Ideally we’d all like to be fit throughout the campaign but there are going to be injuries and suspensions and we’ll have to deal with them.

“That’s why the squad becomes even more important. These friendly games become even more important because it’s a chance for players to come in and make their place and give the manager a problem when it comes to team selection.”

Abhimanyu Rajput

Tags: CHELSEA, england skipper, fears, friendly games, game, general fitness, groin injury, internationals, john terry, lads, replacements, slovenia, suspensions, train, training session, Wembley, world cup finals

Deportivo ditch Mexico tour due to swine flu outbreak

July 11, 2009

Deportivo La Coruna have put off their pre-season tour of Mexico due to concerns over the swine flu outbreak in the Central American country, the first division Spanish club said Saturday.

The A(H1N1) virus “has led the pre-season in Mexico to be postponed until next year,” the Galician side said in their official newspaper.

The club had been scheduled to play four friendly games – against Gallos Blancos de Queretaro, Deportivo Toluca, Atlante FC and San Luis FC – during the Mexican tour starting on July 5.

Deportivo will instead play friendlies against three European teams – Italy’s AS Roma, France’s Toulouse and Portugal’s Vitoria de Guimaraes – as part of their pre-season programme.

In the first round of the new season’s matches, Deportivo have the daunting task of testing Real Madrid’s new multimillion euro team, featuring Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo, at the Bernabeu on the weekend of August 29-30.

Swine flu first emerged in Mexico in April but the United States has overtaken it in terms of both cases of infection and confirmed deaths.

The disease has claimed the lives of 119 people in Mexico and 170 in the United States, the World Health Organisation said Monday in its latest update.

MADRID (AFP)

Tags: atlante fc, bernabeu, Blancos, Central American, daunting task, deportivo la coruna, deportivo toluca, ditch, euro team, flu, flu outbreak, France, friendly games, gallos blancos de queretaro, Italy, kaka, la coruna, LA Liga, MADRID, Mexico, mexico tour, play four, portugal, real madrid, Roma, ronaldo, spanish club, swine flu, Toulouse, United States, vitoria de guimaraes, world health organisation

Confederations Cup preview: South Africa – New Zealand

June 17, 2009

Confederations Cup hosts South Africa will need a win over New Zealand if they want to keep a realistic chance of getting to the semi final stage.

After a disappointing goalless draw with Iraq in the opening game, the Bafana Bafana will have to shake off confidence issues for their second game. Considering that South Africa face European champions Spain in their final group game, a win on Wednesday is crucial.

New Zealand, although heavily beaten by Spain, could still find their way into the semi finals with wins over South Africa and Iraq, so the all-whites won’t give up easily.

These two teams haven’t met in 62 years, when they played four friendly games in 20 days. South Africa won all of these encounters.

The match, led by Mexican referee Benito Archundia, is to be played at Rustenburg’s Royal Bafokeng stadium and starts at 8:30pm local time.

Written by: Jonathan Roorda

Tags: bafana bafana, bafokeng, confederations cup, confidence issues, cup preview, european champions, final group, friendly games, group game, jonathan, local time, match, New Zealand, realistic chance, referee, royal bafokeng stadium, second game, South Africa, WC Qualifying South-Africa

Gold Cup favorites Mexico, USA have challenging summer ahead

April 20, 2009

NEW YORK – Both Mexico and the United States will have multiple challenges this summer, and that doesn’t even take into account another potential meeting for the CONCACAF Gold Cup title.

The two are in the midst of the final round of World Cup qualifying, with Mexico having to adjust to Javier Aguirre, the team’s fourth different manager in less than a year.

In addition to qualifying, the United States also must play in the Confederations Cup, and all of this on top of the biennial CONCACAF nations championship.

“We have a challenging summer ahead of us with three major international competitions going on, so it will be an excellent opportunity to further scrutinize our player pool as we continue to build our team towards qualifying and competing in the 2010 FIFA World Cup,” USA manager Bob Bradley said.

By comparison, Aguirre must stabilize a team that has won only three of its last 10 matches, two of the victories coming in friendlies and its only competitive victory at home.

“This year’s Gold Cup is key for the Mexican national team,” Aguirre said. “Apart from being the most well-known competition in the region, it will be part of a very important summer for our team, which has not only the Gold Cup, but also two World Cup qualifying matches and friendly games, finishing with a World Cup qualifying game against our archrival, the United States, at the Estadio Azteca on August 12.”

At the Gold Cup, Mexico will open against Gold Cup debutante Nicaragua and then face Central American champion Panama on July 9 in Houston, where it should have overwhelming support and likely will have its toughest first-round test.

“We have faced Panama’s national team on many occasions. This team has grown a lot in the past years, and it plays well,” Aguirre said. “In a stadium like Houston, where there are a lot of fans, it will be important to get a good result in order to not leave everything up to the third game.”

The Americans will face Grenada, Honduras and Haiti in Group B, opening on July 4, American Independence Day, in Seattle. The city, which was home to a team for 10 years in the old North American Soccer League, has seen a revival of the sport this year with the launch of the latest team in Major League Soccer, the Sounders FC.

“We are thrilled with the opportunity to open the Gold Cup in Seattle,” Bradley said. “The city has a great soccer tradition, and it has been very exciting to how the community has embraced the Sounders. We often speak of the pride and humility we feel in representing the United States, and there is no better way to start the tournament then on a day that all Americans share in those feelings.”

This year’s Gold Cup will be the 10th since the tournament was inaugurated in 1991, and for the first time will be played in 13 cities across the United States, beginning in Los Angeles July 3 and finishing July 26 outside New York.

Those wishing to purchase tickets may visit www.goldcup.org and click on the city, date or games they want to attend.

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Tags: 2010 fifa world cup, american champion, bob bradley, Central American, CONCACAF Champions' Cup, concacaf gold cup, confederations cup, debutante, estadio azteca, FIFA, friendlies, friendly games, grenada, Haiti, Honduras, Houston, international competitions, Javier Aguirre, Los Angeles, Mexico, mexico and the united states, midst, New York, Nicaragua, North American, overwhelming support, Panama, player pool, Seattle, third game, USA, world cup qualifying matches, world cup usa

Hoffenheim´s Eduardo receives five-match ban

April 15, 2009

FRANKFURT, Germany (AFP) – Brazilian midfielder Carlos Eduardo will miss all bar two of Hoffenheim’s remaining Bundesliga games after being hit with a five-match ban on Tuesday.

The German Football Federation (DFB) have taken a tough stance with the 21-year-old who was sent off in Hoffenheim’s shock 3-0 defeat at home to Bochum on Saturday for elbowing opponent Philipp Boenig in the chest in the 59th minute.

Hoffenheim ended the game with nine men after goalkeeper Daniel Haas was sent off just two minutes later for hauling down Slovakian striker Stanislav Sestak when he was clear through on goal.

Haas has been banned for three games, but the DFB have come down harder on Eduardo who has a poor recent disciplinary record and will now only be able to play in his club’s final two games of the current season.

Eduardo was sent off for fighting in a friendly against Hamburg on January 14 which earned him suspensions for two league games and three friendly games. Both the club and player have said they will not appeal the decision.

Despite having begun the year as Bundesliga leaders, Hoffenheim are now sixth in the league and are 10 points behind leaders Wolfsburg.