2010 SAFWC

It seems impossible for India to make it to next World Cup as they have been placed with some very strong teams in the qualifying group.

There is only a whisker of a chance for them to be able to finish at the top position in that group.

However, they have something else to play for as well. They can aim for the no. 2 position. If they achieve that, they would get the ticket to Emirates for Asian Cup.

Nobody was expecting India to get an easy World Cup qualification draw because of their rankings and that’s why the head coach of the team, Stephen Constantine, did not look that disappointed.

Speaking to the reporters, the Englishman said, “It’s difficult, the kind of teams we have been slotted with, they are much more experienced, but, the fact that we are there in the group, we should be happy about it. Playing against strong oppositions is better than not playing against anyone.”

There have not been too many occasions in the recent past when India has faced strong international teams.

India actually does not play that much at the international level at all. The previous year, they played only a couple of games. But, now, because of them being placed in a World Cup qualifying group, they are going to get more international exposure.

It’s not certain though at which stadiums the Indians will play the home leg of the World Cup ties. Guwahati might be one of the venues that are supposed to be named. It had hosted the game against Nepal as well.

The four teams which India will be competing with for a place in the World Cup main draw are Iran, Guam, Oman and Turkmenistan.

Iran had taken part in World Cup 2014 as well.

The World Cup 2014 may have just concluded a few months ago, but qualification for the next edition in Russia is all set to begin shortly.

The first few months of qualification, especially in the Asian regions, will eliminate a number of weak teams like Bhutan and India. Both teams have failed to reach the final stages of the World Cup in the history of my game. However, there are several reasons to expect much more positives from these nations this time around. India, especially, is seen as one of the sleeping giants in the game.

Despite a massive population of more than 1 billion people, the nation has been unable to take football in the same way as it has done with cricket. Cricket continues to enjoy overwhelming popularity in the Indian subcontinent, but the recently concluded Indian Super League has provided football fans with a glimmer of hope. The inaugural season of the ISL proved a major hit with a number of foreign names like Alessandro Del Piero and Nicolas Anelka playing in this division for a few months. The football was also of high-quality and this is expected to inspire a new generation of football fans in India.

Nepal’s American coach says that India remains a top country in this region and his aim is to beat India. “India are tough opponents but our boys have played a lot of domestic matches. We had a good training before the tournament and everyone in the side is quite fit. I think we are up for the task. Our target is to get into the second round,” said Nepal coach Stefanowski. The likes of Cambodia are also hoping to reach the final stages of qualification. “I am encouraged by the result and the performance. We have a lot of work still to do. We have to remain focused on getting to the next stage,” saidCambodia coach Lee.

Dunga took charge of the Brazilian national football team after the 2014 World Cup reached it’s end and so far it seems to have a good decision as Brazil has won all of their matches with the majority of them being friendly matches against Colombia, Ecuador, Japan, Turkey and Austria, all of which Brazil came out on top with the triumph.

Even with all of these victories there have been certain doubts that have emerged in relation some managerial decisions that Dunga has made and one of them is his choice to leave Real Madrid’s Marcelo on the bench but the manager has now stated that the Brazilian defender is not efficient enough.

“The reasons are as follows … How many times did Marcelo go on the attack in the World Cup? Twenty times. How many goals did he score or create? None. How many times were our defenders caught out with balls over the top? Three or four. It’s not a question of Marcelo. Everyone in the team must be efficient.” Brazil’s Dunga told reporters as he answered questions in relation to why Marcelo isn’t a regular player for the Brazilian national football team.

Marcelo is a consistent starter for Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid and he has always been an influential player for the Spanish club but it seems like it’s still not enough for him to land a spot under the starting XI of Dunga who prefers utilizing other players.

At the age of 26, Marcelo has lifted all of the major titles in Europe as he secured the UEFA Champions League, Super Cup, La Liga and the Kings Cup all of which were claimed during his time as a player of Real Madrid but even with all of these accolades and experience that he has gained playing in one of the top clubs in the world, Dunga believes that Marcelo needs to improve and be a better overall player.

Honorable Russian President Putin has declared to spend over 660 bn rubles (15 bn USD) for the next FIFA World that is to be held in his country in 2018.

The declaration arrived amidst huge criticisms protesting Putin’s nod to host the mega event in the Balkan in the contemporary turbulent times. FIFA boss Sepp Blatter, who has been supporting the Eussian cgief on the World Cup angle all through, has recognized Putin’s recent declaration- and has further announced to be attentive for unconditional backup for the host country. He assured no heed to the groundless boycott by European nations who have been protesting Russia’s decision to host the 2018 World.

“Russia would carry on every endeavor required for the event & that too on top most qualitative level”, announced Putin whilst chairing a meet of 2018 Russia Autonomous Mom-Commercial Organization that took place on October 28. The meet was attended by major Russian ministers and the FIFA chief himself. The very organization has been entrusted with the responsibility to look after Russian preparations for 2018 FIFA World.

According to Putin’s announcements, the organizers are soon to launch up a special kind of data web portal that would verify all prep levels of the mega championship- akin to the organization which was a huge success during Sochi Olympics.

“Every useful development, practice & idea should be utilized in full in the World Cup preparation”, Putin added in. “This concerns attracting volunteers, logistics, ticket programs as well as hospitality programs catering to guests and athletes.”
The fund meant for World Cup in Russia would be primarily utilized to develop information, energy & transportation infrastructure. Maxim Sokolov, the Russian Minister of Transportation has shared that the fans would be capable of traveling in between World Cup hosting cities for free, just by showing the tickets.

New Switzerland manager Vladimir Petkovic will have to do without the services of Eren Derdiyok after the striker has suffered a serious injury just tired of the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign. The former Lazio manager was appointed as the successor for Ottmar Hitzfeld, who retired after the World Cup 2014. The announcement came several months ago and the manager formally took charge of the national team recently. However, he has been greeted with the news of Derdiyok’s injury. The striker, who plays for Turkish club Kasimpasa, is one of their important players.
Since making his debut in 2008, he has featured in 45 appearances. Even though he has scored only eight goals in this period, his overall play has been important to Switzerland’s success. The 26-year-old’s poor performances in recent months, though, meant that he was not taken to the World Cup 2014 by former manager Ottmar Hitzfeld. Still, he was hoping to get back into the national team due to a fresh start provided by Petkovic. As of now, the striker is expected to miss around seven months of action due to this anterior cruciate ligament injury.
During this period, Switzerland will be playing four Euro 2016 qualifying matches. The national team reached the last 16 of the World Cup 2014. They almost managed to knock out Argentina from the tournament. Keen to build on this performance, Switzerland will be hoping for a good start to the qualifying campaign. It will be extremely difficult, however, since they are in a group involving the likes of England and Slovenia. Up to 3 teams can qualify for the finals, which will give Petkovic a lot of confidence.
Another Switzerland star Gelson Fernandes has decided to move to France after signing for Stade Rennais. He transfers from SC Freiburg for a transfer fee of around € 1.5 million.

Jose Mourinho, the boss of Chelsea thought that Cesare Prandelli should have been retained as the coach of Italy irrespective of the failure in World Cup. A new coach has already have been assigned to be part of the Italian team and he is Paolo Maldini.

The Federation of Football in Italy had met to discuss regarding the future of Italy. Hence, Paolo Maldini who is an Azzuri coach and also been former legend of AC-Milan made the cut. But news of some other coach has also been floating in and around. The board members are in search of an experienced coach for the time being and eventually Azzuri coach might be heaped with the responsibility of coaching Italy. Also, Francesco Guidolin can also make the final cut and under whom Paolo Maldini could learn the tactics.

But the Azzuri soon quit after losing to Uruguay by 1-0.
Mourinho is confident that the former coach will once again make his entry to the Italian team. The reason for him to stress on Prandelli retaining the status of coach is that he was the person who assembled the team that had been distressed after a dismal performance in 2010 in the World Cup. More so in other tournaments and also in the Euro of 2012 and Confederations Cup the Italian football team had performed better o there should not be second thoughts regarding him and one loss in the World Cup of 2014 should not be treated as his fault.

Many other names are appearing in the Federation of Italian football to take up the responsibility of coach but who actually makes the final cut is yet to be seen. Robert Mancini, Luciano Spalleti and Max Allegri are strong contenders to take over the coaching of Italian team in the coming weeks.

Manchester United striker Robin van Persie has dismissed suggestions that he could miss the first few matches of the group stages at the World Cup 2014 after suffering an injury. Van Persie is one of the important players for the Dutch national team. He is expected to be partnered by Arjen Robben at the front. However, Dutch have received a bad news in the form of an injury to van Persie, but the 31-year-old has dismissed suggestions that it is a serious one. Netherlands will be having a tough World Cup since they will be up against Spain and Chile in the group stages.

The striker admitted after the recent friendly match against Wales that he could miss the World Cup 2014. Van Persie was taken off in the 2-0 win over the Welsh, but the Manchester United man says that it is largely down to a precaution. Netherlands start their campaign against Spain on June 14. Then they take on Australia before finishing their group commitments with a match against Chile on June 23. Van Persie was recently overjoyed after it was announced that Louis van Gaal will be taking over as the United manager from the new season. The striker has always stated the great relationship he has with Van Gaal.

“You don’t have to worry. I have a little pain in my groin. I don’t even call it an injury though. It was more of a precaution as the game next week is a lot more important,” said the striker. “It was a precaution with Van Persie, but he didn’t come off for no reason. I have many attackers in the team. I knew Wales would sit back, but I did not expect them to play so deep. I just have to say that we are in a process and we are preparing for better opponents,” said the manager.

Everton manager Roberto Martinez says that he is confident that youngsters Ross Barkley and John Stones will be extremely good for the England national team if they are selected for the World Cup 2014. Rumours suggest that England manager Roy Hodgson is about to name a very youthful looking squad for the World Cup. He is about to do away with the likes of Ashley Cole and Michael Carrick, who have been a major part of the England national team for several years now. In their place, he is expected to call Barkley and Stones.

The duo have done extremely well with Everton this season and they have helped the club secure Europa League football for next season. Barkley has scored seven goals in the league this campaign, while Stones was an unknown quantity before making his debut for the club. After having been a regular in the last few matches of the season, Stones proved that he is capable of playing along with the best in the world. Barkley has been consistently linked with a move to Manchester United and Chelsea in recent years.

Martinez says that the club are extremely delighted to qualify for Europe once again and he is also confident that the youngsters from the club will do justice if they are selected.
“There is always the opportunity of representing the senior side. But, if not, there is the Toulon tournament. One way or another they are going to be busy. That was one of the reasons that we had to look after them a little bit and make sure they into the summer without a risk of injury. They’ve been regenerating all week and are ready for whatever comes their way. I trust Roy Hodgson’s vision,” said the Everton manager, who has himself received a lot of plaudits this season.

West Brom striker Victor Anichebe has stated that he has not spoken with anyone representing the Nigerian football Federation in the last few weeks regarding the recall to the national team.

As one of the top strikers available for selection, Anichebe is almost certain to be part of the squad that will fly to Brazil in order to take part in the World Cup 2014. However, the former Everton striker has made himself unavailable for the national team in the last few years in order to concentrate on his club career. Now, he acknowledges that the World Cup 2014 may be his last opportunity to play in a major tournament.

Since he is doing well at the moment, Anichebe says that the possibility of returning to the national team is high. The striker, though, nobody from the Nigerian football Federation – including the manager Stephen Keshi – has not contacted him about possible recall. This puts his participation in the World Cup in doubt. Nigeria recently won the African cup of nations and are regarded as one of the strongest representatives from this continent. They have a great chance of making it into the knockout stages of the tournament after being grouped alongside Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Iran.

Argentina are expected to win the group comfortably, while Nigeria are the favourites to finish in the second place.
“I haven’t spoken to anybody, that goes from the federation to Stephen Keshi himself. We will see what happens. Right now I’m playing well, feeling fit, strong and helping my team in the situation we are currently in at the moment. If I continue to play well from now to the end of the season then we can take it from there. The Premier League is watched around the world so it’s easy to see what qualities I can bring to the team,” said Anichebe.

Brazil come into the World Cup 2014 as one of the strongest teams in the competition. They did extremely well in 2013 and also lifted the Confederations Cup, which acts like the precursor for the World Cup. However, they are not without their problems as they are not exactly strong up front.

Luiz Felipe Scolari has been looking at a number of strikers in the last few months, but it looks like they will go into the tournament with a striker conundrum still intact.

The nation are likely to go back to one of the former strikers Adriano, who recently returned to playing football. The former Inter Milan man has not been playing for the national team since 2010, while he also played his first competitive match in almost 2 years for Atletico Paranaense. He came on as a substitute in a 1-0 win for the club. Scolari has not failed to rule out the striker being selected for national team duty, but he says that it is a longshot. The former Chelsea boss says that he will not rule out any player capable of representing Brazil.

Brazil are looking to get Diego Costa, who is also eligible to play for Spain, before the start of the tournament.

“There are lots of stories. Everybody lobbies for one player or another. We all do it when we want a player to do well. There are some that haven’t played for some years. I am looking at everything. But I have to make my observations in accordance with a series of factors, not just one. That’s not true. You don’t talk about whether a player is fit if it’s clearly not the case,” said Scolari regarding Adriano’s future and also rumours that he spoke with Atletico Paranaense’s football director Antonio Lopes about Adriano.