Tags: Sports / World Cup2014

Costa Rica Beat Uruguay 3-1 In A Great Comeback And Upset

- Sunday, 15 June 2014 No Comments

Uruguay players celebrating Edinson Cavani’s goal through a penalty in 23′ minute of the game

In one of the greatest comeback and upset in the history of world cup tournament, Costa Rica rallied from behind 1-0 to beat Uruguay 3-1 in a group D match held at The Estadio Castelao in Fortaleza-Brazil .

With the soaring temperatures, Uruguay who came into the game without their key striker, Luis Suarez, took the lead in the 23′ minute through Edinson Cavani by penalty after a penalty was awarded following J.Diaz’s foul on D.Lugano. As the teams went into the dressing room for the break the South Americans were leading 1-0.

Edinson Cavani celebrating his goal

The second half was brutal to the Uruguayans. Costa Rica came back alive, stronger and eager not only to equalize but to win. They became clear and present danger. It took them just few minutes into the second half to equalize through Joel Campbell who got a stunning ball in from the right-hand corner by Cristian Gamboa before controlling it and smash the ball past Muslera, who was rooted to the spot. It was 53′ minute.

Joel Campbell celebrates his goal against Uruguay

Costa Rica continued to dominate right,left and centre. Uruguay started looking tired and dis-organized. In the 57′ minute free-kick from the right reached Oscar Duarte at back post where he headed the ball across Muslera and into the far corner. Central Americans had taken a lead.

Oscar Duarte..

In the 84′ minute Marco Urena who had just entered produced a wonderful slide-rule finish after being set clear by a glorious through pass by Joel Campbell. Uruguay fate for the day seemed done.TV screens showed Suarez’s reaction from the bench. It was heart breaking. Uruguay who were favorite to win the group opener match had lost and lost terribly. The final whistle Costa Rica 3 Uruguay 1.

Costa Rica forward Marc Urena celebrates his goal which was 3rd for Costa Rica

Starting line-ups were Uruguay: Muslera, Caceres, Lugano, Godin, Pereira, Gargano, Arevalo, Rodriguez, Stuani, Forlan, Cavani

Costa Rica: Navas, Gamboa, Umana, Gonzalez, Duarte, Diaz, Bolanos, Borges, Tejeda, Ruiz, Campbell.

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Ivory Coast Wipes Off Japan’s Lead To Win 2-1; Check all important moves here and give a comment.

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Didier Drogba came in and Ivorians were alive again.

In the last game of the day, the Ivorians faced the fast-paced Japan. After Cameroon disappointing start against Mexico in Group A’s match, the African continent had lots of hope in Ivory Coast to uplift the African Spirit.

It was, therefore, disheartening when AC Milan’s midfielder, Keisuke Honda received the ball right in Côte d’Ivoire area and managed to elude three defenders before smashing the ball into the net using his powerful left foot. It was in the 16’ minute With that goal Honda who also scored the first goal in Japan’s campaign in 2010, became the first Japanese player to score in more than one World Cup.Till half –time, Ivory Coast was down 1-0.

Ivoirians started the second half a bit stronger with much more coordinated attacks and passes. In the 62’ minute,Didier Drogba came in and all over sudden things changed drastically for Ivory Coast.

Just two minutes since the introduction of Drogba into the game, Yaya Toure widened the ball from the right hand side to reach Aurier who made an excellent cross to Bony Wilfred who used his forehead to pass the ball into the net leaving Japanese goalie,Kawashima with nothing much to do.

Even before the fans had ended the equalizing goal’s celebration, it was Aurier again who whipped a cross that forced Kawashima down to give Gervinho a headed goal. Ivory had changed the course of the game.

Japanese, thereafter, looked frustrated and while Didier continued to give his teammates the boost they needed, till the final whistle Ivory Coast 2 Japan 1. They were two first goals Japan has conceded to an African team in the world cup.

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WC 2014: 3 things Spain need to do to get over Netherlands loss

- Saturday, 14 June 2014 No Comments

Last year's losing finalists Netherlands beat defending champions Spain 5-1 in their Group B match at the World Cup in Brazil in what was the most entertaining yet shocking result in the tournament so far. With two group matches still to go, Spain are surely not out of the tournament — their confidence is dented, but they faced a similar writing-off in 2010 when they succumbed to Switzerland in their opening game before going on to be crowned champions. It may sound critical of the Dutch, but there are better teams out there and if Spain want to make sure they pose a strong defence of their title, then they quickly need to make some changes and bounce back. Here are three things they need to do to get over the humiliating defeat: Play David Villa: Not Brazilian-turned-Spaniard Diego Costa or the perennially misfiring Fernando Torres — the Spanish team needs the clinical finishing of Villa on top. He is Spain's all-time top-scorer, has had a fantastic season for Atletico Madrid and will be raring to go in his last international tournament. Villa gives you more mobility than Costa and certainly matches his finishing ability — plus he is way better than Torres.

Casillas looks on as his team crumbles against the Dutch. Getty Images

He's always produced the goods against the top teams — the 92nd minute winner against Sweden and the penalty against Italy at Euro 2008 and the goals against Portugal and Paraguay at World Cup 2010 — and has the calm in front of goal that Spain so lacked against Netherlands. Spain mustered only three out of their 10 shots on target — and need a man of Villa's calibre to finish the numerous chances they created.

Spain's shots

Play tiki-taka: What Spain played against Netherlands was not tiki-taka — yes, the template was the same but the passing was riskier, more direct and allowed for the occasional long-ball. It wasn't a complete failure, with Spain creating seven scoring chances — David Silva and Costa enjoying the best of them — but it seemed like they were trying to convince the world that they can play another brand of football. Spain's best moments came with this direct approach but there was an underlying impatience to their game, a lack of composure and a reluctance to play the simpler pass. Del Bosque has already gone on record stating that they are 'not like Talibans' when it comes to playing a style of football but Xavi has also made it clear that Spain should stick to what they do best. They still have their golden generation in the team and tiki-taka is what they do best. Why Del Bosque would force his team to play a mix of two styles is beyond explanation when one style has brought the team three major trophies in a row. With the three central midfielders not playing closer to each other than usual, it created a void in defence too — with the back two struggling to cope with Netherlands' pace as the Spanish wingbacks constantly poured forward to join a narrow attack. Untitled-1

Spain's key passes (crosses included)

Give new blood a chance: If Del Bosque really wants to change the style of his team, then he has to change its core. Andres Iniesta is the untouchable in midfield, but there are alternatives for Xavi, Xabi Alonso and Sergio Busquets in the form of Koke (seven goals, 18 assists), Pedro (19 goals, 13 assists), Juan Mata and Cazorla. In defence, Juanfran is a much better option than Azpilicueta — the former is solid at the back and inventive going forward too. The first two Netherlands goals came from the left and Azpilicueta should never have allowed Daley Bling to get those balls in. Spain have come under criticism for playing boring football and while his team lasted for 45 minutes playing a radical style of their old approach — he must remember that most of his players have been trained rigorously under one system. The 5-1 loss is the perfect cover to make some gradual changes in a Spanish side that looks predictable.

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Tags: Sports / World Cup2014

CAMEROON LOSSES; MEXICO WIN 1-0. See the pictures here.

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Long wait: Oribe Peralta (left) gives Mexico the lead in the 61st minute

Ahead: Peralta wheels away in celebration after given Mexico a deserved lead in the Group A clash

Jubilant: The Mexico players celebrates the opening goal with the substitutes on the sidelines

Bad day: Giovani Dos Santos saw two seemingly fair goals disallowed during the first half

One to forget: Samuel Eto'o missed a glorious chance to give his side the lead in the first half

Friday’s decisions were worse. Dos Santos was denied his first goal even though he was level with the last Cameroon defender and he was later ruled offside when the ball had gone to him via the head of opponent Eric Choupo-Moting.

Before kick off, nearly 20,000 Mexican fans provided a party atmosphere in Natal despite pouring rain.

They were probably relieved to see opponents Cameroon simply turn up after the Africans had arrived in Brazil 24 hours late because of a dispute over bonus payments.

Mexico manager Miguel Herrera, who optimistically believes his side can win the World Cup, controversially left out Javier Hernandez due to the Manchester United striker’s run of nine games without a goal for El Tri.

It didn’t take long for the Central Americans to realise luck – and officialdom – would be against them.

With Cameroon on the back foot, Hector Herrera roared forward after 11 minutes and played in a perfect cross for dos Santos to volley in

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Tags: Sports / World Cup2014

Robin van Persie: Louis van Gaal Predicted 5 - 1 over Holland. Check this out

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Van Persie praises new United boss saying: 'this is because of the coach'
Holland surpised everyone - except Van Gaal - with their 5-1 win
Dutch striker says the manager told them exactly what would happen
United fans excited as Van Gaal coaxes the best out of their number 20.

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Tags: Sports / World Cup2014

Photos :The Evolution Of The World Cup Soccer Ball till today.

- Friday, 13 June 2014 No Comments

As soccer fans around the globe gear up to take in the World Cup on Thursday, a number of companies are using the event to push their tech-focused efforts into the spotlight.But long before the Twitter World Cup hashtag campaigns and Google Maps’ virtual tours of the playing fields, for years Adidas, one of the oldest sports wear brands around, has been quietly advancing the technology behind one of the most important components of the event: the ball.

Since Adidas has been behind every World Cup ball since the 1970 games, players have become accustomed to the changing dynamics of the company’s ball, but the latest model is the most heavily tested of any previous version.

Before we get into that, here is is the evolution of the sccer ball used in the world cup over the last thrty four years

1970 Adidas Telstar
The design most soccer fans know best, the Adidas Telstar, which has 12 black pentagons and 20 white hexagons, made its debut at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.

brazil world cup ball 1970

1974 Adidas Telstar
Used at the 1974 World Cup in Germany, the ball looks much the same as its predecessor, but featured names and logos (a first at the games)

brazi lworld cupbal l1974

1978 Adidas Tango
Featured at the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, the Adidas Tango was a radical design departure from the old model, using twenty triad panels delivering an optical illusion of 12 identical panels.

brazil world cup ball 1978

1982 Tango Espana
Looking almost identical to the 1978 version, the Tango Espana model, used at the World Cup in Spain, added waterproof sealed seams, a feature designed to keep its weight down during wet weather matches.

brazil world cup ball 1982

1990 Adidas Etrusco Unico

brazil world cup ball 1990

This ball, used at the World Cup in Italy, added an under layer of black polyurethane foam, a component that made the ball faster and even more water-resistant.

1994 Adidas Questra

The Adidas Questra was the first World Cup ball to be completely covered in a layer of polystyrene foam, making it even faster off the foot of players.

brazil world cup ball 1990

1998 Adidas Tricolore

Presented at the World Cup in France, this was the first multi-colored ball ever used and was layered in a new syntactic foam to improve its durability.
2002 Adidas Fevernova

brazil world cup ball 1998

The 2002 Japan World Cup injected a new appreciation for the sport in the country and featured an eye-catching new gold ball with a design inspired by Asian culture.

brazil world cup ball 2002

2006 Adidas Teamgeist
For the World Cup’s return to Germany in 2006, Adidas reduced the number of panel touch points in order to increase accuracy and overall control. Any trace of pentagon panels was erased in favor of the more futuristic design.

brazil world cup ball 2006

2010 Adidas Jabulani

brazil world cup ball 2010

The 2010 Jabulani is perhaps the most controversial World Cup ball in that some players openly complained that the lightweight ball was unpredictable and difficult to control.
2014 Adidas Brazuca

The Brazuca, set to be used during the World Cup in Brazil, is the most advanced Adidas World Cup ball yet. Featuring a new six-panel design, the ball was tested by over 600 top players and has received high marks for its speed and accuracy.

brazil world cup ball 2014

brazil world cup ball 2014
Courtesy of adidas and mashable

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Tags: Sports / World Cup2014

VIDEO: Brazil Bounce Back From An Early Goal, Defeat Croatia 3-1; Watch the clip of what happened if you missed this.

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Brazilian Poster Boy,Neymar celebrating his second goal agaist Croatia. Photo AP

Arena De Sao Paolo was packed. You’d think you have somehow walked into the sunflower farm because of the yellow colors that dominated the arena. For Brazil, it was more than important game. As you know, to Brazilians, soccer is a culture. It is life.It was setting the stage for 2014 FIFA World Cup and sending a message to 31 opponents eyeing for the title. That message, that statement came at a cost to Croatia. When the final whistle was blown the score was 3-1.

If it wasn’t Neymar, who else? You could be right to ask such a question. The poster boy didn’t dissapoint. He equalized an early own goal from Marcelo in the 11th minute before scoring the second through a penalty. The penalty, however, was controversial. Brazilian striker ,Fred, took advantage of “digital age”…don’t touch me. The Japanese referee, Yuichi Nishimura ruled that Croatia captain,Dejan Lovren had pushed down Fred. He awarded the penalty.

Fred [Brazil] awarded a controversial penalty. Neymar scored in 71st minute.

Overall, the win didn’t come easy for the host nation. They fought for it. If anything,Croatians proved the were not just touring Brazil but there to compete. It was, to me, a balanced game. Each team created chances and if it wasn’t the superb skills of both goalkeepers, we could be talking about something else.

The controversial penalty seemed to have a bit of an impact in Croatians. A couple of unnecessary fouls were committed thereafter. However, towards the final minutes, they almost bounced back with a lot of attacks that started from the midfield area which Brazil didn’t seem to dominate as it was expected. Instead, the Croatians dominated the midfield for a large portion of the second half.

But when we thought the score would end up 2-1, Oscar, another player that was superb in this opener, sealed Brazil’s victory with a superb self-skill goal in the 91st minute. To the end Brazil 3-1. Just the kind of victory they needed.

Jubilante

Here is the video showing all the goals for the match between Brazil and Croatia.

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Tags: Sports

Chelsea new boy Cesc Fabregas has 'unfinished business' in the Premier League

- Thursday, 12 June 2014 No Comments

Done deal: Cesc Fabregas has completed his move to
Chelsea
Chelsea have completed the £27million signing of
Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas.
The Spanish star has penned a five-year deal with the
Blues and revealed he turned down several other offers
to move to Stamford Bridge.
He said: "Firstly I would like to thank everyone at FC
Barcelona where I enjoyed three wonderful years. It was
my childhood club and I will always be proud and
honoured that I had a chance to play for such a great
team.
"I do feel that I have unfinished business in the Premier
League and now is the right time to return.
"I considered all the other offers very carefully and I
firmly believe that Chelsea is the best choice.
"They match my footballing ambitions with their hunger
and desire to win trophies.
"They have an amazing squad of players and an
incredible manager.
"I am fully committed to this team and I can't wait to
start playing."

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Tags: Sports

ENGLAND STRIKER DANNY WELBECK INJURED.

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Danny Welbeck's possible absence for Italy clash makes it even more likely that Raheem Sterling will start in Manaus, where the pitch is clearly in need of urgent attention

England striker Danny Welbeck misses training with thigh injury ahead of World Cup 2014 clash against Italy
Sidelined: Danny Welbeck is struggling with a thigh injury.

Danny Welbeck did not start training at England's base at Urca this morning. Welbeck left the field on Tuesday clutching his right thigh. If he is out of contention for Saturday's Group D opener against Italy in Manaus, it will be a setback for Roy Hodgson, who is a great admirer of the versatile Manchester United striker's talents, although it makes it even more likely that Raheem Sterling starts.

Hodgson appreciates the way Welbeck contributes to the defensive side of England's performance, tracking back to help out his full-back, as well as attacking. Welbeck has scored eight times in 24 England appearances, making his mark even when playing out of position.

Welbeck spoke at England's training camp in the Algarve of his desire to play more centrally for club and country and is hoping to show his qualities at this tournament. He knows that United's new manager, Louis van Gaal, will be studying the performances of the club's England contingent after completing his duties as Holland coach.

Welbeck's possible absence makes it even more likely that Sterling will start in Manaus, where the pitch is clearly in need of urgent attention. Sterling has been outstanding in training with England, making light of the fact that he has played only 39 minutes in five weeks. Sterling has never played in a competitive game for England but now looks set to attack Italy on Saturday.

During the training session that saw Welbeck injured, Sterling was used in the hole behind Daniel Sturridge with Wayne Rooney and Adam Lallana moving between the wings in a fluid four-man attack. It would be a welcome bold step by Hodgson, a strong response to the possible absence of Welbeck.

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Tags: Sports / World Cup2014

Brazil live: Twitter compiles dream team based on user tweets

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Image from Twitter blog

11. 55 am: Twitter compiles dream team based on user tweets Twitter has been pulling out all the stops to make sure it gets its own slice of the digital world cup pie, with a number of new initiatives to boost user engagement during the tournament. Some of these include World Cup Timelines - that allow users to search for the latest news via the hashtags #WorldCup or #WorldCup2014 to view them. In the World Cup timeline, you can view Tweets related to the World Cup from people in your network, along with relevant Tweets from teams, players, coaches, press, fans in the stadiums and celebrities. The match timeline shows Tweets about specific matches that are happening in real time to help you keep up with the latest goals, saves, fouls and more — even if you’re not near a TV. Another feature is the hashflag - a feature that allows users to actually display a picture of their favourite team inside the tweet by using a hashtag in front of the relevant three-letter country code. Twitter is also compiling a lot of its data to get some very cool visualisations. For instance, here is the Twitter 11 - the most mentioned Football superstars for each position:

Thirty of the 32 nations competing in this year’s World Cup have official accounts on Twitter and they are racking up the followers. Here are the most followed teams so far:

Most-followed-World-Cup-teams-on-Twitter

10.40 am: The latest World cup craze in Brazil.... sticker collecting! The World Cup is around the corner and millions of fans are putting down their iPads to collect and trade football stickers, a decades-old hobby that has defied the digital age. A children's game played mostly by adults, FIFA's Brazil World Cup sticker album is a cult phenomenon and multimillion-dollar business for the Panini Group, an Italian company that has been printing the cards since Mexico hosted the Cup in 1970.

Here are some pictures:

A woman sorts her Panini soccer World Cup stickers collection while sitting at a trading and meeting point for sticker collectors in downtown Sao Paulo: Reuters

A man sells stickers for the official 2014 FIFA World Cup sticker album in a downtown street in Guatemala City, June 8, 2014. Italian publishing company Panini has issued the sticker album for every World Cup since the 1970 tournament in Mexico: Reuters

People exchange their Panini soccer World Cup collection stickers in front of the MASP museum of arts in central Sao Paulo June 8, 2014: Reuters

10.33 am: World Cup inspired fashion to hit the streets of Brazil The World Cup team strips will provide a carnival of color and fashion, from Brazil's bright yellow shirts to the Netherlands' classic orange to Croatia's red checkered kit and the superhero-inspired looks of Mexico. The 2014 tournament features the classics, the creative and the downright outlandish. The Americans' new red, white and blue color-block shirts — critics say they resemble Domino's Pizza delivery uniforms — can't be as bad as the memorable faux denim outfits from 1994. But the vote is still out on how the newest outfit for the Stars and Stripes will go over. "The USA jersey feels very patriotic," said Los Angeles designer and stylist Estée Stanley of Estée Stanley Design. "It's easy to identify the country as the U.S." The U.S. isn't the only nation trying the block style. "Another stylish direction is the color-blocking or piecing — USA away or Ecuador away or Colombia," said Tom Julian, men's fashion director at The Doneger Group, a retail merchandising and consulting firm based in New York. Then there are the classics. Brazil will be in the traditional yellow with five stars representing its record five titles. Several teams are all about understated looks: There are England's white home jersey and red away kit — like the one players wore in the victorious 1966 final against West Germany — and the traditional blue of Italy with the a crest over the heart in the nation's tricolor. They contrast sharply with Croatia and its large red-and-white checks. 9.40 am: Twitter, Facebook and Google paint themselves in World Cup colours Facebook is calling itself the 'biggest football stadium in the world' and Twitter is asking users to pick their favourite team to unlock cool new features, while Google has pulled out all the stops for a fully interactive search experience in collaboration with Fifa. Calling itself the ‘biggest stadium in the world’ Facebook has launched Trending World Cup, a dedicated hub for fans to follow the tournament as it unfolds. It includes the latest scores and highlights from matches, a special feed with real-time posts from friends and updates from relevant players and teams and an interactive map that shows where fans of some top players are located around the world. Facebook’s arch-rival Twitter is also busy trying to get marketers to develop advertisements as matches progress. It is believed to be working on a trial by asking advertising agencies to create promotional content using World Cup videos. The platform is trying to cash in on the millions of fans who will take to Twitter, and also plans of providing real-time updates for FIFA 2014. Google has gone ahead with a cool interactive doodle that opens its very comprehensive search resource page. Meanwhile a new report has shown that video consumption of the World Cup alone will generate nearly as much Internet traffic as occurred in all of Australia in 2013, according to a new Cisco Systems report that shows growth in Internet traffic is fueled by video. 9.00 am: Protests intensify even as kickoff looms closer The whole world is in a state of feverish excitement as we count down the final hours before the start of the Fifa world cup, but the simmering anger over the massive price tag of the tournament continues to bubble, with many protestors unwilling to let up. Scattered protests are planned in several host cities during the tournament, reports AFP. While Sao Paulo subway workers late Wednesday voted against a repeat of the strike which plunged the city into gridlocked paralysis last week, airport workers in Rio were planning a partial 24-hour walkout. "We're Brazilian and we continue to root for Brazil, but it's our duty to fight for workers rights," union leader Rui Pessoa said. The multi-billion-dollar cost of the World Cup has angered many in a country which has chronically under-funded health and public services and violent crime. Rage at poor public services morphed into a nationwide movement during last year's Confederations Cup test event, with deadly clashes rippling across the nation. For the World Cup, a vast security blanket is being deployed, with 150,000 soldiers and police on duty along with 20,000 private security officers. Brazil's leader Dilma Rousseff warned that her government will not tolerate a repeat of last year's protests. "We will guarantee the security of Brazilians and of those who come visit us," she said. Football's governing body FIFA begins the tournament under mounting pressure over allegations of corruption linked to its decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.