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Posts Tagged ‘Brazil’
Sun, August 24, 2008 10:47 am By James Coolridge  Printer friendly version
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 BUENOS AIRES - Argentina’s indifferent World Cup qualifying campaign continued on Saturday when they were held 1-1 at home by Paraguay and had striker Carlos Tevez sent off early again. The point has helped Paraguay to stay top of the 10-team South American group on 14 from seven games with Argentina two points behind in second place. This is Argentina’s third draw in a row.
The last remaining winless and unbeaten records ended when Peru defeated Venezuela 1-0 to move off the bottom and Colombia lost 1-0 at home to Uruguay, who climbed to third.Brazil, away to Chile on Sunday, temporarily camr down to sixth and out of the qualifying places.The top four teams qualify for South Africa in 2010 and the fifth plays off against a side from the CONCACAF region. Tevez, sent off in the first half of the 2-1 defeat in Colombia in November for a petulant kick at an opponent, faces a ticking off from coach Alfio Basile after leaving his team in the lurch again.The Manchester United forward, wearing boots for his second international since then, was dismissed after two bad tackles in the first 31 minutes.”I have to speak to him in private about these dismissals,” said Basile.”Everything was difficult. We played nearly the whole game with 10 men, our goalkeeper was injured and we conceded an own goal. So you can’t really analyse this match in the normal way.”
HEINZE BLUNDER
Tevez’s red card came with Argentina trailing to a Gabriel Heinze own goal, the defender having headed past goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri as both tried to deal with a long ball into the area in the 13th minute.
Despite the setbacks, Argentina caught the rivals on a draw in the 61st minute when substitute Sergio Aguero provided the finishing touch after Lionel Messi burst through the Paraguay midfield. A 14th-minute header from Sebastian Eguren gave Uruguay their win in Bogota.
“I think we controlled the match. Colombia was repetitive and you couldn’t see them finding a way through,” said Uruguay coach Oscar Washington Tabarez after the match.
Peru was belittled 6-0 by Uruguay in June and this has brought just a few spectators into the stadium. Only a few thousand spectators bothered to watch them on Saturday.Bolivia had Alejandro Gomez sent off after only 18 minutes and coach Erwin Sanchez ordered from the touchline in the second half in a 3-1 defeat in Ecuador.
Tags : Soccer, Brazil, goal, Argentina, Peru, Venezuela, South America, Colombia, red card, Chile
Sun, August 10, 2008 10:11 am By James Coolridge
 SHENYANG, China (AP) _ Germany has already made a big victory on Chinese soil by lifting the women’s football title on an impregnable defense, and is now right on track for another one at the Olympics. The Germans did a magical performance last year at World Cup title in China last year without allowing a single goal in six matches. And again defense has been the key again in the Beijing Games.
Goalkeeper Nadine Angerer and her defenders have kept Germany in contention for its first Olympic gold medal. “Last year, we scored 11 goals in the first game and then we had no goals against,” Germany coach Silvia Neid said. She feels as historical and unique, and definitely something that will be very difficult to repeat. The team’s current streak without conceding a goal is at eight matches.
Germany got Brazil on draw 0-0 in its Olympic debut and edged Nigeria 1-0 in its second game, with the winner scored by Kerstin Stegemann, a defender. Angerer was key in both matches, coming up with big saves.
The ace goal keeper was successful in denying FIFA Player of the Year Marta from scoring on Wednesday, and made two crucial stops on one-on-one breakaways against Nigeria on Saturday. “Nadine is one of the most important players in our team,” feels Neid.
Nadine had proved herself last year. She knows to control the ball and to work magically in the box. She is self-motivated and she knows how to encourage the other players. Angerer stopped Marta’s penalty kick in the World Cup final last year, when the Germans were up 1-0 before eventually winning 2-0.
Agerer says that she don’t care if goal comes or not. Her primary concern is winning the match. “My goal is to win the title, not just to not allow goals. I will be just as satisfied if they score four times but we win 5-4.”
Germany will take over North Korea on Tuesday in Tianjin needing a victory or draw to secure a quarterfinal berth. It is second in Group F with four points. Brazil too carries the same number of points but leads on the number of goals scored. North Korea has three points and Nigeria is virtually eliminated with none. The top two teams from each of the three groups plus the best two third-place finishers advance to the second round.
“It will keep us going in the tournament and give us a chance to win the gold medal,” feels Angerer. Germany is now in second place behind the United States in FIFA’s rankings and the defending European champion is yet to play in an Olympic final in women’s football. Since the tournament debut in 1996 in Atlanta, it has grabbed the bronze twice in Sydney in 2000 and in Athens four years ago, losing to Norway and the U.S. in the semifinals, respectively.
Tags : Football, US, Brazil, Germany, FIFA, Beijing Olympics, women's football, Nadine Angerer, Silvia Neid
Mon, July 14, 2008 12:02 pm By James Coolridge
 North Korea keeps World Cup Dreams Alive
HONG KONG: Hard as it is to believe, North Korea is moving ahead in football. The North Korea’s football team is firmly on course for the 2010 World Cup. It reached the last round of qualifying without la .loss or even conceding a goal.
If they do make it, it will be the North Korea’s first World Cup in 44 years. The isolated Communist country is down in world ranking of 94. Even countries like Gambia and Suriname ranks at higher level than North Korea.
This endeavor should be read along with the in-house turmoil that burns the country. This Communist country ruled with an iron fist by Kim Jong-Il, is believed to be suffering acute food shortages, reviving memories of a famine in the 1990s leading to the death of one million people. Known more for its nuclear weapons program and dubious human rights record, North Korea, have hardly endeared themselves either with their defensive brand of football. But still they made it.
In the previous qualifying group North Korea scored just four goals in their three wins and three draws. But they succeeded in maintaining a clean sheet every time with a solid rearguard action.
With big shots like Brazil sitting uncomfortably in their qualifying group on the other side of the world and other end of the football spectrum, it raises the spectre of a World Cup with North Korea. Only a few among the North Korean players boot outside the North Korean borders and one among them is 24-year-old striker Jong Tae-Se, of Kawasaki Frontale, a mid-table side in Japan’s J-League. Japan-born Jong, dubbed “Asia’s Wayne Rooney” by South Korean media, has no doubt of North Korea’s entry into South Africa 2010 despite being drawn in the harder of two final Asian qualifying groups.
Tags : Football, World Cup 2010, Brazil, North Korea, Communist country
Sat, May 31, 2008 9:31 am By James Coolridge
 The Brazilian squad for the next round of 2010 World Cup qualifiers has been announced on Tuesday. There is no place for troubled forward Ronaldinho in the 25-men squad, who has been out of action with Barcelona because of fitness and weight problems. Instead, Inter Milan’s Adriano is the new addition for the games against Paraguay and Argentina in June.
Ronaldinho has been facing ignorance at Barcelona since April 4 for which a hamstring injury has been cited as the reason. He also missed out on selection fro the last two qualifiers against Peru and Uruguay in November 2007. And now, when the squad for the upcoming World Cup has been announced, Brazil coach Dunga ignores the superstar of Barcelona.
Brazil will face Venezuela in Boston on June 6 and Paraguay on June 15 in Asuncion before the match against Argentina on June 18 at Belo Horizonte.
A friendly match against Canada has also been decided to carry out in Seattle on May 31.
Brazil squad:
Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Inter Milan/ITA), Diego Alves (Almeria/ESP), Doni (AS Roma/ ITA)
Defenders: Alex (Chelsea/ENG), Juan (AS Roma/ITA), Lucio (Bayern Munich/GER), Luisao (Benfica/POR), Daniel Alves (Sevilla/ESP), Marcelo (Real Madrid/ESP), Gilberto (Hertha Berlin/GER), Kleber (Santos), Maicon (Inter Milan/ITA)
Midfielders: Anderson (Man United/ENG), Diego (Werder Bremen/GER), Elano (Man City/ENG), Gilberto Silva (Arsenal/ENG), Josue (Wolfsburg/GER), Julio Baptista (Real Madrid/ESP), Kaka (AC Milan/ITA), Mineiro (Hertha Berlin/GER).
Attackers: Adriano (Sao Paulo), Pato (AC Milan/ITA), Luis Fabiano (Sevilla/ESP), Robinho (Real Madrid/ESP), Rafael Sobis (Real Betis/ESP).
Tags : World Cup, Brazil, Ronaldinho, Adriano
Thu, May 29, 2008 9:28 am By James Coolridge
 Brazilian striker Ronaldo says that he is eight kilos overweight and hopes to shed the extra flab within a month. “I am 1.84 metres tall and today weigh 95 kilos,” was the statement of the AC Milar superstar. “In the 2002 World Cup, I weighed 87 kilos and that is what I’m trying to get back to. That’s the weight I need to reach if I’m going to get back to my best” he added.
“I’m not a physiotherapist but I know what I have to do.
“My first recovery took one and a half years. I feel this time it will take much less and I think I will be back in half the time.”
In February, Ronaldo had cracked a tendon in his left knee in his Serie A game against Livorno. He may need at least seven months to recover from the injury.Ronaldo ruptured a tendon in his left knee during a Serie A game against Livorno in February and is expected to need at least another seven months to recover. He had similar injuries two times in his right knee earlier in his career.
Tags : Brazil, Ronaldo, striker, injury, overweight
Thu, April 17, 2008 12:32 pm By Matt Davis
 Alberto Parreira announced his resignation as the coach of South Africa national football team on Monday. The Brazilian cites his wife’s illness as the reason for resignation and wants to go back to Brazil to be with his family and ill wife, who had recently undergone a major surgery.
Parreira sent a letter of resignation to South Africa Football Association (SAFA) President Molefi Oliphant before they addressed the media after an emergency meeting of the national governing body.
The career graph of Parreira as a coach has been reasonably consistent. He is a world-cup winning coach who served 15 months of a three-and-a-half-year contract with the South African national football team. The coach aimed at upbringing the struggling South African team to a stable form.
His successful career record includes leading the Brazil team to their fourth world title in 1994. He was hired 16 months ago after resigning as Brazil coach.
When he became the coach of South Africa team, he trained the young and inexperienced players (who were eliminated in the first round of the African Cup of Nations in Ghana earlier this year) into an efficient team. The team then became successful in defeating the in-form Paraguay later. Now, South Africa stands 71st in the FIFA rankings.
and put together a young and inexperienced South Africa team which had a series of poor results and was eliminated in the first round of the African Cup of Nations in Ghana earlier this year. South Africa slumped to 71st in the FIFA rankings.
Under the guidance of the 65-year-old coach, South Africa soccer team won nine matches, drew six and lost six. Parreira had been coaching the team since February last year. Jairo Leal and South African Pitso Mosimane served as his assistants at that time.
Tags : Parreira, South Africa soccer team, Brazil
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