World Cup 2014

Essien secret is hard work and discipline

The secret to the glittering career of ex-Chelsea and Ghana legend Michael Essien has been revealed by one of his old teammates.

Derek Boateng who played alongside the powerhouse midfielder for their country at youth and senior levels he is not surprised by the fact the 34-year-old is still going strong playing in the Indonesian top flight side Persib Bandung.

SOUTH KOREA COACH FORFEITS HOLIDAY FOR WORLD CUP PREPARATIONS

The head coach of the South Korean men national football team Uli Stielike is forfeiting his summer holiday plans as he decided to put extra efforts to prepare his team ahead of the FIFA World Cup qualification set to begin in September. An official of the national football governing body announced to the admiration of reporters.

The Korea Football Association (KFA) official said Stielike wants to spend his time checking the players in the country’s pro football leagues.

Portuguese national football Team has best Year 2014

2014 was a huge year for the Portuguese national football team as they went through a change in their managerial position that initially brought forward a string of doubts and concerns as Paulo Bento was replaced by the former coach of Greece, Fernando Santos.

Portugal failed to make it out of the group stages of the 2014 World Cup as they had the same amount of points as United States which was 4 but the American team had a better goal difference which made the difference.

When the group stages of the 2016 Euro’s initiated, Portugal continued to suffer as they lost 1-0 when facing off with Albania and the tactics of Paulo Bento did not seem like it was working out as the team were just too reliant on Real Madrid’s C.Ronaldo.

This string of negative results was just too much for the Portuguese squad to handle and Fernando Santos was later announced as the new coach who has made a huge impact in the team.

Klose Announces Retirement

Germany’s Miroslav Klose has announced his retirement just a few months after winning the World Cup 2014. The 36-year-old striker became the highest scorer in World Cup finals after scoring two goals in the five matches. He overtook Brazilian forward Ronaldo, who had 15 goals. Klose now has 16 and a World Cup title to go along with it. The former Bayern Munich forward says that it has been a lifetime ambition for him to win the World Cup. After having realised the same last summer, Klose has now announced his retirement from international football.

Spain Tastes Dust In 2014 World Cup

Spain being the defending champions was trailing by 2-0 in front of Chile. This was the second loss of Spain in 2014 World Cup in just five days. It was Eudardo Vargas and Charles Arranguiz who led their team to victory. The golden era seem to be crashing apart for Spain after winning in 2008 and 2012 in the European Championship 2010 triumph in the World Cup.

Prandelli Dismisses Suggestions Of Poor Result

Cesare Prandelli has dismissed suggestions that the 1-1 draw with minnows Luxembourg is a very poor result for the team. Italy were considered as one of the teams capable of winning the World Cup 2014 after they reached the final of the Euro 2012. However, they come into the tournament on a very poor form. It will be difficult to accept draws against Republic of Ireland and Nigeria, but the team hit a new low after only managing a 1-1 draw with Luxembourg.

A young and upcoming team, Italy have found it difficult to get results against such poor teams. This has put their World Cup hopes in tatters even before the start of the tournament. Despite this, Prandelli says that the team does not need to worry about the form because they suggest warmup friendlies. Italy also suffered a major blow in the form of an injury to AC Milan midfielder Ricardo Montolivo. He has been ruled out of the World Cup after the injury sustained against Republic of Ireland.

Blanc Decrees Cabaye Injury Less Severe

Paris St Germain manager Laurent Blanc has stated that the injury sustained by midfielder Yohan Cabaye during the recent match with Lille may not be serious as initially thought. The former Newcastle United man had to be carried off on a stretcher after what appeared to be a very serious injury. This would have been a major blow for his chances of being in the French squad for the World Cup 2014. It would also have been a blow for France, who will be hoping to redeem himself with a good showing at this major tournament.

BRAZIL IS READY

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff has stated that the country is prepared to use various forces in order to ensure that the security of visiting fans is maintained. Brazil will be hosting the World Cup 2014, which is expected to pull together more than 1 million visitors in June.

There will be more visitors to the stadiums, while many more are also expected to watch the matches from open telecast zones. Due to the recent history of the country, fans are concerned about the security ahead of the visit.

ROGIC MAY FEATURE

The 21-year-old Tom Rogic is someone who is seen as a future star for the Australian national team. After signing for Scottish club Celtic in January 2013, he finally made the move to European football.

However, he did not get regular game time in his spell at Celtic, which led to the loan move back to Australia's A-league. He has returned with Melbourne Victory in the hope of playing regularly and impress national team manager Ange Postecoglou. The upcoming World Cup 2014 is seen as a major chance for Rogic to show his full potential.

SQUAD PLAYERS

Roy Hodgson has revealed that he will be using some of the squad players for the match against Denmark, which will be England's final competitive encounter before they play at the 2014 World Cup.

He has said that since this is the final competitive match, he will be resting some of the players who are 100% certain to play in the matches at World Cup. This will certainly include players like Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard. It is expected that the likes of Andros Townsend, who are still establishing themselves in the first-team, will be utilised against Denmark.

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