ISSUE 18/2015, 8 MAY 2015 ENGLISH EDITION · 2017. 7. 7. · ISSUE 18/2015, 8 MAY 2015 ENGLISH...

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ISSUE 18/2015, 8 MAY 2015 ENGLISH EDITION

Fédération Internationale de Football Association – Since 1904

THE NEW BRAZILFirmino and A Seleção

YOUNG TALENT DREAMING BIG AT THE

BLUE STARS / FIFA YOUTH CUP

ALGERIA TITLE RACE STILL

WIDE OPEN

ENGLAND MOURINHO’S RECEIPE FOR TITLE SUCCESS

T H I S W E E K I N T H E W O R L D O F F O O T B A L L

North and Central America 35 members www.concacaf.com

South America 10 members www.conmebol.com

The FIFA Weekly Magazine AppThe FIFA Weekly Magazine is available in four languages and also on your tablet every Friday.http://www.fifa.com/mobile

6 The new Brazil

The 7-1 defeat by Germany on home soil at the 2014 World Cup was a humiliation. Now, almost a year on, ‘A Seleção’ are well on their way back to attacking, high-tempo football under the watchful eye of coach Carlos Dunga. Sven Goldmann reports on the transition.

19 First impressions Although the FIFA World Football Museum does not open its doors in Zurich until next year, the Showroom is already offering a glimpse of what is in store.

23 Sepp Blatter In his weekly column, the FIFA President reflects on ten years of Football for Hope, saying: “As part of the 2014 World Cup we also took our development assistance in South America to a new level.”

24 Dreaming big Football’s rising stars are preparing to assemble at the Blue Stars / FIFA Youth Cup. For two days, promising youngsters from Brazil, Germany, Sweden, Portugal, Turkey, Switzerland and the Netherlands will enjoy a moment in the spotlight.

30 Sticker fever The Panini album for the Women’s World Cup in Canada has been launched.

16 England Jose Mourinho is celebrating with champions Chelsea thanks to the modern version of ‘catenaccio’.

The new BrazilOur cover picture shows 23-year-old Roberto Firmino of TSG Hoffenheim. The photograph was taken on 5 March 2014.

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim

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FIFA Women’s World Cup™

6 June – 5 July 2015, Canada

2 T H E F I FA W E E K LY

T H I S W E E K I N T H E W O R L D O F F O O T B A L L

Europe 54 members www.uefa.com

Africa 54 members www.cafonline.com

Asia 46 members www.the-afc.com

Oceania 11 members www.oceaniafootball.com

17 Algeria With four rounds of matches left to play, any of the 16 teams in Ligue 1 can still be crowned champions. (Pictured: Akram Djahnit)

37 Hugo Lloris The France goalkeeper explains his switch from tennis to football.

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Blue Stars / FIFA Youth Cup

13 – 14 May 2015, Zurich, Switzerland

FIFA U-20 World Cup

30 May – 20 June 2015, New Zealand

FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup™

9 – 19 July 2015, Portugal

FIFA U-17 World Cup

17 October – 8 November 2015, Chile

3T H E F I FA W E E K LY

Inspire her passion. Use your Visa Card to purchase tickets to the FIFA Women’s World Cup™.

Every dream needs a kick-off.

U N C O V E R E D

There are times in football when your belief in the possibility of victory dis-appears and you just want the match to end. “Please don’t concede any more goals,” you implore. Honourable defeats can be accepted, but losing heavily

is humiliating.The details of Brazil’s 7-1 loss to Germany in the World Cup semi-finals on 8 July 2014 do not need to be revisited, and ten months have now passed since A Seleção’s limitations were exposed that day. Back then, if you had tried con-soling a Brazilian fan by saying everything would be all right again, he would probably have continued crying uncontrollably. Yet now it appears that everything really is going to be all right, and a lot sooner than expected.

Brazil’s new, young team under coach Carlos Dunga have won all eight games since the World Cup, including victories over sides of the calibre of France and Argentina. A further, equally important factor to Brazilians is that the Verde-Amarela are once again enthralling spectators with a bold attacking style, having played more defensively for the previous three years.

Brazil’s first competitive fixture is on 14 June at the Copa America, and the whole nation is looking forward to the tournament. If we’re honest, we are too. Turn to page six for more on Brazil’s comeback. Å

Alan Schweingruber

Never again 7-1

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A Seleção 2015 The new-look Brazil features Firmino (top left) and new captain Neymar (top right), as well as Luiz Gustavo (bottom left) and Willian (bottom right).

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Brazil are in the process of putting their disastrous 7-1 defeat to Germany well and truly behind them.

Sven Goldmann reports on how coach Carlos Dunga has managed to revive A Seleção’s attacking spirit.

BACK IN THE GROOVE

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Firmino The young attacking player (left) is a symbol of A Seleção’s new era.

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What became of this winning team?

This is the team that won the 2013 Confederations Cup under coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. The players in yellow are still in the Brazil squad today. (Not pictured: Jo, who replaced the injured Leandro Damiao).

Brazilan fans have another four seemingly endless weeks to wait until 7 June rolls around and A Seleção meet Mexico on home soil, an event that will be cause for national cele-bration. By that time, plenty of water will have flowed down the Amazon from Manaus to Belem, Flamengo will have played Fluminense in Rio and Corinthians will have faced Palmeiras in Sao Paulo. With the state champion-ships now drawing to a close, the coming weeks will herald the start of a new campeonato brasileiro, but even the nail-biting derbies in the country’s largest and most foot-ball-obsessed cities are merely a matter of routine for the torcedores – as the fans of the Auriverde are known. From

Porto Alegre in the south to Fortaleza in the north, the supporters have been itching to get a chance to watch their stars again.

That is hardly surprising given the nation’s top players such as Ney-mar, Oscar and Thiago Silva not only play for European clubs but also represent their country in well-paid internationals there, with occasion-al stops in North America or Asia. As a result, sightings of A Seleção in their homeland are rare. The last match Brazil played in front of a home crowd took place on 12 July 2014, when they suffered a sorry 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Netherlands to end an unhappy World Cup in fourth place. Although few Brazilians could have imagined welcoming a reunion with their national team any time soon after that match, they are now experiencing real anticipation after eight wins in eight matches at the dawn of a new post-Copa do Mundo era. That run has constituted a great start for Carlos Dunga, the best for a Brazilian coach since Joao Saldanha masterminded nine successive victories back in 1969.

“We’re on the right track but we’ve still got to find our balance,” said Dunga after an impressive 3-1 win over France in Paris a couple of weeks ago. Twenty years after captaining Romario, Bebeto and their team-mates to glory at the 1994 World Cup, the former midfielder has taken on the world’s best and most difficult coaching job for the second time. “He’s exactly the right man for the job,” believes Cafu, who became a world champion alongside Dunga in 1994 and is the only player ever to have appeared in three World Cup Finals. “Dunga has given the team their confidence back. What’s more, he isn’t making the mistake of stray-ing from our nation’s footballing philosophy.” This was the accusation

levelled at the 51-year-old by many critics after his first spell in charge, which ended after Brazil’s wayward 2010 World Cup campaign in South Africa. During his career as a defensive midfielder known for his no-frills approach, Dunga spent a couple of years plying his trade in Germany when it was still the home of slide tackling and unpolished skill. “Brazil-ian football has always been something very special; we didn’t become five-time world champions by accident,” says Cafu, welcoming the former Stuttgart player’s new willingness to play the Brazilian way.This fresh approach is precisely why the country is eagerly awaiting the team’s arrival back at Sao Paulo on 7 June, exactly 11 months and one day since their 7-1 World Cup semi-final defeat by Germany. The sense of excitement has been building for a couple of months, with the national side not only marching from one victory to the next but playing beauti-ful football in the process. All of Brazil will be watching, whether in pubs, bars and cafes or by spontaneously taking to the streets where televi-sions are turned out of windows every hundred metres or so, each one immediately drawing a crowd. Street vendors on Copacabana Beach are once again selling as many of the yellow-and-green shirts of A Seleção as Fluminense, Flamengo, Botafogo or Vasco da Gama jerseys.

Dunga’s post-World Cup upheavalThis turn of events could not have been foreseen after the humilhaçao historica, Brazil’s unprecedented humiliation at the hands of the Ger-mans. Overnight, an entire nation woke up in a different world, one in which their national side were no longer the five-time world champions but the team who lost 7-1 to Germany.

Dunga’s Brazil is no longer the side their countrymen wanted nothing to do with after last summer. The previous team was represented by play-ers like Fluminense striker Fred who, according to newspapers the day after that fateful semi-final, emerged from the encounter with a poorer pass completion rate than Manuel Neuer and only covered slightly more ground than the German goalkeeper over the 90 minutes. Fred still plays for the club he signed for back in 2009 and has recently been crowned top goalscorer of the campeonato carioca, Rio de Janeiro’s regional champi-onship. Despite this recent resurgence, he wants nothing more to do with the national team, declaring back in November that “for me, A Seleção is done.” Dunga has not made any attempts to lure him back.

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In any event, Brazil’s current coach has not inherited much of his predecessor Luiz Felipe Scolari’s setup. Of the 11 hopeful players who strode singing onto the Belo Horizonte pitch to face their German oppo-nents on 6 July 2014, less than half remained in the national squad by the spring of 2015. Like Fred, Julio Cesar retired from international foot-ball, and although Hulk has returned to form for Zenit St Petersburg after recovering from injury, he has yet to play a minute under Dunga’s leadership. Maicon was banished from the squad at the start of the team’s new era due to an unspecified disciplinary issue, while Dante and Bernard no longer play a part in the new coach’s plans.

Reliant upon Neymar David Luiz, Luiz Gustavo, Fernandinho and Marcelo are the only remain-ing members of last summer’s semi-final starting line-up. They are joined by Thiago Silva, who was suspended for the Germany game, and Neymar – the undisputed and, at present, only global star Brazilian football has to offer the world. “That’s our problem,” says Cafu. “Previously we had five or six players of that quality playing in the national team. Nowadays we only have Neymar.” This has been the one consistent factor through-out the transition from Scolari to Dunga. Of the 18 goals scored by Brazil so far during their current coach’s second stint in the hotseat, eight were provided by the Barcelona striker, who missed the World Cup semi-final after suffering a fractured vertebra.

Dunga is well aware that depending on Neymar is a problem. “Although we’ve got good-quality players, there’s no longer a Careca, Ronaldo or Rivaldo in the ranks,” he says. While there is no doubt that this is not good for Brazilian football, one of the national team boss’s first acts after taking on the job was to place even greater emphasis on

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“Previously we had f ive or six players of that qualit y playing in the national team.

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Carlos Dunga The 51-year-old has so far defied his critics in his second spell in charge.

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NameRoberto Firmino Barbosa de OliveiraDate and place of birth2 October 1991, Maceio, BrazilPositionAttacking midfielderClubs2009–2010 Figueirense FCSince 2011 TSG 1899 HoffenheimBrazil national team4 caps, 2 goals

“MY DISSATISFACTION IS MY BIGGEST MOTIVATION”

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What does 12 November 2014, the day you made your Brazil debut against Turkey, mean to you?

Roberto Firmino: It was the realisation of a lifelong dream. Every boy in Brazil wants to play for their country, from the moment they start kicking a ball about in the streets as a youngster.

Brazilians often reiterate just what an honour it is to play for the national team. What is it that makes ’A Seleção’ so special?

The team is a symbol for the entire country. Brazil are record world champions and some of the greatest players in footballing history have played for this country: Pele, Zico, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo. They are legends recognised all over the world, just like the nickname ’A Seleção’. To run out onto the pitch in that shirt is simply unbelievable. It was a little surreal for me at first, but I think I did a good job.

You scored your first international goal in only your second game – and a stunning goal at that. How did that feel?

I really can’t describe it. It was phenomenal. I could feel that it was a good shot the moment it left my foot, but for it to end up in the top corner was wonderful.

How do you rate your chances of continuing to be named in the squad?

I’ve got to keep performing week in, week out for Hoffenheim; if I can do that then I think I’ve got a pretty good chance. It all starts at TSG and goes from there.

What personal targets do you want to achieve with the national team?

I haven’t thought about that at all. I just want to be called up and play as often as possible.

The World Cup in Brazil was not long ago. Do the national team still discuss it at all? What is the overall mood like within the squad?

The 2014 World Cup was a momentous event for Brazil’s national team. Their disappointing end to the competition not only brought about a change of coach but also gave many new players a chance to prove

themselves in the side. Roberto Firmino is one of them.

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By the time I joined the side it was no longer an issue and the atmosphere within the camp was good. Of course that exit to Germany was a bitter setback. I watched the match in the team room at our running training camp in Westerburg and couldn’t really believe what I was seeing. I think every Brazilian had imagined that World Cup ending differently.

’A Seleção’ experienced significant upheaval after the tournament. What do Brazil need to change to get closer to being among the best in the world again?

As in every side, the coach naturally plays an important role. He gives very clear instructions and determines the team’s playing style. I don’t think Brazil are far from the top, and I think they’ll show that again in future.

How important is coach Dunga for you?He’s the one who called me into the

national side for the first time, so he’s an important figure for me. He and the other members of the squad made my first stint with Brazil easy – it really was a great experience.

How do you view your role within the national team?

Have I got a role yet? I’ve only been called up three times and I’ve played four games so far. I’m a young player who still needs to find his place, and I hope I’ll get an opportunity to do that. Neymar has his role within the side, so does Oscar, so does David Luiz – they’re players who are much further along in their careers than me.

You are enjoying a good season with Hoffen-heim. What sets the 2014/15 team apart?

The different characters within the squad work really well together. There’s a good atmosphere within the dressing room, and that’s important for a start. What’s more, we’ve had a clear philosophy ever since

Markus Gisdol became coach in April 2013. We want to play TSG football and constantly keep improving. This continuity and the painstaking work that goes with it are extremely important factors in the team’s performances.

What’s possible for TSG this season?We’ll see. We go into every match with

the same objective – to win – but every week we come up against another opponent with a similar aim. We can only make the absolute best of our opportunities in every game. If we can do that, we’ve done our job.

You’ve been in Germany since 2011. Has German football made you a more complete player?

I think so. When I arrived at Hoffenheim I could already play football, but I’ve developed physically, technically and tactically since then. The Bundesliga is one of the world’s best leagues. I had to adapt and improve to get ahead here, and although I’ve now reached a good level, there’s still more left to do. My own dissatisfaction is my biggest motivation.

Your contract with Hoffenheim runs until 2017. Do you want to stay in Germany and Hoffen-heim or do you feel drawn to another club or even another league?

2017 is still a long way off. We’ll see what happens. Å

Roberto Firmino was talking to Marius Achatz

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the 23-year-old’s unique talent and appoint him as captain, a decision that was not entirely without controversy given that the promotion of one player inevitably means demoting another. In this specific case, that man was defensive stalwart Thiago Silva, whose performances at the World Cup came closest to rivalling Neymar’s world-class efforts. It is possible that Dunga wanted this decision to be viewed as a signal to all those critics who pointed to his first hapless term as Brazil coach, a spell marked by somewhat unprepossessing defensive football and which hit its lowest ebb with a quarter-final exit at the 2010 World Cup. Removing a defender as captain and replacing him with a striker was certainly not a bad way of dispelling fears of a return to an offensively reticent Seleção.

Carlos Dunga now allows his team to play free-flowing football. “We’re keeping our heads up and pushing forward,” Neymar recently explained in Paris. “That wasn’t so easy after everything that happened at the World Cup, but we’ve turned a corner.” The turnaround has been achieved with attractive attacking play and 18 goals in eight matches. What’s more, their opponents in those games have been anything but weak and include Argentina, France and Colombia among others.

Others are flourishing in Neymar’s shadow. Chelsea’s stylish wide man Willian has found the target twice after having been left on the bench by Scolari for much of the World Cup. Dunga was also not too proud to hand a comeback to Robinho who, though now 31, is still bless-ed with quick feet. Another player to be welcomed back into the Brazil fold is Elias, who returned to his homeland permanently in 2014 after several years in Europe.

Brazil discovers HoffenheimThen there are the entirely new members of the squad – a handful of talented young footballers who never attracted much interest from Sco-lari. They include Danilo, who has developed into one of Europe’s best full-backs at Porto and has agreed to join Real Madrid for €31.5 million next season, and Philippe Coutinho, who consistently shines in Liver-pool’s No.10 shirt and has even been named in the Premier League team of the year by his contemporaries. Nor should we forget Roberto Firmino, who also wears the number 10 for a club known to precious few in Brazil until the 23-year-old came to their attention. This delicate, quick-think-ing attacking midfielder plays in the Bundesliga for up-and-coming

small-town club Hoffenheim. Indeed, it may be due to Dunga’s special connection with Germany that Firmino has finally been given his chance.

The attacking approach taken by the new Brazil was on display for all to admire in London at the end of March. At Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, A Seleção duelled with their perennial bogey team Chile, who gave them a serious scare in last summer’s Round of 16. Although it was not the most aesthetically pleasing encounter, that was less down to the Brazilians than to their Chilean adversaries, who set up their game in the usual way even for a friendly, spending 90 minutes not only hunting down the ball but occasionally their opponents’ legs too. Matches against Chile are al-ways a test of character that demand answers to questions such as “How far am I prepared to go?” and “How much do I dare to commit?”

Brazil seemed to become exasperated, particularly Neymar, who was sent flying across the turf on more than one occasion. Half an hour before the final whistle, Dunga took off his striker Luiz Adriano and sent Firmino on in his place – a move which quickly changed the match. A Seleção’s new arrival had barely settled into the game when a masterful pass from Danilo found its way into his path. He needed just two touches to complete his strike: the first, with his left foot, steered the ball past the lunging goalkeep-er Claudio Bravo, while the second right-footed touch guided it into the emp-ty net from an acute angle – a strike that ultimately proved the difference in a 1-0 win. This combination of high-tempo football and virtuoso technique is the way the new Brazil intend to play. Mexico are next up on the agenda in front of an expectant home crowd on 7 June, before the challenge of the Copa America , which is being hosted by their dear friends in Chile.

It was left to Thiago Silva to sum things up after the recent victory in London, with words that served not only as a tribute to goalscorer Firmino but also as a message of hope for the new-look Brazil: “This lad is a star who will shine brightly one day.” Å

Matches against Chile are a test of character.

How much do I dare to commit?

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A year later, Scolar i named his 2014

Wor ld Cup squad. In came Maxwell ,

Henr ique, Ramires, Fernandinho, Wil l ian,

V ic tor and Maicon. Missing f rom the

squad were Rever, Diego Cavalier i , Jean, Fernando, F i l ipe Luis ,

Leandro Damiao, Lucas Moura and Jadson.

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When it really hur ts

1950 World Cup Joseph Gaetjens of the USA scores the surprise winning goal against England past goalkeeper Bert Williams (left).

Defeat is par t icular ly painful when i t comes about unexpectedly. The locals were not the only ones counting Brazil

among the favour ites for the 2014 Wor ld Cup, so when A Seleção were comprehen -sively swept away and outc lassed 7-1 by Germany in the semi - f inal, the reaction was one of collec tive shock .

A lthough it is possible to argue that the memorable evening of 8 July 2014 surpasses the humiliation of 1950, it is unlikely. Back in Rio de Janeiro 65 years ago, ever y thing was already in place for a major par ty. Celebra -

t ions had been planned up and down the countr y to mark Brazil ’s f irst World Cup tr i -umph, while the f irst two days af ter the Final had of f ic ially been declared national holi -days. Restaurants and halls ever y where were booked out . The only thing Brazil ians had not prepared for was their opponents, diminutive southern neighbours Uruguay, who beat the favour ites 2-1. Hours af ter the f inal whistle sounded, tens of thousands of

home fans st i l l sat s tunned in the stands. This defeat at the Maracana Stadium was

even given its own name – the Maracanaço.

One lift journey, two goalsPerhaps the problem is that the inner con -tentment and excitement about what has seemingly been achieved can sometimes

take hold too soon – even if only by a matter of a few minutes. In Europe, the 1999 Cham-pions League f inal went down in histor y as a

football ing trauma for losing side Bayern Munich. The Germans led 1- 0 until the 90th minute, only for Manchester United to score

twice in stoppage time. Numerous anecdotes from that fateful night in Barcelona emerged over the coming days, inc luding that of

ret ired tennis s tar Bor is Becker, who was watching the game from high in the Camp Nou stands that evening. Shor tly before half past ten, he and Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer lef t their seats to prepare for the trophy presentation. With the score at 1- 0, they made their way to a li f t that would take them to an internal room on the bot tom f loor of the stadium, but by the t ime the li f t doors opened at ground level Manchester United had won the match 2-1.Ever y thing moved a li t t le fast that night, even for the members of the press who were present. One German newspaper had already given the Bayern players high marks, and al -though the journalists were able to change their ratings at the last moment, it was the old incorrect version that went to press.

Not a transmission errorTalk ing of erroneous repor ts, one Br it ish newspaper refused to believe what they were seeing af ter the USA inf licted a surprise 1-0 defeat on tournament favourites England at

the 1950 World Cup in Brazil. Assuming there had been a transmission error in the tele -graph they received, the paper took it upon themselves to change the 1-0 loss to a 10 -1 victory for the Three Lions in their repor t.

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O N T H E I N S I D ET A L K I N G P O I N T S

Since then, the table has taken on a some-what unusual appearance, and one that has never been seen before in the league’s history. Presently, no two teams have the same number of points, with the points column ascending in consecutive order: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. Serial champions HJK are top, while Vaasan PS, who have yo-yoed between the divisions for the last few decades, are at the bottom.

Nevertheless, the title race is set to be anything but predictable. Sitting in second place behind HJK with a game in hand are Seinajoen Jalkapallokerho – no ordinary side. The club was founded in 2007 as the result of a merger between TP-Seinajoki and Jalkapalloseura Sepsi-78, and have since played their way from the third division into the top flight. Last season SJK, as they are known for short, won the League Cup and reached the Europa League qualifying

F i n l a n d : Ve i k k a u s l i i g a

A wor thy r iva l at la st for HJK

Alan Schweingruber is a staff writer on The FIFA Weekly.

The season appears to be panning out as expected in Finland’s Veikkausliiga,

where HJK Helsinki, one-time employers of former Ajax, Barcelona and Liverpool star Jari Litmanen, are in their customary posi-tion at the top of the standings going into Matchday 6. The club have won the Finnish league title for the last six years and earned three more points last weekend thanks to a comfortable 3-0 home victory over Jakob-stad-based side FF Jaro in spring-like condi-tions in Helsinki.

rounds after finishing as runners-up in the Veikkausliiga.

They owe their rapid rise to Finnish business-man and club president Raimo Sarajarvi. SJK have continuously improved their squad with good signings both before and after gaining promotion to the first division. One of the newcomers, Toni Lehtinen, scored the crucial second goal in the 86th minute to kill the game off in a 2-0 victory over Helsingfors IFK in his team’s most recent home match.

There is, then, something afoot in Seinajoki, the small city in western Finland the club call home. Until recently, it has primarily been famous for its annual tango festival, but now a new stadium meeting international stand-ards is being constructed there. If all goes to plan it could even open next year. And who knows, it may even be home to the new Finnish champions by then. Å

Wrongfooted

HIFK’s Pauli Kuusi-järvi (in red) skips past Jussi Vasara

of SJK.

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P r e m i e r L e a g u e

Mourinho’s tactica l masterclass

David Winner is a London-based author and journalist. His books on football include ’Brilliant Orange’ and ’Dennis Bergkamp: Stillness and Speed’.

As Chelsea sauntered to their fourth Premier League title in ten years with three games to spare their fans mocked their detractors. Two years into coach Jose Mourinho’s second spell with the club, Chelsea are the strong-est, best-balanced team in England. This has not made them universally popular and critics say they are no fun to watch. But Blues fans don’t mind a bit. For the 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Sunday some wore T-shirts showing Mourinho at the wheel of a bus with the caption “He parks where he wants”.

The fans usually sing about strikers who “score when they want”. This, by witty contrast, was a way of roaring their approval of the team’s defensive style. “Parking the bus” – defending in such depth and strength that the goal seems barricaded with a Lon-don double-decker – is one of Mourinho’s specialities. And his attackers are always good enough to win games by scoring on the counter. The tactic is the modern version of old Italian catenaccio, though Mourinho prefers the term ’deep block’.

This season, with veteran centre half John Terry and holding midfielder Nemanja Matic imperious in a remodeled rearguard, the tactic has often functioned perfectly. And it drives opponents crazy. Last month Arsenal fans frustrated by their side’s failure to breach the thick Blue line chanted that Chelsea were “boring, boring”. Mourinho is untroubled by the brickbats. He has mas-tered the art of winning and varies his tactics as necessary. His team can play brilliant offensive football, too, as they did in the first part of this season when attack-ing midfielders Eden Hazard (voted Player of Year) and Oscar were devastating and new signings Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa provided guile and goals.

But mid-season defeats, including an FA Cup failure against third tier Bradford City,

persuaded Mourinho to go back to what he does best. And there’s a beauty in that too. Mourinho’s style requires high levels of technique, speed and strength as well as sophisticated appreciation of space. Can Chelsea keep winning titles? Mourinho would like us to think so. In an interview last month, the Portuguese suggested he and his team were still improving. “I’m getting better at everything related to my job since I start-ed,” he told the Daily Telegraph. “There has

been evolution in many different areas – the way I read the game; the way I prepare the game; the way I train; the methodology… I feel better and better”. Å

Mission

accomplished Jose Mourinho’s tactics have paid

off in London

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A l g e r i a : D i v i s i o n 1

Title race open to allSarah Steiner is a staff writer on The FIFA Weekly.

The Ligue 1 season is entering the final straight, with just four matches to go until this

year’s champion is crowned. While the title race has already been either decided or narrowed down to a few clubs in many leagues, it is hard to imagine a more exciting battle for top spot than the one unfolding in Algeria. The top flight is made up of 16 teams – and all 16 could still lift the trophy.

With ES Setif currently heading the table on 41 points and Hussein Dey bringing up the rear with 30, theoretically anything is still possible; there is even a scenario in which ten sides could finish their campaigns tied for the

lead with 42 points. The difference in class was more readily apparent at this point last season, when league leaders USM Alger held a 40-point advantage over bottom-of-the-table Bordj Bou Arreridj and Ain Fakroun.

The dominance of clubs from the capital is now a thing of the past. MC El Eulma coach Jules Accorsi, whose team currently sit in 11th place, believes that this finely-balanced championship tussle is not only exciting for the fans but also provides a valuable opportu-nity for the country’s lesser-known sides. “I think it’s a kind of blessing that the league is so close this year,” he said.

Alain Michel holds the opposite view. Having spent many years coaching in Ligue 1, CR Bel-ouizdad is the fourth club he has managed in Algeria. “Football in this country suffers from a lack of stability among its coaching staff,” he explained. “Teams cannot spend much time adapting to a system, which is why so

many sides have a similar style. The play is quite physical and matches are fiercely contested. That has led to these very balanced conditions where there isn’t much to separate each individual side.”

Nevertheless, one look at the CAF Champions League suggests that it is not all bad news for Algerian football. The country has three representatives in the group stage – a historic achievement. ES Setif, USM Alger and MC El Eulma are among the best eight clubs on the continent, and as if that was not enough, the group draw on 5 May revealed that all three will go head-to-head in this competition too. Å

ES Setif

The Algerian league leaders are

aiming for their seventh champi-

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FIFA PARTNER

Showroom provides taste of things to come

The museum aims to showcase all facets of the football world, and not only FIFA’s own extraordinary history and the unique-ness of the World Cup. The interactive mul-timedia world of experience illustrates how the game stirs people’s emotions across the globe on a daily basis, influencing and inspiring them. The idea is to make the museum a venue that comes alive for the global footballing family.

Over 1000 exhibitsThe museum houses over 1000 exhibits and the ‘Planet Football’ entrance hall welcomes fans upon arrival. Meanwhile, ‘The Rainbow’, an expansive, circular glass cabinet, holds national team jerseys from all FIFA member associations and important items from each continent.

‘The Timeline’ documents the game’s his-torical highlights as well as the illustrious history of FIFA, which has constantly driven the sport’s development since 1904. The sec-ond level of the FIFA World Football Muse-um is in the basement, where ‘The World Cup Gallery’ traces the path of the World Cup en route to becoming the biggest sporting event on the planet. It is here that the original World Cup trophy has been given its own special location.

Construction is going according to plan at the FIFA World Football Museum. And in order to give football and museum enthusiasts a sample of what to expect, the FIFA Museum AG has set up a showroom at Seestrasse 37 in

Zurich which is open to the public on week-days between 11 am and 2 pm.

“We’re right on schedule”The opening of the showroom is an impor-tant landmark for the FIFA Museum AG on the way to completing the new museum. “We’re right on schedule,” said CEO Stefan Jost, who has been in the role since March 2015. “The plans to settle the final details will be concluded in the next few weeks. We can stick to the scheduled opening in the first quarter of 2016.”

The showroom offers a first impression of the planned appearance and size of the fin-ished museum. Furthermore, there is an ex-planation of the exhibition concept and an approximately eight-minute film that gives a visual overview of the museum’s different lev-els. “The showroom gives future visitors a first feel of the multimedia world of experience we’re creating in the FIFA World Football Mu-seum,” said creative director David Ausseil, who is responsible for the museum’s layout.

Building work on the FIFA World Football Museum began last year, and now the FIFA Museum AG has installed a showroom that whets the appetite for more.

F I F A W O R L D F O O T B A L L M U S E U M

The FIFA World Football Museum Construc t ion began in 2014 and wil l be

completed 20 months later in December

2015. The Museum is scheduled to open

in the f irs t quar ter of 2016. The exhibit ion

space covers approx imately 3,500 square

metres spread over three leve ls . The

complex also incorporates some 1,500

square metres of publ ic l y access ib le

space featur ing a museum store, a spor ts

bar, a bis tro and a cafeter ia. The upper

s toreys contain of f ices for around 140

s taf f, and 34 apar tments.

The third level of the museum, called ‘Fields of Play’, is on the first floor, where the beauty and importance of the game can be experienced in an unconventional way, by viewing football as an inspiration, an art form and a way of life in diverse cultures. Additional highlights are provided by the ‘Game Corner’ and the giant ‘Pinball Machine’, where visitors can test their own skill on the ball. Å

tfw

TRIA

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First Love

P l a c e : Ya z d , I r a n

Da t e : 1 5 M a y 2 0 1 4

T im e : 6 . 3 0 p . m .

Ph o t o g r a ph e r : S i m o n K o y

Favorite Picture 21T H E F I FA W E E K LY

FOOTBALL FOR HOPE

To fi nd out more, visit the Sustainability section on FIFA.com.

Football for Hope is our global commitment to building a better future through football. To date, we have supported over 550 socially-responsible community projects that use football as a tool for social development, improving the lives and prospects of young people and their surrounding communities

On Sunday 3 May 2015, some 200 girls arrived at the Louis Riel Dome in Ottawa, Ontario for two hours of soccer activities and fun. The girls were aged between 8 and 12 and hailed from clubs in the Ottawa area and Quebec.

Hours earlier, 40 women coaches and volunteers from all over Ontario had been busy preparing the facility for all the football fun that was about to take place. The dome looked resplendent in its “Live Your Goals” banners and flags. Portable goals, bouncy castles, face painting, shooting contests and many other activities were designed to engage the girls whilst they interacted with new friends.

Shuéme, the FWWC2015 mascot, was there too, an added attraction for participants and parents alike. Joseé Bélanger, recently selected as a member of the home nation’s squad for Canada 2015, and Kristina Kiss who played for Canada at two World Cups and earned 75 caps for her country, offered their support to Live your Goals and proved excellent role models for the young girls.

The event was a huge success. Two hours later, the girls left with smiles on their faces, sweat on their brows and a happy heart, ready to kick their new soccer balls all the way home. Å

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L I V E Y O U R G O A L S P R E S I D E N T I A L N O T E

Best wishes, Sepp Blatter

200 girls happy to live their goals in Ottawa

The latest event in the Live Your Goals festival series was held in Canada to mark the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup™

2015 and inspire hundreds of girls and young women.

Back in 1975 “Project 1” was my first mission as a member of the FIFA staff. It was a programme to develop and promote football all over the world,

especially in Africa and Asia, where the game was still largely rootless and isolated. It was the start of a process that has yielded ground-breaking progress, such as the first World Cup finals in Asia in 2002 or the African premiere in 2010.

At the same time we intensified our social and community involvement. After awarding the 2010 World Cup to South Africa, we launched “Win in Africa with Africa” in 2005, an initiative that significantly improved the infrastructural situation throughout the continent and established new foundations for African football in the most literal sense of the phrase. In parallel we established “Football for Hope” in 2005, the programme combining FIFA’s vision of a better future with concrete aid projects, including the construction of 20 “Football for Hope” centres in Africa to promote edu cation, health and football.

This was far from the only goal we achieved. In the context of the 2014 World Cup, we increased our social de-velopment support to South America to new levels: the number of organisations we support in Brazil alone rose from five to 37. Via “Football for Hope” we have supported 550 programmes across all six confederations.

We look back on ten years of Football for Hope with pride, but the work is far from over. We are fully aware of this and will do everything within our power to meet our responsibilities, for the next decade and many years thereafter.

Hope through football

A great success More than 200 girls took part in the Live Your Goals festival in Ottawa.

FIFA


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Eyes trained on the grass, a club pennant in one hand and spotless shirts on their backs, the youngsters take to the pitch. They steal a longing glance at the match-ball on the pedestal in front of the stands, take a shy peek at the thousands

of spectators watching on, among them some of the biggest names in football: Christian Ka-rambeu, filming with his smartphone, while FIFA President Sepp Blatter chats to tourna-ment president Jurg Hofmann. And then there are the countless talent scouts who have ar-rived in Zurich on this spring day to watch the youngsters, find the truly gifted ones and may-be even launch their careers. The glare of the spotlight is unrelenting.

‘Where stars are born’ is the slogan of the Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup, one of the most prestigious international youth tournaments on the calendar which is held every year around Ascension Day at the Buchlern sports complex in Zurich. This year’s competition, which takes place on 13-14 May, will be the 77th edition. Ten clubs will travel to Switzerland to put their youngsters to the test. So far 232 teams from 40 countries have participated at the event, and in last year’s World Cup squads there were 25 players who had previously take part at the Youth Cup. Those may look like mere numbers on a page, but they are nevertheless revealing, and put the youngsters under a certain degree of pressure.

“Pressure is part and parcel of the game”Yet pressure is inevitable in football and any aspiring professional will have to deal with it on a daily basis. They must be well prepared and in good shape both physically and mentally in

A taste of the limelight

order to perform during a match. Players and coaches alike are well aware that talent scouts come to the tournament. “It’s part and parcel of the game,” said Mats Gren, coach of the IFK Goteborg side.

The trip to Zurich is a homecoming of sorts for the Swede, who played for Grasshoppers Zu-rich between 1985 and 2000, winning the league title five times and the domestic cup on four occasions. “The lads have to get used to pres-sure” he said, adding that facing international opposition is crucial to players of their age: “It helps them develop. It teaches them life lessons as well as giving them match experience.”

The list of famous former Youth Cup par-ticipants is a lengthy one, including Sir Bobby Charlton, Gerard Pique, David Beckham and Kaka. It is here that many careers began to take off, and many stars started to shine. Yet the ‘star’ most inextricably linked to the tour-nament is the host club itself: Blue Stars. They

may have never made it on the international stage, and currently play in Switzerland’s fifth tier, but the small club realised early on that good youth work was the key to success. As such, in 1921 they became the first club in Swit-zerland to establish a youth department, founding the tournament 17 years later. It would prove to be a long-term investment.

Jurg Hofmann, Blue Stars president and head of the local organising committee, has been involved for many years now. In 1960 he even played in the competition himself against Manchester United, and the experience left its mark. “I can still clearly remember the best player on the pitch – a guy with long, curly hair. His name? George Best!” he said, laughing. Nowadays Hofmann and his team are respon-sible for organising the tournament, putting together the match calendar, inviting teams to play and balancing the budget. Their work has paid off, as the Youth Cup is one of the most popular youth competitions in the world. “In total we get 15,000 visitors,” Hofmann said.

Exams come firstMuch has changed in the 77 years since the event’s inception. What started out as a nation-al youth tournament has developed into one of the most prestigious youth competitions in the world. This year the event once again has an illustrious list of participants. Reigning cham-pions Atletico Paranaense will travel from Bra-zil aiming to defend their title, but will have to overcome Werder Bremen, among others, to do so. The latter are one of Germany’s most suc-cessful youth teams and are coached by Mirko Votava, who won the tournament with Borus-sia Dortmund in 1973. “I’m heading to Zurich


Every aspiring young footballer dreams of playing on the biggest stage of them all one day. At the Blue Stars / FIFA Youth Cup in Zurich on 13-14 May,

some of them will have a foretaste of what that is like, writes Sarah Steiner.Illustrations by Julien Pacaud.

“ Tournaments like this are impor tant for young players

to develop.”Roy Makaay,

Feyenoord youth coach

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with a very young team,” said Votava, whose ensemble are not able to arrive from northern Germany before the evening of 12 May. “Some of my players are taking their A-Level exams during the day,” he explained. “They’re really looking forward to going to Zurich.”

The Feyenoord AcademyThe same could be said for Feyenoord. “Tour-naments like this are important for young play-ers to develop,” said coach and former world-class striker Roy Makaay. The word ‘develop-ment’ is repeated frequently in youth football circles, so it is no surprise that huge changes have been made in this area in recent years.

Whereas previously clubs would primarily fo-cus on professionalising their first team, now-adays that extends to all age categories. Prepa-ration and prevention, regeneration and indi-vidualisation; today, young players at every level are schooled with a view to a potential professional career in the game.


“More is expected of young

players now.”Mats Gren,

IFK Goteborg youth coach

The Feyenoord Academy, known as Varke-noord, is one of the best youth training cen-tres in the Netherlands and has won the Rinus Michels Award as the finest youth academy in the country for five consecutive years since 2010. Robin van Persie, Stefan de Vrij, Georgin-io Wijnaldum and Bruno Martins Indi all stood out at last year’s World Cup in Brazil, and all of them began at the Feyenoord Acad-emy in Rotterdam.

“The boys train very hard and they train professionally,” said Goteborg coach Mats Gren, whose club likewise place great emphasis on youth work. “On top of that, more is expect-ed of them now. Working with young players isn’t only important for the club but for society too. It has an important social value.”

Talent alone is not enoughSo what is the key to success? Which factors are decisive in a young player making the

grade as a professional? Nowadays, ability alone is not enough. “Talent is important, but without hard work, dedication and commit-ment it’s not possible to succeed,” said Ma-kaay. The Dutchman speaks from experi-ence, having won titles in Germany, Spain and the Netherlands in his playing days. Bre-men coach Votava expanded further: “The most important thing for a young player is to gain match experience. If you don’t play you can’t improve, so you have to take the right steps at the right time.” In addition to all the meticulous planning, players also need a little bit of luck on their side in the end, for instance in avoiding serious injuries.

Youth academies today cater for every eventuality, and clubs stress the importance of speaking to their players about life after, or maybe even without, a career in professional football. Youngsters are offered the opportu-nity to receive training in an area that could Ill

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BLUE SARS / FIFA YOUTH CUP2015 PARTICIPANTSGroup A: Atletico Paranaense, Bursaspor, Werder Bremen, Grasshoppers, FC ZurichGroup B: Benfica, Feyenoord, IFK Goteborg, FC Lucerne, FC Blue Stars

MOST NOTABLE PLAYERS (SINCE 1990)Roy Keane, Christian Nerlinger, Markus Babbel, Jay-Jay Okocha, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Ivan de la Pena, Eidur Gudjohnson, Nuno Gomes, Kaka, Alexander Frei, Diego Benaglio, Alberto Aquilani, Joao Moutinho, Nani, Gerard Pique, Ron-Robert Zieler, Xherdan Shaqiri, Ricardo Rodriguez, Adnan Januzaj

PARTICIPANTS (SINCE 1939)232 clubs from 40 countries

MOST SUCCESSFUL CLUBSManchester United (18 tournament wins), Grasshopper Club (6), Barcelona and Young Fellows (both 3)

2015 TOURNAMENTWednesday 13 May 2015 (from 15:00) and Thursday 14 May 2015 (from 09:15) Buchlern Sports Complex, Zurich, Switzerland


give them job prospects away from football. “We invest a lot of time in this area,” said Ma-kaay. “It’s important to give time to the play-ers who won’t make it as professionals.”

Heading home with prideEyes raised to the terraces, an opponent’s shirt in one hand, a proud glance at the tro-phy that sits on the pedestal in front of the stands, the youngsters stroll across the pitch. The tournament has been won and the glare of the spotlight is fierce. But now what? After two exciting and intense days the play-ers return home to their domestic leagues, to everyday life where they must fight for a place in the team and prove their ability over and over again. Many of them will not make it. Football will always be a part of their lives but becoming a professional just a step too far. However, some of them will return to the spotlight and play in one of the big leagues,

win titles and savour success. Their stories will be told in a few years’ time. And they will be mentioned alongside Charlton, Pique, Beckham and Kaka, whose careers likewise began here in Zurich. Å

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The week ly column by our s t a f f wr iters

F R E E K I C K S P O T L I G H T O N

GENERAL INFORMATION

Country:

Vietnam

FIFA Trigramme:

VIE

Continent:

Asia

Capital:

Hanoi

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

Surface area:

331,690 km²

Highest point:

Fansipan 3,143 m

Neighbouring seas and oceans:

South China Sea

MEN’S FOOTBALLFIFA Ranking:

125th

World Cup:

no appearances

WOMEN’S FOOTBALLFIFA Ranking:

34rd

World Cup:

no appearances

LATEST RESULTSMen’s:

Vietnam - Malaysia 2:4

11 December 2014

Women’s:

Vietnam - Malaysia 7:0

4 May 2015

FIFA INVESTMENTSSince 2000:

$ 2,373,214Mar

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The ball is played to Lionel Messi on the edge of the penalty area and the world holds its breath. The lively Argentinian skips away

from a defender and gets the better of goal-keeper Manuel Neuer only for cool, calm and collected defensive stalwart Jerome Boateng to clear the ball a short way from the German line.

Ten months later, a similar scene plays out between the same protagonists, but in another context on a different continent and an entire-ly separate competition. Messi, now clad in a Barcelona shirt, picks up the ball and jinks past the imposing figure of Boateng – now wearing a Bayern Munich jersey –, catching him on the wrong foot and causing him to fall like “a felled tree”, according to the gloating comments on various Internet chatrooms.

This time as the ball evades Neuer, there is one substantial consequence: Messi scores his and Barça’s second goal in their 3-0 Champions League semi-final first leg win at home to Ger-man champions Bayern on the evening of 6 May.

Ten months ago, at Rio de Janeiro’s Ma-racana, it was Boateng and Neuer who were celebrating victory against Messi as they won the World Cup Final 1-0.

It goes without saying that a World Cup trophy outweighs a promising result in a con-tinental competition, but that is not the point here. We would be rubbing our eyes in disbelief at these apparent coincidences were it not for the fact that as passionate football fans we have long since become accustomed to seeing

the same exceptional players at work in the year’s most important matches.

The phenomenon proves one thing at least: that the world’s best players – Messi, Mascher-ano, Neuer and Lahm et al. – really are the best players in the world. Nevertheless, for all this talk of Barça and Bayern, there is one man who cannot be left out at any cost: Cristiano Ronaldo. The incomparable Real Madrid star could yet outwit the rest this season and claim the European crown for himself. Å

Perikles Monioudis

Resounding proof


C O U N T D O W N T O C A N A D A 2 015 : 2 9 D AY S T O G O

The collectors’ album has 56 pages with space for 478 stickers – includ-ing 29 special stickers. Each sticker packet will contain five stickers (seven in North America) with packets to be sold in approximately 25 countries.

Pani

ni


2 9 D A Y S T O G O

Panini S.p.A. is the world’s largest pub-lisher of collectibles. The historic Ital-ian company operates worldwide and sells its famous portraits in over 120 countries. Panini and world football governing body FIFA, the organisers of

the Women’s World Cup, recently announced the expansion of their collaboration to ena-ble the possibilities offered by the tourna-ment to be better explored. The Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 is the seventh tour-nament of its kind and the second to be rec-ognised with a Panini sticker album. The fi-nals will be held across six cities between 6 June and 5 July as Canada hosts the compe-tition for the first time.

A great successPanini has been creating World Cup sticker albums since 1970 and and has since been granted exclusive rights by FIFA for the official

Panini launches new FIFA Women’s World Cup sticker album

Football fans are preparing to go collecting crazy once more as the seventh edition of the Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 is commemorated with a sticker album – the second of its kind after Germany 2011.

sticker album, collectible trading cards and trading card games for 14 World Cup tourna-ments, including the 2011 and 2015 Women’s World Cups. The very first FIFA Women’s World Cup collection was launched to much acclaim in Germany in 2011.

Peter Warsop, Panini’s Group Licensing Director, stated: “We take enormous pride in joining this year’s program to celebrate and help create additional awareness and excite-ment about the Women’s World Cup. We have already had many fans of the game reaching out to us from all over the World in anticipa-tion of a sticker album being launched and we are delighted to be providing it for them. The 2011 tournament in Germany was very suc-cessful in all respects, which has prompted us to extend our marketing and distribution of this year’s collection to around 25 coun-tries. Given the increase in teams to 24, the sticker album has also grown to ensure

we cover all participating teams and their potential player squads. For fans of the game who cannot find supplies within their own territories, we will make stocks available for purchase online.”

On sale in around 25 countriesFIFA Marketing Director Thierry Weil added: “We are delighted to be working with Panini ahead of the Women’s World Cup and know that fans of football around the world will be eager to get their copy of this years’ album. The release of each Panini Sticker Album incites excitement in supporters that comes in the build-up to a major tournament, and with just over one month to go I am sure that focus is now firmly turned towards Canada.” Å

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Arsenal players undergoing UV therapy.

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Bayern Munich players Bastian Schweinsteiger (right) and his older brother Tobias observe a partial solar eclipse.

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RB global print 2_English ver.indd 1 15. 4. 29. �� 4:14

T H E A R T O F F O O T B A L L Q U O T E S O F T H E W E E K

“I am happy that players at tempt the

‘Panenka’ penalt y, and that journalists

talk about it and fans enjoy it .

P layers like Francesco Tot t i and

Z inedine Z idane have also done it , but

Messi’s was the most beautiful of all.

Not too power ful, down the middle

and looping – his technique is

impressive and the goal is just fur ther

proof of his amazing talent .”Antonin Panenka on Lionel Lionel Messi’s

‘Panenka’ penalty versus Getafe

“It doesn’t mat ter how you win,

i f you win. People like to see us

playing nice football – clever turns

and every thing – but that doesn’t

count now. It doesn’t mat ter how ugly

or terr ible it is – long balls – people

can say whatever they want .

I t doesn’t mat ter. I want to win.

I need to win!”Roly Bonevacia of Wellington Phoenix

“Crist iano Ronaldo could play for

Millwall, QPR, Doncaster Rovers or

anyone and he’d score a hat-tr ick .

I ’m not sure Messi could do it .

Ronaldo’s got two feet, he’s quick,

he’s good in the air and

he’s brave, though Messi’s brave

too of course. I just think Messi is

a Barcelona player.”Sir Alex Ferguson

30 June 2002 was one of those very special days: the World Cup Final in Japan. Brazil versus Germany, Ronal-

do versus Oliver Kahn – an encounter the striker no doubt looks back upon with more fondness than the goalkeeper. Although Kahn was named player of the tournament, an incredibly unfortunate bounce of the ball led to him conceding his first goal in the 67th minute of the world’s biggest football match and ultimately decided the result.

Nevertheless, there is a reason other than the World Cup Final why 30 June 2002 was such a special day. On top of the world – in Bhutan, the small kingdom at the foot of the Himalayas, to be precise – another showdown took place at the same time as the game in Yokohama. This match also had 22 men on the pitch; again, two goals were scored and, just like in Japan, a winning team ultimately emerged – but otherwise this was an entirely different affair.

Johan Kramer’s documentary “The Other Final” tells the story of this incredi-ble game but picks up the narrative long before kick-off. Matthijs de Jongh, a simple football fan from the Netherlands, organ-ised it all – but why? After his own country were eliminated from the World Cup during qualifying, the Dutchman developed an in-terest in the culture of defeat that ultimate-ly led him to the two most vanquished sides in football. One look at FIFA’s world rank-ings showed him that the 202nd-ranked Bhutan and Montserrat, in 203rd place, were last of all the nations listed.

Even the geographical location of these two countries was not immediately obvi-ous. Closer inspection revealed Montserrat

to be a tiny island in the Caribbean that suffered widespread devastation after a volcanic eruption in 1997, while Bhutan is a kingdom in South East Asia almost com-pletely isolated from the rest of the world. Whereas cricket is Montserrat’s national sport, residents of Bhutan tend to prefer traditional archery – even though the king himself was a decent goalkeeper in his own right during the 1970s, a fact Johan Kramer unearthed while preparing for this big game between two footballing minnows.

Although the Dutchman’s camera pri-marily remains focused on the players rep-resenting both sides, his film gives viewers a chance to learn quite a bit about everyday life in these two completely different loca-tions of the world. It reveals how players from both nations slowly get to know each other and overcome their language barriers by playing music together; for example, the song “Hot Hot Hot” has been Montserrat’s unofficial anthem ever since the volcano erupted. It shows how they express their sporting and personal dreams, how the monks sit down to pray before the big match and, despite all this excitement, how foot-ball remains at the centre of proceedings throughout. The documentary is a testa-ment to how the world’s most beautiful game can still be beautiful even when the football on display is not played by profes-sionals. Without wishing to give anything away, the Other Final was ultimately decid-ed by, of all things, a spectacular goalkeep-ing error – a mistake so spectacular that Oliver Kahn can forever make peace with his own performance in the day’s more prominent showpiece. Å

The ‘final’ finalRonald Duker


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In Turning Point , personali t ies re f lec t on a decisive moment in their l ives .

T U R N I N G P O I N T

NameHugo LlorisDate and place of birth26 December 1986, Nice, FrancePositionGoalkeeperClubs1997–2008 OGC Nice2008–2012 Olympique LyonSince 2012 Tottenham HotspurFrance national team65 capsHonoursU-19 European Champion 2005Ligue 1 Goalkeeper of the Year 2008, 2010, 2011French Cup 2012

Growing up as the son of a lawyer and a banker on the Cote d’Azur, football wasn’t automatically my first choice as a child. I also loved tennis – as a player and as a fan. Every spring the famous Monte Carlo clay tournament was held

not far from Nice, where I was born. I obvi-ously had to go. Pete Sampras, the American player, was my hero. I don’t know if I was good enough to turn professional, but I was certainly told I had talent.

But it’s not as if tennis has been swept completely under the carpet. Normally I don’t have time, but I have played every now and then during the holidays and I always notice how quickly the old spark comes back.

At the same time, I was playing football for amateur club CEDAC (Centre de Diffusion et d’Action Culturelle) at the Cimiez arts cen-tre on the outskirts of Nice.At first I really wanted to be a striker, but after a while the coaches must have realised that I was better suited to playing in goal. They said it was due to my exceptional anticipation, pace, hand-eye coordination and reflexes. On the recom-mendation of ex-French international goal-keeper Dominique Baratelli, I then signed for his former club, OGC Nice.

I must have been ten or eleven years old when football started gaining the upper hand over tennis. I was training more regularly dur-ing the week and it soon became clear that I had to make a decision. I had to concentrate on

just one sport, and that sport was football. The team spirit probably tipped the scales in foot-ball’s favour, the prospect of being successful with my mates.

After all those seasons in Nice’s youth academy, making my first-team debut as an 18-year -old, the subsequent moves to Olym-pique Lyon and Tottenham Hotspur in London, and being appointed captain of the Equipe Tricolore a year before the European Cham-pionships on home soil, I have to say: “Non, je ne regrette rien.” Å

Hugo Lloris was speaking to Andreas Jaros

French international goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was once regarded as one of the country’s best young tennis players, but he was soon won over by the beautiful game.

“The team spirit swayed me”

Cha

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1 Germany 0 1687

2 Argentina 0 1494

3 Belgium 0 1457

4 Colombia 0 1412

5 Brazil 0 1372

6 Netherlands 0 1301

7 Portugal 0 1221

8 Uruguay 0 1176

9 Switzerland 0 1135

10 Spain 0 1132

11 France 0 1127

12 Romania 0 1086

13 Italy 0 1085

14 England 0 1030

15 Costa Rica 0 1016

16 Chile 0 1002

17 Croatia 0 977

18 Czech Republic 1 923

19 Slovakia 1 920

20 Algeria 1 917

21 Wales 1 916

22 Mexico -4 908

23 Côte d’Ivoire 0 907

24 Greece 0 900

25 Austria 0 891

26 Ghana 0 833

27 Russia 5 828

28 USA -1 825

29 Denmark -1 808

30 Scotland -1 796

31 Tunisia -1 793

32 Bosnia and Herzegovina -1 783

33 Ukraine 0 772

34 Ecuador 0 762

35 Poland 0 753

36 Senegal 0 752

37 Cape Verde Islands 0 737

38 Iceland 0 728

39 Sweden 0 704

40 Iran 0 689

41 Guinea 0 678

42 Northern Ireland 0 672

43 Hungary 0 665

44 Serbia 0 664

45 Nigeria 0 659

46 Israel 0 649

47 Slovenia 0 648

48 Cameroon 0 627

49 Congo 0 624

50 Japan 0 614

51 Egypt 0 612

52 Turkey 0 603

53 Panama 0 587

54 Congo DR 0 584

55 Gabon 0 583

56 Mali 0 578

57 Albania 0 575

57 Korea Republic 0 575

59 South Africa 1 553

60 Zambia -1 552

61 Equatorial Guinea 0 549

62 Republic of Ireland 0 546

63 Peru 1 532

64 Australia -1 531

65 Trinidad and Tobago 0 519

66 Burkina Faso 0 517

67 Bulgaria 0 505

68 United Arab Emirates 0 501

69 Venezuela 0 495

70 Norway 0 491

71 Uganda 1 485

72 Uzbekistan 1 476

73 Rwanda 1 474

74 Jamaica 1 466

75 Montenegro -5 457

76 Honduras 0 453

77 Armenia 0 449

78 Finland 0 446

79 Haiti 0 442

80 Togo 0 435

81 Paraguay 0 415

82 China PR 0 408

83 Belarus 0 397

84 El Salvador 0 388

85 Latvia 0 387

86 Mozambique 0 383

86 Iraq 0 383

88 Sierra Leone 0 382

89 Angola 0 381

90 Morocco 1 371

90 Guatemala 0 371

92 Bolivia 0 360

93 Estonia 0 358

94 Benin 0 357

95 Saudi Arabia 0 349

96 Cyprus 0 342

97 Oman 0 341

97 Malawi 0 341

99 Qatar 0 337

100 Lithuania 0 333

101 Ethiopia 0 321

102 Faroe Islands 0 318

103 Jordan 0 316

104 Botswana 0 314

105 FYR Macedonia 0 312

106 Antigua and Barbuda 0 311

107 Tanzania 0 304

108 Bahrain 0 299

109 Cuba 0 298

110 St Vincent and the Grenadines 6 291

111 Sudan -1 288

112 Libya -1 281

112 St Kitts and Nevis -1 281

114 Namibia -1 279

115 Canada -1 277

116 Azerbaijan -1 264

117 Kenya 0 258

118 Dominican Republic 0 257

119 Niger 0 252

120 Moldova 1 245

121 Lesotho 1 242

122 Burundi 1 237

123 Zimbabwe 0 235

124 Vietnam 1 229

125 Syria 1 225

126 Kuwait 1 224

127 Liechtenstein 1 219

128 Bermuda 1 217

129 Mauritania -9 216

130 Barbados 0 215

131 St Lucia 5 214

132 Guinea-Bissau -1 212

132 Liberia -1 212

134 Kazakhstan -1 210

135 Afghanistan 0 208

136 Aruba -2 204

137 Philippines 2 200

137 Luxembourg 0 200

139 Georgia -1 197

140 Maldives 1 191

141 Palestine -1 190

142 Thailand 0 183

143 Tajikistan 0 173

144 Central African Republic 0 163

144 Lebanon 0 163

144 New Zealand 0 163

147 India 0 161

148 Curaçao 0 159

149 Malta 0 158

150 Madagascar 0 156

151 Timor-Leste 1 151

152 Chad -1 150

153 Kyrgyzstan 0 148

154 Nicaragua 0 142

155 Suriname 14 141

156 Korea DPR 1 139

157 Gambia -1 138

158 Myanmar 0 133

159 Turkmenistan 0 131

159 Indonesia 0 131

159 Belize 0 131

162 Singapore 0 130

M E N ’ S W O R L D R A N K I N G

Rank Team +/- Points

163 Guyana -8 128

163 Bhutan 0 128

165 Dominica 12 121

166 Malaysia -2 120

167 Puerto Rico -1 119

168 Yemen 2 117

169 Hong Kong -2 116

169 Bangladesh -2 116

171 Grenada -6 113

172 Montserrat -1 107

173 Pakistan -1 106

174 US Virgin Islands -1 104

175 New Caledonia -1 101

176 Guam -1 97

176 Swaziland -1 97

178 Laos 0 88

179 Cambodia 0 86

179 Chinese Taipei 0 86

181 Nepal 0 70

182 Brunei Darussalam 1 69

183 Turks and Caicos Islands 1 66

183 Macau 1 66

185 Tahiti 1 65

185 Mauritius -4 65

185 Comoros 1 65

188 Sri Lanka -2 64

189 Seychelles 0 60

190 São Tomé e Príncipe 0 58

191 Cayman Islands 0 48

192 Solomon Islands 0 46

193 South Sudan 0 43

194 San Marino 0 40

195 Vanuatu 0 34

196 Fiji 0 30

196 Samoa 0 30

198 Bahamas 0 26

198 British Virgin Islands 0 26

200 Mongolia 0 19

201 Tonga 0 17

202 Papua New Guinea 0 13

203 American Samoa 0 12

204 Andorra 0 8

204 Eritrea 0 8

206 Somalia 0 6

207 Djibouti 0 4

207 Cook Islands 0 4

209 Anguilla 0 2

http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/index.html

Rank Team +/- Points Rank Team +/- Points Rank Team +/- Points

LeaderMoves into top tenMoves out of top tenMatches played in totalMost matches playedBiggest move by pointsBiggest move by ranksBiggest drop by pointsBiggest drop by ranks

Germany (unchanged)nonenone3no team with more than one matchRussia (up 47 points)Suriname (up 14 ranks)Montenegro (down 34 points)Mauritania (down 9 ranks)

Last updated:7 May 2015


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The objective of Sudoku is to fill a 9x9 grid with digits so that each of the numbers from 1 to 9 appears exactly once in each column, row and 3x3 sub-grid.

Published weekly by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)

PublisherFIFA, FIFA-Strasse 20, PO box, CH-8044 Zurich

Phone +41-(0)43-222 7777, Fax +41-(0)43-222 7878

PresidentJoseph S. Blatter

Secretary GeneralJérôme Valcke

Director of Communications and Public AffairsWalter De Gregorio

Chief EditorPerikles Monioudis

Staff WritersAlan Schweingruber (Deputy Editor), Sarah Steiner

Art DirectionCatharina Clajus

Picture EditorPeggy Knotz, Andres Wilhelm (Deputy)

LayoutRichie Kroenert (Lead), Tobias Benz, Susanne Egli

Proof ReaderNena Morf (Lead), Martin Beran, Kristina Rotach

ContributorsRonald Dueker, Luigi Garlando, Sven Goldmann, Andreas Jaros,

Jordi Punti, Thomas Renggli, David Winner, Roland Zorn

Contributors to this IssueMarius Achatz, Lefteris Coroyannakis

Editorial AssistantsAlissa Rosskopf, Honey Thaljieh

ProductionHans-Peter Frei

Project ManagementBernd Fisa, Christian Schaub

Translationwww.sportstranslations.com

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FIFA and the FIFA logo are registered trademarks of FIFA. Made and printed in Switzerland.

Any views expressed in The FIFA Weekly do not necessarily reflect those of FIFA. Pu

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· Barcelona· Bayern Munich· Juventus· Real Madrid

Cast your votes at:FIFA.com/newscentre

Which of these continental champions will go furthest at this year’s 2015

FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup?

≠ Brazil

≠ Mexico

≠ Madagascar

≠ Russia

≠ Oman

Who will win the 2014-2015 UEFA Champions League?

successive home games without defeat is the new club record set by VfL Wolfsburg follow-ing their 2-2 draw with Hannover 96. The Wolves are the only Bundesliga side not to have lost in front of their own fans this season.

consecutive league titles is the milestone reached by Croatia's preeminent side Dinamo Zagreb to further consolidate their extraordi-nary position of dominance. The capital city club have the longest series of successive championships in the world, apart from Gibraltarian outfit Lincoln FC, who, coinci-dentally, sealed their 13th straight title triumph on exactly the same day. (Pictured: Angelo Henriquez)

10 821goals without reply was the scoreline posted by Barcelona against Cordoba, equalling their biggest ever league win. The Catalan club have only previously won two championship matches away from home by such a large margin of victory: in 1959 against Las Palmas and in 2010 against Almeria. (Pictured: Luis Suarez) M

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ISSUE 18/2015, 8 MAY 2015 ENGLISH EDITION · 2017. 7. 7. · ISSUE 18/2015, 8 MAY 2015 ENGLISH...

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