NATIONAL TEAM - SWITZERLAND - 2014 WORLD CUP - Goodbye, Ottmar Hitzfeld. All the best and take care.

Hitzfeld has made a positive impression wherever he has been stationed and his name is still regularly chanted in the stands at Bayern Munich.

“He put together a really good team that will last for many years to come,” Granit Xhaka told FIFA.com, before Josip Drmic added: “He’s done a great job.” 

2 Jul 2014
2014 WORLD CUP - DAY 19 - LAST SIXTEEN - ARGENTINA VS SWITZERLAND 1:0

LAST SIXTEEN
1st July 2014

Argentina vs Switzerland 1:0

1 Jul 2014
2014 WORLD CUP - DAY 19 - LAST SIXTEEN - BELGIUM VS USA 2:1

LAST SIXTEEN
1st July 2014

Belgium vs USA 2:1

1 Jul 2014
2014 WORLD CUP - ARGENTINA - KEY PLAYER - ‪LIONEL MESSI - PROFILE

Lionel Andrés Messi; born 24 June 1987, is an Argentine footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club FC Barcelona and the Argentina national team. He serves as the captain of his country's national football team.

By the age of 21, Messi had received Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations. The following year, in 2009, he won his first Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards. 

1 Jul 2014
2014 WORLD CUP - USA - KEY PLAYER - ‪JERMAINE JONES - PROFILE

Jermaine Junior Jones, born 3 November 1981, is a German-American footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Turkish club Beşiktaş. He has previously played for Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayer Leverkusen, Blackburn Rovers and Schalke 04. He was born in Germany and represented them at U21 and senior level.

1 Jul 2014
NATIONAL TEAM - NIGERIA - COACH - STEPHEN KESHI RESIGNS AFTER EXIT

He becomes the sixth manager to leave his job during the World Cup, following the departures of Honduras's Luis Suarez, Iran's Carlos Queiroz, Japan's Alberto Zaccheroni, Italy's Cesare Prandelli and Ivory Coast's Sabri Lamouchi.

Keshi, who captained Nigeria at the 1994 World Cup finals, was previously in charge of Mali and Togo.

1 Jul 2014
2014 WORLD CUP - DAY 18 - LAST SIXTEEN - FRANCE vs NIGERIA 2:0

LAST SIXTEEN
30th June 2014

France vs Nigeria 2:0

30 Jun 2014
2014 WORLD CUP - DAY 18 - LAST SIXTEEN - GERMANY vs ALGERIA 2:1

LAST SIXTEEN
30th June 2014

Germany vs Algeria 2:1

30 Jun 2014
2014 WORLD CUP - GERMANY - KEY PLAYER - THOMAS MUELLER‬ - PROFILE

Müller's role can be described as an attacking all-rounder, a player able to play in a variety of forward positions. He can play in any of the attacking midfield roles but usually plays in the center for Bayern Munich, and on the right for Germany.

He has been used as an out-and-out striker on occasion. Müller has been praised for his maturity, pace, technique, awareness and positioning.

30 Jun 2014
2014 WORLD CUP - FRANCE - KEY PLAYER - ‪KARIM BENZEMA - PROFILE

He has been named French Player of the Year twice for his performances in 2011 and 2012. Benzema is a former French youth international and has represented his nation from under-17 level onwards. 

Benzema has earned over 65 caps and represented France at three major international tournaments; the 2008 and 2012 editions of the UEFA European Football Championship and the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

30 Jun 2014

2015 AFRICA CUP - CAF - Tunisia FA president banned

Africa Cup 2015 Quarter-Finals Semi-Finals

 

It follows CAF’s ultimatum for the Tunisian FA to apologise for accusing the body of cheating or be banned from the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.

On Friday, CAF gave a deadline of 31 March for the Tunisian FA to apologise.

Tunisia made the allegations over a controversial penalty in a 2:1 quarter-final defeat by Equatorial Guinea.

The game's referee has been banned for six months for "poor performance".

After a meeting on Wednesday, the Tunisian FA refused to apologise with a spokesman saying the team had "suffered scandalous injustice from referees".

CAF, which fined Tunisia after players confronted referee Rajindraparsad Seechurn after the final whistle, had wanted the 2004 champions to apologise for "insinuations of bias and lack of ethics against Caf and its officials, or to present irrefutable evidence to substantiate the accusations".

African football's governing body said it had been sent two letters by the Tunisian FA after the match, with the second asking for an investigation and suggesting CAF and its officials "were questionable and biased against Tunisia in general".

CAF fined Tunisia $50,000 (£33,000) for what it termed "the aggressive attitude of some supporters in the stands, 

- invasion of the pitch after the final whistle by players and substitutes of the Tunisian team 

- insulting the referee of the match and trying to physically assault him 

- and the regrettable behaviour of the president of the Tunisian Football Federation, Wadie Jary".

The Tunisian federation was also ordered to pay for damages after their players broke a changing-room door and a fridge.

The ugly scenes came after Mauritian referee Seechurn had awarded the penalty in stoppage time when Ali Maaloul was harshly ruled to have fouled Ivan Bolado when 

Tunisia were leading 1:0 and, after equalising from the spot through Javier Balboa, hosts Equatorial Guinea went on to win in extra time.

Qualifying for the 2017 tournament starts in June.

 

 

2 Feb 2015
(BBC Sport UK)

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