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
2014 WORLD CUP - DAY 17 - LAST SIXTEEN - NETHERLANDS VS MEXICO 2:1

LAST SIXTEEN
29th June 2014

Netherlands vs Mexico 2:1

Lucky dutchmen!

29 Jun 2014
2014 WORLD CUP - DAY 17 - LAST SIXTEEN - COSTA RICA VS GREECE 5:4 - win on penalties

LAST SIXTEEN
29th June 2014

Costa Rica vs Greece 5:4

Costa Rica through on penalties.

29 Jun 2014
2014 WORLD CUP - MEXICO - KEY PLAYER - ‪Giovani dos Santos‬ - PROFILE

Giovani dos Santos‬ was born in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Giovani joined FC Barcelona's academy of La Masia at the age of eleven and played for Barcelona's Juvenil A category where he helped his team to make a comeback in the league and win the regional title. 

This title allowed them to participate in the Youth Copa del Rey, where they faced other regional champions, among them their historic arch-rivals, Real Madrid. 

29 Jun 2014

NATIONAL TEAM - SIERRA LEONE - COACH - John Jebbor Sherington takes charge

AFRICAN CUP 2017 QUALIFIERS

 

Former Sierra Leone international John Jebbor Sherington has been appointed caretaker coach of the national team for one match.

Sherington previously took charge of Sierra Leone for some matches in the 1998 World Cup qualifiers as well as during the 2006 and 2008 Nations Cup qualifiers.

This time, the 63-old, who is also the Technical Director of Sierra Leone Football Association, will take charge of the team for their opening fixture in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, against Sudan in Khartoum on 14 June.

"I'll only serve as coach for our game against Sudan and the SLFA is expected to appoint a new coach before our next fixture against Ivory Coast," Coach Sherington told BBC Sport.

"Already a local coach John Keister and several foreign coaches from Sweden, Croatia, Argentina and Brazil have applied for the coaching job advertised by the SLFA few months ago.

Sierra Leone, Sudan and defending Champions Ivory Coast are fighting for just one qualifying spot in Group I.

Tournament hosts Gabon are also in the group but their matches will be counted as friendlies.

Sherington has stepped in following the departure of fellow local coach John Ajina Sesay, who was in charge of Leone Stars' last four games in the 2015 Nations Cup qualifiers.

Already Sherington has named a provincial squad dominated by home-based players mainly drawn up from the national under-23 team that eliminated Cameroon in the 2016 Rio Olympic games qualifiers last weekend.

However, his selection comes as a surprise as there has not been any domestic competition for almost a year because of the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone.

"We have only invited eight foreign based players for the match because the SLFA is managing the little resources it has as the Sports ministry has stated that it'll not longer fund national teams," Sherington said.

"Only four foreign-based players have so far consented to be available for the game.

We know there has not been any domestic league for long time now but we can still do well.

"The Under-23 players have been training together for a very long time now and have played friendlies in Monrovia and even went further to eliminate Cameroon.

"The other locally based players have also been training with the home based national team for the Chan competition."

He concluded: "We know it's going to be tough in Khartoum but we'll try to do our best to get good result."

 

 

7 Jun 2015
(BBC Sport, Freetown by Mohamed Fajah Barrie)

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