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

CAF AWARDS 2015 - player of the year - 10 names on award shortlist

Yaya Toure

 

Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure is in contention to win the Confederation of African Football player of the year award for a fifth consecutive year.

Toure is one of 10 men on the 2015 shortlist revealed by CAF on Monday.

The 32-year-old Manchester City player first won the title in 2011 and another would give him a record fifth award, one more than Samuel Eto'o.

Also on the list are England-based pair Ghana forward Andre Ayew and Senegal midfielder Sadio Mane.

The winner will be decided by votes of the coaches or technical directors of the national associations affiliated to CAF.

An awards gala will be held on Thursday, 7 January 2016 in Abuja, Nigeria.

Toure led Ivory Coast to Africa Cup of Nations glory at the start of the year, helping his country put behind them years of narrowly failing to win their second title.

Ayew moved to English Premier League club Swansea in June and has been a star performer, scoring five league goals in 11 performances.

Fellow nominee Borussia Dortmund's Gabonese striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been outstanding for his German club, hitting 17 goals in 14 games this season.

Also on the list is current BBC African Footballer of the Year Yacine Brahimi. 

The Algeria international plays his club football in Portugal for Porto.

 

CAF shortlist:

Andre Ayew 
(Ghana & Swansea)

Aymen Abdennour 
(Tunisia & Valencia)

Mudather Eltaib Ibrahim 'Karika' 
(Sudan & El Hilal)

Mohamed Salah 
(Egypt & Roma)

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
(Gabon & Borussia Dortmund)

Sadio Mane 
(Senegal & Southampton)

Serge Aurier 
(Cote d'Ivoire & Paris Saint Germain)

Sofiane Feghouli 
(Algeria & Valencia)

Yacine Brahimi 
(Algeria & Porto)

Yaya Toure
(Cote d'Ivoire & Manchester City)

 

 

 

 

4 Nov 2015
(BBC Sport UK)

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