Ten days before the beginning of the FIFA World Cup Germany 2006, coaches are starting to make decisions about their first teams in the last practice matches. The seven friendly matches played by ten World Cup teams have been proof of this, and provided very interesting lessons.
The most exciting game faced Germany and Japan. Jürgen Klinsmann’s team overcame a two-goal defeat in four minutes, ending up in a bitter tie.
Germany’s soccer team, leaded by trainer Jürgen Klinsmann, arrived in Switzerland and plans to train twice a week at Geneva’s stadium. The “Mannshaft” is going to stay in Switzerland for nine days before returning to Germany to establish its base camp in Berlin.
The Brazilian team, on the other hand, traveled from Sao Paulo to Zurich and is going to stay in a luxurious hotel at the small town of Weggis until June 4, when they are going to play against New Zealand.
For Ladbrokes, the Champions League final between Arsenal and Barcelona has become the biggest betting event in European football history. Over £30 million were wagered on the outcome of the match around the world.
In addition to this event, bookmarkers said that the turnover of last weekend’s English and Scottish Cup finals has raised over 50 percent, and for the first time ever, the bets taken online were as many as the ones taken over the counter.
“We are in the first stage of the process, we suspect that there might have been results that were settled previously and even influenced by the referees and players”, admitted members of the court who are leading the investigation.
This case emerged together with the crisis the Italian soccer is going through and is also similar to the German one last year, when referees and players admitted they had been taking bribes from gamblers.
German police considers that there are several risks in the security system for the World Soccer Championship to be held in Germany, not only because an increasing violence has been detected among the “hooligans”, but also because there are many rumors about a possible Islamic attack during the matches.
According to a confidential study by the Criminal Research Federal Office, at least 21 of the 64 matches have to be considered “high risk” events.
At the famous Stade de France, Barcelona obtained the prize it desperately wanted: the UEFA Champions League Cup. The match was a mixture of goals, excitement and polemics.
Eighteen minutes after the match started, Arsenal goalkeeper, Jens Lehmann , was sent off for bringing down Et’o, leaving the English team with only 10 players for the rest of the match. However, Arsenal took the leading in the 37th minute when Sol Campbell scored.
The sponsorship will last four years starting on July 1st, 2006. The £34 million contract includes a £1.5 million contribution to the Tottenham community to help young people of the area.
Mansion will become the fourth brand to appear on the shirt, since sponsorship was allowed 25 years ago. This agreement has become one of the largest for club sponsorships.
Aunque Eriksson no toma muchos riesgos, no renunció a la recuperación de Rooney y declaró que “Estaría loco de remate si no lo seleccionase”.
Esta inclusión no ha sido una sorpresa, pero sí lo ha sido la decisión de convocar al futbolista de 17 años del Arsenal Walcott. Al respecto dijo: “Sé que es un riesgo pero me entusiasma verlo. Tiene mucho talento y la velocidad vale mucho en el fútbol actual”.
Next Monday, Carlos Alberto Parreira will reveal the list of players to take part in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. Today, he told the Jornal do Brasil newspaper that he still has to define some names, apparently three, of the 23 that will be part of Brazil’s team during the tournament.
“There are some medical and physical problems, so the list doesn’t depend on me exclusively. I started thinking about the list three years ago when I first coached the team, but I still have my doubts about some players.”
The maximum soccer entity has determined the cloth to be worn by the 32 teams that will be playing the first stage in Germany from June 9th. FIFA determined the color for the shorts, shirts and socks for every team.
In most cases the traditional characteristics of the country’s clothes will be respected. For the first game that Argentina will be playing against Netherlands, they will be wearing the usual white and sky blue shirt with black shorts and white socks. Netherlands will be wearing their classic orange shirt.
