Tag Archives: World

GERMANY TO RETAIN WORLD CUP TITLE IN 2018?

Germany have remained an obvious force to reckon with in the round leather game for years.


They are undoubtedly the most consistent side in the game through several generations. After breaking their jinx to lift the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, they remain a strong force to retain the title at the tournament in Russia next year.

The strength in depth, the succession planning, consistency, confidence and good management all favour them ahead of the competition for the World Cup 2018 title. Joachim Low has taken an experimental and youthful side to the ongoing Confederations Cup and it might pay off next year. Only three players from the 2014 squad provide experience at the Confed Cup but the benefits would be reaped for many years.

Manuel Neuer is strong in goal – arguably the best keeper in the world for the past three years. Barring any injury, he is expected to start in goal next year. Joshua Kimmich has had a bit of a snag under Bayern Munich Coach Carlo Ancelotti, who prefers experience to youth. However, Kimmich would likely get a spot in the first team next year. Mat Hummels and Jerome Boateng are decent and expected central defensive options. In left back, Jonas Hector or Marcel Schmelzer could easily boss opponents. Continue reading →

RUSSIA DOES NOT DESERVE TO HOST 2018 WORLD CUP

Controversy continues to surround the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2022 version in Qatar ever since they were simultaneously awarded the hosting right in 2011, amid accusations of bribes, vote buying, and backhanders.


Last week brought a fresh evidence of the depths Russia’s odious sports system plumbed into in her subversive, secretive modern war on fair play. A report submitted by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren exposed the extraordinary plots that saw more than 1,000 Russian athletes fed banned performance-enhancing drugs, with the subsequent doping tests tampered with or fabricated to foil the system.

While the narrative of Russian drug cheating has majorly revolved around the Paralympics and Olympics, both winter and summer, football among the 30 sports named. In the case of the “beautiful game of soccer,” the doping conspiracy involved a number of a Russian youth team, another unsavory example of how far the state has gone to facilitate cheating.

The Soviet Union, subsequently Russia, has long been using sports as a tool to promote its international image. Although It is not the only country to do so but being organized enough and rich enough to successfully host a global competition on the scale of a World Cup provides the kind of political chest-beating Vladimir Putin loves. Losing the chance to showcase the power, because your government supported a cheating blueprint on an unprecedented scale, is the sort of heavyweight embarrassment that can make a dent in the walls of the Kremlin.

Cheating aside, Russia has lost the privilege to be granted the benefit of the doubt and should not have been awarded the hosting right in the first place. Continue reading →

Russia falls to lowest ranking

The Russia football team has fallen to their lowest spot in the FIFA ranking following their poor showing at the Euro 2016 in France.


Russis now 53rd in the table and is the lowest that Russia has attained since their record low of 1998.

This is the good reflection of the Russian side that participated in the Euros 2016 where they only managed to get 1 point from the 3 matches. Their performance was so poor in France that fans have called for the team to be disbanded and to rebuild one from scratch.

The Russian Federation said that they were disappointed with the performance and that they are currently looking for ways to improve the team. They said that they would need to have a clear strategy in place to ensure that young players are developed properly. Continue reading →

RUSSIA SPORTS MINISTER BACKS MICHEL PLATINI

Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko says Uefa chief Michel Platini does not deserve such a long suspension from football-related activities as he is being given.


On Monday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld the suspension of the UEFA president. The Russian minister released a statement after the judgement which CAS reduced from the initial six years to four and the penalty from 80,000 to 60,000 Swiss francs.

Mutko said on Monday:

“This is a complex situation and it is difficult to comment on the judicial body’s decision,” he started with.

“Platini is an outstanding person and a serious organiser. He has done much for UEFA.

“The causes of his suspension do not deserve such a decision on him. I can only regret about that,” Mutko said.

Platini and former FIFA president Sepp Blatter were both suspended for the period of 90 days from their posts as part of the investigation into corruption allegations against them in October last year. Among a number of corruption allegations, Blatter is suspected of a disloyal payment of 2 million Swiss francs to Platini in February 2011. Continue reading →

Leonid Slutsky has sparked Russia’s national football team back to life

Fabio Capello was sacked as the head coach of the Russian national football team on July of 2015 and a few days later it was confirmed that Leonid Slutsky was selected as the man to replace Capello and guide Russia through the 2016 Euro’s and so far things have been going superbly well for the 44 year old manager.


During Fabio Capello’s time in charge of Russia, he was the highest-paid national coaches in the world of football but after a string of underwhelming results Capello was sacked and it seems like this decision was a good one for the Russian national football team as they have secured triumphs over Moldova, Sweden, Liechtenstein, Montenegro and Lithuania with their new manager.

Russia has qualified to the 2016 Euro’s after sealing 4 successive victories and advanced through the group stages of the international competition where they will be facing off with Wales, Slovakia and England in Group B.

Under the guidance of Leonid Slutsky, Russia has claimed an overwhelming 7-0 triumph over Liechtenstein and from there on they have been on a run of positive results. This is what the Russian national team needs in order to progress past the group stages of the 2016 Euro’s.

If Leonid Slutsky and his team are able to ride this momentum of victories, it might be enough for them to snatch the 2nd spot of Group B and continue advancing through the next rounds of the 2016 Euro’s which would be a huge accomplishment for the Russian national team as they have historically struggled trying to make it past the group stages. Continue reading →

Yuri Zhirkov continues to make Impressive Plays

Appearing on the Russian scoresheet would be Yuri Zhirkov who continues to make some impressive plays.

He’s not the only Russian player appearing on the scoreboards through and impressing players as Dmitri Payet, KinglseyComan, Andre-PieereGignac and Aleksandr Kokorin have also been making some impressive plays. We all know that Russian teams haven’t been in the best of positions lately and they need all the help they can get but it looks like Zhirkov is a well-rounded player with great form who might be a great addition to his team.

In other news, we have France winning their very first match since attacks that occurred on November 13 and this game ended with a 4 to 2 victory. This was a friendly game against Russia in the Stade De France in Saint-Denis. We also have a 25th birthday being celebrated by N’GoloKante and at the same time, he managed to celebrate his very first international goal. Antoine Griezmann is to thank for setting up the clean goal and giving the hosts a clean victory. Continue reading →

Liverpool appear to have beaten stiff competition from several Russian clubs

Liverpool appear to have beaten stiff competition from several Russian clubs for the signature of highly rated Serbian teenager Marko Grujic.

The 19-year-old has been watched by several top clubs across European football. However, the likes of Liverpool were one of the first to comment with an official offer for the player. Just days after it was believed that the Premier League outfit had agreed a £ 7.5 million deal for the player, it emerged that CSKA Moscow and Zenit St Petersburg were looking to hijack the deal. The Russian league represents a great attraction for Serbian players and both these top Russian clubs were looking to take advantage of this fact.

Signing players at this age for this price will allow CSKA Moscow and others to sell him at a substantial profit later on. Liverpool, however, appear to be signing the player with a long-term view. The Premier League club recently went through a managerial change that has seen them appoint former Borussia Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp. The signing ofGrujic appeared to be a major doubt over the last few weeks, but a few days ago, the player confirmed that he has indeed signed for Liverpool. Continue reading →

Montenegro could so easily have been the last game of the career of the Russian

The Euro Cup qualifying game versus Montenegro could so easily have been the last game of the career of the Russian shot stopper Igor Akinfeev, but, only because he had had the well wishes of so many people with him that he managed to get away with the minimal damage.

A flame coming from the direction of the spectators hit Akinfeev and he was down straightaway.

The team doctors came in and tried to get Akinfeev sorted there on the pitch itself, but, the burn was too intense to keep the player going and after about 30 minutes or so, finally the stretcher came in and he had to go the hospital for some expert medical guidance.

The proceedings could not get underway in that duration.

After Akinfeev’s departure though, the match resumed, but, could not reach its conclusion because of the misbehaving nature of the spectators.

There were objects being thrown to the pitch and thus, to protect the players from suffering any damage, the referee made the decision of abandoning the match in the 67th minute. Continue reading →

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