World Soccer - One Shot 2014

100% UNOFFICIAL
HE COMPLETE GUIDE TO
T
32 TEAMS
Every squad analysed by the experts
Publication
3 LIONS
Englands greatest
World Cup moments
1 PRIZE
Everything you need to

know about Brazil 2014
GERRARD
Face to face with
Englands captain
GLORY
HUNTERS!
3.99
Rooney, Messi & Neymar get ready

for the greatest show on earth
PLUS
ROY HODGSON UNCOVERED BRAZILS STADIUMS

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FULL TV SCHEDULE STAR PLAYER PROFILES
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Contents
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26
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EDITOR
GAVIN HAMILTON
32
ART DIRECTOR
COLIN HALLIDAY
PICTURES
DUNCAN BOND
24
EDITORIAL SECRETARY
JUNE HISCOCK
CONTRIBUTORS
NICK BIDWELL,
NICH HILLS,
JOHN HOLMESDALE,
HAYTERS,
DEBBIE MILLETT
PHOTOGRAPHY
ACTION IMAGES
MARKETING
SIMON NAINBY
ADVERTISING
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PRODUCTION MANAGER
TOM JENNINGS
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR
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Classic images
World Cup heroes
36
This Just In
18
Neymar
44
Steven Gerrard
24
Roy Hodgson
46
Cristiano Ronaldo
26
World Cup stadiums
52
Wayne Rooney
56
Greatest England
World Cup goals
28
Marco Reus
58
Lionel Messi
32
The teams
63
Daniel Sturridge
34
World Cup schedule
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130
WORLD CUP 2014 3
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HOLLAND
page 98
GERMANY
page 92
USA page 124
ENGLAND
page 88
BELGIUM
page 70
FRANCE page 90
SPAIN page 120
HONDURAS
page 100
PORTUGAL
page 114
ITALY page 104

COSTA RICA
page 82
ALGERIA page 64
BRAZIL page 74
NIGERIA page 112
MEXICO page 110
IVORY COAST
page 106
CAMEROON
page 76
COLOMBIA
page 80
GHANA page 94
URUGUAY
page 126
ECUADOR
page 86
CHILE page 78
ARGENTINA
page 66
4 WORLD CUP 2014
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The
TEAMS
SWITZERLAND
page 122
CROATIA page 84
RUSSIA page 116

BOSNIAHERZEGOVINA
page 72
IRAN page 102

JAPAN page 108
S KOREA page 118
GREECE page 96
AUSTRALIA
page 68
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WORLD CUP 2014 5
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classic
moments
6 WORLD CUP 2014
1966
England manager Alf Ramsey shakes the

hand of Bobby Moore as the England captain prepares to
lead his victorious team up the steps at Wembley to collect
the World Cup after beating West Germany 4-2 in the
1966 Final. England won the game in extra-time after
West Germany had scored a late equaliser. Geoff Hursts
hat-trick in the Final was the rst and only such feat in
World Cup history.
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WORLD CUP 2014 7
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classic
moments
1970
Pele holds aloft the Jules Rimet trophy after

Brazil beat Italy 4-1 in the World Cup Final at the Azteca
Stadium in Mexico City. Brazils win gave them their third
World Cup in four tournaments. Their manager Mario
Zagallo became the rst person to win the World Cup as a
player (1958) and manager, while Pele became the rst
and, to date, only player to win the World Cup three times.
8 WORLD CUP 2014
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WORLD CUP 2014 9
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classic
moments
10 WORLD CUP 2014
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1974
English referee Jack Taylor awards Holland a

penalty in the rst minute of the 1974 World Cup Final
against West Germany, in Munich. Before the hosts had
even touched the ball, Holland captain Johan Cruyff made
a run into the German penalty area and was brought down
by Uli Hoeness. Johan Neeskens scored from the resultant
spot-kick, but the West Germans fought back to win 2-1.
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WORLD CUP 2014 1

1
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classic
moments
1982
Paolo Rossi opens the scoring for Italy in

the 1982 World Cup Final against West Germany in Madrid.
The Italians had begun the tournament slowly, getting
through their group with three draws from three games.
But in the second group stage, they beat Argentina and
Brazil, before defeating Poland in the semi-nal. This was
Rossis sixth goal of a tournament in which he would nish
as leading goal scorer.
12 WORLD CUP 2014
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WORLD CUP 2014 13
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classic
moments
14 WORLD CUP 2014
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2006
In the 2006 Final in Berlin, France

midelder Zinedine Zidane, playing in his last ever
professional game, butts Italy defender Marco Materazzi.
Zidane was sent off, leaving France with 10 men and
although they held on to a 1-1 draw after extra time,
the Italians won the penalty shoot-out to claim their
fourth World Cup.
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WORLD CUP 2014 15
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classic
moments
2010
In the last minute of extra-time of

the 2010 World Cup quarter-nal in Johannesburg,
South Africa, Uruguays Luis Suarez deliberately
handles the ball on the goal-line to prevent a
certain winner for Ghana. Suarez was sent off and
the resultant penalty was missed by Ghanas
Asamoah Gyan. Uruguay triumphed in the penalty
shoot-out, leaving the African continent without
its rst ever semi-nalist.
16 WORLD CUP 2014
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WORLD CUP 2014 1

7
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NEW KITS
ON THE BLOCK
Heres our selection of the

best World Cup strips
ENGLAND
All white on the night
for captain Steven
Gerrard and team-mates
CHILE
Classic look for
La Roja (the reds)
SPAIN
Red all over for the
world champions
URUGUAY
Traditional sky blue for
the South Americans
AUSTRALIA
Yellow and
green for the
Socceroos
ARGENTINA
Stars in stripes for
Messis hopefuls
UNITED STATES
Red, white and blue for
the American dream
18 WORLD CUP 2014
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IVORY COAST
Orange glow for
Africas nest
PORTUGAL
Red alert for
Ronaldos boys
FRANCE
Thin stripes and baggy
shorts for Les Bleus
BRAZIL
Traditional colours
for Neymar and Co
SOUTH
KOREA
Red and
blue for the
Taegeuk
Warriors
GERMANY
Red chests,
white shirts for
Ozil and Co
GREECE
White with a
hint of blue
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WORLD CUP 2014 19
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THIS JUST IN...

BRAZILIANS GET IN THE SPIRIT
The London Olympic Games had the games makers an army of volunteers
,
who gave up their time for no cost to help the event run smoothly.
With the next Olympics being held in Rio in two years time, the
Brazilian people have got the perfect opportunity to practise by
enrolling 14,000 volunteers at the World Cup.
They will be on hand across the country at all the venues and host
cities to help spectators with anything from directions to the stadium or
where the nearest taxi rank is.
At the recent unveiling of the volunteers uniforms, Brazil 2002
World Cup winning captain Cafu and
his former international
team-mate Juliano Belletti,
modelled the outts.
They appeared on the
catwalk at a fashion show in Rio
de Janeiro, with Brazilian model Lais
Ribeiro, who was recently voted the
15th sexiest model in the world.
BEETLE MANIA
Nelson Paviotti is a Brazilian lawyer from Campinas in the state of Sao Paulo.
Twenty years ago, in 1994, he promised that if Brazil won the World Cup,
he would only ever wear clothes the colours of the national team.
That he did after Brazil beat Italy in the nal on penalties. And now,
with a home World Cup to celebrate, Paviotti has gone one step further.
Not only does he dress in just yellow, green, blue or white (home and
away colours), but he eats food that is only green or yellow, has painted
his house in the national team colours and emblazoned his two
Volkswagen Beetles with the Brazilian national ag.
PUTTING THE
HOUSE ON
BELGIUM
Another fan painting his
house in his national
teams colours is Belgian
Wilfried Thelen.
The resident of St Vith, a
small town near the border
with Germany, has painted
his house in the red, yellow
and black of the Belgian
ag in celebration of his
countrys rst appearance
at the World Cup nals since
2002.
However, his neighbours
do not approve and have
lodged formal complaints
with the local authority.
After several meetings
with the authorities, it was
agreed that Thelen could
leave his house as it was
until the end of the
tournament, but as soon as
the nals are over, he has to
paint it plain white.
20 WORLD CUP 2014
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THIS JUST IN
BRIAN
GLANVILLES
THE STORY OF
THE WORLD
CUP
CONVERSE WORLD CUP BAGS

To celebrate the World Cup in Brazil, Converse have redesigned their
iconic player messenger bags to incorporate the colours of the worlds
most famous international teams.
The new World Cup collection features some of the top national teams
including England (red and white), Germany (black and yellow), France
(blue and red) and host nation, Brazil (green and yellow).
From USC.co.uk, 40.
The World Soccer columnists

denitive history of the
competition has been updated to
include his account of Spains
triumph in 2010.
As Patrick Barclay has noted,
most football writers fall into two
catagories: those who have been
inuenced by Brian Glanville, and
those who should have been.
Faber & Faber, 14.99
RECOMMENDED
PLUS LOOK OUT FOR
World Soccers World Cup special

On Sale May 9
MINIATURE WORLD CUP

SoccerStarz have a new range for the 2014 World Cup, featuring players
from Brazil, Belgium, England, France, Germany and Uruguay. All in all,
there are 120 players to collect. Competition, page 55.
www.soccerstarz.com
22 WORLD CUP 2014
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PLAYER
INTERVIEW
Steven
Gerrard
CAPTAIN
Skipper Steven Gerrard will lead by example in Brazil.

He believes England, with a little luck, can go a long way
YOULL BE FACING LIVERPOOL TEAMMATE LUIS SUAREZ AT THE WORLD CUP.
HOW DO YOU RATE HIM?
Hes world class, hes got everything and we are
very lucky to have him in our club and we want
him to stay for a long time. If Liverpool FC want to
be successful for a long time to come, Luis Suarez
is going to be part of that. Hes a very quiet guy in
the dressing room and around the place. Hes a
family man. I am quite close to him, sit next to him
in the dressing room, and speak to him on the
phone quite a bit and exchange text messages
and so on, and every time you ask what hes doing
he is always with the family. Hes very quiet, a very
good professional. But when he is on the pitch or
the training ground he turns into a ghter, turns
into a winner. When you are trying to win these
big prizes against top players and top teams, Luis
Suarez is someone you want in your team. Id go
so far as to say hes the best player I have played
with, which is some accolade, considering I have
played with some fantastic players.
HOW DO YOU RATE ENGLANDS CHANCES
AT THE WORLD CUP?
I dont want to raise expectations, but as I always
say going into a major tournament, if you get that
bit of luck, if the ball drops your way, you can
achieve the impossible. Ive done it with Liverpool
24 WORLD CUP 2014
before. I saw Chelsea do it [in the Champions

League 2012]. Its not all the time that the best
team win these competitions, so we can go there
with hope and belief.
HOW IMPORTANT WILL YOUNG PLAYERS
LIKE JACK WILSHERE BE?
Jacks going to play a big part. You look at his
game, his personality and his character and he
ticks all the boxes. Hes one of a batch of young
players coming into the side, and they have time
to grow and improve.
WHAT ABOUT WAYNE ROONEY?
He would say himself he hasnt always hit his high
standards at big tournaments, but knowing Wayne
as a friend and as a player hell feel the
disappointment we all shared at Euro 2012.
Hell be looking to shine in Brazil.
HOW ABOUT ROY HODGSON?
Were all enjoying working under him. England
are going in the right direction, were growing as
a team, we have some tough games to come but
were all in it together and will do our best to
get the job done.
HOW DID YOU FEEL AFTER SCORING IN
THE QUALIFIER AGAINST POLAND AT
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WEMBLEY TO SEAL QUALIFICATION?

Its difcult to put into words when you see the
ball in the back of the net, and you know all the
pressure you have been under over the past
couple of years to qualify. Its done. It was a great
feeling and great satisfaction.
Its a great feeling but its important to stay
grounded and humble. We got to Rio, and
congratulations to everyone for their hard work
and effort, but we need to keep trying to improve
and keep moving forward because it is going to be
a big challenge for this group in Brazil.
AND NOW THE WORLD CUP...
Knowing we will be in Rio is a fantastic feeling.
Weve had a journey of highs and lows over the
campaign. There have been a lot of opinions
outside the group and people talking about
failures in the past but we were focused on the
job, the manager had a game plan and I think we
carried that out fantastically well.
HOW WILL FEEL ABOUT CAPTAINING
ENGLAND IN BRAZIL?
Im really looking forward to it. Weve got friendly
matches to prepare but this has been a collective
effort. Many players have played a part over the
two years so a big congratulations to everyone.
Interview by John Holmesdale
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WORLD CUP 2014 25
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STAR
PLAYER PROFILE
Cristiano
Ronaldo
Portugals
ith two of Portugals

greatest-ever players,
Eusebio and Mario Coluna,
passing away this season,
how tting it would be if
current Seleccao icon and captain fantastic
Cristiano Ronaldo nally delivered this
summer on the World Cup stage.
For all CR7s multiple achievements and
dazzling displays at club level, the Ballon dOr
victor for 2013 has yet to truly turn on the style
for his country at a FIFA showpiece. If he does
manage to buck the trend in Brazil, who would bet
26 WORLD CUP 2014
against the Portuguese side going a long way?

First picked for Portugal at the age of 18 back
in August 2003 against Kazakhstan, Ronaldos
decade-plus with the national team has proved
anything but a non-stop stroll down the red
carpet. Inevitably, the burden of carrying the team
almost single-handedly has proved too much at
times and frequent clashes with coaches have not
helped either.
During Luiz Felipe Scolaris reign as Portugal
boss (2003-08), he and Ronaldo never
particularly saw eye-to-eye and it was the same
old toxic story when Carlos Queiroz took over in
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the technical area. Queirozs ultra-defensive

tactics turned the free-spirited star into a mass of
seething frustration and restricted him to just two
goals in that most unhappy of periods.
Wisely, present-day coach Paulo Bento sees
absolutely no point in alienating his most valuable
asset. The essence of every Bento gameplan is to
create a framework for Ronaldo to express himself
as only he can and in attacking terms, more or
less everything goes through him.
Although theoretically lining up on the left-ank
in a 4-3-3, Cristiano effectively has licence to
dance wherever the mood music takes him: to
WorldMags.net Cristiano
Success for
diamond
Ronaldo would be a tting

legacy for the late Eusebio,
Portugals greatest player.
By Nick Bidwell
RONALDOS WORLD
CUP HIGHLIGHTS
2006 Triumphant in Gelsenkirchen
Ronaldo clashed with Manchester United team-mate
Wayne Rooney but came off the better from their
quarter-nal encounter with England. Rooney was
sent off and Ronaldo went on to score the winning
penalty in the shoot-out. Portugal then lost to France
in the semi-nal.
2010 Edged out in South Africa

Ronaldo was on target when Portugal thrashed North
Korea 7-0. Goalless draws with Brazil and Ivory Coast
helped them to escape a tough group, but they lost to
eventual world champions Spain in the second round.
2014 qualiers Sensational in Stockholm

A brilliant virtuoso performance from Ronaldo, who
scored a brilliant hat-trick in the second leg, helped
Portugal overcome Zlatan Ibrahimovics Sweden in
the play-offs.
accelerate inside or out, confound markers with

pace and sublime skills, latch onto long balls,
execute give-and-gos and spectacularly go for goal.
Its the way of the world when you have an
attacker capable of piling up 200 goals these past
four years. You give him his head and order
everyone else to do his bidding.
The one-man team tag is usually an
uncharitable slur. But not here. Similar to
Maradonas Argentina, Hagis Romania and
Stoichkovs Bulgaria, the current Portuguese side
is an alliance of once-in-a-lifetime talent and a
good but not great supporting cast. When Ronaldo
is on song, Portugal are elevated to another plane

entirely and this certainly was the case in the
Brazil 2014 play-offs, CR7 netting all four of his
teams goals in their 4-2 aggregate win over
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Sweden.
So much for all the statisticians who were
claiming before the tie that Ronaldo was twice as
likely to shoot for Real than Portugal. Cristiano
Ronaldo is the one guy in our team who is
irreplaceable, says Portugal centre-back, Bruno
Alves. Ronaldo is just a super competitor, a player
way, way above the average, adds national team
physio, Antonio Gaspar. As a professional, hes all
about excellence. Hes perfect in looking after

himself and doing whatever is necessary for him to
perform to the highest standard in every match.
At the peak of his powers as game-changer
and marksman he recently became Portugals
all-time top goalscorer with 49 in 1
10
appearances and rated even higher than Lionel
Messi at the moment, Ronaldo only has one more
summit to scale in his career.
Come up with the goods for Portugal in the
World Cup and the 29-year-old joins the ranks of
the immortals, the Pele, Maradona and Cruyff
club. Its as simple as that.
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WORLD CUP 2014 27
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10 GREATEST
ENGLAND WORLD
CUP GOALS
Duncan Bond selects the best
goals scored by Englishmen at
the World Cup nals
BOBBY
CHARLTON
July 16, 1966

London, England
World Cup Group A v Mexico,
37th minute
After England had drawn the

opening game of their home
tournament 0-0 with Uruguay,
nerves were beginning to creep in
until dynamic midelder Bobby
Charlton ran with the ball from the
halfway line. Outstretching the
Mexican mideld and swerving
away from retreating defenders,
he unleashed a right-foot shot
that gave goalkeeper Ignacio
Calderon no chance as it ew
past him into the top corner.
BOBBY CHARLTON
July 26, 1966

London, England
World Cup Semi-nal v Portugal,
79th minute
In the second half, with England

leading 1-0 thanks to a 30thminute goal from Charlton,
George Cohen plays a long ball
forward from just inside the
Portugal half. Geoff Hurst runs
onto it and holds off a Portuguese
defender before laying it into the
path of the on-running Charlton
who hits it sweetly with his right
foot from the edge of the penalty
area for Englands second goal.
Three minutes later Eusebio
reduced the arrears from the
penalty spot, but England held on
to book their place in the Final.
28 WORLD CUP 2014
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10 GREATEST
ENGLAND WORLD
CUP GOALS
Duncan Bond selects the best
goals scored by Englishmen at
the World Cup nals
BOBBY
CHARLTON
July 16, 1966

London, England
World Cup Group A v Mexico,
37th minute
After England had drawn the

opening game of their home
tournament 0-0 with Uruguay,
nerves were beginning to creep in
until dynamic midelder Bobby
Charlton ran with the ball from the
halfway line. Outstretching the
Mexican mideld and swerving
away from retreating defenders,
he unleashed a right-foot shot
that gave goalkeeper Ignacio
Calderon no chance as it ew
past him into the top corner.
BOBBY CHARLTON
July 26, 1966

London, England
World Cup Semi-nal v Portugal,
79th minute
In the second half, with England

leading 1-0 thanks to a 30thminute goal from Charlton,
George Cohen plays a long ball
forward from just inside the
Portugal half. Geoff Hurst runs
onto it and holds off a Portuguese
defender before laying it into the
path of the on-running Charlton
who hits it sweetly with his right
foot from the edge of the penalty
area for Englands second goal.
Three minutes later Eusebio
reduced the arrears from the
penalty spot, but England held on
to book their place in the Final.
28 WORLD CUP 2014
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6
DAVID PLATT
June 26, 1990, Bologna, Italy,

World Cup Second round v Belgium, 119th minute
England rode their luck against a Belgium side inspired by Enzo Scifo, but
substitute David Platt had the last laugh, in virtually the last minute.
With a penalty shoot-out looking likely, England were awarded a free-kick
some 50 yards from goal. Paul Gascoigne beautifully oated the ball over
the Belgian defence and Platt peeled away from his marker, kept his eye on
the ball, letting it drop over his shoulder, before turning and volleying into the
far corner to secure England a quarter-nal tie with Cameroon.
DAVID
BECKHAM
June 26, 1998

Lens, France
World Cup Group G v
Colombia, 29th minute
The nal game in

Group G was a
winner- take-all
encounter. Whoever
lost would be going
home. Leading 1-0
from an early Darren
Anderton strike,
England were awarded
a free-kick 35 yards
from the Colombian
goal. David Beckham
stepped up and curled
his shot up and over
the wall and beyond
the despairing dive of
Colombian goalkeeper
Farid Mondragon to
secure a 2-0 win for
Glenn Hoddles team.
30 WORLD CUP 2014
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JOE COLE
10
June 20, 2006

Cologne, Germany
World Cup Group B v Sweden, 34th
minute
Having already qualied to the knockout

stage, this 2-2 draw in Englands last
group game guaranteed that they avoided
hosts Germany in the second round.
England opened the scoring when
Peter Crouch headed a deep cross back
towards the Swedish goal. Further
headers from Swedens Olof Mellberg and
Niclas Alexandersson looked to have
cleared the danger, but the ball bounced
up to Joe Cole who was 30 yards out.
The midelder controlled it on his chest
before allowing it to drop on to his right
foot and then hit a rst-time dipping
volley beyond the diving Andreas Isaksson
in the Swedish goal.
STEVEN
GERRARD
June 15, 2006

Nuremberg, Germany
World Cup Group B v Trinidad &
Tobago, 90th minute
England made hard work of beating

debutants Trinidad & Tobago in
their second group match. An
83rd-minute goal from Peter
Crouch eventually broke the
deadlock before, in the nal minute,
Steven Gerrard received a short
pass from England captain David
Beckham just inside the right
touchline. He then proceeded to
wrong foot Trinidads Aurtis Whitley,
before making space and hitting a
powerful left-footed shot into the
far top corner that gave goalkeeper
Shaka Hislop no chance.
MICHAEL
OWEN
June 30, 1998

Saint-Etienne, France
World Cup Second round v
Argentina, 16th minute
With the teams level at 1-1,

each converting a penalty
in the opening 10 minutes,
Paul Ince won the ball just
in front of Englands
penalty area. He fed David
Beckham who looked up
and clipped a pass into the
path of Michael Owen, just
inside the Argentina half.
Owen accelerated in
breath-taking fashion, rst
holding off Jose Chamot
before body-swerving
Roberto Ayala and hitting
an unstoppable shot across
the face of goalkeeper
Carlos Roa for one of
Englands greatest ever
World Cup goals.
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WORLD CUP 2014 31
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STAR
PLAYER PROFILE
Lionel
Messi
Lionel
L
ionel Messi continues to break

records. A hat-trick in Barcelonas
7-0 thrashing of Osasuna made
him the clubs all-time top scorer,
with 371 goals in all matches.
The goals took his La Liga tally to 235,
making him the Spanish leagues secondhighest scorer of all time, behind Telmo
Zarras 251. And Messi is still only 26.
So, with six Liga titles and two Champions
League crowns to his name, just what else does
Messi have left to achieve? How much more is
there to come?
The answer, of course, lies with the glaring
gap in his CV: the World Cup. The trophy remains
the one thing standing between Messi and
confirmation of his status as the worlds greatest
player.
I like Messi a lot, hes a great player.
Technically, were practically at the same level,
Pele said last year. But when hes scored 1,283
goals like me, when hes won three World Cups,
well talk about it.
While debate rages over the identity of the
worlds greatest player, there is consensus that
Messi has yet to deliver for Argentina.
Hes a great player for Barcelona, but when
he plays for Argentina he doesnt have the same
success, said Pele.
Messi is the best player in the world, said
Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella in his
defence. He plays extraordinarily well for
Barcelona, so then when he plays just well for
Argentina it seems like he is underperforming.
The most tangible, and indeed impressive,
aspect of Messis game is, of course, his scoring
record. Since Frank Rijkaard handed him his
debut with the Barcelona first team in 2004, his
strike rate has continued to improve every year,
and now stands at a remarkable 0.88 goals per
game. That contrast with a rate of 0.50 per
game for Argentina.
In the past some supporters and the media in
Argentina have questioned his commitment to
the national side, suggesting he feels more
Spanish than Argentinian, having emigrated at
such an early age. His debt to Barcelona is
evident as the club paid for the medical
treatment he needed as a teenager when both
Newells Old Boys and River Plate refused.
There are also other broader issues that shed
light on why his performance levels differ with
Barcelona and Argentina.
At Barcelona, Messi has played for just three
first-team coaches: Rijkaard, Pep Guardiola and,
this season, Gerardo Martino. As an institution,
Barca have maintained a coherent playing style
in the youth system for decades now. At the
Camp Nou, Messi is surrounded by players such
as Xavi and Andres Iniesta, who grew up playing
the same way.
With Argentina, Messi was handed his senior
32 WORLD CUP 2014
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flair
The 2014 World Cup is a chance for

Argentinas captain to nally shine on
the world stage. By John Holmesdale
MESSIS WORLD CUP HIGHLIGHTS

2006
Became the youngest player to represent Argentina at a World Cup when he appeared as a substitute
for Maxi Rodrguez in the 74th minute against Serbia and Montenegro, scoring late on in the 6-0 win.
He started the 0-0 draw against Holland, was a late sub against Mexico but was left on the bench for
Argentinas quarter-nal loss on penalties to Germany.
2010
A regular starter for Argentina, providing assists in the wins over Nigeria, South Korea, Greece and
Mexico, but did not score. Argentina lost 4-0 in the quarter-nals to Germany.
debut in 2004 by Jose Pekerman, the former

Under-20 supremo. But Pekerman soon left and
since then Messi has worked under Alfio Basile,
Diego Maradona, Sergio Batista and now Sabella.
From Basiles devotion to playing with a classic
enganche (playmaker), to Maradonas back line of
four central defenders, to Batistas aim to
replicate the Barcelona system but not push his
full-backs past the halfway line there has
neither been continuity in the personnel nor the
approach.
Despite the merry-go-round of Argentina
coaches, Messi soon became the central creative
force for Argentina, especially after Juan Roman
Riquelme quit the national team. Yet in taking on

greater responsibility for the team, his
goalscoring suffered. Ironically, the player said to
be Maradonas natural heir produced his worst
return under Maradona the coach, with just three
goals in 16 appearances.
In the aftermath of the 201 Copa America
1
embarrassment, when Argentina lost to Uruguay
on penalties in the quarter-finals, Sabella was
handed the task of swiftly turning around the
results, and focusing on building a team for the
2014 World Cup. One of his first decisions was to
appoint Messi his captain.
As Sabella himself has admitted, Messi is far
from being the tub-thumping caudillo, the

charismatic leader, but he expects him to lead
by example.
Messi is the key player, he says. Whenever he
has the ball you expect something to happen.
With Argentinas formation built to maximise
Messis performance, the results have been
impressive. Messi scored 10 goals in 14 qualifying
matches as Argentina topped the South
American qualifying section.
Argentinas supporters are suddenly much
more optimistic. Not least because Messi is now
the same age, 26, as that of Maradona in 1986,
when Argentina last lifted the World Cup.
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WORLD CUP 2014 33
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PLAYER
INTERVIEW
Daniel
Sturridge
DAYDREAM
BELIEVER
Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge has faith in God and his England team-mates
HOW ARE ENGLAND GOING TO STOP LUIS
SUAREZ AT THE WORLD CUP?
Im going to steal his boots before he gets there
and then obviously he wont be able to get there!
On a serious note, hes a great player and of
course itll be difcult to play against him. Itll be
difcult for him to play against us as well. Were
just going to go out there and work as hard as we
can as a team. Its not about the individuals, Luis
is playing with the likes of [Edinson] Cavani; and
theres other top players. Itll be a great occasion
for not just us as players but the fans also.
YOU MUST BE LOOKING FORWARD TO
THE WORLD CUP...
The World Cup is something Ive always wanted to
be involved in. Ive not been involved before and I
havent been selected yet. God willing Ill be there.
Ill be doing my best for Liverpool in order to get
there. Im looking forward to it. Its something Ive
always dreamed of and if I can be there then
thatll be great.
HOW WILL YOU PREPARE?
Ive got a lot of faith in God. Ive been working
hard on the training eld and I think those two
things are the main things. Im playing my natural
game and playing in a position and being given an
opportunity by the manager, so those are the
main reasons why Ive been successful so far.
YOUR CONFIDENCE MUST BE SKY HIGH AT
THE MOMENT...
To be honest with you, I just give God the grace,
give God the glory. Thats the most important

thing. It is about the team, it is not about myself,
not about me feeling amazing or anything. I am
just humbled to be given the platform to play for
my club and my country. I am happy with the way
everything is going.
THERES A GROUP OF GOOD YOUNG
PLAYERS COMING THROUGH...
There are not just the young players, the senior
players have helped me so much and helped all
the young players who have come into the squad.
Without their experience, we dont know what
these occasions are like. Theyve been through
all of this before us.
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR PLACE
IN THE SQUAD FOR BRAZIL? DO YOU
THINK YOURE ALMOST THERE?
For me, I am working every day, working as hard
as I can. There are no guarantees I will be on the
plane and I am working as hard as I possibly can
to make sure I will be there.
HAS PLAYING WITH LUIS SUAREZ
HELPED?
Ive learned a lot from Luis, but I have been given
the opportunities to play now and that is what is
most important, more than anything else. If youre
not given an opportunity then you cant produce. I
just think it is about being given an opportunity. If
you dont play as a young player, it is difcult to
progress. You see with Raheem [Sterling] now, he
is getting the opportunities to play week in, week
out, and is ourishing. For
every young player it is
important to play
regularly.
HOW HAS RAHEEM
HANDLED HIS TIME
WITH ENGLAND?
Raheem is a great, great
guy. We have a lot of
banter, I get on with him
very well. I think it was
easy for him because he
has the captain of his
club playing for the
country, hes got Jordan
34 WORLD CUP 2014
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[Henderson] on the same side as him, same with

Jonno [Glen Johnson]. It probably felt like playing
for Liverpool. The football he plays is exceptional
and he is only going to get better. Everybody
knows that.
YOUVE ALWAYS HAD UNBELIEVABLE
BELIEF. HOW HAVE YOU MAINTAINED
THAT? PEOPLE HAVE DOUBTED YOU...
I dont really know. I really dont know. There have
been times, of course, where it has been very
difcult. I am not superhuman. I get down a lot, of
course, and I have had a lot of moments when I
have been upset with not playing and not getting
opportunities. But that is all in the past and I give
God the glory. It has been a long journey to get
where I am now and I am humbled by it all. I am
not getting too excited about anything that is
going on, I am just humbled by it.
YOU SAID YOUVE GOT THE SENIOR
PLAYERS LOOKING AFTER YOU.
WHO ARE YOUR INSPIRATIONS?
There are a lot of inspirations for me. I have
watched clips of so many players. I was watching
Maradonas clips to take pointers from the skills
he was doing. Then I will be watching players like
Michael Owen, Paul Gascoigne, Pele, Ronaldo all these older players who have done it before
me. It is important that I improve, that I keep
improving. I was watching [Dutch coach] Will
Coervers dribbling skills at the training ground.
For me, I can never stop improving no matter
what age I am at, what club I am at. I have to
push myself as hard as I possibly can to get as
good as I possibly can.
DO YOU RELISH BEING AN INSPIRATION
FOR YOUNG PLAYERS?
I think it is important that young players realise
that it is not going to be an easy journey, not
going to be an easy thing. You will have highs and
lows. My journey has certainly not nished, I am
not the complete player, Ive got to keep
improving, keep pushing myself. I am still young
but young players have to realise that you can
never stop improving. Everything is possible if you
believe in yourself and have the opportunities to
show what you can do.
Interview by John Holmesdale
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WORLD CUP 2014 35
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1970 hero:
Pele
36 WORLD CUP 2014
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WORLD CUP
The games biggest names talk about their greatest World Cup achievements
PELE: WE
WERE JUST
TOO GOOD
Edison Arantes do Nascimento
or Pele played in four World
Cups, winning the famous trophy
three times. Blessed with a
game devoid of any weaknesses,
he is widely regarded as the
greatest footballer of all time.
Central to this legendary status is the 1970
World Cup, the rst to be broadcast in glorious
colour. Pele and his all-star Brazilian
team-mates produced near-perfect
performances, littered with moments of
individual genius, allied with an instinctive team
ethic that swept all before them.
The Final versus Italy saw a thrilling
encounter and Pele was at the heart of it. He
opened the scoring with a header, assisted for
Brazils third, and, in a move that included no
less than eight outeld players, provided the
nal ball for Carlos Alberto to secure a 4-1
scoreline.
The Jules Rimet Trophy was now Brazils to
keep and Pele in his nal World Cup saw
his legend guaranteed. After the game Italian
defender Burgnich, who marked Pele during the
match, was quoted as saying: I told myself before
the game, hes made of skin and bones just like
everyone else. But I was wrong.
IN PELES OWN WORDS
I was injured in 1966 and I thought that I would
not play in the World Cup again. But later on I
started thinking that I would have the chance to
show to myself, to Brazil and to the world one
more time this will be the moment, my
opportunity to be the best in the game. So, I
started to prepare myself psychologically and
physically. I think this was the principle reason why
I became the one I was in 1970.
ON HIS SHOT FROM THE HALF-WAY LINE
AGAINST CZECHOSLOVAKIA
It was a long-range effort a little piece of
audacity which would have been all the more
beautiful if the damn ball had gone in! I had

noticed earlier that the Czech goalkeeper tended
to drift off his line so I took my shot from 65 yards
out. Journalists after the match asked me if I
made this effort just to prove I wasnt shortsighted. It was nothing to do with that! Even
though it didnt go in, it galvanized the team and
from then on it was all Brazil.
ON BRAZILS MATCH AGAINST ENGLAND
They had a very good team and in Bobby Moore,
Bobby Charlton and Gordon Banks, three players
who would have walked in to pretty much any
Brazil side. We respected the English greatly but I
did not fear them. We knew their defence would
take some breaching and so it proved, especially
with Banks save [pictured above]. It was
phenomenal, the save of this and any other
tournament. Eventually we got to 1-0 through a
lovely team goal and thats the way it would stay.
ON THE FINAL AGAINST ITALY

The side that would go on to be
called the beautiful team, the best
that ever played the game, was
through to the World Cup Final to
play Italy. The implacable force would
meet the immovable object. We were
favourites but 100,000 people in the
Azteca Stadium and a TV audience
of one billion were fascinated to see
how it would turn out. Italy sat back
and tried to soak up the pressure but we
created too much. Too many of us were on form
that day, me included it was one of my best
games in a Brazil shirt. We deserved the win and
our special last goal, with so many players involved,
showed perfectly what we were about.
ON WINNING THE WORLD CUP
At the nal whistle there was pandemonium.
People ran on to the pitch and in seconds our shirts
and even our shorts had been whisked off by
souvenir hunters. I was hoisted aloft on a sea of
fans and it was several minutes before I was able to
get to the dressing room to collect myself.
I managed a quiet moment in the shower to
give thanks to God and to my family for what I had
achieved. We then went back on to the pitch to
collect the Jules Rimet trophy. The intensity of the
emotion as Carlos Alberto lifted it was like nothing I
had ever known. I just knew what it would mean to
the people back home.
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WORLD CUP 2014 37
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1974 hero:
Beckenbauer
FRANZ BECKENBAUER:
THE DUTCH JUST GOT NERVOUS
WITH A CAREER OF TRUE
GREATNESS a player so good
he re-invented a footballing
position the sight of Franz
Beckenbauer lifting the 1974
World Cup in his home city of
Munich seemed like a destiny fullled.
Up to the dominance of Der Kaiser, sweepers
were simply an added layer of defence, a tactic
employed to ensure a clean sheet rather than as
a counter-attacking option. Beckenbauer,
however, was the puppet master, standing back
and pulling the strings.
The obstacle for this major prize in 1974 was
Holland and their own particular brand of Total
Football. It was billed as the organisational and
anticipatory brilliance of Beckenbauer versus the
instinctive and artistic genius of Dutch playmaker
Johan Cruyff.
In the Final, Holland attacked right from the
kick-off and without West Germany touching the
ball, Cruyff was fouled in the penalty area. Johan
Neeskens converted the resulting spot-kick.
But the Germans fought back, inspired by the
38 WORLD CUP 2014
constantly probing and inspirational Beckenbauer.

They won a penalty of their own, which Paul
Breitner slotted home, and two minutes before
half-time, Gerd Muller scored the decider.
This gave West Germany the distinction of being
the only national team at the time to hold both the
European and World Cup titles simultaneously.
Meanwhile, Beckenbauer, a genuine leader of
men, became the rst captain to lift the brand new
World Cup trophy.
IN BECKENBAUERS OWN WORDS
You are always under pressure in the nals but if
you are the host team you feel it twice as much,
because everyone expects you to win. Also in 1974
sport had become an entirely different world after
the attacks on the Munich Olympics in 1972. From
that time on, the players were not as free as they
had been before. That was denitely a stress factor.
Initially we were lax in our approach and the
result was defeat to East Germany. That woke us
up and we finally started to work together as a
team.
There were also many arguments about the
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East Germany match and of course about bonuses.

There were a lot of unpleasant scenes which I
hadnt experienced in my two previous World Cups.
As regards the Final, after Muller made it 2-1, I
was relatively certain wed protect our lead. Perhaps
it was a good thing Holland took the lead in the rst
minute, perhaps they werent as focused for the
rest of the match as they had been before. That
gave us a chance to come back into the match.
It was a great psychological advantage for us to
take the lead. Then Johan Cruyff was shown a
yellow card for dissent. Those were all signs that
made me think the Dutch were getting nervous and
that wed survive the second half.
Paul Breitner reckons the Dutch became
arrogant after scoring the rst goal and fell victim to
overcondence. Im not sure. After taking that early
lead, they may have thought things were going to
plan and that it was their day. They werent as
determined after that.
The old Jules Rimet Trophy had been stolen and
never found, so FIFA had to replace it. So we knew
the winning team would be the rst to lift the new
trophy. It was the icing on the cake.
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GEOFF HURST: IT LOOKS LIKE

THE BALL DIDNT CROSS THE LINE
FOR THE 1966 WORLD CUP
FINAL, 93,000 spectators
crammed into Wembley
Stadium, and an estimated
400 million people tuned in on
TV. They would not be
disappointed.
England 4 West Germany 2 provided goals
galore, drama, controversy and a singular World
Cup hero Geoff Hurst, an unassuming West
Ham player who had scored just one international
goal and only made the starting eleven due to a
quirk of fate. Star striker Jimmy Greaves was
injured in the third group game against France
and Hurst took his place, scoring the winner
against Argentina in the quarter-nal.
Despite Greaves return to tness, Hurst would
keep his place right up to the Final and become a
national icon in the process.
The Germans took the lead through Helmut
Haller after just 16 minutes, but England quickly
struck back with a header from Hurst. Martin
Peters gave England the lead in the second half,

but an 89th-minute Wolfgang Weber equaliser
saw the match go into extra time.
In the rst period Hurst grabbed his second. His
turn and shot saw the ball bounce down off the
underside of the crossbar, land on or over the line
and cleared away for a corner.
Referee Gottfried Dienst was uncertain if it had
been a goal and consulted Russian linesman Tok
Bakhramov in a now infamous scene. After much
gesticulation, the goal was awarded to England.
Finally, with the last kick of the game, Hurst
broke forward latching onto a Bobby Moore long
ball. As spectators streamed onto the pitch
thinking the nal whistle had sounded, Hurst
unleashed an unstoppable left-foot drive to
achieve an incredible hat-trick and seal the World
Cup for England.
IN HURSTS OWN WORDS
Alf Ramsey [the manager] had assembled a great
bunch of players in terms of ability but he also
brought together lots of
hard-nosed professionals. In
all honesty we never really
felt that we were going to be
beaten. It showed itself at the end of normal time

when the Germans equalised because a lot of
normal teams would have buckled under the
pressure. We didnt.
Alfs great words were, Youve beaten them
already, just go out and beat them again. And thats
what we did. We were much the stronger team in
extra-time and that attitude of professionalism,
commitment and desire to win were essential
ingredients in what we did.
Everyone talks about my second goal. We
understood the frustration felt by the Germans. They
believed they had been robbed of the most
prestigious prize in world football. Perhaps they were.
Having listened to all the arguments over the
decades and watched the replay hundreds of times
on TV, I have to admit that it looks as though the
ball didnt cross the line.
My abiding memory at the nal whistle was a
sense of relief. Being in the squad was a relief,
being in the team was a relief and then having
scored the goals in the Final and to hear the whistle
was an amazing sense of relief.
It was all a bit of a blur afterwards. But on the
Monday afterwards I was back home cutting the lawn
and cleaning the car. It was back to earth with a bump!
1966 hero:
Hurst
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WORLD CUP 2014 39
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JOHAN CRUYFF: WE WERE

MORE FAMOUS FOR LOSING
WORLD CUP 1974, WEST
GERMANY: one instance of
brilliance by Dutch star Johan
Cruyff made everyone lucky
enough to witness it truly
believe that the future was
indeed orange.
Hollands group game against Sweden will
forever be remembered for Cruyffs now legendary
turn against full-back Jan Olsson. Faking to cross
with his right-foot, Cruyff instead dragged the ball
behind, turned 180 degrees and accelerated away
from his utterly confounded opponent.
The Cruyff turn had reached a worldwide
audience. Moreover, Hollands much-vaunted
total football was indeed the real deal.
It was a uid, free-moving style of play that

captivated the tournament and Cruyff was the
catalyst for much of Hollands scintillating football.
All 15 of their goals in the 1974 World Cup either
started or ended with the captain.
Ultimately, Holland would lose to Germany in
the Final in Munich a result that would earn
them the title of the best team never to have won
the World Cup. As for Cruyff, ttingly he was
named the tournaments best player.
IN CRUYFFS OWN WORDS
I am surprised that that team is still regarded so
highly. The World Cup in 1974 made Dutch football
famous and we lost! So losing the nal, is it so
bad? We were more famous than ever for losing,
because everyone said we
should have won, and even
30 years later you ask the
same question.
Winning isnt everything,
its how you play. If you win
ten games and lose the 1
1th,
so what? It doesnt bother
me that I never became
world champion. We made a
1974 hero:
Cruyff
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great achievement.
Total football is to do with your way of thinking,
character everything is involved. The difference of
what you do with your feet is to do with your head.
The Dutch team at that time was made up mostly
from Ajax players. We could change position easily,
and thats total football... the rst defender was the
centre forward, which was me.
We had a change of mentality on the eld
where we thought we could achieve anything.
Football is about having the best offensive play
possible. I always like to play offensive football and
nobody will convince me otherwise.
I always greatly admired [coach] Rinus Michels
leadership. He was always very clear in what he
wanted and what he expected from you and
sometimes in order to achieve that he overdid it a
bit. Then when things started working, he would
ease up and give you more freedom.
As a player and as a coach there is nobody who
taught me as much as him. He put the Netherlands
on the map in such a way that almost everybody
still benets from it. With him, as well as with me,
results may have come rst, but quality of soccer
was number one.
Just winning is not enough.
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1986 hero:
Maradona
DIEGO MARADONA:
THE REFEREE TOOK THE BAIT
THE QUARTER-FINAL between
Argentina and England at
Mexico 86 already had an
added edge, coming just four
years after the Falklands
conict. But the events at the
Estadio Azteca would elevate this match to
one of the most controversial ever seen at an
international tournament.
The match ended 2-1 to Argentina courtesy of
two goals from Diego Maradona the rst a
notorious hand ball, the second a glorious effort
later voted FIFAs Goal of the Century. But the
reverberations from the contest and Maradonas
disputed opener exist to this day.
Argentina would go on to win the World Cup,
while England could only rue both the deception
and genius of the little South American.
Afterwards he described his infamous rst goal
as a bit with the head of Maradona and another
bit with the hand of God. And referring to the
lingering ill-feeling between the two countries so
recently at war over disputed territory he added,
whoever robs a thief gets a 100-year pardon.

IN MARADONAS OWN WORDS
It seems to me that everyone was talking about
the Falklands but we just wanted to play a football
game. Youre not going to resolve anything by
thinking about anything other than winning
winning that game against England.
Yes [the rst goal]. It was my hand! This I have
to admit. With this I dont mean any disrespect for
English fans. It was just the way things happened. I
had scored many goals before in Argentina this
way. I couldnt reach the ball, [goalkeeper Peter]
Shilton was already there but I couldnt get my
head on it, so I went with my hand.
The ball went in the net and as I was running
away I could see that Shilton hadnt realised what
Id done. It was the defender Terry Butcher who
told him and then the complaints began.
When I saw the linesman running [back to the
half-way line] I started shouting goal, goal. I
looked to see if the referee took the bait and he
had! That was it.
I was waiting for my team-mates to embrace me

and no one came. I told them, Come on, come on,
hug me, lets do it properly, lets go the whole way
so the goal is allowed. Thank God it was.
I dont think its cheating, its cunning. Is it
cheating to handle the ball? Oh no, no, no. Its not
cheating. Its a craftiness. Maybe we have a lot more
of it in South America than in Europe, but its not
cheating.
I said it was the Hand of God because God gives
us the hand. And because its very difcult for it not to
be seen by two people, the referee and the linesman.
But the second goal was a dream. Footballers
always dream of scoring the best goal in history, we
dream it and we have it in our heads. The truth is to
score that goal, for me, was fantastic, and in the
World Cup, incredible.
It was an amazing game and one that people
always talk to me about. I suppose if I could
apologise and go back and change history [for the
rst goal] I would do. But the goal is still a goal,
Argentina became world champions and I was the
best player in the world. This is the reality.
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WORLD CUP 2014 41
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2002 hero:
Ronaldo
RONALDO: THE BEST

TEAM I EVER PLAYED IN
THIS WAS A MAN ON A
MISSION. Four long years
previously, Brazil had reached
the 1998 World Cup Final as
keen favourites despite
meeting host country France.
They held all the aces well one in the
shape of the best striker in the world, Inter
Milan superstar Ronaldo.
However, the Samba Boys lost in the most
dramatic fashion as their star striker suffered a
convulsive t the night before the game and
played well below par.
One World Cup later this time in Japan and
South Korea Ronaldo was back, not only
motivated by the disappointment of 1998 but also
keen to re-establish himself as the foremost
goal-getter on the planet.
The previous three years had been spent
recovering from a serious knee injury, which not
only resulted in three operations and painful
rehabilitation but also led many to question
whether he could recover the form that had
made him a double World Player of the Year.
They neednt have worried. Ronaldo scored six
42 WORLD CUP 2014
goals on the way to the Final, registering against

every opponent in the tournament, bar a
nail-biting quarter-nal against England.
The Final against Germany at the International
Stadium in Yokohama provided the perfect
redemption. Two unanswered Ronaldo goals
cemented Brazils fth World Cup win, making
them the most successful team in the
competitions history.
On a personal note, Ronaldos brace gave him
the Golden Boot and tied Peles Brazilian record of
12 career World Cup goals. A record he would
break four years on.
IN RONALDOS OWN WORDS
I had endured a lot of difculties with my knee
injury and several operations. I remembered lying
on my hospital bed, when blood was pouring from
my knee, and tried to take strength from that.
My family, physiotherapists and doctors all
encouraged me to persevere and it was worth it.
The birth of my son, Ronald, also gave me extra
strength to endure the endless torture.
I have very strong willpower. And my passion
for football is insatiable. No effort is too great for
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me for this sport. I can suffer anything as long as I

can play football again. I not only play football, I
breathe football.
The goal was always to return as good as I ever
was. To be the best striker in the world. Also to
banish the memories of the nal four years ago.
I thought about winning the World Cup every
day during the weeks and months before the
tournament. Every minute I used to visualise the
trophy in front of my eyes and imagine what a
wonderful feeling it must be to hold it up in the
air. It was a fabulous feeling actually to hold it in
my hands and kiss it.
We had a great team, the best I ever played in.
Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Roberto Carlos, Cafu, me It
was a team where we could nd a goal in every
minute in every way, and win every game. Thats
why we won all seven games and thats why we
were world champions.
People ask me about my favourite career goals
but I can only pick two. My choice is simple: the
two goals I scored during this Final. Not only
because they were good but especially for the
value they had. Its not every day you win the
World Cup.
WorldMags.net
ANDRES INIESTA: I WAS WAITING

FOR THE BALL TO DROP
HE WAS the right man in the
right place at the right time.
The time was the 116th minute
of the 2010 World Cup Final.
The place was the right-hand
side of Hollands penalty area
of Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg,
South Africa. And the man was Andres
Iniesta, scorer of the most important goal in
Spains history.
The score was 0-0 as Spain launched a
counter-attack deep from their own half. As the
ball was played through mideld, Iniesta ran on to
a pass from Cesc Fabregas. He found himself in
space on the edge of the area as he waited for
the ball to drop before thumping it past Dutch
keeper Maarten Stekelenburg.
A Final that had been heading for penalties
was decided by a moment of cool-headed
brilliance and Spain, the European champions,
had won their rst World Cup.
IN INIESTAS OWN WORDS

When I got the pass I was thinking: I have to
score. I know where I am going to put it, more or
less. The view was clear. You know whats in front
of you, your mind is clear. Youre focused on where
you are, where the goal isand nothing else. I was
still and I just waited.
I was waiting for my friend Isaac Newton to
appear. When I controlled it, I knew I was going to
score. All I had to do was wait for the ball to drop
to strike it. And why does it drop? Because of
Newtons Law, because of gravity. This time, the
apple was the ball and Newtons head was my foot.
I was injured a few months before the World
Cup and I was worried. I wanted to play at the
World Cup so much. I was afraid of not
being there. There were two months and a
bit to go for the World Cup to start and the
injury was an eight-week injury.
I dont want to play the martyr, but it
was very hard. It was difcult to deal with,
knowing that there was a World Cup and that time

was ticking...I was lucky that it wasnt quite as
long-term an injury as was rst feared and I was
able to get there.
I had just one idea in my head: get ready and be
there, arrive in South Africa in the best possible
shape. I knew that I might not be in my best shape,
but I had to get as t as I could and be as ready as
humanly possible.
I spoke to the coach, Vicente Del Bosque. I
spoke to Fernando Hierro [sporting director at the
federation] and I spoke to lots of other people
there. They knew what stage I was at and their
support was very important. They had faith in me
making it.
2010 hero:
Iniesta
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WORLD CUP 2014 43
WorldMags.net
UNDER
PRESSURE
STAR
PLAYER PROFILE
Neymar
Brazils star attacker has a lot on his mind as

he prepares to carry the hopes of a nation on
his slender shoulders. By John Holmesdale
ast summer, Neymar da Silva

Santos Junior stood at a
crossroads. He was preparing
to lead Brazils forward line
at the Confederations Cup,
the eight-team tournament that acts as
FIFAs warm-up for the full, 32-team
World Cup. For some the Confederation
Cup is merely a collection of friendlies
with a trophy at the end; for Neymar it
was far more serious.
Two hundred million Brazilian people at
home, and billions more around the world,
placed Neymar under the microscope,
examining his potential to go one step
further than Zizinho and company did in
1950 by carrying Brazil to victory in front of
the most demanding crowd on the planet.
A few months earlier Neymar had been
booed by the crowd in Belo Horizonte after
Brazil had fumbled their way through an
unimpressive 2-2 draw with Chile. Neymar
pipoqueiro, was the popular chant, a slang
expression for those who promise much but,
when it really matters, are too weak to deliver.
Huge expectations have been created
around Neymar. He is booed when things go
badly because his mere presence on the
eld is supposed to ensure that things go
well. He has become the reference point of
the team; but is the 22-year-old with the
fragile build really ready to carry that weight?
At the Confederations Cup, he answered
44 WORLD CUP 2014
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the critics in emphatic style. From his superb

second-minute volley in the opening game
against Japan, Neymar had an excellent
tournament, scoring four memorable
goals and consolidating himself as an
international star.
Neymars talent is undeniable, with World
Soccer picking him out in 2009 as the
revelation of the Brazilian championship
when he was just 17, and over the last ve
years he has conjured up some breathtaking
moments. In 201 he carried Santos to their
1
rst Libertadores Cup triumph since the
heydey of Pele in the 1963.
As exible as a young George Best, he has
the capacity to improvise at pace and glide
past his marker on either side. More than
just a dribbler, he can pass as well. His
right-footed crosses, curled in from the left
towards the far post, set up reams of
chances. And, crucially, he is a natural
nisher, remaining calm, precise and direct in
front of goal.
Three years ago, Santos coach Muricy
Ramalho was insistent in claiming that
Neymar was the best player I have ever
worked with. He has an incredible capacity
for improvisation. He makes defenders
suffer because they dont know which side
hes going to dribble. He has everything to
tip the balance in Brazils favour in the 2014
World Cup.
Neymars reputation in Brazil has been
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boosted by an economic boom that has

bankrolled a multitude of commercial sponsorship
tie-ups, with companies queuing up to be
associated with him. He has a rebellious prole,
relevant to attracting adolescents, said former
Barcelona marketing director Esteve Calzada. He
shows solidarity, collaborating with UNICEF
campaigns and charity games, and he is natural
and down to earth, giving him a sympathetic air.
Quite simply, he has it all.
But his advertising commitments and
appearances on the celebrity circuit lay him open

to accusations of becoming a tropical David
Beckham who is more famous for his supposed
iconic status than for his football.
There is a lot of responsibility on his shoulders,
but he seems more concerned with changing his
hairstyle, said Pele.
His move to Barcelona last summer has not
been without its problems. Sandro Rosell was
forced to quit as president of Barcelona after it
was revealed that a deal that had been reported
as costing the club 57million euros had actually

cost nearer to 86million euros. Furthermore, only
17million euros had gone to Santos, while
40million euros had been paid to a company
owned by Neymars father. Further payments were
paid to the players as signing-on fees and to
Neymar Senior for marketing services.
As he returns home for the World Cup, Neymar
has a chance to put the off-eld distractions behind
him and lead the Selecao to a record sixth World
Cup. The whole of Brazil will be willing him on.
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WORLD CUP 2014 45
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ROY: KING
OF THE
CASTLE
The 2014 World Cup
marks a high point in
the 40-year career
of England manager
Roy Hodgson. Gavin
Hamilton looks at the
South Londoners
eventful CV for signs
of how England
might fare in Brazil
or Roy Hodgson, managing

England at this summers World
Cup will mark the pinnacle of a
40-year career as a coach. He
has worked across Europe,
managing clubs in seven different countries,
as well the national sides of Switzerland,
Finland and UAE.
But when he steps out in the Arena Amazonia
in Manaus, Hodgson is condent it will mark the
high point in his career.
I am sure it will be, he told World Soccer. You
cant tell until youve nished of course. It will
depend on how the tournament goes. Qualifying
for it was a major high, and something I am very
proud of. I am really pleased to be there. It is a
special honour to be there with your own country.
It was exciting and enjoyable to take
Switzerland to the 1994 World Cup, but this is
England and I am English. It is an extra special
feeling. It would be wrong to deny it.
For Hodgson, the 2014 World Cup is the latest
stage in an incredible journey that began in
Crystal Palace reserves more than 40 years ago
and has since taken him to countries across
Europe and the Middle East.
Ive had such a varied life, Hodgson has
acknowledged. Ive never been out of work for
more than a month or two since January 1976. I
have been very lucky.
Hodgson had long been favoured by FA
insiders to be England manager, despite much
support from the popular media for the then
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp. Hodgsons
46 WORLD CUP 2014
achievements with West Brom and Fulham, who

he steered away from relegation and then led to
the Europa League Final, helped to consolidate a
reputation as a coach respected across Europe.
Until his work with Fulham, Hodgsons
successes had come overseas, qualifying
Switzerland for the 1994 World Cup and taking
under-achieving Internazionale to the 1997 UEFA
Cup Final.
So how did this literature-loving son of a
Croydon bus driver end up in charge of the
England national side? To understand Hodgsons
methods and what impact he might have at the
World Cup you have to go back to the very start
of his career.
As a teenager, Hodgson was on the books of
his local club, Crystal Palace, but did not make
the rst team and drifted into non-league football
while working as a PE teacher in south London.
While playing for local sides such as Tonbridge,
Gravesend & Northeet and Carshalton United,
Hodgson also made a concerted attempt to gain
his coaching badges. He became one of the star
pupils at FA coaching courses, organised by Allen
Wade, the FA technical director who placed great
emphasis on preparing for real match situations
and on the collective performance of the team,
rather than the individual.
FA coaches such as Dave Sexton and Don
Howe made a huge impression on the twentysomething Hodgson, who also went back to his
old club Crystal Palace to observe the coaching
methods of an up-and-coming manager by the
name of Terry Venables.
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A move to non-league Maidstone United also

proved highly signicant. It was there that he
teamed up with Bobby Houghton, a former
class-mate at John Ruskin Boys Grammar School,
and it was Houghton who got Hodgson his rst
break as a professional coach.
Houghton had moved to Malmo of Sweden,
where made a big impression. When Halmstads, a
smaller club at the wrong end of the Swedish rst
division, had asked Houghton if could recommend
a coach, he had no hesitation in proposing
Hodgson.
Hodgson, still not 30, did not take long before
accepting Halmstads offer.
Sometimes choice can be a dangerous thing,
he said. No choice can be very good. Quite
simply I was not well enough known as a player
and I did not have contacts. It wasnt a question of
coaching the Arsenal or Birmingham reserves, it
was continue playing non-league football or go to
Halmstads.
Hodgson at Halmstads and Houghton at
Malmo revolutionised Swedish football with tactics
that came to be known as the English style.
Their teams used a zonal defence (where
previously a sweeper had been used), heavy
pressing and a high offside line. They counterattacked with long passes played in behind
opposition defences.
Id qualied for my full coaching badge at 23
but that was my rst season coaching adults.
Halmstads had played a very different type of
football to what I wanted, man-to-man across the
eld, with a libero. From the start it was: Okay,
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WORLD CUP 2014 47
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you lads know nothing, this is what were going

to do. I remember the turning point.
We had mixed results pre-season,
understandably, because we were changing to a
back four, attempting to push up and pressure
the ball and were getting caught out. For the
players, the jury was out, but we beat Hannover
96 4-0, and it was unheard of for Swedes to
beat Germans. Then, the players believed in me.
For years I wore a Hannover 96 pin in my jacket.
Halmstads won the title in Hodgsons rst
season in charge, and again in 1979.
It was the biggest Cinderella story Sweden
had ever experienced because the year
before they had avoided relegation on goal
difference and lost seven first-team players,
Hodgson recalled.
The Hodgson/Houghton approach was taken
up by a young coach at Orebro called Sven
Goran Eriksson, but Swedens failure at 1978
World Cup they nished bottom of their
group was blamed on the English style.
Hodgson, though, was unrepentant. If the
criticism had come from the Halmstads
management or the fans I would have been
affected, but the club stood behind me. We also
played attractive football. The criticism was really
quite ridiculous and was probably a lot of jealousy.
Between them Hodgson and Houghton (at
Malmo) won ve out of six Swedish league titles
and Houghton also took Malmo to the 1979
European Cup Final where they lost to Brian
Cloughs Nottingham Forest
But when the call came to return to England
to Bristol City in 1980 the pair returned
home, with Hodgson as Houghtons number
two at Aston Gate.
City, just relegated from Division One, were
soon engulfed in nancial crisis after a number
of years of overspending. Houghton and
Hodgson, for all their innovative coaching skills,
could do little to save the club from nancial
oblivion and the pair were eventually sacked.
The experience back in England with
Houghton would have a profound effect on
Hodgson. In 1997, he told World Soccer: We
arrived at the club in September and by
October they were talking about winding up
the club. We survived a year of winding-up
procedures, deadlines and people watching the
clock for the bailiffs to call. That cant be called
a serious experience of English football.
The need to nd work necessitated a return
to Sweden, where his reputation preceded him.
Hodgson took jobs at second division clubs IK
Oddevold and Orebro before a move to
Houghtons old team, Malmo.
At Malmo, Hodgson proved highly successful,
winning ve successive league titles. From
there, he moved on to Switzerland, where he
worked at Neuchatel Xamax before the call
came to take charge of the Swiss national team.
Then Hodgson got the call to move to
Internazionale and a coaching odyssey that has
taken him to Denmark, Norway, the United Arab
Emirates and Finland.
My greatest achievement would have to be
the water-into-wine job at Halmstads in 1976,
but taking Switzerland to the last 16 of a World
Cup and reaching the Uefa Cup Final with
Internazionale were good, and there were the
ve successive league titles with Malmo. Yet
Fulham is something Im just as proud of,
48 WORLD CUP 2014
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HODGSONS
HIGHLIGHTS
1976-80 Takes over at Swedish club Halmstads,

steering them to the league title in 1976 and 1979
1980-82 Assistant to Bobby Houghton at

nancially-troubled Bristol City
1982-85 Returns to Sweden, taking charge of

second division sides Oddevold and Orebro
1985-90 Moves to Malmo and wins ve Swedish

league titles in a row
1990 Moves to Switzerland and steers Neuchatel

Xamax to runners-up in the Swiss league
1992 Appointed manager of the Swiss national
side and guides them to the 1994 World Cup, their
rst major tournament for 28 years
1995 Appointed coach of Internazionale while

staying on as advisor to Swiss side ahead of Euro 96
1997 Guides Inter to the 1997 UEFA Cup Final,
where they lose on penalties to Schalke
1997-98 Takes Blackburn Rovers into the top six
before being sacked after a poor start to the
1998-99 season
1999-00 Returns to Inter as caretaker manager,

before a move to Swiss side Grasshopper
2000-01 Guides FC Copenhagen to the Danish
league title
2001 Coach of Italian side Udinese

2002-04 National coach of the United Arab
Emirates
2004-05 In charge of Norwegian club Viking

Stavangar, who qualify for the UEFA Cup
2005-08 Takes charge of the Finland national
team and comes close to qualifying for Euro 2008
2008-10 Saves Fulham from relegation, taking
them to the UEFA Cup Final
2010-11 Appointed manager of Liverpool but

leaves in January 201
1
2011-12 Takes West Brom into the top half of the

Premier League table before being head-hunted
the Football Association
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WORLD CUP 2014 49
ENGLAND WorldMags.net
Hodgson said.
player their role in the side.
MANAGERS
On the down side there have been
Everything was based on how to play the game,
disappointments at Blackburn and Liverpool. At
says former Liverpool captain Sami Hyypia, who
THE RECORD
Blackburn, where he steered them into the top-six
played for Hodgson when he coached the Finland
Played
Won
Drawn
Lost
Win %
Fabio Capello January 2008-February 2012

42
28
67%
Glenn Hoddle September 1996-November 1998

28
17
61%
Sir Alf Ramsey February 1963-April 1974

1
13
69
27
61%
Ron Greenwood September 1977-July 1982

55
33
12
10
60%
Sven Goran Eriksson February 2001-July 2006

67
40
15
12
60%
Sir Walter Winterbottom Sep 1946-Nov 1962

139
78
33
28
56%
ROY HODGSON MAY 2012-PRESENT

25
14
56%
Terry Venables March 1994-June 1996

23
12
52%
Steve McClaren August 2006-November 2007

18
50%
Bobby Robson September 1982-July 1990

95
47
29
19
49%
position in his rst season in charge, he became the

victim of dressing-room discontent. Club captain
Tim Sherwood, who had been agitating for a
lucrative move to Tottenham, was a particularly
disruptive inuence.
Hodgson is modest when he reects on his role.
Coaches lead players to the water and the players
either drink or decide they want to jump over the
stream.
Thats what our job is. We prepare, orchestrate
and direct but in the end its not the concert
director who plays the violin. Its the people
themselves. A good director can help them by
leading them the right way and getting their talent
to the fore but coaches should never take credit for
individual player performances. It is the players who
have to take credit.
Of course its nice for people to believe some
managers are born with a magical quality that will
transform bad into good, but I dont. Its about
leadership skills, practice, repetition and bloody
hard work.
For Hodgson, the years of observing and
learning from his fellow coaches has paid off. I
consider myself to be in the same position as a
lawyer, he told World Soccer. Ive studied to be a
professional. I like to think I know my professional
role and that Im good at my profession. Just as if I
was to go to a lawyer, Id go to someone who was
good and who know his job, even if I had to pay
him a little bit more.
One word comes up again and again when
talking to Hodgson about coaching: organisation. In
a career spanning 40 years, he has gained a
reputation as master organiser of teams.
You can organise a pub team not to let in six
goals against Manchester United, he said. Give me
six months and Id organise them, if they had a
half-decent goalkeeper and a couple of centrehalves who can get in the way of the ball.
Training-pitch preparations have been a hallmark
of Hodgsons teams over the years, with the coach
going to great lengths to explain to each and every
Don Revie October 1974-June 1977

29
14
48%
Graham Taylor September 1990-Nov 1993

38
18
13
47%
Joe Mercer May 1974-June 1974

7
42%
Kevin Keegan March 1999-October 2000

18
50 WORLD CUP 2014
39%
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national side. Everyone knew their roles and in

training we went through the team shape. He
brought discipline into the team that you need to
be successful nowadays.
Hodgson turns 67 in August, but he is contracted
to carry on with England until the European
Championship in France in 2016. He is well aware
that for a number of the players in the England
squad, such as Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw, Daniel
Sturridge and Raheem Sterling, Brazil 2014 will
prove to be a valuable learning experience for
France in two years time.
They have knocked on the door, says Hodgson.
We do a lot of scouting for England and there is
not a serious game played at a high level that we
dont have a report on. It has been a case of
players like Lallana and [Rickie] Lambert, and
Sterling and Sturridge at Liverpool, hitting you in
the eye. And thats how it should be.
If we are talking about the England national
team, anyone should be able to watch a match and
afterwards say, Yes, thats the player. This one is
special. We are lucky that quite a few of the players
we have brought in have shown that they have
something very special. They do it consistently, and
force you sit up and take notice.
Whether England can be a force to be reckoned
with in Brazil remains to be seen. He is not worried
about the bookmakers, who have place England way
down the pecking order. Im not a great believer in
the bookmakers odds. You could compare the
World Cup to a horse racing event like the
Festival or the Grand National. An expert might
be able to identify technically the best horse but
will that horse actually win? I really dont mind
whether we are favourites or bottom of the list
because we dont pay any attention to that. We
wont be disheartened by the fact we are 1
1th
favourites, no more than we might be boosted if we
were considered top contenders to win the
tournament. There might be 10 better teams than
us at the World Cup. There might not.
Its up to us to prove we are good enough.
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WORLD CUP 2014 51
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WORLD CUP STADIUMS
THE THRILLING
BRASILIA
Estadio Nacional do Brasilia Capacity: 68,009
World Cup 2014 Matches:
Jun 15: Switzerland v Ecuador
Jun 19: Colombia v Ivory
Coast
Jun 23: Cameroon v Brazil
Jun 26: Portugal v Ghana

Jun 30: 2nd round E1 v F2
Jul 5: Quarter-Final 4
Jul 12: 3rd/4th place play-off
RIO DE JANEIRO
Estadio do Maracana Capacity: 76,804
Jun 15: Argentina v BosniaHerzegovina
Jun 18: Spain v Chile
Jun 22: Belgium v Russia
Jun 25: Ecuador v France

Jun 28: 2nd round C1 v D2
Jul 13: FINAL
CUIABA
Arena Pantanal Capacity: 42,968
Jun 13: Chile v Australia
Jun 17: Russia v South Korea
Jun 21: Nigeria v Bosnia-
BELO HORIZONTE
Estadio Minerao Capacity: 62,547
Jun 14: Colombia v Greece
Jun 17: Belgium v Algeria
Jun 21: Argentina v Iran
52 WORLD CUP 2014
Jun 24: Costa Rica v England

Jun 28: 2nd round A1 v B2
Jul 8: Semi-Final 1
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Herzegovina
Jun 24: Japan v Colombia
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FIELDS
Take our tour of Brazils

2014 World Cup stadiums
MANAUS
Arena Amazonia Capacity: 42,374
Jun 14: England v Italy
Jun 18: Cameroon v Croatia
Jun 22: USA v Portugal
Jun 25: Honduras v

Switzerland
CURITIBA
Arena da Baixada Capacity: 41,456
Jun 16: Iran v Nigeria
Jun 20: Honduras v Ecuador
Jun 23: Australia v Spain
Jun 26: Algeria v Russia
NATAL
Estadio das Dunas Capacity: 42,086
Jun 13: Mexico v Cameroon
Jun 16: Ghana v USA
Jun 19: Japan v Greece
Jun 24: Italy v Uruguay
FORTALEZA
Estadio Castelao Capacity: 64,846
Jun 14: Uruguay v Costa Rica
Jun 17: Brazil v Mexico
Jun 21: Germany v Ghana
Jun 24: Greece v Ivory Coast

Jun 29: 2nd round B1 v A2
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WORLD CUP 2014 53
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SALVADOR
Arena Fonte Nova Capacity: 48,747

Jun 13: Spain v Holland
Jun 16: Germany v Portugal
Jun 20: Switzerland v France
Jun 25: Bosnia-Herzegovina

v Iran
Jul 1: 2nd round H1 v G2
PORTO ALEGRE
Estadio Beira-Rio Capacity: 48,849
Jun 15: France v Honduras
Jun 18: Australia v Holland
Jun 22: South Korea v Algeria
Jun 25: Nigeria v Argentina

Jun 30: 2nd round G1 v H2
SAO PAULO
Arena de Sao Paulo Capacity: 65,807
Jun 12: Brazil v Croatia
Jun 19: Uruguay v England
Jun 23: Holland v Chile
RECIFE
Arena Pernambuco Capacity: 44,248
Jun 14: Ivory Coast v Japan
Jun 20: Italy v Costa Rica
Jun 23: Croatia v Mexico
54 WORLD CUP 2014
Jun 26: USA v Germany

Jun 29: 2nd round D1 v C2
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Jun 26: South Korea v

Belgium
Jul 1: 2nd round F1 v E2
Jul 9: Semi-Final 2
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COMPETITION
WIN WORLD CUP

SOCCERSTARZ!
Weve teamed up with SoccerStarz to give you the chance to win some top prizes ahead of the
World Cup in Brazil
FIRST PRIZE
England 15 Player
Team Pack & The
ofcial FIFA World
Cup 2014 Video
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SECOND PRIZE
FIFA World Cup 2014 Game plus ve England
blister packs
THIRD PRIZE
Five England Blister Packs
To enter, please answer the following question:
What is Wayne Rooneys middle name?
Send your answer, with your name, address
and contact email, on a postcard to
World Soccer Soccerstarz competition
7th oor, Blue Fin Building,
110 Stamford Street, London SE1 0SU
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WORLD CUP 2014 55
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STAR
PLAYER PROFILE
Wayne
Rooney
Waynes
Brazil 2014 offers Wayne

Rooney the chance to
nally prove his worth
as a global star. By
John Holmesdale
n June 17, it will be exactly 10

years since Wayne Rooney
announced his arrival on the
international scene with two
goals against Switzerland at
Euro 2004. Further goals by the then
18-year-old helped England to a 4-2 victory
over Croatia in their nal group game.
Rooneys precociousness was already well known.
Five days before his 17th birthday, he had scored a
spectacular volley for Everton against Arsenal in the
Premier League. But his goals at Euro 2004 marked
56 WORLD CUP 2014
the emergence of a genuine international star.

A decade later, it is hard to escape the feeling
that Rooney has not fullled his promise at
international level, at least. At the 2006 World
Cup, he was sent off after kicking out at his
Manchester United team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo
during the quarter-nal that England went on to
lose on penalties to Portugal.
England failed to qualify for Euro 2008, then
imploded at the World Cup in South Africa two
years later, with Rooney failing to score as England
departed with their tails between their legs,
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humbled 4-1 by Germany in the second round.

Rooney was banned from the rst two games of
Euro 2012 as punishment for his sending-off
against Macedonia in the qualiers. He returned
for the nal group game, against Ukraine, and
scored the only goal of the game. But it was a
familiar story in the quarter-nals as England lost
on spot-kicks, this time to Italy.
It is beginning to look like Rooney is not the
man for the big England occasion, but manager
Roy Hodgson disagrees.
Maybe once or twice in the past I think I can
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world tour
ROONEYS WORLD
CUP MOMENTS
2006
Face a race to be t foe the nals after breaking a
metatarsal bone in his foot. Sent off after kicking out
at Cristiano Ronaldo in Englands quarter-nal defeat
to Portugal.
2010
Was top scorer in the qualiers but failed to score in
the nals. Accused of swearing at TV cameras
following Englands disappointing 0-0 draw with
Algeria in Cape Town.
say without fear of contradiction that on the world

stage he hasnt exploded as he has on our
national stage, where we all accept him as an
outstanding player, Hodgson said.
We have been together for a couple of years,
we are growing slowly and there will be an
opportunity for him in Brazil to show he is not just a
great star in the Premier League, but a world star.
Hodgson dismisses suggestions that Rooney will
be exhausted after a difcult season with
Manchester United. I hope with Wayne, and
certainly the message to him is: This is your
chance. Sure, youll be a bit tired, but so will Luis

Suarez and David Luiz and various other players,
because they are also playing in the Premier
League and playing every game, like you.
He is 28, a terric age, and this is the world
stage, the perfect opportunity for him to prove to
people around the world what we already know
that he is a very, very gifted footballer, an
all-round footballer capable of playing in many
positions and someone who is a leading light in his
team, which is one of the best in the world. It
would be nice to see him reproducing that form
for England and I am condent he will.

Hodgson will travel to this summers World Cup
with one eye on the European Championship in
France in 2016, when many of the youngsters that
Hodgson hopes to blood in Brazil, will be older and
wiser. Hodgson has hinted that Rooney could be
England captain by then. Wayne Im sure is a
future captain of England because we are losing
some of the famous players who have served
England so well, he said. When the day comes for
Steven Gerrard to hang up his boots, Wayne will
be straight in there, Im sure.
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WORLD CUP 2014 57
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STAR
PLAYER PROFILE
Marco
Reus
58 WORLD CUP 2014
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ROLLS
REUS
The Dortmund wing wizard could be Germanys big star in Brazil. By Nick Bidwell
ortmund left-wing virtuoso

Marco Reus was only on the
pitch for 125 mainly
inspirational minutes at
the last European
Championship, but he will
be banking on making a much more
substantial contribution to Germanys
campaign at Brazil 2014.
Tricky and elusive play on the anks has been a
key ingredient of every successful West German/
German World Cup nals campaign and in the
spiky-haired 24-year-old, the Nationalmannschaft
boast one of the best in the out wide business, a
wizard of the dribble with the capacity to turn
defenders inside out.
Establishing himself as a regular starter for
Germany during the qualifying process for this
summers World Cup, Reus is very much the
embodiment of coach Joachim Lows attackconscious philosophy. Lightning-quick, dynamic,
direct and a sensational dribbler, he can wreak
havoc in all sorts of ways, punching holes in even
the most reinforced of rearguards, leading the
counter-attacking charge, providing a heads-up
nal ball or applying the coup de grace with his
rocket-launcher shooting.
Five times on the score-sheet as the Germans
went undefeated in qualifying Group C, Rolls Reus

stands for high-tempo play, impishness, two-footed
brilliance and a great deal of versatility, able to run riot
on either wing, jink, twist and create in the number
ten role or even play through the middle up front.
In one-on-one situations, there are few to
match him and in the heat and humidity in certain
parts of Brazil, his electrifying bursts and killer
instinct in front of goal could prove just as
dangerous as a spot of sunstroke or dehydration.
No wonder some of Europes biggest, most
prestigious clubs are ready and willing to trigger the
35 million euro release clause in his current contract.
Marco is the complete attacker, gushes Dortmund
general manager Michael Zorc, who claims that if he
had his way, he would sign up the blond dasher for
life. He can make the difference through his
individual class, his nishing or his speed.
Dortmund chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke
agrees: Marco is absolutely top-class, so important
for us and one of the cornerstones of our club.
Handicapped this season by ankle and thigh
injuries, Germanys Footballer of the Year in 2012,
has certainly not enjoyed the best preparation for
the greatest football show on earth. So what a
relief it was when he came roaring back to life with
both goals in his clubs 2-0 victory over Real
Madrid in the second leg of the Champions League
quarter-nal (Dortmund lost 3-2 on aggregate).

The important thing is that Im getting back into
a good rhythm again, smiles the ex-Borussia
Monchengladbach magician.
Im like all my teammates in the German
squad. I want to arrive in Brazil in top physical
shape and highly-motivated to become a world
champion. Playing for your country at a World Cup
is something special.
I feel Ive made progress as a national team
player. Im starting much more often than I used to
and its helped my condence. That said, I cant be
complacent. The Bundestrainer has lots of class
players to choose from.
When it comes to business end of the
tournament, tness will be vital and from what I
know about our conditioning team, we will not
have any problem on that score.
UNITED-BOUND?
Reus has been linked with a summer move from
Borussia Dortmund to Manchester United after
United manager David Moyes watched the
Dortmund star in the company of an agent from
Reuss management company.
But Reus does not have a release clause in his
contract, so it would take an almighty bid from
United to persuade Dortmund to sell.
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WORLD CUP 2014 59
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WORLD CUP 2014 55
WorldMags.net
The
TEAMS
Ghana
Greece
Holland
Honduras
Iran
Italy
Ivory Coast
Japan
Mexico
Nigeria
Portugal
Russia
South Korea
Spain
Switzerland
Uruguay
USA
Algeria
Argentina
Australia
Belgium
BosniaHertzogovina
Brazil
Cameroon
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Croatia
Ecuador
England
France
Germany
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WORLD CUP 2014 63
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KEY INFORMATION
GROUP H SCHEDULE
June 17
v Belgium, Belo Horizonte
June 22 v South Korea, Porto Alegre
June 26
v Russia, Curitiba
BETTING
William Hill
1000/1 to win World Cup
1/8 to be eliminated at group stage
WORLD CUP HISTORY
1982
First-round exit
1986
First-round exit
2010
First-round exit
THE PLAYERS
KEY MEN
Madjid Bougherra
Centre-back who plays his club football in the
relative calm of Qatar these days, but even at 31
he is a crucial gure for Algeria. Scored the
decisive goal in the qualiers.
Soane Feghouli
A skilful playmaking midelder who has been
linked with Manchester United as a summer
transfer target a result of his reputation in La
Liga with Valencia and across the African
continent. The heartbeat of the side.
Faouzi Ghoulam
Joined Napoli for 5million euros in the January
transfer window to plug a hole at left-back. He is
yet another player raised in the French youth
system who has opted to represent Algeria.
ONE TO WATCH
Tottenham teen
Nabil Bentaleb
(left) broke into the
Spurs side this
season. He was
born in France but
has pledged his
international future
to Algeria.
64 WORLD CUP 2014
ENGLISH CONNECTION
Combative, French-born midelder
Adlene Guedioura (right) was
signed by Premier League new boys
Crystal Palace last summer, after
spells with Wolves and Nottingham
Forest. However, injuries have
restricted his inuence this season.
ANALYSIS
How they qualied
The Desert Foxes qualied for a second successive
World Cup after edging past Burkina Faso over two
legs in the nal-round play-off.
After a disappointing performance at last years
African Nations Cup in South Africa, where they
did not even make the knockout stage, they beat a
strong Mali side to top their qualifying group.
In the play-offs against Burkina Faso, they were
unfortunate to go 3-2 down away in the rst leg to
a dodgy penalty call, but at 1-0 in the return they
were set to qualify, hanging on precariously when
the Burkinabe struck the woodwork in stoppage
time. Had the ball gone in, the game would have
ended 1-1 and the tie 3-2 in the visitors favour.
But over the three hours of football, Algeria
deserved their triumph on the away goals rule.
Strengths
Algeria have strengthened their squad by signing
up lots of French-born youth internationals who
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are of Algerian descent. They have a reasonable

rst-round draw.
Weaknesses
They lack a consistent goalscorer. Their previous
nals form is not good. There is speculation that
coach Halilhodzic may be ditched before the nals.
World Soccer prediction
Elimination at the group stage again.
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Vehad Halilhodzic
We could have landed a much tougher group, but
theres no easy group or group of death. Well do
our best to surprise them. Were not going to Brazil
as tourists, but it will be difcult. We have to be
disciplined, strong and modest. We have nothing to
lose but we can win something. Trust me, I will be
going there with a lot of determination.
THE PUNDIT
Mark Gleeson, World Soccer Africa
correspondent
Algeria will carry the hopes of the Arabicspeaking world in Brazil. Yet while expectations will
be greater than in South Africa four years ago,
their chances of creating an upset on the same
scale as their famous 1982 win over West
Germany in Spain are slim at best.
WorldMags.net
LIKELY
STARTING
LINE-UP: 4-2-3-1
MBolhi
NACEREDDINE
KHOUALED
RAIS MBOLHI
GOALKEEPER
Club: USM Alger
Born: 07.10.82
(aged 32)
Apps in qualiers: 7
Mins in qualiers: 630
Goals in qualiers: 0
RIGHT-BACK
Club: USM Alger
Born: 16.04.86
(aged 28)
Apps in qualiers: 2
MADJID
BOUGHERRA
DEFENCE
Liverno (Ita)
6 apps/536 mins/0
goals in qualiers
NABIL
BENTALEB
MIDFIELD
Bastia (Fra)
2 apps/125 mins/0
goals in qualiers
MIDFIELD
Tottenham (Eng)
0 apps in qualiers
ADLENE
GUEDIOURA
MIDFIELD
Crystal Palace (Eng)
6 apps/382 mins/0
goals in qualiers
MEHDI LACEN
MIDFIELD
Getafe (Spa)
5 apps/365 mins/0
goals in qualiers
HASSAN
YEBDA
MIDFIELD
Feghouli
Slimani
FAOUZI
GHOULAM
LEFT-BACK
Club: Napoli (Ita)
Born: 01.02.91
(aged 23)
Apps in qualiers: 3
SOFIANE
FEGHOULI
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: Dinamo Zagreb
(Cro)
Born: 25.1
1.87 (aged 26)
Apps in qualiers: 7
RYAD
BOUDEBOUZ
Mostafa
Brahimi
EL ARABI HILLEL
SOUDANI
PLAYMAKER
Club: Granada (Spa)
Born: 08.02.90
(aged 24)
Apps in qualiers: 3
DJAMEL
MESBAH
Soudani
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Internazionale
(Ita)
Born: 29.02.92
(aged 22)
Apps in qualiers: 6
Mins in qualiers: 456:
YACINE
BRAHIMI
DEFENCE
Watford (Eng)
4 app/360 mins/0
goals in qualiers
Taider
SAPHIR TAIDER
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Ajaccio (Fra)
Born: 30.08.83
(aged 30)
Apps in qualiers: 6
ESSAID
BELKALEM
Ghoulam
CARL MEDJANI
MEHDI
MOSTEFA
Medjani
Khoualed
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Valenciennes (Fra)
Born: 15.05.85
(aged 28)
Apps in qualiers: 8
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Lekhwiya (Qat)
Born: 07.10.82
(aged 31)
Apps in qualiers: 6
OTHER PLAYERS
Bougherra
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: Valencia (Spa)
Born: 26.12.89
(aged 24)
Apps in qualiers: 7
ISLAM SLIMANI
CENTRE-FORWARD
Club: Sporting Lisbon
(Por)
Born: 18.06.88
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 7
Udinese (Ita)
3 apps/204 mins/0
goals in qualiers
THE COACH
ISHAK
BELFODIL
15.10.52 (age 61)

Guided Ivory Coast to the
2010 World Cup but was
red just months before
the nals. Has had run-ins
with the Algerian FA but
looks to be holding onto
his post until Brazil. A
member of Yugoslavias
side at the 1982 World
Cup, he was born in
Bosnia but is a long-time
French citizen.
FORWARD
Livorno (Ita)
1 app/1 min/0 goals in
qualiers
NABIL GHILAS
FORWARD
Porto (Por)
2 apps/106 mins/1
goal in qualiers
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VAHID
HALILHODZIC
WORLD CUP 2014 65
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KEY INFORMATION
THE PLAYERS
GROUP F SCHEDULE
June 15
v Bosnia-Herzegovina,
Rio de Janeiro
June 21
v Iran, Belo Horizonte
June 25
v Nigeria, Porto Alegre
KEY MEN
Lionel Messi
Goalscorer, provider and captain, the
Barcelona superstar instils fear in the
opposition.
BETTING
William Hill
Angel Di Maria
One of Sabellas favourite pupils, the
Real Madrid wide man is just as
important in attack as he is in defence.
WORLD CUP HISTORY

1930
Runners-up, 4-3 Final defeat
by Uruguay
1934
First round
1958
First round
1962
First round
1966
Quarter-nals, defeat
by England
1974
Second round
1978
WINNERS, 3-1 Final victory
over Holland
1982
Second round
1986
over West Germany
1990
Runners-up, 1-0 Final
defeat by West Germany
1994
Second round
1998
Quarter-nals,
defeat by Holland
2002
First round
2006
Quarter-nals,
defeat on pens
by Germany
2010
Quarter-nals,
4-0 defeat
by Germany
Ezequiel Garay
In the centre of a defence that is still settling down, he
leads with strength and know-how.
66 WORLD CUP 2014
ONE TO WATCH
Ezequiel Lavezzi
The Paris Saint-Germain forward
cant get a place in the starting
line-up but will be a useful weapon
on the bench.
ENGLISH CONNECTION
Alejando Sabella
Argentinas coach was one of the rst foreign stars to play
in England, rst for Leeds and then for Shefeld United.
ANALYSIS
How they qualied
Alejandro Sabella took over as Argentina coach after a
poor Copa America performance in 201 He appointed
1.
Lionel Messi as captain and built the team around him.
There were setbacks along the way. They suffered a
rst-ever loss to Venezuela and drew at home to Bolivia,
before a run of results that qualied them comfortably for
the 2014 nals. They were unbeaten in 12 matches and
scored three or more goals on ve occasions. The strike
force of Messi, Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero gelled,

and between them they made up half of the qualifying
groups top six goalscorers.
Strengths
A brilliant attack led by Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and
Gonzalo Higuain. Carlos Tevez probably wont even make
the squad.
Weaknesses
Keeper Sergio Romero made
a number of blunders in
qualiers and the defence is
still a work in progress.
World Soccer Prediction
Finalists and, if Messi is on song, winners.
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Alejandro Sabella:
I have about 80 to 90 per cent of the list for the World
Cup and its going to be difcult for there to be any
surprises, but not impossible. Were always scouting; Im
very happy with the players we have from mideld and up.
THE PUNDIT
Joel Richards, World Soccer Argentina
correspondent
Messi, Aguero and Higuain make up arguably the most
formidable forward line in the world and steer attention
away from question marks over the defence. Victories in
friendlies against top European sides have also conrmed
the sides prospects for Brazil. At the last tournament held
in Brazil, in 1950, Uruguay ruined the hosts plans to lift
the trophy. Doing likewise and winning in Brazil this
summer would eclipse Argentinas two previous titles
something that is not lost on captain Messi and co.
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LIKELY
STARTING
LINE-UP: 4-3-1-2
Romero
SERGIO
ROMERO
PABLO
ZABALETA
GOALKEEPER
Club: Monaco (Fra)
Born: 22.02.87
(aged 27)
Apps in qualiers: 12
RIGHT-BACK
Club: Man City (Eng)
Born: 16.01.85
(aged 29)
Goals in qualiers:
FEDERICO
FERNANDEZ
EZEQUIEL
GARAY
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Napoli (Ita)
Born: 21.02.89
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 9
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Benca (Por)
Born: 10.10.86
(aged 27)
Apps in qualiers: 8
LEFT-BACK
(Por)
Born: 20.03.90
(aged 24)
Apps in qualiers: 8
JAVIER
MASCHERANO
FERNANDO
GAGO
ANGEL DI
MARIA
DEFENSIVE MIDFIELD
Club: Barcelona (Spa)
Born: 08.06.84
(aged 29)
Apps in qualiers: 1
1
MIDFIELD
Club: Boca Juniors (Arg)
Born: 10.04.86
(aged 28)
Apps in qualiers: 9
MIDFIELD
Club: Real Madrid (Spa)
Born: 14.02.88
(aged 26)
Apps in qualiers: 1
1
LIONEL MESSI
SERGIO
AGUERO
GONZALO
HIGUAIN
FORWARD
Club: Man City (Eng)
Born: 02.06.88
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 7
FORWARD
Club: Napoli (Ita)
Born: 10.12.87
(aged 26)
Apps in qualiers: 1
1
FORWARD
Born: 24.06.87
(aged 26)
Mins in qualiers: 1
143
OTHER PLAYERS
HUGO
CAMPAGNARO
DEFENCE
Internazionale (Ita)
6 apps/473 mins/0
goals in qualiers
JOSE
BASANTA
DEFENCE
Monterrey (Mex)
3 apps/270 mins/0
goals in qualiers
NICOLAS
OTAMENDI
DEFENCE
Atletico Mineiro (Bra)
2 apps/180 mins/0
goals in qualiers
LUCAS BIGLIA
MIDFIELD
Lazio (Ita)
4 apps/197 mins/0
goals in qualiers
MAXI
RODRIGUEZ
Newells Old Boys

4 apps/19 mins/1 goal
in qualiers
RODRIGO
PALACIO
EVER BANEGA
Fernandez
Zabaleta
FORWARD
6 apps/288 mins/0
goals in qualiers
MIDFIELD
Newells Old Boys
6 apps/275 mins/1
goal in qualiers
JOSE SOSA
MIDFIELD
Atletico Madrid (Spa)
6 apps/293 mins/0
goals in qualiers
EZEQUIEL
LAVEZZI
FORWARD
Paris Saint-Germain
(Fra)
7 apps/305 mins/1
goal in qualiers
MIDFIELD
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Gago
Garay
Rojo
Mascherano
Di Maria
Messi
Aguero
Higuain
MARCOS ROJO
THE COACH
ALEJANDRO
ALEX SABELLA
05.11.54 (age 59)
Won eight caps as a
player. Coached
Estudiantes to success in
the 2009 Libertadores
Cup before taking charge
of the national side two
years later. Previously
worked with Argentina as
assistant to Daniel
Passarella, and also had
a spell in the same
capacity with Uruguay.
WORLD CUP 2014 67
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KEY INFORMATION
GROUP B SCHEDULE
June 13
v Chile, Cuiaba
June 18
v Holland, Porto Alegre
June 23
v Spain, Curitiba
BETTING
William Hill
750/1
to win World Cup
WORLD CUP HISTORY
1974
First round exit
2006 Second round, defeat by Italy
2010
First round exit
THE PLAYERS
KEY MEN
Tim Cahill
Though the former Everton midelder is now at
New York Red Bulls in the USA, he still has a
fabulous scoring rate. He became Australias
all-time top goalscorer in March with two goals
against Ecuador.
Mark Bresciano
The former Parma,
Palermo and Lazio
midelder (right) is
now a veteran playing
out his days in Qatar.
But he was Australias
most creative player
in the qualiers and
could be called upon
to help the
youngsters in Brazil.
Mile Jedinak
The Crystal Palace midelder was appointed
captain after coach Ange Postecoglu dropped
long-time skipper Lucas Neill.
ONE TO WATCH
Midelder Tom Rogic, who is on loan at
Melbourne Victory from Celtic, has been hailed as
68 WORLD CUP 2014
one of Australian footballs new stars and will be a

key creative force in Postecoglus new-look side.
ENGLISH
CONNECTION
Young defender
Curtis Good (right)
who made his Socceroo
debut in March, is
currently on loan at
Dundee United after
nding opportunities
limited at Newcastle.
ANALYSIS
How they qualied
The Socceroos rode their luck in the Asian
qualiers, struggling against low-tier opponents
such as Jordan, Oman and Thailand. They secured
their place in Brazil with a 1-0 win over Iraq but
German coach Holger Osieck was criticised for
sticking with old guard players such as Harry
Kewell, Lucas Neill and Mark Schwarzer. He paid
the price for not blooding a new generation of
younger players when he was sacked following a
6-0 friendly defeat to France last October.
New man Ange Postecoglou immediately
set about introducing some young blood into
the squad.
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Strengths
Coach Postecoglou has reinvigorated the squad
with youngsters who will play without fear because
of the lack of expectations in Brazil.
Weaknesses
Injuries to key men Tim Kruse and Rhys Williams.
Their inexperience could prove costly in a tough
rst-round group.
Bottom of the group, but with invaluable
experience gained for Russia in 2018.
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Ange Postecoglou
I have absolute belief in what we can do, in what
our young players can do.
THE PUNDIT
Simon Hill, World Soccer Australia
correspondent
Expectations arent high, which is understandable
given the almost impossible nature of Australias
group. Hopes rest more on performances than
results. If the Socceroos can give a good account
against heavyweights such as Spain and Holland,
the football fraternity will be in forgiving mood of
Ange Postecoglou and his recalibrated squad.
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LIKELY
STARTING
LINE-UP: 4-2-3-1
Ryan
LUKE
WILKSHIRE
MAT RYAN
GOALKEEPER
Club: Club Brugge (Blg)
Born: 08.04.92
(aged 22)
Apps in qualiers: 0
RIGHT-BACK
Club: Dinamo Moscow
(Rus)
Born: 01.10.81 (aged 32)
Mins in qualiers: 1
162
MILE JEDINAK
TOM ROGIC
DEFENCE
Brisbane Roar
0 apps in qualiers
ALEX
WILKINSON
DEFENCE
Jeonbok Hyundai
(SKo)
0 apps in qualiers
JOSH
KENNEDY
DEFENCE
Shandong (Chn)
0 apps in qualiers
OLIVER
BOZANIC
FORWARD
Nagoya Grampus
Eight (Jap)
6 apps/457 mins/0
goals in qualiers
MATT MCKAY
DARIO
VIDOSIC
MIDFIELD
Sion (Swi)
LEFT-BACK
Club: Heracles (Hol)
Born: 29.06.91
(aged 22)
Apps in qualiers: 0
TOMMY OAR
LEFT MIDFIELD
Club: Utrecht (Hol)
Born: 10.12.91
(aged 22)
Apps in qualiers: 5
TIM CAHILL
CENTRE-FORWARD
Club: New York Red
Bulls (USA)
Born: 06.12.79
(aged 34)
Apps in qualiers: 9
RIGHT MIDFIELD
Club: FSV Frankfurt
(Ger)
Born: 04.02.91
(aged 23)
Apps in qualiers: 0
2 apps/21 mins/0 goals

in qualiers
MIDFIELD
Brisbane Roar
13 apps/1
144 mins/0
goals in qualiers
JASON
DAVIDSON
MATHEW
LECKIE
RYAN
MCGOWAN
MIDFIELD
Luzern (Swi)
0 apps in qualiers
MARK
BRESCIANO
MIDFIELD
Al-Gharafa (Qat)
8 apps/531 mins/1
goal in qualiers
ADAM
TAGGART
FORWARD
Newcastle Jets
0 apps in qualiers
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Oar
Cahill
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Melbourne Victory
Born: 04.08.85
(aged 28)
Apps in qualiers: 6
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: Melbourne Victory
Born: 16.12.92
(aged 21)
Apps in qualiers: 2
Milligan
Rogic
MARK
MILLIGAN
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Crystal Palace
(Eng)
Born: 03.08.84
(ages 29)
Apps in qualiers: 7
IVAN
FRANJIC
Leckie
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Dundee United
(Sco)
Born: 23.03.93
(aged 21)
Apps in qualiers: 0
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Western Sydney
Wanderers
Born: 27.06.88 (aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 7
Spiranovic
Davidson
Jedinak
CURTIS GOOD
MATTHEW
SPIRANOVIC
OTHER PLAYERS
Good
Wilkshire
THE COACH
ANGE
POSTECOGLOU
27.08.65 (age 48)
Replaced German
Holger Osieck at the
end of last year. The
most successful coach
in domestic Australian
football, with four
league titles. Has
already ditched many
of the old guard.
Coached Australias
Under-20 side at four
FIFA tournaments.
WORLD CUP 2014 69
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KEY INFORMATION
THE PLAYERS
GROUP H SCHEDULE
June 17
v Algeria, Belo Horizonte
June 22
v Russia, Rio de Janeiro
June 26
v South Korea, Sao Paulo
KEY MEN
Axel Witsel
Russia-based mideld general who was ever present in the
qualiers. His disciplined approach was a major factor in
the successful campaign.
BETTING
William Hill
33/1 Lukaku tournament top scorer
WORLD CUP HISTORY
1930
First-round defeat
1934
First-round defeat
1938
First-round defeat
1950
Group stage exit
1970
Group stage exit
1982
Second-round defeat
1986
Semi-nalists, fourth place
1990 Round of 16, defeat by England
1994 Round of 16, defeat by Germany
1998
Group stage exit
2002
Round of 16, 2-0 defeat
by Brazil
Eden Hazard
The Chelsea star (left) has put his
past differences with the national
team behind him and will play a
crucial role in Brazil.
Vincent Kompany
Although he missed the last three
qualiers through injury, the
Manchester City defender is a key
player. A natural leader, he is the
teams captain on and off the pitch.
ONE TO WATCH
Kevin De Bruyne
Although he failed to shine at Chelsea, the midelder is
likely to be given a crucial creative role for Belgium in
Brazil.
ENGLISH CONNECTION
As well as Hazard and Kompany, Belgium
could eld an entire team of Premier
League players: Simon Mignolet,
Marouane Fellaini, Mousa Dembele,
Kevin Mirallas, Christian Benteke (right),
Nacer Chadli, Romelu Lukaku, Jan
Vertonghen and Thomas Vermaelen.
ANALYSIS
How they qualied
Belgium beat Croatia 2-1 on a rainy night in Zagreb to
70 WORLD CUP 2014
qualify for their rst major tournament since 2002. After

opening with a comfortable win over Wales, there followed
crucial results against Croatia (1-1 draw at home) and
Serbia (a 3-0 victory). Five further straight wins followed
and then it was on to Zagreb, where qualication was
ensured with a game to spare.
Under Marc Wilmots, the team were unbeaten and the
coach was never afraid to leave players of the calibre of
Hazard, Fellaini and Dembele on the bench.
Strengths
Belgium have players performing on a regular basis at
some of Europes top clubs. They have plenty of attacking
talent, but conceded only four goals in their 10 qualifying
games, with keeper Thibaut Courtois making a major
contribution. The group draw in Brazil has been kind.
Weaknesses
The current team has not yet beaten any of the worlds top
sides, Full-back is a problem position, with both Toby
Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen happier in central defence.
Quarter-nals.
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Marc Wilmots
Were in an interesting group. There are no world-class
players within our opponents. Im not saying it will be easy,
but our rst aim, to reach the round of 16, is still the same.
THE PUNDIT
John Chapman, World Soccer Belgium correspondent
Belgium have a group of talented players with sufcient
experience to become a real force in world football, having
gone from 71st in the FIFA rankings in July 2007 to a
current position of fth.
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STARTING
LINE-UP: 4-2-3-1
Courtois
THIBAUT
COURTOIS
TOBY
ALDERWEIRELD
GOALKEEPER
Club: Atletico Madrid
(Spa)
Born: 1
1.05.92 (aged 22)
RIGHT-BACK
(Spa)
Born: 02.03.89 (aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 8
VINCENT
KOMPANY
THOMAS
VERMAELEN
JAN
VERTONGHEN
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Manchester City
(Eng)
Born: 10.04.86 (aged 28)
Apps in qualiers: 6
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Arsenal (Eng)
Born: 14.11.85 (aged 28)
Apps in qualiers: 7
LEFT-BACK
Club: Tottenham (Eng)
Born: 24.04.87 (aged 27)
AXEL WITSEL
MAROUANE
FELLAINI
DRIES
MERTENS
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Manchester
United (Eng)
Born: 22.11.87 (aged 26)
Apps in qualiers: 7
RIGHT MIDFIELD
Club: Napoli (Ita)
Born: 06.05.87 (aged 27)
Apps in qualiers: 4
EDEN HAZARD
ROMELU
LUKAKU
DEFENSIVE MIDFIELD
Club: Zenit St
Petersburg (Rus)
Born: 12.01.89 (aged 25)
KEVIN DE
BRUYNE
SIMON
MIGNOLET
GOALKEEPER
Liverpool (Eng)
0 apps in qualiers
NICOLAS
LOMBAERTS
DEFENCE
Zenit St Petersburg
(Rus)
2 apps/166 mins/0
goals in qualiers
DANIEL
VAN BUYTEN
STEVEN
DEFOUR
DEFENCE
Bayern Munich (Ger)
5 apps/432 mins/0
goals in qualiers
MIDFIELD
Porto (Por)
3 apps/238 mins/1
goal in qualiers
MOUSA DEMBELE
MIDFIELD
Tottenham (Eng)
10 apps/535 mins/0
goals in qualiers
NACER CHADLI
MIDFIELD
Tottenham (Eng)
8 apps/479 mins/0
goals in qualiers
TIMMY SIMONS
KEVIN
MIRALLAS
FORWARD
Everton (Eng)
9 apps/324 mins/2
goals in qualiers
MICHY
BATSHUAYI
FORWARD
Standard Liege
0 apps in qualiers
MIDFIELD
Club Brugge
0 apps in qualiers
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Vermaelen
Alderweireld
Vertonghen
Witsel
Mertens
Fellaini
De Bruyne
Hazard
Lukaku
LEFT MIDFIELD
Club: Chelsea (Eng)
Born: 07.01.91 (aged 23)
Apps in qualiers: 9
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: Wolfsburg (Ger)
Born: 28.06.91 (aged 22)
OTHER PLAYERS
Kompany
CENTRE-FORWARD
Club: Everton (Eng)
Born: 13.05.93 (aged 21)
Apps in qualiers: 4
THE COACH
MARC
WILMOTS
Born 22.02.69
(aged 45)
Former national
team striker
who had modest
success as
coach of Schalke
and St Truiden
but has been a
popular choice
as national
coach with
players and fans.
WORLD CUP 2014 71
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THE PLAYERS
KEY MEN
Edin Dzeko
The Manchester City
striker (left) is paired up
front with Vedad Ibisevic
and, between them,
they contributed 18
goals in 10 matches
during qualication. He is the vital component in
Susics attacking philosophy.
Emir Spahic
The captain is a true leader and Bosnias strength
at the back. At 33, the Bayer Leverkusen defender
has huge experience but the World Cup will be
the highlight of his playing career.
Miralem Pjanic
The teams most creative player is destined to be a
future leader. Only 24, he has already been
capped 46 times and is the key supply line to the
strikers.
KEY INFORMATION
GROUP F SCHEDULE
June 15
June 21
June 25
BETTING
William Hill
13/2 to win Group F
WORLD CUP HISTORY
No previous participation
72 WORLD CUP 2014
v Argentina, Rio de Janeiro

v Nigeria, Cuiaba
v Iran, Salvador
ONE TO WATCH
Young defender Sead Kolasinac has impressed
for Schalke in the Bundesliga. The former
Germany Under-21
international switched
nationality last year.
ENGLISH CONNECTION
Stoke keeper Asmir Begovic
(right) was born in Canada
but opted to play for Bosnia.
ANALYSIS
How they qualied
A close-range shot from striker Ibisevic against
Lithuania sealed Bosnias place in the nals of a
major tournament for the rst time and sent
hundreds of thousands of delirious supporters out
on to the streets to celebrate.
Victory over Lithuania conrmed qualication
after Bosnia had gone mightily close in two
previous campaigns for the 2010 World Cup and
Euro 2012 only to lose play-offs to Portugal on
both occasions.
With attacking tactics, Bosnia secured key
results against group favourites Greece, a 0-0
away draw followed by a 3-1 victory in Zenica.
A 1-0 loss at home to Slovakia put them on the
verge of blowing everything but they recovered
four days later to beat the same opponents away
from home.
A home victory over Liechtenstein then set up
the Lithuania game in Kaunas, in which Bosnia
struggled to score until the 68th minute and
Ibisevics goal.
Strengths
Bosnia will score goals: they averaged three per
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game during qualifying. They have an exceptional

keeper in Begovic. Expectations will be extremely
low, but the players will still be hugely motivated.
Weaknesses
An inexperienced squad that lacks depth, so an
injury or suspension could be disastrous. They are
weak at the back, with no defensive midelder to
protect the backline.
Group stage exit.
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Safet Susic
Argentina are the favourites in our group. For us, it
will be a great occasion to open up the World Cup
against them, especially at a stadium such as
Maracana. We should compete with Nigeria for the
second place in the group, and hopefully survive
to the next round. However, we should not
underestimate Iran. In any case, our chances
are good.
THE PUNDIT
Sasa Ibrulj, World Soccer Bosnia
correspondent
Can they compete with the big boys? Since Susic
took over in March 2010, Bosnia have played 10
teams that will be in Brazil and won against only
three (Algeria, Ghana and Greece), losing easily to
Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Mexico,
Portugal and USA.
With no previous experience of playing such
important matches in such a short period of time,
the narrow selection of quality players and limited
alternatives could be a huge problem.
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LIKELY
STARTING
LINE-UP: 4-4-2
Begovic
ASMIR
BEGOVIC
MENSUR
MUJDZA
GOALKEEPER
Club: Stoke City (Eng)
Born: 10.06.87
(aged 26)
RIGHT-BACK
Club: Freiburg (Ger)
Born: 28.03.84
(aged 30)
Apps in qualiers: 6
EMIR SPAHIC
ERMIN
BICAKCIC
SEAD
KOLASINAC
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Eintracht
Braunschweig (Ger)
Born: 24.01.90
(aged 24)
Apps in qualiers: 4
LEFT-BACK
Club: Schalke (Ger)
Born: 20.06.93
(aged 20)
Apps in qualiers: 0
Mins in qualiers: 0
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Bayer Leverkusen
(Ger)
Born: 18.08.80
(aged 33)
SEJAD
SALIHOVIC
OTHER PLAYERS
AVDIJA
VRSAJEVIC
DEFENCE
Hajduk Split (Cro)
7 apps/412 mins/0
goals in qualiers
OGNJEN
VRANJES
DEFENCE
Elazigspor (Tur)
5 apps/450 mins/0
goals in qualiers
Pjanic
Ibisevic
CENTRE-FORWARD
Club: Stuttgart (Ger)
Born: 06.08.84
(aged 29)
HARIS
MEDUNJANIN
MIDFIELD
Gaziantepspor (Tur)
8 apps/551 mins/1
goal in qualiers
ERVIN
ZUKANOVIC
MIDFIELD
Gent (Blg)
3 apps/95 mins/0
goals in qualiers
IZET
HAJROVIC
MIDFIELD
Galatasaray (Tur)
in qualiers
EDIN VISCA
MIDFIELD
Istanbul BB (Tur)
3 apps/66 mins/0
goals in qualiers
ADNAN
ZAHIROVIC
MIDFIELD
Bochum (Ger)
7 apps/498 mins/0
goals in qualiers
MIROSLAV
STEVANOVIC
MIDFIELD
Alaves (Spa)
in qualiers
SENIJAD
IBRICIC
MIDFIELD
Kayseri Erciyesspor
(Tur)
4 apps/66 mins/0
goals in qualiers
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Lulic
Misimovic
VEDAD
IBISEVIC
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: Guizhou Renhe
(Chn)
Born: 05.06.82
(aged 31)
Apps in qualiers: 9
Kolasinac
Salihovic
MIDFIELD
Club: Roma (Ita)
Born: 02.04.90
(aged 24)
Apps in qualiers: 8
ZVJEZDAN
MISIMOVIC
Spahic Bicakcic
MIRALEM
PJANIC
DEFENSIVE MIDFIELD
Club: Hoffenheim (Ger)
Born: 08.10.84
(aged 29)
Apps in qualiers: 9
Mujdza
Dzeko
SENAD LULIC
MIDFIELD
Club: Lazio (Ita)
Born: 18.01.86
(aged 28)
Apps in qualiers: 9
EDIN DZEKO
CENTRE-FORWARD
(Eng)
Born: 17.03.86
(aged 28)
THE COACH
SAFET SUSIC
13.04.55
(aged 59)
Taking Bosnia to
their rst major
tournament is the
biggest
achievement of his
career for the man
once voted the
countrys best-ever
player. Has
previously worked in France and Turkey but he
lacks real coaching experience and summer
2014 will be a huge test of his abilities.
WORLD CUP 2014 73
WorldMags.net
KEY INFORMATION
THE PLAYERS
GROUP A SCHEDULE
June 12
v Croatia, Sao Paulo
June 17
v Mexico, Fortaleza
June 23
v Cameroon, Brasilia
KEY MEN
Thiago Silva
Team captain and immaculate centre-back who, alongside
David Luiz and two attacking full-backs, will need to
impose calm discipline on the defensive line.
BETTING
William Hill
13/8 to reach the Final
WORLD CUP HISTORY
1930
First round exit
1934
First round exit
1938
Semi-nals, defeat by Italy
1950
Runners-up
1954 Quarter-nals, defeat by Hungary
1958
WINNERS, 5-2 Final
victory over Sweden
1962
WINNERS, 3-1 Final
victory over Czechoslovakia
1966
First round exit
1970
WINNERS, 4-1 Final
victory over Italy
1974
Fourth place
1978
Third place
1982
Second round
1986
on penalties by France
1990
Second round, defeat
by Argentina
1994
WINNERS, Final victory
on penalties over Italy
1998
defeat by France
2002 WINNERS, 2-0
Final victory over
Germany
2006 Quarter-nals,
defeat by France
2010 Quarter-nals,
defeat by Holland
74 WORLD CUP 2014
Luiz Gustavo
Tall holding midelder whose inclusion did much to tighten
up the team. The fact that he is left footed makes it easier
for him to protect the weaker side of the defence.
Oscar
Midelder (left) who belies a frail,
sloping shoulders appearance with
a versatility that is of great use to
the team. Can work back and
mark, organise from deep, create
higher up the eld and get beyond
the attacking line to score.
Neymar
The poster boy of the tournament and his teams great
attacking hope. Has pace, unpredictability, dazzling skill
and already 30 international goals to his name. The World
Cup, though, will be his big test.
ENGLISH CONNECTION
David Luiz
The defender is one of a number of
Chelsea players in the squad, alongside
Oscar, Ramires and probably Willian.
ANALYSIS
After the last World Cup, when an ageing Brazil side were
knocked out by Holland in the quarter-nals, Mano
Menezes was appointed coach with instructions to
introduce new blood and a more attack-minded style of
play more in keeping with Brazils status as World Cup hosts.

Menezes succeeded in making the changes, building a
team around star forward Neymar. But friendly results were
disappointing, especially against the big nations, and in
November 2012 Brazil turned to former coach Luiz Felipe
Scolari, boss of the victorious 2002 World Cup winning side.
Scolari kept faith with the players introduced by Menezes,
and steered Brazil to success in last summers
Confederations Cup.
Strengths
A settled squad in tip-top physical condition will be backed
by a vociferous home crowd.
Weaknesses
Brazilian football is still haunted by the ghost of 1950,
when they lost on home soil to Uruguay. Brazil face a tricky
second-round tie against either reigning champions Spain,
Holland or Chile.
Finalists.
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Luiz Felipe Scolari
If I feared challenges, I wouldnt have achieved anything in
my career. Winning or losing in 2014 will not erase the title
I helped Brazil win in 2002. The players know they will
have to win the World Cup. We cant play a tournament in
Brazil and think that second place will do.
THE PUNDIT
Tim Vickery, World Soccer Brazil correspondent
Almost everything Scolari has done has worked. He is full of
options which he will have to whittle down to a squad of 23.
The players have already received Brazils planning schedule
for the World Cup it goes all the way to the Final.
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LIKELY
STARTING
LINE-UP: 4-3-3
Julio Cesar
JULIO
CESAR
DANI
ALVES
GOALKEEPER
Club: Toronto
(USA)
Born: 03.09.79
(aged 34)
Caps: 78
Goals: 0
RIGHT-BACK
Club: Barcelona
(Spa)
Born: 06.05.83
(aged 31)
Caps: 74
Goals: 5
Thiago Silva
David Luiz
Dani Alves
Ramires
Marcelo
Luiz Gustavo
Hulk
Fred
Oscar
Neymar
DAVID LUIZ
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Paris
Saint-Germain (Fra)
Born: 22.09.84
(aged 29)
Caps: 45
Goals: 2
LUIZ
GUSTAVO
MARCELO
CENTRAL
DEFENCE
Club: Chelsea
(Eng)
Born: 22.04.87
(aged 27)
Caps: 34
Goals: 0
THIAGO
SILVA
LEFT-BACK
Club: Real Madrid
(Spa)
Born: 12.05.88
(aged 26)
Caps: 30
Goals: 4
RAMIRES
DEFENSIVE
MIDFIELD
Born: 23.07.87
(aged 26)
Caps: 17
Goals: 1
OSCAR
RIGHT
MIDFIELDER
Club: Chelsea
(Eng)
Born: 24.03.87
(aged 27)
Caps: 41
Goals: 4
LEFT MIDFIELD
Club: Chelsea
(Eng)
Born: 09.09.91
(aged 22)
Caps: 29
Goals: 9
HULK
OTHER PLAYERS
DANTE
DEFENCE
Bayern Munich (Ger)
Caps: 1
1
Goals: 2
RAFINHA
DEFENCE
Bayern Munich (Ger)
Caps: 2
Goals: 0
MAXWELL
DEFENCE
NEYMAR
FRED
FORWARD
Club: Zenit St
Petersburg (Rus)
Born: 25.07.86
(aged 27)
Caps: 33
Goals: 8
FORWARD
Club: Barcelona
(Spa)
Born: 05.02.92
(aged 22)
Caps: 47
Goals: 30
CENTREFORWARD
Club: Fluminense
Born: 03.10.83
(aged 30)
Caps: 32
Goals: 16
Paris Saint-Germain
(Fra)
Caps: 7
Goals: 0
MARQUINHOS
DEFENCE
Paris Saint-Germain
(Fra)
Caps: 1
Goals: 0
PAULINHO
MIDFIELDER
Tottenham Hotspur
(Eng)
Caps: 25
Goals: 5
FERNANDINHO
MIDFIELD
Manchester City
(Eng)
Caps: 6
Goals: 1
WILLIAN
MIDFIELD
Chelsea (Eng)
Caps: 5
Goals: 1
HERNANES
THE COACH
MIDFIELD
Caps: 23 Goals: 2
LUIZ FELIPE
SCOLARI
JO
FORWARD
Atletico Mineiro
Caps: 15 Goals: 5
ROBINHO
FORWARD
Milan (Ita)
Caps: 89 Goals: 28
WorldMags.net
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Born 09.11.48
(aged 45)
Led Brazil to triumph
in the 2002 World
Cup. The haste of his
appointment in late
2012 was to kill off a
campaign for Pep
Guardiola which has
since been forgotten
as Scolaris work has
restored Brazils
self-condence.
WORLD CUP 2014 75
WorldMags.net
KEY INFORMATION
GROUP A SCHEDULE
June 13
v Mexico, Natal
June 18
v Croatia, Manaus
June 23
v Brazil, Brasilia
BETTING
William Hill
13/5 to beat Mexico in opening game
WORLD CUP HISTORY
1982
First round
1990
Quarter-nals
1994
First round
1998
First round
2002
First round
2010
Group stage exit
THE PLAYERS
ANALYSIS
KEY MEN
Samuel Etoo
Maybe on the wrong side of 30 but he
remains extremely important and gives
Cameroon an edge up front. Etoo (right)
has won more than 100 caps and
competed at three previous World Cups,
and with three UEFA Champions League
winners medals he is among Africas
greatest sporting exports.
How they qualied

The Indomitable Lions qualied for an African record
seventh World Cup appearance when they beat Tunisia in
the African play-offs. But for most of the campaign they
were riven by internal intrigue and inghting, had three
different coaches and saw their football association
president jailed for fraud. They played poorly on the road
and were only gifted a place in the play-offs by an
administrative error by one of their opponents, Togo.
They had lost to Togo but were awarded all three points
after their opponents elded a suspended player.
Alex Song
Etoos great rival in the team, he has regularly clashed with
his captain in the past and even boycotted the team at one
point. Performs a sturdy mideld role for his country, but a
lack of playing time at club level has been evident in
recent performances for the national side.
Jean Makoun
Had a brief sojourn in England with Aston Villa, but is
much appreciated in Ligue 1, where he returned to play for
Rennes. He has been in the Cameroon side for a decade
and has proven most useful of late in an attacking
right-sided mideld role.
ONE TO WATCH
An old-fashioned dribbling left-winger, Benjamin
Moukandjo is highly effective cutting in from the touchline
and taking on defenders. Currently with Nancy in Ligue 1,
he is seen as a pretender to Etoo in
his homeland.
ENGLISH CONNECTION
Full-back Benoit Asso-Ekotto (left)
is now a regular in the Championship
for QPR after joining on loan from
Tottenham.
76 WORLD CUP 2014
Strengths
Under Finke, Cameroon will be more disciplined than they
have been in the past, with a more attacking outlook.
Weaknesses
A ponderous defence is a particular worry. Cameroons
camp remains subject to internal and external interference.
Group stage exit.
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Volke Finke
As a coach you dont need to deliver any motivation
because for any player to get a chance to play against
Brazil is a real highlight in their career. It is a really good
adventure, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
THE PUNDIT
Mark Gleeson, World Soccer Africa correspondent
The inuence of new coach Finke proved decisive in the
play-offs. Group rivals Croatia and Mexico did not have the
most inspirational qualifying campaigns, so Cameroon are
capable of nishing second to Brazil.
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LIKELY
STARTING
LINE-UP: 4-2-3-1
Itandje
CHARLES
ITANDJE
ALLAN NYOM
RIGHT-BACK
Club: Granada (Spa)
Born: 10.05.88
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 1
GOALKEEPER
Club: Konaspor (Tur)
Born: 01.1
1.82
(aged 31)
Apps in qualiers: 6
NKoulou
Chedjou
Nyom
Asso-Ekotto
Enoh
Song
Choupo-Mating Makoun Moukandjo

Etoo
NICOLAS
NKOULOU
AURELIEN
CHEDJOU
BENOIT ASSOEKOTTO
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Marseille (Fra)
Born: 27.03.90
(aged 24)
Apps in qualiers: 7
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Galatasaray (Tur)
Born: 20.06.85
(aged 28)
Apps in qualiers: 7
LEFT-BACK
Club: QPR (Eng)
Born: 24.03.84
(aged 30)
Apps in qualiers: 2
ALEX SONG
EYONG ENOH
JEAN MAKOUN
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Born: 09.09.87
(aged 26)
Apps in qualiers: 8
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Antalyaspor (Tur)
Born: 23.03.86
(aged 28)
Apps in qualiers: 5
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: Rennes (Fra)
Born: 29.05.83
(aged 30)
Apps in qualiers: 6
BENJAMIN
MOUKANDJO
MAXIM CHOUPOMATING
FORWARD
Club: Nancy (Fra)
Born: 12.1
1.88
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 5
FORWARD
Club: Mainz (Ger)
Born: 23.03.89
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 5
OTHER PLAYERS
HENRI
BEDIMO
DEFENCE
Lyon (Fra)
4 apps/360 mins/0
goals in qualiers
GAETEN BONG
DEFENCE
Olympiakos (Gre)
1 apps/90 mins/0
goals in qualiers
JEAN-ARMEL
KANA-BIYIK
DEFENCE
Rennes (Fra)
2 apps/1 mins/0
12
goals in qualiers
STEPHANE
MBIA
DEFENCE
Sevilla (Spa)
7 apps/420 mins/0
goals in qualiers
JOEL MATIP
MIDFIELD
Schalke (Ger)
5 apps/405 mins/0
goals in qualiers
LANDRY
NGUEMO
MIDFIELD
Bordeaux (Fra)
4 apps/196 mins/0
goals in qualiers
VINCENT
ABOUBACAR
FORWARD
SAMUEL ETOO
CENTRE-FORWARD
Club: Chelsea (Eng)
Born: 10.03.81
(aged 33)
Apps in qualiers: 4
Lorient (Fra)
3 apps/197 mins/0
goals in qualiers
THE COACH
MOHAMADOU
IDRISSOU
Born 24.03.48
(aged 66)
The German took
over last year from
Jean-Paul Akono,
but has an array of
forces lined up
against him as he
tries gamely to do
a difcult job, not least the inuential Roger
Milla, who does not want a foreigner in charge
of the national side. He spent 16 years as
coach of Bundesliga side Freiburg.
FORWARD
Kaiserslautern (Ger)
1 app/14 mins/0 goals
in qualiers
ACHILLE WEBO
FORWARD
Fenerbahce (Tur)
in qualiers
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VOLKER
FINKE
WORLD CUP 2014 77
WorldMags.net
KEY INFORMATION
THE PLAYERS
GROUP B SCHEDULE
June 13
v Australia, Cuiaba
June 18
v Spain, Rio de Janeiro
June 23
v Holland, Sao Paulo
KEY MEN
Marcelo Diaz
Deep-lying playmaker who was the brains of Sampaolis
Universidad de Chile side. He now organises possession
with the national team.
BETTING
William Hill
9/2 to top Group B
WORLD CUP HISTORY
1930
First round exit
1950
First round exit
1962
Semi-nals,
4-2 defeat by Brazil
1966
First round exit
1974
First round exit
1982
First round exit
1998
Second round,
2010
Second round,
Arturo Vidal
Strong, versatile and talented, Vidal
(right) was often used at the back but is
now the teams powerhouse in mideld.
Alexis Sanchez
Once a winger with tight dribbling skills,
he has blossomed into an all-round attacking talent,
often popping up in the centre-forward position.
ONE TO WATCH
Mauricio Isla
Rampaging right-back or wingback who is typically the
teams out ball, forever looking to burst beyond the
oppositions defensive line.
ENGLISH CONNECTION
Gary Medel
The combative midelder (left) has had a
tough season battling relegation with
Cardiff but will probably feature in
defence for Chile in Brazil.
ANALYSIS
How they qualied
This is the rst time Chile have qualied for back-to-back
World Cup tournaments. They played some wonderful
attacking football, but there were some bumps along the way.
Under Argentinian coach Claudio Borghi, they made a
reasonable start and after a third of the campaign they
were top of the South American qualifying group. But
78 WORLD CUP 2014
three successive defeats later, they were sixth, outside

even the play-off spot, and Borghi was replaced by
compatriot Jorge Sampaoli.
Sampaoli re-introduced the tactics of 2010 World Cup
coach Marcelo Bielsa an attacking, high-tempo pressing
game and Chile closed the campaign as South Americas
form side with ve wins and a draw.
Strengths
Chile have a clear way of playing with a group of players
who have been together since they were semi-nalists at
the 2007 World Youth Cup and are now reaching their
peak years.
Weaknesses
With the balance of the team tipped towards attack, the
defence will be vulnerable against pace and height. The
side has had disciplinary problems.
Second round.
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Jorge Sampaoli
I believe that the only way to succeed is by uniting players
with a love of playing. You try to inspire in them a love of
the shirt derived of enjoyment, not obligation. That allows
everybody to come together; the social or cultural
background of the people involved doesnt matter.
THE PUNDIT
Tim Vickery, World Soccer South America
correspondent
Chiles form over the past year has created the
expectation that 2014 could be their nest hour, perhaps
even matching 1962 when, with home advantage, they
reached the semi-nals.
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LIKELY
STARTING
LINE-UP: 4-3-1-2
Bravo
CLAUDIO
BRAVO
MAURICIO ISLA
RIGHT-BACK
Club: Juventus (Ita)
Born: 12.06.88
(aged 25)
Mins in qualiers: 1
103
GOALKEEPER
Club: Real Sociedad (Spa)
Born: 13.04.83
(aged 31)
Medel
M Gonzalez
Isla
Mena
Diaz
Vidal
Valdivia
Vargas
Sanchez
MARCOS
GONZALEZ
GARY MEDEL
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Cardiff City (Eng)
Born: 03.08.87
(aged 26)
EUGENIO MENA
LEFT-BACK
Club: Santos (Bra)
Born: 18.07.88
(aged 25)
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Flamengo (Bra)
Born: 09.06.80
(aged 33)
MARCELO DIAZ
CHARLES
ARANGUIZ
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Basle (Swi)
Born: 30.12.86
(aged 27)
Apps in qualiers: 1
1
Aranguiz
ARTURO VIDAL
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Born: 22.05.87
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 1
1
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Internacional (Bra)
Born: 17.04.89
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 7
JORGE
VALDIVIA
ALEXIS
SANCHEZ
EDUARDO
VARGAS
ATTACKING
MIDFIELDER
Club: Palmeiras (Bra)
Born: 19.10.83 (aged 30)
Apps in qualiers: 5
FORWARD
Born: 19.12.88
(aged 25)
FORWARD
Born: 20.1
1.89
(aged 24)
OTHER PLAYERS
JOHNNY
HERRERA
GOALKEEPER
Universidad de Chile
0 apps in qualiers
GONZALO JARA
DEFENCE
Nottm Forest (Eng)
8 apps/666 mins/0
goals in qualiers
FRANCISCO
SILVA
Osasuna (Spa)
in qualiers
JEAN
BEAUSEJOUR
MIDFIELD
Wigan Athletic (Eng)
10 apps/518 mins/0
goals in qualiers
FELIPE
GUTIERREZ
MIDFIELD
Twente (Hol)
in qualiers
FABIAN
ORELLANA
MATIAS
FERNANDEZ
MIDFIELD
Celta Vigo (Spa)
0 apps in qualiers
MIDFIELD
Fiorentina (Ita)
1 apps/729 mins/3
1
goals in qualiers
CARLOS
CARMONA
MAURICIO
PINILLA
MIDFIELD
Atalanta (Ita)
5 apps/267 mins/0
goals in qualiers
FORWARD
Cagliari (Ita)
3 apps/63 mins/0
goals in qualiers
DEFENCE
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THE COACH
JORGE
SAMPAOLI
Born 13.03.60
(aged 54)
An Argentinian who
made his name at
Universidad de Chile,
having also worked in
Peru and Ecuador. He
once famously reacted
to being sent off by
watching the rest of
his teams game
perched in a tree
outside the stadium.
WORLD CUP 2014 79
WorldMags.net
KEY INFORMATION
GROUP C SCHEDULE
June 14
v Greece, Belo Horizonte
June 19
v Ivory Coast, Brasilia
June 24
v Japan, Cuiaba
BETTING
William Hill
4/5 to win Group C
WORLD CUP HISTORY
1962
Group stage exit
1990
Round of 16,
beaten by Cameroon
1994
Group stage exit
1998
Group stage exit
THE PLAYERS
KEY MEN
Radamel Falcao
The Monaco striker (right), top
scorer in qualifying with nine
goals, is facing a race against
time to be t for the World Cup
after suffering a knee injury in
January.
James Rodriguez
The revelation of the qualifying campaign and the rightful
heir to Carlos Valderramas number 10 shirt. Provides the
creative thrust that is central to Colombias attacking play.
Strengths
Even without Falcao, Colombia have an abundance of
attacking talent. They qualied with the best away record in
South America and should have little trouble adapting to
Brazils different meteorological challenges.
David Ospina
The Nice goalkeeper kept seven clean sheets on the road
to Brazil and provided a steadying inuence on what was
at times a very wobbly back line.
Weaknesses
Colombias centre-backs Mario Yepes and Luis Perea will
have a combined age of 73 at the World Cup. Key players
are not regulars at their clubs.
ONE TO WATCH
The 21-year-old Porto playmaker
Juan Quintero (left) is one of the
most coveted young players in the
European game.
ENGLISH CONNECTION
Full-back Pablo Armero joined West Ham on loan from
Napoli in January but has found opportunities limited.
ANALYSIS
How they qualied
Colombia are back at the World Cup for the rst time in 16
years after a remarkable turnaround in their fortunes was
engineered by coach Jose Pekerman.
The Argentinian took over after Hernan Dario Gomez
and Leonel Alvarez were sacked within the space of three
months and with just one point from the opening two
80 WORLD CUP 2014
home games of the qualifying campaign. He immediately

imposed an iron discipline on the squad. The new-look
side took time to gel but then embarked on an astonishing
run of victories. Colombia racked up convincing back-toback wins against Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay and Bolivia,
and managed a goalless draw away in Argentina.
Against Chile, Colombia trailed 3-0 with 20 minutes to
go but came back to steal the point they needed.

Quarter-nals.
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Jose Pekerman
We have managed to become one of the best countries
in the world because we have competitive and hardworking players who understand international football.
THE PUNDIT
Carl Worswick, World Soccer Colombia correspondent
Eight years ago, Pekermans Argentina were just 10
minutes away from knocking out Germany in the
quarter-nals before being turfed out on penalties. This
time around, if the Argentinian can sort out Colombias
creaking defence, his adopted country could be a good
outside bet to go even further in the nals.
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LIKELY
STARTING
LINE-UP: 4-4-2
Ospina
SANTIAGO
ARIAS
DAVID OSPINA
GOALKEEPER
Club: Nice (Fra)
Born: 31.08.88
(aged 25)
RIGHT-BACK
Club: PSV (Hol)
Born: 13.01.92
(aged 22)
Apps in qualiers: 1
LUIS PEREA
CARLOS VALDES
CRISTIAN
ZAPATA
DEFENCE
San Lorenzo (Arg)
5 apps/424 mins/1
goal in qualiers
ABEL AGUILAR
MIDFIELD
Toulouse (Fra)
1 apps/820 mins/0
1
goals in qualiers
CARLOS
SANCHEZ
MIDFIELD
Elche (Spa)
12 apps/844 mins/0
goals in qualiers
JACKSON
MARTINEZ
JUAN
CUADRADO
FORWARD
Porto (Por)
7 apps/314 mins/0
goals in qualiers
MIDFIELD
Fiorentina (Ita)
1 apps/642 mins/0
1
goals in qualiers
TEOFILO
GUTIERREZ
FORWARD
River Plate (Arg)
1 apps/859 mins/6
1
goals in qualiers
VICTOR IBARBO
FORWARD
Cagliari (Ita)
0 apps in qualiers
JUAN QUINTERO
FORWARD
Porto (Por)
1 app/24mins/0 goals
in qualiers
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Bacca
LEFT-BACK
Club: West Ham (Eng)
Born: 02.1
1.86
(aged 27)
MACNELLY
TORRES
CENTRE-FORWARD
Club: Monaco (Fra)
Born: 10.02.86
(aged 28)
OTHER PLAYERS
Torres
Rodriguez
PABLO
ARMERO
RADAMEL
FALCAO
MIDFIELDER
Club: Monaco (Fra)
Born: 12.07.91
(aged 22)
DEFENCE
Napoli (Ita)
12 apps/1046 mins/1
goal in qualiers
Falcao
MIDFIELDER
(Ita)
Born: 30.06.86
(aged 27)
Apps in qualiers: 9
JAMES
RODRIGUEZ
JUAN CAMILO
ZUNIGA
Guarin
Valencia
FREDY GUARIN
MIDFIELDER
Club: Fluminense (Bra)
Born: 29.03.85
(aged 29)
Apps in qualiers: 5
DEFENCE
Milan (Ita)
2 apps/1 mins/0
17
goals in qualiers
Armero
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Atalanta (Ita)
Born: 13.01.76
(aged 38)
EDWIN
VALENCIA
Yepes
Arias
MARIO YEPES
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Cruz Azul (Mex)
Born: 30.01.79
(aged 35)
Perea
MIDFIELDER
Club: Al Shabab (Sau)
Born: 01.1
1.84
(aged 29)
Apps in qualiers: 9
CARLOS BACCA
CENTRE-FORWARD
Club: Sevilla (Spa)
Born: 08.09.86
(aged 27)
Apps in qualiers: 3
THE COACH
JOSE
PEKERMAN
Born 03.09.49
(aged 64)
Fastidious in his
preparation, the
Argentinian has
rejuvenated
Colombia since
2012. He will be
hoping to add to
the three world
youth titles he won
when boss of his
native Argentina.
WORLD CUP 2014 81
WorldMags.net
KEY INFORMATION
GROUP D SCHEDULE
June 14
v Uruguay, Fortaleza
June 20
v Italy, Recife
June 24
v England, Belo Horizonte
BETTING
William Hill
12/1 to qualify from Group D
WORLD CUP HISTORY
1990
Round of 16, 4-1 defeat by
Czechoslovakia
2002
Group stage exit
2006
Group stage exit
THE PLAYERS
KEY MEN
Bryan Ruiz
Despite a disappointing stint at
Fulham, he is still considered Costa
Ricas star turn. His playmaking
ability and knack for important goals
have been instrumental for the national team, although
injuries have hampered his career in recent years.
Joel Campbell
A quick striker, in the mould of former Costa Rican front
man Paulo Wanchope, he was signed by Arsenal after a
scintillating performance in the 201 Under-20 World Cup
1
but has spent this season on loan at Olympiakos.
Keylor Navas
The best Costa Rican goalkeeper since Luis Gabelo Conejo,
he has been in great form for Levante in La Liga after
becoming rst choice near the end of last term.
ONE TO WATCH
Striker Alvaro Saborio, who once had
a loan spell at Bristol City, has been a
revelation for Real Salt Lake in Major
League Soccer.
ENGLISH CONNECTION
Everton midelder Bryan Oviedo (left)
is facing a race to be t in time for the
nals after breaking a leg in January.
ANALYSIS
How they qualied
The Ticos qualied for the World Cup nals for only the
third time after nishing second in the nal CONCACAF
qualifying section. They nished behind leaders United
States, but ahead of Honduras and traditional continental
82 WORLD CUP 2014
heavyweights Mexico. They punched above their weight for

most of the qualifying campaign, but their success was not
really a surprise. For the rst time, Costa Rica have had
established players in major European leagues.
From playmaker Bryan Ruiz and striker Joel Campbell,
to Everton left-back Bryan Oviedo and goalkeeper Keylor
Navas, who has been key for Levantes progress in La Liga,
Costa Ricans are making waves in European club football.
Strengths
A core of experienced, foreign-based players. Coach Pinto
has brought stability to the squad. They will be under no
pressure in Brazil.
Weaknesses
Theyre in a tough group, where their rivals are all former
world champions. The squad has little big-match
experience. Pinto has few options on the bench.
Group stage exit.
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Jorge Luis Pinto
Well have to nd ways to mark Rooney, Balotelli, Suarez.
That will be one of Costa Ricas weapons, our tactical order,
efcient marking of those players, and I think thats how
we can get something.
THE PUNDIT
Martin del Palacio Langer, World Soccer Central
America correspondent
Pintos side are a team that favours defensive order
they conceded only seven goals in 10 qualifying games
and despite a lack of international experience they wont
be pushovers. In addition, their fast counter-attacking style
might cause problems for teams with slow defenders.
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STARTING
LINE-UP: 5-4-1
Navas
KEYLOR NAVAS
CRISTIAN
GAMBOA
GOALKEEPER
Club: Levante (Spa)
Born: 15.12.86
(aged 27)
RIGHT-BACK
Club: Rosenborg (Nor)
Born: 24.10.89
(aged 24)
Gonzalez
Acosta
Umana
Gamboa
Diaz
Tejeda
Borges
Bolanos
Ruiz
Campbell
JOHNNY
ACOSTA
GIANCARLO
GONZALEZ
MICHAEL
UMANA
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Alajuelense
Born: 21.07.83
(aged 30)
Apps in qualiers: 7
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Columbus Crew
(USA)
Born: 08.02.88
(aged 26)
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Saprissa
Born: 16.07.82
(aged 31)
JUNIOR DIAZ
BRYAN RUIZ
CELSO BORGES
LEFT-BACK
Club: Mainz (Ger)
Born: 12.09.83
(aged 20)
Apps in qualiers: 4
RIGHT MIDFIELD
Club: PSV Eindhoven
(Hol)
Born: 18.08.85
(aged 28)
Apps in qualiers: 1
1
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: AIK (Swe)
Born: 27.05.88
(aged 25)
YELTSIN
TEJEDA
CHRISTIAN
BOLANOS
JOEL
CAMPBELL
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Saprissa
Born: 17.03.92
(aged 22)
Apps in qualiers: 7
LEFT MIDFIELD
Club: Copenhagen
(Den)
Born: 17.05.84
(aged 29)
CENTRE-FORWARD
Club: Olympiakos (Gre)
Born: 26.06.92
(aged 21)
OTHER PLAYERS
BRYAN OVIEDO
ROY MILLER
MIDFIELD
Everton (Eng)
9 apps/792 mins/0
goals in qualiers
DEFENCE
New York Red Bulls
(USA)
7 apps/544 mins/1
goal in qualiers
OSCAR
DUARTE
DEFENCE
Club Brugge (Blg)
0 apps in qualiers
JOSE MIGUEL
CUBERO
MIDFIELD
Herediano
9 apps/608 mins/1
goal in qualiers
DIEGO CALVO
MIDFIELD
Valerenga (Nor)
6 apps/189 mins/1
goal in qualiers
MARCO
URENA
MICHAEL
BARRANTES
FORWARD
Kuban Krasnador
(Rus)
0 apps in qualiers
MIDFIELD
Aalesund (Nor)
10 apps/645 mins/0
goals in qualiers
ALVARO
SABORIO
FORWARD
Real Salt Lake (USA)
15 apps/982 mins/8
goals in qualiers
RANDALL
BRENES
FORWARD
Cartagines
8 apps/367 mins/3
goals in qualiers
WorldMags.net
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THE COACH
JORGE LUIS
PINTO
Born 16.12.52
(aged 61)
Having failed in his rst
spell in charge of Costa
Rica, from 2004 to
2005, the Colombian
who also coached his
homelands national
side returned in 201
1
and oversaw
qualication for Brazil
2014. He has extensive
tactical knowledge.
WORLD CUP 2014 83
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KEY INFORMATION
GROUP A SCHEDULE
June 12
v Brazil, Sao Paulo
June 18
v Cameroon, Manaus
June 23
v Mexico, Recife
BETTING
William Hill
5/6 to qualify from Group A
WORLD CUP HISTORY
1998
Semi-nals, 2-1 defeat by
France/Third place,
2-1 win over Holland
2002
Group stage exit
2006
Group stage exit
THE PLAYERS
KEY MEN
Dario Srna
Midelder and captain who leads
by example. He is very reliable in
his defensive duties while offering
a threat when going forward.
Luka Modric
The teams playmaker, he inspires condence in his
team-mates and Croatia are greatly weakened without the
Real Madrid stars creativity.
Stipe Pletikosa
Experienced goalkeeper who, along with Srna, is the
player whose opinion coach Kovac values most.
ONE TO WATCH
Youngster Mateo Kovacic pulls the strings in mideld.
Inter Milan were so sure of his talent,
they let Philippe Coutinho join Liverpool.
ENGLISH CONNECTION
Hull City striker Nikica Jelavic (left)
could step into the starting line-up for
the opening match because rst-choice
striker Mario Mandzukic is suspended.
ANALYSIS
How they qualied
Croatia have only failed to reach a major nals tournament
twice since independence in 1995 for Euro 2000 and
the 2010 World Cup so condence was high when
coach Igor Stimacs side began with 16 points from a
possible 18 in their rst six games on the road to Brazil.
However, three losses and a draw in the remaining four
xtures saw Croatia condemned to the play-offs and
Stimac replaced by under-21s boss Niko Kovac.
84 WORLD CUP 2014
Fortunately, normal service was resumed in the

play-offs and, after a potentially tricky away leg ended
goalless, Iceland were dispatched 2-0 in the return.
But the victory was soured by the actions of defender
Josip Simunic, who shouted a fascist slogan at the crowd
after the game. He was punished with a 10-match ban by
FIFA and will miss the World Cup. Mandzukic, sent off
during against Iceland, was handed a one-match ban.
Strengths
Croatia feel condent they can qualify for the knockout
stage, behind hosts Brazil. The side are well drilled and
have plenty of experience playing together.
Weaknesses
Kovac is very much a coaching novice. The suspension of
left-back Simunic is a worry and Croatia lack quality in
both full-back positions. Croatian players will not be used
to the heat and excessive humidity in Brazil.
Group stage exit.
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Niko Kovac
We are the only team in our group not used to such
conditions. Brazil are the hosts, Mexico are from Latin
America, Cameroon often play in the same conditions. But
we can not change the situation, we cannot use climatic
conditions as an excuse for any poor performances.
THE PUNDIT
Zdravko Reic, World Soccer Croatia correspondent
With Pletikosa and Olic over 34, and Srna, Eduardo,
Vukojevic and Kranjcar all in their 30s, Brazil 2014
presents one nal opportunity for many of the side to
perform on the big stage.
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STARTING
LINE-UP: 4-2-3-1
Pletikosa
DARIO SRNA
STIPE
PLETIKOSA
RIGHT-BACK
Club: Shakhtar Donetsk
(Ukr)
Born: 01.05.82
(aged 32)
Apps in qualiers: 1
1
GOALKEEPER
Club: Rostov (Rus)
Born: 08.01.79
(aged 35)
VEDRAN
CORLUKA
Corluka
Srna
Pranjic
Rakitic
Perisic
Modric
Kovacic
Olic
Mandzukic
DEJAN LOVREN
DANIJEL
PRANJIC
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Southampton
(Eng)
Born: 05.07.89
(aged 24)
Apps in qualiers: 7
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Lokomotiv
Moscow (Rus)
Born: 05.02.86
(aged 28)
Apps in qualiers: 9
Lovren
LEFT-BACK
Club: Panathinaikos
(Gre)
Born: 02.12.81
(aged 33)
Apps in qualiers: 2
IVAN RAKITIC
LUKA MODRIC
IVAN PERISIC
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Sevilla (Spa)
Born: 10.03.88
(aged 26)
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Born: 09.09.85
(aged 28)
Apps in qualiers: 1
1
RIGHT MIDFIELD
Born: 02.02.89
(aged 25)
IVICA OLIC
MARIO
MANDZUKIC
MATEO
KOVACIC
LEFT MIDFIELD
Born: 14.09.79
(aged 34)
Apps in qualiers: 7
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
(Ita)
Born: 06.05.94 (aged 19)
Apps in qualiers: 6
OTHER PLAYERS
DANIJEL
SUBASIC
DEFENCE
Panathinaikos (Gre)
4 apps/270 mins/0
goals in qualiers
GOALKEEPER
Monaco (Fra)
0 apps in qualiers
DOMAGOJ
VIDA
SIME VRSALJKO
DEFENCE
Genoa (Ita)
in qualiers
GORDON
SCHILDENFELD
DEFENCE
Dynamo Kiev (Ukr)
6 apps/314 mins/0
goals in qualiers
OGNJEN
VUKOJEVIC
MIDFIELD
Dynamo Kiev (Ukr)
7 apps/403 mins/0
goals in qualiers
NIKO
KRANJCAR
MIDFIELD
Queens Park Rangers
(Eng)
6 apps/203 mins/1
goal in qualiers
ALEN
HALILHOVIC
MIDFIELD
Dinamo Zagreb
0 apps in qualiers
NIKICA
JELAVIC
FORWARD
Hull City (Eng)
6 apps/184 mins/1
goal in qualiers
EDUARDO
FORWARD
Shakhtar Donetsk
(Ukr)
7 apps/431 mins/2
goals in qualiers
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CENTRE-FORWARD
Club: Bayern Munich
(Ger)
Born: 21.05.86
(aged 27)
THE COACH
NIKO KOVAC
Born 15.10.71 (aged 42)
Born and raised in Germany, he was captain of
Croatias national side until his retirement in
January 2009. He stepped up from coaching
the national under-21s to take charge of the
seniors in October last year and is assisted by
his younger brother, Robert.
WORLD CUP 2014 85
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KEY INFORMATION
GROUP E SCHEDULE
June 15
v Switzerland, Brasilia
June 20
v Honduras, Curitiba
June 25
v France, Rio de Janeiro
BETTING
William Hill
10/1 to qualify from Group E
1
WORLD CUP HISTORY
2002
First round exit
2006
Round of 16,
1-0 defeat by England
THE PLAYERS
KEY MEN
Antonio Valencia
The Manchester United winger
(right) provides pace, power
and composure down the right
ank. The 28-year-old is also a
key gure in the sides rapid
transitions between attack and
defence.
Jefferson Montero
Plays wide on the left, where, on his day, he can undress
the opposing defence with his capacity to glide past the
full-back on either side. Inconsistent, but has it in him to
become a global star.
Christian Noboa
Based in Russia with Dynamo Moscow, the midelder knits
the team together and his range of passing from the
centre brings Ecuadors talented wingers into play.
ONE TO WATCH
Young winger turned striker Enner Valencia has impressed
for Mexican club Pachuca and the national team recently.
ENGLISH CONNECTION
Striker Felipe Caicedo was on
Manchester Citys books for three years,
between 2008 and 201 spending time
1,
on loan at Sporting Lisbon, Malaga and
Levante.
ANALYSIS
How they qualied
After a disappointing 201 Copa America coach Reinaldo
1
Rueda came under renewed pressure when his team were
thrashed 4-0 by Argentina early in the qualifying
86 WORLD CUP 2014
campaign. Rueda made a host of changes, including a

recall for striker Felipe Caicedo, which kickstarted a run of
four wins and two draws that carried the team from sixth
place in the table to second.
The visit of Uruguay in the penultimate round proved
crucial. Ecuador won by a single goal but that was
enough to go through on goal difference, condemning
Uruguay to the play-offs.
Strengths
Ecuador stretch defences when they attack down the
anks and can do serious damage on the counter-attack.
The group draw gives them a decent chance of progress.
Weaknesses
Theyve not found a replacement for classy centre-back
Ivan Hurtado. Goalkeeper is also a problem position.
Ecuador struggled to convert chances in qualifying.
Second round.
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Reinaldo Rueda
The young players have good skills but theres been a
generational gap and we only have [Segundo] Castillo and
[Antonio] Valencia left from the 2006 World Cup because
the players who reached the nals in Germany were above
the average age and have fallen out of contention.
THE PUNDIT
Tim Vickery, World Soccer South America
correspondent
The tragic death last July of Christian Benitez robbed the
squad of one of its most popular members. He was a
striker of class and versatility, who could also drop back to
balance out a team that can look very open.
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LIKELY
STARTING
LINE-UP: 4-4-2
Dominguez
ALEXANDER
DOMINGUEZ
GOALKEEPER
Club: LDU Quito
Born: 05.06.87
(aged 26)
DEFENCE
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Al Hilal (Sau)
Born: 15.05.82
(aged 32)
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Dynamo Moscow
(Rus)
Born: 09.04.85
(aged 28)
FELIPE
CAICEDO
ENNER
VALENCIA
WINGER
Club: Morelia (Mex)
Born: 01.09.89
(aged 24)
GABRIEL
ACHILIER
CHRISTIAN
NOBOA
JEFFERSON
MONTERO
DEFENCE
Emelec
0 apps in qualiers
SEGUNDO
CASTILLO
RIGHT MIDFIELD
Club: Manchester
United (Eng)
Born: 04.08.85
(aged 28)
OSCAR BAGUI
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Flamengo (Bra)
Born: 05.05.88
(aged 26)
ANTONIO
VALENCIA
DEFENCE
Emelec
0 apps in qualiers
FRICKSON
ERAZO
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Emelec
Born: 28.09.81
(aged 32)
Apps in qualiers: 7
JOHN
NARVAEZ
RIGHT-BACK
Club: Emelec
Born: 08.07.87
(aged 26)
JORGE
GUAGUA
OTHER PLAYERS
JUAN CARLOS
PAREDES
CENTRE-FORWARD
Club: Al Jazira (UAE)
Born: 05.09.88
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 9
CENTRE-FORWARD
Club: Pachuca (Mex)
Born: 1
1.04.89
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 3
Emelec
7 apps/523 mins/0
goals in qualiers
LUIS
FERNANDO
SARITAMA
MIDFIELD
Barcelona
1 apps/693 mins/0
1
goals in qualiers
EDISON
MENDEZ
MIDFIELD
Santa Fe (Col)
5 apps/136 mins/1
goal in qualiers
RENATO
IBARRA
FERNANDO
GAIBOR
MIDFIELD
Vitesse (Hol)
10 apps/196 mins/0
goals in qualiers
MIDFIELD
Emelec
0 apps in qualiers
FORWARD
HENRY LEON
Guagua
Paredes
Castillo
A Valencia
Erazo
Ayovi
Noboa
Montero
Caicedo E Valencia
WALTER AYOVI
LEFT-BACK
Club: Pachuca (Mex)
Born: 1
1.08.79
(aged 34)
Independiente del
Valle
0 apps in qualiers
THE COACH
JOAO ROJAS
Born 16.04.57
(aged 57)
A serious, methodical
gure who made his
name in his native
Colombia, taking the
under-20 team to
third place in the 2003 World Youth
Championship. Promoted to the senior side, he
narrowly failed to make Germany 2006, but
qualied for the nals four years later with
Honduras. He took charge of Ecuador after the
2010 nals.
FORWARD
Cruz Azul (Mex)
10 apps/446 mins/1
goal in qualiers
FIDEL
MARTINEZ
FORWARD
Tijuana (Mex)
in qualiers
WorldMags.net
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REINALDO
RUEDA
WORLD CUP 2014 87
WorldMags.net
KEY INFORMATION
THE PLAYERS
ANALYSIS
GROUP D SCHEDULE
June 14
v Italy, Manaus
June 19
v Uruguay, Sao Paulo
June 24 v Costa Rica, Belo Horizonte
KEY MEN
Wayne Rooney
Englands only genuine world-class performer but yet to
repeat the outstanding form he showed as a teenager at
Euro 2004.
How they qualied

After a bright start (a 5-0 win in Moldova), Hodgsons side
ran up a series of draws (home to Ukraine, away in Poland,
Montenegro and Ukraine) that left them needing wins over
Poland and Montenegro in their nal matches at Wembley
to guarantee automatic qualication.
Ultimately, they were helped by their rivals taking points
off each other. But England can take heart from the fact
they ended the qualifying campaign unbeaten.
BETTING
William Hill
1
WORLD CUP HISTORY
1950
First round exit
1954
Quarter-nals,
defeat by Uruguay
1958
First round exit
1962 Quarter-nals, defeat by Brazil
1966
WINNERS,
4-2 Final victory over West Germany
1970
Quarter-nals,
1982
Second group phase
1986
by Argentina
1990
Semi-nals, defeat on
penalties by West Germany
1998
Second round, defeat on
penalties by Argentina
2002 Quarter-nals, defeat by Brazil
2006
Quarter-nals, defeat on
penalties by Portugal
2010
Last 16, defeat by Germany
Steven Gerrard
Appointed captain by Hodgson ahead of Euro 2012 and
now plays a more settled role in deep mideld, having
reigned in his more cavalier instincts.
Joe Hart
First-choice goalkeeper despite a brief lapse in form that
resulted in him being dropped as Manchester Citys rst
choice earlier this season.
Daniel Sturridge
The former Chelsea and Man City striker has enjoyed an
exceptional season with Liverpool.
Weaknesses
Other than Rooney and Gerrard, there is little quality in the
squad. The extra games played in England and the lack of a
winter break could take their toll as players stagger into
June. Theo Walcott is already been out with a knee injury.
Group stage exit.
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Roy Hodgson
Everyones excited by this tournament. I would be
expecting every player who is selected to be viewing this
as the most exciting period in his life so far. This is an
England team in transition.
ONE TO WATCH
The left-sided attacking midelder Adam Lallana
(above) has starred for Southampton throughout their rise
from League One to the Premier League. Made his senior
England debut in November 2013 and has been linked
with a move to a bigger Premier League club this summer.
88 WORLD CUP 2014
Strengths
England will travel to Brazil with no pressure, and with an
experienced manager who will get the best from the squad.
THE PUNDIT
Gavin Hamilton, World Soccer Editor
Hodgson has rung the changes since taking over from
Fabio Capello, with plenty of new faces. He must now
decide whether to risk the youngsters in Brazil in a bid to
gain experience for the real target: Euro 2016 in France.
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LINE-UP: 4-3-3
Hart
JOE HART
GLEN JOHNSON
GOALKEEPER
Born: 19.04.87
(aged 27)
RIGHT-BACK
Club: Liverpool
Born: 23.08.84
(aged 29)
Apps in qualiers: 4
Cahill
Jagielka
Johnson
Baines
Gerrard
Carrick
Lallana
Sturridge
Rooney
OxladeChamberlain
GARY CAHILL
PHIL JAGIELKA
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Chelsea
Born: 19.12.85
(aged 28)
Apps in qualiers: 5
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Everton
Born: 17.08.82
(aged 31)
Apps in qualiers: 7
STEVEN
GERRARD
MICHAEL
CARRICK
ADAM
LALLANA
MIDFIELDER
Club: Liverpool
Born: 30.05.80
(aged 34)
Apps in qualiers: 8
MIDFIELDER
Club: Manchester Utd
Born: 28.07.81
(aged 32)
Apps in qualiers: 6
MIDFIELDER
Club: Southampton
Born: 10.05.88
(aged 26)
Apps in qualiers: 0
DANIEL
STURRIDGE
WAYNE
ROONEY
ALEX OXLADECHAMBERLAIN
FORWARD
Club: Liverpool
Born: 01.09.89
(aged 24)
Apps in qualiers: 4
CENTRE-FORWARD
Club: Manchester Utd
Born: 24.10.85
(aged 28)
Apps in qualiers: 6
FORWARD
Club: Arsenal
Born: 15.08.93
(aged 20)
Apps in qualiers: 5
OTHER PLAYERS
JAMES MILNER
CHRIS
SMALLING
MIDFIELD
Manchester City
8 apps/453 mins/1
goal in qualiers
DEFENCE
Manchester United
3 apps/270 mins/0
goals in qualiers
PHIL JONES
DEFENCE
Manchester United
0 apps in qualiers
RAHEEM
STERLING
MIDFIELD
Liverpool
0 apps in qualiers
JORDAN
HENDERSON
MIDFIELD
Liverpool
0 apps in qualiers
RICKIE
LAMBERT
JACK
WILSHERE
FORWARD
Southampton
2 apps/160 mins/1
goal in qualiers
MIDFIELD
Arsenal
4 apps/168 mins/0
goals in qualiers
ROSS
BARKLEY
MIDFIELD
Everton
in qualiers
DANNY
WELBECK
FORWARD
Manchester United
8 apps/523 mins/4
goals in qualiers
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LEIGHTON
BAINES
LEFT-BACK
Club: Everton
Born: 1 12.84
1.
(aged 29)
Apps in qualiers: 7
THE COACH
ROY
HODGSON
Born 09.08.47
(aged 66)
The former
Switzerland and
Internazionale coach
has brought
organisation and a
quiet self-condence
to a job that was in
danger of becoming
impossible. Under
contract until 2016.
WORLD CUP 2014 89
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KEY INFORMATION
GROUP E SCHEDULE
June 15
v Honduras, Porto Alegre
June 20
v Switzerland, Salvador
June 25
v Ecuador, Rio de Janeiro
BETTING
William Hill
4/5 to win Group E
WORLD CUP HISTORY
1930
First round exit
1934
First round exit
1938
Quarter-nals,
defeat by Italy
1954
First round exit
1958 Semi-nals, 5-2 defeat by Brazil
1966
First round exit
1978
First round exit
1982
Semi-nals, defeat on
penalties by West Germany
1986
Semi-nals, 2-0 defeat
by West Germany
1998
over Brazil
2002
First round exit
2006
Runners-up, Final defeat
on penalties by Italy
2010
Group stage exit
THE PLAYERS
KEY MEN
Franck Ribery
At 31, he is at the absolute height
of his powers. His box of tricks
seems to get bigger; his
enthusiasm and workrate never
wane. His countrys most potent threat.
Hugo Lloris
The countrys goalkeeper and captain, he is a commanding
presence between the sticks. Never ashy, the Tottenham
stopper has the ability to make even difcult saves look easy.
Karim Benzema
His form for France has been patchy but the Real Madrid
striker remains Frances most effective attacking weapon.
ONE TO WATCH
Paul Pogba (right) only made
his international debut in March
of last year, but the 21-year-old
Juventus midelder has already
shown that hes an exceptional
talent. He could easily be one of
the stars of Brazil 2014.
ENGLISH CONNECTION
Full-back Mathieu Debuchy was one of a number of
Newcastle players who played a key role in the qualiers.
ANALYSIS
How they qualied
Following an opening 1-0 away win against Finland in
Helsinki and a comfortable 3-1 victory at home to Belarus,
France travelled to Madrid to take on Spain. An excellent
performance resulted in a deserved 1-1 draw that saw
France level on points with Spain after three games.
90 WORLD CUP 2014
After seeing off Georgia at home, the return against

Spain proved to be a disappointment. Pedro scored the
only goal of the game for the visitors, which put them top
of the group. France dropped further points in a goalless
draw in Georgia, before nishing the campaign with two
wins: 4-2 away to Belarus and 3-0 at home to Finland.
France nished in second place, three behind Spain, to
tee up a double-header play-off with Ukraine. They
suffered a 2-0 defeat, in Kiev, in the rst leg and needed a
miracle in the return in Paris. With a passionate crowd
behind them in the Stade de France, the home side turned
on the style and cruised to a 3-0 win.
Strengths
An abundance of naturally gifted players throughout the
side, led by Ribery, Pogba and Varane. An interesting mix
of youth and experience. A decent group draw.
Weaknesses
Lack of a real goal machine in attack.
Quarter-nals.
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Didier Deschamps
We cant pretend to be among the World Cup favourites
because there are teams who have been posting results
that are way better than Frances for four or ve years now.
THE PUNDIT
Howard Johnson, World Soccer France correspondent
In the play-off against Ukraine, France played the kind of
football that made people sit up and take notice. Drawn in
a group with Ecuador, Honduras and Switzerland, France
will fancy their chances of progressing to the knockout
stage of the World Cup.
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LINE-UP: 4-2-3-1
Lloris
HUGO LLORIS
MATHIEU
DEBUCHY
GOALKEEPER
Club: Tottenham
Hotspur (Eng)
Born: 26.12.86
(aged 27)
RIGHT-BACK
Club: Newcastle (Eng)
Born: 28.07.85
(aged 28)
Apps in qualiers: 4
RAPHAEL
VARANE
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Arsenal (Eng)
Born: 10.09.85
(aged 28)
Apps in qualiers: 6
PAUL POGBA
Koscielny
LAURENT
KOSCIELNY
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Real Madrid (Fra)
Born: 25.04.93
(aged 20)
Apps in qualiers: 3
Varane
BLAISE
MATUIDI
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Born: 15.03.93
(aged 21)
Apps in qualiers: 6
Debuchy
Evra
Pogba
Nasri
Matuidi
Cabaye
Ribery
Benzema
PATRICE EVRA
LEFT-BACK
Club: Manchester
United (Eng)
Born: 15.05.81
(aged 33)
Apps in qualiers: 8
SAMIR NASRI
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
(Eng)
Born: 26.06.87
(aged 26)
Apps in qualiers: 4
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Paris SaintGermain
Born: 09.04.87
(aged 27)
Apps in qualiers: 9
YOHAN
CABAYE
BACARY
SAGNA
DEFENCE
Arsenal (Eng)
3 apps/192 mins/0
goals in qualiers
MAMADOU
SAKHO
DEFENCE
Liverpool (Eng)
5 apps/450 mins/2
goals in qualiers
KARIM
BENZEMA
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: Paris SaintGermain
Born: 14.01.86
(aged 28)
Apps in qualiers: 6
OTHER PLAYERS
FRANCK
RIBERY
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: Bayern Munich
(Ger)
Born: 07.04.83
(aged 31)
CENTRE-FORWARD
Club: Real Madrid (Eng)
Born: 19.12.87
(aged 26)
Apps in qualiers: 9
ELIAQUIM
MANGALA
6 apps/185 mins/0
goals in qualiers
DEFENCE
Porto (Por)
0 apps in qualiers
MATHIEU
VALBUENA
GAEL CLICHY
DEFENCE
Manchester City (Eng)
2 apps/180 mins/0
goals in qualiers
MOUSSA
SISSOKO
MIDFIELD
Newcastle (Eng)
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Marseille
10 apps/615 mins/1
goal in qualiers
ANTOINE
GRIEZMANN
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Real Sociedad (Spa)
0 apps in qualiers
LOIC REMY
THE COACH
FORWARD
Newcastle (Eng)
3 apps/105 mins/0
goals in qualiers
DIDIER
DESCHAMPS
OLIVIER
GIROUD
FORWARD
Arsenal (Eng)
9 apps/491 mins/2
goals in qualiers
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A World Cup winner as

a midelder with France
in 1998, the former
Monaco, Juventus and
Marseille boss took on
the France job in July
2012, just before the
World Cup qualifying
campaign began. His
reward for getting the
team over the line was a
contract extension that
takes him up to 2016.
WORLD CUP 2014 91
WorldMags.net
KEY INFORMATION
GROUP G SCHEDULE
June 16
v Portugal, Salvador
June 21
v Ghana, Fortaleza
June 26
v United States, Recife
BETTING
William Hill
1
4/7 to win Group G
WORLD CUP HISTORY
1938
First round exit
1954
WINNERS,
3-2 Final victory over Hungary
1958
by Sweden
1962
by Yugoslavia
1966
by England
1970 Semi-nals, 4-3 defeat by Italy
1974
WINNERS,
2-1 Final victory over Holland
1978
Second round exit
1982
by Italy
1986
Runners-up,
3-2 Final defeat by Argentina
1990
WINNERS,
1-0 Final victory over Argentina
1994
Quarter-nals,
defeat by Bulgaria
1998 Quarter-nals, defeat by Croatia
2002 Runners-up, 2-0 Final defeat
by Brazil
2006
Semis,
2-0 defeat
by Italy
2010
Semis,
1-0 defeat
by Spain
92 WORLD CUP 2014
THE PLAYERS
ANALYSIS
KEY MEN
Philipp Lahm
Excellent for Bayern Munich this
season in a new deep-mideld role,
the 30-year-old (right) is likely to
remain at right-back for the national
team, who rely enormously on his wonderful overlapping,
intelligence and leadership qualities. Grittier than his
choirboy looks suggest.
How they qualied

Germany had few problems getting through the qualiers,
winning their group ahead of Sweden, Austria and the
Republic of Ireland.
The phenomenal attacking-third talent of Thomas
Muller, Marco Reus, Mario Gotze, Mesut Ozil and Julian
Draxler, and the utter reliability of goalkeeper Manuel
Neuer, mideld controller Bastian Schweinsteiger and
striker Miroslav Klose all combined to produce an easy
qualication, which was achieved without losing a
single game.
They was the odd scare: defensive frailties were exposed
in a 4-4 World Cup draw with Sweden in Berlin. And there
were some poor results in friendlies: a 4-3 loss to the USA
on tour last summer and a 3-3 draw at home to Ecuador
in August.
Marco Reus
In the post-mortems that followed Germanys semi-nal
elimination at Euro 2012, a popular school of thought was
that the Nationalmannschaft would have gone further if
Low had shown more faith in this wizard of the dribble.
He has been even more effective since he joined Borussia
Dortmund from Borussia Monchengladbach a year ago.
Thomas Muller
Brilliant attacking all-rounder from Bayern Munich who
won the Golden Boot at the 2010 World Cup thanks to ve
goals and three assists. Pacy, incisive and blessed with an
uncanny ability to nd space, he will run all day for his
team but never haphazardly.
ONE TO WATCH
Arsenal midelder Mesut Ozil
(left) suffered a dip in form this
spring after a bright start to his
club career in England and was
also booed by Germany fans at a
home friendly. But he remains a
gifted playmaker.
ENGLISH CONNECTION
Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker is Germanys rst
choice in central defence.

Quarter-nals.
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Joachim Low
On paper, we have a top team, but reality sees it
differently. We have some players who have been injured
for months. We have some players who are not playing
regularly for their clubs. We have some players who are
struggling for form and others who are ghting little
injury concerns.
THE PUNDIT
Nick Bidwell, World Soccer Germany
correspondent
Low still has to contend with those who see him as a
perennial faller at the last hurdle. He will only be truly
accepted into Germanys leadership pantheon if he
can strike gold next summer.
WorldMags.net
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LIKELY
STARTING
LINE-UP: 4-2-3-1
Neuer
MANUEL
NEUER
PHILIPP LAHM
RIGHT-BACK
Club: Bayern Munich
Born: 1 1
1. 1.83
(aged 30)
Apps in qualiers: 9
GOALKEEPER
Club: Bayern Munich
Born: 27.03.86
(aged 28)
Boateng
Mertesacker
Lahm
Schmelzer
Schweinsteiger Kroos
Muller
Ozil
Reus
Klose
JEROME
BOATENG
PER
MERTESACKER
MARCEL
SCHMELZER
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Bayern Munich
Born: 03.09.88
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 7
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Arsenal (Eng)
Born: 29.09.84
(aged 29)
Apps in qualiers: 8
LEFT-BACK
Club: Borussia
Dortmund
Born: 22.01.88
(aged 26)
Apps in qualiers: 6
TONI KROOS
THOMAS
MULLER
BASTIAN
SCHWEINSTEIGER
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Bayern Munich
Born: 04.01.90
(aged 24)
Apps in qualiers: 7
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Bayern Munich
Born: 01.08.84
(aged 29)
Apps in qualiers: 5
MESUT OZIL
MARCO REUS
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Arsenal (Eng)
Born: 15.10.88
(aged 25)
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Borussia
Dortmund
Born: 31.05.89
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 6
OTHER PLAYERS
ROMAN
WEIDENFELLER
GOALKEEPER
Borussia Dortmund
0 apps in qualiers
MATS
HUMMELS
DEFENCE
Borussia Dortmund
3 apps/270 mins/0
goals in qualiers
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: Bayern Munich
Born: 13.09.89
(aged 24)
KEVIN
GROSSKREUTZ
DEFENCE
Borussia Dortmund
0 apps in qualiers
SAMI KHEDIRA
MIDFIELD
Real Madrid (Spa)
8 apps/658 mins/1
goal in qualiers
LUKAS
PODOLSKI
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Arsenal (Eng)
5 apps/128 mins/0
goals in qualiers
JULIAN
DRAXLER
ANDRE
SCHURRLE
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Schalke
5 apps/109 mins/0
goals in qualiers
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Chelsea (Eng)
6 apps/240 mins/4
goals in qualiers
MARIO GOTZE
MARIO GOMEZ
FORWARD
Fiorentina (Ita)
0 apps in qualiers
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Bayern Munich
7 apps/385 mins/4
goals in qualiers
WorldMags.net
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MIROSLAV
KLOSE
CENTRE-FORWARD
Club: Lazio (Ita)
Born: 09.06.78
(aged 35)
Apps in qualiers: 6
THE COACH
JOACHIM
LOW
Born 03.02.50
(aged 54)
Throughout the
Nationalmannschafts
105-year history,
no Bundestrainer
has a better win
percentage than
Jogi, who can
boast a 69 per cent
success rate.
However, after a hat-trick of big tournament
near misses, he has to deliver this summer.
WORLD CUP 2014 93
WorldMags.net
THE PLAYERS
ANALYSIS
KEY MEN
Michael Essien
Came under some scrutiny when he returned to the fold late last year.
However, he delivered a colossal performance in the win over Egypt.
How they qualied

Despite a disappointing performance at last years African Nations Cup,
Ghana kept faith with coach Kwesi Appiah, who has a low prole and has had
to battle to prove his worth in a country where there remains a strident
debate over the merits of a foreign coach against the strengths of a local.
Ashanti-born Appiah has been strengthened by the recent decisions of
Michael Essien and Kevin-Prince Boateng to return from their self-imposed
periods of exile. Essien made a remarkable return in a driving mideld role in
the play-off against Egypt, allowing Sulley Muntari and Kwadwo Asamoah to
adopt more creative roles out wide. The Black Stars ran out 8-2 winners on
aggregate, leaving Appiah to talk of leading the Ghanaians into history as the
rst African team to reach a World Cup semi-nal.
Asamoah Gyan
The striker (right) might have swapped the competitiveness of
the English Premier League for easy petrodollars in the
United Arab Emirates, but he still has great nishing ability.
Kevin-Prince Boateng
Seen as opportunistic, the jury is out. Played at the last World Cup then
retired from international football to avoid going to the 2012 and 2013
African Nations Cups. Suddenly, now that the World Cup beckons, he is back.
ONE TO WATCH
The presence of Kwadwo Asamoah on the left-hand side is a vital
component of Ghanas attack. He remains much underrated.
ENGLISH CONNECTION
Middlesbrough winger Albert Adomah is a likely squad member.
Strengths
High on self-condence after an impressive qualifying campaign. They beat
USA in both the 2006 and 2010 tournaments.
Weaknesses
Drawn in arguably the toughest rst-round group. Attacking prowess contrasts
starkly with worries at the back and the lack of a top-class goalkeeper.
Group stage exit.
KEY INFORMATION
GROUP G SCHEDULE
June 16
v United States, Natal
June 21
v Germany, Fortaleza
June 26
v Portugal, Brasilia
BETTING
William Hill
10/1 to win Group G
WORLD CUP HISTORY
2006 Second round, defeat by Brazil
2010 Quarter-nals, defeat by Uruguay
94 WORLD CUP 2014
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Kwesi Appiah
Looking at the players weve got, I believe they can go far and thats why I
keep saying that we may surprise the world.
THE PUNDIT
Mark Gleeson, World Soccer Africa correspondent
One driving force for the team will be the residual anger at being denied that
semi-nal spot at the last World Cup, when Luis Suarezs cynical handball
kept out Dominic Adiyiahs goal-bound header. That whole episode created a
deep wound and for a while hindered Ghanas progress. Now it could become
a motivating spur for the west Africans.
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STARTING
LINE-UP: 4-2-3-1
Kwarasey
ADAM
KWARASEY
DANIEL OPARE
RIGHT-BACK
Club: Standard Liege
(Blg)
Born: 19.10.90
(aged 23)
Apps in qualiers: 4
GOALKEEPER
Club: Stromsgodset
(Nor)
Born: 12.12.87
(aged 26)
Apps in qualiers: 2
Mensah
Akaminko
Opare
Essien
A Ayew
Addy
Muntari
Asamoah
Boateng
Gyan
JERRY
AKAMINKO
JONATHAN
MENSAH
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Eskisehirspor (Tur)
Born: 02.05.88
(aged 26)
Apps in qualiers: 3
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Evian (Fra)
Born: 13.07.90
(aged 23)
Apps in qualiers: 3
ANDRE AYEW
MICHAEL
ESSIEN
SULLEY
MUNTARI
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Milan (Ita)
Born: 03.12.82
(aged 31)
Apps in qualiers: 3
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Milan (Ita)
Born: 27.08.84
(aged 29)
Apps in qualiers: 7
KWADWO
ASAMOAH
KEVIN-PRINCE
BOATENG
ASAMOAH
GYAN
LEFT MIDFIELD
Born: 09.12.88
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 7
FORWARD
Club: Schalke (Ger)
Born: 06.03.87
(aged 27)
Apps in qualiers: 1
CENTRE-FORWARD
Club: Al Ain (UAE)
Born: 22.1
1.85
(aged 28)
Apps in qualiers: 6
RIGHT MIDFIELD
Club: Marseille (Fra)
Born: 17.12.89
(aged 24)
Apps in qualiers: 3
OTHER PLAYERS
HARRISON
AFFUL
DEFENCE
Esperance (Tun)
7 apps/630 mins/0
goals in qualiers
SAMUEL
INKOOM
DEFENCE
Platanias (Gre)
5 apps/374 mins/0
goals in qualiers
ALBERT
ADOMAH
MIDFIELD
Middlesbrough (Eng)
in qualiers
EMMANUEL
AGYEMANG
BADU
MIDFIELD
Udinese (Ita)
8 apps/307 mins/1
goal in qualiers
CHRISTIAN ATSU
MIDFIELD
Vitesse Arnhem (Hol)
5 apps/199 mins/2
goals in qualiers
MUBARAK
WAKASO
MIDFIELD
Rubin Kazan (Rus)
5 apps/231 mins/1
goal in qualiers
DOMINIC
ADIYIAH
FORWARD
Without club
3 apps/209 mins/2
goals in qualiers
JORDAN AYEW
FORWARD
Sochaux (Fra)
2 apps/180 mins/2
goals in qualiers
ABDUL
MAJEED WARIS
FORWARD
Valenciennes (Fra)
4 apps/348 mins/3
goals in qualiers
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DAVID ADDY
LEFT-BACK
Club: Vitoria Guimaraes
(Por)
Born: 21.02.90
(aged 24)
Apps in qualiers: 0
THE COACH
KWESI APPIAH
Born 30.06.60
(aged 53)
He was promoted from
his position as assistant
after Serbian coach
Goran Stepanovic was
red in March 2012,
having already served as
caretaker for several games after the 2010
World Cup. An international defender in his
playing days with Asante Kotoko, he came
through the Ghanaian FAs coaching structures
and led the under-23s to the gold medal at
the 201 All-Africa Games.
1
WORLD CUP 2014 95
WorldMags.net
THE PLAYERS
KEY MEN
Kostas Mitroglou
The multi-talented
26-year-old striker
(right) scored three of
the four goals against
Romania in the
qualication play-off
and notched up
four hat-tricks for Olympiakos this season, three in
the domestic Super League and one at Anderlecht
in the Champions League. Joined Fulham in
January but injuries have restricted his impact.
KEY INFORMATION
GROUP C SCHEDULE
June 14
June 19
June 24
v Colombia, Belo Horizonte

v Japan, Natal
v Ivory Coast, Fortaleza
BETTING
William Hill
6/4 to nish bottom of Group C
WORLD CUP HISTORY
1994
2010
96 WORLD CUP 2014
First round exit

First round exit
Giorgos Karagounis
When the national teams engine starts to fail,
Santos calls on his spark plug, the 37-year-old
veteran, who now plays for Fulham. He has been
the inspiration for the team since his debut in
1999 and has now made a record number of
appearances. He is known for his excellent ball
control, deadly free-kicks from distance and for
drawing fouls.
secured with another Mitroglou goal in a draw in

Bucharest.
Greece only missed out on automatic
qualication on goal difference; the advantage
swung Bosnias way when they beat Greece 3-1 in
Zenica following a goalless draw in Athens ve
months earlier. Those were the only points Greece
dropped all campaign.
Jose Holebas
The German-born defender performed well during
qualication, making numerous attacking runs
down the left ank and providing useful crosses for
his team-mates.
Strengths
The likes of Mitroglou, Gekas, Samaras and
Salpingidis are all capable of goals. Tight defence.
Great team spirit generated by Santos.
ONE TO WATCH
Olympiakos defender Kostas Manolas was one of
the stars of his club sides run in this seasons
Champions League.
ENGLISH CONNECTION
Former Manchester City striker
Giorgos Samaras (right), who has
been at Celtic since leaving City in
2008, plays out wide as part of
Greeces ve-man mideld.
ANALYSIS
How they qualied
After nishing second to Bosnia in one of the
weaker qualifying groups, Greece secured their
third appearance at a World Cup with a 4-2
aggregate victory over Romania in the play-offs.
Two goals from Kostas Mitroglou, plus one from
Dimitris Salpingidis, set them on their way with a
3-1 victory in the home leg, and Greeces place at
a fth major tournament in the last 10 years was
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Weaknesses
Defence can switch off at vital moments. Tendency
to take things easy against lesser opponents. One
or two players are prone to losing their cool.
Group stage exit.
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Fernando Santos
I have a target which is for the team to make it
past the group stage. We have three strong
opponents, but everything is possible. At Euro 2012,
no one thought we could get through the group
stage, especially, after the rst games. Who would
have thought that we could knock out Russia?
THE PUNDIT
Lou Economopoulos, World Soccer Greece
correspondent
Kostas Mitroglou turned a once very defensive
side into an attacking threat at the end of 2013,
WorldMags.net
LIKELY
STARTING
LINE-UP: 4-5-1
Karnezis
ORESTIS
KARNEZIS
VASILIS
TOROSIDIS
GOALKEEPER
Club: Granada (Spa)
Born: 1
1.07.85
(aged 28)
RIGHT-BACK
Club: Roma (Ita)
Born: 10.06.85
(aged 28)
Apps in qualiers: 1
1
KOSTAS
MANOLAS
SOKRATIS
PAPASTATHOPOULOS
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Olympiakos
Born: 14.06.91
(aged 22)
Apps in qualiers: 3
POSITION
Club: Borussia
Dortmund (Ger)
Born: 09.06.88
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 1
1
ALEXANDROS
TZIOLIS
GIORGOS
KARAGOUNIS
GIANNIS
MANIATIS
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Kayserispor (Tur)
Born: 13.02.85
(aged 29)
MIDFIELD
Club: Fulham (Eng)
Born: 06.03.77
(aged 37)
MIDFIELD
Club: Olympiakos
Born: 12.01.86
(aged 27)
GIORGOS
SAMARAS
KOSTAS
MITROGLOU
DIMITRIS
SALPINGIDIS
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: Celtic (Sco)
Born: 21.02.85
(aged 29)
CENTRE-FORWARD
Club: Fulham (Eng)
Born: 12.03.88
(aged 26)
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: PAOK
Born: 18.08.81
(aged 32)
Apps in qualiers: 9
OTHER PLAYERS
GIORGOS
TZAVELLAS
DEFENCE
PAOK
3 apps/164 mins/0
goals in qualiers
AVRAAM
PAPADOPOULOS
DEFENCE
Olympiakos
in qualiers
DIMITRIS
SIOVAS
DEFENCE
Olympiakos
0 apps in qualiers
PANAGIOTIS
KONE
MIDFIELD
Bologna (Ita)
2 apps/90 mins/0
goals in qualiers
LAZAROS
CHRISTODOULOPOULOS
MIDFIELD
Manolas
Papastathopoulos
Torosidis
Holebas
Tziolis
Maniatis
Salpingidis Karagounis Samaras

Mitroglu
JOSE HOLEBAS
LEFT-BACK
Club: Olympiakos (Gre)
Born: 27.06.84
(aged 29)
Apps in qualiers: 9
Bologna (Ita)
6 apps/296 mins/1
goal in qualiers
goals in qualiers
THE COACH
SOTIRIS NINIS
ANDREAS
SAMARIS
FORWARD
PAOK
6 apps/346 mins/1
goal in qualiers
FERNANDO
SANTOS
MIDFIELD
Olympiakos
3 apps/65 mins/0
goals in qualiers
KOSTAS
KATSOURANIS
MIDFIELD
PAOK
10 apps/895 mins/0
FANIS GEKAS
FORWARD
Konyaspor (Tur)
7 apps/405 mins/2
goals in qualiers
WorldMags.net
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Born 10.10.54
(aged 59)
He has overseen an
exceptional run of
form since joining in
the summer of
2010 and led the
side to the
quarter-nals of
Euro 2012. The
Greek federation wanted to keep him after the
World Cup in Brazil but he has decided not to
renew his contract.
WORLD CUP 2014 97
WorldMags.net
KEY INFORMATION
THE PLAYERS
GROUP B SCHEDULE
June 13
v Spain, Salvador
June 18
v Australia, Porto Alegre
June 23
v Chile, Sao Paulo
KEY MEN
Rafael Van der Vaart
For years he was Wesley Sneijders understudy, but he has
now surpassed his former Ajax team-mate as the national
teams mideld creator. Chips in with important goals.
BETTING
William Hill
2/1 to win Group B
WORLD CUP HISTORY
1934
First round exit
1938
First round exit
1974
1978
defeat by Argentina
1990
Second round defeat
by West Germany
1994
Quarter-nal defeat by Brazil
1998
Semi-nal defeat on
penalties by Brazil
2006
Second round defeat
by Portugal
2010
Runners-up,
beaten 1-0 in Final by Spain
Arjen Robben
The only player Van Gaal will make an exception for when
it comes to his dogmas on tness and match practice. The
30-year-old can still create havoc among opposing
defences.
Robin Van Persie
The absolute leader of the pack. One of the few regulars
left in the national team, he was decisive in qualifying on
more than one occasion.
ONE TO WATCH
Born in Portugal to parents from
Guinea Bissau, Bruno Martins Indi
(left) arrived in Holland as a toddler.
A physically strong
defender who has
never let Van Gaal
down and has even scored a few goals.
ENGLISH CONNECTION
Aston Villa defender Ron Vlaar (right)
will play a crucial role in the back four.
ANALYSIS
How they qualied
Expectations were not exactly high when the qualiers
started. Holland had experienced a disastrous Euro 2012
three group-game defeats and an early exit and new
coach Louis Van Gaal had to virtually build a new team
from scratch.
98 WORLD CUP 2014
However, the opener against Turkey proved vital. A 2-0

win gave the team and the charismatic Van Gaal a major
condence boost, and wins away against Hungary and
Romania, plus a home victory over minnows Andorra, put
Holland in pole position.
They suffered a hiccup in Estonia, where they were lucky
to clinch a 2-2 draw, but a 2-0 win in Andorra was enough
to qualify unbeaten, with two games to spare.
Strengths
Van Gaal is the ideal man to get the best out of a young
squad, with a new generation of players emerging.
Weaknesses
The defence lacks a leader. The majority of the squad is
made up of inexperienced Eredivisie players. Key
midelder Kevin Strootman will miss the World Cup
because of injury.
Group stage exit.
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Louis Van Gaal
We will go to the World Cup with mainly young players.
Our goal will be to survive the group phase. There are at
least eight teams better than us.
THE PUNDIT
Klaas-Jan Droppert, World Soccer Holland
correspondent
The big question is who will be in the team. Up until now,
Van Gaal has selected his side on tness and form, using a
crop of inexperienced Eredivisie players and often
changing the team from one game to the next. A star like
Wesley Sneijder, who was stripped of the captaincy during
the qualication campaign, is not guaranteed a place.
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LINE-UP: 4-3-3
Cillessen
JASPER
CILLESSEN
DARYL
JANMAAT
GOALKEEPER
Club: Ajax
Born: 22.04.89
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 1
RIGHT-BACK
Club: Feyenoord
Born: 22.07.89
(aged 24)
Apps in qualiers: 8
RON VLAAR
BRUNO
MARTINS INDI
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Aston Villa (Eng)
Born: 16.02.85
(aged 29)
Apps in qualiers: 7
Janmaat Vlaar Martins Indi Blind

De Jong Van der Vaart
Fer
Lens
Van Persie Robben
DALEY BLIND
LEFT-BACK
Club: Ajax
Born: 09.03.90
(aged 24)
Apps in qualiers: 4
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Feyenoord
Born: 08.02.92
(aged 22)
Apps in qualiers: 8
LEROY FER
NIGEL DE JONG
MIDFIELDER
Club: Norwich City
(Eng)
Born: 05.01.90
(aged 24)
Apps in qualiers: 3
MIDFIELDER
Club: Milan (Ita)
Born: 30.1
1.89
(aged 24)
Apps in qualiers: 3
JEREMAIN
LENS
ROBIN VAN
PERSIE
ARJEN
ROBBEN
FORWARD
Club: Dynamo Kiev
(Ukr)
Born: 24.1
1.87
(aged 26)
Apps in qualiers: 9
CENTRE-FORWARD
Club: Manchester
United (Eng)
Born: 06.08.83
(aged 30)
Apps in qualiers: 9
1
FORWARD
Club: Bayern Munich
(Ger)
Born: 23.01.84
(aged 30)
Apps in qualiers: 6
OTHER PLAYERS
JOEL VELTMAN
Paris Saint Germain

(Fra)
0 apps in qualiers
DEFENCE
Ajax
0 apps in qualiers
DAVY
KLAESSEN
TERENCE
KONGOLO
MIDFIELD
Ajax
0 apps in qualiers
DEFENCE
Feyenoord
0 apps in qualiers
WESLEY
SNEIJDER
GREGORY
VAN DER WIEL
MIDFIELD
Galatasaray (Tur)
6 apps/474 mins/1
goal in qualiers
DEFENCE
JORDY CLASIE
MIDFIELD
Feyenoord
5 apps/245 mins/0
goals in qualiers
STIJN
SCHAARS
MIDFIELD
PSV
2 apps/180 mins/0
goals in qualiers
MEMPHIS
DEPAY
FORWARD
PSV Eindhoven
1 apps/1 min/0 goals
in qualiers
DIRK KUYT
FORWARD
Fenerbahce (Tur)
5 apps/128 mins/0
goals in qualiers
KLAAS-JAN
HUNTELAAR
FORWARD
Schalke (Ger)
2 apps/135 mins/2
goals in qualiers
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RAFAEL VAN
DER VAART
MIDFIELDER
Club: Hamburg (Ger)
Born: 1
1.02.83
(aged 31)
Apps in qualiers: 5
THE COACH
LOUIS VAN
GAAL
Born 08.08.51
(aged 62)
One of the worlds most
successful coaches, he
has won league titles
with Ajax, Barcelona, AZ
and Bayern Munich. He
was in charge of Holland
once before but stepped
down after failing to
qualify for the 2002
World Cup. He leaves
after the World Cup.
WORLD CUP 2014 99
WorldMags.net
THE PLAYERS
KEY MEN
Maynor Figueroa
The teams best player at the moment and the
only one who has had a good season in England.
At 30, he seems to be at his best, while his stability
and calm at the heart of the defence will be
essential in Brazil.
Roger Espinoza
The Wigan Athletic midelders positional
awareness and never-say-die attitude make him
irreplaceable for the national team.
Carlo Costly
Underwhelming with almost
every club he has played for
outside of Honduras, but every
time he puts on the national
shirt he exceeds expectations.
He has scored 30 goals in 68
internationals, including the winning goal against
Mexico at the Estadio Azteca.
ONE TO WATCH
Jonathan Mejia, a Spanish-born striker who has
been outstanding with second-tier Spanish side
Real Jaen this season.
KEY INFORMATION
GROUP E SCHEDULE
June 15
June 20
June 25
v France, Porto Alegre

v Ecuador, Curitiba
v Switzerland, Manaus
BETTING
William Hill
16/1 to win Group E
WORLD CUP HISTORY
1982
2010
100 WORLD CUP 2014
ENGLISH CONNECTION
Stoke City midelder Wilson
Palacios (left) was a regular
during the qualifying campaign
but his lack of playing time in
this seasons Premier League
could jeopardise his World
Cup place.
ANALYSIS
First round exit
First round exit
How they qualied

Honduras deed all expectations during the
qualifying campaign. With a squad that lacked star
names and made up of many players who seemed
to be past their prime, the best hope had been to
pip Panama to fourth place in the qualifying
CONCACAF section, and a play-off with the
champions of Oceania.
But Colombian coach Luis Fernando Suarez
crafted a team that punched above their weight.
They qualied directly for their second World Cup
in a row, beating Mexico in the Estadio Azteca a
rst in the history of La H along the way.
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Strengths
A reasonable group draw. The core of the side
played at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and
will not be star-struck in Brazil. Valladares is a very
consistent goalkeeper, while Bernardez and
Figueroa have played together for years at the
heart of the defence.
Weaknesses
Few attacking options if Costly or Bengtson is
unavailable. No true match-winner. An ageing
squad with few rst-team players under the
age of 28.
Group stage exit
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Luis Fernando Suarez
Honduras has for ve or six years, maybe a little
bit more, been showing progress in its football and
is logically well regarded for that in Central
America. But I realise that in the world as a whole
few know about Honduras as a football team so it
would be good for what has already been seen in
Central America to be seen at the World Cup.
THE PUNDIT
Martin Del Palacio Langer, World Soccer
Central America correspondent
Honduras are a modest team, inferior in quality to
the one that played in the 2010 World Cup in
South Africa, but one that is much more united
and with a better spirit. Looking at the quality at
Suarezs disposal, they should consider themselves
lucky if they manage to improve on their one-point
tally from four years ago.
WorldMags.net
LIKELY
STARTING
LINE-UP: 4-4-2
Valladares
NOEL
VALLADARES
ARNOLD
PERALTA
GOALKEEPER
Club: Olimpia
Born: 03.05.77
(aged 37)
RIGHT-BACK
Club: Rangers (Sco)
Born: 29.03.89
(aged 25)
VICTOR
BERNARDEZ
MAYNOR
FIGUEROA
EMILIO
IZAGUIRRE
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: San Jose
Earthquakes (USA)
Born: 24.05.82
(aged 31)
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Hull City (Eng)
Born: 02.05.83
(aged 30)
Mins in qualiers: 1
170
LEFT-BACK
Club: Celtic (Sco)
Born: 10.05.86
(aged 27)
Mins in qualiers: 1
128
Bernardez Figueroa
Izaguirre
Peralta
Garrido
Espinoza
Garcia
Claros
Costly
Bengtson
JORGE CLAROS
LUIS GARRIDO
OSCAR GARCIA
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Motagua
Born: 08.01.86
(aged 28)
Apps in qualiers: 8
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Olimpia
Born: 05.1
1.90
(aged 23)
Apps in qualiers: 1
1
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: Houston Dynamo
(USA)
Born: 04.09.84
(aged 29)
CARLO COSTLY
JERRY
BENGTSON
ROGER
ESPINOZA
CENTRE-FORWARD
Club: Real Espana
Born: 18.07.82
(aged 31)
Mins in qualiers:
1095
LEFT MIDFIELD
Club: Wigan Athletic
(Eng)
Born: 25.10.86
(aged 27)
OTHER PLAYERS
BRAYAN
BECKELES
DEFENDER
Olimpia
3 apps/270 mins/0
goals in qualiers
JUAN CARLOS
GARCIA
DEFENDER
Wigan Athletic (Eng)
8 apps/386 mins/1
goal in qualiers
WILSON
PALACIOS
MIDFIELDER
Stoke City (Eng)
1 apps/839 mins/1
1
goal in qualiers
ANDY NAJAR
MIDFIELDER
Anderlecht (Blg)
5 apps/263 mins/0
goals in qualiers
MARIO
MARTINEZ
MIDFIELDER
Real Espana
9 apps/689 mins/2
goals in qualiers
EDDER
DELGADO
MIDFIELDER
Real Espana
2 apps/180 mins/0
goals in qualiers
MARVIN
CHAVEZ
MIDFIELDER
Colorado Rapids (USA)
6 apps/177 mins/1
CENTRE-FORWARD
Club: New England
Revolution (USA)
Born: 08.04.87
(aged 27)
goal in qualiers
THE COACH
JONATHAN
MEJIA
LUIS FERNANDO
SUAREZ
FORWARD
Real Jaen (Spa)
0 apps in qualiers
Born 23.12.59
(aged 54)
Colombian who sprang
to fame when he took
Ecuador to the round of
16 at the 2006 World
Cup, where they
narrowly lost to England.
Hes better known for his
effective motivational
skills than his tactical
acumen. Led Atletico Nacional to the
Colombian championship.
GEORGIE
WELCOME
FORWARD
BEC Tero Sasana
(Tha)
4 apps/142 mins/0
goals in qualiers
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WORLD CUP 2014 101
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THE PLAYERS
KEY MEN
Javad Nekounam
An inspirational leader and captain with a knack
of scoring crucial goals. The former Osasuna
midelders know-how is vital to a team not used
to the big stage.
Ashkan Dejagah
The ex-Germany Under-23
(left) was badly missed in the
nal three qualiers. After a
fruitful debut season with
Fulham, he was a vital factor
in Irans qualifying campaign
with his air and stamina.
Reza Ghoochannejad
The unexpected hero whose sharp nishes in each
of the last three games gave the perfect reply to
his local critics.
KEY INFORMATION
GROUP F SCHEDULE
June 16
v Nigeria, Curitiba
June 21
v Argentina, Belo Horizonte
June 25
v Bosnia-Herzegovina, Salvador
BETTING
William Hill
1/10 to be eliminated at
group stage
WORLD CUP HISTORY
1978
First round exit
1998
First round exit
2006
First round exit
102 WORLD CUP 2014
ONE TO WATCH
American-born right-back Steven Beitashour
recently accepted an invitation to play for Iran after
giving up on a call-up from the USA. Known in Iran
by his Persian name, Mehrdad.
ENGLISH CONNECTION
Midelder Andranik Teimurian
(right) is now back playing club
football in Iran after spells with
Premier League clubs Bolton
Wanderers and Fulham.
ANALYSIS
How they qualied
Irans road to Brazil started with a two-legged
victory over the Maldives and then followed with a
6-0 thrashing of 10-man Bahrain as they topped
their rst group stage.
The next hurdle was a group with Lebanon,
Qatar, South Korea and Uzbekistan. A late win in
Uzbekistan was followed by a home draw with
Qatar and an embarrassing defeat in Lebanon. The
pressure was mounting on coach Carlos Queiroz
before the crucial home game against South Korea
but, as is so often with Iran, the need to get a
result brought out the best in them. Despite going
down to 10 men, a goal from captain Javad
Nekounam secured a vital win in front of 100,000
fans. However, a home defeat by Uzbekistan in the
next game drastically reduced their chances of
automatic qualication.
It all came down to the nal three qualiers in
June 2013: at home to Lebanon, and away to
Qatar and South Korea. Against all the odds, Iran
won all three games to top their group. The hero
of the hour was Reza Ghoochannejad, a
25-year-old forward raised in Holland by Iranian
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parents and now known as Gucci by an adoring

nation. He scored in all three games, crucially in
both of the 1-0 wins in Qatar and South Korea.
Strengths
Hosseini and Montazeri are a solid central
defensive partnership. Queiroz has introduced
tactical discipline. As underdogs, they will be under
no pressure in Brazil.
Weaknesses
Only a handful of the rst team are playing abroad.
Goal-shy in the qualiers. An ageing team, with an
average age of 29.7.
Group stage exit.
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Carlos Queiroz
Iran is not a fake country in terms of football. Iran is
one of those countries where football is in the DNA,
the blood of the people, like in Brazil, Argentina or
Portugal. The people live the game. It is one of the
few counties in the world where you still see a
stadium with more than 100,000 crammed in to
watch a game. The night we qualied for the World
Cup, we had 65million on the streets celebrating.
THE PUNDIT
Adel Ferdowispour, World Soccer Iran
correspondent
Sixteen years after Iran beat Australia to qualify
for France 98 history has repeated itself. But do
Iran have enough air? With Ali Karimi having
retired, and Masoud Shojaeis inconsistency, a lack
of creativity in mideld is a worry.
WorldMags.net
LIKELY
STARTING
LINE-UP: 4-2-3-1
Davari
KHOSRO
HEIDARI
DANIEL DAVARI
GOALKEEPER
Club: Eintracht
Braunschweig (Ger)
Born: 06.01.88
(aged 26)
Apps in qualiers: 0
RIGHT-BACK
Club: Esteghlal
Born: 14.09.83
(aged 30)
Hosseini
Montazeri
Beikzade
Heidari
Nekounam Teimurian
Shojaei Jahanbakhsh
Dejagah
Ghoochannejad
JALAL
HOSSEINI
ASHKAN
DEJAGAH
DEFENSIVE MIDFIELD
Club: Esteghlal
Born: 06.03.83
(aged 31)
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: Fulham (Eng)
Born: 05.06.86
(aged 27)
Apps in qualiers: 4
ALIREZA
JAHANBAKHSH
REZA
GHOOCHANNEJAD
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: Las Palmas (Spa)
Born: 09.06.84
(aged 29)
Apps in qualiers: 5
DEFENCE
Esteghlal
2 apps/180 mins/0
goals in qualiers
ANDRANIK
TEIMURIAN
MASOUD
SHOJAEI
AMIRHOSEIN
SADEGHI
LEFT-BACK
Club: Esteghlal
Born: 22.01.84
(aged 30)
Apps in qualiers: 3
DEFENSIVE MIDFIELD
Club: Al Kuwait (Kuw)
Born: 07.09.80
(aged 33)
GOALKEEPER
Sepahan
3 apps/270 mins/0
goals in qualiers
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Umm Salal (Qat)
Born: 06.09.83
(aged 30)
Apps in qualiers: 7
JAVAD
NEKOUNAM
RAHMAN
AHMADI
HASHEM
BEIKZADE
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Persepolis
Born: 03.02.82
(aged 32)
OTHER PLAYERS
PEJMAN
MONTAZERI
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: NEC (Hol)
Born: 08.10.93
(aged 20)
Apps in qualiers: 0
Mins in qualiers: 0
CENTRE-FORWARD
Club: Charlton Athletic
(Eng)
Born: 20.09.87
(aged 26)
Apps in qualiers: 5
EHSAN
HAJSAFI
DEFENCE
Sepahan
8 apps/312 mins/0
goals in qualiers
MEHRDAD
PULADI
DEFENCE
Sepahan
10 apps/872 mins/0
goals in qualiers
STEVEN
BEITASHOUR
DEFENCE
Vancouver
Whitecaps (USA)
0 apps in qualiers
GHASEM
HADADIFAR
MIDFIELD
Zob Ahan
3 apps/250 mins/0
goals in qualiers
MOHAMADREZA
KHALATBARI
MIDFIELD
Persepolis
15 apps/844 mins/3
goals in qualiers
KARIM
ANSARIFAR
FORWARD
Tractor Sazi
10 apps/566 mins/3
goals in qualiers
SARDAR
AZMOON
FORWARD
Rubin Kazan (Rus)
0 apps in qualiers
WorldMags.net
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THE COACH
CARLOS
QUEIROZ
Born 01.03.53
(aged 61)
Portuguese, former
assistant to Alex
Ferguson and
one-time boss of
Real Madrid. Missed
the 2002 World
Cup after falling out
with the South
African FA, then led
unconvincing
Portugal in 2010.
WORLD CUP 2014 103
WorldMags.net
KEY INFORMATION
THE PLAYERS
GROUP D SCHEDULE
June 14
v England, Manaus
June 20
v Costa Rica, Recife
June 24
v Uruguay, Natal
KEY MEN
Gigi Buffon
As national team captain, he is not shy of standing up to
be counted at key moments. As goalkeeper, he remains
the very rock on which Cesare Prandellis team is founded.
BETTING
William Hill
WORLD CUP HISTORY
1934
WINNERS, 2-1 Final
victory over Czechoslovakia
1938
WINNERS, 4-2 Final
victory over Hungary
1950
First round exit
1954
First round exit
1962
First round exit
1966
First round exit
1970
Runners-up,
4-1 Final defeat by Brazil
1974
First round exit
1978
Semi-nals, defeat
1982
over West Germany
1986 Second round, defeat by France
1990
Semi-nals,
defeat by Argentina
1994
Runners-up, Final defeat on
penalties by Brazil
1998 Quarter-nals, defeat by France
2002
Second round,
defeat by
South Korea
2006
WINNERS,
Final victory on
penalties over
France
2010 Group stage
exit
104 WORLD CUP 2014
Giorgio Chiellini
Another foundation stone of the side,
he brings true central-defensive grit,
left-back versatility and a huge
understanding with his Juventus
team-mate Buffon.
Daniele De Rossi
Prandelli converted the midelder into a central defender
at Euro 2012. In either position, he provides vision as well
as ball-winning and distribution skills.
ONE TO WATCH
Alessio Cerci is the closest thing to a genuine winger in
todays Italian football. Outstanding for mid-table Torino,
he has pace as well as dribbling and shooting skills.
it took the team to equalise after going 2-0 down in their

opening 2-2 draw away to Bulgaria.
That draw set up a highly successful autumn 2012,
climaxed by a 3-1 win at Milans San Siro against Denmark.
Against the Czechs in Turin, the Azzurri conceded a
counter-attacking goal to the Czechs, but stuck to their
task, equalised through Giorgio Chiellini and then wrapped
it all up through, appropriately, Balotelli. Mission
accomplished, well ahead of time.
Strengths
Coach Prandelli is a clever tactician and motivator. Italy are
a tournament team. Their positive showing at last
summers tournament in Brazil was a huge morale boost.
Weaknesses
Striker Giuseppe Rossi is unlikely to be fully recovered
from a knee injury. Balotellis temperament. Some younger
squad members may not get enough club football.
Quarter-nals.
WHAT THEY SAY
ENGLISH CONNECTION
Former Man City striker Mario Balotelli
is the ace in Prandellis pack. The coach
will now be hoping that he plays every
game as he did in the semi-nal in
Poland. So does the whole of Italy.
THE COACH
Cesare Prandelli
This is a tough rst-round group with three former World
Cup winners [England, Italy & Uruguay] but our tradition is
that, if were in a difcult group, then we go to the
tournament in the right frame of mind, mentally prepared.
How they qualied

By beating the Czech Republic 2-1 in Turin last September,
Italy qualied for the 2014 World Cup with two matches
still to play. Cesare Prandellis side did it in style, dominating
their group from start to nish. Arguably, their only real
moment of worry lasted just six minutes: the length of time
THE PUNDIT
Paddy Agnew, World Soccer Italy correspondent
Under Prandelli Italians have enjoyed anxiety-free
qualifying groups but also quality football. Performances at
the 2013 Confederations Cup a penalty shoot-out defeat
by Spain in an epic semi-nal was proof that this is, in
the words of Prandelli, a serious team.
ANALYSIS
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LIKELY
STARTING
LINE-UP: 4-3-3
Buffon
GIANLUIGI
BUFFON
CHRISTIAN
MAGGIO
GOALKEEPER
Club: Juventus
Born: 28.01.78
(aged 36)
Apps in qualiers: 8
RIGHT-BACK
Club: Napoli
Born: 1
1.02.82
(aged 32)
Apps in qualiers: 4
ANDREA
BARZAGLI
GIORGIO
CHIELLINI
DOMENICO
CRISCITO
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Juventus
Born: 08.05.81
(aged 33)
Apps in qualiers: 6
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Juventus
Born: 14.08.84
(aged 29)
Apps in qualiers: 5
LEFT-BACK
Club: Zenit St
Petersburg (Rus)
Born: 30.12.86
(aged 27)
Apps in qualiers: 1
ANDREA PIRLO
RICCARDO
MONTOLIVO
DANIELE DE
ROSSI
MIDFIELD
Club: Milan
Born: 18.01.85
(aged 29)
Apps in qualiers: 7
1
MIDFIELD
Club: Roma
Born: 24.07.83
(aged 31)
Apps in qualiers: 6
MARIO
BALOTELLI
LORENZO
INSIGNE
CENTRE-FORWARD
Club: Milan
Born: 12.08.90
(aged 23)
Apps in qualiers: 5
FORWARD
Club: Napoli
Born: 04.06.91
(aged 22)
Apps in qualiers: 3
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Juventus
Born: 19.05.79
(aged 35)
Apps in qualiers: 9
ALESSIO CERCI
RIGHT-WINGER
Club: Torino
Born: 23.07.87
(aged 26)
Apps in qualiers: 2
OTHER PLAYERS
LEONARDO
BONUCCI
DEFENCE
Club: Juventus
8 apps/720 mins/0
goals in qualiers
IGNAZIO
ABATE
DEFENCE
Club: Milan
5 apps/440 mins/0
goals in qualiers
GABRIEL
PALETTA
DEFENCE
Club: Parma
0 apps in qualiers
MARCO
VERRATTI
MIDFIELD
Club: Paris SaintGermain (Fra)
0 apps in qualiers
CLAUDIO
MARCHISIO
MIDFIELD
Club: Juventus
7 apps/593 mins/0
goals in qualiers
ANTONIO
CANDREVA
MIDFIELD
Club: Lazio
7 apps/346 mins/0
goals in qualiers
THIAGO
MOTTA
MIDFIELD
3 apps/184 mins/0
Barzagli
Chiellini
Criscito
Maggio
Montolivo
Pirlo
De Rossi
Cerci
Balotelli
Insigne
goals in qualiers
THE COACH
SEBASTIANO
GIOVINCO
CESARE
PRANDELLI
FORWARD
Club: Juventus
4 apps/186 mins/0
goals in qualiers
Born 19.08.57
(aged 56)
No one seems to
get better
performances out
of Mario Balotelli
than Prandelli. That
is a tribute not just
to his immense
coaching skills,
but even more so
to his broadminded vision.
PABLO
OSVALDO
FORWARD
Club: Juventus
7 apps/505 mins/4
goals in qualiers
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WORLD CUP 2014 105
WorldMags.net
THE PLAYERS
KEY MEN
Didier Drogba
Still has a talismanic inuence
on the side and continues to
score regularly at international
level, even if he is nearing the end of his career. The
pace and power might have diminished, but his role
these days is more one of inuence, encouragement
and, at times, just scaring the opposition.
Yaya Toure
Named African Footballer of the Year for a third
successive time in January, the Manchester City
mideld colossus is the engine room of the
Ivorian side.
KEY INFORMATION
GROUP C SCHEDULE
June 14
June 19
June 24
ONE TO WATCH
Disappointing during his time at Arsenal,
Gervinho has been nding his form again at club
level with Roma. For the national team he has
been a consistently creative force
with his devastating runs and
high-tempo approach.
ENGLISH CONNECTION
Liverpools Kolo Toure (right), Yayas
older brother, is likely to feature in
the centre of defence.
ANALYSIS
v Japan, Recife
v Colombia, Brasilia
v Greece, Fortaleza
BETTING
William Hill
10/1 to qualify from Group C
1
WORLD CUP
HISTORY
2006
Group stage exit
2010
Group stage exit
106 WORLD CUP 2014
Salomon Kalou
Despite inconsistent club form for Lille, his ve
goals in qualifying showed his worth in the national
set-up. His pace, with Drogbas power, remains a
very effective combination.
How they qualied

Ivory Coast may be the highest-ranked African
side in Brazil this summer, but that position reects
the teams potential rather than their
performances. Instead of building a reputation as
the continents dominant force, they have become
better known for falling short when it really matters.
In the preliminary qualifying round for Brazil
2014, Sabri Lamouchis side went about their
business with the usual air of efciency. Despite a
relatively tough qualifying assignment, which saw
them drawn in the same group as Morocco, they
went through unbeaten and then ousted fellow
west Africa heavyweights Senegal in the play-offs.
National coach Lamouchi, who had no formal
experience prior to being appointed in May 2012,
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has tried to inject some new talent into a squad

fast approaching its sell-by date.
However, there is still a big reliance on veterans
Didier Drogba and Didier Zokora, while the
pressure is on Yaya Toure to help lead and develop
a new generation of emerging players.
Strengths
Senior players will be heavily motivated by
probably their last chance at a big tournament.
Coach Lamouchi is well prepared.
Weaknesses
Never far from a major argument within the squad.
Too many older legs in the rst team. Weighed
down by expectations from Ivorian public.
Group stage exit.
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Sabri Lamouchi
For us to get out of the group stage is an
objective. Ivory Coast have not done this before, so
that would be a perfect result for us.
THE PUNDIT
correspondent
Ivory Coast have yet to reach the knockout stage
at the nals, but this years draw gives them their
best chance yet. Yet here is still a feeling that this
team has a penchant for snatching defeat from
the jaws of victory. To succeed this summer, they
must overcome such thoughts.
WorldMags.net
LIKELY
STARTING
LINE-UP: 4-2-3-1
BARRY
BOUBACAR
BARRY
SERGE AURIER
RIGHT-BACK
Club: Toulouse (Fra)
Born: 24.12.92
(aged 21)
Apps in qualiers: 5
GOALKEEPER
Club: Lokeren (Blg)
Born: 30.12.79
(aged 34)
Apps in qualiers: 8
K TOURE
ZOKORA
AURIER
BOKA
ROMARIC
TIOTE
GERVINHO Y TOURE
KALOU
DROGBA
KOLO TOURE
DIDIER
ZOKORA
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Liverpool (Eng)
Born: 19.03.81
(aged 33)
Apps in qualiers: 4
ARTHUR BOKA
LEFT-BACK
Club: Stuttgart (Ger)
Born: 02.04.81
(aged 33)
Apps in qualiers: 4
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Trabzonspor (Tur)
Born: 14.12.80
(aged 33)
Apps in qualiers: 5
ROMARIC
CHEICK TIOTE
YAYA TOURE
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Bastia (Fra)
Born: 04.06.83
(aged 31)
Apps in qualiers: 4
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Newcastle United
(Eng)
Born: 21.06.86
(aged 27)
Apps in qualiers: 6
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
(Eng)
Born: 13.05.83
(aged 31)
Apps in qualiers: 6
GERVINHO
DIDIER
DROGBA
SALOMON
KALOU
CENTRE-FORWARD
Born: 1
1.03.78
(aged 36)
Apps in qualiers: 5
FORWARD
Club: Lille (Fra)
Born: 05.08.85
(aged 28)
Apps in qualiers: 7
FORWARD
Club: Roma (Ita)
Born: 27.05.87
(aged 27)
Apps in qualiers: 7
OTHER PLAYERS
SEREY DIE
CONSTANT
DJAKPA
MIDFIELD
Basle (Swi)
4 apps/319mins/0
goals in qualiers
DEFENCE
Eintracht Frankfurt
(Ger)
0 apps in qualiers
SIAKA TIENE
DEFENCE
Montpellier (Fra)
3 apps/236 mins/0
goals in qualiers
ISMAEL
DIOMANDE
MIDFIELD
Saint-Etienne (Fra)
0 apps in qualiers
JEAN-JACQUES
GOSSO
MIDFIELD
Genclerbirligi (Tur)
4 apps/360 mins/0
goals in qualiers
WILFRIED
BONY
MAX GRADEL
FORWARD
Swansea City (Eng)
5 apps/189 mins/3
goals in qualiers
MIDFIELD
Saint-Etienne (Fra)
3 apps/50 mins/0
goals in qualiers
MATHIS BOLLY
FORWARD
Fortuna Dusseldorf
(Ger)
in qualiers
SEYDOU
DOUMBIA
FORWARD
CSKA Moscow (Rus)
0 apps in qualiers
WorldMags.net
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THE COACH
SABRI
LAMOUCHI
Born 09.11.71
(aged 42)
The former France
midelder only took
control the week
before the qualiers
began, succeeding
Francois Zahoui, who
led the side to the Final of the 2012 African
Nations Cup without conceding a goal. He has
since carved out his own role, dropping Drogba
last year and putting together an impressive
run of results.
WORLD CUP 2014 107
WorldMags.net
THE PLAYERS
KEY MEN
Keisuke Honda
An inspirational player with outstanding vision and
physical strength. Japan are so much more
dangerous when he is on the eld.
ONE TO WATCH
Attack-minded Shinji
Okazaki (right) played in
every qualier, scoring four
goals, and could be the
beneciary of Hondas
creative passing in Brazil.
Yuto Nagatomo
A ne attacking full-back whose game has grown
enormously in Italy playing for Internazionale.
ENGLISH CONNECTION
Shinji Kagawa is still only 25
and he keeps getting better.
The Manchester United
midelders ball skills, passing and
eye for goal are crucial to Japans
gameplan.
Makoto Hasebe
Japans captain starts many of the best attacks
from his holding position in mideld and also lls a
vital defensive role.
ANALYSIS
KEY INFORMATION
GROUP C SCHEDULE
June 14
June 19
June 24
v Ivory Coast, Recife

v Greece, Natal
v Colombia, Cuiaba
BETTING
William Hill
3/1 to win Group C
WORLD CUP HISTORY
1998
First round exit
2002 Second round, defeat
by Belgium
2006
First round exit
2010 Second round, defeat
on pens by Paraguay
108 WORLD CUP 2014
How they qualied

Japan neither waltzed through the qualiers nor
did they struggle. If qualication for a fth
consecutive World Cup wasnt a foregone
conclusion, at least nobody was surprised when
they became the rst team to qualify from the
Asian section for the second time in a row.
Entering from the third round, Japan started well
in qualication, but losses at the nish to North
Korea and Uzbekistan put them through in second
place. They may have been fortunate with the
fourth-round draw, but they hit the ground running
and looked set to clinch their passage with three
games to spare until a shock defeat in Jordan.
By the time they did qualify it was such a
mathematical certainty that the 2013
Confederations Cup was the only tournament
that mattered.
That produced a mixed report card. They lost
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3-0 to the hosts but then a 4-3 defeat to Italy

showed Japans vibrancy in attack and restored
some battered pride.
Strengths
Most of Japans players now play in Europe and
wont be overawed. Their hard-running, shortpassing game can threaten most opponents.
Weaknesses
Vulnerable at set-pieces. Get hit on the counterattack when the attacking full-backs get caught
upeld.
Second round.
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Alberto Zaccheroni
I do believe the team has grown through the
experience of the Confederations Cup. A child who
never falls, never learns how to fall.
THE PUNDIT
Mike Plastow, World Soccer Japan
correspondent
The Asian champions have class in veteran
Italian coach Alberto Zaccheroni, in players such
as Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa, and indeed
throughout a team whose players are now mostly
regulars in the top leagues of Europe. Japan have
the potential to either produce a major upset in
Brazil or op badly. Whichever the case may be,
the world is learning to respect Japan as a rather
special opponent.
WorldMags.net
LIKELY
STARTING
LINE-UP: 4-2-3-1
Kawashima
EIJI
KAWASHIMA
ATSUTO
UCHIDA
GOALKEEPER
Club: Standard Liege (Blg)
Born: 20.03.83
(aged 31)
Mins in qualiers: 1
170
RIGHT-BACK
Club: Schalke (Ger)
Born: 27.03.88
(aged 26)
MAYA YOSHIDA
Yoshida
Konno
Uchida
Nagatomo
Endo
Okazaki
Hasebe
Honda
Kagawa
Osako
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Southampton
(Eng)
Born: 24.08.88
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 1
1
DEFENCE
Hanover (Ger)
4 apps/280 mins/0
goals in qualiers
MAKOTO
HASEBE
KEISUKE
HONDA
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Nuremberg (Ger)
Born: 18.01.84
(aged 30)
Mins in qualiers: 1
142
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: Milan (Ita)
Born: 13.06.86 (age
27)
Apps in qualiers: 6
SHINJI
OKAZAKI
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: Manchester
United (Eng)
Born: 17.03.89
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 1
1
HIROKI
SAKAI
LEFT-BACK
Club: Internazionale (Ita)
Born: 12.09.86
(aged 27)
Apps in qualiers: 9
SHINJI
KAGAWA
DEFENCE
FC Tokyo
0 apps in qualiers
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Gamba Osaka
Born: 25.01.83
(aged 31)
Mins in qualiers: 1
152
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Gamba Osaka
Born: 28.01.80
(aged 34)
Mins in qualiers: 1
165
MASATO
MORISHIGE
YUTO
NAGATOMO
YASUHITO
ENDO
OTHER PLAYERS
YASUYUKI
KONNO
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: Mainz (Ger)
Born: 16.04.86
(aged 28)
GOTOKU
SAKAI
DEFENCE
Stuttgart (Ger)
2 apps/105 mins/0
goals in qualiers
TOSHIRO
AOYAMA
MIDFIELD
Sanfrecce Hiroshima
0 apps in qualiers
HOTARU
YAMAGUCHI
0 apps in qualiers
HAJIME
HOSOGAI
MIDFIELD
Herth Berlin (Ger)
6 apps/218 mins/0
goals in qualiers
HIROSHI
KIYOTAKE
MIDFIELD
Nuremberg (Ger)
1 apps/515 mins/1
1
goal in qualiers
YOHEI
TOYODA
FORWARD
Sagan Tosu
0 apps in qualiers
YUYA OSAKO
FORWARD
Club: 1860 Munich
(Ger)
Born: 18.05.90
(aged 24)
Apps in qualiers: 0
THE COACH
ALBERTO ZACCHERONI
Born 01.01.53 (aged 61)
The Italian managed most of the big clubs in
Italy and has led Japan on a long unbeaten run.
MASATO
KUDO
FORWARD
Kashiwa Reysol
0 apps in qualiers
MIDFIELD
Cerezo Osaka
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WORLD CUP 2014 109
WorldMags.net
KEY INFORMATION
GROUP A SCHEDULE
June 13
v Cameroon, Natal
June 17
v Brazil, Fortaleza
June 23
v Croatia, Recife
BETTING
William Hill
1
1/10 to qualify from Group A
WORLD CUP HISTORY
1930
First round exit
1950
First round exit
1954
First round exit
1958
First round exit
1962
First round exit
1966
First round exit
1970
Quarter-nals, defeat by Italy
1978
First round exit
1986
Quarter-nals,
1990
Banned
1994
Second round,
defeat by Bulgaria
1998
Second round,
defeat by Germany
2002
Second round, defeat by US
2006
Second round,
defeat by Argentina
2010
Second round,
defeat by Argentina
THE PLAYERS
KEY MEN
Oribe Peralta
The Santos Laguna striker is probably
the only indispensable player in
Herreras side. He has scored some key
goals for the national team, including
two in the 2012 Olympic Final and ve
in the play-off against New Zealand.
Rafael Marquez
He suffered a major slump of form after leaving Barcelona
for MLS, which cost him his place in the national team, but
he has been back in favour since returning to Mexico and
playing for Leon.
Giovani Dos Santos
After failing to deliver at Tottenham Hotspur, he regained
his form in Spain, rst with Mallorca and now with
Villarreal. He hasnt been as effective with the national
team of late, but that is mostly because he is played out
of position.
ONE TO WATCH
Midelder Hector Herrera (left) was one
of the stars of Mexicos 2012 Olympic
triumph and was also best player at last
years Toulon Under-21 tournament.
ENGLISH CONNECTION
Javier Hernandez has fallen out of favour at Manchester
United and has also dropped out of Mexicos starting line-up.
ANALYSIS
How they qualied
Olympic champions Mexico endured the worst year in
their recent footballing history in 2013 and could easily
have missed out on this summers World Cup.
1 WORLD CUP 2014
10
After their worst nish in the CONCACAF qualifying

group they were fourth, just ahead of Panama and
Jamaica El Tri are only travelling to Brazil because they
faced weak opposition all the way. They won a solitary
game at the Estadio Azteca and changed coaches three
times in the process, before facing New Zealand to book
their place via the Inter-continental play-off.
Coach Herrera risked a split between himself and his
European-based stars when he left them of the play-offs
against New Zealand. He has since stated that he wants to
re-integrate them.
Strengths
Plenty of quality players. The return of captain Marquez
has brought composure to the defence and dressing room.
Weaknesses
Still recovering from a traumatic qualifying campaign.
Ageing defence that lacks pace. Few options at right-back.
Second round.
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Miguel Herrera
In a World Cup, any of the 32 teams can be champions.
We are one of them. Mexico have won titles at the Under-17
World Cup and Olympic Games recently. Why not us?
THE PUNDIT
Martin del Palacio Langer, World Soccer Mexico
correspondent
Mexico have enough quality to be a good international
side. But there are many issues to be resolved after a
disastrous qualifying campaign. With a relatively easylooking group, the round of 16 is not beyond them, but
dont rule out a meltdown if the problems persist.
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LIKELY
STARTING
LINE-UP: 5-1-2-2
Corona
JOSE DE JESUS
CORONA
PAUL AGUILAR
RIGHT-BACK
Club: America
Born: 06.03.86
(aged 28)
Apps in qualiers: 5
GOALKEEPER
Club: Cruz Azul
Born: 26.01.81
(aged 33)
DIEGO REYES
DEFENCE
America
2 apps/180 mins/0
goals in qualiers
HECTOR
MORENO
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Espanyol (Spa)
Born: 17.01.88
(aged 26)
Mins in qualiers:
1080
HECTOR
HERRERA
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: Porto (Por)
Born: 19.04.90
(aged 24)
Apps in qualiers: 5
GIOVANI DOS
SANTOS
ORIBE PERALTA
FORWARD
Club: Santos Laguna
Born: 12.01.84
(aged 30)
Mins in qualiers:
1049
FORWARD
Club: Villarreal (Spa)
Born: 1
1.05.89
(aged 25)
ANDRES
GUARDADO
ISAAC
BRIZUELA
MIDFIELD
Bayer Leverkusen
(Ger)
14 apps/1
148 mins/1
goal in qualiers
MIDFIELD
Toluca
in qualiers
MIDFIELD
Villarreal (Spa)
1 apps/708 mins/0
1
goals in qualiers
Peralta
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: America
Born: 22.08.83
(aged 30)
Apps in qualiers: 2
CARLOS PENA
JUAN CARLOS
VALENZUELA
Pena
JUAN CARLOS
MEDINA
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: Leon
Born: 29.03.90
(aged 24)
Apps in qualiers: 7
JAVIER
AQUINO
Herrera
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Leon
Born: 13.02.79
(aged 35)
Apps in qualiers: 6
MIGUEL LAYUN
DEFENCE
America
15 apps/1350 mins/0
goals in qualiers
Layun
Medina
RAFAEL
MARQUEZ
LEFT-BACK
Club: America
Born: 25.06.88
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 6
FRANCISCO
JAVIER
RODRGUEZ
Aguilar
Dos Santos
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Porto (Por)
Born: 19.09.92
(aged 21)
Apps in qualiers: 4
OTHER PLAYERS
Marquez
Reyes
Moreno
ALONSO
ESCOBOZA
MIDFIELD
Santos Laguna
2 apps/58 mins/0
goals in qualiers
JESUS ZAVALA
Monterrey
12 apps/1072 mins/2
goals in qualiers
MARCO FABIAN
MIDFIELD
Cruz Azul
in qualiers
JAVIER
HERNANDEZ
FORWARD
Manchester Utd (Eng)
16 apps/1226 mins/5
goals in qualiers
MIDFIELD
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THE COACH
MIGUEL
HERRERA
Born 18.03.68
(aged 46)
A colourful
character who has
the potential to do
big things but is
often betrayed by
his temper. He
masterminded
the return to
prominence of America in the Mexican league,
taking them to a clausura title last June and
reaching the apertura Final in December.
WORLD CUP 2014 1 1

1
WorldMags.net
THE PLAYERS
KEY MEN
John Obi Mikel
Seen as one of the elder statesmen in the team
even though he only turned 27 in April. Largely
sidelined by Chelsea, he is once again a rst choice
at international level after past problems with the
national team set-up.
Emmanuel Emenike
Has overcome arrest and accusations of
KEY INFORMATION
GROUP F SCHEDULE
June 16
v Iran, Curitiba
June 21
v Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cuiaba
June 26
v Argentina, Salvador
BETTING
William Hill
6/1 to reach quarter-nals
involvement in match xing

in Turkey to become his
countrys key forward.
Injury meant he spent
most of last year sidelined,
but when he did play for
Nigeria he scored vital
goals in important matches.
Vincent Enyeama
Recently came close to setting a new record for
minutes unbeaten in the French top ight, keeping
a clean sheet for Lille for 1,062 minutes. Has more
than a decades experience with Nigeria.
ONE TO WATCH
The pace of Russian-based winger Ahmed Musa
makes him an important part of Nigerias attack.
Two formative years at VVV Venlo in the Dutch
league helped add some technique to his raw
power and energy.
ENGLISH CONNECTION
Chelsea winger Victor Moses
(left) may not be a regular for
Liverpool, where he has spent
the 2013-14 season on loan,
but he will be a likely stater for
Nigeria in Brazil.
WORLD CUP HISTORY

1994
Second round, defeat by Italy
1998
Second round,
defeat by Denmark
2002
First round exit
2010
First round exit
ANALYSIS
How they qualied
Nigeria won last years African Nations Cup after
coach Stephen Keshi completely overhauled the
squad, gambling on young, untested players.
They struggled in last years Confederations Cup
in Brazil, starting with an easy tie against Tahiti but
proving out of their depth in their two subsequent
1 WORLD CUP 2014
12
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games, against Uruguay and Spain. In the World

Cup qualifying campaign, Nigeria beneted from a
soft draw. Kenya and Namibia provided no
opposition, and after beating Malawi in their nal
game they won both home and away play-off
games against Ethiopia who were the weakest of
the 10 group winners.
Strengths
Attacking, high-tempo tactics make Nigeria
exciting to watch. They demonstrated their steely
determination to win with victory at last years
African Nations Cup.
Weaknesses
The defence remains short on experience and has
long been a liability. Disorganised pre-tournament
preparation usually impacts on the teams
performance.
Second round.
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Stephen Keshi
I like people to come to the stadium and enjoy the
way my team is playing. Intelligent play, having fun.
I want my players not to worry about do or die but
to have fun with a purpose.
THE PUNDIT
correspondent
Pace is a trademark of Keshis team, but he also
insists on a good defensive shape, with a tight,
compact approach to both defence and mideld
in stark contrast to many past Nigeria sides.
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STARTING
LINE-UP: 4-2-3-1
Enyeama
VINCENT
ENYEAMA
EFE AMBROSE
RIGHT-BACK
Club: Celtic (Sco)
Born: 18.10.88
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 7
GOALKEEPER
Club: Lille (Fra)
Born: 29.08.82
(aged 31)
Apps in qualiers: 8
Omeruo
Oboabona
Elderson
Ambrose
Onazi
Musa
Mikel
Ideye
Moses
Emenike
KENNETH
OMERUO
GODFREY
OBOABONA
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Middlesbrough
(Eng)
Born: 17.10.93
(aged 21)
Apps in qualiers: 4
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Caykur Rizespor
(Tur)
Born: 16.08.90
(aged 23)
Apps in qualiers: 8
JOHN OBI
MIKEL
ELDERSON
LEFT-BACK
Club: Monaco (Fra)
Born: 20.01.88
(aged 26)
Apps in qualiers: 6
OGENYI ONAZI
AHMED MUSA
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Lazio (Ita)
Born: 25.12.92
(aged 21)
Apps in qualiers: 6
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: CSKA Moscow
(Rus)
Born: 14.10.92
(aged 21)
Apps in qualiers: 8
BROWN IDEYE
VICTOR MOSES
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: Dynamo Kiev
(Ukr)
Born: 10.10.88
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 4
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Born: 12.12.90
(aged 23)
Apps in qualiers: 6
EMMANUEL
EMENIKE
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Chelsea (Eng)
Born: 22.04.87
(aged 27)
Apps in qualiers: 6
OTHER PLAYERS
AZUBUIKE
EGWUEKWE
DEFENCE
Warri Wolves
5 apps/383 mins/0
goals in qualiers
JUWON
OSHANIWA
DEFENCE
Ashdod (Isr)
2 apps/180 mins/0
goals in qualiers
NNAMDI
ODUAMADI
MIDFIELD
Varese (Ita)
5 apps/339 mins/1
goal in qualiers
SUNDAY MBA
MIDFIELD
CA Bastia (Fra)
4 apps/267 mins/0
goals in qualiers
JOHN
UGOCHUKWU
MIDFIELD
Academica (Por)
3 apps/103 mins/0
goals in qualiers
REUBEN
GABRIEL
MIDFIELD
Waasland-Beveren
(Blg)
2 apps/180 mins/0
goals in qualiers
EJIKE
UZOENYI
MIDFIELD
Enugu Rangers
2 apps/180 mins/0
goals in qualiers
VICTOR
OBINNA
FORWARD
Chievo (Ita)
in qualiers
SHOLA
AMEOBI
FORWARD
Newcastle (Eng)
in qualiers
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CENTRE-FORWARD
Club: Fenerbahce (Tur)
Born: 10.05.87
(aged 27)
Apps in qualiers: 3
THE COACH
STEPHEN
KESHI
Born 23.01.62
(aged 52)
A father gure to
his young players,
he captained the
rst Nigeria side
to go to a World
Cup USA 94
and has since
become only the second man to win the
African Nations Cup as both player and coach.
Coached Togo when they qualied for the 2006
nals, but lost his job before the tournament.
WORLD CUP 2014 1

13
WorldMags.net
KEY INFORMATION
THE PLAYERS
GROUP G SCHEDULE
June 16
v Germany, Salvador
June 22
v United States, Manaus
June 26
v Ghana, Brasilia
KEY MEN
Cristiano Ronaldo
Increasingly heralded as the greatest Portuguese player of
all time in his homeland, if Ronaldo can emulate Eusebios
performance in 1966, the evidence will be overwhelming.
BETTING
William Hill
5/2 to win Group G
WORLD CUP HISTORY
1966
Semi-nals, 2-1 defeat by
England
1986
First round exit
2002
First round exit
2006 Semi-nals, 1-0 defeat by France
2010 Second round, defeat by Spain
Pepe
The rock at the centre of Portugals defence, his height,
strength and physicality are crucial to a team comprised
mostly of technically adept but short-of-stature players.
Joao Moutinho
The Portuguese Xavi remains one of Europes most
underrated midelders. His metronomic consistency is
often put in the shade by Ronaldos brilliance, but he is
arguably just as important to the team.
ONE TO WATCH
Midelder William Carvalho (right) has
been the revelation of the Portuguese
season. Linked with a move
to the Premier League.
ENGLISH CONNECTION
Winger Nani (left) is a rst-team regular
for his country despite not starting for
Manchester United.
ANALYSIS
How they qualied
On the back of an impressive showing at Euro 2012, hopes
were high that Portugal would make light work of a
straightforward World Cup qualifying group. However, it did
not take long for those hopes to be dashed.
After beating Luxembourg and Azerbaijan, defeat in
Russia was followed by successive draws, at home to
Northern Ireland and in Israel, raising the spectre of
1 WORLD CUP 2014
14
missing out on a major tournament for the rst time in 16

years. By the time Portugal took on Russia in Lisbon, a win
was imperative. A strong performance and a Helder
Postiga goal put the team back on track.
However, a draw with Israel condemned Portugal to a
third successive qualication play-off, this time against
Zlatan Ibrahimovics Sweden.
It was billed as a battle between Ronaldo and Zlatan but
Portugals captain came out on top, scoring with header in
Lisbon to give Bentos side the edge going into the return
in Stockholm. A brilliant hat-trick settled matters and
capped an astonishing individual display by Ronaldo.
Strengths
Portugals historical, cultural and linguistic ties with Brazil.
Recent record (two semi-nals and a Final in the last ve
major tournaments). Cristiano Ronaldos sparkling form.
Weaknesses
Poor record against Germany and the USA. Limited
options on the bench. Conservative tactics from Bento.
Second round.
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Paulo Bento
Ronaldo is a great player, a huge name in world football,
but I have to worry about the whole team. Ill be working
with a 23-man squad, and not just one player.
THE PUNDIT
Tom Kundert, World Soccer Portugal correspondent
Portugal rely on the exceptional technical ability of their
players and a slick passing game to overcome their
opponents. But against physical opponents, a lack of
physical prowess could prove costly in Brazil.
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LIKELY
STARTING
LINE-UP: 4-2-3-1
Patricio
RUI PATRICIO
JOAO PEREIRA
GOALKEEPER
Born: 15.02.88
(aged 26)
Mins in qualiers:
1080
RIGHT-BACK
Born: 25.02.84
(aged 30)
Pereira
Pepe
Meireles
Ronaldo
Alves
Coentrao
Veloso
Moutinho
Nani
Postiga
PEPE
BRUNO ALVES
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Born: 26.02.83
(aged 31)
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Born: 27.1
1.81
(aged 32)
RAUL MEIRELES
MIGUEL
VELOSO
JOAO
MOUTINHO
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Dynamo Kiev
(Ukr)
Born: 1
1.05.86
(aged 28)
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Monaco (Fra)
Born: 08.09.86
(aged 27)
Mins in qualiers:
1080
NANI
HELDER
POSTIGA
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Born: 17.03.83
(aged 31)
Apps in qualiers: 9
CRISTIANO
RONALDO
LUIS NETO
DEFENCE
Zenit St Petersbrg
(Rus)
2 apps/180 mins/0
goals in qualiers
RICARDO
COSTA
DEFENCE
Valencia (Spa)
3 apps/156 mins/1
goal in qualiers
WILLIAM
CARVALHO
RUBEN
MICAEL
6 apps/256 mins/1
goal in qualiers
MIDFIELD
Sporting Lisbon
in qualiers
MIDFIELD
Braga
4 apps/202 mins/0
goals in qualiers
RICARDO
QUARESMA
RUBEN
AMORIM
MIDFIELD
Benca
in qualiers
LEFT-BACK
Born: 1
1.03.88
(aged 26)
FORWARD
Club: Manchester
United (Eng)
Born: 17.1
1.86
(aged 27)
FORWARD
Born: 05.02.85
(aged 29)
OTHER PLAYERS
FABIO
COENTRAO
FERNANDO
MIDFIELD
Porto
0 apps in qualiers
HUGO
ALMEIDA
FORWARD
Besiktas (Tur)
FORWARD
Porto
0 apps in qualiers
SILVESTRE
VARELA
FORWARD
Porto
7 apps/295 mins/2
goals in qualiers
WorldMags.net
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CENTRE-FORWARD
Club: Lazio (Ita)
Born: 02.08.82
(aged 31)
THE COACH
PAULO BENTO
Born 20.06.69
(aged 44)
The no-nonsense
former midelder has
his critics, who cite a
series of high-prole
bust-ups with senior
players and cautious
tactics as serious
failings. But he can
point to his results
and an ability to get
the best out of
Ronaldo.
WORLD CUP 2014 1

15
WorldMags.net
THE PLAYERS
KEY MEN
Igor Akinfeev
By far the best Russian goalkeeper of recent
times, he made his debut for CSKA Moscow at the
age of 16 and has been named the countrys
keeper of the year seven times since. Became the
youngest Russian to play for his country when
called up as an 18-year-old.
Sergei Ignashevich
CSKA Moscows 34-year-old centre-back
KEY INFORMATION
GROUP H SCHEDULE
June 1
7
June 22
June 26
v South Korea, Cuiaba

v Belgium, Rio de Janeiro
v Algeria, Curitiba
BETTING
William Hill
(right) may lack pace, but he is

noted for his great vision, reliability,
long-range passing, shooting and
strength in the air.
Roman Shirokov
Took over the captaincy from Igor
Denisov during the qualifying campaign. A
playmaker with high technical skill and goalscoring
ability, he is known for his frank and controversial
Twitter comments.
Alexander Kokorin
The striker (left) joined
Anzhi but returned to
Dynamo Moscow without
playing a single game due
to the Makhachkala
-based clubs nancial
collapse. A rarity in the Russian league, where
most of the centre-forwards are foreigners.
Strengths
Experienced squad. Underdogs in Brazil, so low
public expectations. Capellos reputation.
Weaknesses
Overly physical approach could get punished.
Poor technical skills.
Group stage exit.
WHAT THEY SAY
ANALYSIS
1 WORLD CUP 2014

16
Group stage exit

Group stage exit
THE COACH
Fabio Capello
Its really important the physical condition that the
teams arrive in at the World Cup. England are
always tired because they play too many games.
I hope we will arrive fresh.
How they qualied

Twelve years after their last appearance at a World
Cup nals, Russia were helped on their way to
Brazil 2014 by a strict Italian coach and an
unyielding Israeli team.
Under Fabio Capello, who replaced Dick
Advocaat as boss of the national team in the
summer of 2012, they started their qualication
campaign with wins against Northern Ireland at
home, Israel away and Portugal at home. Nine
WORLD CUP HISTORY

1994
2002
ONE TO WATCH
Alan Dzagoev was one of the best performers for
Russia at Euro 2012, but has slipped out of the
rst team under Fabio Capello.
points out of nine made Russia look the most likely

group winner. Despite 1-0 defeats in Lisbon and
Belfast, Capellos side made good use of largely
unexpected ops by their closest rivals Portugal.
That was especially true of Portugals 1-1 draw
at home to Israel in October. If it hadnt been for
that result, Russias own draw in the last game of
the campaign, against Azerbaijan in Baku, would
have cost them rst place in the group.
THE PUNDIT
Victor Gusev, World Soccer Russia
correspondent
Capello has spent most of his time in Russia and
made trips all over the country to watch games,
including unsafe places such as Makhachkala. Hes
introduced younger players, which has gone down
well with fans, who also have one eye on the 2018
tournament that is being held on home soil.
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Akinfeev
Ignashevich
IGOR
AKINFEEV
ANDREI
YESCHENKO
GOALKEEPER
Club: CSKA Moscow
Born: 08.04.86
(aged 28)
RIGHT-BACK
Club: Anzhi
Born: 09.02.84
(aged 30)
Apps in qualiers: 3
VASILI
BEREZUTSKI
SERGEI
IGNASHEVICH
DMITRI
KOMBAROV
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: CSKA Moscow
Born: 20.06.82
(aged 31)
Apps in qualiers: 9
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: CSKA Moscow
Born: 14.07.79
(aged 34)
Apps in qualiers: 9
LEFT-BACK
Club: Spartak Moscow
Born: 22.01.87
(aged 27)
DENIS
GLUSHAKOV
ALEXANDER
SAMEDOV
VICTOR
FAIZULIN
DEFENSIVE MIDFIELD
Club: Spartak Moscow
Born: 27.01.87
(aged 27)
Apps in qualiers: 8
RIGHT MIDFIELD
Club: Lokomotiv
Moscow
Born: 19.07.84
(aged 29)
Apps in qualiers: 8
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Zenit St
Petersburg
Born: 22.04.86
(aged 28)
YURI ZHIRKOV
ALEXANDER
KOKORIN
ROMAN
SHIROKOV
OTHER PLAYERS
ALEXANDER
ANYUKOV
DEFENCE
Zenit St Petersburg
5 apps/351 mins/0
goals in qualiers
VLADIMIR
GRANAT
DEFENCE
Dynamo Moscow
2 apps/180 mins/0
goals in qualiers
GEORGI
SCHENNIKOV
DEFENCE
CSKA Moscow
in qualiers
ALEXEI
KOZLOV
DEFENCE
Dynamo Moscow
5 apps/419 mins/0
goals in qualiers
Yeschenko
Kombarov
Glushakov
Faizulin
IGOR DENISOV
MIDFIELD
Dynamo Moscow
8 apps/675 mins/0
goals in qualiers
ALAN
DZAGOEV
MIDFIELD
CSKA Moscow
4 apps/159 mins/0
goals in qualiers
OLEG SHATOV
MIDFIELD
Zenit St Petersburg

in qualiers
ALEXANDER
KERZHAKOV
FORWARD
Zenit St Petersburg
10 apps/819 mins/5
goals in qualiers
ARTYOM
DZUBA
FORWARD
Rostov
in qualiers
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Shirokov
Samedov
Zhirkov
Kokorin
LEFT MIDFIELD
Club: Dynamo Moscow
Born: 20.08.83
(aged 30)
Apps in qualiers: 2
Mins in qualiers: 1
10
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Krasnodar
Born: 06.07.81
(aged 32)
V Berezutski
CENTRE-FORWARD
Club: Dynamo Moscow
Born: 19.03.91
(aged 23)
Apps in qualiers: 8
THE COACH
FABIO
CAPELLO
Born 18.06.46
(aged 67)
A former coach of
several top clubs and
national teams,
notably England,
Milan, Juventus, Roma
and Real Madrid.
Don Fabio became
the rst man to take
Russia to the World
Cup nals since 2002.
WORLD CUP 2014 1 7

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KEY INFORMATION
THE PLAYERS
GROUP H SCHEDULE
June 17
v Russia, Cuiaba
June 22
v Algeria, Porto Alegre
June 26
v Belgium, Sao Paulo
KEY MEN
Koo Ja-cheol
The 2012 Olympic captain has struggled with injuries since
the London Games, but his aggression, hard work and
ability to get forward could be crucial.
BETTING
William Hill
15/8 to progress from Group H
WORLD CUP HISTORY
1954
First round
1986
First round
1990
First round
1994
First round
1998
First round
2002 Semi-nals, defeat by Germany
2006
First round
2010 Second round, defeat by Uruguay
Kim Young-gwon
Italian Marcello Lippi, his boss at
Chinas Guangzhou, says versatile
defender Kim (left) is good enough to
play for Manchester United. He could
be the man to nally solve the central defensive problems.
201 cost coach Cho Kwang-rae his job, and although his
1
replacement Choi Kang-hee began well enough, with two
convincing wins in the nal group phase, he also struggled.
Choi seemed more comfortable with domestic players
and he looked unsure about how to use Son Heung-min,
who had been scoring regularly in the Bundesliga. Choi
vowed to go if South Korea lost their nal qualier against
Iran and, sure enough, the day after the 1-0 loss, he quit.
Strengths
The players are young but are also full of European and
tournament experience. The nucleus of players won
bronze at the 2012 Olympics.
Ki Sung-yeung
Currently seen as a potential threat to team spirit but, at
his best, the Swansea City midelder, who has spent
2013-14 on loan at Sunderland, makes South Korea tick.
Weaknesses
The centre of defence is weak, with set-pieces a particular
problem. They lack a senior gure on the pitch, following
Park Ji-sungs retirement. Scoring goals can be a problem.
ONE TO WATCH
Son Heung-min joined Bayer Leverkusen from Hamburg
for 10million euros last summer and now needs Hong to
give him the chance to replicate his club
form for his country.

Second round.
ENGLISH CONNECTION
Coach Hong has kept faith with striker Park
Chu-young (right), who is on loan at Watford
from Arsenal, despite a run of poor form.
ANALYSIS
How they qualied
The celebrations that greeted South Korea reaching an
eighth successive World Cup nals werent muted just
because a 1-0 defeat at home to Iran meant the Taegeuk
Warriors had only qualied ahead of Uzbekistan on goal
difference; the entire road to Brazil had been, to say the
least, a bumpy one. A 2-1 defeat to Lebanon in November
1 WORLD CUP 2014
18
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Hong Myung-bo
There should be no fear. In the remaining time we have
left, we have to use the time wisely and we have to help
our young players believe in themselves. Korean football
has shown over the years that it can achieve great things.
THE PUNDIT
John Duerden, World Soccer South Korea
correspondent
Hong inherited an unhappy team, with rumours of splits
within the squad. He needs to tighten the defence, restore
team spirit, introduce some creativity and nd a leader and
a goalscorer. A tough task, but the Korean public believes
that if anyone can do it, Hong can.
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Jung Sung-ryung
JUNG
SUNG-RYUNG
LEE YONG
RIGHT-BACK
Club: Ulsan Hyundai
Born: 24.12.86
(aged 27)
Apps in qualiers: 0
GOALKEEPER
Club: Suwon Bluewings
Born: 04.01.85
(aged 29)
Kim Yong-gwon
Lee Yong
Hong Jeong-ho
Kim Jin-soo
Lee Chung-yung Park Jung-woo

Ki Sung-yeun Kim Bo-kyoung Koo Ja-cheol
Park Chu-young
KIM
YOUNG-GWON
HONG
JEONG-HO
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Guangzhou
Evergrande (Chn)
Born: 27.02.90
(aged 24)
Apps in qualiers: 3
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Augsburg (Ger)
Born:12.08.89
(aged 24)
Apps in qualiers: 5
LEE
CHUNG-YUNG
PARK
JUNG-WOO
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Bolton Wanderers
(Eng)
Born: 02.07.88
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 5
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Guangzhou R&F
(Chn)
Born: 10.03.89
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 2
KIM
BO-KYOUNG
PARK JOO-HO
DEFENDER
Mainz (Ger)
3 apps/270 mins/0
goals in qualiers
KWAK
TAE-HWI
DEFENDER
Al Hilal (Sau)
10 apps/891 mins/1
goal in qualiers
KIM
CHANG-SOO
DEFENDER
Kashiwa Reysol (Jap)
2 apps/180 mins/0
goals in qualiers
HAN
KOOK-YOUNG
MIDFIELD
Kashiwa Reysol (Jap)
in qualiers
KI SUNG-YEUNG
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: Sunderland (Eng)
Born: 24.01.89
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 9
KOO JA-CHEOL
PARK
CHU-YOUNG
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: Mainz (Ger)
Born: 27.02.89
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 8
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: Cardiff City (Eng)
Born: 06.10.89
(aged 24)
Apps in qualiers: 6
OTHER PLAYERS
KIM JIN-SOO
LEFT-BACK
Club: Albirex Niigata
(Jap)
Born: 09.07.88
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 0
JI DONG-WON
MIDFIELD
Augsburg (Ger)
1 apps/491 mins/2
1
goals in qualiers
HA DAE-SUNG
MIDFIELD
Beijing Guoan (Chn)
2 apps/96 mins/0
goals in qualiers
KIM
SHIN-WOOK
FORWARD
Ulsan Hyundai
8 apps/495 mins/1
goal in qualiers
LEE KEUN-HO
FORWARD
Sangju Sangmu
12 apps/773 mins/5
goals in qualiers
SON
HEUNG-MIN
FORWARD
Bayer Leverkusen
(Ger)
9 apps/365 mins/1
goal in qualiers
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CENTRE-FORWARD
Club: Watford (Eng)
Born: 10.07.85
(aged 28)
Apps in qualiers: 7
THE COACH
HONG
MYUNG-BO
Born 12.02.69
(aged 45)
Played in four
World Cups,
reaching the
semi-nals in
2002, so the
highly-rated
coach is loved by
players and fans
alike, but this is by
far his biggest
challenge.
WORLD CUP 2014 1

19
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KEY INFORMATION
GROUP B SCHEDULE
June 13
v Holland, Salvador
June 18
v Chile, Rio de Janeiro
June 23
v Australia, Curitiba
BETTING
William Hill
8/1 to win Group B
1
WORLD CUP HISTORY
1934
1950
Fourth place
1962
First round exit
1966
First round exit
1978
First round exit
1982
Second round
1986 Quarter-nals, defeat by Belgium
1990
Second round,
defeat by Yugoslavia
1994
1998
First round exit
2002
Quarter-nals,
defeat by South Korea
2006 Second round, defeat by France
2010 WINNERS, 1-0 in Final v Holland
THE PLAYERS
KEY MEN
Xabi Alonso
People doubted whether Spain should play with two
deep-lying midelders, but Del Bosques decision to stick
with Busquets and Alonso has been totally vindicated. Few
players have the tactical awareness and range of passing.
Sergio Ramos
Scorer of that Panenka penalty at Euro
2012 and a real leader within the dressing
room. Ramos (right) has 1 caps at the
14
age of just 27 and his central defensive
partnership with Pique will be fundamental.
Cesc Fabregas
For a player who has rarely been a guaranteed starter, his
impact on Spains history has been huge, with winning
penalties against Italy in 2008 and Portugal in 2012, and
assists for Iniesta in the 2010 Final and Silva in 2012.
Andres Iniesta
The man that Ramos calls the enlightened one, he was
the scorer of the winning goal in 2010 and universally
popular. When he has the ball, it is like
everything else stops, says Fernando Torres.
ONE TO WATCH
Young midelder Koke (left) has broken into
the senior national side this season and
could play an important role in Brazil.
ANALYSIS
How they qualied
An injury-time goal by Olivier Giroud at the Vicente
Calderon in Madrid and a 79th-minute strike from Teemu
Pukki at Estadio El Molinon in Gijon had threatened to
complicate Spains qualication for the 2014 World Cup.
120 WORLD CUP 2014
Although, those two games were ve months apart, Spain

had suffered two consecutive 1-1 draws and they trailed
France by two points.
Just two wins in four games against Georgia and
Belarus left them on edge and four days after drawing
with Finland they travelled to Paris in desperate need of a
victory. In the end, Pedros goal clinched a 1-0 win at the
Stade de France that took Spain back to the top of their
group. Three more wins followed to take them to Brazil.
Spains qualication campaign did not always have the
authority that supporters had got used to, but in Paris they
had been recognisably Spain again.
Strengths
A solid defence. Condence no team has shown such an
aptitude for tournament football as Del Bosques side.
Weaknesses
If Spain dont win their group, its likely they will face Brazil
in the next round. Casillas lack of games. Xavis tness.
Second round exit to Brazil.
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Vicente Del Bosque
We dont brag about anything. Compliments are always
dangerous. Favourite is a word we dont like.
THE PUNDIT
Sid Lowe, World Soccer Spain correspondent
Possession football stands at the heart of everything
Spain do, acting as a means of protection as well as
progression. It is the formula on which Spains historic
success has been built, and the world and double
European champions will travel to Brazil looking for a
unique run of four successive tournaments.
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Casillas
IKER CASILLAS
JUANFRAN
GOALKEEPER
Club: Real Madrid
Born: 30.05.81
(aged 33)
Apps in qualiers: 5
RIGHT-BACK
Born: 09.01.85
(aged 29)
Apps in qualiers: 2
Sergio Ramos
Pique
Juanfran
Jordi Alba
Xabi Alonso Busquets

Pedro
Fabregas
Iniesta
Diego Costa
SERGIO RAMOS
GERARD PIQUE
JORDI ALBA
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Real Madrid
Born: 30.03.86
(aged 28)
Apps in qualiers: 8
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Barcelona
Born: 02.02.87
(aged 27)
Apps in qualiers: 5
LEFT-BACK
Club: Barcelona
Born: 21.03.89
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 5
XABI ALONSO
SERGIO
BUSQUETS
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Real Madrid
Born: 25.1
1.81
(aged 32)
Apps in qualiers: 4
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Barcelona
Born: 16.07.88
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 7
CESC
FABREGAS
JAVI
MARTINEZ
DEFENCE
Bayern Munich (Ger)
0 apps in qualiers
XAVI
MIDFIELD
Barcelona
7 apps/591 mins/1
goals in qualiers
THIAGO
ALCANTARA
ANDRES
INIESTA
FORWARD
Club: Barcelona
Born: 04.05.87
(aged 27)
Apps in qualiers: 7
OTHER PLAYERS
PEDRO
FORWARD
Club: Barcelona
Born: 28.07.87
(aged 26)
Apps in qualiers: 8
FORWARD
Club: Barcelona
Born: 1
1.05.84
(aged 30)
Apps in qualiers: 8
MIDFIELD
Bayern Munich (Ger)
0 apps in qualiers
ISCO
MIDFIELD
Real Madrid
in qualiers
KOKE
MIDFIELD
Atletico Madrid
3 apps/120 mins/0
goals in qualiers
DAVID SILVA
MIDFIELD
5 apps/314 mins/0
goals in qualiers
JUAN MATA
MIDFIELD
Manchester United
(Eng)
in qualiers
SANTI
CAZORLA
MIDFIELD
DIEGO COSTA
FORWARD
Born: 07.10.88
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 0
Mins in qualiers: 0
Arsenal (Eng)
5 apps/247 mins/0
goals in qualiers
THE COACH
JESUS NAVAS
Born 23.12.50
(aged 63)
For a man who once
admitted that he did
not expect to become
a head coach, and
had expected to
spend his career in
youth development,
Del Bosque has not
done too badly. Twice a European Cup winner,
he has led Spain to success in both the
European Championship and the World Cup.
MIDFIELD
3 apps/154 mins/0
goals in qualiers
ALVARO
NEGREDO
FORWARD
4 apps/167 mins/3
goals in qualiers
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VICENTE
DEL BOSQUE
WORLD CUP 2014 121
WorldMags.net
KEY INFORMATION
GROUP E SCHEDULE
June 15
v Ecuador, Brasilia
June 20
v France, Salvador
June 25
v Honduras, Manaus
BETTING
William Hill
7/1 to nish bottom of Group E
WORLD CUP HISTORY
1934
Quarter-nals,
defeat by Czechoslovakia
1938
Quarter-nals,
defeat by Hungary
1950
First round exit
1954 Quarter-nals, defeat by Austria
1962
First round exit
1966
First round exit
1994
Second round,
defeat by Spain
2006
Second round,
defeat by Ukraine
2010
Group stage exit
THE PLAYERS
KEY MEN
Xherdan Shaqiri
The 23-year-old is deadly from long
range with his left foot and has a
wonderful ability to weave his way past
opponents and thread passes between
defenders.
Stephan Lichtsteiner
Never one to shy away from a confrontation, the feisty
right-backs boundless energy and forays upeld have
made him hugely inuential.
Gokhan Inler
Turned up for his presentation at Napoli wearing a lion
mask, but there is more to the 29-year-old than his
fearsome tackling and never-say-die attitude. His
long-range passing, shooting from distance and surging
runs make him the complete midelder.
ONE TO WATCH
Haris Seferovic is the latest Swiss youngster to make an
impact, scoring an important goal in the qualiers.
ENGLISH CONNECTION
Fulham midelder Pajtim Kasami (left) has
made the step up from the Under-21s to the
senior Swiss squad this season.
ANALYSIS
How they qualied
Switzerland made a perfect start to the qualiers with 2-0
victories away to Slovenia and at home to Albania. Ottmar
Hitzfelds team dropped their rst points and conceded a
rst goal in a 1-1 draw at home to Norway. They then
survived several near misses in a physical encounter in
Iceland before winning 2-0 with goals from Tranquillo
122 WORLD CUP 2014
Barnetta and Mario Gavranovic. That was followed by two

matches against Cyprus a goalless draw away and 1-0
win in Geneva. Two goals from defender Fabian Schar gave
them a 2-0 win in Norway, which meant victory in Albania
would secure qualication for a third successive World Cup.
Shaqiri, Xhaka and a third Kosovan, Valon Behrami, had
to endure insults and jeering from the home crowd in
Tirana as the Swiss triumphed 2-1.
A 1-0 home victory over Slovenia put the icing on the
cake as Switzerland ended Group E unbeaten.
Strengths
A vibrant youth policy that keeps producing quality players.
The vast majority of the squad play in Europes biggest
leagues. Theyre not afraid to mix it, and wont be bullied.
Weaknesses
Defence is prone to alarming lapses in concentration. They
often need an awful lot of chances to score a goal. Theyve
not been tested against top-quality opposition.
Group stage exit.
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Ottmar Hitzfeld
Twenty per cent of the Swiss population are immigrants
and over half of our team. Without immigrants, we would
not have a team.
THE PUNDIT
Brian Homewood, World Soccer Switzerland
correspondent
The Swiss have very little experience of playing outside
Europe and have ventured further only three times in the
last decade: the 2010 World Cup and friendlies in Tunisia
and Morocco. Their last South America trip was in 1985.
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Benagalio
DIEGO
BENAGALIO
STEPHAN
LICHTSTEINER
GOALKEEPER
Born: 08.09.83
(aged 30)
Apps in qualiers: 8
RIGHT-BACK
Born: 16.01.84
Apps in qualiers: 8
FABIAN SCHAR
STEVE VON
BERGEN
RICARDO
RODRIGUEZ
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Young Boys
Born: 10.06.83
(aged 31)
Apps in qualiers: 9
LEFT-BACK
Born: 25.08.92
(aged 22)
Apps in qualiers: 9
VELON
BEHRAMI
XHERDAN
SHAQIRI
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Napoli (Ita)
Born: 19.04.85
(aged 29)
Apps in qualiers: 8
Goals in qualiers:
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: Bayern Munich
(Ger)
Born: 10.10.91
(aged 23)
Apps in qualiers: 9
Born: 20.12.91
(aged 22)
Apps in qualiers: 3
GOKHAN INLER
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Napoli (Ita)
Born: 27.06.84
(aged 29)
Apps in qualiers: 9
GRANIT XHAKA
PHILIPPE
SENDEROS
DEFENCE
Valencia (Spa)
3 apps/128 mins/0
goals in qualiers
JOHAN
DJOUROU
DEFENCE
Hamburg (Ger)
7 apps/593 mins/0
goals in qualiers
MIDFIELD
Eint Frankfurt (Ger)
6 apps/330 mins/1
goal in qualiers
GELSON
FERNANDES
MIDFIELD
Freiburg (Ger)
4 apps/46 mins/0
goals in qualiers
BLERIM
DZEMAILI
Lichtsteiner
Rodriguez
Inler Behrami
Shaqiri
VALENTIN
STOCKER
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: Borussia
Monchengladbach (Ger)
Born: 27.09.92
(aged 21)
Apps in qualiers: 9
TRANQUILLO
BARNETTA
Von Bergen
Xhaka
Stocker
Drmic
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Basle
OTHER PLAYERS
Schar
JOSIP DRMIC
CENTRE-FORWARD
Club: Nuremberg (Ger)
Born: 08.08.92
(aged 21)
Apps in qualiers: 3
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: Basle
Born: 12.04.89
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 6
MIDFIELD
Napoli (Ita)
9 apps/248 mins/1
goal in qualiers
PAJTIM
KASAMI
MIDFIELD
Fulham (Eng)
0 apps in qualiers
HARIS
SEFEROVIC
FORWARD
Real Sociedad (Spa)
6 apps/447 mins/1
goal in qualiers
THE COACH
EREN
DERDIYOK
OTTMAR
HITZFELD
FORWARD
Bayern Leverkusen
(Ger)
5 apps/303 mins/0
goals in qualiers
Born 12.01.49
(aged 55)
The German led
Switzerland
to the 2010 World
Cup, where they were
knocked out in
the rst round, and is one of Europes most
successful coaches, having won the Champions
League with Bayern Munich and Borussia
Dortmund, and claiming a total of seven
Bundesliga titles. He will stand down after this
summers tournament.
ADMIR
MEHMEDI
FORWARD
Freiburg (Ger)
4 apps/141 mins/0
goals in qualiers
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WORLD CUP 2014 123
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KEY INFORMATION
GROUP G SCHEDULE
June 16
v Ghana, Natal
June 22
v Portugal, Manaus
June 26
v Germany, Recife
BETTING
William Hill
10/1 to win Group G
WORLD CUP HISTORY
1930
Semi-nals,
6-1 defeat by Argentina
1936
First round exit
1950
First round exit
1990
First round exit
1994 Second round, defeat by Brazil
1998
First round exit
2002
Quarter-nals,
defeat by Germany
2006
First round exit
2010 Second round, defeat by Ghana
THE PLAYERS
KEY MEN
Landon Donovan
This will be his fourth World Cup and the
32-year-olds return to the squad he
did not play in the early qualiers as he
took a four-month break from the game
will give the team a huge boost. Scorer of vital goals.
Four days earlier, Jurgen Klinsmanns side had been

soundly beaten, 3-1, by Costa Rica.
The USAs campaign had a no-frills, workmanlike air to
it, with the team winning games by slim margins. This was
a primarily defensive side, with 12 goals conceded in 14
games and only 21 scored. In the eight games played in
the nal round before qualication, the USA never
managed to score more than twice.
Michael Bradley
The classy mideld anchor of the team. While hardly a
speedster, he is quick to intercept passes and equally
prompt at getting forward to join in attacking moves.
Strengths
Tim Howard and Brad Guzan are both top keepers.
Growing optimism in the USA that the team is on the edge
of a breakthrough. No pressure to succeed.
Clint Dempsey
Given the captains armband by Klinsmann, he was the
only player to play in all of the 14 games of the qualifying
campaign. He scored eight goals, but it is his creativity and
skill that rattles opposing defenders.
Weaknesses
Too reliant on the keeper to save them. Lack of a strong
central defensive partnership. Jermaine Jones indiscipline.
ONE TO WATCH
Young striker Aron Johannsson has been a prolic scorer
in the Dutch league. He was called up to play for Iceland in
the World Cup qualiers but did not play because of injury
and opted last year to represent the USA.
ENGLISH CONNECTION
Stoke City defender Geoff Cameron (right)
was a regular during the qualifying campaign,
lling in across a number of positions.
ANALYSIS
How they qualied
The USA clinched early World Cup qualication with two
games to spare but they were not at all convincing in their
nal key game.
The decisive win, a 2-0 victory over Mexico, owed more
to the collapse of the opposition than anything the US did.
124 WORLD CUP 2014

Group stage exit.
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Jurgen Klinsmann
Our goal is to get out of the group, and we believe we will
do that. In the knockout phase, we hope to surprise some
of the top teams in the world.
THE PUNDIT
Paul Gardner, World Soccer USA correspondent
There remains much work for Klinsmann to do. In
qualifying, his team never turned in a dominant
performance. Despite conceding less than a goal per
game, the defence, particularly in the centre, always had a
precarious edge to it. Of the 36 players used by Klinsmann,
half played four or fewer games. The team-building that
should surely have progressed during qualifying looks like
a work in progress that has barely begun.
WorldMags.net
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WorldMags.net
LIKELY
STARTING
LINE-UP: 4-4-2
Howard
TIM HOWARD
MICHAEL
PARKHURST
GOALKEEPER
Club: Everton (Eng)
Born: 06.03.79
(aged 35)
Mins in qualiers: 1
170
RIGHT-BACK
Club: Columbus Crew
Born: 24.01.84
(aged 30)
Apps in qualiers: 3
OMAR
GONZALEZ
Gonzalez
Besler
Parkhurst
Beasley
Bradley
Jones
Bedoya
Donovan
Dempsey Altidore
MATT BESLER
DAMARCUS
BEASLEY
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Sporting Kansas
City
Born: 1
1.02.87
(aged 27)
Apps in qualiers: 6
LEFT-BACK
Club: Puebla (Mex)
Born: 24.05.82
(aged 31)
Apps in qualiers: 7
ALEJANDRO
BEDOYA
JERMAINE
JONES
MICHAEL
BRADLEY
MIDFIELD
Club: Nantes (Fra)
Born: 29.04.89
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 3
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Besiktas (Tur)
Born: 03.01
1.81
(aged 32)
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Toronto
Born: 31.07.87
(aged 26)
LANDON
DONOVAN
CLINT
DEMPSEY
JOZY
ALTIDORE
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: Los Angeles
Galaxy
Born: 04.03.82
(aged 32)
Apps in qualiers: 5
FORWARD
Club: Seattle Sounders
Born: 09.03.83
(aged 31)
Mins in qualiers:
1260
FORWARD
Club: Sunderland (Eng)
Born: 06.1
1.89
(aged 24)
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: Los Angeles
Galaxy
Born: 1 10.88
1.
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 8
OTHER PLAYERS
BRAD GUZAN
GOALKEEPER
Aston Villa (Eng)
3 apps/270 mins/0
goals in qualiers
NICK
RIMANDO
GOALKEEPER
Real Salt Lake
0 apps in qualiers
CLARENCE
GOODSON
DEFENCE
San Jose Earthquakes
7 apps/585 mins/0
goals in qualiers
GEOFF
CAMERON
DEFENCE
Stoke City (Eng)
13 apps/991 mins/0
goals in qualiers
KYLE
BECKERMAN
MIDFIELD
Real Salt Lake
5 apps/239 mins/0
goals in qualiers
ARON
JOHANNSSON
FABIAN
JOHNSON
FORWARD
AZ (Hol)
18
in qualiers
MIDFIELD
Hoffenheim (Ger)
9 apps/729 mins/0
goals in qualiers
GRAHAM ZUSI
MIDFIELD
Sporting Kansas City
12 apps/766 mins/2
goals in qualiers
EDDIE
JOHNSON
FORWARD
DC United
10 apps/579 mins/4
goals in qualiers
WorldMags.net
www.atibook.ir
THE COACH
JURGEN
KLINSMANN
Born 30.07.64 (aged 49)
A surprisingly cautious
approach to the qualiers
should not hide the major
achievements in
friendlies: a rst win over
Mexico, a rst win over
Italy in Italy, and a
stunning 4-3 win over
Bosnia. His World Cup
experience with Germany
in 2006 will have real
value this summer.
WORLD CUP 2014 125
WorldMags.net
KEY INFORMATION
GROUP D SCHEDULE
June 14
v Costa Rica, Fortaleza
June 19
v England, Sao Paulo
June 24
v Italy, Natal
BETTING
William Hill
4/9 to qualify from Group D
WORLD CUP HISTORY
1930
WINNERS, 4-2 Final
victory over Argentina
1950
WINNERS, 2-1 victory
over Brazil in nal game
1954
by Hungary
1962
First round exit
1966
by West Germany
1970
by Brazil
1974
First round exit
1986
Second round, defeat
by Argentina
1990 Second round, defeat by Italy
2002
First round exit
2010 Semi-nals, defeat by Holland
THE PLAYERS
KEY MEN
Luis Suarez
Fiery, often controversial striker
who is now at the peak of his
immense talents. A one-man
forward line capable of twisting the
blood of the opposing defence and
scoring any type of goal imaginable.
Edinson Cavani
A boxto-box striker who places his capacity for work and
spirit of sacrice at the disposition of the team, together
with his considerable goal threat. Described by Tabarez as
the perfect son-in-law.
Egidio Arevalo
Little mideld hitman who is the symbol of the side. Always
plays unselshly and within his limitations, protecting the
defence, winning the tackles and getting out of the way.
Diego Godin
Experienced, combative centre-back who has to take on
extra responsibility to compensate for captain and
defensive partner Diego Luganos lack of
pace.
ONE TO WATCH
Mideld playmaker Nicolas Lodeiro
(left) had a disappointing spell in Europe
with Ajax but has found his feet again
with Botafogo in the Brazilian league.
ANALYSIS
How they qualied
As newly crowned Copa America champions, Uruguay
came roaring out of the blocks when South Americas
World Cup qualiers got under way in October 201 They
1.
126 WORLD CUP 2014
won three of their opening ve games and were unbeaten,

second in the qualifying table. They suffered a 4-0
thrashing in Colombia, the rst of four heavy away defeats
which left qualication hanging in the balance.
But Uruguayans are often at their best with their backs
to the wall, and so it proved again. Victories over
Venezuela, Peru and Colombia, followed by a last-day
triumph over Argentina, meant Uruguay nished behind
Ecuador on goal difference and went into the play-offs.
As it turned out, they romped past Jordan winning 5-0
away followed by a goalless draw in Montevideo.
Strengths
One of the worlds most dangerous strikeforces in Suarez
and Cavani. They will be desperate to emulate their 1950
predecessors. Victory over Costa Rica will allow them to
cover up and counter against England and Italy.
Weaknesses
An ageing defence. Uruguay will not be used to the
scorching summer heat of Fortaleza and Natal. Quite a few
players are substitutes at their clubs.
Quarter-nals.
WHAT THEY SAY

THE COACH
Oscar Tabarez
Brazils objective of winning at home wont be easy. When
they meet teams that arent favourites, like Uruguay, the
games can be tough and these teams can surprise.
THE PUNDIT
Tim Vickery, World Soccer Uruguay correspondent
This will be the international swansong for many of the
team. Do they still have it in them to go all the way, or is it
one tournament too many?
WorldMags.net
www.atibook.ir
WorldMags.net
LIKELY
STARTING
LINE-UP: 4-4-2
Muslera
FERNANDO
MUSLERA
MAXI PEREIRA
RIGHT-BACK
Club: Benca (Por)
Born: 08.06.84
(aged 30)
Mins in qualiers:
1301
GOALKEEPER
Born: 16.06.86
(aged 27)
Lugano
Godin
Caceres
M Pereira
Arevalo
Stuani
Cavani
Lodeiro
Rodriguez
Suarez
DIEGO LUGANO
DIEGO GODIN
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Club: West Brom (Eng)
Born: 02.1
1.80
(aged 33)
CENTRAL DEFENCE
(Spa)
Born: 16.02.86
(aged 28)
LEFT-BACK
Born: 07.04.87
(aged 27)
CHRISTIAN
STUANI
EGIDIO
AREVALO
NICOLAS
LODEIRO
RIGHT MIDFIELD
Club: Espanyol (Spa)
Born: 12.10.86
(aged 27)
Apps in qualiers: 5
CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Club: Morelia (Mex)
Born: 01.01.82
(aged 32)
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Club: Botafogo (Bra)
Born: 21.03.89
(aged 25)
Apps in qualiers: 6
CRISTIAN
RODRIGUEZ
EDINSON
CAVANI
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
(Spa)
Born: 30.09.85
(aged 28)
CENTRE-FORWARD
Born: 14.02.87
(aged 27)
OTHER PLAYERS
JOSE MARIA
GIMENEZ
DEFENCE
Atletico Madrid (Spa)
3 apps/181 mins/0
goals in qualiers
ANDRES
SCOTTI
DEFENCE
Nacional
3 apps/206 mins/0
goals in qualiers
ALVARO
PEREIRA
DEFENCE
Sao Paulo (Bra)
12 apps/836 mins/0
goals in qualiers
DIEGO PEREZ
MIDFIELD
Bologna (Ita)
10 apps/713 mins/0
goals in qualiers
ALVARO
GONZALEZ
MIDFIELD
Lazio (Ita)
12 apps/633 mins/0
goals in qualiers
WALTER
GARGANO
MIDFIELD
Parma (Ita)
8 apps/462 mins/0
goals in qualiers
GASTON
RAMIREZ
MIDFIELD
Southampton (Eng)
12 apps/491 mins/0
goals in qualiers
DIEGO
FORLAN
FORWARD
Cerezo Osaka (Jap)
15 apps/947 mins/2
goals in qualiers
ABEL
HERNANDEZ
FORWARD
Palermo (Ita)
in qualiers
WorldMags.net
www.atibook.ir
MARTIN
CACERES
LUIS SUAREZ
CENTRE-FORWARD
Born: 24.01.87
(aged 27)
1
THE COACH
OSCAR
TABAREZ
Born 03.03.47
(aged 67)
Veteran who, in
his second spell in
charge of the
national team, has
overseen the
return of Uruguay
to world footballs
top table. El Maestro has thoughtfully guided
his men to fourth place in South Africa 2010
and a record 15th Copa America win a year
later, as well as restructuring the youth sides.
WORLD CUP 2014 127
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WORLD CUP 2014
129
WorldMags.net
BRAZIL 2014
FULL MATCH SCHEDULE
GROUP A
&VE^MP'VSEXME1I\MGS
'EQIVSSR
12.06.14
Brazil v Croatia Arena de Sao Paulo,
Sao Paulo, (9pm, ITV)
13.06.14
Mexico v Cameroon Arena das
Dunas, Natal (5pm, ITV)
17.06.14
Brazil v Mexico Estadio Castelao,
Fortaleza (8pm, BBC)
18.06.14
Cameroon v Croatia Arena Amazonia,
Manaus (1
1pm, ITV)
23.06.14
Cameroon v Brazil Estadio Nacional,
Brasilia (9pm, ITV)
23.06.14
Croatia v Mexico Arena Pernambuco,
Recife (9pm, ITV)
GROUP B
7TEMR,SPPERH'LMPI%YWXVEPME
13.06.14
Spain v Holland Arena Fonte Nova,
Salvador (8pm, BBC)
13.06.14
Chile v Australia Arena Pantanal,
Cuiaba (1
1pm, ITV)
18.06.14
Spain v Chile Maracana, Rio de
Janeiro (10pm, BBC)
18.06.14
Australia v Holland Estadio Beira-Rio,
Porto Alegre (5pm, ITV)
23.06.14
Australia v Spain Arena da Baixada,
Curitiba (5pm, ITV)
23.06.14
Holland v Chile Arena de Sao Paulo,
Sao Paulo (5pm, ITV)
GROUP C
'SPSQFME+VIIGI-ZSV]'SEWX
.ETER
14.06.14
Colombia v Greece Estadio Mineirao,
Belo Horizonte (5pm, BBC)
15.06.14
Ivory Coast v Japan Arena
Pernambuco, Recife (2am, ITV)
19.06.14
Colombia v Ivory Coast
Estadio Nacional, Brasilia (5pm, BBC)
19.06.14
Japan v Greece Arena das Dunas,
Natal (1
1pm, BBC)
24.06.14
130 WORLD CUP 2014
Japan v Colombia Arena Pantanal,

Cuiaba (9pm, BBC)
24.06.14
Greece v Ivory Coast Estadio
Castelao, Fortaleza (9pm, BBC)
GROUP D
9VYKYE]'SWXE6MGE)RKPERH
-XEP]
14.06.14
Uruguay v Costa Rica Estadio
Castelao, Fortaleza (8pm, ITV)
14.06.14
England v Italy Arena Amazonia,
Manaus (1
1pm, BBC)
19.06.14
Uruguay v England Arena de Sao
Paulo, Sao Paulo (8pm, ITV)
20.06.14
Italy v Costa Rica Arena Pernambuco,
Recife (5pm, BBC)
24 .06.14
Italy v Uruguay Arena das Dunas,
Natal (5pm, ITV)
24.06.14
Costa Rica v England Estadio
Mineirao, Belo Horizonte (5pm, ITV)
GROUP E
7[MXÎVPERH)GYEHSV*VERGI
,SRHYVEW
15.06.14
Switzerland v Ecuador
Estadio Nacional, Brasilia (5pm, ITV)
15.06.14
France v Honduras Estadio Beira-Rio,
Porto Alegre (8pm, BBC)
20.06.14
Switzerland v France Arena Fonte
Nova, Salvador (8pm, ITV)
20.06.14
Honduras v Ecuador Arena da
Baixada, Curitiba (1
1pm, ITV)
25.06.14
Honduras v Switzerland
Arena Amazonia, Manaus (9pm, BBC)
25.06.14
Ecuador v France Maracana, Rio de
Janeiro (9pm, BBC)
GROUP F
%VKIRXMRE&SWRME,IVÎKSZMRE
-VER2MKIVME
15.06.14
Arg v Bosnia-H Maracana, Rio de
Janeiro (1
1pm, BBC)
16.06.14
Iran v Nigeria Arena da Baixada,
Curitiba (8pm, BBC)
21.06.14
Argentina v Iran Estadio Mineirao,
Belo Horizonte (5pm, ITV)
21.06.14
Nigeria v Bosnia-H Arena Pantanal,
Cuiaba (1
1pm, BBC)
25.06.14
Nigeria v Argentina Estadio
Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre (5pm, ITV)
25.06.14
Bosnia-H v Iran Arena Fonte Nova,
Salvador (5pm, ITV)
GROUP G
+IVQER]4SVXYKEP+LERE
9RMXIH7XEXIW
16.06.14
Germany v Portugal Arena Fonte
Nova, Salvador (5pm, ITV)
16.06.14
Ghana v USA Arena das Dunas, Natal
(1
1pm, BBC)
21.06.14
Germany v Ghana Estadio Castelao,
Fortaleza (8pm, BBC)
22.06.14
USA v Portugal Arena Amazonia,
Manaus (1
1pm, BBC)
26.06.14
USA v Germany Arena Pernambuco,
Recife (5pm, BBC)
26.06.14
Portugal v Ghana Estadio Nacional,
Brasilia (5pm, BBC)
GROUP H
&IPKMYQ%PKIVME6YWWME7SYXL
/SVIE
17.06.14
Belgium v Algeria Estadio Mineirao,
Belo Horizonte (5pm, ITV)
17.06.14
Russia v South Korea Arena
Pantanal, Cuiaba (1
1pm, BBC)
22.06.14
Belgium v Russia Maracana, Rio de
Janeiro (5pm, BBC)
22.06.14
South Korea v Algeria
Estadio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre (8pm,
ITV)
26.06.14
South Korea v Belgium
Arena de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo (9pm,
ITV)
26.06.14
Algeria v Russia Arena da Baixada,
Curitiba (9pm, ITV)
WorldMags.net
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SECOND ROUND
28.06.14
(2R1) Winner Gp A v Runner-up Gp B
Est Mineirao, Belo Horizonte (5pm)
28.06.14
(2R2) Winner Gp C v Runner-up Gp D
Estadio do Maracana, Rio (9pm)
29.06.14
(2R3) Winner Gp B v Runner-up Gp A
Estadio Castelao, Fortaleza (5pm)
29.06.14
(2R4) Winner Gp D v Runner-up Gp C
Arena Pernambuco, Recife (9pm)
30.06.14
(2R5) Winner Gp E v Runner-up Gp F
Estadio Nacional, Brasilia (5pm)
30.06.14
(2R6) Winner Gp G v Runner-up Gp H
Est Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre (9pm)
01.07.14
(2R7) Winner Gp F v Runner-up Gp E
A. de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo (5pm)
01.07.14
(2R8) Winner Gp H v Runner-up Gp G
Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador (9pm)
QUARTER-FINALS
04.07.14
(QF1) Winner 2R1 v Winner 2R2
Estadio Castelao, Fortaleza (9pm)
04.07.14
Maracana, Rio de Janeiro (5pm)
05.07.14
Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador (9pm)
05.07.14
SEMI-FINALS
08.07.14
Winner QF1 v Winner QF2 Estadio
Mineirao, Belo Horizonte (9pm)
09.07.14
Winner QF3 v Winner QF4 Arena de
Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo (9pm)
THIRD-PLACE
PLAY-OFF
12.07.14
FINAL
13.07.14
Maracana, Rio de Janeiro (8pm)
All kick-off times BST
WorldMags.net
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Every squad analysed by the experts

Everything you need to

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World Cup heroes

World Cup stadiums

World Cup schedule

USA page 124

SPAIN page 120

ITALY page 104

MEXICO page 110

4 WORLD CUP 2014

RUSSIA page 116

IRAN page 102

S KOREA page 118

WORLD CUP 2014 5

6 WORLD CUP 2014

England manager Alf Ramsey shakes the

WORLD CUP 2014 7

Pele holds aloft the Jules Rimet trophy after

8 WORLD CUP 2014

WORLD CUP 2014 9

10 WORLD CUP 2014

English referee Jack Taylor awards Holland a

WORLD CUP 2014 1

Paolo Rossi opens the scoring for Italy in

12 WORLD CUP 2014

WORLD CUP 2014 13

14 WORLD CUP 2014

In the 2006 Final in Berlin, France

WORLD CUP 2014 15

In the last minute of extra-time of

16 WORLD CUP 2014

WORLD CUP 2014 1

Heres our selection of the

WORLD CUP 2014 19

THIS JUST IN...

20 WORLD CUP 2014

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CONVERSE WORLD CUP BAGS

The World Soccer columnists

World Soccers World Cup special

MINIATURE WORLD CUP

22 WORLD CUP 2014

  

Skipper Steven Gerrard will lead by example in Brazil.

24 WORLD CUP 2014

before. I saw Chelsea do it [in the Champions

WEMBLEY TO SEAL QUALIFICATION?

WORLD CUP 2014 25

ith two of Portugals

26 WORLD CUP 2014

against the Portuguese side going a long way?

the technical area. Queirozs ultra-defensive

Ronaldo would be a tting

2010 Edged out in South Africa

2014 qualiers Sensational in Stockholm

accelerate inside or out, confound markers with

is on song, Portugal are elevated to another plane

about excellence. Hes perfect in looking after

' ( , &

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