World Cup Shorts: A case of mistaken identities and unfortunate snap shots
June 24 – English head for the beaches as the Mexican wave rolls on and a Scolari look-a-like fools a reporter and a nation
Columnists
Day 12: Final round previews: ESP v AUS, NED v CHI, BRA v CAM, MEX v CRO
June 23 – The final round of group games kick off today with Groups A and B playing to conclusion. The two matches in each Group match will have the same kick off times.
Day 11: Previews and pre-match stats: BEL v RUS, ALG v KOR, USA v POR
June 22 – Closing second round matches have all sides needing a win for qualification security. The final round of group games starts Monday with each group’s matches kicking off at the same time.
Day 10 previews and match stats: ARG v IRA, GER v GHA, NIG v BOS
June 21 – Africans play for survival and continental pride while the battle of the Boatengs sets up a family feud. Meanwhile, expect Messi to march on in Belo
Osasu Obayiuwana: Why progress should not hold football back
With the World Cup in Brazil being the first in which Goal Line Technology (GLT) is used, to ascertain whether a ball has crossed the line, its effectiveness – and using similar aids, to reduce other refereeing errors – will certainly be a regular talking point.
And not just amongst fans, as the animated conversation between Didier Deschamps and Luis Suarez, the managers of France and Honduras, over Les Bleus’ second goal, in their 3-0 win in Group E,
Day 9 pre-match stat pack: ITA v COR, FRA vs SUI, HON vs ECU
June 20 – Italy are on the longest goal streak of any team in the World Cup but they need to beware an underestimated Costa Rica; the last three France vs Switzerland games have been drawn; Honduras have yet to win a World Cup game but Ecudor can expect a muscled approach.
World Cup shorts: Football, music and religion. Three passions, one feeling
June 20 – From foaming at the mouth to foam on your boots, Brazil 2014 is providing the lot. INSIDEworldfootball chief correspondent Andrew Warshaw is in Belo Horizonte awaiting the arrival of Lionel Messi and his mates. Here are some of the other things that are occupying his agenda
Matt Scott: Hertha Berlin – what it tells football about tapping into a new world of riches
“How does it feel to have a trillion dollars burning a hole in your pocket?” Andrew Blackman, the Wall Street Journal
Not since the conquistadors discovered Potosí, Bolivia’s famed silver-ore mountain and “Cerro Rico”, has anyone known the answer to the question Blackman rhetorically posed this week. But with the data-cruncher Prequin estimating that private-equity firms now hold $1.141 trillion in investible funds, the managed-investment arm of the financial-services industry seems to have a fair idea.
Day 8, round 2, pre-match stats: COL v COI, URU v ENG, JAP v GRE
June 19 – Didier Droga has already proved he should never be written off as Ivory Coast carry a continent’s hopes. Uruguay and England, Japan and Greece are must-win face-offs.
Andrew Warshaw: Spain’s reign over but what of succession?
Let’s be realistic. Not many of us expected for one moment that one of the greatest dynasties to grace the game would actually be able to clinch an unprecedented fourth straight major crown.
After all, no European country has ever won the World Cup on South American soil. And not since 1962 had the reigning world champions retained the title.
But by the same token, few believed that the reign of Spain would come to such a shuddering halt before the end of the first week –
Day 7 round 2 previews: Cro vs Cam, Esp vs Chile, Ned vs Aus
June 18: With the first round of group games complete, round two brings a series of make or break games. Croatia need to pull their socks up (and put their clothes on), Spain can expect a spicy contest with Chile, and the Aussies will need to show a lot more than their much trumpeted fighting spirit against high flying Dutch.
Lee Wellings: Great games and goals will be World Cup Legacy
Listen to executives and politicians and they will hammer home the L-word, legacy, as what hosting a major sports event is all about. The P-word too. People.
“It’s for them.”
But a major sports event is remembered around the globe for something more simple that that. The action. The goals. The magical moments on the field of play. And that’s the reason Brazil 2014 is likely to be remembered as a glorious month,
World Cup Shorts: Hungry, impoverished press caught in smuggled food frenzy scandal
June 17 – Food fiasco as reporters faced to splash the cash; Germans swap their towels for sofas and settle in for World Cup duration; Ronnie’s World Cup gets Messi
Day 6 stat pack: Belgium vs Algeria, Russia vs Korea, Brazil vs Mexico
June 17 – Group H takes over with the last of the first round group matches. A much fancied Belgium face North African powerhouse Algeria, while global super powers Russia and South Korea face off. Round 1 winners Brazil and Mexico re-enter the fray.
World Cup Shorts: News and stats from Brazil 2014
June 16 – INSIDEworldfootball journalists and columnists are peppered all around Brazil. Here chief correspondent Andrew Warshaw, currently loose in Brazil, rounds up some of the off-the-field activity so far.