Tag: Germany

Victor Montagliani says that the next World Cups will clean up football

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In recent times, FIFA has been undergoing a string of scandals, briberies and things of this nature which has led to a number of FIFA executives either deciding to resign from their position in the football governing authority.


It’s even believed that some countries have been able to host the worldwide competition for the simple reason that they paid certain officials in order to get enough votes to make it happen, even if this nation does not have enough technological resources or top stadiums to host an event of this magnitude, it has been discovered that it does not matter as long as the nation paid for their bids and votes.

However, there still is hope as the former FIFA vice-president Victor Montagliani believes that the upcoming editions of the World Cup will clean up everything that has recently been going on and will help in trying to restore the image of the sport which has been tainted by all of these defamations. Continue reading Victor Montagliani says that the next World Cups will clean up football →

Scotland Happy with Underdog Status, Says Russell Martin

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Russell Martin believes that Scotland are better off with an underdog status when it comes to the World Cup 2018 qualification campaign. Scotland were one of the home nations to miss out on the Euro 2016 final tournament.

Despite having a top manager like Gordon Strachan, the team was unable to make it through whereas the likes of Wales and Northern Ireland featured in this major tournament. As a result, there is a lot of pressure on Scotland to qualify for the World Cup 2018. The more number of teams taking part in this tournament does give them a great chance, but Martin says that Scotland should approach games with an underdog feeling.

Strachan’s team are in the group containing England and Slovakia. Both these teams are expected to be the favourite when it comes to fighting for qualification. Only the top two teams will be able to qualify for the World Cup. In fact, even the runners up in the group will have to go through a play-off in order to determine their participation in the final. England are the overwhelming favourites to top the group despite undergoing a managerial change. Scotland, though, will be relishing their underdog status according to Martin, who saw the team secure an impressive 5-1 win over minnows Malta in the opening group match. Continue reading Scotland Happy with Underdog Status, Says Russell Martin →

Ashley Williams Optimistic Enough

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A semi-final outing in Euro has got Ashley Williams optimistic enough to hope that the Dragons might be the World Champions in 24 months’ time.

Making the Euro Cup finals was achievement enough for Wales and even if they had been sent packing before the knockout round of the main competition, it wouldn’t have fetched them much criticism.

But, not only did they just get to the first knockout round which was the Round of 16, but, went two steps further than that and ended up in the Round of 4. The level of expectations was crossed by some margin.

And that’s why the welcome they received back home was nothing short of what should be the welcome of the Champions. The whole of the country was over the moon.

Nobody can say there was a whole lot of luck involved in Wales’ campaign at all. They advanced to the pre quarter final as the no. 1 team of the group they were in and the victories they secured in the pre quarter final and the quarter final were the comprehensive victories, the latter was in fact against the second ranked team in the world. Continue reading Ashley Williams Optimistic Enough →

Gianni Infantino wants to make things as transparent as possible

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Following the resignation of Sepp Blatter, Gianni Infantino was selected as the new president of FIFA and the Swiss has already voiced what he is planning to do in his new role and one of the first things that Infantino is hoping to accomplish is to regain the confidence that FIFA has lost after all the recent claims, links and evidence of corruption were unveiled.

“We need to make sure we do everything we possibly can, not only to prevent strange things happening around bidding processes but also to prevent the perception strange things could happen. So, we need to make sure the bidding process that we put in place is absolutely bullet-proof.

“Now, an absolute guarantee on everything as of now? It’s certainly the commitment that I want to give and that I will do everything I can to make sure this happens because I think that the credibility of FIFA is, as well, at stake here and we have to get the 2026 process absolutely right.” The recently appointed president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino said. Continue reading Gianni Infantino wants to make things as transparent as possible →

Anthony Hudson has been a man under pressure for a few months now

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Anthony Hudson has been a man under pressure for a few months now. Since taking over the New Zealand National team managerial job in 2014, the Brit has been trying to get a major competitor victory under the belt. New Zealand have been without a win for almost 2 years.

The last victory tasted by the team was back in September 2013 when a narrow 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia is fondly recalled. Even though Ricki Herbert helped the national team qualify for the World Cup 2010 in South Africa, he was soon replaced by Hudson due to a poor run of results.

The victory marks an important progression for the New Zealand national team, as Hudson used four debutants in this victory. The progression of youngsters like Henry Cameron is an important element in the success of any national team. Featuring for the national teams will help these young players to get much more attention when it comes to club football. This will indirectly help the national team once again. Hudson was happy with the performance of all his players and the team can now look forward to a good start to 2016. The 1-0 win over Oman was down to a solitary goal from Leeds United striker Chris Woods. Continue reading Anthony Hudson has been a man under pressure for a few months now →