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Tag: world cup

  • Belgium are Bronze Medalist @ World Cup, Beat England 2-0

    • FT: Belgium 2-0 England
    • Hazard added second (82)
    • Meunier scored early (4)
    • Bronze m

    Belgium finished as bronze medalist at the 2018 FIFA World Cup on Saturday.

    They defeated England 2-0 in the third place match played at Saint Petersburg Stadium at the front of a 64, 406 spectators.

    Belgium side began on a serious minded note as Meunier opens the scoring as early as the 4th minute.

    They sealed the third place spot with a second goal at 82nd minute by Hazard as they trailed tackles with England national team.

    Recall that Belgium had defeated England in the group stage in the tournament

    TEAM NEWS

    Belgium: Courtois, Alderweireld, Kompany, Vertonghen, Meunier, Witsel, De Bruyne, Tielemans, Chadli, Lukaku, Hazard.

    Subs: Vermaelen, Fellaini, Carrasco, Mignolet, Casteels, Mertens, Hazard, Januzaj, Dembele, Boyata, Batshuayi, Dendoncker.

    England: Pickford, Jones, Stones, Maguire, Trippier, Dier, Delph, Rose, Loftus-Cheek, Sterling, Kane.

    Subs: Walker, Lingard, Henderson, Vardy, Butland, Welbeck, Cahill, Young, Rashford, Alli, Alexander-Arnold, Pope.

     

    PREVIOUS MEETING…

    Have two sides ever met twice at the same World Cup with so little at stake in either game?

    When they clashed in the group stages, England made eight changes and Belgium made nine, for a game that neither seemed too keen to win for fear of ending up on the “harder” half of the draw.

    It was Belgium who ended up edging the contest and finishing top of Group G after Adnan Januzaj’s brilliant strike in the 51st minute.

     

    OPTA STAT

    England’s defeat to Croatia in their last match was their 100th competitive defeat – each of their last six competitive losses have been at major tournaments (five at the World Cup, one at the European Championships).

    Harry Kane has had just one shot on target in his last three World Cup matches – his penalty goal against Colombia in the last 16. Kane has not had a shot on target in his last four hours and 33 minutes of action at the World Cup.

  • Spectranet rewards first batch of winners in World Cup Promo

    Spectranet 4GLTE has rewarded the first set of Nigerian winners a promo for the 2018 FIFA World Cup

    As gathered, 216Nigerian subscribers emerged as winners from a draw observed by representatives of lottery regulatory bodies- National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Consumer Protection Council and the Lagos State Lotteries Board.

    Olanrewaju Olapade emerged the winner of the star prize, Trip to Dubai. 5 customers comprising Bakare Abiola and Nzete Promise got Unlimited Data for 1 year.

    Nzei Uche, Akinsipe Olaoluwa, and Victoria Obenoh were among 10 subscribers rewarded with 42” LED TV just as 200 subscribers were handed the privilege to choose either 7GB Data or Bluetooth speakers for purchasing Spectranet devices and subscribing to data plans in June when the promotion commenced.

    Dubbed ‘Connect &Win Big’, the promotion drummed support for Nigeria’s male national team as they jostled for honours at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

    Prior to the commencement of the draw, the Chief Executive Officer Spectranet Ajay Awasthi said, “The innovative nature of Spectranet led to the initiative of rewarding customers for supporting the Super Eagles team in the World Cup”.

    Ajay further revealed that Spectranet is committed to excellent service offering with renewed and upgraded facilities that will continue to improve the subscribers’ experience of the brand even after the World Cup.

    Commenting on the essence of the promotion, Head of Marketing, Mike Ogor said, “In the spirit of the World Cup, we took a decision to make subscribers enjoy the moments that the competition brings. Our fast and reliable internet services have made this possible.

    “This is the first draw of the promotion. Both existing and new subscribers are eligible to participate. More winners will emerge in the second and final draw scheduled to hold after the promotion”.

    The promo which commenced on June 1st ends on July 31st, 2018.

    One of the many winners who responded to phone calls that he won a 42″ TV set could not hold his excitement as he kept asking when and where he should come for his prize while thanking Spectranet for keeping the promise to reward subscribers who purchased modems within the period of the promotion.

    It will be recalled that Spectranet gave out 7GB data to every subscriber that renewed prior to Nigeria vs Iceland fixture as result of the two goals scored as well as the victory over the Iceland team while 1GB was also given to subscribers for the goal scored against Argentina.

    Spectranet 4G LTE is a recipient of multiple awards for Best Internet Service and 4G LTE Provider in Nigeria in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

  • World Cup: FIFA warns broadcasters about focusing on ‘hot women’

    FIFA wants to crack down on broadcasters picking out “hot women” in the crowd at games as part of its efforts to tackle sexism in football.

    Pre-tournament concerns that Russia 2018 would be tarnished by homophobia and racism have not materialised but sexism has been an issue.

    The anti-discrimination group Fare Network has been working with FIFA to monitor behaviour at and around World Cup games and its Executive Director Piara Powar said sexism had been the biggest problem at Russia 2018.

    Speaking to reporters at a press conference on diversity issues before England’s semi-final against Croatia, Mr Powar said his team had “documented more than 30 cases” of mainly Russian women being “accosted in the streets” by male fans but believes the real number of incidents is likely to be “10 times this”.

    He also said there have been several cases of women reporters being grabbed or kissed while on air.

    When asked what Fifa could do to tackle this, the federation’s diversity boss Federico Addiechi said it had been working with the local organisers and Russian police to identify these fans and, when appropriate, they had lost their Fan-IDs and been forced to leave the country.

    But he then said Fifa had told its broadcast service to stop zooming in on “hot women” in the crowd and had been monitoring what the various national rights-holders were doing, too.

    Asked if this was now official Fifa policy, Mr Addiechi said: “This is one of the activities that we definitely will have in the future – it’s a normal evolution.

    “We have done it on a case-by-case basis when some cases arose and they were pretty evident.

    “We’ve done it with individual broadcasters. We’ve done it as well with our host broadcast services.”

    He added it was not yet part of a “proactive campaign” but said “we’ll take action against things that are wrong”.

  • Poland names former captain Brzeczek as new coach

    Jerzy Brzeczek, a former captain of Poland’s national team, has been chosen as the team’s new coach.

    Former coach Adam Nawalka’s contract was not extended following Poland’s World Cup exit, the Polish Football Association said in a statement on Thursday.

    Midfielder Brzeczek was part of the team which won a silver medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. He has been coach of Polish top division team, Wisla Plock, since 2017.

    The new coach will present his plans and other members of the coaching staff on July 23, the Polish FA said in a statement.

    Brzeczek replaces Nawalka, who saw his team crash out at the group stage of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

  • Who lifts the World Cup?

    THE quadrennial football tournament, which started on June 14, is ending on Sunday. The World Cup has been full of excitement and shocks. Bookmakers themselves are stunned by some of the things that happened in Russia. The odds on favourites like Germany, Argentina, Spain and Brazil were shown the way out of the global showpiece early in the competition. Except for Brazil, the others did not go past the second round. Germany dropped in the group stages in a group featuring other countries like Sweden, South Korea and Mexico. The German Machine had no answer to the onslaught of the Mexicans and the Swedes. Spain was kicked out by the lowly rated Russia. France beat Argentina in the second round 4 – 3, with the young Kylian Mbappe, making a mincemeat of the Argentine defence. The Argentines were lucky. They should have gone out in the group stage if our Super Eagles had got things right in their last group match on June 26.

    Russia, Colombia, Switzerland, Japan, France, England, Belgium and Croatia, among others,  are the big revelations of the tournament. France is in the final after seeing off the Belgian threat on Tuesday night. Who plays France in the final on Sunday. Croatia or England? The England versus Croatia match was yet to be played as I write this on Tuesday night. The hype about England winning the Cup again is high in the British media, which has been celebrating the team’s performance at the mundial at every outing. Will the Cup return to England, according to the British media forecast? Even bookmakers will now be afraid to stick out their necks going by what we have been seeing in the last one month. But one country must emerge winner out of the 32 that participating in the competition. Will it be an England versus France final in line with the British media prediction? Or will it be France versus Croatia? Croatia announced itself in a big way by demolishing Argentian 3 – 0 in the group stage. But it may not find the English team an easy nut to crack. So, we may be faced with a France versus England final on Sunday. Who carries the day between Three Lions and The Blues?

  • Rescued Thai boys to miss World Cup final

    The young Thai football club members who have been rescued from a cave will be unable to take up an invitation to attend the World Cup final in Moscow, their doctors said on Tuesday.

    The eight members of the Wild Boar football team who have been rescued thus far need to stay for at least another week in hospital, doctors say, meaning that they have no chance of making Sunday’s match.

    Rescue operations for the other four members, and their coach, are under way.

    On Friday, FIFA president Gianni Infantino invited the 12 trapped boys to Russia at the cost of football’s world governing body.

    Read Also: World Cup: Croatia sack coach ahead semi-final with England

    Instead, doctors say that the boys will follow the game on TV from their hospital beds – if they manage to stay awake.

    Kick-off is at 10 pm (1500 GMT) local time.

    The ten rescued boys remain in quarantine.

    The group got trapped in the cave on June 23.

  • World Cup: France vs Belgium Live on DSTV, GoTV – SuperSport

    Supersport will grant access to the epic battle between France and Belgium as they duke it out for a slot in the finals at the ongoing World cup in Russia, this would be the 74th meeting between the two teams.

    In a recent interview with John Ugbe, Managing Director, MultiChoice Nigeria he said,

    “MultiChoice Nigeria is excited to continue to bring customers the best international football. This is part of our ongoing commitment to bring more value to our customers.”

    France will square off with Belgium in the 2018 FIFA World Cup semi-final match at the Krestovsky Stadium in Russia on Tuesday at 7:00pm.

    The Blues eased into the last four after overcoming South American giants Uruguay 2-0 thanks to two goals from Raphaël Varane and Antoine Griezmann in Nizhny Novgorod on Friday.

    Both teams are excited for the game following statements from team mates;

    “It’s a super exciting game with great players on both sides,” Pavard said

    “It’s the semi-finals‚ it will be extraordinary. But the whole world will be watching us,” De Bruyne said.

    Belgium secured their place in the semi-finals after stunning record five-time World Cup winners Brazil 2-1 courtesy of goals from Fernandinho (own-goal) and Kevin De Bruyne in Kazan on Saturday,

    The Red Devils are hoping to reach the final for the first time since the inception of the competition in 1930. They lost 2-0 to Argentina in their maiden appearance in semi-finals at the 1986 tournament in Mexico.

     

  • World Cup: Croatia sack coach ahead semi-final with England

    The Croatian assistant coach has been sacked for posting a politically-charged video to social media following the penalty shootout win, meaning he will not be in the dugout for Wednesday’s semi-final clash with England.

    Vukojevic, a former Croatia international, published a video in which he and defender Domagoj Vida dedicated the dramatic win to Ukraine, prompting criticism from Russian supporters.

    The clip showed Vida, who scored in extra time at the Fisht Stadium, roaring “Glory to Ukraine!” while Vukojevic announced that “This victory is for Dynamo [Kiev] and Ukraine.”

    “The Croatian Football Federation hereby notifies the public that Ognjen Vukojevic has been relieved of his duties as an associate of the coaching staff of the Croatian national team by decision of the management of the Croatian FA, and that he will no longer be a member of the Croatian delegation at the Fifa World Cup in Russia,” a statement read.

    “The Croatian Football Federation (HNS) has decided to revoke Vukojevic’s team accreditation at the Fifa World Cup and to relieve him of his duties as an observer for the Croatian national team.

    “HNS hereby apologizes to the Russian public for the actions of a member of the Croatian delegation. Ognjen Vukojevic and Domagoj Vida likewise apologize for their statements, which were in no way intended to have political connotations, yet which unfortunately left room for such interpretations.”

    Fifa issued a formal warning to Vukojevic regarding his behaviour and the former midfielder reacted to his dismissal by telling Russian newspaper Sport Express: “There’s no politics in football. It’s a joke for my friends from Dynamo Kiev. I love Russians and I love Ukrainians.”

  • World Cup: ref gets life ban for bribery

    A Kenyan referee who had been due to officiate at the ongoing World Cup in Russia has been handed a life ban after being caught in a bribery sting.

    Aden Marwa was filmed receiving a 600-dollar bribe during Confederation of African Football (CAF) assignment in Ghana.

    He is one of 22 referees sanctioned by the CAF in an unprecedented clean up, announced at the weekend.

    Marwa, who was a reserve at the 2014 finals in Brazil, had earlier been removed from the list of match officials due to officiate in Russia.

    The life ban was handed out by CAF’s disciplinary board, which also banned 10 other referees for between two years and 10 years for similar offences.

    A further 11 persons have been suspended pending an appearance at the board in August.

    African football has long been plagued by allegations of bribery but never before has CAF banned such a large number of officials.

  • World Cup breaks stereotypes about Russia – Putin

    Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that his country’s hosting of the soccer World Cup had helped debunk stereotypes about it.

    Russia’s host nation status had been met with resistance by some in the West, who suggested the tournament could be unsafe and play into the hands of Putin.

    The Russian president stands accused by Washington of conducting “malign activities” around the world.

    But the month-long tournament, which ends on July 15, has so far been without major security incidents.

    Concerns about racism and hooligan violence that were discussed in the run-up have not been borne out and most visiting fans have spoken of a positive experience.

    At a meeting with FIFA president Gianni Infantino and former soccer stars at the Kremlin, Putin said the tournament and its coverage on social media had “helped break many stereotypes about Russia”.

    “People have seen that Russia is a hospitable country, a friendly one for those who come here,” Putin said.

    “I’m sure that an overwhelming majority of people who came will leave with the best feelings and memories of our country and will come again many times.”

    Read Also: Three lions in another jinx battle

    Increasingly isolated on the global stage, Putin has used the tournament to send a defiant message to his opponents that Russia is succeeding despite Western efforts to hold it back.

    Moscow’s pedestrian streets have been flooded with fans and locals who have celebrated the world’s most prestigious soccer tournament until the small hours of the morning.

    “I was told people, police in the Red Square are smiling,” Infantino told Putin, laughing.

    “When they are asked for some information, they are very friendly. This is great. This is exactly what Russia is. This is the new image that we have about Russia.”

    The Russian team’s unexpected success at the World Cup has also added to the event’s appeal in the country.

    After entering the tournament as the lowest-ranked side, Russia made it through to the knockout stage for the first time in post-Soviet history before upsetting Spain to make it to the quarter-finals.

    Russia will face Croatia in the quarter-finals in Sochi on Saturday.