Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

Luiz Felipe Scolari would relish Premier League return – even with Chelsea
Daniel Sturridge beats fear of being shot down on England flight path
Bristol Rovers and Bury both draw strength in their League Two struggle | Jeremy Alexander
England's Joe Hart 'in right frame of mind' to seize Germany chance
Roy Hodgson demands major progress from England against Germany
Brazil's Luiz Felipe Scolari fired by World Cup after Chelsea misery
Sport picture of the day: Papa don't preach, I'm an elephant man
Germany's Joachim Löw relishes chance to experiment against England | Amy Lawrence
Amnesty report on Qatar exposes 'grim' abuse of migrant workers
Qatar construction worker abuse allegations – Q&A
Qatar 2022 World Cup workers 'treated like cattle', Amnesty report finds
Kilmarnock striker Kris Boyd gets Scotland recall from Gordon Strachan
England v Germany – five memorable meetings
Giroud claims France are up for fight
Nigerian keeper 'thanks God' for World Cup qualification - video
Cameroon 4-1 Tunisia | World Cup qualifying play-off match report
Football quiz: guess the fixture from the distance between grounds
Hodgson almost coached Germany
Ivory Coast celebrate World Cup qualification - video
Japan fight back from two goals down to draw against Holland
Ludogorets player and coach hurt as Beroe Stara Zagora fans run riot
Hart to face Germany with his England career on the line
Andros Townsend determined to make it count for Tottenham and England
Joachim Löw's Germany can inflict another reality check on England

Luiz Felipe Scolari would relish Premier League return – even with Chelsea

Posted: 17 Nov 2013 03:00 PM PST

• Brazil coach tells of potential return to England after World Cup
• 'No problem working with Roman Abramovich again'

Luiz Felipe Scolari says he could return to the Premier League after next year's World Cup, insisting he has not been put off by his experience at Chelsea, where dressing-room unrest led to his sacking in 2009. In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, the Brazil manager even raises the unlikely possibility of going back to Stamford Bridge.

Scolari endured a turbulent seven-month spell at Chelsea before his departure in February 2009. Afterwards he identified Petr Cech, Michael Ballack and Didier Drogba as problem players and claimed he was forced out of the club because of their influence with the owner Roman Abramovich. All three deny putting any pressure on the Russian to sack Scolari. However, Scolari admits his open personality might have contributed to the dressing room unrest which ultimately cost him his job.

"Latin people are too open, we work a lot with our heart. Some people don't understand that and create difficulties for you," he said. "I wish my work at Chelsea could have lasted longer, especially because I was prepared to spend at least two or three seasons in London and experience the Premiership.

"I was upset by the way my departure occurred. I was being honest with the club in everything I did. We were doing reasonably well on the pitch. A few players did not agree with the decisions I had to take for the good of the team. I heard them complaining and saying: 'I do not play in this or that position.' Never mind that one of the players I had put into the first team was actually one of the league's top-scorer at that point."

Scolari, however, still nurtures a soft spot for Chelsea and says he would not have a problem working for Abramovich again. "If I had to return [to England], I would do it. Chelsea are a spectacular club and I still want them to do well. The supporters are amazing and even though things did not work out I still remember how nice the fans were to me."

After his spell in London, Scolari, the first Brazilian to manage in England, took over Uzbekistan side Bunyodkor, returning to Brazil in 2010 to manage Palmeiras, with whom he had previously won the Copa Libertadores, South America's top club accolade. "Big Phil" and Palmeiras parted company in September 2012 and the club were relegated to Brazil's second division, but two months later he was announced as the Seleção's new manager, replacing the sacked Mano Menezes.

"What happened in England was a disappointment, but my life changed for the better and I will have the honour of managing Brazil in our home World Cup," he said. "That is an improvement."

Scolari continues to keep a close eye on affairs at Stamford Bridge, not least because three of his first-choice players – Oscar, David Luiz and Ramires – ply their trade there. David Luiz has come in for particular attention lately because of his lack of first team appearances.

"I have spoken to David about it, but I am not worried. He is one of the best defenders in the world and [José] Mourinho is an intelligent guy. He won't leave a player like that on the bench all the time."

The Brazilian describes his relationship with Mourinho as "reasonably good'', but has taken issue with the Portuguese's recent criticisms of Neymar and the Barcelona forward's apparent diving. "Every manager likes to use the media to their own benefit. Mourinho is doing just that. He knows that Chelsea could play Barcelona in the Champions League sooner or later and he is already throwing supporters, media and referees against Neymar. It's disappointing and Mourinho didn't really need to resort to that. Maybe he knows that Neymar is now at the same level as Ronaldo and Messi and can really hurt his team."

Scolari also believes England have a realistic chance of success in Rio next year. "Roy [Hodgson] is doing a great job in bringing new players to the team and is overseeing a change in generations," he said. "England have a good team and I think they are much better technically these days."

Fernando Duarte

Daniel Sturridge beats fear of being shot down on England flight path

Posted: 17 Nov 2013 03:00 PM PST

The Liverpool striker is reaping the benefits of his prolific season for club and country after a number of false starts

Daniel Sturridge has learned to live with the cases of mistaken identity. Even now he can be checking in for a flight only for the attendant weighing in his luggage to hand over a boarding card and, instinctively, refer to him in passing as "Dean" or "Simon". His uncles had been regular scorers with various clubs in the Midlands whose reputations, it appears, linger on. "It still happens, but I'm proud of what my family achieved," said the Liverpool striker. "They paved the way for me, and I looked up to them when I was younger, so I'm not too fussed. I'm cool. I'll be 'Dean', then."

This is a player who is now making a name for himself. Sturridge the younger will be restored to the England lineup for Tuesday's visit of Germany as the nation's forward of the moment, a player whose move to Merseyside in January sparked form that simply cannot go ignored. There have been 23 goals in 33 appearances for club and country this calendar year and, even with the thigh niggles that have hampered him since a friendly against the Republic of Ireland at the end of last season and a record that reads two goals in eight internationals, he is actually recognised as a key component of the nation's team.

Such lofty status is based on those prolific displays at Liverpool, where he has thrived with, and without, Luis Suárez. Sturridge's game has developed with opportunities. The 24-year-old no longer has to hog every second in possession, desperate simply to make an instant and obvious impact, as was the case during that stop-start spell spent largely as a fringe player on the right wing at Chelsea. There had been 31 league starts in three-and-a-half years for Chelsea – albeit a period that also encompassed a hugely successful loan spell at Bolton – a return which hardly fulfilled his publicly expressed initial aspirations to establish himself as "a great player" for the club.

"Maybe my [first] press conference put me on the back foot a little bit in the way people perceived me," he said, casting his mind back to the summer of 2009 and the aftermath of a controversial move from Manchester City to Stamford Bridge. "I have always been confident in my abilities, always had my faith in God, always expressed myself, but when you are a young player sometimes you get misunderstood. People were probably thinking: 'He is saying this and he has not proved himself, or done anything yet.'

"In the past I was maybe not given the opportunity to back up what I'd said or build my game, because you can't show what you can do if you only have 20 minutes [on the pitch]. I am now being given that chance. I'm thankful for my time at Chelsea, for what they did for me and my life, just as I am for what City did for me. I will never forget that.

"For me, that was a defining moment in my career, being at Chelsea, going through what has made me become a man in terms of my career. Even playing on the right wing helped my right foot, making me use it more, making me improve. I'm still working on my game as much as I can now, on strength and my left, but I'm playing in a [central] position where I can play my natural game. I'm just really happy getting opportunities."

He is taking them, too. Of the 11 goals in 15 games this season, perhaps the most sublime was a chip in the rout of West Bromwich Albion at Anfield last month: a dart towards the area under pressure from Youssouf Mulumbu, a quick glance up to see Boaz Myhill off his line and, from just outside the area, a delicate lob back across goal as the goalkeeper back-tracked. "I learned that one from Deco at Chelsea, where he'd do it a lot in training. It's started coming off for me, too, and it's important to try things.

"In the past I'd felt I didn't want to try something because I might get shot down for it. I'd tried it with England and the goalkeeper, I think it was against Poland, saved it. This time it came off.

"Sometimes you have to try these things and play without risk. As a youngster that's how it was: you tried to express yourself out on the pitch as much as you can. Maybe I stopped trying things when I got into the first team, but now I'm more comfortable and doing things off the cuff again. With the chip I just looked up and thought: 'I'm going to go for it.'

"In the past I wouldn't have gone for that; maybe I would have cut back or tried to play someone in, or took a normal shot. But when you feel more comfortable and confident you do try things you maybe wouldn't have done."

His father, Michael, as well as those celebrated uncles – or even the cousins who have played for Aston Villa's under-12s or Wolves Women – would have approved of that finish. Sturridge Sr was a junior at Birmingham and played at Wrexham and abroad, though he was arguably more effective as an in-house coach from whom his son sponged information. The younger forward would pore over Betamax recordings of Michael in action.

"They were from Finland when he played there," he said. "He would take me out on the park, put out cones, and he'd work on right foot and then left foot … we had those Samba goals and would do finishing, dogs always chasing us as we practised. He'd show me videos of Pelé or Wiel Coerver coaching instructions, and I was always trying to take stuff on board."

Now, after a few false starts, his career is taking off. Check-in attendants take note.

Dominic Fifield

Bristol Rovers and Bury both draw strength in their League Two struggle | Jeremy Alexander

Posted: 17 Nov 2013 03:00 PM PST

A goal apiece was enough to give two of the Football League's foot soldiers the heart to fight another day

Belief is the managers' catchword of the moment – belief and its supposed consequence, consistency. Bristol Rovers and Bury were both understandably after it at the Memorial Stadium on Saturday, lying 20th and 22nd in League Two, and John Ward and Ronnie Jepson were joshingly happy afterwards with a point apiece.

"We are three games undefeated," said Rovers' Ward beforehand, "and, if you can put a little run together, it tends to give the players that bit of added belief." Jepson, asked to stay until January having stepped up from assistant after Kevin Blackwell's dismissal last month, said: "My primary concern is not me and the job but getting the players to believe in themselves."

They can believe in fairy godmothers at least, as JD Sports will be the Shakers' main sponsor from next season. "Hopefully it shows we're on the up," Jepson said, commending the club's movers but aware that JD does not expect to back a Conference team. The down side is that Gigg Lane, home since 1885, is to be called the JD Stadium – a shame to make Shakers pale.

Rovers are trying to break new ground altogether. Having lost historic Eastville to greyhounds, camped in Bath and gone from tenants to equal partners then owners as the rugby club hit financial trouble (not an exclusive football malaise), they have planning permission for a stadium at the University of the West of England but have run into a protest group opposing sale of the Memorial Stadium to a supermarket. The rugby club are going to City's Ashton Gate anyway but, as was said on Saturday: "Nothing happens here easily." A judicial review is scheduled for January.

Plenty happened quickly on the field, perhaps too quickly for Rovers' good. They, too, could believe in magic when Shaun Beeley, head spinning from Eliot Richards' run, brought him down and John-Joe O'Toole converted the fourth-minute penalty. Bury's response was impressive. They simply turned off The Gas with a burst of electricity. Danny Hylton wasted Danny Mayor's inviting cross but then, with a brilliant backheel down the right touchline, sent Tom Soares clear, only for Shaun Harrad, three yards out, to scoop the centre over a gaping goal.

By half-time, though, Bury were level and Beeley and Hylton were feeling better, Beeley crossing and Hylton forcing in. As Ward said later: "We got a lovely start but then we were on the back foot as they took the game to us. They were very strong and knocked us about a bit."

It was Matt Harrold, though, Rovers' centre-forward, who saw off his marker, Richard Hinds, early on with "a big lump on his head" as Jepson put it. "Matt came over at the end and admitted he caught Richard, albeit unintentionally, and I have no problem with that. These things happen in football." Managers lower down the ladder are mostly good role models for those in the Premier League. Harrold, meanwhile, looked the part to be back on the pitch on Sunday, hoisted above a lineout against Rotherham Titans.

Rovers had increasing territorial domination after the interval, with Michael Smith a driving force from right-back, and Chris Beardsley lively. Brian Jensen, Bury's keeper, needed two goes to gather a diving header by Tom Parkes, captain and centre-back, but Bury could set two headers against that, Harrad's on to the bar and Hylton's poorly over it.

"When we start hitting the back of the net we'll fly up the table," said Jepson. "We've tried really hard; that sounds a bit schoolboy," said Ward, "but I can't grumble. You can be as happy as you want or the most miserable person in the world and I've no time for miserable people." He has the knack of being a force of goodwill, raising morale wherever he has been – East (Colchester), West and North (Carlisle) but not yet South. He has even given both Bristols a lift, each currently just above the relegation belt but at least a division below where they should be.

Both clubs play in the FA Cup on Tuesday in a spell of five games in 15 days, with victory putting them one match short of a potentially lucrative third-round tie. Bury, facing Cambridge United, top of the Conference so only three places below them, are grateful to have five loanees available. Rovers' excellent programme indicated each with increasing numbers of daggers, though Daniel Nardiello, like Hylton from Rotherham, signed too late for what would have been six. None was drawn on a field that seemed almost to impose the generous spirit of amateur rugby.

Jeremy Alexander

England's Joe Hart 'in right frame of mind' to seize Germany chance

Posted: 17 Nov 2013 03:00 PM PST

• 'I'm more than happy that Joe is ready' says Roy Hodgson
• Goalkeeper dropped by Manchester City after mistakes

Roy Hodgson expects Joe Hart to "seize his chance" and re-establish his credentials as England's premier goalkeeper when a player enduring a spell out of the Manchester City first team seeks to make his mark against Germany.

Hart will start Tuesday's friendly at Wembley having spent more than three weeks stewing over the series of high-profile mistakes which served to cast him out of the side at City.

His club manager, Manuel Pellegrini, withdrew the 26-year-old from the fray after confusion with the centre-half Matija Nastasic handed Chelsea a last-minute winner in a Premier League game at Stamford Bridge last month. That left the England No1 on the bench for four matches before he watched Fraser Forster make his international debut in Friday's defeat by Chile.

"But he is in the right frame of mind," said Hodgson, who has made no secret of his belief that Hart remains first choice for the national team.

"This is what being England manager has been like for me for the last 18 months, selecting players who haven't played for a couple of weeks. Jermain Defoe played on Friday and he hasn't played for hardly any part of the season, unless you count the odd minute here and there, and you count the Europa League. That is what we have.

"We aren't in the situation where I can only pick players who are playing regularly 90 minutes for their team. We don't have enough players for me to do that. But I am more than happy that Joe is ready. He will be anxious to seize his chance and anxious to show everyone that he is still a very good goalkeeper."

Hart would concede that his form over recent months has handed rivals, with club and country, an opportunity to stake their claim for his place in the side, even if he essentially remains calm, rather than flustered, over his form.

He is adapting to a new manager, in Pellegrini, whose demand for a higher defensive line has placed more emphasis on the goalkeeper to act almost as a sweeper.

That has forced him to make tweaks to his game, changes overseen by the latest City goalkeeping coach, Xabier Mancisidor, while the constant chopping and changing in front of him – there have been seven different centre-back combinations in 11 league games this season – has hardly helped. The confusion with Nastasic was as much born of a lack of communication between the two than poor judgment from Hart.

Indeed, his record remains impressive, with 21 clean sheets in 46 Premier League matches and four in succession with England, to leave him with 19 in 37 caps.

Hodgson described Hart's attitude and performance in training since the squad met up last week as good and has taken reports from the England set-up's goalkeeping coach, Dave Watson, to ensure the player is in the right frame of mind for the visit of Germany.

Watson remains something of a mentor to Hart, stemming from the time they spent working together as coach and young loanee at Birmingham City, and he has been a constant at this level while staff with his club at the Etihad have come and gone.

"In the training sessions he does with me he has been fine, and I know Dave Watson has been happy with him, so I could only answer in the affirmative that he is fine," said Hodgson.

"He is ready and he knew he wasn't playing against Chile. That was Fraser's chance to show what he can do, but Joe knows it's his chance on Tuesday night."

Dominic Fifield

Roy Hodgson demands major progress from England against Germany

Posted: 17 Nov 2013 03:00 PM PST

• Germany to 'ask massive questions', admits manager
• 'Tuesday will be like Premier League,' says Wayne Rooney

Roy Hodgson has warned his England players there will have to be a significant improvement against Germany on Tuesday night or they could risk another demoralising defeat in their penultimate game before he has to pick his World Cup squad.

Hodgson believes England must "brush ourselves down" from the disappointing performance against Chile to avoid another chastening experience against a side he expects to ask "massive questions" of his own team.

However, the England manager also insisted he had not lost confidence in his squad as they prepare to face a team he considers to be one of the favourites for next summer's tournament.

"I am not prepared after one defeat to Chile to suggest that all the things we have been trying to do have been thrown out of the window," he said. "I can point to quite a few talented players who I have to bring back into the team.

"The defeat has hurt us, and it's one that will teach us a lot, but I am not prepared to go down that very clear philosophical route that we aren't moving in the right direction and we don't have the players who can do what Germany have done."

Hodgson will bring Joe Hart back into goal, while Ashley Cole will return to the team and Steven Gerrard will take back the captain's armband from Frank Lampard. Phil Jagielka, now established as a first-choice centre-half, will be back in defence and Daniel Sturridge will also feature as Hodgson selects a team that recognises this is not a game for wholesale experimentation.

Joachim Löw, the Germany manager, has said he will not use Manuel Neuer, Mesut Özil and Philipp Lahm, but Hodgson is acutely aware it represents another difficult test for his team, having been booed at the end of the Chile match.

"I am sure the players will be beating themselves up, like we all do, because that's what defeats do to you, but it's important they don't beat themselves up too much and keep a sense of perspective.

"They have only a couple of days to get up, brush themselves down and get going again and that is what I am expecting from them.

"We are not prepared to fool ourselves that there weren't negatives, things that could be an awful lot better, but that was an England team with a lot of players who did not have a lot of international experience. I am pretty sure that all of the 11 who go out on Tuesday will be anxious to show they are every bit as good as Germany and that is what I believe they will be."

Hodgson, clearly trying to maintain England's confidence levels, has only one further match, when Denmark visit Wembley on 5 March, before he has to decide which players go to Brazil and the Chile game made it clear it is still a work in progress.

"Chile caught us by surprise with the way they played," Wayne Rooney said. "They showed us how South American teams play, and it was difficult to get near them. Germany will be more like a Premier League game. We should be ready for that and, if we can beat them, it's always good for confidence. It's nice to beat anyone but especially the Germans."

The problem for England is that Rooney and various others said similar things in the last World Cup. "That was a typical German game," Rooney now says. "One minute we could have been 2-2, the next minute we were 4-1 down."

Germany, as Hodgson acknowledged, have realistic credentials of becoming the first European team to win a World Cup in South America. "All the praise that is heaped on them, I think, is deserved," the manager he said. "They are really a very good team. Since 2006 and the World Cup they have spent those eight years very fruitfully to put this team together and now, despite the fact that they are not particularly old, they have a lot of players who are used to playing with each other and have experienced a lot of success in the major tournaments.

"They will be coming here with enormous confidence in themselves and they are going to ask massive questions of us. I can only hope that we have brushed ourselves down and are ready to take them on."

Daniel Taylor

Brazil's Luiz Felipe Scolari fired by World Cup after Chelsea misery

Posted: 17 Nov 2013 03:00 PM PST

The manager who was shown the door at Stamford Bridge with unfinished business will lead his nation in 2014 on home soil aiming to replicate his 2002 triumph

It is four and a half years since Luiz Felipe Scolari left Chelsea but he is keeping a closer eye on the club than ever. He has a World Cup on home soil to prepare for and four players from the London club – Oscar, David Luiz, Ramires and Willian – could well be in his final squad; and then there is the small matter of José Mourinho.

Last month the Chelsea manager hit out at Neymar after the Barcelona forward had been involved in an incident that led to Celtic's Scott Brown being sent off. Mourinho called the Brazilian's actions "sad", adding: "I have told the players many times, I hate it [diving]. It is very bad. And the search of a red card for another player is a disgrace."

Scolari, as we meet for an exclusive interview, is still not happy with the Portuguese's remarks. "Every manager likes to use the media to their own benefit and Mourinho is doing just that," he says. "He knows that Chelsea could play Barcelona in the Champions League sooner or later and he is already putting supporters, media and referees against Neymar. It's disappointing and Mourinho didn't really need to resort to that. Maybe he knows that Neymar is now at the same level as Cristiano [Ronaldo] and [Lionel] Messi and can really hurt his team."

In addition, one of the Scolari's first-choice central defenders, David Luiz, has not been able to secure a regular starting place under Mourinho. That, however, seems to concern the 65-year-old less.

"I have spoken to David about it [the lack of appearances] but I am not worried. He is one of the best defenders in the world and Mourinho is an intelligent guy. He won't leave a player like that on the bench all the time. If the worst comes to worst, David will arrive fresh and rested for the World Cup," Scolari says with a smile. "We [Mourinho and I] get along but I find Mourinho's crusade against Neymar absurd."

It is not only his relationship with Mourinho that is a little strained but his love affair with Chelsea suffered somewhat when he was sacked after seven months in charge. He had been the first Brazilian to take charge of an English top-flight club but the experience left him bruised and his next job after Chelsea wwas with Bunyodkor in Uzbekistan – not exactly where you expect to find a World Cup-winning coach.

"I was upset by the way my departure from Chelsea happened," he says. "I was being honest with the club in everything I did. We were doing reasonably well on the pitch. I wish my work at Chelsea could have lasted longer, especially because I was prepared to spend at least two or three seasons in London and experience the Premier League and Champions League football."

And it had started so well at Chelsea. His first league game was a 4-0 victory over the FA Cup holders, Portsmouth, Joe Cole, Nicolas Anelka, Frank Lampard and Deco scoring in a free-flowing performance. In fact Scolari won nine of his first 12 games, drawing the other three as his attack-minded Chelsea wooed neutrals and the media alike. There was a 3-1 win at Manchester City, a 4-0 humbling of Bordeaux in the Champions League, another 4-0 win against Pompey, this time in the Carling Cup, and a 5-0 destruction of Middlesbrough at the Riverside.

Then the whole adventure unravelled. José Bosingwa scored an own-goal after 10 minutes as Chelsea lost 1-0 at home to Liverpool on 26 October and there were further defeats against Roma, Arsenal, Manchester United and then Liverpool again before Roman Abramovich had seen enough and released Scolari of his duties in early February 2009.

He has vented his anger over what happened at Chelsea before, mentioning Petr Cech, Michael Ballack and Didier Drogba as the players he struggled with, but he does not want to single out anyone when we speak. "A few players did not agree with the decisions I had to make for the good of the team. I heard them complaining and saying: 'I don't play in this or that position.' Never mind the fact that one of the players I had put into the first team was actually one of the league top scorers at that point."

There is the obvious nod towards Drogba not being happy with Nicolas Anelka being preferred to play up front but it was the fact that the Chelsea hierarchy appeared to side with the players and not the manager that hurt Scolari most. Despite this, though, the Brazilian would be open to a return to England, and even Chelsea. As things stand, he does not rule out a return to Europe at all.

"If I had to return, I would do it. Chelsea are an spectacular club and I still want them to do well. The supporters are amazing and even though things didn't work out I still remember how nice the fans were to me."

The move to Uzbekistan in 2009 was left-field but a tactic employed while waiting for another European club to seek his services. But the right offer never came and, when his wife demanded they move back to Brazil, they did just that and Scolari took the job at Palmeiras in 2010. "I can't complain too much," he says. "What happened in England was a disappointment but my life changed for the better and I will have the honour of managing Brazil in our home World Cup. That is an improvement in my book."

Scolari, however, is pleased that so many of his players are playing in the Premier League and is not concerned that they will be worn out by next summer, when he is under pressure to deliver a World Cup on home soil, something Flávio Costa failed to do the last time the tournament was held in Brazil, in 1950.

Tottenham Hotspur's Paulinho and Liverpool's Lucas Leiva will also be in Scolari's thoughts but he says: "I don't worry about my players playing in the Premier League. Brazilian football has the best fitness trainers in the world. Paulo Paixão, who works with me, makes sure the boys are ready to go when it matters. It's true that Oscar was quite jaded when he arrived for the Confederations Cup but we had over two weeks to recover him."

Scolari does agree, though, that the absence of a winter break in the Premier League makes things harder for him and other international managers. "But it's a difficult thing to change now when the English clubs make so much money on matchdays."

The Brazilian, who also took Portugal to the finals of Euro 2004, is surprisingly upbeat about England's chances at next year's tournament. "England are one of the teams who could shine at the World Cup," he says, having failed to beat England twice this year. "Roy [Hodgson] is doing a great job in bringing new players to the team and is overseeing a generational change. England have a good team and I think they are much better technically these days.

"People say I'm a specialist in defeating England but the victories with Portugal against them in Euro 2004 and in Germany in 2006 were on penalties, really tight games [he also beat England with Brazil in 2002]. You know how tense shoot-outs are. I think England are missing the confidence to take that step that finally puts them among the top four."

And he does admit, however, that other teams are currently at a superior level. "As the current European and World Champions, Spain have to be considered the best in the world. I am also impressed by Germany and Argentina. Holland could be a threat and Belgium have been one of the best teams of the European qualifiers. It's an open field for the World Cup."

Scolari is not fazed by the daunting statistic that only Italy's Vittorio Pozzo has been able to win two World Cups as a manager and that was more than 70 years ago. Other Brazilian managers have tried, with Mario Zagallo, the 1970 manager, reaching the final in 1998. "If I feared challenges, I wouldn't 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 can't play a tournament in Brazil and think that second place will do. If we are not good enough we will lose but if we work hard, as we have been doing in the last months, I can see us challenging for the title."

Scolari and the Seleção were criticised for some of their first performances after he had returned but there has not been much said against the manager or the team since a Neymar-inspired 3-0 win over Spain in the Confederations Cup in Rio last June. On Saturday they beat Honduras 5-0 in their final game before the World Cup draw on 6 December.

This squad, however, is much different from the one Scolari took to the top of the world in 2002. It lacks the experience of the kind Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Roberto Carlos had 11 years ago and the fact that they have not played competitively in qualifying has not helped. "Indeed they are less experienced," Scolari says. "But their technical ability and their physical prowess enthuse me. We need to take a moment when drawing comparisons. The 2002 Seleção was more seasoned and had quality players but not even Ronaldo and Rivaldo could do things on their own. Of course, the 2014 team will be judged by their results but these boys have shown that, if they work hard, as they have been doing, we can beat anybody."

It is difficult not to return to the memories of the game against Spain and the Maracanã. "I have always tried give Brazil some kind of European organisation and that led to a lot of people criticising me at home," he says. "But the fact is that we need to be organised for our differentiated talent to make a difference. I don't think we play like Germans. Under Pep Guardiola Barcelona put a lot of pressure at their opponents, suffocated them, for example. I am not ashamed at all of copying what contributes to good football."

A proud southerner, Scolari defends the style clubs from that area are famous four. "I grew up with the Gaucho style. We are organised and like possession but we never really forget to defend as well. It's not for me to say that my attacking players shouldn't forget to actually be creative," he says.

Scolari's job has been made harder by the turmoil in Brazil. Their exploits on the pitch in Fifa's test events were marred by violent clashes in several cities, with the cost of the World Cup a prime target for protesters whose agenda had topics as diverse as political corruption and police brutality. Just as in June, he distances himself from commenting. "As the national team manager, I do not have to get involved. But no player was prevented from speaking and several commented on the protests. But I do think there's some prejudice towards Brazil."

He is also defensive when it comes to the criticism Brazil have come in for. "London was burning a year before the 2012 Olympics and still hosted successful Games. There was also a lot of public money spent on the Games but people focus only on Brazil. will give you that: the World Cup will not change Brazil but it is something that can help us move forward."

Change or no change, Scolari has only one aim and that is to win the World Cup. And even to have that aim is pretty remarkable considering the events at Stamford Bridge four and a half years ago.

Fernando Duarte

Sport picture of the day: Papa don't preach, I'm an elephant man

Posted: 17 Nov 2013 02:52 PM PST

Now here's what you call a committed football supporter, wearing what looks like a puffa jacket cum body-suit shaped like an elephant

Germany's Joachim Löw relishes chance to experiment against England | Amy Lawrence

Posted: 17 Nov 2013 02:00 PM PST

With some big names left at home, including Mesut Özil, Löw still has an abundance of talent to choose from at Wembley

There is something very striking about the list for the Germany squad for these autumn friendly matches, the last to come before a World Cup year and perhaps the final chance to be radically experimental. Joachim Löw has selected only two forwards. Their international records read like chunks of proverbial chalk and cheese: Miroslav Klose, 130 caps and 68 goals. Max Kruse, five caps and one goal. One radiates experience but age seems to be catching up. The other is a fresh face on this stage.

With Mario Gomez out of the picture with injury, Germany have chosen not to integrate any attackers outside of the usual (and in the case of Kruse, unusual until recently) suspects. Instead, these matches present Löw with an opportunity he appears to relish. With such abundant resources in his creative midfield department, contests of the intensity of Italy and England away give Germany the perfect platform to continue to explore how his team fare with a false 9.

It is a compliment to Pep Guardiola, who brought the idea to Bayern Munich this season and began a debate about how it can effectively use certain combinations of talent. The touch of the former Barcelona coach was also evident as Philipp Lahm lined up for Germany against Italy on Friday night in a midfield anchor role – something that assumed more importance when Sami Khedira sustained a cruciate ligament injury. Another nod is the reinvention of Jérôme Boateng, who played full-back for a long time for his country but is now established as a centre-back.

By extension, these trials show how Germany in a wider way have been influenced by Spain, who knocked them out of two of the past three tournaments as La Roja reset the world footballing bar. For all the upward strides German football made over the past few years, the Spanish had a knack of trotting over to ask a question that couldn't be answered.

It is not as if there is any kind of insecurity complex going on here – not after Bayern and Borussia Dortmund overwhelmed Barcelona and Real Madrid in last season's Champions League – but the Germans looked at the international picture strategically. How can they give themselves as many weapons, and as much flexibility, as possible to prepare for the World Cup? In dabbling with the option of a false nine system they are hoping to bring something extra to the party. If it works, it would enhance the feeling that they are in a better position than previous attempts to match (or exceed) the best of what Europe has to offer.

If Löw wants to use a conventional striker, his main options are Klose and Gomez. Klose is in many ways the perfect Löw player – intelligent, strong, highly professional, he is a classical centre-forward who welds his sharp eye for goal with a natural ability to bring others into play. The veteran brings the experience of six consecutive international tournaments. The nagging problem is that he has been in underwhelming form this season at Lazio. At 35, questions about his age are not so easy to shake off.

Gomez, when he returns to fitness, offers a more old fashioned attacking focal point. But apart from that there is not a queue of authentic No9s waiting patiently for Löw's call. The curious case of Stefan Kiessling, who has never looked comfortable in his cameos around the national team and appears not to have the trust of the coach, remains unlikely to figure.

So, the false 9 looks an attractive proposition, especially as Germany have such depth in that department. Löw is almost spoilt for choice as to who to try out there: will it be Thomas Müller, who has roamed so expertly for Bayern? Mario Götze, who has been identified to play from the Lionel Messi manual of false nines? Mesut Özil, who was used in this position against the Republic of Ireland?

Götze was chosen against Italy, although the team performance did not supply much in the way of definitive answers. The upshot was a decent result (actually Germany should have snatched a win against their bogey team in stoppage time only for Marco Reus and Lars Bender to crash into one another in front of an open goal – it finished 1-1). The downside was that Germany lacked the attacking focus and verve they show when at their best up front. Their depth in that department is pretty enviable. Reus and Özil coming on as substitutes tells that story well enough.

In fact, such is their all-round quality, Löw even felt able to leave behind Özil, together with Lahm and the goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, for the England game.

Coming up the rails, the other attacking option is Kruse, who seems to be a halfway house between a more traditional striker and a false 9. Kruse, a player with excellent, flexible movement to draw defenders and expressive ability on the ball, was a slow burner in terms of his career. He began to turn heads in a serious way when he joined Freiburg last season. After a standout campaign, he was one of a number of B-list players selected for a Germany game in the USA last May. Because of the Champions League final, all Bayern and Dortmund players were excused, which gave the opportunity for players who are not normally called up by Löw to stake a claim.

Out of all the wannabes, Kruse seized the moment most convincingly of all. There is considerable goodwill for him not only because he is playing well this season for Borussia Mönchengladbach but also because he is known as a very likable guy to have around the squad.

Whether Kruse, Götze or Müller get the nod to lead the withdrawn forward line at Wembley on Tuesday, England's defenders, still smarting from their Chile experience, will have another complicated challenge on their hands.

Amy Lawrence

Amnesty report on Qatar exposes 'grim' abuse of migrant workers

Posted: 17 Nov 2013 01:05 PM PST

Treatment of migrant workers in Qatar is systematic, often amounting to forced labour, Amnesty International report shows

When contemplating the agonies and exploitation meticulously documented by Amnesty International in its latest report on migrant construction workers in Qatar, set aside for a moment Fifa having chosen this country for the massive construction project that is the 2022 World Cup. For all the moral vacuity and corruption endemic in football's world governing body when it made the decision – and president Sepp Blatter's oily evasions – this shame is on a greater scale than football.

The report, which supports similar findings by Human Rights Watch and the International Trades Union Congress, holds up a mirror not only to the world's principal sport but to the world itself, showing how the richest are happy to treat the poorest.

Like Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar – a tiny country grown rich on natural gas – is engaged in a vast nation-building programme, constructed using people who most needed labouring work. They were never going to allow hundreds of thousands of poor men from south Asian countries the rights of equals. As Amnesty's report makes clear, the abuse of migrant workers is systematic, too often amounting to forced labour.

Foreign workers on residence permits must be "sponsored" – a benign-sounding word which in practice means they are tied to one employer. This means they cannot move jobs or even leave the country without that employer's permission. They are forbidden by Qatari law to join or form trade unions, in breach of the fundamental human right to freedom of association, and so are condemned to vulnerability.

Contractors commissioned by Qatar's largest state-owned corporations hold their imported workforce to ransom; too often fail to abide by basic health and safety requirements on potentially lethal construction sites, withhold money in penalties if men fall sick and fail to pay them for months.

Photographs in the Amnesty report reveal the filthy insides of Qatar's accommodation for the workers who build their air-conditioned palaces, malls and five-star hotels: dank, windowless hovels, dangerously hot without air-conditioning; primitive dormitories cramming together crowds of men far from their homes and families.

Human rights organisations have peered into the detail, but these conditions are not hidden. In the gulf's broad desert daylight, the only people seen outside are often teams of migrant workers. They live in labour camps, a term completely accepted. This report highlights an actual law passed in Qatar in 2011, which makes it illegal for migrant workers to be housed in "family areas" – meaning they must be kept separate from "districts where Qatari families live".

Some Qataris object that these reports focus relentlessly on dreadful practices while many of the men working in construction, and women in domestic service, are humanely treated, paid on time, and send a critical stream of money home.

Amnesty acknowledges this. Researchers spoke to people "broadly satisfied with their working conditions." Overall, however, Amnesty concludes: "The abuses against migrant workers in the construction sector in Qatar are grim."

When Fifa's barons sat in Zurich and greenlit the building of twelve huge football stadiums, hotels and vast attendant infrastructure in Qatar, they did not consider the workers who would do all this building. Since making this decision, six of the most senior Fifa executive committee have left or been banned following damning reports that they were corrupt.

In 2011, Fifa promised co-operation with the ITUC, accepting it bore a "responsibility that goes beyond the development of football". The Amnesty documents reveal that Blatter has slid back tothe position that Fifa can only organise a football tournament. The report pointedly chronicles abuses of workers engaged in building Fifa's Doha HQ and VIP centre, where one man complained: "Nepalis are treated like cattle."

The Qatar 2022 committee, led by Hassan Al Thawadi, who studied law at Sheffield University, are mostly younger, more enlightened Qataris who appear genuine in their desire to improve their country.But their constant repetition of the hope that the World Cup will be a "catalyst" for progress can seem glib. They bid for the World Cup knowing how workers are treated in their country – workers are dying, suffering injury, mental tortureand penury while waiting for the "catalyst" to change their miserable reality.

The Qatari government's response cited in the report gives little grounds for hope: restating current Qatari law, accepting none of the criticismand making no promises of improvement.

Yet it is not just Fifa that overlooks the woeful human rights abuse while doing grateful business with Qatar. Governments do, too. David Cameron is supporting British efforts to sell typhoon fighter jets to Qatar and the UAE, even Bahrain.

The interests of British business will no doubt temper official moral outrage at this report, painting a disheartening picture of how the world works.

David Conn

Qatar construction worker abuse allegations – Q&A

Posted: 17 Nov 2013 01:00 PM PST

Amnesty International has raised further concerns about conditions of migrant labourers in Gulf state's construction sector

What are the allegations against Qatar?

In September, a Guardian investigation found that dozens of Nepalese migrant labourers had died working in Qatar through the summer, many of them young men dying from heart attacks.

The investigation also found that many thousands more were working in "forced labour" conditions, physically abused, often unpaid for months at a time, undocumented and at the whim and mercy of subcontractors. It said much of the abuse was made possible by the idiosyncratic "kafala" sponsorship system.

What is kafala?

The kafala sponsorship system requires all unskilled labourers to have a sponsor, meaning migrant workers are unable to enter the country, leave it or change jobs without their company's permission.

What was the wider reaction to the allegations?

The International Labour Organisation, a UN agency, said Qatar had much to do to meet proper international norms and that "many of the abuses that take place which can lead to forced labour are still happening".

The British government said it should be a precondition of delivering any major sports event that the highest standards of health and safety are enforced.

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) warned that at least 4,000 workers would die between now and the time the first ball is kicked at World Cup 2022 if Qatar did not change working practices.

What has been the Qatari response?

Following the investigation, the Qataris said it was concerned and would conduct an investigation. Since then, however, they have denied the allegations of brutal working conditions, long hours, lack of food and pay and squalid living conditions.

What has Fifa said?

The world football body's president, Sepp Blatter, has avoided the question and last week even appeared to suggest that the Guardian reports were produced by journalists who had not even visited Qatar. The Guardian flatly rejected that suggestion.

Qatar 2022 World Cup workers 'treated like cattle', Amnesty report finds

Posted: 17 Nov 2013 01:00 PM PST

Fresh fears raised about exploitation after Fifa president declares country 'on right track' over migrant labourers' rights

A damning Amnesty report has raised fresh fears about the exploitation of the migrant workers building the infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, amid a rising toll of death, disease and misery.

The report – published a week after Fifa's president, Sepp Blatter, met the country's emir and declared Qatar was "on the right track" in dealing with workers' rights – claims that some migrant workers are victims of forced labour, a modern form of slavery, and treated appallingly by subcontractors employed by leading construction companies in a sector rife with abuse.

The report, based on two recent investigations in Qatar and scores of interviews, found workers living in squalid, overcrowded accommodation exposed to sewage and sometimes without running water. It found that many workers, faced with mounting debts and unable to return home, have suffered "severe psychological distress", with some driven to the brink of suicide. Discrimination is common, according to the report, which says that one manager referred to workers as "the animals".

It describes one case in which the employees of a company delivering supplies to a construction project associated with the planned Fifa headquarters during the 2022 World Cup were subjected to serious labour abuses. Nepalese workers employed by the supplier said they were treated like cattle. Employees were working up to 12 hours a day, seven days a week, during the summer months when temperatures regularly reach 45C.

Qatar's labour laws stipulate a maximum working day of 10 hours and say no one should work between 11.30am and 3pm during the summer months.

Last month Fifa was forced to address the issue of workers' rights after a Guardian investigation showed that dozens of Nepalese workers had died in recent months, prompting warnings from trade union organisations that 4,000 could be killed before the start of the football tournament.

Blatter promised to travel to Doha to meet the emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, and said he would raise the issue of workers' rights. But after the meeting and a presentation from the 2022 World Cup supreme committee, which includes many senior government representatives, Blatter said he was reassured by the progress that had been made on the issue.

That will not pacify human rights organisations, which have called for improvements to living and working conditions and for urgent action to reform the kafala sponsorship system that ties migrant workers to their employers. Amnesty said the sponsorship system "permits abuse and traps workers".

In November 2011, the Fifa general secretary, Jérôme Valcke, met Qatari officials to address the issue of workers' rights and the Qatari authorities promised to take the issue seriously.

But Amnesty's report, The Dark Side of Migration: Spotlight on Qatar's Construction Sector Ahead of the World Cup, is based on inspection visits in October 2012 and March 2013 and suggests change is nowhere near fast enough, despite a new charter introduced by the supreme committee, which applies only to the World Cup stadiums and not to infrastructure.

Amnesty said many workers had reported poor health and safety standards at work, including some who said they had not been issued with helmets on sites.

It quoted a representative of Doha's main hospital saying that more than 1,000 people were admitted to the trauma unit in 2012 after falling from height at work. Some 10% were disabled as a result and the mortality rate was significant.

Researchers also found migrant workers living in squalid, overcrowded accommodation with no air conditioning, exposed to overflowing sewage or uncovered septic tanks. One large group was found to be living without running water.

The organisation has also documented cases where workers were effectively blackmailed by their employers to get out of the country and others where they were not allowed to leave.

Researchers witnessed 11 men signing papers to get their passports back to leave Qatar in front of government officials, falsely confirming that they had been paid.

The company for which the men worked, ITC, had cashflow problems and 85 workers from India, Nepal and Sri Lanka were left in accommodation with no electricity or running water, with sewage leaking from the ground and piles of rubbish accumulating. Their salaries went unpaid for up to a year and they were forced to sign away any claim to the money before being allowed to leave.

"It is simply inexcusable in one of the richest countries in the world that so many migrant workers are being ruthlessly exploited, deprived of their pay and left struggling to survive," said Amnesty's general secretary, Salil Shetty.

"Our findings indicate an alarming level of exploitation in the construction sector in Qatar. Fifa has a duty to send a strong public message that it will not tolerate human rights abuses on construction projects related to the World Cup."

Amnesty, which carried out interviews with 210 workers and held 14 meetings with Qatari authorities, said that multinational construction firms profiting from the $220bn (£137bn) construction boom in the tiny gas-rich state could not ignore the actions of the web of subcontractors employed to do the work.

"Construction companies and the Qatari authorities alike are failing migrant workers. Employers in Qatar have displayed an appalling disregard for the basic human rights of migrant workers. Many are taking advantage of a permissive environment and lax enforcement of labour protections to exploit construction workers," said Shetty.

Amnesty found that some of the workers who had suffered abuses were working for subcontractors employed by global companies, including Qatar Petroleum, Hyundai E&C and OHL Construction.

"Companies should be proactive and not just take action when abuses are drawn to their attention. Turning a blind eye to any form of exploitation is unforgivable, particularly when it is destroying people's lives and livelihoods," added Shetty.

Following his meeting, Blatter said Fifa could look forward to "an amazing World Cup" in Qatar. "What was presented to us shows that they are going forward not only today but have already started months ago with the problems with labour and workers. The labour laws will be amended and are already in the process of being amended."

The Qatari authorities insist they are being proactive and say the World Cup can be a catalyst for change.

Owen Gibson

Kilmarnock striker Kris Boyd gets Scotland recall from Gordon Strachan

Posted: 17 Nov 2013 11:23 AM PST

• In-form striker could face Norway after lengthy absence
• 'I can show people what I am still capable of'

Kris Boyd has been called into the Scotland squad for the first time in three years for Tuesday's friendly with Norway in Molde. The 30-year-old Kilmarnock striker, who has also played for Rangers and Middlesbrough, last appeared for his country in a 2-1 European Championship qualifying victory over Liechtenstein at Hampden in September 2010.

Boyd's recall follows Gordon Strachan's decision to allow the Sunderland striker Steven Fletcher, Celtic's midfielder Charlie Mulgrew and the Blackburn Rovers defender Grant Hanley to return to their respective clubs after Friday night's goalless draw against the USA.

Boyd played for Strachan at Middlesbrough and on Sunday night expressed his desire help his former manager and to add to his 18 caps and seven goals for his country. He told the Scottish FA's website: "I never gave up hope of playing for my country again and I am grateful to Gordon for giving me that chance.

"I have always felt I can make a contribution at international level and knew that if I kept working hard my chance would come again. Hopefully I can get involved against Norway and show people what I am still capable of at the highest level."

Strachan lost the QPR winger Matt Phillips and Blackburn striker Jordan Rhodes from his original squad and, with Fletcher returning to the Stadium of Light, he needed attacking reinforcements. He had no hesitation in turning to Boyd, who has scored nine goals for his hometown club since arriving at Rugby Park in February. "Kris has always said he was determined to return to the international squad," Strachan said. "Now he has that opportunity again and I am delighted for him. He is a terrific professional who works hard on his game. Having spoken to a lot of people about him, they are of the same opinion as me – that Kris is an asset to any squad with his goalscoring capabilities.

"He is playing regularly again at Kilmarnock and that sharpness made him a natural choice when looking for a striker to replace Steven."

England v Germany – five memorable meetings

Posted: 17 Nov 2013 10:51 AM PST

In advance of their meeting at Wembley on Tuesday night, here are five great clashes between England and Germany

Germany 3 England 6, May 1938, Berlin, friendly

England would not be at the World Cup later that year due to a sceptical FA but they routed the Germans with goals from Sir Stanley Matthews, Cliff Bastin and Jackie Robinson. And all in front of Hermann Göring and Joseph Goebbels, whom the England team saluted before the game

England 4 West Germany 2, after extra-time, July 1966, Wembley, World Cup final

Still the pinnacle of English football, this was supposed to be the game that asserted their superiority and began a period of dominance over the world. Of course, England didn't even end up dominating these opponents, beating them only twice in competitive games since

England 2 West Germany 3, after extra-time, June 1970, León, World Cup QF

Holders England had pushed the eventual winners Brazil hard in the group stages, and the two were expected to meet again in the final. But, after ceding a two-goal lead, Germany stormed back and, with a little help from Sir Alf Ramsey and Peter Bonetti, won in extra time

England 1 West Germany 1, after extra-time, West Germany win 4-3 on penalties, July 1990, Turin, World Cup SF

There was some crying and also a magnificent game, partially redeeming a tournament that was compelling but not thrilling. Its most significant impact was cultural: after a generation of demonisation by government and press, suddenly it was fashionable to like football

England 1 Germany 1, after extra-time, Germany win 6-5 on penalties, June 1996, Wembley, Euro 96 SF

If 1990 made football fashionable, Euro 96 made it acceptable and truly mainstream. There was drama and more crying, England lost in the traditional manner on penalties, and there was even a theme song with a chorus everyone can remember

Daniel Harris

Giroud claims France are up for fight

Posted: 17 Nov 2013 10:48 AM PST

• Striker believes Les Bleus can overturn 2-0 first leg deficit
• Deschamps calls on players to 'give everything' in return game

France's under-pressure players are ready to "die" for the cause as they try to qualify for the World Cup finals by overturning a two-goal deficit against Ukraine on Tuesday, according to the striker Olivier Giroud.

Les Bleus are on the verge of missing a major tournament for the first time in 20 years following Friday's 2-0 play-off, first-leg defeat in Kiev. No team have recovered from a two-goal deficit in a European play-off but Giroud says France can use the disappointment of a few days ago as extra motivation.

"We are ready to die on the pitch," striker Giroud told media on Sunday, ahead of the Stade de France clash. "I have a lot of determination and I think it will help us get into them."

Ukraine proved rock-solid on Friday as France, who have appeared at all major finals since missing out on Euro 1996, were well below par.

"One side played a top-level match and we played just a match, like it was an ordinary game. We took a slap in the face," the coach Didier Deschamps said, adding that his side were capable of doing much better.

"This is what the top level is. The players have it inside of them and they will have to show that on Tuesday."

Deschamps knows his players will have to do more than simply control possession on Tuesday, calling for more passion. "We have to be ready for a fight, to produce a non-ordinary match. We have to play the 'total match', to give everything in every department," he said.

Ukraine will be without the defender Olexandr Kucher for the return leg after he was sent off on Friday but Giroud warned that Ukraine would be fired-up to hold on to their lead after failing three times in playoffs. "They will replace a soldier with another soldier," Giroud said about Kucher.

History is against France, especially as they failed to score in Kiev, but Deschamps is keen to send out a positive message. "Believe in it or not, it's not even a question to me. If I want the players to be convinced that we can do it, I have to be convinced first," he said. "To achieve something extraordinary, we have to be in that state of mind, to think that it's possible. There's a possibility. No matter if it's small or great - it's real."

Deschamps could change his starting line-up with Samir Nasri set to be dropped after another disappointing display in blue and being replaced by Mathieu Valbuena. With Laurent Koscielny suspended after his red card, the Liverpool centre back Mamadou Sakho could start alongside Eric Abidal unless Raphaël Varane has recovered from a knee niggle.

Ukraine will be without Kucher and the left-back Artem Fedetskyi is also suspended. The Shakhtar defender Yaroslav Rakitskyi is expected to replace Kucher while winger Oleh Gusyev could play at left-back. Fedetskyi shackled France playmaker Franck Ribéry, one of the nominees for Fifa's World Player of the Year award, on Friday and his absence is a major blow for Ukraine.

"If we qualify for the World Cup, Fedetskyi can easily apply for the golden ball," The Ukraine captain Ruslan Rotan joked after the first leg. "Surely, this is a loss for our team. There is nothing to do with his suspension. I hope those players who step in will do their best too."

Nigerian keeper 'thanks God' for World Cup qualification - video

Posted: 17 Nov 2013 08:27 AM PST

Nigeria qualify for the 2014 World Cup after beating Ethiopia 2-0

Cameroon 4-1 Tunisia | World Cup qualifying play-off match report

Posted: 17 Nov 2013 08:14 AM PST

Cameroon 4-1 Tunisia (agg 4-1)

Midfielder Jean Makoun scored twice as Cameroon qualified for the World Cup finals after beating Tunisia 4-1 in Yaounde on Sunday to win their two-legged playoff tie and book their place in Brazil next year.

Makoun took the tie away from Tunisia with two second-half goals after the visitors had clawed their way back into contention.

A third-minute goal from Pierre Webo broke the deadlock before Benjamin Moukandjo added a second on the half-hour mark with an individual goal.

He carved his way through three challenges before neatly slotting home.

Ahmed Akaichi's stunning left-footed volley in the 50th minute reduced the deficit to 2-1 and revived Tunisia's hopes of levelling the match and snatching qualification on the away goals rule after the sides drew 0-0 in last month's first leg.

A second Tunisia goal never materialised, however, as they retreated into a cautious approach.

Makoun restored the two-goal advantage with a near-post header from a corner midway through the second half which was followed by a terrible miss from Moukandjo.

Samuel Eto'o, playing on the right wing rather than his usual centre forward role, hit the upright and Makoun reacted quickest to tuck away the rebound for Cameroon's fourth three minutes from time.

Cameroon have qualified for the World Cup finals for an African record seventh time. They were the first side from the continent to reach the quarter-finals when the tournament was staged in Italy in 1990. They join Ivory Coast and Nigeria, who both qualified on Saturday, as African representatives in Brazil with two more places to be decided on Tuesday.

Football quiz: guess the fixture from the distance between grounds

Posted: 17 Nov 2013 07:03 AM PST

Football quiz: Work out the fixture being played from the distance between the two clubs' grounds

Gregg Bakowski

Hodgson almost coached Germany

Posted: 17 Nov 2013 05:51 AM PST

• Berti Vogts' 1998 resignation created vacancy
• Erich Ribbeck chosen instead of man now England manager

Roy Hodgson has revealed that Franz Beckenbauer's input may have been the key factor in him missing out on becoming Germany's first foreign coach 15 years ago.

The England manager said Beckenbauer, a World Cup winner with West Germany both as a player and coach, felt the Englishman would have stood in the way of upcoming German coaches.

Hodgson's stock was high in international football at the time, having led Switzerland to the 1994 World Cup finals and to qualification for Euro 96.

Instead, Erich Ribbeck was appointed to replace Berti Vogts, who resigned following Germany's quarter-final elimination by Croatia at the 1998 World Cup.

Hodgson said that the German Football Association (DFB) president at the time, Egidius Braun, had been keen on appointing him.

"It was an honour when Braun called me," Hodgson told Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper. "I was on the president's wishlist. He would have had problems convincing people to accept a foreign coach, though.

"At the time, my friend Franz Beckenbauer pointed out that a foreign coach of the Germany national team would not have helped the German coaching programme – the up-and-coming coaches."

After being brought out of retirement for an ill-fated two-year spell as Germany coach, Ribbeck admitted he was aware of the DFB's interest in Hodgson, and several other coaches for a position nobody seemed keen on taking.

Paul Breitner had been the preferred choice but for a difference of opinion with Braun, which led to Ribbeck becoming the oldest coach of Germany.

"If all of the names linked with the position after Berti Vogts and before me are true, then I was most likely only seventh choice," said Ribbeck at his presentation.

At the age of 61, he too did not fully match Beckenbauer's blueprint for a younger, German coach, a path the DFB has since followed with Rudi Völler, Jürgen Klinsmann and, now, Joachim Löw.

That search for youth and promise has extended to the players since Löw took charge in 2006 and Hodgson admits the DFB has got it spot-on since Germany finished third as World Cup hosts seven years ago.

"The DFB's decision to focus on young players and install an aggressive style of play was exactly right," said the 66-year-old, who counts Germany among the favourites to win next year's World Cup, along with Spain, Argentina and the hosts, Brazil.

England, meanwhile, are only "outsiders" for the next World Cup, but victory over Germany on Tuesday night is increasingly important after defeat to Chile on Friday night.

"The fans want to see a strong England team," Hodgson said. "It's all about prestige."

Ivory Coast celebrate World Cup qualification - video

Posted: 17 Nov 2013 05:49 AM PST

Ivory Coast qualify for World Cup after drawing with Senegal 1-1 in Morocco

Japan fight back from two goals down to draw against Holland

Posted: 16 Nov 2013 04:37 PM PST

• Japan 2-2 Holland
• Keisuke Honda scored one and controlled the match for Japan

Japan fought back from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw against Holland in a friendly in Genk. Rafael van der Vaart scored one goal and set up another to give the Dutch an early lead but Keisuke Honda helped Japan fight back with the kind of intricate play more associated with the Dutch, and his side were unlucky not to win.

After Van der Vaart's opener in the 12th minute, Arjen Robben scored the second in the 38th. Japan hit back through Yuya Osako in the 43rd minute and Honda equalized on the hour. Holland play Colombia in Amsterdam on Tuesday while Japan travel to Brussels to face Belgium.

Ludogorets player and coach hurt as Beroe Stara Zagora fans run riot

Posted: 16 Nov 2013 03:51 PM PST

• Pitch invaded in latest Bulgarian football violence
• Police arrest 18 hooligans at CSKA Sofia versus Levski

A Dutch player and an assistant coach were injured as Bulgarian football was rocked by more crowd violence on Saturday when Beroe Stara Zagora fans attacked the players of champions Ludogorets at a training session.

Police reported that several dozen fans of holders Beroe invaded the pitch on the eve of the Bulgarian Cup last-16 second leg against Ludogorets, throwing missiles, stones and other objects.

The Dutch midfielder Mitchell Burgzorg was hurt after being hit on the head by a stone, assistant coach Yasen Valchinov was struck on the calf by a firework while a masseur sustained a minor injury.

Burgzorg, who is also a rapper under the name of "Priester", was taken to hospital in the southern town of Stara Zagora.

"We're still searching for the perpetrators," a police spokeswoman said. "Police reacted very quickly and prevented more serious incidents."

Beroe, the 1986 Bulgarian league champions, hit out at the violence. "The management condemns any hooliganism and cannot tolerate such actions," the club said in a statement. "We will not allow such an escalation of tension to happen during the game on Sunday."

The Ludogorets chief executive, Angel Petrichev, praised the efforts of the police. "Fortunately there were police and security guards around the stadium and they prevented something much worse," he said. "I would like to thank the police in Stara Zagora for responding so quickly."

Ludogorets won the first leg 2-1 on Thursday.

In another example of crowd violence, police arrested 18 hooligans during and after Saturday's "eternal derby" between CSKA Sofia and city rivals Levski.

The tense Bulgarian Cup encounter ended 0-0 with Sofia police saying that most of the troublemakers were arrested for drunken behaviour or public order offences.

The domestic championship has been plagued by crowd trouble in recent years.

Last month the coach Ivaylo Petev left Levski one day after being forced out of his first news conference by hostile fans of the 26-times Bulgarian champions.

Hart to face Germany with his England career on the line

Posted: 16 Nov 2013 03:00 PM PST

• Roy Hodgson to start out-of-form keeper in England friendly
• Coach warns Hart there is no room for any more mistakes

Joe Hart will start in goal for England against Germany on Tuesday with his international career on the line. Roy Hodgson has made it clear that while he retains confidence in a player who has already lost his place at Manchester City, there is no room for any more mistakes.

"All I can do is give Joe the shirt and give him the chance to go out and play," Hodgson said. "Afterwards he is going to have to face whatever he faces, but Joe is an experienced player – he understands that.

"If he plays well and does well, and keeps a clean sheet and helps us to win the game, then I'm sure people are going to be saying some very good things about him. But if he doesn't, and lets a couple of easy goals in, he's going to have to accept that there'll be criticism, because that's the way of the world we live in. I can't change things for players in that respect. We've had plenty of pats on the back recently, but we all know that, unfortunately, this game of football also gives you slaps in the face."

Hodgson accepts that Hart is under a certain amount of personal pressure after his highly public loss of form but has resisted the temptation to take him to one side and spell out the precariousness of his position. "Any time any player pulls on an England shirt he is in for a tough mental test and a tough test of attitude," he said. "As an experienced player, Joe knows the way of the world. He understands that if he loses his place in the Manchester City team, and is criticised for letting a couple of goals in, then what happens will happen.

"I don't need to take him aside and say: 'Joe, this is what happens in football.' I've got too much respect for him as a professional and as a man to do that. I always try to tell players things they haven't talked about, but I won't try and teach them to suck eggs."

In addition to Hart, Hodgson will also have Ashley Cole, Phil Jagielka and Daniel Sturridge back for the Germany game – but not Phil Jones, who was ruled out on Saturday by a groin injury after undergoing a scan. Steven Gerrard, who is undergoing painkilling injections to counter a hip injury, is also a doubt.

But Hodgson has no qualms about using Wayne Rooney for another 90 minutes if necessary. "If he's fit, Wayne will start the game," Hodgson said. "He had to play as a lone striker against Chile because of the options we had, but we should have a few players back in the forward areas for Germany. Whether he plays for the whole 90 is another matter, but the good thing with Wayne is that he always wants to. He thrives on playing and I am under no pressure from anyone, either here or at his club, to reduce his playing time in friendly matches."

Germany are without Sami Khedira. The midfielder could miss the World Cup as he faces up to six months out after tearing cruciate ligaments in his knee in the 1-1 friendly draw with Italy in Milan on Friday. Joachim Löw said he would also travel to London without Philipp Lahm, the goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and Arsenal's Mesut Özil in order to give other players an opportunity.

Paul Wilson

Andros Townsend determined to make it count for Tottenham and England

Posted: 16 Nov 2013 03:00 PM PST

Having been on loan to nine clubs, Andros Townsend is back at Spurs and is now a contender for the World Cup in Brazil

The last time England played Germany they went crashing out of the 2010 World Cup, though the ignominy of a 4-1 defeat in Bloemfontein might have been ameliorated had Frank Lampard's clearly legitimate goal been allowed to stand. Andros Townsend can remember watching the game on holiday with family in Cyprus – "I don't think I am the only Englishman who was shouting at the television when the goal was not given" – though he finds it harder to recall which club he was playing for at the time.

"I can't remember where I was on loan that season, I'll have to check," he says. Townsend was actually back with Tottenham between loan spells at Milton Keynes Dons and Ipswich Town, but a player loaned out nine times to nine different clubs before his 22nd birthday can be forgiven the occasional memory lapse. It goes without saying that three years ago playing a part in the next World Cup was not uppermost in Townsend's mind. Just getting a game for Spurs was proving a challenge.

"I watched the last World Cup like a fan," he admits. "Every footballer dreams that one day it might happen, but I was nowhere near the England squad at that stage and I had no idea that things would develop this quickly. Now I have got my foot through the door with my first two caps I can kind of taste it, and I am not going to let this opportunity slip. I don't want to be thinking, in 10 or 15 years' time, what might have been if only I had played well in those last two friendlies. I have an opportunity now and I want to make the most of it. Whenever I am given the chance, I have to take it like I did last month."

Townsend's goalscoring performance against Montenegro and equally impressive display against Poland were only partly overshadowed by the infamous space monkey furore, an episode that Townsend is as keen as Roy Hodgson to consign to history.

"Playing for England was a lot easier for me because I was playing with world-class players," he says. "The manager just told me to go out and do what I had been doing with Tottenham and QPR, to take people on, get some crosses into the box and have some shots. That is basically what every manager has ever said to me, but it becomes so much easier when you have Wayne Rooney alongside you and Daniel Sturridge, who is on fire at the moment. It felt like I had been there for years."

himself with a winning goal against Arsenal a few days before his 17th birthday, after joining Everton aged nine. Townsend joined the Tottenham academy at the age of eight, but made his league debut in slightly less glamorous surroundings, on loan to Yeovil Town with fellow Spurs loanee Jonathan Obika. Of all the subsequent loans, which include playing for three different managers at Leeds in the space of a couple of months, an unhappy spell at Watford where he barely got a game and a subsequent revival of fortunes under Kenny Jackett at Millwall, he looks back on the first most fondly.

"Going out on loan at 17 was rare, I think we were among the first to do it and then to play every game and make it successful," he says. "I don't think I'd be here today if it wasn't for that loan, so I'm grateful to [then Yeovil manager] Terry Skiverton and the staff at Yeovil for giving me the chance.

"Jonathan and I were young and naive but also professional, wanting to do everything right. We smuggled an electric stove into our hotel room and took turns to cook pasta for each other and then clean up. It was a humble beginning really, but I have always been a bit obsessive about making the best of myself. I used to get into trouble with the Spurs youth team for doing extra training on my own. Me and a few others used to hide footballs behind cupboards so we could sneak out in the afternoons and do a bit more, work on our weaker foot, all sorts of things. That's how keen we were, how determined we were to improve, but the physios didn't like it because they were into knowing the body and doing exactly the right amount of training. They didn't want me pushing myself too far at such a young age and picking up injuries as a result."

If Townsend's nomadic career has left him feeling like a nowhere man at times, his two games for England turned him into a marked man overnight. "As soon as I came back from international duty we played Aston Villa and I noticed straight away I had no space at all," he says. "They were doubling up on me as soon as I got the ball. Ever since then it has been more difficult, but if I want to be a top player that is something I need to deal with. André Villas-Boas told me to come inside and let the markers follow if they want to. Then we've got a player of Kyle Walker's pace on the outside and he'll get through."

Townsend is quick to acknowledge the confidence he gained from his club manager telling him he was part of his plans. "He said from day one he wanted me to be more involved this season," he says. "He knew what I had done at QPR, thought I had a future at Spurs, and told me he did not want to sell me. That took away some of the pressure to perform and let me play my normal game."

Townsend is in a similar position with England, he knows he has Hodgson's confidence even though Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and now Jay Rodriguez and Adam Lallana are also competing for the same spot. He feels his performances for Spurs in the next few month will be key to his chances of making the World Cup squad.

"First and foremost I need to play well and stay in the Spurs first team," he says. "I've got six or seven months to secure my seat on the plane. It's nice to be recognised all of a sudden, you work hard as a youngster to be in the limelight and I like it when people come along and ask for autographs and pictures, but you need to stick to normality as much as possible and not get carried away. I want to keep my focus and keep proving myself on the pitch. The minute you start believing your own hype and thinking you are better than you actually are, that's when you start fading away."

Paul Wilson

Joachim Löw's Germany can inflict another reality check on England

Posted: 16 Nov 2013 03:00 PM PST

Roy Hodgson is aware that England will need to be more dynamic to keep the impressive Germany midfield at bay

Jorge Sampaoli, the manager of Chile, was magnanimous in victory after doing Roy Hodgson the huge favour of reducing English expectation. First he described Wembley as a cathedral of football, which even post-refit is overstating the case. Then he suggested England were one of the best teams in the world, something that not even Hodgson would dare venture at the moment.

Chile take on Brazil this week, so at least Sampaoli will have the chance to make a useful comparison and possibly revise his opinion. When England meet Germany on Tuesday, Hodgson will most likely be doing the same.

The good news for England is that the last time they lost to Chile in a Wembley friendly, another 2-0 defeat set up by a quite splendid goal from Marcelo Salas in 1998, they still went on to have a decent World Cup up to and including the epic and slightly unlucky encounter with Argentina in Saint-Etienne. The bad news is that, if anything, Germany have improved since the 4-1 caning they handed out in Bloemfontein to end England's last World Cup.

Joachim Löw's midfield is a thing of beauty, a blur of organised pace and intelligent movement, whereas England's is more or less the same, give or take Jack Wilshere struggling to find his best form, but three years older.

Experience is certainly on England's side, with all the caps Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard can muster between them, but the experience of being run ragged by Mesut Özil and Bastian Schweinsteiger is not necessarily going to work in the home side's favour at Wembley. Particularly as Germany have since added Mario Götze and Marco Reus to their extravagant range of options, even though Özil is being rested and Sami Khedira ruptured a right knee ligament against Italy on Friday.

"We are aware they have a very dynamic midfield and we are going to have to be dynamic ourselves to keep them at bay," Hodgson said, a touch hopefully given the options at his disposal. At least Gareth Barry is safely out of this one, though it is difficult to see Tom Cleverley, James Milner or even Ross Barkley stepping up to the plate to inject more creative energy into England's tired and predictable setup.

While it is possible that Andros Townsend's pace might come in handy, or Daniel Sturridge's opportunism, in terms of matching the Germans for ingenuity in midfield England seem ill‑equipped.

Perhaps it does not matter so much as it is only a friendly, but the stage appears set for another lesson in football to be handed out at an English team's expense. To Bloemfontein in recent years can be added Manchester United's two Champions League finals against Barcelona and Manchester City's humbling by Bayern Munich this season. Fair enough, City hardly count as an English side by origin, though Bayern certainly count as German. It is the English role on these occasions to huff and puff and run about so conspicuously that the manager at the end always says he cannot fault his players for effort, even if they are undone by incisive bits of movement from the opposition that actually produced an end result.

You could call it a quality gap, although England are often out-thought as much as outplayed. England knew exactly how Chile would play, for instance, yet could do nothing about it and could easily have lost Friday's game by a greater margin. England rarely impose themselves on opponents in such a manner. There is no coherent system that survives changes of lineup or can be adapted to different opponents. England always look like a collection of club players, sometimes very good club players, hoping that what they produce for their clubs will be enough to see them through international challenges. Sometimes it does, the standard of club football in this country is fairly high, after all, but against the top international sides, the ones who can make several changes and still play in the same, recognisable way, England never seem quite clever or sophisticated enough.

"Credit to Chile, they handled us," was Hodgson's accurate summary. "I'd like to think we won't be naive in any way by the time we play out first game in Brazil. I think if there was any suggestion of that in the Chile game it was because we went a goal down early on and were a bit shocked by it. I don't think we were gung-ho, we just put all our eggs in the basket of an early equaliser."

Naive sounds about right then. You tend not to find Germany or Spain doing that, even in friendlies. This is not the real thing, only a preparation, yet with a four-month break before the next friendly, against Denmark, England need to be careful about where the egg ends up this time.

Paul Wilson

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Monday, 18 November 2013

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

07:31

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

What are the allegations against Qatar?

What is kafala?

What was the wider reaction to the allegations?

What has been the Qatari response?

What has Fifa said?

Germany 3 England 6, May 1938, Berlin, friendly

England 4 West Germany 2, after extra-time, July 1966, Wembley, World Cup final

England 2 West Germany 3, after extra-time, June 1970, León, World Cup QF

England 1 West Germany 1, after extra-time, West Germany win 4-3 on penalties, July 1990, Turin, World Cup SF

England 1 Germany 1, after extra-time, Germany win 6-5 on penalties, June 1996, Wembley, Euro 96 SF

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Monday, 18 November 2013

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

07:31

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

What are the allegations against Qatar?

What is kafala?

What was the wider reaction to the allegations?

What has been the Qatari response?

What has Fifa said?

Germany 3 England 6, May 1938, Berlin, friendly

England 4 West Germany 2, after extra-time, July 1966, Wembley, World Cup final

England 2 West Germany 3, after extra-time, June 1970, León, World Cup QF

England 1 West Germany 1, after extra-time, West Germany win 4-3 on penalties, July 1990, Turin, World Cup SF

England 1 Germany 1, after extra-time, Germany win 6-5 on penalties, June 1996, Wembley, Euro 96 SF

Written by TBMU Admin

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Post a Comment

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