Germany wins terrifically entertaining World Cup

Germany wins terrifically entertaining World Cup -- Germany won the World Cup. Host Brazil won a world of new friends.

The now four-time world champions, the first European team to win it on South American soil, earned the honor of lifting the most recognized trophy in sports with a tooth-and-nail 1-0 victory in a final as terrifically entertaining as the tournament itself.

For a 32-day showcase of football at its best, the winning goal was beautifully appropriate. Mario Goetze controlled the ball with his chest and then volleyed it into the Argentine goal, making difficult skills look so simple. Scored in the 113th minute, the mortal blow left Argentina too little time to recover.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, sat in the VIP section with other world leaders, waved a clenched fist as Goetze celebrated. When referee Nicola Rizzoli blew the final whistle a few minutes later, Vladimir Putin reached across and shook Merkel's hand. The Russian president's country hosts the next World Cup in 2018.

Sepp Blatter, president of World Cup organizer FIFA, and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff embraced as Germany's players went crazy with joy and Argentina's wept.

One of the ironies of this World Cup is that even though the tournament will be remembered as a resounding success, it was a headache for Rousseff and Blatter to the end.

As they handed over the gold trophy to Germany captain Philipp Lahm, the Maracana Stadium echoed with an insulting chant aimed at the Brazilian president. There were resounding boos, too, when she was shown shaking the hand of losing coach Alejandro Sabella. Such protests were also heard at other stadiums during the tournament, demonstrating how the party atmosphere was really only a thin veneer for grave public misgivings about $13 billion of spending on cup preparations.

As sunset-pink clouds made way for night, and the teams treated the watching world to 30 minutes of extra time because they were still scoreless after 90 minutes, the iconic Maracana bathed in light looked like a spaceship landed between the hills, high-rises and favelas of Rio de Janeiro.

The 74,738 fans had a ball, especially Germans and Brazilians who didn't want Argentina, their neighbor and fiercest football rival, to win a third world title. They drowned out the Argentine fans' tireless, jaunty singing with piercing whistles and shouted ''Ole!'' when Germany players' had the ball, weaving their game of intricate passing.

The biggest game in football attracted a good sprinkling of celebrities. David Beckham hugged Pele. Supermodel Gisele Bundchen snuggled with her husband, NFL star Tom Brady. Rolling Stones front-man Mick Jagger was there, too.

Even with tired legs as they played into extra time, the two exquisitely matched teams gave and sought no quarter. Germany brought brawn, its intricate passing and movement and tireless determination to attack and attack again. Argentina responded with bruising defense and craftiness and could have won had its players not wasted chances.

For the highest stakes in football, players bruised body and soul. German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger was carrying a cut under his right eye as he walked up with his teammates to collect the trophy. Midfielder Christoph Kramer played on for 14 minutes with a suspected concussion before he was replaced by Andre Schuerrle. It was Schuerrle who provided the cross that Goetze controlled so magically. Kramer's head injury was the last in a series at this World Cup that will put pressure on football to better protect players from concussion. ( The Associated Press )

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Blatter dances on as his European rivals seethe

Blatter dances on as his European rivals seethe  — On a tough day in his 16-year FIFA presidency, Sepp Blatter even found time to shimmy on stage with a glamorous Brazilian model.

Blatter's shuffling steps with Fernanda Lima, FIFA's favorite big-event host during Tuesday's gala opening of its annual congress, suggested he was care-free just 48 hours before the troubled 2014 World Cup kicks off.

Yet Blatter had seemingly been snubbed by Brazil state president Dilma Rousseff, who skipped the ceremony, and hours earlier was subjected to a ferocious attack on his record by European football leaders.

Senior UEFA officials lined up to openly denounce Blatter's running of the scandal-hit governing body after urging him during a closed-door meeting not to stand for re-election in 2015.

"People link FIFA to corruption and bribery and all kinds of old boys' networks," said Michael van Praag of the Netherlands, revealing he had told Blatter "people tend not to take you very seriously anymore. FIFA has an executive president and that means you are responsible."

Blatter's behavior on Monday finally caused European frustrations — long simmering at seeing UEFA President Michel Platini's potential path to the FIFA throne blocked — to boil over.

On a tour of continental meetings, Blatter had fanned indignation among African and Asian delegates by suggesting recent European media reports alleging corruption linked to Qatar's 2022 World Cup bid was rooted in racism.

Blatter also promised hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonus payments to each country from FIFA's $4 billion-plus World Cup revenues.

The FIFA president intends to cash in Wednesday with widespread support from the congress floor for his expected presidential candidacy.

Europe's collective anger flared Tuesday, perhaps fueled by knowing that Blatter was already backed by five of the six confederations before arriving at UEFA's five-star hotel in downtown Sao Paulo.

First, they reminded Blatter he promised them in March 2011 that his current four-year term would be his last.

"He said that he changed his mind and every human being is allowed to change his mind," Van Praag said.

England's delegation, led by Football Association President Greg Dyke, revived long-standing friction with Blatter.

"I said to him, 'I regard the comments you made about the allegations in the British media in which you described them as racist as totally unacceptable,'" Dyke told reporters.

UEFA board member David Gill said Blatter should go in 2015.

"Personally, yes, I think we need to move on," said the former Manchester United chief executive, comparing FIFA to the International Olympic Committee, which changed its president after the Salt Lake City bidding scandal.

Platini did not meet with reporters Tuesday, though his secretary general, Gianni Infantino, denounced Blatter's description of a "storm" around world football.

"There is not a storm in football. There is a storm in FIFA," Infantino said. "It's something which is coming for years and years and years, and every time it's something else."

The volatile meeting recalled open conflict between Blatter and Europe that flared around his original election in 1998, and his re-election in 2002 during a financial scandal after FIFA's then-World Cup marketing agency collapsed into bankruptcy.

Yet Blatter remains secure in office partly because UEFA comprises only around one-quarter of FIFA votes. European support has not been decisive in a presidential poll since the 1960s.

Globally, there is little desire to change a FIFA system and leadership that delivers booming revenues.

"Rest assured, the 11 members in this room are the first in line" to vote for you, Oceania president David Chung told Blatter on Tuesday.

Football politics — on which Blatter clearly thrives — deflected attention away from the expected problems with Brazil's tournament hosting.

On Tuesday, a five-day subway workers' strike ended in Sao Paulo though further stoppages are threatened Thursday, when Brazil plays Croatia in the tournament's opening match, if sacked union leaders are not reinstated.

"What is uniting us today and tomorrow and in the next month is the love of this beautiful game," Blatter said Tuesday, without reference to the host nation's problems and $11 billion-plus bill which has roused widespread public anger

Linking himself to the absent Rousseff, Blatter insisted: "Together we have said this World Cup shall be a great event, not only for Brazil but for the world." ( Associated Press )

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Brazil's president snubs FIFA gathering

FILE - In this June 2, 2014, file photo, Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff and FIFA President Joseph Blatter stand during the playing of the Brazilian national anthem during a ceremony where Blatter presented the 2014 World Cup trophy to Rousseff, at Planalto presidential palace, in Brasilia, Brazil. For Rousseff, who has seen her approval rating steadily fall as she gears up for a re-election run, hosting the World Cup has become a potential political liability reminding voters of her failure to deliver on promises and live up to a reputation for being a hard-driving manager. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres,File)

Brazil's president snubs FIFA gathering — If it were a marriage, the divorce papers would've been filed already. But with the spotlight now turned on Brazil and the opening of the World Cup, the nation's embattled president and the head of soccer's governing body have no choice but to play nice.

If and when they're together, that is.

President Dilma Rousseff was a no-show Tuesday as FIFA President Sepp Blatter presided over the annual assembly of 209 member nations. While it's customary for the head of the World Cup host country to address the meeting, Brazil's sports minister replaced Rousseff without any explanation.

The World Cup has emerged as a potential liability for Rousseff, who has seen her approval ratings steadily fall ahead of an October election. Unfinished projects, traffic jams, charges of wasted money all have tarnished her image, experts say, while the Cup itself offers her little opportunity to shine.

"The less she appears, the better," said Thiago de Aragao, a political analyst for the Brasilia-based Arko Advice consulting firm.

Rousseff is expected to appear with Blatter on Thursday when Brazil meets Croatia in the tournament's opener, but neither is expected to speak. Last year at the Confederations Cup soccer tournament, a jeering crowd drowned out Rousseff's remarks while a stun-faced Blatter looked on.

There is widespread frustration in Brazil over the games. The heavy spending to prepare host cities, while schools and hospitals languish, has soured many on the World Cup — and soccer's governing body.

"Who deserves respect are the Brazilian people, not FIFA," said Patrick Guimaraes, 27, a kiosk vendor whose sentiment is common.

FIFA has been derided for everything from displacing local vendors from stadiums and pressuring Brazil to allow alcohol sales at the games to blocking the sale of discounted tickets for students and senior citizens. Internationally, the Zurich-based organization is reeling from a match-fixing scandal and allegations that a former Qatari official paid bribes to win hosting rights for the 2022 tournament.

FIFA's relationship with Brazil has been tense since the South American nation won the tournament seven years ago. Things soured dramatically in 2012, when FIFA's Secretary General Jerome Valcke said the country needed a "kick in the backside" to meet deadlines for planned stadiums and transportation upgrades. Valcke later apologized, but the damage was done

"To a lot of Brazilians, FIFA looks like a foreign master dictating orders," said former Foreign Minister Luiz Felipe Lampreia.

The country's deep ambivalence about hosting the tournament is apparent. There's even a term Brazilians frequently use to describe the gap between the high standards demanded by soccer's governing body and the low quality of public services they've grown to expect: "FIFA Quality." ( Associated Press  )

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FIFA Congress stung by Blatter resign calls

FIFA Congress stung by Blatter resign calls - Football rulers hold their annual congress on Wednesday amid calls from top European football for president Sepp Blatter to end his reign as FIFA president and damaging corruption accusations against Qatar's 2022 World Cup bid.

Michael van Praag, head of the Dutch football association, said Blatter should quit when his term ends next year. A similar demand was made by David Gill, vice-chairman of England's Football Association.

Blatter, 78, officially opened FIFA's annual congress at a gala in Sao Paulo on Tuesday night without mentioning the attacks or corruption controversy. He is expected to announce on Wednesday that he will seek a new four year term.

"Tonight we are in a festive mood because let's say the discussions and all of what's linked with FIFA and is so important nowadays, we will discuss it tomorrow," Blatter told said.

FIFA investigator Michael Garcia is to discuss his inquiry into the FIFA vote on the 2022 World Cup awarded to Qatar and the 2018 tournament that will be held in Russia at the Congress.

The corruption allegations and criticism of Blatter have threatened to further taint the opening of the latest World Cup in Sao Paulo on Thursday. Brazil is already struggling with protests over the cost of the event. 

President of FIFA Sepp Blatter speaks at the opening ceremony of the FIFA Congress in Sao Paulo on June 10, 2014 (AFP Photo/Nelson Almeida)

Van Praag challenged Blatter when he appeared before a closed meeting of the European confederation, UEFA. Some federations are angry because Blatter said in 2011 when he secured his latest term that it would be his last.

"Mr Blatter, this is nothing personal but if you look at FIFA's reputation over the last seven or eight years, it is being linked to all kinds of corruption and all kinds of old boys' networks things," Van Praag said he had told Blatter.

"FIFA has an executive president and you are not making things easy for yourself and I do not think you are the man for the job any longer."

Blatter replied that he would not resign straight away, according to the official.

The English FA's Gill also said it was "disappointing" that Blatter had changed his stance and the FIFA leader should leave next year.

People march during a protest against the upcoming Brazil World Cup in Rio de Janeiro on May 15, 2014 (AFP Photo/Christophe Simon)

"I think we need a full, frank and open debate about what FIFA needs going forward."

UEFA president Michel Platini has been touted as a possible rival to Blatter when the FIFA vote is held in May next year. Platini has said he will only decide his candidacy in September.

Van Praag said that if Platini does not stand then UEFA should agree another candidate to stand against the Swiss official. 

Blatter was given a standing ovation when he spoke before the African, Asian and North American-Caribbean confederations on Monday. "This time, before UEFA, he did not get it," van Praag said.

Blatter has been FIFA's president since 1998. But his rule has never seen a controversy like the accusations that Qatar paid for votes when FIFA chose the Gulf country to host the 2022 World Cup.

President of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Michel Platini stands on the stage during the opening ceremony of the FIFA Congress in Sao Paulo on June 10, 2014 (AFP Photo/Nelson Almeida)

Qatar has strongly denied involvement in wrongdoing. But allegations made in British newspaper The Sunday Times are expected to be raised at the FIFA congress.

Garcia, a former US federal prosecutor, has completed his report but it will not be handed to a FIFA adjudicatory chamber until mid-July. Blatter has said no decisions will be taken until September or October.

FIFA faces mounting pressure as five of its six major sponsors, who account for hundreds of millions of dollars of finance each year, have called for a thorough investigation of the allegations.

The embattled FIFA leader has hit back at critics however by saying that racism is behind the corruption accusations

Blatter hit out at the "storm against FIFA" over Qatar and the "discrimination and racism" at the heart of the attacks when he addressed the African Football Confederation on Tuesday.

David Gill, vice-chairman of England's Football Association at Old Trafford, Manchester on May 15, 2013 (AFP Photo/Paul Ellis)

African football officials were among those said to have accepted Qatar's money, according to the Sunday Times. CAF members gave Blatter a rousing reception and slammed the allegations in a statement. 

Asia's top Olympic official Sheikh Ahmad al-Sabah of Kuwait said last week that the allegations were a racist attack on Arabs.

But English FA chairman Greg Dyke said he had told Blatter "the allegations being made are nothing to do with the racism, they are allegations about corruption."

Blatter was equally defiant at the Asian Football Confederation adding that "I still have the fire inside" to lead FIFA.

Qatar beat the United States, Australia, Japan and South Korea to the 2022 tournament, despite a FIFA technical report which warned the searing temperatures during June and July in Qatar posed a health risk. ( AFP )

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Blatter says World Cup problems are under control

Blatter says World Cup problems are under control - Problems with Brazil's World Cup venues are under control with just 100 days to go before the first match kicks off, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said on Tuesday.

"One hundred days; It's a long way to go, and it's a short way to go if there are still problems," the Swiss told fifa.com in a video to mark the occasion.

"But now all problems are under control and it will be in 100 days an exceptional good start for an exceptional competition."

Brazil is racing against time to complete stadiums, airports, communications infrastructure and transportation systems as the June 12 opening day approaches.

 

FIFA President Sepp Blatter speaks during a news conference at FIFA Club World Cup soccer tournament in Marrakech December 19, 2013. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said at the weekend that the world body faced a huge challenge following delays in building stadiums.

The Sao Paulo stadium that hosts the opening match is not due to be ready until May while other stadiums in Curitiba and Manaus remain unfinished.

One survey in February showed the number of Brazilians who favoured hosting the tournament had fallen to an all-time low, with many criticising it as a waste of money.

Support has waned since protests broke out in June last year against poor public services and the high cost of building stadiums, but Blatter was confident Brazilians would embrace the Cup when the time came.

Brazil, said Blatter, was "the country of football, and they will receive this competition with open arms and full of their heart".

"The Brazilian spirit of the game and the Brazilian ability to play football makes this World Cup very, very special," he added.

"Now everybody is expecting in Brazil that Brazil will bring home this World Cup. I am sure it will be a great, great success."

Brazil, who last hosted the tournament in 1950, are the only nation to have won the Cup five times and also the only ones to have played in every finals. (Reuters)

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FIFA keeps Brazil city in World Cup despite delays

FIFA keeps Brazil city in World Cup despite delays — A southern Brazilian city will host matches during this year's World Cup despite serious problems with a stadium renovation that put it on the brink of becoming the first venue ever to be kicked out because of delays, FIFA said Tuesday.

Despite the decision to keep Curitiba in the tournament, FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke warned that construction remains "very late" and said there is a very tight timeline to get the stadium ready.

 

The Arena da Baixada continues under construction in Curitiba, Brazil, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014. FIFA and Brazilian organizers are doing everything possible to keep the southern city of Curitiba in the World Cup soccer stadium despite a significant delay in stadium construction, FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke said on Friday. (AP Photo/Denis Ferreira Netto) 

FIFA said the decision was made because of "financial guarantees, the commitment by all stakeholders" and progress in renovation work.

"There is no other decision you can make (other) than keeping the city," Valcke said at a news conference. "Curitiba understood the information and the pressure that we put on three weeks ago."

He said the work done since then "gives us the confidence that, again, the stadium will be very late, but we will have a stadium for the World Cup."

The secretary general last month gave local organizers an ultimatum: Drastically speed up construction or be dropped from the tournament. He reiterated on Tuesday that local officials must keep the pace of construction at a high level.

"The pressure is there; day-to-day monitoring is there," Valcke said.

FIFA now expects the stadium to be ready in mid-May, only a month before the World Cup opening match in Sao Paulo on June 12. At least two test events are expected before that date, and the temporary structures needed outside the venue will be built while work continues inside the stadium.

"For this decision to take effect, this new pace of construction has to be maintained," Brazil's deputy sports minister, Luis Fernandes, said. "The monitoring will continue."

"Would it have been better to have the stadium ready in late December? It would have been better, of course," Fernandes said. "At the end of the day, we will have to learn from the lessons that led to the delays in Curitiba."

While Curitiba remains in the tournament with 11 other cities, the issue over the pace of construction highlights the severe organizational problems that Brazil has had to overcome since 2007, when it won the right to host this year's World Cup.

Officials in Brazil want to use the tournament to highlight the nation's advances. But widespread anti-government protests that question the billions being spent on the tournament, along with delays in preparations, have hurt Brazil's image.

FIFA's decision came just hours after Charles Botta, who reports to the federation's top management on the progress of all stadiums, made a final inspection in Curitiba. Valcke said local officials presented a 36-page report showing progress made and detailed next steps for the stadium's construction.

"Valcke was very harsh on us in the beginning, but now we see that it was needed so we could get back on track," said Celso Cunha, one of the local officials in charge of Curitiba's World Cup preparations.

The delays in Curitiba have been surprising. The city is widely considered the most advanced in Brazil, with an efficient transportation system and urban planning praised by the United Nations and others for being environmentally friendly.

But organizers in the city ran out of money and had difficulties securing additional financing to finish the work. Fernandes said local officials were eventually able to comply with FIFA'S major demands — to increase the number of workers and guarantee needed financing for completion of construction.

Brazil has had seven years to get ready, but with four months left, five stadiums remain under construction, including Curitiba. Brazil had promised FIFA to have all venues ready by the end of last year.

"This should have been ample time in which to complete the infrastructure," FIFA President Sepp Blatter said recently. He added that Brazil was the nation "farthest behind" in preparations that he'd seen in his four decades of experience with FIFA.

Among the teams set to play in Curitiba is defending World Cup champion Spain, which will face Australia on June 23. The other matches at the venue are Iran-Nigeria on June 16, Algeria-Russia on June 26 and Honduras-Ecuador on June 30. ( Associated Press )

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