Drogba: We must win for our troubled people

Côte D'Ivoire must beat Benin in tomorrow's 2012 CAF Africa Cup of Nations qualifier to give their compatriots some good news amid a worsening humanitarian crisis, with up to a million people fleeing post-election violence, captain Didier Drogba said today.

The 33-year-old - who has often said that success on the football pitch could bring the nation's people together - added he wished they had been able to play their 'home' match in Abidjan as a symbolic gesture but it had been decided by the African Football Confederation it was too risky.

"Winning is not only important for qualification but also to give some comfort to our compatriots who are living through a difficult time at the moment," said Drogba. "We would have preferred to play as scheduled in Abidjan in order to support our public but alas it was not to be. The match will not be easy. They are opponents we know well and who cause us problems. But we have to win."

Drogba has been the leader of the 'Elephants' in their most successful spell which has seen them reach successive FIFA World Cup™ finals and the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations final.

Tomorrow's match is in Accra because it is regarded as too risky to host matches in Abidjan because of the bitter stand-off for the presidency after the disputed 28 November presidential poll.

Everton accept offer for Steven Pienaar

Midfielder Steven Pienaar could be on the verge of leaving Everton after boss David Moyes said the club had accepted an offer from an unnamed team

The 28-year-old South African international is out of contract at the end of the season and has been linked with a move to Chelsea and Spurs.

Moyes said: "We have had two offers and one of those has been accepted.

We have allowed his representatives to speak to the other club, but whether it goes through or not I don't know yet."

Reports have also suggested that Pienaar could have already signed a pre-contract agreement with a major European club.

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti was tight-lipped over any potential move for Pienaar when asked at a press conference ahead of his team's home match with Blackburn on Saturday.

There are a lot of rumours, a lot of speculation and names," said the Italian. "Maybe sometimes some agents are using the names to earn more money.

"Pienaar is a good player and we know him very well, but this doesn't mean we need to have him play here. We are thinking about central defence.But if we find the right player for us, we have the possibility to buy."Pienaar joined Everton for £2m from Borussia Dortmund in 2007 and was voted the club's player of the season last term.But his form this season has not been at the same level and Moyes revealed that the player rejected a new contract some time ago.Everton will be keen to recoup a fee for the player rather than watch him leave for free at the end of the season.When asked if Pienaar had decided he wanted to move on, Moyes said: "I think the player probably decided that when he turned down his contract six months or a year ago, whenever it was.But he has done very well for us on the pitch, so we have no complaints."If Pienaar makes a transfer window move he would be the second player to leave the club in January.On Thursday striker Ayegbeni Yakubu joined Leicester on loan with a view to a permanent deal.

2010 FIFA World Cup Champions

The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. The bidding process for hosting the tournament finals was open only to African nations; in 2004, the international football federation, FIFA, selected South Africa over Egypt and Morocco to become the first African nation to host the finals.The qualification draw for the 2010 World Cup was held in Durban on 25 November 2007. As the host nation, SouthAfrica qualifiedautomatically for the tournament. As happenedinthe previous tournament, the defending champions were not given an automatic berth, andItaly had to participate in qualification. With a pool of entrants comprising 204 of the 208 FIFA national teams at the time, the 2010 World Cup shares with the 2008 Summer Olympics the record for most competing nations in a sporting event.The matches were played in ten stadiums in nine host cities around the country, with the final played at the Soccer City stadium in South Africa's largest city, Johannesburg. Thirty-two teams were selected for participation via a worldwide qualification tournament that began in August 2007. In the first round of the tournament finals, the teams competed in round-robin groups of four teams for points, with the top two teams in each group proceeding. These sixteen teams advanced to the knockout stage, where three rounds of play decided which teams would participate in the final.In the final, Spain, the European champions, defeated third-time finalists the Netherlands 1–0 after extra time, with Andrés Iniesta's goal in the 116th minute giving Spain their first world title, the first time that a European nation has won the tournament outside its home continent. Host nation South Africa, 2006 world champions Italy and 2006 runners-up France were eliminated in the first round of the tournament.

Sergio ROMERO

Date of Birth: 22 February 1987
Height: 191 cm
Shirt number: 22
Position: Goalkeeper
Current club: AZ Alkmaar (NED)
International Caps: 11
International Goals: 0
First international: Paraguay - Argentina (9 September 2009)

Sergio Romero has a perfect record with Argentina in major international competitions. The goalkeeper was on duty when La Albiceleste won the FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007 and was between the posts again a year later when the South Americans claimed gold at the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament ...

2006 Fifa Champion

Italian national football team represents Italy in international football competition and is controlled by the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC). They are the current World Champions, having won the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Italy is the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup having won four titles (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), just one fewer than Brazil. To this tally they can add one European championship (1968),oneOlympic football tournament (1936) and two (defunct) Central European InternatioCups.Thetraditional colour of the national team (as well as all Italian teams and athletisazureblue[3](azzurro, in Italian), due to the "Azzurro Savoia" (SavoyBluethecolourtraditionallylinked to the royal dynasty which unified Italy in 1861, and maintained in the official standard of the President of the Italian Republic.The team's first match was held in Milan on 15 May 1910, Italy defeated France by a score of 6–2.[4]. Some turmoil kept the players of Pro Vercelli, the best team of the league, out of the game. At the end of the match, the players received as a prize some cigarette packets thrown by the 4,000 spectators.[5] The Italian team (2-3-5): De Simoni; Varisco, Calì; Trerè, Fossati, Capello; Debernardi, Rizzi, Cevenini I, Lana, Boiocchi. First captain of the team was Francesco Calì.[6]The first success in an official tournament came with the bronze medal in 1928 Summer Olympics, held in Amsterdam. After losing the semi-final against Uruguay, an 11-3 victory against Egypt secured last place in the competition.After declining to participate in the first World Cup (1930, in Uruguay) the Italian national team won two consecutive editions of the tournament in 1934 and 1938, under the lead of coach Vittorio Pozzo and thanks to the genius of Giuseppe Meazza, one of the best Italian players ever. Other stars of that era included Luis Monti, Giovanni Ferrari, Silvio Piola and Virginio Rosetta In the 1934 World Cup, the host Azzurri defeated Czechoslovakia 2–1 in Rome, with goals by Raimundo Orsi and Angelo Schiavio.The tragic loss in 1949 of the players of Torino (the winners of the previous four Serie A titles) in the Superga air disaster saw the loss of ten out of the eleven constituting the initial line-up for the national team. The following year, Italy did not advance further than the first round of the 1950 World Cup, partly due to the long and physically devastating boat trip to Brazil (air travel was discarded due to fear of another accident).In the World Cup finals of 1954 and the 1962 that followed, Italy again failed to progress past the first round, and did not even qualify for the 1958 World Cup. During the early 1960s, the Italian football clubs AC Milan and Internazionale dominated the international scene, the National team was not able to match these results. Italy did not take part in the first edition of the European Championship in 1960 (then known as the European Nations Cup), and was knocked out by the USSR in the round of 16 (second round) of the 1964 European Championship.Their participation in the 1966 World Cup is always remembered for their 0–1 defeat at the hands of North Korea. Despite being the tournament favourites, the Azzurri, whose 1966 squad included Rivera and Bulgarelli, were eliminated in the first round by the semi-professional North Koreans and bitterly condemned upon their return home, while North Korean scorer Pak Doo-Ik was celebrated as the David who killed Goliath.[7]In 1968, the Azzurri won their first major competition since the 1938 World Cup, beating Yugoslavia in Rome for the European Championship title. The match holds the distinction of being the only major football tournament final to go to a replay. After extra time it ended in a 1–1 draw, and in the days before penalty shootouts, the rules required the match to be replayed a few days later. Italy won the replay 2–0 (with goals from Riva and Anastasi) to take the trophy.In 1970, Italian team was one of the favourite teams for the title. Exploiting the performances of European champions player like Giacinto Facchetti, Rivera and Riva and with a new center-forward Roberto Boninsegna, the Azzurri were able to came back to a world cup final match after 32 years of desolation. They reached this result after one of the most famous match in football history: Italy vs. West Germany 4-3, which is known as the "Game of the Century". Although they were defeated by the amazing Brazilians, the 1970's team is still recognized as one of the best Italian national teams. The "Mexican generation" ended its cycle of international successes in the 1974 World cup, being eliminated by Lato's Polish team.The 1978 FIFA World Cup, held in Argentina, saw a new generation of Italian players, the most famous being Paolo Rossi, coming to the international stage. Italy played very well in the first round, being the only team in the tournament to beat the eventual champions and host team Argentina. Second round games against West Germany, Austria and Netherlands led Italy to the third place final, where it was defeated by Brazil 2–1. As in the match against the Netherlands, Italian goalkeeper Dino Zoff was beaten by a long-distance shot and thus blamed as the main culprit for the defeat. Italy then hosted the 1980 UEFA European Football Championship, the first edition to be held between eight teams instead of four, and with the host team automatically qualified for the finals. Italy was beaten by Czechoslovakia in the third place match on penalties.After a scandal in Serie A where some National Team players such as Paolo Rossi were prosecuted and suspended for match fixing and illegal betting, the Azzurri arrived at the 1982 FIFA World Cup amidst general scepticism and discomfort. Italy qualified for the second round after three uninspiring draws against Poland, Peru and Cameroon. Having been loudly criticized, the Italian team decided on a press black-out from then on, with only coach Enzo Bearzot and captain Dino Zoff appointed to speak to the press.Italy's strength finally showed in the second round group, a true Group of Death with Argentina and Brazil - the defending champions and the team favoured to dethrone them. In the opener, Italy prevailed 2-1 over Diego Maradona's side after an ill-tempered battle in which Italy's defenders and midfielders proved their mastery in the rougher side of the game. Italy's goals, both excellent left-footed strikes, were scored by Marco Tardelli and Antonio Cabrini. After Brazil defeated Argentina 3-1, Italy needed to win in order to advance to the semifinals. Twice Italy went in the lead with Paolo Rossi goals, and twice Brazil came back. When Paulo Roberto Falcão scored to make it 2–2 Brazil would have been through on goal difference; but in the 74th minute Rossi poked home the winning goal in a crowded penalty area to send Italy to the semifinals after one of the all-time greatest games in World Cup history[8]. In the wake of its brilliant second round performance, Italy easily dispatched Poland in the first semi-final with another two goals from Rossi.In the final match, Italy met their traditional opponent West Germany, who had advanced thanks to a penalty shootout victory against France. The first half ended scoreless, after Cabrini missed a penalty awarded for a Hans-Peter Briegel foul on Bruno Conti. In the second half Paolo Rossi again scored the first goal, and while the Germans were pushing forward in search of an equaliser, Tardelli and substitute Alessandro Altobelli finalised two perfect contropiede counterattacks to make it 3–0. Paul Breitner smashed home West Germany's consolation goal seven minutes from the end, making him the second man after Pelé to score in two different World Cup finals.Tardelli's scream after his goal in the final is still remembered as the symbol of Italy's 1982 World Cup triumph. Paolo Rossi won the Golden Boot with six goals, and 40-year-old captain-goalkeeper Dino Zoff became the oldest-ever player to win the World Cup.

FIFA

The International Federation of Association Football (French: Fédération Internationale de Football Association), commonly known as FIFA (usual English pronunciation: /ˈfiːfə/), is the international governing body of association football. Its headquarters are located in Zürich, Switzerland, and its current president is Sepp Blatter. FIFA is responsible for the organization and governance of football's major international tournaments, most notably the FIFA World Cup, held since 1930.

History

The need for a single body to oversee the worldwide game became apparent at the beginning of the 20th century with the increasing popularity of international fixtures. FIFA was founded in Paris on 21 May 1904; the French name and acronym remain, even outside French-speaking countries. The founding members were Belgium, Denmark, France, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Also, that same day, the German Association declared its intention of affiliating through a telegram. Its first president was Robert Guérin.
This in combination with economic factors, led to the swift replacement of Guérin with Daniel Burley Woolfall from England, by now a member association. The next tournament staged, the football competition for the 1908 Olympics in London was more successful, despite the presence of professional footballers, contrary to the founding principles of FIFA. Membership of FIFA expanded beyond Europe with the application of South Africa in 1908, Argentina and Chile in 1912, and Canada and the United States in 1913. During World War I, with many players sent off to war and the possibility of travel for international fixtures severely limited, there were few international fixtures, and the organisation's survival was in doubt. Post-war, following the death of Woolfall, the organisation was run by Dutchman Carl Hirschmann. It was saved from extinction, but at the cost of the withdrawal of the Home Nations (of the United Kingdom), who cited an unwillingness to participate in international competitions with their recent World War enemies. The Home Nations later resumed their membership. The FIFA collection is held by the National Football Museum in England.

FIFA is an association established under the Laws of Switzerland. Its headquarters are in Zürich.FIFA's supreme body is the FIFA Congress, an assembly made up of representatives from each affiliated member association. The Congress assembles in ordinary session once every year and, additionally, extraordinary sessions have been held once a year since 1998. Only the Congress can pass changes to FIFA's statutes.Congress elects the President of FIFA, its General Secretary and the other members of FIFA's Executive Committee. The President and General Secretary are the main officeholders of FIFA, and are in charge of its daily administration, carried out by the General Secretariat, with its staff of approximately 280 members.FIFA's Executive Committee, chaired by the President, is the main decision-making body of the organization in the intervals of Congress. FIFA's worldwide organisational structure also consists of several other bodies, under authority of the Executive Committee or created by Congress as standing committees. Among those bodies are the Finance Committee, the Disciplinary Committee, the Referees Committee, etc.Aside from its worldwide institutions (presidency, Executive Committee, Congress, etc.) there are confederations recognised by FIFA which oversee the game in the different continents and regions of the world. National associations, and not the continental confederations, are members of FIFA. The continental confederations are provided for in FIFA's statutes. National associations must claim membership to both FIFA and the confederation in which their nation is geographically resident for their teams to qualify for entry to FIFA's competitions (with a few geographic exceptions listed below):
AFC – Asian Football Confederation in Asia and Australia
CAF – Confédération Africaine de Football in Africa
CONCACAF – Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Associat Football in North America and Central America
CONMEBOL – Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol in South America
OFC – Oceania Football Confederation in Oceania
UEFA – Union of European Football Associations in Europe.
Nations straddling the traditional boundary between Europe and Asia have generally had their choice of confederation. As a result, a number of transcontinental nations including Russia, Turkey, Cyprus, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia have chosen to become part of UEFA despite the bulk of their land area being in Asia. Israel, although lying entirely within Asia, joined UEFA in 1994, after decades of its football teams being boycotted by many AFC countries. Kazakhstan moved from the AFC to UEFA in 2002. Australia was the latest to move from the OFC to AFC in January 2006.Guyana and Suriname have always been CONCACAF members despite being South American countries.In total, FIFA recognises 208 national associations and their associated men's national teams as well as 129 women's national teams; see the list of national football teams and their respective country codes. Curiously, FIFA has more member states than the United Nations, as FIFA recognises several non-sovereign entities as distinct nations, most notably the four Home Nations within the United Kingdom. The FIFA World Rankings are updated monthly and rank each team based on their performance in international competitions, qualifiers, and friendly matches. There is also a world ranking for women's football, updated four times a year.
Recognitions and awardsFIFA awards, each year, the title of FIFA World Player of the Year to the top men's and women's players of the year, as part of its annual awards ceremony which also recognises team and international football achievements.In 1994 FIFA published the FIFA World Cup All-Time Team.In 2002 FIFA announced the FIFA Dream Team, an all-time all-star team chosen by fans in a poll.As part of its centennial celebrations in 2004, FIFA organised a "Match of theCentury" between France and Brazilovernance and game developmentaws of the GameMain article: Laws of the Game (association football)The laws that govern football, known officially as the Laws of the Game, are not solely the responsibility of FIFA; they are maintained by a body called the International Football Association Board (IFAB). FIFA has members on its board (four representatives); the other four are provided by the football associations of the United Kingdom: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, who jointly established IFAB in 1882 and are recognised for the creation and history of the game. Changes to the Laws of the Game must be agreed by at least six of the eight delegates.Discipline of national associationsFIFA frequently takes active roles in the running of the sport and developing the game around the world. One of its sanctions is to suspend teams and associated members from international competition when a government interferes in the running of FIFA's associate member organisations or if the associate is not functioning properly.A 2007 FIFA ruling that a player can be registered with a maximum of three clubs, and appear in official matches for a maximum of two, in a year measured from July 1 to June 30 has led to controversy, especially in those countries whose seasons cross that date barrier, as in the case of two former Ireland internationals. As a direct result of this controversy, FIFA modified this ruling the following year to accommodate transfers between leagues with out-of-phase seasons.
FIFA AnthemMain article: FIFA AnthemSince the 1994 FIFA World Cup, like the UEFA ChampionLeague, FIFA has adopted an anthem composed by the German composer Franz Lambert. The FIFA Anthem is played at the beginning of official FIFA sanctioned matches and tournaments such as international friendlies, the FIFA World Cup, FIFA Women's World Cup, FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA U-17 World Cup, FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, FIFA Women's U-17 World Cup, FIFA Futsal World Cup, FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup.[2] CriticismAllegations of financial irregularitiesIn May 2006 British investigative reporter Andrew Jennings' book Foul! The Secret World of FIFA: Bribes, Vote-Rigging and Ticket Scandals (Harper Collins) caused controversy within the football world by detailing an alleged international cash-for-contracts scandal following the collapse of FIFA's marketing partner ISL, and revealed how some football officials have been urged to secretly repay the sweeteners they received. The book also alleged that vote-rigging had occurred in the fight for Sepp Blatter's continued control of FIFA.Shortly after the release of Foul! a BBC television exposé by Jennings and BBC producer Roger Corke for the BBC news programme Panorama was broadcast. In this hour-long programme, screened on June 11, 2006, Jennings and the Panorama team agree that Sepp Blatter was being investigated by Swiss police over his role in a secret deal to repay more than £1m worth of bribes pocketed by football officials.All testimonies offered in the Panorama expose were provided through a disguised voice, appearance, or both, save one; Mel Brennan, formerly a lecturer at Towson University in the United States (and from 2001–2003 Head of Special Projects for CONCACAF, a liaison to the e-FIFA project and a FIFA World Cup delegate), became the first high-level football insider to go public with substantial allegations of greed, corruption, nonfeasance and malfeasance by CONCACAF and FIFA leadership. During the Panorama exposé, Brennan—the highest-level African-American in the history of world football governance—Jennings and many others exposed allegedly inappropriate allocations of money at CONCACAF, and drew connections between ostensible CONCACAF criminality and similar behaviours at FIFA. Brennan's book, The Apprentice: Tragicomic Times Among the Men Running—and Ruining—World Football is due out in 2010.The exposure of these allegations has lead to the formation of protest groups such as FIFA Reformation, a group on Facebook the social networking website, as well as S.A.V.E. Sport - the Sport Alternative Vision Endeavour - which advocates deep critique and challenge of current ways of organising sport at the highest levels, as well as those organisations' claims of democratic practices.

Marco van Basten

Marco van Basten

Marcel "Marco" van Basten (31 October 1964) is a Dutch football manager and former head coach of Eredivisie side AFC Ajax and the Dutch national team. Previously, he was a football player who played for Ajax and A.C. Milan in the 1980s and early 1990s. He is regarded as one of the greatest forwards of all time and scored 277 goals in a career cut short by injury. Known for his strength on the ball, his tactical awareness and spectacular strikes and volleys, van Basten was named European Footballer of the Year three times (1988, '89 and '92) and FIFA World Player of the Year in 1992. Van


Basten was voted eighth in a poll organised by the French weekly magazine France Football consulting their former Ballon d'Or winners to elect the Football Player of the Century.[3] In 2004, a nationwide pool was held for the 100 greatest Dutch people (De Grootste Nederlander) and van Basten was number 25, the second highest for a football player.Marco van Basten was born on 31 October 1964 in Utrecht. He began playing for a local team, EDO, when he was seven years old. A year later, he moved to UVV Utrecht. After 10 years there, he briefly played for another club from Utrecht, Elinkwijk.In the 1982–83 season, he competed with the European top scorer Wim Kieft for the position of centre forward, and scored nine goals in 20 league matches. After Kieft left for Serie A club Pisa the next season, van Basten solidified his position as the team's main attacker.Van Basten's talent was already noticed at a young age and he was called up for the 1983 FIFA World Youth Championship. He made his senior debut that same year. At the UEFA Euro 1988, van Basten scored a total of five goals, including a hat trick against England, the winning goal in the semi-final against West Germany, and a spectacular volley in the final against the Soviet Union.[6] He was the tournament's top scorer and was the only player to score more than two goals.Van Basten officially left A.C. Milan in 1995 and retired from football, stating he would never try management. However, he changed his mind and took a course with the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB). His first stint as a manager was as an assistant to his former teammate John van 't Schip with the second team of AFC Ajax in 2003–04. On 29 July 2004,[7] van Basten was named the new manager of the Dutch national team, with van 't Schip as his assistant.There were also calls for van Basten to call up Dennis Bergkamp, who had retired from the national team six years earlier for a final "hurrah" as he was retiring that season. Van Basten then revealed to the media that he never intended to do so despite Bergkamp's own willingness.For probably the first time in decades, none of the "Big Three" Clubs (AFC Ajax, PSV, and Feyenoord) provided the backbone for the national team. Instead, newcomer AZ led the way with players such as Denny Landzaat, Barry Opdam, Barry van Galen, Ron Vlaar, Jan Kromkamp and Joris Mathijsen. Other unheralded choices were Khalid Boulahrouz, Hedwiges Maduro, Ryan Babel and Romeo Castelen selected. Van Basten had also wanted to include Ivorian forward Salomon Kalou, but was thwarted when Kalou was denied Dutch citizenship by the immigration authorities headed by Rita Verdonk. Kalou eventually accepted a call-up to play for Côte d'Ivoire.Under his guidance, the team were unbeaten in their World Cup qualification group and made it through the group stages at the FIFA World Cup 2006, but were eliminated in a frenzied 1–0 loss to Portugal in the Round of 16. Van Basten was heavily criticised for dropping Ruud van Nistelrooy (who had scored 28 goals for the Netherlands) before this game, in favour of Dirk Kuyt, who did not score throughout the entire tournament.He became a top scorer in the league for four seasons from 1983–84 to 1986–87, scoring 117 goals in 112 matches. In the 1985–86 season, he scored 37 goals in 26 league matches, including six goals against Sparta Rotterdam and five against Heracles Almelo, and won the European Golden Boot. He also scored the winning goal in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final against Lokomotive Leipzig in 1987.