Rio de Janeiro: FIFA has "full confidence" Brazilian police can cope with the violent protests and disorder in the streets leading to the country's warmup event for the 2014 World Cup.
There were clashes with police on Thursday in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro after thousands protested rising bus and subway fares. Police said 40 people were detained in Sao Paulo, some with knives and gasoline bombs.
Authorities are on high alert with the Confederations Cup starting Saturday in Brasilia, with Brazil playing Japan.
FIFA spokesman Pekka Odriozola said Friday soccer's governing body is "monitoring the situation" and in touch with local officials. He stressed that FIFA has "full confidence and trust in the local authorities" to cope with "any circumstance"....
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12:30 AM, Jun 15, 2013
Recife: Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas feels the 2014 World Cup in Brazil would represent the end of an era for Spanish football. The 32-year-old, who captained Spain to victory at the 2010 World Cup and the 2008 and 2012 European championships, also revealed that next year's World Cup could be his international swansong, reports Xinhua. "After Brazil many of us will probably call it a day and make way...
01:04 PM, Jun 14, 2013
Portugal revived their World Cup qualifying campaign by beating Russia 1-0 while Mario Balotelli was red-carded for Italy in a 0-0 draw at the Czech Republic that put the four-time world champions closer to next year's finals. Helder Postiga's ninth-minute winner in Lisbon lifted the Portuguese from third to first in Group F, boosting the chances of football fans seeing Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo in Brazil next summer. While...
09:54 AM, Jun 08, 2013
Rio de Janeiro: Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff officially opened Brasilia's Mane Garrincha World Cup stadium. Despite controversy surrounding delays and cost overruns, Rousseff said the 71,000-seat venue was now the source of pride among Brazilians, reports Xinhua. "A year ago they said that we wouldn't build our stadiums, that they wouldn't be ready. But now we are seeing that the stadiums have been built and are being opened. I am...
03:00 PM, May 19, 2013
Sao Paulo's World Cup stadium will be ready on time, FIFA said on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after warning the city it could lose the right to stage matches because of delays in building the new arena. Soccer's governing body said it had reached a settlement with stadium owners Corinthians the day after the two parties were involved in a public disagreement. Corinthians president Andres Sanchez said there had...
12:29 PM, May 16, 2013
Madrid: Spain coach Vicente del Bosque confirmed on Friday that his incredibly successful reign as leader of his country's national side will conclude at the end of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Former Real Madrid coach, Del Bosque is one of the most successful coaches in history, leading Spain to their first ever World Cup in 2010 and then masterminding the defence of the European Championship in 2012, making Spain...
07:28 PM, Apr 26, 2013
Brasilia: The stadium where the Confederations Cup is due to kick off in two months will not be officially opened until May 18 because rain has delayed the laying of the pitch, officials in Brazil's capital said on Monday. The Confederations Cup is a dress-rehearsal for the 2014 World Cup. "Without the grass it would be like opening a theatre with no stage," Brasilia's World Cup secretary Claudio Monteiro said....
10:06 AM, Apr 16, 2013
FIFA surprisingly opted for GoalControl as their goal-line technology system to be used at next year's World Cup in Brazil. ...
09:06 AM, Apr 03, 2013
Winning a second World Cup title in Brazil in 2014 should not be impossible for England, manager Roy Hodgson said on Sunday. "We're far from being favourites but you've got to shy away from 'impossible' in football," Hodgson told the
BBC. ...
07:43 PM, Dec 23, 2012
Luiz Felipe Scolari marked his return to the Brazil coaching job by declaring the country will accept nothing less than victory at the 2014 football World Cup on home soil. ...
02:09 PM, Nov 30, 2012
Scolari is set to return to the role as Brazil prepares for the 2014 World Football Cup on home soil. ...
03:17 PM, Nov 29, 2012
Sao Paulo: Brazil fired Mano Menezes on Friday, little more than 18 months before the country hosts the 2014 World Cup and just as the coach seemed close to finding his ideal team after two years of experimenting. The five-times world champions have won six of their last eight games, scoring 26 goals in the process, and the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) said the surprise decision had little to do...
07:53 AM, Nov 24, 2012
Paris: The French Football Federation sent players a stern warning over their future conduct on Thursday by banning midfielder Yann M'Vila from the national team until the end of June 2014 for going to a nightclub during the playoffs for the 2013 Under-21 European Championship. He will miss the 2014 World Cup, which runs from June 12-July 13, the FFF said after a disciplinary committee meeting, which M'Vila attended. Although...
03:29 PM, Nov 09, 2012
Tbilisi: Spain captain Iker Casillas says that as defending World Cup champions, it felt strange to battle in out in the qualifiers for the 2014 edition. Spain play away to Georgia on Tuesday in a match coach Vicente del Bosque describes as the first game of the defence of the title they won in South Africa in 2010, but as defending champions, Casillas thinks that Spain should qualify for 2014...
01:36 PM, Sep 11, 2012
Moscow: Goals by Viktor Faizulin and Roman Shirokov gave Fabio Capello's Russia a winning start in their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 2-0 victory over Northern Ireland in Group F on Friday. Faizulin, appearing in only his second international after making his debut in last month's friendly against Ivory Coast, put the home side ahead with a fine strike on the half-hour in Italian coach Capello's first competitive match...
11:32 PM, Sep 07, 2012
Sao Paulo: Brazilians have decided to name the 2014 World Cup ball "Brazuca," an informal word often used to describe national pride in the South American nation. FIFA said on Sunday more than one million people voted to select the ball's name, with 70 per cent picking the term. Football's governing body said the name "symbolizes emotion, pride and goodwill to all," mirroring Brazil's "approach to football." "Brazuca" is also...
04:42 PM, Sep 03, 2012
Sao Paulo: Adidas has announced the short list of potential names for the 2014 World Cup ball and are asking fans to vote for their preferred candidate of quintessential Brazilian choices. The three names are Portuguese words and all are feminine, conforming to the Brazilian stereotype of the ball as a woman, to be caressed and cared for. One of the finalists is Carnavalesca, a word describing someone who plans...
11:22 AM, Aug 14, 2012
Rio de Janeiro: At least 22 people were still missing on Thursday after rescuers recovered four bodies from the rubble of three buildings that collapsed in downtown Rio de Janeiro, Mayor Eduardo Paes said. Paes told a news conference six others had been pulled alive from the rubble. Wednesday night's collapse highlights the creaky infrastructure of the city that will host the 2014 soccer World Cup and the 2016 Olympics....
08:52 AM, Jan 27, 2012
Rio de Janeiro: The 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil will start on June 12 with the final on July 13, FIFA's secretary general Jerome Valcke said on Wednesday. Valcke said the exact match and venue schedule will be announced after FIFA's executive committee meets on October 20-21. "We are still working on the match schedules and venues and these will be ratified by the World Cup organising committee and...
10:18 AM, Jul 28, 2011
Port of Spain: The qualifying process for the 2014 World Cup finals began on Wednesday with Belize's Deon McCauley hitting a hat-trick in the opening match on the road to Brazil. McCauley struck three times for Belize as they beat Montserrat 5-2 on Wednesday in the North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF) regional preliminary round. The first leg tie was the first of an expected 832 qualifiers for the finals...
09:25 AM, Jun 16, 2011
