Fierce battle between Germany & Argentina

 

Germany and Argentina are the two teams left standing to vie for the ultimate prize in this quadrennial tournament. Watch them duel with one another on July 14, 03:00 (GMT+8) in the Finals of 2014 FIFA World Cup. Can the underperforming Argentina shock the overwhelming favourite Germany who humiliated host Brazil with a 1-7 score-line. Are we going to see Lionel Messie?

 Or will the methodical Germans manhandle Argentina?

SOURCE: SBOBET

2014 FIFA World Cup Opening Ceremony

          

The 2014 World Cup kicked off in style on Thursday night as Jennifer Lopez starred in the spectacular opening ­ceremony in Sao Paulo.

There was a carnival atmosphere as 61,000 fans, many in fancy dress, filled the stadium and watched 660 dancers in colourful costumes provide typical Brazilian ­entertainment on the pitch.

But things shifted up a gear when J-Lo took to the stage with rapper Pitbull and sang the official World Cup song We Are One (Ole Ola).

When they finished, the crowd erupted with a mighty roar and chanted “Brazil, Brazil, Brazil.”

The show’s artistic director Daphne Cornez said: “The opening ceremony was a tribute to Brazil and its treasures: nature, people football.

"The sense of excitement here was amazing and everyone was very motivated.”

          

Spectators started arriving eight hours ahead of the host nation’s match against Croatia and got the party started.

To their relief, a planned metro strike was called off at the last minute.

Choreographers had been working on the 25-minute ceremony, which needed 300 technicians and 150 production staff, since early 2013 - including 84 rehearsals.

The spectacle on the Arena de Sao Paulo pitch included people dressed as trees and flowers and children jumping up and down on trampolines.

As many performed their routines around a multi-coloured ‘living’ ball, children in the colours of the 32 nations then made their way into the middle to juggle balls on elastic string.

The biggest cheers were reserved for when the Brazil flag was paraded on the pitch and when J-Lo, dressed in a carnival-style green outfit, appeared with Pitbull from a trapdoor.

          

She was joined on stage by Brazilian pop star Claudia Leitte, who was wearing a blue sparkly dress.

The ceremony in Brazil’s largest city was watched by a global television audience of several hundred million and has cost organisers £4.7million.

          

Source: Nowgoal

2014 World Cup: Final Group List Released

Costa do Sauípe Resort, Mata de São João in Bahia, took place the final draw of the 2014 World cup. 32 teams will play on in groups of 4 teams’ to start with final tournament, a total of 8 teams as a result.

Before the final draw, teams were divided into four pots to facilitate draw process based on seeding and geographic location.

Pot 1*	Pot 2 (Africa & South America)	Pot 3 (Asia & North America)	Pot 4 (Europe)
Brazil (hosts)  Argentina  Colombia  Uruguay  Belgium  Germany  Spain   Switzerland	Algeria  Cameroon  Ivory Coast  Ghana  Nigeria  Chile  Ecuador	Australia  Japan  Iran  South Korea  Costa Rica  Honduras  Mexico  United States	Bosnia and Herzegovina  Croatia  England  France  Greece  Italy  Netherlands  Portugal  Russia

*Brazil on top as hosts, 7 remaining team coming off the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking October 2013

Procedure (FIFA):

^{1. In order to create an even flow to the draw as Pots 1-4 are emptied, we begin by drawing one ball from Pot 4 (containing a European team) and placing it into Pot 2 to achieve an equal balance of eight teams in each pot}

^{2. Pot 1 will then be emptied beginning with Brazil; teams will be allocated to position 1 of Groups A through H sequentially}

^{3. With the addition of the European team to Pot 2, Pot 2 will contain teams from three different qualification zones. With teams from three zones in the same pot, we increase the risk of inadvertently violating the principle of geographic separation. In order to ensure we do not mistakenly end up with three European teams in the same Group, the following mechanism will be implemented:}

^{·          The four seeded South American teams will be placed in an ancillary pot – Pot X}

^{·          One of the four teams will be drawn}

^{·          The Group of the South American which is drawn will determine the Group which the European team from Pot 2 will join Final Draw Procedures}

^{4. Pot 2 will then be emptied, beginning with the European ball}

^{·          The European team will join Group of South American team drawn from Pot X}

^{·          The remaining teams will be allocated to Groups A through H sequentially}

^{·          Note: Groups may be skipped to respect principle of geographic separation; e.g. Chile and Ecuador may not be drawn into Groups with seeded South American teams}

^{5. Pots 3 and 4 will then be emptied in order}

^{6. The positions within Groups A through H will be drawn for all teams of Pots 2, 3 and 4.}

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2014 World Cup Stadium, Arena Corinthians Brazil, killed 2

Arena Corinthians, locally known as Itaquerao, is said to be at 93% completed in its entire construction since it began Last May 30 2011. Located in Itaquera, East Zone of São Paulo, expected to host the opening of the 2014 World Cup, FIFA provides 68,000 seats in addition to 48,000 seats in the said stadium. Giving it 20,000 more temporary seats for the fans.

Scheduled to be completed December 2013, stadium was damaged due to a crane collapsed and surrounding structures went down with it killing 2 workers. Adding woes to impending World Cup 2014.

Tensions rise as World soccer governing body FIFA are in the midst of assesing what caused the collapse and total damage incurred for they want all stadiums to be ready when December comes.

World soccer governing body FIFA said it was assessing the extent of damage to the stadium hosting the 2014 World Cup opener as officials inspected the grounds Thursday to determine what may have caused the deadly accident, just weeks before all stadiums for one of the biggest events in world sports were scheduled to be completed.

Brazilian news reports have cited unnamed workers as blaming the rush to finish the Arena Corinthians for the decision to raise the last missing piece of roofing on Wednesday, despite several days of heavy rains that softened the earth around the stadium.

World awaits the official report on the case as victims of the tragedy are being given priorities.