SHOWING THE WAY · players switching teams during club football’s latest transfer window. ... Brazilian teams made it to the ﬁ nals of the two most recent FIFA ... saw Brazil’s

Preliminary Draw for the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ | Confi dent hosts | Pull-out draw sheet | Brazil take U-20 crown ... but surrender beach supremacy to Russia | Uruguay new kings of the South | Goal-line tests begin | Women’s football present and future | Major focus on minors

October 2011

SHOWING THE WAYRio draw sets course for 2014

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3 FIFA WORLD I OCTOBER 2011

EDITORIAL

“Players must

demonstrate fairness

at all levels, from those

starting out at the

game’s grassroots to

those competing at the

sport’s international

pinnacle.”

FAIRNESS AT ALL LEVELSDear friends of football,

The second half of the year is traditionally a busy time for FIFA and 2011 is certainly shaping up to be no exception, with competitions coming at us thick and fast in recent weeks.

Last month’s issue of FIFA World already included reviews of the highly successful FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in Germany and the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico, and this month’s magazine looks back on two more exciting events, namely the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia and the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Ravenna, Italy.

The FIFA U-20 World Cup is, of course, one of our oldest competitions, with a proud history dating back for more than three decades. Beach soccer, on the other hand, is one of the newer additions to the FIFA stable, with the fi rst FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup having taken part in the sport’s spiritual birthplace of Rio de Janeiro a mere six years ago.

At the youth tournaments in particular, it has sometimes been said that fair play and respect are often more evident than in senior competitions. But, as I reiterated in my message for last month’s 15th annual FIFA Fair Play Days, players must demonstrate fairness at all levels, from those starting out at the game’s grassroots to the men and women competing at the sport’s international pinnacle.

The game’s elite level will certainly be the focus of much attention in the coming months following July’s successful staging of the Preliminary Draw for the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ and the start of the long road to qualify for the tournament fi nals in Brazil. I would like to take this opportunity to wish all the national teams involved the very best of luck at the start of a qualifying competition that I trust will be exciting, dramatic and, above all, fair.

Joseph S. Blatter


ON THE MOVESamuel Eto’o, Diego Forlán and Cesc Fàbregas were among the big-name players switching teams during club football’s latest transfer window. Eto’o, the Cameroon national team captain and three-time European Champions League winner, completed a surprise move from Italian giants Inter Milan to Russian Premier League newcomers Anzhi Makhachkala, whose ambitious squad-building programme has already included the signings of Brazilian former FIFA World Cup winner Roberto Carlos, current Brazilian internationals Jucilei da Silva and Diego Tardelli and Russian international Yuri Zhirkov. Following Eto’o’s departure, Inter wasted little time in bringing in Uruguay striker and recent Copa América winner Diego Forlán as a replacement. Fàbregas, meanwhile, completed a long-expected return to his boyhood club Barcelona following nearly eight years at English Premier League side Arsenal.

RIO THRILLERA shock early meeting between reigning FIFA World Cup™ champions Spain and former winners France was the biggest talking point of the Preliminary Draw for the 2014 FIFA World Cup™, which took place in Rio de Janeiro on 30 July. The pairing together of the 1998 and 2010 champions in European qualifying Group I was completed with the pulling of the very last ball at the end of an exciting draw in which several other leading teams were handed tough-looking assignments. For a full review of the draw, including a pull-out sheet showing all the results, turn to page 12.

MIXED FORTUNESBrazilian teams made it to the fi nals of the two most recent FIFA tournaments, winning the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia in August but then suffering a shock defeat to Russia in the fi nal of September’s FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. The youth tournament victory, secured with an exciting 3-2 extra-time win over Portugal, saw Brazil’s U-20 team matching the country’s senior team’s feat of having now won fi ve FIFA world titles. The Brazilian beach soccer team were widely expected to equal that achievement as they went in search of what would have

been a fi fth consecutive FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup crown – but the Russians had other ideas. Appearing in the fi nal for the fi rst time, the Europeans powered to a 12-8 win, with half their goals coming in a devastating second period. For more on the FIFA U-20 World Cup, turn to our review starting on page 30. Our review of the beach soccer begins on page 37.

ANTI-DOPING BANSKorea DPR’s national team has been banned from taking part in the next FIFA Women’s World Cup™ following a FIFA Disciplinary Committee hearing into the positive doping tests of fi ve players at this year’s edition in Germany. Meeting at FIFA headquarters on 25 August, the committee also issued 18-month bans to four of the players involved (Pok Sim Jong, Myong Hui Hong, Un Byol Ho and Un Hyang Ri) along with a 14-month ban for the fi fth player, Jong Sun Song. Team doctor Ms Jong Ae Nam was meanwhile given a six-year ban from taking part in any football-related activity. In addition, the Korea DPR Football Association was fi ned USD 400,000 – corresponding to the prize money that the association would have received for the team’s 13th place fi nish at Germany 2011. The committee also handed out a two-year playing ban to Colombian player Yineth Varon following her positive test at the same tournament.

AROUNDTHEWORLD

5

37

24 586

FIFA WORLD I OCTOBER 2011

6PALERMO, CURITIBA, RAVENNAStriking images from the world of football

12THE ROAD FROM RIOQualifying routes revealed at the 2014 Preliminary Draw

22TOKYO HANDOVERBadge of honour for Japan’s women champions

24TESTING TECHNOLOGYGoal-line systems go under the microscope

28MAJORING IN MINORSHow FIFA’s transfer matching system protects young players

30FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPSBrazil’s latest teenagestars win fi fth FIFA U-20 World Cup title

37TSARS OF THE SANDRussia stun Brazil to become the new beach boys

42ROLLING BACK THE YEARSUruguay back on top in South America

52FUTURE CHALLENGESHelping women’s football build on Germany 2011

58ASSOCIATIONSFIFA World Cup™ qualifi ers get underway and another milestone for Rogério Ceni

60MEN’S RANKINGSpain back on top

62WOMEN’S RANKINGNorwegian blue

VIEW NEWS FOCUS SUMMARY

INSIDETHISISSUE


VIEW

SICILIAN OPERAThe protests of Inter Milan’s chorus line fall on deaf ears during their 4-3 defeat away to Palermo on the opening weekend of Italy’s Serie A season.

7 FIFA WORLD I VIEW

BRAZILIAN RAIN DANCE

Mud and water fl y as Atlético Paranaense’s Edílson and Santos FC’s Léo tussle for the ball during a Brasileirão meeting in Curitiba.


AERIAL DISPLAYArgentina’s Javier Vivas outstretches El Salvador’s Tomás Hernández during their group-stage meeting at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Ravenna. The Salvadorans had the last laugh, however, winning 4-3 en route to a surprise fourth-place fi nish. For more on the tournament, see page 37.

9 FIFA WORLD I VIEW


LETTERS TO FIFA A selection of comments from the FIFA World and FIFA.com mailbags

August/September issue

Let us hear your views, either on what you have read in FIFA World, or in regard to anything else in the world of international football. You can contact us via e-mail at feedback-fi faworld@fi fa.org or by writing to FIFA World, FIFA-Strasse 20, P.O. Box, CH-8044, Zurich, Switzerland.

JAPANESE JOYJapan beat both of my teams (Germany and the USA) en route to winning the FIFA Women’s World Cup, but I’m not sore about it as the Japanese ladies played technically and tactically sound and inspired football. Not only am I happy for Japan as the country continues its recovery from this year’s tsunami, but also for women’s football which is clearly growing stronger all around the world. Parity will only make for improved competitiveness in future tournaments. It was a great day for women’s football!

Volkmar (USA)

RISING STANDARDSWomen’s soccer in general is getting better and better, and it was really refreshing to see the extraordinary performances of Marta, Abby Wambach and so many others. Congratulations too to Germany for their organisation of the tournament and the respect they showed the world’s best women’s soccer teams. As a Brazilian, I of course wanted my country to win, but Japan deserved it more for their guts, perseverance and desire.

Abigail (USA)

The German hosts should take a bow, and I am sure Canada will do a great job too in four years’ time. The increase to 24 teams will certainly be interesting.

Hopefully, with the worldwide improvement in women’s football, the games will still be close. I do fear some “blow-out” scores but that’s ok, because you have to start somewhere and Canada 2015 seems as good a place as anywhere!

FIFA.com user (Jordan)

TACKLING DISCRIMINATIONI am glad that the talk in Germany was about discrimination in general. There are many reasons for discrimination and it involves more than just racism.

FIFA.com user (Canada)

The FIFA Women’s World Cup was the perfect platform and the Local Organising Committee President Steffi Jones the perfect candidate for sending out this message. True sportsmanship knows no discrimination.

J. Lim (Malaysia)

LIVE YOUR GOALSFIFA’s “Live Your Goals” campaign is a wonderful idea and will hopefully help women’s football as it continues to grow every day. How about seeing a FIFA Interactive video game dedicated purely to women’s football?

FIFA.com user (Argentina)

I’m not a woman but I do enjoy watching the women’s game and hope that the “Live Your Goals”

FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011™ review | Day-by-day highlights | Sawa tops awards list | Mexico’s double: FIFA U-17 and Gold Cup delight | FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup preview | FIFA Congress review | 2010 FIFA World Cup™ TV gures | New sponsors come on board

August/September 2011

JOY FOR JAPANFIFA Women’s World Cup™ glory

11 FIFA WORLD I VIEW

programme will further motivate young female players. For me, the levels of footballing ability shown by the top women has improved dramatically, to the extent that some of the teams from the 2011 tournament could surely give the men a run for their money.

FIFA.com user (Zimbabwe)

MEXICAN DOUBLE Mexico’s triumph at the FIFA U-17 World Cup was indeed a great moment for the Mexicans, especially coming so soon after their victory in the

CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament. The future looks good for Mexico and for the whole CONCACAF region so long as the Mexican Football Association works hard to ensure that these young talents are nurtured. FIFA.com user (St Vincent and the Grenadines)

Congratulations to Mexico. Not only for their U-17 team’s victory, but also for their success in how they organised the tournament, and for the great atmosphere in the stadiums.

FIFA.com user (Republic of Ireland)

I love this Mexican [Gold Cup-winning] team. Their football is really seductive and fast. Congratulations to all the Mexican people and the best of luck in the build-up to the Confederations Cup.

Eric (Costa Rica)

LONG JOURNEY AHEADJuly’s Preliminary Draw has revealed the routes which teams will have to take to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup™. See page 12.


NEWS

RIO DRAW GETS 2014 BALL ROLLING

13 FIFA WORLD I NEWS

Rio de Janeiro’s successful staging of July’s Preliminary Draw for the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ gave fans a glimpse of what to expect from the next edition of FIFA’s fl agship competition – and also served up a mouth-watering early rendezvous for defending champions Spain and former winners France…

By Albert Miller, Rio de Janeiro

While the FIFA World Cup™ has long been established as the world’s most popular sporting tournament, the competition simply to qualify for the World Cup has also grown over the years to become a massive event in its own right. Excitement levels were understandably high, therefore, on 30 July as football dignitaries, Brazilian stars, celebrities, politicians and nearly 800 members of the world’s media gathered in the picturesque port of Marina da Glória to follow the twists and turns of the tournament’s Preliminary Draw.

Every Preliminary Draw generates a feeling of excitement and a sense that the tournament is fi nally on the horizon, but FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter paid special tribute to the buzz surrounding Brazil as the world’s biggest single-sport event gets ready to return to the football-crazed country for the fi rst time since the 1950 FIFA World Cup™.

“We are very happy to be back in Brazil 61 years after the last FIFA World Cup here, in a country whose heart beats with football,” Blatter told the Rio audience. “Brazil has always produced stars who make world football richer. The world is expecting a wonderful FIFA World Cup


and for that we will have the support of everyone in this country of 190 million football lovers.”

For the millions more watching the show outside of Brazil, the overriding question was, of course, how their own favourite teams would fare in the draw and which opponents would await them on the long road to hopeful World Cup qualifi cation. A record 203 member associations initially entered the qualifying competition for the 2014 edition, with some early rounds of matches in Asia and the CONCACAF region whittling that number down to 175 by the time of the Rio draw (see “OVER BEFORE IT BEGAN” article).

Accompanied by a procession of illustrious names from Brazilian football past and present – including Mário Zagallo,

Zico, Ronaldo, Cafu, Neymar, Paulo Henrique Ganso, Fellipe Bastos and Lucas Piazón – FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke oversaw the pulling of the balls which would determine the fate of the various national teams.

With more than 800 matches in total being required to determine the identities of the 31 teams joining Brazil at the tournament proper, the Preliminary Draw has evolved into a virtual tour of the world, stopping off at every continent to reveal the various groupings. Somewhat ironically, for a draw taking place in South America, the only confederation not requiring a draw was CONMEBOL, whose qualifying competition traditionally takes the form of a league-style tournament in which the region’s ten teams play home and away against each other. Since Brazil have already qualifi ed as hosts, only nine nations will be involved this time around – with four automatic places and one play-off spot up for grabs.

African derbiesWith no draw needed for South America, attention focused fi rst on Africa, the continent which played host to last year’s 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa.

First up was the draw for the fi rst qualifying round which saw the 24 lowest-ranked teams from the July edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking being paired off for 12 two-legged knockout ties, scheduled for November of this year. Even at this early stage, there were some eye-catching matches, including a Horn of Africa derby between Somalia and Ethiopia. Mozambique and Kenya will also be making relatively short journeys after being drawn against their respective island neighbours of the Comoros and the Seychelles.

Togo, FIFA World Cup participants as recently as 2006, are also taking part in the fi rst round after tumbling down the ranking in the intervening years, and will need to overcome Guinea-Bissau over two legs if they are to book a place in round two.

The draw for that second round also took place in Rio, with the 12 eventual winners from the fi rst round joining the continent’s 28 highest-ranked teams in a group stage comprising ten groups of four teams each. Since only the winners of these ten groups will go on to the decisive third-round knock-out stage, several of the continent’s more established sides were

“The world is expecting a wonderful FIFA World

Cup and for that we will have the support of everyone in this country of 190 million football

lovers.”FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter


soon eyeing up some tough assignments. Côte d’Ivoire ’s star-studded squad, for example, will have to get past a resurgent Moroccan side under new Belgian coach Eric Gerets, as well as avoid any slip-ups against Gambia and either São Tomé e Príncipe or Congo, if they are to book a third successive appearance at the FIFA World Cup. South Africa, the 2010 FIFA World Cup hosts, must meanwhile take on two in-form opponents in the shape of Group A rivals Botswana and Central African Republic, along with the winners of that fi rst-round derby between Somalia and Ethiopia.

African giants Egypt will meanwhile face Guinea, Zimbabwe and either Comoros or Mozambique as they look to end their surprisingly long World Cup qualifying drought. Continental champions for the past three editions of the Africa Cup of Nations, the Pharaohs have not qualifi ed for a FIFA World Cup since the 1990 edition in Italy. While probably still seen as group favourites on paper, Egypt will need to improve rapidly on the run of poor results which recently saw them miss out on the chance to defend their Africa Cup of Nations title next year. Guinea, by contrast, were on the brink of qualifying for the 2012 event as this issue of FIFA World went to print after exceeding all expectations in a tough-looking qualifying group that included African heavyweights Nigeria. The Guineans also boast a positive

head-to-head record against the Egyptians, having beaten them twice and lost just once in their previous meetings. Egypt are unlikely to underestimate Zimbabwe, either, having been knocked out of the 1994 FIFA World Cup™ qualifying competition by the southern African side.

Africa’s most successful team at the last two FIFA World Cups were also given something to think about at the Rio draw, as Ghana – quarter-fi nalists in South Africa last year – were pitted against Zambia, Sudan and the winner of the match between Lesotho and Burundi in Group D. Having come close but never actually qualifi ed for a FIFA World Cup in the past, Zambia will be keen to shake off their image as one of Africa’s “nearly sides”. Ghana’s Black Stars will also be wary of Sudan, with whom they are currently battling for top place in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifying group – having been held to a goalless draw at home by them last October.

“Countries that have never been to the World Cup are now all eager to get there, which makes it even more diffi cult for us,” was assistant coach Kwesi Appiah’s

assessment of Ghana’s draw, though his words could apply equally to nearly all of the top African seeds. “Zambia and Sudan particularly are two good football countries so we need to keep focused and gather more information on the countries we are playing.”

Asians underwayWhen it came to Asia, the focus in Rio was on the third round of qualifying with the fi rst two rounds having already been contested by the time the Preliminary Draw took place. With the initial qualifying fi eld of 43 teams now reduced to just 20, the draw involved sides being allocated into fi ve groups of four – from which the group winners and runners-up will eventually proceed to a fourth round comprising two groups of fi ve.

Asian champions Japan were handed a tough-looking task as they joined Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and fellow 2010 FIFA World Cup participants Korea DPR in Group C – the only group to contain two teams who qualifi ed for South Africa. Having failed to even reach the fi nal round


of qualifying for the past two editions, China PR fi nd themselves facing some more potential banana skins in Group A, where they have been placed alongside 2007 AFC Asian Cup winners Iraq, the rapidly improving Jordan and Singapore. Perennial qualifi ers Korea Republic will meanwhile be getting well acquainted with the Middle East as they start their bid for an eighth straight appearance at the fi nals with third-round matches against Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon.

“These fi xtures are absolutely not kind for us,” insisted Korea Republic coach Cho Kwang-Rae, “as we will have to overcome a lot of diffi culties such as fatigue, the time difference, climate and pitch conditions. I’m afraid we won’t be able to play our football at one hundred per cent in these away matches.”

Indonesia’s team will also be getting familiar with Western Asia after being placed in Group E alongside three-time FIFA World Cup participants Iran, 2022 FIFA World Cup™ hosts Qatar and the rapidly improving Bahrainis, who only narrowly missed out on the two previous World Cup fi nals after defeats to Trinidad and Tobago and New Zealand in the intercontinental play-offs for 2006 and 2010.

Australia will, as usual, be clocking up plenty of air miles. After fi nding themselves in a group comprising teams coached

purely by well-travelled expatriates, Holger Osieck’s men will be up against Frank Rijkaard’s Saudi Arabia, Paul Le Guen’s Oman and Winfried Schäfer’s Thailand in Group D.

“In Asia, the campaigns are a little different to, say, Europe, because there are so few spots up for grabs,” Osieck said as he assessed Australia’s opponents. “To qualify you have to play 14 matches, so it is a long stretch, and it will be very important to have a great start.”

Oceania’s 11Jetlag should not be a factor for the 11 national teams in the Oceania qualifying competition, or at least not in the early stages with teams coming together to play their fi rst fi xtures within the structures of tournaments. First up will be a mini-competition to be played in Samoa in

November involving the confederation’s four lowest-ranked teams (American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga). The winner of that competition will then progress to a second round of qualifying which doubles up as the group stage of next year’s OFC Nations Cup, due to take place in Fiji.

It was the draw for this second stage which took place in Rio, with the eight teams remaining after round one being split into two groups of four. Group A will be composed of French Polynesian trio Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Tahiti along with the winner from the fi rst round. Group B appears, on paper at least, to be the tougher quartet – with 2010 FIFA World Cup participants New Zealand placed together with the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and hosts Fiji.

Entering last year’s FIFA World Cup as rank outsiders but ending up as the only team to go through the tournament without losing a match, New Zealand will clearly be strong favourites to take one of the top two spots in the group and progress to Oceania’s third and fi nal round. Still, they will be wary of a Fiji side who infl icted the only defeat of the All Whites’ qualifi cation campaign last time around – albeit after the New Zealanders had already made sure of top spot. New Zealand will also not underestimate the Solomon Islanders, who reached the fi nal round of qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ at New Zealand’s expense, before eventually losing out to former OFC members Australia in the decisive knock-out tie.

While New Zealand’s strong showing in South Africa has obviously enhanced their reputation as regional heavyweights, it has also clearly made them the team that all the others will want to beat.

“I think New Zealand’s success in the last World Cup has been an inspiration to the other island nations,” Solomon Islands coach Jacob Moli pointed out after the draw in Rio. “The quality that they will bring will be something we can all benefi t from. Having them in the same group is an honour, but when the whistle blows all respect will go out the door.”

“Countries that have never been to the World

Cup are now all eager to get there, which makes it even more

diffi cult for us.”Ghana assistant coach Kwesi Appiah

Brazil President Dilma Rousseff said the 2014 FIFA World Cup would be used to demonstrate her country’s warmth and diversity.


The Preliminary Draw for the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ signalled the start of the journey to Brazil for the vast majority of FIFA’s 208 member associations, but for a handful of lower-ranked teams, the dream of qualifying had already faded before a single ball had been drawn in Rio. With early rounds of qualifying taking place in the AFC and CONCACAF regions in June and July, a total of 23 Asian contenders and fi ve Caribbean sides had bowed out of the competition prior to the offi cial draw.

The dubious honour of being the very fi rst team to go out went to Timor-Leste, whose second-leg fi xture against Nepal in Kathmandu was played a day earlier than the other AFC round one matches. Taking part in World Cup qualifying for only the second time since gaining independence in 2002, the Timorese went into the tie ranked 202nd in the world and without a professional league of their own. They did well to sustain only a narrow 2-1 defeat in the fi rst leg, but capitulated in the return, going down 5-0 to opponents ranked more than 60 places above them.

“I could see that my players were struggling to handle the pressure in the second game,” explained Timor-Leste’s Brazilian coach Antonio Vieira. “There was a large crowd [of 15,000] in the stadium and the match was played in a downpour. My players aren’t used to these conditions and tired quickly.”

Pakistan, Cambodia and Sri Lanka were among the other teams following Timor-Leste out the next day. In a sign of the challenges facing the lower-ranked teams in the region, all of the teams who did manage to progress from the opening round

were then eliminated in round two. FIFA World Cup newcomers Palestine were among those second-round casualties, seeing off Afghanistan 3-1 on aggregate in their opening fi xture before narrowly losing out 3-2 to Thailand.

Other notable second-round casualties included Malaysia – beaten 6-4 on aggregate by their Singapore neighbours – and India, who lost 5-2 against the United Arab Emirates. This meant there would be no repeat of India’s participation in the last FIFA World Cup draw to take place in Rio, in 1950. On that occasion, the team from the subcontinent qualifi ed for football’s premier stage only to pull out after the draw had taken place – citing travel expenses and the fact that they could not play barefoot among the reasons for their decision.

In the fi rst round of CONCACAF qualifi ers, Caribbean quintet Montserrat, Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, Aruba and Turks and Caicos Islands were the teams making early exits. Including the Bahamas’ withdrawal from the competition a few weeks after the Preliminary Draw, the overall tally in the race for Brazil 2014 now reads 29 down, 174 remaining.

While those 29 teams no longer in contention must now face another four-year wait for their next shot at World Cup glory, their short brush with the 2014 qualifi ers will have at least been an experience.

“We’re conscious of the difficulties that we face,” acknowledges Antonio Vieira. “But we have a young team of motivated players and these two matches gave them an opportunity to experience a higher level of football. I’m sure it’ll be valuable for years to come.”

OVER BEFORE IT BEGAN

Timor-Leste pose for a photo before their fi rst – and last – qualifying tie for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.


A CONFIDENT DISPLAYAs well as determining the various qualifi cation paths for Brazil 2014, the Preliminary Draw gave the host country an opportunity to showcase its famed fl amboyance as well as declare its confi dence in staging world football’s biggest event.

Brazil’s rich musical heritage was certainly on colourful display during the show with interludes between the draw sections featuring a variety of the country’s musical styles. Special tribute was paid to the bossa nova genre born in Brazil in the 1950s, including a homage to Tom Jobim, one of the style’s founding fathers, whose grandson Daniel Jobim performed the classic hit The Girl from Ipanema.

“The draw is a sort of kick-off for the Brazilian people,” said legendary former Brazil playmaker Zico. “This event confi rms that the World Cup is going to happen and that we are going to be very successful.”

Joining FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter on stage at the start of the show, Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff expressed her country’s determination to host a FIFA World Cup which would showcase not only the nation’s vibrancy, but also its professionalism. “Everyone who comes to the World Cup will get to know a Brazil which is more than its soccer, its music and its popular festivals,” she declared. “Our joyful, generous people love not only football, but also freedom, social justice and peace, and our visitors will get to know a better prepared Brazil.”

Brazil’s preparations were also the main talking point at the press conferences held prior to the draw. Addressing media queries about delays in the construction of the stadiums due to host the competition, Blatter pointed out: “Four years ago,

the world’s media had the same doubts about South Africa. It’s all a matter of trust and confi dence in Brazil. We have time. I have no doubt that in 2014 Brazil will be prepared.”

With the latest round of stadium inspections due to take place in late September, as this issue of FIFA World went to print, FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke was keen to emphasise other key infrastructural requirements of hosting the tournament. “The exaggerated focus on the stadiums is a mistake, because you know there will be enough stadiums. That’s not the biggest issue of a World Cup. The main issue is getting people around. Fans need to be able to get to the stadiums and back to where they’re staying easily. That’s why we need airports, roads, an effi cient public transport system and all kinds of hotels.”

One thing is for sure, Brazilians are strongly behind the event. The tournament’s appeal is borne out by the results of a survey carried out in Brazil earlier this year and unveiled at a press conference on the eve of the Preliminary Draw. According to the survey, 58.2% of the respondents cited the next edition of the global showpiece as the event they were most looking forward to, compared to 7.3 per cent for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and 1.2 per cent for the 2014 edition of the Volleyball World Championship, at which the Brazilian men’s team will be chasing a fourth straight title. In addition, 79% of those surveyed said they believed that the event would make a great contribution to the country in terms of economic and national development, while a whopping 93% thought that the FIFA World Cup would bring Brazilians closer together.


Five down in CONCACAFAs with Asia, the qualifying competition in the CONCACAF region had already got underway by the time of the Preliminary Draw, with fi ve of the ten lowest-ranked teams bowing out in a fi rst round of matches played during June and July.

The draw in Rio took care of the next two rounds, with teams ranked seventh to 25th in the region joining the fray in the second round before the six highest-ranked sides (the USA, Mexico, Honduras, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Cuba) came in for round three.

There will be no lack of regional rivalry in the second round, with two of the six groups drawn being purely Caribbean affairs. Trinidad and Tobago, World Cup participants in 2006, were pitted against Guyana, Barbados and Bermuda in Group B, while Haiti, Antigua and Barbuda, Curaçao and the US Virgin Islands are together in Group F.

While the composition of the third round will not be fully known until after the completion of round two, a number of interesting clashes and potential clashes are already in prospect. Bidding for a seventh straight World Cup qualifi cation, the USA would appear to be in a strong position in Group A, where they will take on a Jamaican team still waiting for their fi rst win against the Americans despite 18 previous attempts, along with two group winners from the second round.

Current continental champions Mexico may fi nd the going a little tougher in Group B, however, as they square off against regular giant-killers Costa Rica, who have qualifi ed for three of the past

six FIFA World Cups, and also potentially against two other former World Cup participants, should El Salvador (1970, 1982) and Trinidad and Tobago (2006) manage to progress from the second round. In a similarly tight-looking Group C, Honduras and Cuba will be waiting to see who emerges from the second round, with their potential opponents including 1986 FIFA World Cup™ participants Canada and a Panama side who were below Cuba in the March edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking used to produce the seedings at the draw, but who have since climbed above them.

Euro shockThe Rio show ended with the draw for the European zone, with the very last ball selection producing the biggest shock of all. In the days leading up to the draw,

there had been much speculation over which leading team would fi nd 1998 FIFA World Cup™ winners France in their group – following the French side’s tumble down the world ranking as a result of their disappointing 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign and their subsequent relegation to the pot of second-seeded teams. With two balls remaining, it came down to either England or Spain, with the Spanish reigning world champions eventually drawing the short straw.

Marking only the fourth time that two former FIFA World Cup winners have been drawn together in the European qualifying competition, Spain and France will be joined by Belarus, Georgia and Finland in Group I, with only the group winners guaranteed a place at Brazil 2014.

“At least it’s clear that no one can label us as favourites with the world and

France were 3-1 winners when they

last played Spain in a competitive match – during the round of 16 at the 2006 FIFA

World Cup™.


0 The number of teams who had to qualify for the fi rst FIFA World Cup in 1930. Preliminary matches were only needed for the second edition in 1934, with even the Italian hosts having to take part. Sweden and Estonia contested the very fi rst World Cup qualifi er in Stockholm in June 1933, a game won 6-2 by the hosts.

16,472 The total number of goals scored in World Cup qualifying prior to the 2014 campaign, an average of 2.92 per game.

31 of those goals came during a single match, all of them scored by Australia without reply from their American Samoan opponents in an April 2001 meeting which remains by far the biggest win ever in a FIFA World Cup preliminary match.

9 seconds were all that San Marino’s Davide Gualtieri needed to score the fastest goal in World Cup qualifying – a shock opener against England in 1993.

19.3 million The record number of fans who attended qualifying matches during the 2010 preliminary campaign, producing an as yet unsurpassed average attendance of 23,000.

162,764 The incredible record attendance fi gure for a single FIFA World Cup qualifi er, registered at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracanã stadium in 1977 for a game between Brazil and Colombia.

818 The number of matches scheduled to take place in the Brazil 2014 preliminary competition, a little short of the record 853 matches that produced the fi nal line-up for South Africa 2010.

203 The record number of teams taking part in the 2014 preliminaries, topping the 200 who participated four years ago. The only associations not signing up to enter the competition this time around were Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Guam, Mauritania and the tournament hosts, Brazil.

3 The number of countries who have taken part in all 19 qualifying competitions, including Brazil 2014. Luxembourg, Portugal and the Republic of Ireland are the nations in question.

QUALIFYING BY NUMBERS

A statistical look back at 78 years of FIFA World Cup™ qualifying


Germany, who came into the draw as the undisputed masters of World Cup qualifying with just two defeats in the 74 qualifi ers they have played to date, may not have things all their own way in a group that includes Sweden, the Republic of Ireland and an Austrian team who are always keen to get one over on their big neighbours.

“We haven’t got an easy group,” acknowledged Germany coach Joachim Löw. “Sweden and Ireland always do very

RIO REACTIONSA selection of comments on the draw

Vicente del Bosque, Spain coach: “I think if I said it was a good or a bad draw, I’d be disrespecting our rivals in one way or another. Obviously if you focus just on France, you’ll slip up against another team and endanger your chances of qualifying. If you don’t prepare in the same way for Georgia or Finland, you could pay a high price.”

Egil Olsen, Norway coach: “Things could have turned out worse for us, even though getting Cyprus and Iceland out of pots fi ve and six will make it a tricky group. Iceland is like the annoying little brother who loves getting one over on his older sibling.”

Pitso Mosimane, South Africa coach: “I’m sure the other teams are not happy to have us in the group. But for us, it will be hard. Central Africa are doing well in the 2012 CAN qualifi cation and Botswana is a local derby. Most of their players play in South Africa and against them, the attitude and the emotions will be the key factors.”

Alberto Zaccheroni, Japan coach: “Our group may seem to be a diffi cult one but they are opponents we must play sooner or later on our way to the World Cup fi nals, so we will just get on with it. We are the Asian champions, so our opponents will be doing their homework and will come at us fi ring on all cylinders.”

Oliver Camps, Trinidad and Tobago FA President: “This round two draw has turned out well for us, and it gives our coach the chance to create some chemistry in the team during the fi rst few games. Round three, on the other hand, will be much trickier, but with good preparation, planning and execution, we can make it through.”

Anil Sharma, Fiji team director: “The long path to Brazil has been laid. It will not be an easy task to top the Oceania region, and then face off against the fourth-best side from CONCACAF for a place at the FIFA World Cup, but we will be out there ready for the challenge.”

European champions in our group,” France coach Laurent Blanc said after the draw. “It would be a lie to say that we are in an easy group, far from it, but it’s really exciting to be able to measure ourselves against the best.”

While several of the other European coaches may have been breathing a sigh

of relief after avoiding the French, there were still plenty of other tricky fi xtures to contemplate. Following their narrow escape from Group I, England were instead handed a reunion in Group H with the same Montenegro side with whom they are currently battling closely for EURO 2012 qualifi cation. Adding further interest to the group is the presence of EURO 2012 co-hosts Ukraine and Poland.

“At least no one can label us as favourites with the world and

European champions in our group.”

France coach Laurent Blanc

well in qualifying so it’s going to be tough, but it’s certainly doable for us.”

Whether their routes seem doable, tough or near impossible, the 175 teams remaining in contention for Brazil 2014 can now start preparing for their qualifi cation campaigns. In a little over two years, the questions will all have been answered and the names of the 31 qualifi ers revealed, at which point attention will switch to the tournament’s Final Draw, and a whole new set of dreams…

As tournament hosts, Brazil are the only team already guaranteed a starting place at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.


Barely a month after their thrilling penalty shoot-out victory over the USA in July’s FIFA Women’s World Cup fi nal, the Japanese players received a lasting token of their triumph with the handing over of the World Champions Badge at the National Stadium in Tokyo.

Taking place shortly before the start of a charity match against a Japanese women’s league all-star team to raise funds for the reconstruction effort in eastern Japan after March’s devastating earthquake, the handover saw FIFA Executive Committee member and AFC Acting President Zhang Jilong and legendary former China forward Sun Wen present the badge to Japanese Football Association (JFA) President Junji Ogura and national team captain Homare Sawa.

“Today is an important day for Japan. The Japanese team combined attractive

passing football with real tenacity,” said FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter in an accompanying message to the team. “After the terrible natural disaster that occurred in March earlier this year, I know this victory was all the more uplifting for the people in Japan. This badge is a gesture of both respect and recognition for the national team’s wonderful achievement.”

The badge was worn by the Nadeshiko for the fi rst time during the charity match and will take pride of place on their jerseys in every match until the fi nal whistle of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015™ in Canada.

Great honour“This is the very fi rst Champions Badge for Japan and it is a great honour for all of us in the football family that our national team will play with the badge for the next four

years,” said JFA President Junji Ogura. “I hope Nadeshiko Japan will do their best to continue […] expressing the beauty of football throughout the world.”

Japan captain Homare Sawa, who won the adidas Golden Ball as best player of the Germany 2011 tournament, said the badge was special to her. “For me, this badge contains all my feelings from the last 18 years. I hope we’ll still be wearing it not only for these four years but for many years to come,” said Japan’s most-capped player.

The FIFA Women’s World Cup Champions Badge is just one in a series of FIFA World Champions Badges awarded to the winners of selected FIFA events. The fi rst team to be presented with the badge was the Italian men’s national team, champions of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™. Since 2007, the winners of the Women’s World Cup and the champions of the FIFA Club World Cup have also received FIFA World Champions Badges.

Booming attendancesAugust’s badge handover and the charity game that followed it were part of an

JAPAN’S BADGE OF HONOUR

Japan’s success at this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup™ was celebrated on home soil in August when the national team became the latest recipients of the FIFA World Champions Badge.


FIFA BRIEFS

Match-fi xing bansSix match offi cials were handed lifetime bans from any kind of football-related activity in August, following an investigation into two friendly international matches – between Bolivia and Latvia and Estonia and Bulgaria – both of which were played in Turkey in February. The FIFA Disciplinary Committee found all six offi cials (Sinisa Zrnic, Kenan Bajramovic, Rizah Ridalovic, Kolos Lengyel, János Csák and Krisztián Selmecz) guilty of passive corruption and unlawfully infl uencing match results, as set out in articles 62 and 69 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code.

Somalia donationFIFA announced a donation of USD 1 million of emergency aid to Somalia in August, as reports came in of a deepening humanitarian crisis in the east African state. The funds were given directly to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) with the specifi c aim of providing life-saving emergency aid, complemented by projects designed to revive or boost the livelihoods of the worst-affected communities in a sustainable manner. FIFA’s donation is part of world football’s governing body’s solidarity programmes, which in recent years have allowed support to be provided to the people of countries such as Japan, Haiti, Pakistan, China PR, Chile and the nations of south-east Asia affected by the tsunami of December 2004. Remembering GerhardFIFA President Joseph S. Blatter expressed his “shock and great sadness” to the Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) in July after hearing of the death of former ÖFB Vice-President and FIFA offi cial Gerhard Kapl at the age of 64. A former match offi cial who refereed 40 international matches and more than 200 domestic games, Kapl served FIFA in several roles, including as a Security Offi cer and as a member of the FIFA Stadium and Security Working Group. “He was a very committed person and football fan,” recalled Blatter, “and we will always have fond memories of our friend Gerhard.”

increasingly busy schedule for the Japanese women’s team, with Nadeshiko fever still running high in the country following their triumph at Germany 2011. Despite wet conditions, an impressive 22,049 fans turned out for the charity match while, later in the month, a further 32,600 fans attended the squad’s six-day training camp for September’s fi nal round of qualifying for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

“The presence of all those fans meant our players couldn’t sit back for a moment and had to work hard even in the heat,” said Japan coach Norio Sasaki, whose players duly lived up to their billing as favourites at the qualifying tournament in China, booking their place for London 2012 alongside fellow Asian qualifi ers Korea DPR.

The team’s success is also having a knock-on effect in the country’s women’s league, with large crowds fl ocking to

domestic matches. A new attendance record was set for the third straight week when 24,546 fans turned out for an encounter in early August between Albirex Niigata and INAC Leonessa. “The World Cup win has spread women’s football around the country and shown the potential of Japanese women,” explained the league’s General Secretary, Yoshinori Taguchi.

As the profi le of the women’s league has soared since the World Cup, so too has its commercial allure, with both the women’s league and its clubs enjoying an infl ux of sponsorship offers and various members of the national team appearing in TV ads for their new sponsors. Buoyed by this new sponsorship interest, the league is planning to hold football clinics and events next season to further promote the sport.

Football offi cials in the country are also pushing for the introduction of female football in high schools to help stem the current drop-off in the number of girls who start playing football alongside boys at primary school but then stop because of the lack of girls’ teams at high school age.

“With women’s football in the spotlight, now is the time for us to sow the seeds,” says Taguchi, pointing out that women currently account for only four per cent of Japan’s registered players. “If we can work along with the J. League and the local communities, we can create the platform to make women’s football grow further in the future.”

Japan celebrated further success in September with qualifi cation for next year’s Women’s Olympic Football Tournament.

“The Nadeshiko’s World Cup win has spread women’s football

around the country and shown Japanese women’s potential.” Women’s league General Secretary

Yoshinori Taguchi


A fi rst phase of testing of different goal-line technology systems gets under way next month, with the potential for the technology to be used in football – provided a series of stringent requirements are met.

TESTING TIMESFollowing the decision by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) in March to grant a further year for the testing of goal-line technology, nine European companies have registered to take part in the tests, which are set to be held behind closed doors in stadiums chosen by the technology providers in consultation with FIFA.


The fi rst test phase, due to be carried out in November and December by a team of independent researchers from the Swiss materials science and technology research institute EMPA, will comprise three main elements aimed at evaluating whether the technologies can accurately detect that the whole of the ball has crossed the line between the posts and under the crossbar.

One of the main elements consists of shots being fi red into the empty net from all over the pitch. “With this test, it’s clear even to the naked eye whether the ball is behind the line or not,” explains EMPA’s project leader, Martin Camenzind. “Crucially, however, the system should not indicate a goal in the case of shots past the posts or into the side netting.”

Correctly identifying shots into a completely empty net is one thing, but what about the more common situation when goalkeepers or defenders are standing in the way? To examine the accuracy of the various systems when it comes to shots that hit the goalkeeper or rebound off defenders standing near the goal line, another part of the test will see the researchers set up an impact wall, similar in size and shape to a goalkeeper, in different positions either on or at varying distances behind the line. A ball-shooting machine is then used to fi re shots against the impact wall.

Need for consistency“Although professional footballers like David Beckham might have a wonderful shooting technique, it is easier for the ball-shooting machine to replicate the same shots time after time than it is for a player,” says Camenzind, pointing to the fact that the testing conditions must be consistent for all nine technology providers.

The other main element of the test is known as the “sled test”. For this, the ball is positioned on two parallel rods, which are in turn mounted on a wooden base straddling the goal line, before being rolled slowly across the goal line by hand until the system indicates a goal. Using this machine allows the team to obtain more

precise readings than if the ball were simply rolled directly along the ground.

Of course, the test institute itself has to be able to determine with absolute certainty whether or not the ball has crossed the line during the tests. “Parts of our tests are set up in such a way that the ball is only behind the line for a fraction of a second and it’s impossible to see with

the naked eye whether the ball has crossed the line or not,” explains Camenzind. With this in mind, the testing institute deploys a high-speed video system which records 2,000 images per second.

Second phaseTo pass the fi rst phase of testing, the technologies must display 100% of the

Results from the fi rst phase of tests will be used to determine which companies take part in the second phase.


The International Football Association Board has laid down four basic requirements that goal-line technology systems have to fulfi l:

1. The technology applies solely to the goal line and only to determine whether a goal has been scored or not.

2. The system must be accurate.3. The indication of whether a goal has been

scored must be immediate and automati-cally confi rmed within one second.

4. The indication of whether a goal has been scored will only be communicated to the match offi cials (via the referee’s watch, by vibration and visual signal).

WHAT IS NEEDED

shots into an empty net correctly and achieve a success rate of at least 90% in the impact-wall and sled tests. The results from this fi rst phase – during which the technology provider must also prove that its system can automatically indicate a goal to the referee’s watch within one second – will then be used to establish a shortlist of companies that will proceed to the second testing phase commencing in March next year.

As well as evaluating the system’s ability to handle an increased number of shots, speeds and elevations, this second phase will take in other situations which might crop up during a match, such as the presence of a second ball outside the line or people moving and standing close to the posts. Assuming the technology is able to detect a goal reliably under these second-phase conditions, the reliability of the overall system will then be assessed.

Camenzind points out that the technology must function without any problems on both natural grass and artifi cial turf, and importantly, considering the number of evening games played, explains that the tests will be carried out both during daylight hours and at night under fl oodlights – all on the same day.

“We’re in for some long shifts,” admits Camenzind. “But it’s fascinating for us to be involved in a project of this kind. Our work requires us to evaluate a wide range of materials and systems, only normally we’re based in the lab and the materials come to us!”

Following the second phase of testing, FIFA will present the results of the tests to the IFAB, which is the only body able to make amendments to football’s Laws

of the Game and therefore decide on the possible implementation of goal-line technology. The board is due to hold a special meeting on the subject in July 2012, following the completion of the UEFA European Championship. At the same meeting, the board will also decide on the future of the Additional Assistant Referees experiment, which was in part also conceived to reduce the chances of error in goal-line decisions.


FIFA’s electronic transfer matching system (TMS) was put through its paces once again during the European summer months, with the online platform handling more than 5,000 international transfers during the main 12-week window. But while the movement of “big names” such as Samuel Eto’o, Diego Forlán and Cesc Fàbregas grabbed most of the media headlines, it was the 428 applications for transferring minor players which received special attention at FIFA’s headquarters.

“There’s always a very low percentage chance of being good enough to make it as a professional footballer and if you’re moving under-18 kids in that kind of environment, you’re looking at a very low return,” says Mark Goddard, General Manager of FIFA TMS. “It’s a great story to have this one kid coming from some underprivileged background making it all the way to the top, but what about the many other kids that don’t make it?

“When we spoke to associations about this in the past, especially in the countries which traditionally see young players move

MAJOR FOCUS ON MINORS

FIFA’s new online transfer matching system has made it easier than ever for clubs to conduct international transfers – with one important exception. When it comes to players aged 17 or under, the process has become much stricter, and deliberately so.

abroad, we kept hearing about kids leaving their homeland en masse to join overseas academies. A few made the grade and some went back home, but many more were never heard of again.”

It was concerns over the fate of young footballers completing premature international transfers while still in their formative years which led FIFA to issue a general ban on international transfers involving players below the age of 18 in 2001.

Only three exceptions to this rule are permitted: fi rstly, if the player involved is aged between 16 and 18 and wishes to move between two associations within the European Union; secondly, if the transfer is to allow a player to make a

short-distance move to a club or academy situated across a national border but still close (within a 50km radius) to his home; and thirdly, if the minor’s family are moving to the new country for reasons not linked to football.

Originally it was left to the associations themselves to determine whether one of these criteria had been met but it soon came to light that not all associations were applying the same standards. A turning point was reached in 2007 when FIFA issued a warning to the Danish Football Association and FC Midtjylland over the club’s regular registration of young players from Nigeria. Backed up by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which rejected the club’s subsequent appeal, FIFA decided a

Côte d’Ivoire’s teenage talent Souleymane Coulibaly was able to join Tottenham in the latest transfer window, as the 16-year-old was already based within the European Union after emigrating to Italy with his family as a youngster.


uniform approach was required for the examination of all minor transfers.

Taking responsibility“When we started to look at how to try and introduce things for minors, that case was quoted as the ‘jump-off point’ when FIFA basically took the decision to make the whole process ‘in-house’,” explains Omar Ongaro, head of FIFA’s Players’ Status and Governance Department. “It’s now no longer the association’s responsibility to independently determine if FIFA’s regulations are being followed, it’s now FIFA’s responsibility through TMS and the minors’ application section.”

Since 1 October 2009, football associations have therefore been obliged to use the system to process any international transfer requests involving players below the age of 18. The request, including all the necessary documentation, is then automatically passed on to the new sub-committee of the FIFA Players’ Status Committee which must give its approval before the transfer of any minor can proceed.

“If it’s an international transfer and the player is coming in on the ‘reasons not linked to football’ category and he’s going to a professional club, they would have to provide several documents, including the player’s professional contract, proof of his date of birth, the proof of identity and nationality of the player and his parents

and the parents’ employment contracts,” says Players’ Status Committee chairman Geoff Thompson. “When you’re looking at employment contracts of a player’s parents, then you’ve got the ability to determine very clearly why those parents are moving, and it’s these documents which are then assessed by the sub-committee, to determine whether an exception is proven or not.”

Boys and girlsBetween October 2009 and the 31 August 2011 transfer deadline, a total of 2,363 applications had been made to the sub-committee – comprising both transfer requests and also requests for minors to be registered as footballers for the fi rst time in an association outside their home territory. Of these, 1,891 requests were accepted and 344 rejected with a further 128 still under consideration. The same procedure applies to boys, girls, professional players and amateurs, ensuring that FIFA provides all minors with the same level of protection.

“FIFA’s regulations on international transfers have not actually changed,” FIFA’s Director of Legal Affairs, Marco Villiger, points out, “but by taking charge of the monitoring ourselves and using the technology available through TMS, we have transformed a process that was administratively too large to handle into something which is actually quite feasible

and can be dealt with in a timely fashion.”Goddard stops short of claiming that

TMS has completely eradicated the traffi cking of young footballers, particularly since it is hard to evaluate how many traffi ckers are still attempting to circumvent the regulations altogether by bringing in youngsters without entering them in the system. But with the FIFA TMS Compliance and Integrity Unit rigorously checking for any discrepancies or gaps as soon as players are registered with an association, he is confi dent that life is getting harder for those seeking to exploit minors.

“We don’t yet think that all minor applications are going through the system, but we’re working on ways to make sure that people know that’s a very bad decision. In addition, we’re getting plenty of anecdotal evidence that the system is working. Last year I asked the TMS managers of the ten South American football associations why we were seeing such a drop-off in the number of applications to register minors down there and they said ‘It’s all too hard now, we’re just telling the clubs to wait until the player turns 18 and then just do a normal transfer’.

“Whatever you think of the reason, that’s going towards what the regulations are fundamentally looking to do, which is to extend the protection of vulnerable young players by having players who are under 18 stay where they are.”

FIFA’s online transfer system has been mandatory for cases involving minors since October 2009, and for all international transfers since October 2010.


FOCUS

Brazil’s latest crop of teenage talents were the obvious winners when it came to this year’s FIFA U-20 World Cup. But their Colombian hosts were also left smiling at the end of a tournament packed with exciting, attacking football, witnessed by bumper crowds.

Brazil clearly felt perfectly at home in the land of their northern neighbours – soaking up the atmosphere of a country which also lives and breathes football to clinch their fi fth U-20 crown. In doing so, they matched the record haul of fi ve FIFA World Cups™ won by their senior counterparts, and helped make up for some relatively disappointing Brazilian showings at this year’s Copa América, FIFA U-17 World Cup and FIFA Women’s World Cup™.

“This tournament was a spectacular experience for all of us,” said coach Ney Franco following his charges’ extra-time victory over Portugal in the 20 August final. “We felt very comfortable in Barranquilla, Pereira and Bogotá, and are delighted to repay the people for their kindness with such an important title as this, which enables us to equal the senior team.”

Brazil started their latest bid for youth glory with some doubts over their title chances. The main question mark hung over the absence of Neymar, whose starring

Record attendance fi gures and a fi fth title for Brazil were among the major highlights as Colombia staged a magnifi cent FIFA U-20 World Cup 2011.

By Alejandro Varsky, Bogotá

A TRIUMPH FOR BRAZIL – AND COLOMBIA

role during the qualifying campaign had earned him a call-up to the senior squad for the Copa América.

An unconvincing 1-1 draw in their opening match against Egypt did not augur well but the Brazilians quickly found their stride. They went on to end the tournament unbeaten with fi ve victories and two draws, scored the most goals (18) and, in Henrique, also had the winner of the adidas Golden Boot and Golden Ball in their ranks.

“We knew that we would improve as the tournament went on because we didn’t have much preparation time in Brazil. The important thing was to build momentum with each match that we played and maintain it in the decisive moments,” was the assessment of Danilo, who scored his team’s opening goal in the tournament and was a pillar of strength on the right-hand side.

Motivated by historyComing from a country well accustomed to footballing success, three members of this year’s Brazilian U-20 squad also had the added motivation of wanting to improve on their miserable early exit from the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Nigeria two years ago. Defender Romário Leiria and midfi elders Casemiro and Philippe Coutinho were

the trio in question, having all featured in the shock 1-0 defeat against eventual champions Switzerland which saw Brazil heading home from Nigeria at the end of the group stage.

“Casemiro and I thought about that, especially after our initial draw against Egypt,” admitted Coutinho. “We didn’t play well and we were afraid of history repeating itself.”

31 FIFA WORLD I FOCUS

It turned out there was no need to worry. After that 1-1 draw against the Africans, Brazil showed their class with resounding victories against Austria (3-0), Panama (4-0) and Saudi Arabia (3-0). In the quarter-fi nals, they served up one of the tournament’s most exciting encounters, squeaking through against a brilliant Spain on penalties after a 2-2 draw in normal time.

“A lot was said about Neymar’s absence before the start – he’s an exceptional footballer. But we have other very good players who will soon be joining the senior team. It’s a very talented generation that can go very far,” said Franco, whose team produced a different hero in each of the last three matches in the tournament.

Standing 1.91m tall, Gabriel, Cruzeiro’s giant goalkeeper, was the star of the duel

against the Spanish while Henrique was the main man in the semi-fi nal against Mexico, scoring two goals in the last ten minutes. Against Portugal, who had reached the fi nal without conceding a goal, it was the turn of Óscar, the skilful no. 11 who scored all three goals in Brazil’s epic 3-2 victory.

The fi nal also settled two debts with history: Brazil’s loss to Portugal in the


1991 fi nal as well their eight-year trophy drought at U-20 level, the last triumph dating back to United Arab Emirates 2003 when Dani Alves and co. claimed the trophy after defeating a Spain side containing Andrés Iniesta.

Sub satisfactionThe strength in depth displayed by the Brazilians was in fact typical of a tournament which will be remembered by many as a World Cup of “super subs”. Brazil’s Henrique, Spain’s Álvaro Vázquez and France’s Alexandre Lacazette were the competition’s top scorers despite the fact that none of them were in their countries’ starting elevens at the beginning of the tournament. Together, the three of them scored 15 goals, a staggering number when you consider the number of minutes that they were on the pitch.

Just as previous tournaments provided the springboard to fame for players of the calibre of Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, Kaká and Xavi, other footballers were

discovered at the World Cup in Colombia who will surely be giving everyone plenty to talk about in the future. Mika was rock solid in goal for Portugal, setting a new record of 575 minutes without conceding. “I think I made the most of my opportunities, although it hurts me to leave without the title. I hope that it will serve me well for the future,” said

FROM THE BENCH TO THE STARSBebeto, Dunga, Claudio Taffarel, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldinho, Kaká, Adriano, Dani Alves... The list of Brazilian footballers that have shone at the FIFA U-20 World Cup is long and illustrious, and Colombia 2011 may well have unearthed another star in the form of Henrique, the striker who started the competition on the bench before ending up with an impressive triple haul comprising the tournament trophy, the adidas Golden Ball and the adidas Golden Boot.

Henrique, who is currently on the books of São Paulo, arrived in Colombia as back-up for Willian in the forward line, but made a place for himself in the starting line-up in the second match in Group E against Austria. Interestingly, it was a similar story with Argentinian superstar Lionel Messi, who sat out the fi rst half of his country’s opener at the 2005 U-20 World Cup in the Netherlands before inspiring the South Americans to the title in an electrifying remainder of the tournament.

While Henrique will not yet dare to dream of matching Messi’s subsequent stellar career path, his performances in Colombia underlined both his brimming talent and his versatility as the number 19 fi red in goals of every kind imaginable: a tap-in against Austria, another against Panama and a clinical fi nish against Saudi Arabia, a last-sixteen match he will also remember because of the painful elbow injury he sustained. “Only the delegation knows how much I suffered: I had to receive treatment around the clock so as to be able to play the other matches. Thankfully, I got my reward for it,” he added.

Although a hat-trick by team-mate Oscar stole the headlines in the 3-2 fi nal over Portugal, Henrique had already made a name for himself in the semi-fi nal against Mexico with his decisive contribution of two goals in the

last ten minutes: the fi rst a powerful header and the second a timely fi nish from close range. This was certainly a tournament to remember as he earnt all the top individual honours for an outfi eld player.

“This was a big moment in my career. I am still young, but to win all these awards and be champions in this age group is an incredible experience,” said the tournament’s star player who is already looking forward to a new adventure, citing a fi rst-ever gold medal for Brazil at the 2012 Olympic Games in London as his next ambitious target.

Hands-on approach: Portuguese keeper

Mika came away from Colombia with

the adidas Golden Glove.

the goalkeeper of Swiss origin, who won the adidas Golden Glove and curiously had not been considered for a place by Ilidio Vale during the European qualifying tournament. The rest of Portugal’s play was dictated by Nelson Oliveira, the skilful striker who scored four goals and produced some pirouettes worthy of Cristiano Ronaldo himself.


Despite not winning the title on home soil, something that only Portugal in 1991 and Argentina in 2001 have achieved, Colombia also left their mark thanks to the creative work of James Rodríguez and Michael Ortega and the opportunism of the powerful Luis Muriel, who spearheaded

the attack in Eduardo Lara’s team, scoring four goals. However, despite the promising signs shown by their players, the Colombians were knocked out in the

Nigeria were the region’s most worthy fl agbearers thanks mainly to some inspired performances by striker Ahmed Musa. The Super Eagles scored 15 goals in fi ve games and became the fi rst African team in the tournament’s history to win four consecutive matches before succumbing to France in the quarter-fi nals. Nevertheless, they went home deserved winners of the Fair Play Trophy.

Welcoming hostsWhile the action was certainly hot on the pitch, it was the warmth of the Colombian host nation which will linger most in the memories of those fortunate enough to attend the 2011 edition.

Over 24 days, eight cities across the length and breadth of Colombia hosted an unforgettable party with the warm-hearted local people in euphoric mood. With a total of 1,309,929 fans in the stadiums, the tournament in Colombia overtook Egypt 2009 to set a new total attendance record for the competition.

quarter-fi nals by a Mexico side superbly captained by Jorge Enríquez, the battling central midfi elder who was awarded the adidas Bronze Ball.

The talent of Erik Lamela, the elegance of Germán Pezzella and the skill of goalkeeper Esteban Andrada were not enough for Argentina, who despite setting a record of 18 consecutive matches without defeat, were edged out by Portugal in the quarter-fi nals following an incredible penalty shoot-out in which the Iberians had trailed 3-1 only to claw their way back to a 5-4 sudden-death victory.

While several of the South American and European teams impressed, it was not a great tournament for the Asian and African sides. Of the Asian quartet, Australia and Korea DPR both bowed out at the group stage, while Saudi Arabia and Korea Republic followed suit in the round of 16. Two years on from Ghana’s triumph at Egypt 2009, none of Africa’s four representatives could make it to the semi-fi nals this time around.

“A lot was said about Neymar’s absence before

the start, but we have other very good players that will soon be joining

the senior team.”Brazil U-20 team coach Ney Franco


A LASTING IMPACTColombia’s staging of the FIFA U-20 World Cup was not just a success in sporting terms, but also an opportunity to demonstrate football’s power to address social and environmental concerns.

During a lull in the match action between the tournament’s quarter- and semi-fi nals, FIFA teamed up with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and FIFA Partner Coca-Cola to launch a new Football for Hope programme aimed at supporting 1,400 underprivileged children.

Organised in cooperation with the Colombian government and the city councils of Bogotá and Cali, the programme will donate approximately USD 1.1 million over the course of the next three years to improve the prospects of children living in the impoverished areas of Ciudad Bolívar and Comuna 20.

The money will be put to use by the Colombianitos and SIDOC foundations, both of which use the popularity of football to attract youngsters into their programmes in Bogotá and Cali respectively. To avail themselves of the organisations’ football facilities, the children are required to attend school or enrol in life skills courses, providing them with a better chance of escaping poverty in their adult lives.

“Football has a major responsibility to society as a whole, thanks to the role it performs, its values, its popularity and its universal appeal,” explained FIFA’s Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, Federico Addiechi, during the launch of the programme, which was marked with an exhibition match between teams from the two foundations.

“It is a pleasure for FIFA to join forces with committed organisations and to support programmes that promote togetherness, social integration and access to health and education services,” Addiechi added. “The

main objective is to introduce the children to a new lifestyle that offers an alternative to the dangers and violence to which they are exposed.”

Green goalsFIFA’s desire to promote environmental responsibility at its various tournaments was also embraced by its partners in the Colombian Local Organising Committee and the country’s national government.

With additional support from Colombia’s Ministry of Environment and the Colombian branch of the World Wildlife Fund, a detailed study was commissioned into the amount of greenhouse gases emitted as a result of such a large-scale tournament – involving 24 teams playing 52 matches across eight cities.

Once the calculations had been completed, an offset programme was devised which will see 35,000 trees being planted in the Colombian Andes over the next two years.

“While the country was thinking about football, the authorities have joined forces in order to think and act in an environmentally responsible manner throughout this sporting event, which marks the most important of its kind in the history of our country,” said Luis Bedoya, the President of the Colombian Football Association and the Local Organising Committee.

The President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, echoed these words in stating the government’s position with regard to this initiative: “We are very pleased that FIFA is a long-time supporter of environmental programmes and it makes us even more proud organisers of the U-20 World Cup.”

“Out of four stars, I will give this

tournament fi ve!”FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter

“It’s fair to say that Colombia has organised a tremendous World Cup, with the words ‘Under-20’ placed in brackets after that, because the tournament has been as good as some of FIFA’s top senior competitions,” was how FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter summarised an event which he said had lived up to the Colombians’ promise to organise “the best youth tournament in history”.

Luis Bedoya, President of the Colombian Football Association and the Local Organising Committee, cited the removal

of perimeter fencing from the stadiums and the “total change of mentality in the behaviour of the fans” as another major achievement which he hoped could be turned into a lasting legacy of the tournament.

“The fences have come down, and that’s something we’d like to stick with from now on,” Bedoya urged. “Children and families have come back to games. Hopefully

The two Colombian foundations benefi ting from the new Football for Hope programme played an exhibition match together to mark the launch.


Ghislain Mvom against Portugal in the group stage. Fair play was also honoured by the Fair Play Days held in connection with the quarter-fi nals, which included various activities linked to the tournament and a declaration read out by the captains of the participating teams.

“Out of four stars, I will give this tournament fi ve!” said a smiling Blatter. The FIFA President also responded encouragingly when asked whether the Colombians could now once again dream of hosting a senior FIFA World Cup almost 30 years after their country’s ailing fi nances forced them to abandon plans to host the tournament’s 1986 edition.

“The Colombians showed that they have a great country, and not just in football terms,” Blatter replied. “It’s a multicultural nation where many people live side by side, which does not prevent them from offering the most hospitable of welcomes to visitors. The tournament has been a consolation to the country after what happened in 1986 and has shown that Colombia is ready to hold the FIFA World Cup one day. It may have to wait until 2026, but it is ready.”

these kinds of things will last and offer a better future for football in our country.”

The tournament was played in a spirit of exemplary sportsmanship, as demonstrated by the fact that there was only one straight red card in the entire competition, shown to Cameroon’s

Group AMali v. Korea Republic 0-2Colombia v. France 4-1France v. Korea Republic 3-1Colombia v. Mali 2-0France v. Mali 2-0Colombia v. Korea Republic 1-0

Group BCameroon v. New Zealand 1-1Portugal v. Uruguay 0-0Uruguay v. New Zealand 1-1Portugal v. Cameroon 1-0Portugal v. New Zealand 1-0Uruguay v. Cameroon 0-1

Group CCosta Rica v. Spain 1-4Australia v. Ecuador 1-1Ecuador v. Spain 0-2Australia v. Costa Rica 2-3Ecuador v. Costa Rica 3-0Australia v. Spain 1-5

Group DNigeria v. Guatemala 5-0Croatia v. Saudi Arabia 0-2 Saudi Arabia v. Guatemala 6-0Croatia v. Nigeria 2-5Saudi Arabia v. Nigeria 0-2Croatia v. Guatemala 0-1

Group EBrazil v. Egypt 1-1Austria v. Panama 0-0Egypt v. Panama 1-0Brazil v. Austria 3-0Brazil v. Panama 4-0Egypt v. Austria 4-0

Group FEngland v. Korea DPR 0-0Argentina v. Mexico 1-0Mexico v. Korea DPR 3-0Argentina v. England 0-0Mexico v. England 0-0Argentina v. Korea DPR 3-0

FIFA U-20 WORLD CUP COLOMBIA 2011 RESULTS

Round of sixteenCameroon v. Mexico (0-3 PSO) 1-1Portugal v. Guatemala 1-0Colombia v. Costa Rica 3-2Argentina v. Egypt 2-1Nigeria v. England 1-0Spain v. Korea Rep. (7-6 PSO) 0-0Brazil v. Saudi Arabia 3-0 France v. Ecuador 1-0

Quarter-fi nalsMexico v. Colombia 3-1Portugal v. Argentina (5-4 PSO) 0-0Brazil v. Spain (4-2 PSO) 2-2France v. Nigeria 3-2 a.e.t.

Semi-fi nalsBrazil v. Mexico 2-0France v. Portugal 0-2

Match for third placeMexico v. France 3-1 FinalBrazil v. Portugal 3-2 a.e.t.

Awardsadidas Golden Ball: Henrique (Brazil)adidas Silver Ball: Nelson Oliveira (Portugal)adidas Bronze Ball: Jorge Enríquez (Mexico)

adidas Golden Glove: Mika (Portugal)

adidas Golden Boot: Henrique (Brazil), fi ve goalsadidas Silver Boot: Álvaro Vázquez (Spain), fi ve goalsadidas Bronze Boot: Alexandre Lacazette (France), fi ve goals

FIFA Fair Play award: Nigeria

Midas touch: Brazil’s Henrique won both the adidas Golden Ball and Golden Boot.


The dream had to come to an end sooner or later, and in Brazil’s case it was later – with the four-time FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup champions making it all the way to the fi nal in their latest title defence before being stopped in dramatic fashion by Russia. In an unforgettable showdown that featured no fewer than 20 goals, the Europeans confi rmed that countries from

TSARS ARE STARS IN RAVENNA

Russia dethroned former sand kings Brazil in the fi nal of this year’s FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup to write a new chapter in the history of the sport.

By Iñaki Uribarri, Ravenna

colder climates can also be kings on the hot sand – outshining the sport’s long-standing masters with a superlative show of tactics and technique to win through 12-8.

The Russian triumph capped a fl awless season for Mikhail Likhachev’s men, who had been crowned European Beach Soccer League champions just weeks before. Their latest success, on the sport’s biggest

stage, highlighted the game’s evolution and expansion beyond the traditional sunny coastal regions. What began when landlocked Switzerland reached the fi nal two years ago in Dubai was confi rmed by the Russians in Italy this year.

But, of course, none of this just happened by chance... Throughout the tournament and, indeed, the season leading up to it,


Russia showed signifi cant improvements in virtually all areas of their play, having built on their existing strengths to become a well-oiled machine by the time they reached Ravenna.

With a tally of 44 goals, the Russians left their mark in the sand at the Stadio del Mare as the strongest attackers of the

tournament. They also boasted one of the meanest defences, thanks in particular to goalkeeper Andrey Bukhlitskiy, who took home the adidas Golden Glove for best keeper. Captain and heartbeat of the team Ilya Leonov’s adidas Golden Ball award was further confi rmation of the Russians’ new supremacy on the sand.

Team effort“I could never have imagined this,” Leonov said shortly after receiving his trophy. “I know that everybody says this but, in our case, I guarantee that it’s truer than ever: this trophy isn’t mine alone. In a team like ours, everything happens because of all 12 players, the ten outfi eld players and the two keepers. It’s all of ours.”

Russian pivot Egor Eremeev also picked out the team’s collective strength as the main reason for their fi rst world title, before warning that there could be more to follow.

“It’s been an incredible year for us, after the European title in August and now here in Ravenna,” he said. “It won’t be easy to repeat but our aim is to certainly get on a roll and win everything possible in the next few years. We’re a young team and we can improve further, we’re not yet at our peak.”

From day one, it was clear that the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Ravenna/Italy 2011 would be a memorable edition. Ahead of the tournament, the action kicked off with a friendly match between the Italian and Swiss women’s teams and a thronged press conference attended by FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, FIFA Vice-President and chairman of the FIFA Futsal and Beach

Something to shout about: Argentina’s keeper César Mendoza issues instructions during his team’s opening win over Oman.


Soccer Committee Ricardo Teixeira, FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke, President of the Italian Football Association Giancarlo Abete and head of the national amateur league Carlo Tavecchio.

Blatter spoke to the hundreds of assembled media about the sport’s rude health and the speed with which it had grown.

“Fifteen years ago I visited an international beach soccer tournament on the Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro,” he recalled “We realised back then how important it was for the organisation and development of the sport for it to be integrated into FIFA. The highlight of this development was the introduction of the fi rst FIFA Beach Soccer World Cupin Brazil in 2005. Now the tournament is entering its sixth edition and we’re delighted it’s taking place in a country so enthusiastic about football, because it will give the sport the chance to present itself on the biggest stage.”

El Salvador spring surprisesThe Italian hosts certainly had reasons to be enthusiastic during the early stages of Ravenna 2011 as the home team

demonstrated steady nerves to win all three of their group-stage matches in tight fashion – fi rst seeing off Iran and Senegal in consecutive penalty shoot-outs, before beating previous-edition fi nalists Switzerland 3-2.

Apparently taking up position as favourites in their quarter-fi nal meeting against El Salvador, the Italians then suffered an unexpectedly early exit, however, with their Central American opponents pulling off a 6-5 win in extra time to stun the 5,500 fans cheering for the Azzurri.

“I can guarantee that we made a conscious effort not to underestimate El Salvador in any way – we knew that they could cause us problems,” insisted Italy’s Francesco Corosiniti afterwards. “But we were too on edge. We didn’t manage to play our game and were affected too much by the occasion. The responsibility got to us.”

While clearly not the result expected by the home supporters, it was another welcome indication of the narrowing

Group ASwitzerland v. Senegal 8-8 (a.e.t., 0-1 PSO)Italy v. Iran 6-6 (a.e.t., 5-4 PSO)Iran v. Switzerland 4-6Senegal v. Italy 4-4 (a.e.t., 2-3 PSO)Iran v. Senegal 3-5Italy v. Switzerland 3-2

Group BArgentina v. Oman 3-1El Salvador v. Portugal 2-11Portugal v. Argentina 5-0Oman v. El Salvador 3-4Portugal v. Oman 8-3El Salvador v. Argentina 4-3

Group CNigeria v. Russia 4-8Tahiti v. Venezuela 5-2Venezuela v. Nigeria 3-5Russia v. Tahiti 5-0Venezuela v. Russia 3-7Tahiti v. Nigeria 1-4

Group DJapan v. Mexico 2-3Brazil v. Ukraine 3-3 (a.e.t., 2-1 PSO)Ukraine v. Japan 4-2Mexico v. Brazil 2-5Ukraine v. Mexico 1-1 (a.e.t., 0-1 PSO)Brazil v. Japan 3-2

FIFA BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP 2011 RESULTS

Quarter-fi nalsRussia v. Mexico 5-3Portugal v. Senegal 4-4 (a.e.t., 3-2 PSO)Italy v. El Salvador 5-6 (a.e.t.)Brazil v. Nigeria 10-8

Semi-fi nalsEl Salvador v. Russia 3-7Brazil v. Portugal 4-1

Match for third placeEl Salvador v. Portugal 2-3

FinalRussia v. Brazil 12-8

Awardsadidas Golden Ball: Ilya Leonov (Russia)adidas Silver Ball: André (Brazil)adidas Bronze Ball: Frank Velásquez

(El Salvador)

adidas Golden Glove: Andrey Bukhlitskiy (Russia)

adidas Golden Scorer: André (Brazil)adidas Silver Scorer: Madjer (Portugal)adidas Bronze Scorer: Frank Velásquez

(El Salvador)

Fair Play Award: Nigeria

gap between beach soccer’s top teams. Having captured the public’s imagination some years back with their humble origins as traditional fi shermen on the island of Pirraya, the Salvadoreans showed in Italy that they were no longer just happy to make up the numbers at the fi nals. In this their third appearance, they not only managed to earn their country’s fi rst points at a FIFA World Cup (with group-stage wins over Oman and Argentina preceding the victory against Italy) but also made it as far as the semi-fi nals.

A 7-3 defeat to the eventual champions from Russia fi nally brought an end to El Salvador’s impressive run, but they picked themselves up impressively to fi nish within a single goal of winning the bronze medal. Up against a strong Portuguese side who had trounced the Salvadoreans 11-2 in their opening group-stage encounter, Rudis González’s men took a shock early lead in the match for third place and were drawing 2-2 up until the 25th minute, when Portuguese superstar Madjer fi nally

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fi red home the winning goal for the favourites.

To top off a memorable 11 days in Italy, El Salvador forward Frank Velásquez was then presented with the adidas Bronze Ball as the player voted third best of the tournament.

“I’m very happy at how well this tournament has gone for us,” coach Rudis González said after his team’s fourth-place fi nish. “We’d never won a game before so to win just one here would have been an achievement in itself. But we’ve done even better than that, achieving a historic result for ourselves and the people of El Salvador. These boys are my second family. They’re all sons of mine, and I’m delighted for them fi rst and foremost because they’ve played with their heart and shown complete commitment.”

Elation and frustrationWhile El Salvador and Russia were the most striking examples of beach soccer’s growing strength in depth, they were certainly not the only surprise packages. Tahiti also secured a win in their fi rst-ever match at the fi nals, beating fellow debutants Venezuela 5-2. Although comfortably beaten by Russia and Nigeria in their next two group-stage matches, it was a welcome boost for the Oceania champions as they look ahead to their staging of the next FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in 2013.

The Nigerians also did well to bounce back from an opening 8-4 defeat against the Russians to make it to the quarter-fi nals alongside fellow Africans Senegal – whose only group-stage defeat came with that penalty shoot-out loss to their Italian hosts. With no African team having made it to the quarter-fi nals in 2005, 2006, 2008 or 2009, this was the best showing for the continent since 2007 – when the Senegalese and Nigerians also made it into the last eight. Hopes of a fi rst African semi-fi nalist proved too much of an ask, however, although both teams did well against strong quarter-fi nal opposition, Nigeria taking Brazil to extra time before losing 10-8 and Senegal drawing 4-4 with Portugal before losing the subsequent penalty shoot-out 3-2.

Of course, for every team that exceeds its expectations, there is another that fails to meet them. Along with the Italian hosts, Portugal and Switzerland were among the sides bowing out earlier than perhaps planned. In Switzerland’s case, it ultimately came down to their penalty shoot-out defeat against the Senegalese in an opening encounter that, had it gone the other way, would have been enough to see the 2009 fi nalists through to at least the last eight.

Portugal’s run to the semi-fi nals will have been seen as a minimum requirement for a country that had gotten that far in four of the tournament’s fi ve previous editions – going on to reach the fi nal just once, when they lost to France in 2005. Once again, the semis were to prove the end of the road, however, after José Miguel Mateus’s side were pitted against their old foes from Brazil.

Having famously beaten the Brazilians in Rio during the semi-fi nals of that inaugural 2005 edition, the Portuguese have been made to suffer repeatedly since, with their exits in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 all coming courtesy of Brazil. The series was extended in Ravenna, with Brazil running out surprisingly easy 4-1 winners this time around.

“What we’ve learned at this World Cup is that we need to strengthen the

national team from top to bottom, as well as carrying out an in-depth analysis of everything we’ve achieved in previous tournaments,” Mateus concluded. “All the same, I’m satisfi ed with the work my boys have put in, and even though we didn’t reach our main goal, the players have really stuck together and shown their courage, togetherness and friendship.”

After going on to secure third place for a third consecutive time, Portugal could be forgiven a sense of déjà vu as they headed home from Ravenna. Thankfully for most of the other teams, however, the 2011 edition has showcased a sport where nothing can be taken for granted, not even by the mighty Brazilians.

History is already set to be made again in two years’ time when the Tahitians host the fi rst FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup to be staged in Oceania, following on from the tournament’s previous stop-offs in South America, Asia and Europe. With Russia looking to defend their title, Brazil eager to reassert their superiority, Portugal itching to improve on their “nearly-men” reputation and an increasing number of teams capable of springing a surprise, the race for top spot in 2013 is already looking too close to call.

Russia’s Golden Glove winner Andrey Bukhlitskiy shows off his trophies and winner’s medal as fi reworks light up the Ravenna sky.



Former South American heavyweights Uruguay are once again the continent’s leading football team after following up on last year’s run to the semi-fi nals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ with victory in July’s Copa América.

By Alejandro Varsky, Buenos Aires

COPA JOY FOR RESURGENT URUGUAY


With their typically solid defence, unshakeable tactical discipline and the overwhelming power of Diego Forlán and Luis Suárez upfront, Uruguay are once more making international footballing headlines. The exploits of the current Celeste squad may not yet stand comparison with the sides which won the country’s two World Cup titles back in 1930 and 1950, but their latest Copa América triumph in Argentina – secured a year after their fourth-place fi nish in South Africa – has certainly cemented their reputation as South America’s current top team.

“You don’t win a tournament like this by chance, you win it for a reason,” insisted coach Oscar Tabárez after his side’s 3-0 triumph over Paraguay in the fi nal. Continuity would appear to be one of the key factors for the team’s continued strong

showing under El Maestro, as Tabárez is known. Eight of the players who lined up for the fi nal against Paraguay were also in the starting 11 against Germany for the dramatic match for third place at last year’s World Cup, while no fewer than 19 of the players called up by Tabárez for the 2011 campaign also featured in the 23-man squad for South Africa 2010.

“We don’t have any visionaries here, just professional work backed up by constant analysis of the situation over fi ve years,” explained Tabárez when asked about the success being enjoyed by the national team, which represents a country of just 3.4 million inhabitants. “That’s why we’re in the leading position we’re in now.”

Punching above their weight in terms of population, Uruguay have confi rmed the rude health of the nation’s football,

awaking from a long sleep after dominating the fi rst international competitions at the beginning of the last century. Along with their subsequent World Cup triumphs, La Celeste now hold a total of 15 regional titles – one more than Argentina and seven more than Brazil.

Uruguay also took a haul of individual honours at the Copa América, with Luis Suárez voted player of the tournament, Sebastián Coates best young player and captain Diego Lugano receiving the fair play award.

Heady timesThese are certainly heady times for Uruguay, whose teenagers celebrated a second-place fi nish at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico just two weeks prior to the senior team’s triumph (see last issue of FIFA World). In June, Uruguayan club giants Peñarol fi nished runners-up to legendary Brazilian side Santos in South America’s prestigious Copa Libertadores competition, narrowly losing the two-legged fi nal 2-1.

Nevertheless, it was not all plain sailing for Tabárez’s men as their Copa América campaign got underway. Starting out with two 1-1 draws against Group C rivals Peru and Chile, it was only in their third match, against a young Mexican side, that they managed to eke out a 1-0 win thanks to a 14th-minute goal by Álvaro Pereira.

Things got even tougher in the quarter-fi nals, when Uruguay found themselves relying heavily on their Buenos Aires-born goalkeeper Fernando Muslera for the crunch tie with their Argentinian hosts. The Uruguayans began brightly, stunning the Santa Fe crowd with a fi fth-minute opener from Diego Pérez. The home side struck back 12 minutes later, however, with a Gonzalo Higuaín equaliser and then found themselves a man up seven minutes before half-time when Pérez was sent off for a second yellow card.

The advantage lasted all the way up until the 86th minute – when Argentinian captain Javier Mascherano was also given his marching orders, in his case for a foul on Luis Suárez. But despite wave after wave of chances in the intervening period, Argentina were repeatedly frustrated by

Celestial fi gures: goalkeeper Fernando Muslera, coach Óscar Tabárez and young star Sebastián Coates all made key contributions to La Celeste’s latest success.


the rugged Uruguayan defence and some inspired saves from Muslera. Following a goal less extra time, the keeper then capped his performance with some penalty shoot-out heroics, saving Carlos Tévez’s spot kick to secure a 5-4 win.

This victory against the home side set Uruguay on the road to the title, with two goals by Suárez sealing the semi-fi nal against Peru and setting up a showdown with a Paraguay side whose own route to the fi nal had been particularly unusual. Scraping through the group stage after three drawn games with Ecuador, Brazil and Venezuela, the Paraguayans then drew again with Brazil and Venezuela in the quarter- and semi-fi nals, relying each time on penalties to progress. As a result, they found themselves in the strange position of having reached the fi nal without having won a single game in either regular or extra time .

Nor were they to end that pattern in the fi nal, as Uruguay quickly imposed their dominance at the same Estadio Monumental which provided the setting for the 1978 FIFA World Cup™ fi nal. Suárez opened the scoring just 11 minutes in, before Diego Forlán made it 2-0 in the 41st

minute with his fi rst goal for the national team in just over a year. The wait for his next goal proved much shorter, with the 2010 FIFA World Cup star wrapping up a 3-0 win for Uruguay when he slotted

home a headed Suárez pass with just a minute remaining.

The goalkeepers’ cup Although Forlán and Suárez came good for Uruguay, the dazzling array of forwards who took part in this year’s Copa América (from Higuaín to Lionel Messi, Neymar to Radamel Falcao and Roque Santa Cruz to Alexis Sánchez) were ultimately eclipsed by the opposing defenders and their impressive goalkeepers. Statistical evidence for this could clearly be seen in the tournament’s low goal tally – down from 86 at the 2007 edition to just 54 this time around.

Muslera and Justo Villar were the linchpins of the successful campaigns of both fi nalists, although it was the Paraguayan who took home the trophy for best goalkeeper of the tournament. His fantastic saves were a lifeline for Paraguay throughout the entire tournament, including his skill in the penalty shoot-outs in both the quarter and semi-fi nals.

Venezuelan Renny Vega, whose style is more unorthodox though equally effective, made an active contribution to his side’s unexpected run to the semi-fi nals, somewhat bizarrely at both ends of the pitch. As well as playing a pivotal part in

Group AArgentina v. Bolivia 1-1Colombia v. Costa Rica 1-0Argentina v. Colombia 0-0Bolivia v. Costa Rica 0-2Colombia v. Bolivia 2-0Argentina v. Costa Rica 3-0

Group BBrazil v. Venezuela 0-0Paraguay v. Ecuador 0-0Brazil v. Paraguay 2-2Venezuela v. Ecuador 1-0Paraguay v. Venezuela 3-3Brazil v. Ecuador 4-2

Group CUruguay v. Peru 1-1Chile v. Mexico 2-1Uruguay v. Chile 1-1Peru v. Mexico 1-0Chile v. Peru 1-0Uruguay v. Mexico 1-0

Quarter-fi nalsColombia v. Peru (a.e.t.) 0-2Argentina v. Uruguay (a.e.t., 4-5 PSO) 1-1Brazil v. Paraguay (a.e.t., 0-2 PSO) 0-0Chile v. Venezuela 1-2

Semi-fi nalsPeru v. Uruguay 0-2Paraguay v. Venezuela (a.e.t., 5-3 PSO) 0-0

Match for third placePeru v. Venezuela 4-1

FinalUruguay v. Paraguay 3- 0

COPA AMÉRICA2011 RESULTS

And the award goes to … Uruguay’s Luis Suárez was voted the tournament’s best

player and Paraguay’s Justo Villar its best goalkeeper, while Peru’s Paolo Guerrero

topped the goalscoring charts.


conceding just once in the opening two fi xtures against Paraguay and Venezuela before his team’s decisive 4-2 capitulation to Brazil. Argentina’s Sergio Romero, a FIFA U-20 World Cup winner in 2007 and an Olympic champion in 2008, meanwhile confi rmed how much he has grown in the demanding role of keeping goal for

Argentina, letting in just two goals in four matches before the heartache of that penalty shoot-out defeat against the Uruguayans.

A new regional order?As Uruguay concentrated on their celebrations, football fans across South America were contemplating what the latest edition of the Copa América said about the current pecking order in the region. Apart from Uruguay being crowned champions, the tournament’s main talking point was the failure of both Argentina and Brazil to reach the fi nal – marking only the second time in the last 24 years that neither of South America’s traditional heavyweights has contested the fi nal match.

FORLÁN, RECORD MANIt was another memorable tournament for Diego Forlán. One year on from the fantastic performances at the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ which saw him honoured as the competition’s best individual player, Uruguay’s Copa América 2011 triumph fi nally enabled the amiable striker to enjoy success with his whole team.

Even as he savoured his fi rst national team title, however, there were again some individual achievements for Uruguay’s number ten to relish, with the six matches played in Argentina taking Fórlan up to a record 82 appearances for La Celeste – three more than the previous record amassed by legendary Uruguayan keeper Rodolfo Rodríguez during the 1970s and 80s. For most of the tournament, the only thing to elude Forlán was a goal. Playing in a slightly more withdrawn position since the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the usually prolifi c striker has continued to weigh in with assists but had not found the net since South Africa, and his country’s closing 3-2 defeat to Germany in the match for third place. When it mattered most, however, in this year’s fi nal against Paraguay, Forlán rediscovered his scoring touch – ending his drought after 41 minutes at the Estadio Monumental with a clean left-foot strike, before scoring again in the 89th minute with another trademark fi nish past Justo Villar.Those two goals brought Forlán another slice of history, putting him level on 31 goals with Uruguay’s all-time top goalscorer Héctor Scarone. The win was also signifi cant for Forlán’s family who can now point to three generations of Copa América champions: Diego’s maternal grandfather Juan Carlos Corazo won the title as coach in 1959 and 1967, the year in which his father, Pablo Forlán, also won the tournament as a player.“It’s not easy for three generations to play in and win the Copa América, so it’s something we’re all very proud of, especially my mother,” said the striker, whose trophy cabinet now includes a prize which neither Diego Maradona nor Pelé ever won.

Red sea: Chile supporters enjoy the action during their side’s 1-1 group-stage draw with eventual champions Uruguay.

Venezuela’s unbeaten streak all the way up until their penalty shoot-out loss in the last four, it was Vega’s header on to Grenddy Perozo from a late corner kick that allowed the Venezuelans to tie Paraguay 3-3 when the two teams fi rst met in the group stage.

Ecuadorian goalie Marcelo Elizaga also impressed despite his team’s early exit,


With the South American qualifying tournament for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ now getting underway – and the Brazilians not taking part due to their automatic qualifi cation as hosts – the competitive gap between the teams seeking a place at the event would appear to be narrower than ever.

Beaten semi-fi nalists Peru and Venezuela were perhaps the most striking examples at the Copa América of teams who have made dramatic recent improvements. Peru’s third-place fi nish marked their best performance in the competition since the heydays of the 1970s and early 1980s, a period in which they won the 1975 title and twice reached the semi-fi nals, as well as qualifying three times for the FIFA World Cup. Overcoming the loss of several injured players, Sergio Markarián’s side married strong collective play to the individual brilliance of midfi eld captain Juan Vargas and striker Paolo Guerrero, whose hat-trick against Venezuela in the match for third place saw him crowned as the tournament’s top goalscorer on fi ve goals.

As the only South American nation yet to qualify for a FIFA World Cup, Venezuela will have received a timely confi dence boost from their run to the semi-fi nals, the fi rst time ever that they had made it to the fi nal four.

“We’ve achieved results and a position in South America. We’re not one of the big teams, but we’re giving it our all and we’re earning everyone’s respect,” said coach César Farías who, at only 38, describes qualifying for the FIFA World Cup in Brazil as “an obligation”.

Lessons to learnUnlike Peru and Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil and even the Paraguayan fi nalists left the tournament with plenty to mull over. Despite home advantage and the formidable talents of Lionel Messi, the Argentinians once again failed to lift the title, and have now gone 18 years without winning an international competition. Following draws against Bolivia, Colombia and Uruguay, as well as a single win against a young Costa Rican side, Sergio Batista’s tenure as Argentina coach came to an end.

Following their success in Argentina, Uruguay not only boast more Copa América titles than any other team, but to top things off they have also booked a place at the FIFA Confederations Cup 2013.Uruguay are the fifth team to have qualifi ed for the “Festival of Champions”, which will be held a year before the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ in Brazil and serves as an excellent opportunity for the teams to put themselves to the test before the biggest event in the sporting calendar.

“It’s a real honour for us to compete in a tournament with the best teams in the world again and in the same country where the 2014 FIFA World Cup will be held,” Sebastián Bauzá, President of the Uruguayan Football Association, told FIFA World.For Bauzá, Uruguay’s second participation in the FIFA Confederations Cup – they fi nished fourth in 1997 – will also bring with it “a major responsibility in terms of our country’s history, because we’ll be competing in the country that witnessed the most important achievement in our footballing history: the Maracanazo [the game at the Maracanã stadium in which Uruguay beat hosts Brazil to lift the 1950 World Cup].”As hosts, Brazil are automatically qualifi ed for the tournament in 2013, which will also feature Spain as reigning world champions, Asian title-holders Japan, and newly crowned CONCACAF champions Mexico.Three more Confederation Cup slots remain to be fi lled, with the winners of next year’s UEFA EURO 2012 and Oceania’s OFC Nations Cup the next qualifi ers to be revealed. The fi nal participants will be the African champions who emerge from the CAF Africa Cup of Nations taking place in 2013.

HEADING TO THE FESTIVAL OF CHAMPIONS

Uruguay’s Marcelo Zalayeta fends off Czech midfi elder Radek Bejbl during their sides’ group-stage meeting at the FIFA Confederations Cup in 1997.

He will be replaced by Alejandro Sabella, assistant to Daniel Passarella at France 1998, for the qualifi ers.

Mano Menezes’s restructured Brazil side fared little better. Despite coming into the competition as winners of the previous two editions, they failed to gain a foothold and made an early exit. The attacking duo formed by Neymar and Alexandre Pato performed patchily as the team managed just three draws and a win over Ecuador. The way in which Brazil exited the competition was symbolic of their strange campaign: after drawing 0-0 against Paraguay after 120 minutes, the fi ve-time world champions missed all four of their penalties – a rare occurrence for a side that must now prepare for a home World Cup without any offi cial qualifying matches.

Their rivals in that match, however, also had something of a bittersweet campaign, with their run to the fi nal clearly not enough to distract from the lack of victories en route. “After the World Cup in South Africa, we thought the foundations had been laid to show an improvement in the team’s standard of football, but in the end it was just the opposite,” acknowledged coach Gerardo Martino as he announced his resignation from the post. “We observed a regression in terms of our play, not the results, and that’s why I’ve decided to step aside.”

Despite their surprise exits in the quarter-fi nals, Colombia and Chile topped their respective groups and showed that they too can be expected to put up a serious fi ght now that the Copa América dust has settled and the battle for Brazil has begun.


“Germany 2011 was the best FIFA Women’s World Cup ever,” writes FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter in the foreword to September’s technical report into this year’s women’s footballing showpiece. “All indicators clearly show the incredible

CLOSING THE GAP

The offi cial technical report into this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup™ highlights a number of marked improvements in the women’s game and suggests that the competitive gap between the world’s leading teams has become narrower than ever.

improvement in the football that was on show, from the lowest-ever goal average (2.7) to the general level of the games.”

The President’s glowing assessment of the tournament is borne out by the pages of the report that follow. Breaking the

game down into its nuts and bolts from a technical and tactical standpoint, the 164-page publication by FIFA’s Technical Study Group (TSG) provides fi rm evidence of the ever-improving standards in the women’s game.

One of the report’s main fi ndings is the shrinking disparity between the traditional powerhouses and the less developed nations. “The games showed that the gap … has started to close,” writes former Dutch international and current Russian women’s coach Vera Pauw in the report’s technical and tactical analysis section, citing the good showings by tournament

Colombia’s Orianica Velásquez keeps the Korea DPR players on their toes as the FIFA Women’s World Cup debutants hold the more experienced Asians to a goalless draw.


newcomers Colombia and Equatorial Guinea as evidence of the comparable ability levels of the 16 fi nalists.

Acquitting themselves admirably on their fi rst outing at this level, Colombia only narrowly lost out to eventual semi-fi nalists Sweden in their opening match and impressed with their patient build-up play in their matches. Despite failing to pick up a point, Equatorial Guinea were competitive throughout and held all three of their tough group-stage opponents, Brazil, Australia and Norway, to half-time stalemates. Unlike previous Women’s World Cups, which witnessed scorelines such as the 11-0 thrashing handed out to Argentina by Germany in 2007 or Norway’s 7-1 humbling of Korea Republic in 2003, no game was won at a canter over the course of the 22-day tournament.

Explaining what still separates the elite teams from the rest, the report points towards the importance of the collective: “The difference between the teams was down to the level of teamwork and the players’ decisions and moves,” Pauw writes. “The best teams are balanced with good team organisation, but they have now also developed a high level of teamwork both in defence and attack.”

Quicker pressingWhen it comes to individual team strategies, the report highlights the contrasting styles of play on show. While some teams favoured patient build-up play, others, such as France and Japan, opted to use high pace in the build-up and not give their opponents any time to relax. Interestingly, the report notes a uniform lack of success for teams deploying long-ball tactics, whether they be newcomers like Equatorial Guinea or experienced former world champions such as Norway. “Teams are now too well organised defensively [for their opponents] to be successful using only an opportunistic playing style.”

In terms of defensive tactics, the TSG observed an increase in the number of teams seeking to press their opponents as soon as the ball was lost – though with varying degrees of success. “The most successful teams were capable of moving

their defensive block around 30 metres up and down the pitch without losing their balance or increasing the distances between players,” the study explains. Brazil were the only team to defend one-on-one all over the pitch, with each player picking up the opponent closest to them. This style of defending appeared to be less effective because it meant players were forced to change positions over the course of the game. However, the report notes that Brazil were able to compensate for this with their superb individual qualities in both attack and defence.

As for the attacking play on show during the tournament, it was observed that teams’ possession play had improved dramatically

over previous years. “This element of the game needed to develop because of the improved defensive organisation of the teams. Those at the top level have to fi nd a solution to open up opposition defences and create chances as it is not only the team organisation and players’ knowledge of defensive tasks that have developed, but also the players’ fi tness levels, which means that overpowering opponents simply does not happen anymore.”

Progress between the postsThe quality of goalkeeping had come in for criticism in previous Women’s World Cups, but the 2011 report notes a general improvement in standards

French midfi elder Louisa Nécib typifi ed her team’s

high-tempo, pressing style of play, while goalkeeper Hope

Solo was often the USA’s fi rst point of attack.


this time round. Most of the goalkeepers in Germany showed good athletic prowess and demonstrated a mastery of diffi cult techniques such as punching and parrying the ball.

Just as important as their ball-handling skills, however, is the role played by today’s top goalkeepers in supporting the play in front of them and operating as the “last defender”. By making themselves available for backpasses and providing an extra outlet during build-up play, they are able to relieve the pressure on their back line.

The USA’s Hope Solo, awarded the adidas Golden Glove by the TSG as the best goalkeeper of the tournament, was singled out in this respect. “She was always ready to intercept the ball, which meant that she gave her team the opportunity to position their defensive line higher up the pitch without being vulnerable to defence-splitting passes, especially on quick transitions or counter-attacks from the opponent,” writes the TSG’s goalkeeping expert, Anne Noe.

Observing that the “most complete goalkeepers in this tournament became the team’s fi rst point of attack”, Noe also praised Sweden’s Hedvig Lindahl for her effectiveness in delivering the ball swiftly to her strikers. After regaining possession of the ball, Lindahl showed a great willingness to get to the edge of her box quickly and launch the ball forward with her hands or her feet.

The report acknowledges that some areas of concern remain in the goalkeeping

“The most complete goalkeepers in this

tournament became the team’s fi rst point of

attack.” TSG goalkeeping analyst Anne Noe

department, particularly when it comes to shot-stopping and one-on-one situations. A further weakness was spotted in how some of the keepers dealt with aerial balls. With the speed and quality of ball delivery by outfi eld players improving, many goalkeepers struggled to catch the ball properly when put under pressure.

In order to address these diffi culties in the future, the report’s goalkeeping section concludes with a call for better coaching of women goalies from youth levels onwards. “As the standards of the women’s game have improved, having a ‘talented’ goalkeeper is no longer enough to succeed at this level,” Noe writes. “It is paramount that associations invest in good goalkeeping coaches for their female goalkeepers, starting with the youth teams.”

Stable injury rateAs well as scrutinising the action in terms of technique and tactics, the TSG study also looks at refereeing and medical aspects. Among the main fi ndings of the medical report was the encouraging news that Germany 2011 saw a halt to a worrying injury trend. The last three FIFA Women’s World Cups and Olympic Football Tournaments had shown a steady increase in the number of injuries, but this time round the overall injury rate of 2.3 injuries per match was similar to the fi gures from China PR in 2007.

“One very positive difference compared to all previous competitions was the much

lower incidence of head injuries, with only 12% compared to an average of 27% at previous Women’s World Cups,” added the report.

With injuries falling, tactical awareness improving and excitement at an all-time high, it seems this year’s tournament had all the ingredients to encourage even more girls to take up the beautiful game. “The FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany

2011 was the best possible platform to show the world that women […] play football in a technical, physical, fast and entertaining manner,” writes President Blatter. “Women’s football is continuing to go from strength to strength.”

An electronic version of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011 Technical Report and Statistics can be downloaded via the FIFA World web page (www.fi fa.com/fi faworld). Printed versions can be purchased using the FIFA Publications form on page 56 of this month’s issue.

2003: 107 goals 2007: 111 goals 2011: 86 goals

73 81 59

1 3 2

25 20 21

8 7 4

Shots Headers Penalties Own goals

USING THEIR HEADSHeaders accounted for almost a quarter of the goals at Germany 2011.


TRENDSKey fi ndings from the 2011 technical report

Changing formationsGermany 2011 witnessed the emergence of the 4-2-3-1 system, with variations that look like a 4-3-3 when attacking and a 4-5-1 when defending. Among the quarter-fi nalists, this system was favoured by France, Germany and England, while Japan, Sweden, Australia and the USA all predominantly employed the classic 4-4-2 system. A notable exception among the last eight was Brazil, who stuck to their three-at-the-back system in a 3-4-3 formation.

Quicker pressureTeams made the transition from attacking to defending more quickly at this World Cup, with individual players and small groups of two or three players stepping up swiftly to pressure the opponent in possession as soon as the ball was lost. This pressure was not necessarily higher up the pitch than in the past, but it was applied much faster, making it diffi cult for the opposition to maintain consistent possession.

Holding acesTeams encouraged one or both of their central midfi elders to sit in front of the back line, clogging the middle part of the pitch defensively. These same midfi elders were then free to support their team’s attack and in many cases provide their own threat with a pass or a shot in the attacking third. Japan’s Homare Sawa is a fi ne example of a player who spent a lot of time directly in front of her back four defending but also fi nding the energy to support the attack, as illustrated by her fi ve goals during the tournament.

Keep-ballThis tournament saw the emergence of more teams adept at retaining possession of the ball, both individually and as a unit. This skill was particularly marked among the quarter-fi nalists, with Japan and France’s performances worthy of special mention. Both of these teams clearly raised the standard of their build-up play through all three lines, while displaying unpredictable qualities individually and collectively, making them incredibly diffi cult to defend against.

Early runnersJapan and France showed mastery of a skill seldom seen before in the women’s game, whereby their advanced players make early off-the-ball runs into space in anticipation of the ball being delivered from behind. With these early runs, these players could anticipate the reaction of the defenders in front of them and continue the ball’s forward momentum. Crucially, both of these teams also had players with the ability to thread the perfect pass through to the early runner.

Cross measuresThis tournament was marked by higher-quality and better-timed crosses into the box. In the group game between Germany and France, for example, four of the six goals came from the fl ank and were scored with headers, while Japan and the USA benefi ted from key headed goals by Homare Sawa and Abby Wambach, respectively, following well-timed crosses. Aerial crosses were played into the box earlier with more pace, and typically bent away from the goalkeeper, thus requiring greater concentration and accuracy by the player heading the ball.

FIFA Technical Study GroupFIFA’s Technical Study Group has been observing teams during training sessions and matches at women’s international tournaments ever since the fi rst FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in China PR in 1991. The group, which was led at this year’s tournament by former Switzerland captain Prisca Steinegger, consists of nine experts from all around the world who have gained experience as players, national team coaches or football analysts, and their task with the TSG is to document developments and trends in international football. Their reports, which are accompanied by DVDs, are designed to encourage discussion and an exchange of ideas, and they also help member associations with their development work. The TSG’s main objective is to help improve the quality of the game while also helping players develop their game even further.

Japan’s captain Homare Sawa caused problems for her opponents all over the pitch.


As the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011™ reached its thrilling conclusion in Frankfurt on 17 July, leading football offi cials from around the world were already focusing on how to develop the women’s game further in the years to come.

By Mark Ledsom, Frankfurt

SHAPING THE FUTURE

Japan’s battling victory over the USA in this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup™ final was, understandably, the main talking point for fans of the game on the tournament’s closing day. But for those working behind the scenes to promote and develop women’s football, the attention in Frankfurt was already clearly focused on the next four years and beyond.

On the day of the fi nal match, some 500 representatives from football associations all over the world were wrapping up a three-day meeting aimed at building upon the global success of the 2011 tournament and raising the profi le of the women’s game in general.

The July meeting was the fi fth time that FIFA had staged a Women’s Football Symposium, but this year’s edition marked something of a departure from the approach of the previous gatherings. Rather

than talking at the delegates via speeches or presentations from the podium, there was a much greater emphasis in Frankfurt on talking with them, via workshops, forums and panel discussions on specifi c subjects. In addition, it was not just the women’s football experts from the various countries who were invited, but also their presidents and general secretaries – in other words, the men and (in a few cases) women who can really push the development of women’s football within their associations.

“We realise that the development of women’s football is at very different levels in the various member associations, so it is no longer possible to set the same list of goals or propose the same solutions to everybody,” explained FIFA’s Member Associations & Development Director Thierry Regenass at the outset of the symposium.


“One of the main aims of this year’s event is to encourage a more proactive approach to women’s football by the associations,” added FIFA’s Women’s Football Development Manager Mayrilian Cruz-Blanco. “We are telling all our members that FIFA will continue to offer support through its development programmes and funding – with a special emphasis on setting up and developing women’s leagues and other competitions – but that the success of those programmes relies on the associations also doing their part to promote the women’s game domestically.”

Positive startWhile the focus of the three days was all about improving the state of women’s football, the meeting began with some positive reminders of just how much has been achieved in the game already.

FIFA Executive Committee member Dr Theo Zwanziger said that in his own country of Germany it was already understood that women’s football was not just about sporting activity but also about building up the role of women in society as a whole.

“It should never be seen as competing with the men’s game, because it is much

more than that,” Zwanziger insisted. “In recent years we’ve made good progress in Germany, but we have to admit that women’s teams still account for less than ten per cent of the teams playing football week in and week out in this country.”

With the desire to build on early successes common among many of the delegates, the 2011 symposium was broadly divided into three main areas for discussion and subsequent implementation. First up was an examination of the structure of women’s football within the various associations, followed by discussions on how to create more women’s football competitions and increase the numbers of women and girls participating in the game. Attention then switched to the promotion of women’s football with a specifi c focus on raising media interest, increasing television coverage and attracting more sponsors.

Sound structuresWhen it came to the positioning of women’s football within the structure of a national association, Regenass called on all associations to make sure they had, at the very least, a women’s football committee and department fully supported by the association’s leadership. He also urged the

gathered leaders to ensure that the FIFA funds earmarked for women’s football were spent wisely, with special attention given to the setting up or optimisation of competitions at national and regional level. While also noting the progress that had been made in recent years, he stressed that “presently there is still much more for boys than there is for girls”.

In the subsequent panel discussion on the topic, the need for effective structures and clearly defi ned targets came across as a common goal for all countries – whether big or small.

“Our country is the second largest in the world, and because of its size, it is absolutely necessary that we are structured,” said Canadian Soccer Association President Dominique Maestracci. “We started in 2008 with a strategic plan, the most important element of which was the long-term development of players. Then we created a business plan with a fi ve-year budget and identifi ed the personnel we needed to accomplish this plan. We also worked hard to get women into key roles, starting with a women’s football committee, of course, but also adopting a new structure that will give us a minimum of three women on our executive committee.


“In Canada we now have around 900,000 registered footballers in total, and 43 per cent of those are women and girls. So we have the quantity, and the next step is to work on the quality.”

Despite obvious differences of scale, it was a similar story with fellow FIFA Women’s World Cup participants New Zealand.

“We’ve had a women’s football department since New Zealand’s hosting of the FIFA Women’s U-17 World Cup in 2008, and when that started up there were seven regional divisions taking care of women’s football and all doing seven different things,” recalled New Zealand Football Women’s Development Manager Bev Priestman. “Since then, we’ve brought it all under one roof, which has allowed us to develop a coherent strategy for developing the game throughout the country.”

Boosting quantity and qualityWhile the high level of play witnessed during Germany 2011 was a clear sign of how far the elite teams have progressed in recent years, the symposium delegates seemed unanimous in the belief that the game’s future growth will be strongly dependent upon grassroots activities or, to put it more simply, getting more and more girls to play football.

At the same time, regional and national competitions need to be put in place for various age categories, so that the girls starting out at grassroots level can continue to play and, in the case of the most talented players, progress all the way to the elite level.

“It is no coincidence that the majority of countries who reached the last eight of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011 have burgeoning domestic leagues,” pointed out FIFA Women’s Football Committee chairman Worawi Makudi. “In those leagues, players test each other every week in a regular competition. The USA, England, France, Sweden, Japan, Germany and Australia have league competitions which have been developed with no lack of vision, commitment, fi nancial support and, it must also be said, a lot of patience.”

Echoing the earlier comments on the amount of progress already made in

women’s football and the large amount still to be achieved, FIFA Director of Competitions Mustapha Fahmy pointed out that 170 member associations now had a women’s national team, but that only 40 had ever qualifi ed for a FIFA competition.

“There is huge potential for the remaining 130 member associations to improve and for the 38 member associations without a women’s national team to establish one,” Fahmy insisted.

Switching on media and sponsorsWith so many countries still needing to start almost from scratch when it comes to the development and promotion of women’s football, fi nancing is of course a major challenge. For that reason, the symposium’s second day dealt purely with the business of selling the game to broadcasters, media partners and sponsors.

Opening the day’s discussions, FIFA’s acting Director of Communications Nicolas Maingot observed that the success of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011 had already demonstrated the sport’s attractiveness to sponsors and the media – but that a proactive approach would be required if that interest was to now trickle down to national and regional levels.

“The media will need very solid arguments not to cover more women’s football than they do at the moment,” he argued. “But we have to look as well at what we can do for the media to help them cover the women’s game.”

A number of leading broadcasters were also invited to the symposium to give their views on women’s football – both in terms of the FIFA Women’s World Cup and of the wider game.

When it came to increasing television coverage at a national level, Hans Pekkari, head of sports at Sweden’s TV4 Group, suggested that associations need to put themselves more in the minds of the broadcasters and offer a product that complements their existing sports output.

“There has to be a good relationship fi rst between the broadcasters and the football associations,” he said. “You need to have regular meetings to understand the scheduling process and there must be an

open approach to the broadcast value of the product.”

Next stepsWhile some of the broader fi ndings and discussions of the symposium’s main forum are described above, the entire three-day programme included many more detailed debates and workshops whose outcomes cannot, of course, be summed up in a single article. All of the opinions and ideas put forward during the various sessions have been gathered together, however, by FIFA’s Member Associations & Development Division for use in their individual meetings with the various associations as well as in future courses and seminars. Among the fi rst of these will be a touring conference on the fi ndings of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany which is due to take in all six football confederations, starting with the African and Asian confederations in November and December of this year.

“We are now at a crucial point in the development of women’s football,” FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter told the symposium in a closing address that emphasised the global effort that was required. “I appeal to all member associations to put in place organised leagues because it is only with organised leagues and within club structures that women footballers will get the relevant experience to do well later in international competition.

“We have seen some really good football here in Germany, and it has proven what is possible around the world, so long as we all join together. FIFA can offer you a platform but now the homework must be done by you.”

FIFA Executive Committee member Dr Theo Zwanziger tells the symposium about Germany’s experiences with women’s football.


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ASIA AFRICA NORTH & CENTRAL AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN

MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS

Australia and Jordan were the only sides to preserve a 100 per cent record as the third round of Asian qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ got underway in September. Australia came from behind to beat Thailand 2-1 at home in the opening match of their Group D campaign before celebrating a much more impressive 3-1 away win over Saudi Arabia four days later. Jordan, meanwhile, took a surprise early lead at the top of Group A after following up a 2-0 away win over 2007 Asian Cup champions Iraq with a 2-1 home victory against China PR. China’s defeat ensured that four of the five group seeds dropped points away from home on the second matchday, with Japan, Korea Republic and Iran all being held to 1-1 draws in Uzbekistan, Kuwait and Qatar respectively.

The Asian Football Confederation has announced an expanded programme of events for the 2012 edition of its Elite Education Seminar (EES). Already established as Asia’s biggest sports education event, the annual seminar is expected to attract around 800 participants next year with new courses including a coach education directors’ workshop, an international youth/elite coaching instructors seminar, a futsal directors’ workshop and a football emergency medicine and doping control course. The EES 2012 will be divided into two parts, running from 9-19 January and 1-14 February, with both parts being hosted by the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

There were few surprises in the CONCACAF region as the second round of qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup got underway in September, with eight of the section’s higher-ranked teams making a perfect start to their campaigns. Canada, El Salvador, Trinidad and Tobago and Haiti all picked up six points from their opening two matches while fellow top seeds Panama celebrated a 2-1 away win over Nicaragua in their only September fixture. Of the teams ranked in the second tier, Guyana, Guatemala and Antigua and Barbuda also celebrated back-to-back victories, though all three are yet to face any of their opponents from the second round’s top-seeded pot. The only match which did not go according to form was the meeting between top-seeded Grenada and first-round survivors Belize, which ended in a surprise 3-0 away win for the Central Americans. The Jaguars were brought back down to earth four days later, however, following a 2-1 defeat at home to the Guatemalans.

CONCACAF officials have paid tribute to top refereeing official Julio Moya who died on 15 August at the age of 86. The Costa Rican joined CONCACAF in 1966 as secretary and member of the confederation’s Referees Committee and went on to serve in many important capacities, including as a FIFA Referee Instructor and as General Secretary of the Costa Rican Football Association. His contribution to the game later saw him honoured in the CONCACAF Hall of Fame.

Two of the biggest names in African football will be absent from next year’s Africa Cup of Nations after Cameroon joined Egypt in missing out on a place at the continental championship. Four-time African champions Cameroon recorded a 5-0 win over Mauritius in September’s penultimate qualifying round but it proved too little too late as Group E rivals Senegal secured qualification for the finals at Cameroon’s expense with a 2-0 win over Congo DR. Egypt, who have won a record seven African titles including the last three editions, endured more misery as they extended their winless campaign with a 2-1 defeat in Sierra Leone which left the Pharaohs firmly rooted to the bottom of Group G. Burkina Faso, meanwhile, became the sixth team to book a place at the finals (joining Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Botswana and the tournament co-hosts Gabon and Equatorial Guinea) after Namibia’s 1-0 win over Gambia guaranteed the Burkinabe top spot in Group F. The final round of qualifying was due to take place from 7-9 October, as this issue of FIFA World was being printed, with 16 teams still in contention for the ten remaining berths.

Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Issa Hayatou expressed condolences to the Ghanaian Football Association in September following the death of former player and renowned football administrator Ibrahim Sly Tetteh. Tetteh, who collapsed while playing a friendly match in Cape Coast with other retired players, was the founder and President of Liberty Professionals FC, the Accra club which has nurtured many top Ghanaian stars, including current internationals Michael Essien, Asamoah Gyan, Sulley Muntari, John Paintsil, Kwadwo Asamoah and Derek Boateng. He also ran three successful academies in Ghana, Togo and Kenya. “It’s a big loss to African football, especially at the grassroots level,” said Hayatou.

59 FIFA WORLD I SUMMARY

SOUTH AMERICA

www.oceaniafootball.com

OCEANIA

www.conmebol.com www.uefa.com

EUROPE

New Caledonia celebrated a home soil gold medal in the men’s football tournament during the country’s recent hosting of the 2011 Pacific Games. Staged with the support of the Oceania Football Confederation, the New Caledonia Football Association and the Games’ Local Organising Committee, the men’s football tournament attracted teams from 11 territories while the women’s event – won by Papua New Guinea – involved nine teams. New Caledonia clinched the men’s title with a 2-0 win over the Solomon Islands, before seeing their women’s side take the silver medal following a narrow 2-1 defeat to the Papua New Guineans. Billed as the “Olympics of the Pacific Region”, the Pacific Games takes place every four years. This year’s edition saw the participation of around 3,000 athletes from 22 territories competing in 28 different sports.

Oceania’s top club competition, the OFC Champions League, is due to resume at the end of October with a slight change of format for the 2011-12 edition. This time around, New Zealand’s two representatives will be placed in different groups (having been placed together in previous tournaments) with the aim of creating a more balanced contest. Defending O-League title-holders Auckland City and reigning New Zealand champions Waitakere United are the two teams in question who will be lining up against the leading sides from Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tahiti and Vanuatu. As well as being crowned O-League champions, the eventual winners of next year’s final will be rewarded with a place at the FIFA Club World Cup 2012.

After scoring his 100th goal for São Paulo earlier this year (see May issue of FIFA World), goalkeeper Rogério Ceni has passed another extraordinary milestone by making his 1,000th appearance for the club. Rogério is only the third Brazilian player to pass the thousand mark for a single club, his companions being Pelé, who made more than 1,100 appearances for Santos, and striker Roberto for Vasco da Gama. Having made his São Paulo debut in 1992, Rogério has provisionally set his retirement date for 2012, although he already admits it is a painful prospect. “I live for each day, so I try not to let it bother me, but to stop playing after 21 years is certainly something I’m not looking forward to,” he said during the festivities to mark his latest milestone.

Colombia have named former international midfielder Leonel Álvarez as their new national team coach, following the resignation of Hernán Darío Gómez after July’s Copa América. As a player, the 46-year-old Álvarez was Colombia’s second most-capped player, appearing at the 1990 and 1994 FIFA World Cups™ as well as in five editions of the Copa América. He then enjoyed success in his first season as a club coach in 2009 when he steered Independiente Medellín to their fifth league title. Paraguay have also opted for an experienced former international as their new head coach, appointing Francisco Arce as the successor to Gerardo Martino, who also stepped down after the Copa América. Arce represented Paraguay at the 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cups™ and got his first taste of managerial success with Asunción side Rubio Ñu, winning the second division championship in 2009 to take the club back into Paraguay’s top flight.

Germany became the first team to qualify for UEFA EURO 2012, alongside tournament co-hosts Poland and Ukraine, following a comfortable 6-2 win over Austria in Gelsenkirchen on 2 September. A hat-trick from Real Madrid midfielder Mesut Özil helped maintain the Germans’ perfect record of eight wins in their eight qualifying matches so far and also made sure of a record eleventh straight appearance in the tournament finals. Germany were joined four days later by another three teams, with 2010 FIFA World Cup™ finalists Spain and the Netherlands securing qualification in particularly emphatic fashion. The Spanish reigning world and European champions enjoyed a 6-0 home win over Liechtenstein to make it six wins out of six for Vicente del Bosque’s men, while the Netherlands stuck 11 goals past San Marino without reply on 2 September with the other results in their group on 6 September confirming their place in the finals. Italy can also start their preparations for next year’s tournament after a less spectacular but no less dramatic 1-0 win at home to Slovenia, with the decisive goal coming just five minutes from the end. The qualifying competition’s group stage is set to conclude in mid-October as this issue of FIFA World appears, with play-off matches for the best of the second-placed teams taking place in November.

Norway’s Karen Espelund made European sports administration history in June when she became the first woman to take part in a UEFA Executive Committee meeting. As chairwoman of the UEFA Women’s Football Committee, Espelund was invited to attend the Executive Committee meetings as part of an initiative by UEFA President Michel Platini aimed at promoting the role of women in football administration. Espelund, who is also a member of the Organising Committee for the FIFA U-20 and U-17 Women’s World Cups, will additionally oversee the group of 22 women who sit on UEFA’s various committees, covering all aspects of the game from marketing and disciplinary affairs to medical matters.

Member associations wishing to submit news items to FIFA World can send e-mails to feedback-fi faworld@fi fa.org. Please bear in mind that items should be submitted more than a month in advance of the issue in question.


SPAIN BACK IN FRONT

World champions Spain once again reign supreme in the September edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, having regained top spot from the Netherlands after just one month of being relegated to second place. A 6-0 win at home to minnows Liechtenstein was enough to put Vicente del Bosque’s men back on top of the world and seal their passage to UEFA EURO 2012 while also maintaining their 100 per cent record in the qualifying competition.

The Dutch, who became only the seventh team to top the world ranking in August following Spain’s friendly defeat to Italy, thus enjoyed only a short-lived stint as leaders despite matching the Iberians’ perfect EURO qualifi cation campaign – and booking their ticket for EURO 2012 – with a towering 11-0 victory over San Marino and a 2-0 win in Finland. With England having taken a tumble (8th, down 4), Germany (3rd, unchanged) now sit directly above top-ranked South American team Uruguay (4th, up 1), who followed up July’s Copa América triumph with a 3-2 friendly win in Ukraine.

Qualifying matches for the FIFA World Cup™ and continental championships accounted for almost two-thirds of the 170 “A” international matches played last month and led to considerable movement throughout the ranking. By and large, the highest climbers of the month won one or more of their FIFA World Cup™ or continental qualifying matches. Bosnia-Herzegovina climbed 17 places to 22nd after home-and-away EURO qualifying victories over Belarus, while Hungary soared 18 places to 27th by cementing their impressive victory at home to Sweden (2-1) with a 2-0 triumph in Moldova.

September was also a memorable month for the previously unsung Armenia, who jumped a meteoric 27 places to 44th after thumping qualifi cation victories away from home over Andorra (3-0) and Slovakia (4-0).

Outside the top 50, meanwhile, no fewer than six teams – Estonia (58th, up 28), Sierra Leone (68th, up 24), Wales (90th, up 27), Togo (95th, up 26), Namibia (119th, up 24) and Nicaragua (155th, up 24) – leaped more than

20 places. In addition, Papua New Guinea re-entered the ranking in 187th place.

As a result of the major shake-up, several teams are now in their best-ever positions since the world ranking was introduced, namely Uruguay (4th, up 1), Bosnia-Herzegovina (22nd, up 17), Hungary (27th, up 18), Armenia (44th, up 27), Estonia (58th, up 28) and Belize (133rd, up 15).

The next FIFA/Coca-Cola Ranking will be published on 19 October 2011.

Rank Team +/- Ranks Aug.–

Sept. 11

Points +/- Points

1 Spain 1 1605 42

2 Netherlands -1 1571 -25

3 Germany 0 1290 -40

4 Uruguay 1 1184 10

5 Portugal 3 1158 98

6 Italy 1 1142 32

7 Brazil -1 1132 -24

8 England -4 1089 -88

9 Croatia 1 1057 48

10 Argentina -1 1024 7

11 Greece 3 1000 63

12 France 3 956 38

13 Russia 0 954 14

14 Chile -3 932 -28

15 Japan 0 924 6

16 Côte d’Ivoire -1 910 -8

17 Denmark 4 893 52

18 Switzerland 12 886 129

19 Australia 3 882 45

20 Mexico 0 866 2

21 Serbia 8 855 71

22 Bosnia-Herzegovina 17 839 183

23 Norway -11 835 -108

24 Paraguay 1 825 18


Sept. 11

Points +/- Points

25 Sweden -7 792 -97

26 Montenegro -7 777 -98

27 Hungary 18 754 141

Turkey -3 754 -57

29 Korea Republic 4 749 4

Republic of Ireland 2 749 -5

31 USA -3 741 -50

32 Colombia 3 738 8

33 Slovenia -10 732 -84

34 Belgium 3 729 54

35 Peru -9 724 -82

36 Egypt -2 713 -26

37 Ghana -1 700 -26

38 Israel -6 677 -69

39 Slovakia -13 662 -144

40 Czech Republic 2 656 21

41 Burkina Faso -1 651 5

42 Senegal 7 614 23

43 Nigeria -5 613 -46

44 Armenia 27 610 154

45 Jamaica -2 606 -17

46 Algeria 0 605 -7

47 Venezuela -3 598 -17

48 Cameroon 4 596 14


Sept. 11

Points +/- Points

49 Romania 5 584 26

50 Iran 3 576 17

51 South Africa -4 574 -28

52 Scotland 3 572 18

53 Honduras -3 564 -25

Panama 9 564 40

55 Bulgaria -4 558 -28

56 Belarus -15 554 -91

57 Costa Rica 3 549 19

58 Estonia 28 537 163

59 Morocco 2 534 5

60 Ukraine -12 531 -67

61 Tunisia -4 526 -20

62 Libya 2 519 15

Mali 19 519 111

64 Georgia -1 499 -23

65 Poland 0 496 -2

66 Zimbabwe 8 490 56

67 Gabon 0 489 7

68 Sierra Leone 24 488 140

69 Ecuador -3 481 -10

70 Northern Ireland -11 477 -68

71 Albania -14 474 -72

72 Finland 7 471 55

Spain’s players celebrate their third goal against Liechtenstein.

61 FIFA WORLD I SUMMARY FIFA WORLD I SUMMARY

Note: Teams inactive for more than four years do not appear in the table.


Sept. 11

Points +/- Points

73 China PR -4 469 5

74 Latvia 10 460 72

75 Lithuania -19 459 -93

76 Guinea -7 447 -17

77 Austria -9 442 -30

78 Malawi -5 439 3

79 Uzbekistan 3 421 20

80 Trinidad and Tobago 11 414 59

81 Bolivia 4 412 32

82 Uganda -2 411 0

83 Zambia -7 409 -18

84 Angola 12 407 69

85 Jordan 7 406 58

86 Cyprus -10 398 -29

87 Canada 15 395 76

88 El Salvador -13 390 -41

89 New Zealand 5 377 31

90 Wales 27 374 123

91 Cape Verde Islands -19 372 -72

92 Benin -9 370 -24

93 Niger 11 369 60

94 FYR Macedonia -4 366 8

95 Botswana -17 364 -60

Togo 26 364 122

97 Qatar -9 360 -4

98 Azerbaijan 14 359 87

Saudi Arabia -11 359 -13

100 Kuwait -5 352 11

101 Syria -4 347 10

102 Antigua and Barbuda 4 345 37

103 Sudan -5 338 9

104 Bahrain -3 335 10

105 Cuba -6 332 5

106 Oman -3 319 7

107 Iceland 17 316 84

108 Haiti 8 305 46

109 Iraq 0 303 10

110 Guatemala 3 302 41

111 Central African Republic -7 296 -13

112 United Arab Emirates -4 287 -12

113 Suriname -3 286 1

114 Luxembourg 14 284 73

115 Mozambique -16 280 -47

116 Guyana -2 278 18

117 Thailand 3 274 28

118 Liechtenstein 1 270 23

119 Namibia 24 269 100

120 Grenada -2 265 16


Sept. 11

Points +/- Points

121 Korea DPR -7 258 -2

122 Moldova -34 255 -109

123 St. Kitts and Nevis -1 252 13

124 Gambia -17 248 -58

125 Faroe Islands -14 244 -29

126 Tanzania -1 240 11

127 Liberia -4 230 -8

128 Congo DR -1 225 3

129 Vietnam 0 209 0

130 Kenya 3 200 2

131 Kazakhstan -5 198 -29

132 Ethiopia 8 196 15

133 Belize 15 195 49

134 Nepal 2 193 0

135 Dominican Republic -2 189 -9

136 Singapore -7 188 -21

137 Yemen -4 185 -13

138 Bangladesh 1 183 1

139 Indonesia -8 182 -25

140 Burundi 5 179 15

Turkmenistan 2 179 0

142 Rwanda -4 178 -14

143 Congo -11 177 -24

144 Puerto Rico 0 173 6

145 Lebanon 15 163 57

146 Fiji -5 158 -22

Malaysia 0 158 0

148 Dominica -12 154 -39

149 Barbados -2 148 -8

150 US Virgin Islands -1 144 0

151 Bahamas 0 141 0

Equatorial Guinea 3 141 10

153 Malta 14 138 36

154 New Caledonia 11 128 24

155 Hong Kong -1 124 -7

Nicaragua 24 124 49

157 Tajikistan -4 117 -15

158 Madagascar -6 115 -24

St. Vincent and the Grenadines 0 115 3

160 Chad -6 110 -21

161 Palestine -4 108 -9

162 Guinea-Bissau -12 106 -36

India -4 106 -6

Mongolia -2 106 0

165 Maldives -3 105 0

Philippines -3 105 0

167 Lesotho 18 104 64

168 Myanmar 0 98 -1


Sept. 11

Points +/- Points

169 Swaziland 3 95 5

170 Aruba 0 92 0

Pakistan 0 92 0

172 Chinese Taipei -3 89 -8

173 Vanuatu -11 88 -17

174 Cambodia 2 84 1

Cayman Islands -2 84 -6

176 Sri Lanka -2 83 -3

177 Seychelles -2 82 -3

178 Curacao -12 79 -24

179 Comoros 3 75 7

Kyrgyzstan -2 75 -4

Solomon Islands -2 75 -4

182 Laos -2 71 0

183 Afghanistan -2 70 0

184 Tahiti -1 68 11

185 St. Lucia -1 46 -8

186 Guam 11 36 26

187 Papua New Guinea 34 34

188 Mauritius 0 33 -2

189 Bermuda -4 30 -10

190 Eritrea -1 28 -1

191 British Virgin Islands -4 25 -13

Macau 1 25 0

193 Mauritania -3 23 -4

Somalia 0 23 0

195 Turks and Caicos Islands 0 13 0

196 Djibouti 0 12 0

197 Cook Islands 0 10 0

198 Anguilla 2 9 2

198 Brunei Darussalam 1 9 0

200 Bhutan 1 6 0

201 Timor-Leste 1 3 0

Tonga -7 3 -12

203 American Samoa 0 0 0

Andorra 0 0 0

Montserrat 0 0 0

Samoa -12 0 -26

San Marino 0 0 0

WHAT COUNTS TOWARDS THE RANKING?The results of all matches at “A” international level are taken into account by the world ranking. These matches include:• FIFA World Cup™ fi nal competition matches• FIFA World Cup™ qualifying competition matches• Continental championship fi nal competition matches• Continental championship qualifying competition matches• Friendly matches

Ranking points are calculated on the basis of the following criteria:• Points for a win, draw or defeat• Type of competition (multiplication factor)• Strength of opponents (multiplication factor)• Strength of confederation in question (multiplication factor)

To ensure that the FIFA / Coca-Cola World Ranking refl ects the reality of world football,

the results a team has recorded in the previous 12 months are the most important. Results from previous years are also taken into account, but their value decreases on an annual basis until four years after the match was played (100% of ranking points for matches in last 12 months, 50% for matches played 12-24 months previously, 30% for 24-36 months and 20% for 36-48 months) at which point the result no longer has any impact on the ranking.


NEW LOW FOR NORWAYAS USA STAY TOP

FIFA Women’s World Cup™ runners-up the USA have held on to top spot in the latest edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking, but there was disappointment for former tournament winners Norway, as they slipped to their lowest-ever placing.

The Norwegians surrendered their proud record of having reached at least the quarter-fi nals of every FIFA Women’s World Cup when they suffered an unexpected group-stage exit at this year’s edition in Germany. There was further misery in September, however, when the 1995 world champions kicked off their latest qualifying campaign for the UEFA Women’s EURO 2013 with a 3-1 defeat away to Iceland. As a result, the Grasshoppers have slipped two places to 12th in the ranking – their lowest position since the standings were introduced in 2003.

After missing out on qualifi cation for the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the fi rst time in their history last year, China PR are another former powerhouse of women’s football who are currently at their lowest ebb. September’s

failure to qualify for next year’s Olympic Summer Games has seen the Chinese fall two places to 17th in the latest standings.

Heading in the other direction are Korea DPR (8th, up 4), who recovered from their own disappointing showing in Germany to clinch one of the two Asian qualifying spots for London 2012. The North Koreans secured qualifi cation – along with world champions Japan – thanks to wins over Australia, Korea Republic and Thailand.

With the top seven teams in the ranking unchanged, the USA were able to maintain the number one position, although a 1-1 draw with their Canadian neighbours means that second-placed Germany are now just fi ve points behind Pia Sundhage’s side. Although still ranked fourth, Japan’s Olympic success has also seen them close the gap on third-placed Brazil.

The qualifi cation matches for London 2012 and for EURO 2013 accounted for around a third of the 93 matches taken into account in the latest edition of the ranking. However,

Rank Team +/- RanksMarch–

July

Rankingend of

2010

PointsJuly

2011

+/- PointsMarch–

July

1 USA 0 1 2151 -11

2 Germany 0 2 2146 0

3 Brazil 0 3 2121 0

4 Japan 0 5 2106 5

5 Sweden 0 4 2085 0

6 England 0 10 1985 -12

7 France 0 8 1982 1

8 Korea DPR 4 6 1967 40

9 Canada -1 9 1964 11

10 Australia -1 12 1956 10

11 Italy 0 11 1930 -4

12 Norway -2 7 1928 -12

13 Netherlands 0 15 1897 9

14 Denmark -1 14 1888 0

15 Iceland 2 17 1860 12

16 Korea Republic 0 18 1845 -6

17 China PR -2 13 1831 -39

18 Spain 0 19 1819 3

19 Finland 0 16 1813 2

20 Russia 0 20 1802 -7

21 Ukraine 0 21 1801 2

22 Mexico 0 22 1792 0

23 Scotland 0 24 1772 2

24 New Zealand 0 23 1752 0

25 Switzerland 1 26 1730 1

26 Czech Republic -1 25 1729 -10


July

Rankingend of

2010

PointsJuly

2011

+/- PointsMarch–

July

27 Nigeria 0 27 1710 -4

28 Republic of Ireland 3 29 1648 6

29 Poland 0 30 1645 0

Colombia 0 32 1645 0

31 Vietnam 1 34 1640 0

32 Thailand -4 33 1636 -26

33 Belgium 2 35 1620 13

34 Hungary -1 31 1615 -17

35 Argentina -1 28 1613 -3

36 Romania 1 37 1590 18

37 Portugal -1 39 1577 4

38 Uzbekistan 2 48 1565 0

Belarus 1 38 1565 -1

40 Austria -2 39 1563 -7

41 Chinese Taipei 0 36 1556 0

42 Slovakia 1 42 1551 23

43 Serbia 2 45 1537 12

44 Chile 0 46 1533 7

Costa Rica -2 41 1533 0

46 Myanmar 0 44 1517 0

47 Wales 0 47 1509 -6

48 Trinidad and Tobago 0 43 1502 0

49 Bulgaria 0 49 1493 0

50 Ecuador 0 51 1484 0

51 Ghana 0 50 1457 -5

52 Peru 0 54 1450 0


July

Rankingend of

2010

PointsJuly

2011

+/- PointsMarch–

July

53 Papua New Guinea 0 55 1447 1

54 India 0 56 1438 5

55 Equatorial Guinea 0 62 1431 0

56 Paraguay 0 58 1430 0

57 Greece 0 57 1427 0

58 Iran 0 53 1426 0

59 Jordan 0 52 1417 0

60 Israel 0 61 1397 -1

61 Haiti 0 63 1396 0

62 Croatia 3 65 1390 1

63 Slovenia -1 60 1389 -5

64 Northern Ireland 0 64 1385 -6

65 Turkey 1 66 1383 -5

66 Cameroon 2 72 1380 23

67 South Africa -4 59 1366 -26

68 Uruguay 2 71 1344 -4

69 Hong Kong 2 67 1342 0

70 Azerbaijan 2 74 1341 0

71 Morocco 2 75 1340 0

Tonga -4 68 1340 -18

73 Venezuela 1 75 1338 0

74 Tunisia 2 82 1335 0

75 Côte d’Ivoire 2 77 1331 0

Bahrain 0 72 1331 -5

77 Estonia 0 79 1330 -1

78 Algeria 2 80 1320 0

further down the standings, Cameroon (66th, up 2) have risen to become the fourth-highest African team thanks to their triumph over Ghana (51st, unchanged) at the All-Africa Games.

The next FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking will be published on 23 December 2011.

Norway’s disappointing FIFA Women’s World Cup performance has been followed up by a poor start to their latest European qualifying campaign.



July

Rankingend of

2010

PointsJuly

2011

+/- PointsMarch–

July

79 Kazakhstan 0 78 1319 -7

80 Faroe Islands 1 69 1318 0

81 Fiji 1 85 1306 6

82 Guam 82 1300 -8

Lithuania 0 80 1300 0

84 Egypt 0 84 1299 0

85 Senegal 0 86 1290 0

86 Guatemala 0 87 1288 0

87 Dominican Republic 0 93 1256 0

Guyana 0 89 1256 0

89 Tahiti 2 96 1238 9

90 Bolivia -1 92 1236 0

Bosnia-Herzegovina 0 95 1236 3

92 Latvia 0 94 1220 0

93 Mali 0 91 1215 0

94 Cuba 1 102 1200 0

95 Palestine 1 99 1197 0

96 Solomon Islands -2 98 1195 -7

97 Luxembourg 0 97 1193 0

98 New Caledonia 1188 270

99 Honduras -1 101 1175 0

100 Cook Islands 0 104 1170 10

101 Zimbabwe -2 103 1167 -7

102 Suriname -1 100 1159 0

103 El Salvador -1 106 1148 0

104 Vanuatu -1 107 1144 0

105 Ethiopia 1 115 1136 7

106 Nicaragua -2 110 1135 0

107 Angola -2 105 1134 0

108 Samoa 1124 -1

109 Congo DR -2 108 1113 0

110 Puerto Rico -2 112 1108 0

111 Malta -1 111 1106 0

112 Armenia -3 113 1104 -3


July

Rankingend of

2010

PointsJuly

2011

+/- PointsMarch–

July

113 Nepal -2 116 1080 0

114 American Samoa 1075 -14

115 Guinea -3 114 1073 0

116 Georgia -3 117 1071 0

117 Namibia -3 118 1051 0

118 FYR Macedonia -3 119 1050 0

119 Bangladesh -2 992 0

120 Sri Lanka -2 965 0

121 Maldives -2 121 954 0

122 Zambia -2 122 952 0

123 Bermuda -2 950 0

124 Lebanon 944 -10

125 Pakistan -3 934 0

126 Tanzania -2 124 915 14

127 Dominica -4 123 908 0

128 Mozambique -3 875 -1

129 Malawi -3 833 0

130 Belize -3 125 814 0

131 Antigua and Barbuda -3 126 756 0

132 Botswana -3 127 703 0

United Arab Emirates ** 1729 0

Panama ** 1379 0

Indonesia ** 69 1351 0

Jamaica ** 1339 0

Laos ** 87 1288 0

Philippines ** 1267 0

Malaysia ** 90 1252 0

Congo ** 1238 0

Singapore ** 1210 0

Benin ** 1187 0

Moldova ** 1177 0

Kyrgyzstan ** 108 1143 0

Bahamas ** 1111 0

Cyprus ** 1023 0


July

Rankingend of

2010

PointsJuly

2011

+/- PointsMarch–

July

St. Vincent/Grenadines ** 120 1008 0

Burkina Faso ** 1003 0

Guinea-Bissau ** 927 0

US Virgin Islands ** 885 0

Kenya ** 879 0

British Virgin Islands ** 867 0

Swaziland ** 863 0

Cayman Islands ** 847 0

Curaçao ** 831 0

Comoros ** 534 0

Barbados * 1173 0

Sierra Leone * 1132 0

St. Lucia * 1061 0

Eritrea * 1060 0

Gabon * 1031 0

Grenada * 1029 0

Syria * 998 0

Iraq * 975 0

St. Kitts and Nevis * 974 0

Turks and Caicos Islands * 963 0

Bhutan * 889 0

Liberia * 877 0

Qatar * 873 0

Lesotho * 858 -116

Aruba * 803 0

Afghanistan * 750 0

FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD RANKING – KEY CRITERIA

• Result of the match• Home v. away, or neutral ground• Importance of the match• Difference between the

teams in WWR

The FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking was fi rst published in July 2003 to rate some 150 FIFA member associations on the basis of several factors including victories, home advantage, the strength of the

opposition and the importance of matches. The ranking is published four times a year. According to FIFA’s Big Count survey in 2006, 26 million women and girls around the world currently play football.

ELECTIONS The following member associations have elected or re-elected presidents since the last issue of FIFA World:

MAURITANIA: Ahmed Merhba OULD ABDERRAHMANEST. LUCIA: Lydon COOPERNEW CALEDONIA: Edmond BOWENGUINEA: Salifou CAMARACOSTA RICA: Eduardo LI (re-elected)

FIFA CALENDAR OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2011

7-11 October Fixed dates for international competition matches17-21 October FIFA committees meeting week, Zurich20-21 October FIFA Executive Committee meeting, Zurich11-15 November Fixed dates for international competition matches

8-18 December FIFA Club World Cup Japan 201113-16 December FIFA committees meeting week, Tokyo16-17 December FIFA Executive Committee meeting, Tokyo

* team provisionally listed in ranking** team inactive for more than 18 months and therefore not ranked


FIFA ARCHIVELISBON30 JUNE 1991


Stuck in the middle: Portugal and Brazil prepare for the penalty shoot-out in the fi nal of the FIFA U-20 World Cup Portugal 1991.

The hard-fought fi nal between Brazil and Portugal at this year’s FIFA U-20 World Cup stirred memories of a similarly tense encounter between the two countries at the same stage of the same competition two decades ago. This m onth’s photo from the FIFA archive captures the penalty shoot-out between the Brazilians and their Portuguese hosts at the climax of the 1991 edition. The tension in Lisbon’s Estadio da Luz following 120 minutes of goalless action can almost be felt even today, as we see the players focusing on the fi rst kick. Together with the 127,000-strong crowd, they seem to hold their breath and channel their energy towards either the penalty-taker’s foot or the hands of the goalkeeper.

It is interesting to see how both teams approached the situation. On the right in the picture are the Brazilians, whose unity and determination seems to be refl ected in their orderly line-up. Their Portuguese rivals remain seated, perhaps to keep themselves

grounded before possible victory, or possibly just because they are more tired than their opponents. In the middle stands the assistant referee, whose fl ag is also aimed at the centre of everyone’s attention: the penalty spot.

In the end, hosts Portugal came out on top, converting all four of their kicks, while the Brazilians missed two. Portugal’s golden generation, including João Pinto, Rui Costa and Luis Figo, with coach Carlos Queiroz at the helm, had won the FIFA U-20 World Cup for a second time and were set to go on to even greater things.

Twenty years later, as we now know, Brazil were to avenge their Lisbon defeat with an extra-time victory over the Portuguese in Bogotá. We will have to wait until the FIFA World Cup™ in Brazil in 2014 to see whether Brazil or Portugal has produced another batch of future stars ready to take their crowd-wowing skills from Colombia to the sport’s biggest stage.

66

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FIFA WORLD I OCTOBER 2011

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COMING UPIn the November/December issue of FIFA World

INCREASING TRANSPARENCYFIFA PRESIDENT SETS OUT NEXT STEPS

BATTLE OF THE BESTFIFA CLUB WORLD CUP RETURNS TO JAPAN

ELECTRONIC ROOTSGRASSROOTS PROGRAMME GOES ONLINE

Publication date:15 November 2011

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