The FIFA Weekly Issue #13

ISSUE 13, 17 JANUARY 2014

ENGLISH EDITION

Fédération Internationale de Football Association – Since 1904

BLATTER BOYCOTTS SEND THE WRONG MESSAGE

HITZFELD ONE LAST CAREER HIGHLIGHT

SEEDORF NEW HOPE FOR MILAN

Cristiano Ronaldo

What next?

W W W.FIFA.COM/ THEWEEKLY

CONTENTS

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Ronaldo and the Ballon d’Or Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, a goal machine of quite incredible consistency, revealed a very human face on the stage of the Zurich Kongresshaus. The Ballon d’Or succeeded in doing what recent opponents could only dream of doing: it robbed him of his composure, and moved him to tears. But what happens next?

A cool personality shows signs of thawing.

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The best number 10s Pele, Maradona or Baggio? In our Top 11, we run the rule over the best Number 10s in the history of the game.

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Sepp Blatter: “Boycotts are wrong” The Olympic Games in Sochi are the subject of heated debate away from the fields of competition.

Several politicians are calling for a boycott, but FIFA President Blatter believes this would send the wrong message.

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The unassuming Englishman England have been the victims of their own high expectations at previous World Cups. Now the 1966 winners are playing down their chances, none more so than national coach Roy Hodgson.

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North and Central America 35 members www.concacaf.com

South America 10 members www.conmebol.com

Paul Gascoigne Misadventures in music

C ontrasts in football management In Italy this week, AC Milan reacted to their recent slump by appointing Clarence Seedorf as coach.

Meanwhile in England, one club continues to buck the trend of managerial changes; Arsenal have now kept faith in Arsene Wenger for 17 years.

The interview: Ottmar Hitzfeld He won the Champions League twice and the German Championship seven times, making him the most successful coach in Bundesliga history. In our interview, Ottmar Hitzfeld revisits the past and looks to the future.

A crime against music Not all footballers are born to sing, and this is certainly true of English footballing legend Paul Gascoigne. Nevertheless, “Gazza” gave the music business his best shot.

Roy Hodgson England lowers its expectations

Referees CONCACAF

Referees CONMEBOL

Joel Antonio Aguilar Chicas (SLV) Mark W Geiger (USA) Marc Antonio Rodriguez Moreno (MEX)

Enrique Roberto Osses Zencovich (CHI) Nestor Fabian Pitana (ARG) Wilmar Alexander Roldan Perez (COL) Sandro Meira Ricci (BRA) Carlos Alfredo Vera Rodriguez (ECU)

F rom defender to finance expert A nine-month injury layoff forced Tottenham defender Ramon Vega to consider life after football. A few years later, the retired Swiss centre-back began a dream career as a fund manager.

T H E F I FA W E E K LY

THIS WEEK IN THE WORLD OF FOOTBALL

Europe 53 members www.uefa.com

Africa 54 members www.cafonline.com

Asia 46 members www.the-afc.com

Oceania 11 members www.oceaniafootball.com

Arsene Wenger Undisputed Arsenal manager for 17 years Ramon Vega How a fractured ankle changed his life ISSUE 13, 17 JANUARY 2014

ENGLISH EDITION

Fédération Internationale de Football Association – Since 1904

BLATTER BOYCOTTS SEND THE WRONG MESSAGE

HITZFELD ONE LAST CAREER HIGHLIGHT

SEEDORF NEW HOPE FOR MILAN

Cristiano Ronaldo

What next?

Sepp Blatter Against the boycott of sporting events

Ottmar Hitzfeld The big interview

W W W.FIFA.COM/ THEWEEKLY

This week On Monday, Cristiano Ronaldo was crowned the world’s best footballer.

Can he write the next chapter with Portugal at the World Cup in Brazil?

On the cover: Ronaldo at the award ceremony in Zurich.

Cover: Alexander Hassenstein Inhalt: Getty Images

Clarence Seedorf A new coaching career in Milan

Referees UEFA

Referees CAF

Referees AFC

Referee OFC

Felix Brych (GER) Cüneyt Cakir (TUR) Jonas Eriksson (SWE) Bjorn Kuipers (NED) Milorad Mazic (SRB) Pedro Oliveira Aleves Garcia (POR) Nicola Rizzoli (ITA) Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP) Howard Melton Webb (ENG) Svein Oddvar Moen (NOR)

Noumandiez Desire Doue (CIV) Bakary Papa Gassama (GAM) Djamel Haimoudi (ALG)

Ravshan Irmatov (UZB) Yuichi Nishimura (JPN) Nawaf Abdulla Ghayyath Shukralla (BHR) Benjamin Jon Williams (AUS)

Peter O’Leary (NZL)

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UNCOVERED

Priceless!

Like Christmas come early Ronaldo’s son, Cristiano Jr., gazes at his father’s new trophy.

Thomas Renggli

Alexander Hassenstein

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ll that glitters is not gold, or so they say.

The FIFA Ballon d’Or is fashioned from a gold-plated copper alloy, but its real value cannot truly be measured in gold.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s reaction last Monday gave the world a fair indication of the award’s true emotional significance even to a player earning €17 million at his club, plus another €6 million from his boot supplier alone.

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, a goal machine of quite incredible consistency on the field of play, revealed a very human face on the stage at Zurich Kongresshaus.

A glittering but mute object succeeded in doing what opponents over the last few months could only dream of doing. It robbed him of his poise and threw him off balance. His reaction demonstrated the true value of the Ballon d’Or. It is priceless.

The recent history of the award helps to explain the sublimely gifted Portugal star’s emotional outburst. He has been overshadowed by Lionel Messi for the last four years, and came to Zurich on three occasions only

to finish as the runner up, a consolation prize offering scant consolation.

Defeated duo Ribery and Messi accepted the jury’s verdict on Monday with quiet composure, but certain elements in the media reacted with shock and disbelief. Ribery’s failure to win had the German tabloids ­ screaming conspiracy, while Messi was ­pronounced a martyr in Catalonia and Argentina. Plenty of experts voiced their grumbles and criticism, conveniently ignoring the fact that the winner of the Ballon d’Or is elected by an independent jury.

The heated debate over the destination of the most important individual accolade in football underlines the prestige and the economic allure of the Ballon d’Or. The ceremony has never attracted greater media attention, as 180 countries tuned in live last Monday.

Twitter and Facebook records were broken before, during and after the gala show.

The Ballon d’Or has everyone reaching for the superlatives. As of Monday Real Madrid can rightly claim to have the best player in the world in their ranks at the expense of arch-rivals Barcelona. And when it comes to the next round of contract talks, Ronaldo can T H E F I FA W E E K LY

point to the fact he is officially the world ­number one, which really ought to be worth another million or two. But whether the Portuguese star is indisputably the best ­ ­player in the world is something he will have to prove at the World Cup in Brazil five months from now. Å

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CRISTIANO RONALDO

RECOGNITION Cristiano Ronaldo is the best, and the best man won. The Portugal superstar was overcome with emotion at the FIFA Ballon d’Or. Has he mellowed or even gone soft?

Quite the opposite, says Perikles Monioudis in a personal appraisal.

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Fabrice Cottrini / AFP

CRISTIANO RONALDO

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CRISTIANO RONALDO

Quick as lightning Ronaldo’s explosive sprinting is the stuff of legend.

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onaldo has claimed the Ballon d’Or and with it the mantle of best player of last year. And rightly so, as he was elected by the captains and coaches of the world’s national teams plus respected sports writers. They form a jury whose decision is not only to be respected, but also ­demands respect.

The knowledge of being ­simply the best caused Ronaldo to break into tears of emotion and joy in front of the watching world at the ceremony on­ 13 January in Zurich. The sacrifice had paid off, the extra workouts in his private weights room, the life bounded by the parentheses of total fitness and perfection. Add to that his reputation as a “footballing machine” as he is known to a host of respectful and awestruck commentators. But many in the audience and watching on TV at home will have rubbed their eyes in astonishment at Ronaldo’s tears. The machine, it seems, has feelings.

This razor-sharp, calculating attacking maestro and ruthless goalscorer, who appears at best aloof during matches and who, for all his silky smooth athleticism and supple movement often comes across as downright mean with his expressions and gestures, gave the world a glimpse of his emotions and the private 8

man within. Many observers didn’t think it possible. Is this a new Cristiano Ronaldo? Has the best player in the world emerged from his remote fastness and shown his critics he is a reformed giant? Is Ronaldo tamed? Is he no longer a divisive figure?

No. Those hoping this might be the case will end up being disappointed. Ronaldo is a thoroughbred. His fighting spirit should be in the textbooks, not just in football but in every sporting discipline. We should count ourselves lucky to be witnessing his glorious artistry. It will go down in history as individual skill taken to perfection, and also as his ­personal statement. As with every genius the doer and the deeds are inseparable: Ronaldo plays like Ronaldo; not like Pele, not like ­Eusebio, but like Ronaldo. And no-one else

plays like him. A spot of weeping from the freshly-crowned best player in the world changes none of that.

A new facet Despite this, something did change on that ­memorable evening in Zurich just a week ago.

Ronaldo did not lose his composure or his countenance. But he may have revealed a new facet to his character. The fact that his son Cristiano Jr became part of the ceremonial ­proceedings and embraced his father, understandably an often absent figure and omnipresent via the media, is not only wonderful and human but also only possible in the first place due to ­Ronaldo bringing the young man with him. He took him to the Ballon d’Or. Frequently enough he’s not even able to take his son with him.

“As with every genius the doer and the deeds are inseparable: Ronaldo plays like Ronaldo; not like Pele, not like Eusebio, but like Ronaldo.”

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CRISTIANO RONALDO

From the family album Cristiano Ronaldo as a youth player with Andorinha.

Family affair Ronaldo’s mother Dolores with the FIFA Ballon d’Or and daughters Elma (left) and Catia.

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Getty Images, Keystone

CRISTIANO RONALDO

Head and shoulders above the rest Ronaldo rises in a Cup meeting with Osasuna on 9 January 2014.

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CRISTIANO RONALDO

Name: Cristiano Ronaldo Date and place of birth: 5 February 1985, Funchal, Madeira (POR) Playing career: Andorinha (1993 to 1995), Nacional Funchal (1995 to 1997), Sporting Lisbon (1997 to 2003), Manchester United (2003 to 2009), Real Madrid (since 2009) International appearances: 109 (47 goals) Major honours: English Championship (2007, 2008, 2009), Spanish Championship (2012), Champions League (2008), FIFA Ballon d’Or (2008, 2013)

His mother Maria Dolores, who helps bring the lad up, and his sisters Liliana Catia, known in Portugal as the singer Ronalda, and Elma were also in attendance, and also shed tears.

They understand the innermost thoughts of this model professional, and also what he would have felt had the prize gone yet again to Lionel Messi and not to their son and brother.

Ronaldo’s mother was shimmering with ­relief after the ceremony, accepting congratulations and requesting no fewer than five copies of The FIFA Weekly special edition, printed right there on the spot and featuring her ­emotional son with the Ballon d’Or. Liliana Catia asked for another five copies “to take home to Portugal”. Ronaldo himself briefly studied the cover image before giving away his copy. We would surely all regard crying in front of a global audience as an embarrassment.

Father and son Ronaldo was 20, firmly under the wing of stentorian manager Sir Alex Ferguson and already an established star with Manchester United, when he lost his father in 2005.

However much time and attention he did ­ receive from his father, who struggled with alcohol, he had to share with his three older siblings. Perhaps the only thing he truly had for himself was the name reportedly given him by his father in honour of US President

Ronald Reagan, an actor in his younger years, chiefly in Westerns. The name speaks v ­ olumes about the father’s motivation. A man who was arguably too weak to cope with everyday life, perhaps wanted to see strength, substance and courage in his son. How is a young boy to cope with that?

He would overdo the strength, substance and courage. Impetuously obedient, he would act like a man before his time – or like a “man” ought to act. One widely-accepted macho t­ heory is based on the assumption that in mainly L ­ atin (American) communities real masculinity ­prohibits men worrying too much about a son, the household and all that, leaving the business of upbringing to the women in the family ­instead. But how can a boy understand what it is to be a man if he has none to emulate?

In terms of his physical posture Ronaldo typically adopts a legs-apart cowboy stance.

It’s possibly nothing more than a basic ­expression of masculinity, a caricature of the Wild West. But some people think it has a completely different meaning: it is nothing more or less than a scientifically precise physical posture for free kicks. Ronaldo ­ leaves nothing to chance. His runs, movement and shooting technique are measured with high-precision instruments and he learns from the results. No player invests similar amounts of time and technical effort when it T H E F I FA W E E K LY

comes to ongoing improvement. Fundamentally, Ronaldo subordinates everything to fulfilling his ambitions. And he subordinates his own interests to football. He’s not alone; many others do the same thing, but without ever coming close to being the best.

So if Ronaldo ultimately adopts the cowboy stance, and we can’t honestly say it contradicts reality or in fact doesn’t represent him at all, let’s allow him this indulgence because he’s simply the best. Maybe he’s the best we’ll ever see. So let’s jump up on stage like kids to be with him. Å

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Alexander Hassenstein / Getty Images

CRISTIANO RONALDO

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CRISTIANO RONALDO

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The best footballer of 2035

was born today.

But where?

The FIFA Ballon d’Or is the highest accolade any footballer can hope to receive, a prize to which players all over the world aspire.

FIFA takes great pride in being able to offer guidance to thousands of young players around the world through its grassroots programmes.

FIFA promotes football skills, equality and fair play and helps to develop the football stars of tomorrow. www.FIFA.com

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W E E K LY T O P 11

The most famous no.10s of all time

Maradona’s magic 10 Thomas Renggli

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hings were much better in the good old days, or so the saying goes. Football matches certainly boasted a clearer organisation, symbolised above all by a systematic use of numbering that linked each number with a specific position in a 3-2-5 formation: 1 goalkeeper, 2 right fullback, 3 left fullback, 5 centre back or sweeper, 4 and 6 the two halfbacks, 7 outside right, 8 inside right, 9 centre forward, 10 inside left, 11 outside left. Numbers 12, 13 and 14 were allocated to the reserves on the bench.

The numbers that now adorn shirts around the world were a product of the English school of thought and first appeared on football kits in the 1933 FA Cup when Everton faced Manchester City, the Liverpudlians wearing numbers 1 to 11 and the Mancunians numbers 12 to 22. Six year later English clubs agreed on the systematic use of the numbers 1 to 11 for each team.

But the arrival of Johan Cruyff soon put an end to that, the Dutch genius making his debut for Ajax as a 17-year-old in 1964 with the number 14 on his shirt. The number, traditionally worn by a reserve, remained his trademark throughout his career and was worn by Cruyff at Ajax, Barcelona, for the Dutch national team and even in his guest appearance in the American soccer league. Jurgen Klinsmann was also of a sentimental disposition, the Germany striker making his debut for the national team in the number 18 shirt and keeping it for the rest of his playing days.

Despite a willingness to tolerate such indulgences, FIFA recommends the consecutive use of numbers 1 to 11. In fact, systematic shirt numbering ranging from 1 to 23 has been compulsory at international tournaments since 2008, even for the more superstitious players.

In this respect, football differs from other sports such as Formula 1, where the number 13 has not been allocated since 1976.

Certain nations have not always been overly imaginative when it comes to shirt numbers, the Argentinians numbering their players in alphabetical order at the 1982 World Cup in Spain. But Diego Armando Maradona’s fierce resistance to the number 12 shirt forced the hand of coach Cesar Luis Menotti, who granted the playmaker the number 10 shirt he so desired. The alphabetical allocation of squad numbers meant that the other Argentinian playmaker, Osvaldo Cesar Ardiles, took the number 1 shirt, with goalkeeper Ubaldo Matildo Fillol wearing the number 7 jersey between the sticks.

The preferential treatment received by Maradona in Spain has its roots in Brazil, where an extraordinary talent by the name of Edson Arantes do Nascimento, nicknamed Pele, made his mark in the number 10 jersey.

Despite beginning his career with an 8 on his shirt, Santos soon granted Pele the number 10 due to its status as the highest grade in the Brazilian school system. Regardless of the school system in place, the number 10 has now acquired a legendary status around the world.

The best mark in Switzerland might be a 6, in Germany a 1 and in England an A, but on the football field everyone wants to be a 10. Å

The weekly column by our staff writers T H E F I FA W E E K LY

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Pele. The three-time World Cup winner and World Player of the Century is ­a lmost the quintessential number 10.

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Diego Maradona. The Argentinian had magic in his boots and also scored with the ’Hand of God.’

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Zinedine Zidane. With his sensational style of play, he led the French national team to the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship.

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Ferenc Puskas. The heart of the great Hungarian team, feared for his powerful, precise left foot strikes.

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Michel Platini. A legend in France, named by Juventus the best player to ever appear for i Bianconero.

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Roberto Rivelino. Worshipped in Brazil.

In 1970, he won the World Cup in Mexico with the Seleção.

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Lionel Messi. You can’t ignore the fourtime World Player of the Year. The Barcelona and Argentina no.10 thrills football fans.

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Lothar Matthaus. ‘Mister World Cup’ played at the finals five times. Germany’s most-capped player lifted the trophy at Italy 1990.

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Roberto Baggio. The ‘Divine Ponytail’ was one of the best attacking players of the 1990s. He made 452 appearances in Serie A, scoring 205 goals.

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Gheorge Hagi. The greatest player in Romanian football history. Aside from his time at Barcelona, he wore the number 10 at all his clubs.

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Mario Kempes. Top scorer and heart of the World Cup winning Argentina team of 1982. ‘El Toro’, the Bull, took the opposition by the horns.

Who was the best no.10 for you?

Send your opinion to: feedback-TheWeekly@fifa.org 15

T HE DEBAT E

Boycotts do not build bridges

The Olympic Games in Sochi have prompted debate about human rights violations and the discrimination of minority groups in Russia, but a boycott is highly unlikely to resolve the issues.

Alan Schweingruber Charles Cunningham Boycott was an unpleasant man, known in Ireland as a powerful, unscrupulous land agent with a reputation for exploiting people. At some point in 1880, his behaviour became too much for the farmers to bear. Together, they revolted against Boycott and stopped paying their rent. This uprising was met with admiration across the country, prompting many people to refuse to work with the embittered businessman. The railways even refused to continue transporting livestock for Boycott, who was “boycotted” – a term first coined by London’s Times newspaper – until he was forced to flee the country.

Today, boycotts often arise from desperate situations, whether in emergencies or to give ­someone a voice when they can see no other way of being heard. Major sporting events lend them16

selves perfectly to these acts of defiance, providing an opportunity for well-meaning ideologies and grievances to generate attention just when the world is looking on in anticipation of t hrilling, close-fought competition. The only ­ question is: are boycotts, and the threat of ­boycotts, truly effective? Surely the aim of sport is to build bridges instead of walls, or does such action succeed in generating awareness for its outraged protagonists?

“The 1980 boycott achieved nothing” There is something inherently futile about using sport as leverage. Put simply, this form of communication means nothing more than an initiator or action group trying to achieve something that countries and their governments have failed to do despite considerable effort. Even human rights organisations such as Amnesty International or Human Rights T H E F I FA W E E K LY

Watch often distance themselves from boycotts.

For example, the Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibet, spoke out in favour of the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008.

What is also interesting is how former ­politicians view boycotts with which they were personally involved. Helmut Schmidt, probably the greatest living German, was placed under pressure by the USA while Federal Chancellor of Germany during the Cold War. In 1980, the Hamburg native received a call from US President Jimmy Carter, and a short time later, Germany withdrew its participation from that summer’s Olympic Games in Moscow. Later, Schmidt said in an interview with Die Zeit that “we couldn’t afford a conflict with America, but the boycott achieved nothing. I would like to see international sport remaining as free from political influence as possible.” Å

The weekly debate.

Any thing you want to get off your chest? Which topics do you want to discuss? Send your suggestions to: feedback-TheWeekly@fifa.org.

Ekaterina Chesnokova / Ria Novosti / Keystone

Final push The last preparations are currently underway in the Russian city of Sochi ahead of the Winter Olympic Games, which begin on 7 February.

T HE DEBAT E

Those travelling to Sochi under the impression that all is well are mistaken. I’m sure the Olympic Games will be perfectly organised and present Russia in the best light, but that doesn’t change the fundamental problem of human rights abuse in Russia.

Brecht Vifhuisen, Utrecht (The Netherlands)

It doesn’t work like that. Boycotts never have the desired effect. Instead of staying away from the event, it would be more useful to express one’s views on site. People rarely take notice of a single person or team’s absence anyway. As soon as the Games get underway, all political discussions during the build-up are forgotten. That proves how pointless actions of this type are.

Farid Fathallah, Giza (Egypt)

Boycotts date from the Cold War, but I still consider them to be a suitable means of protest nowadays. Certain countries only alter their stance when put under pressure.

PRESIDENTIAL NOTE

both parties). Nothing will ever change if the West turns its back and politicians close their eyes to the situation.

Olga Zuewa, Kiev (Ukraine)

The American boycott of the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow was a storm in a teacup, as was the Soviet Union’s boycott of the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. The Soviet Union resolved its own issues nine years later.

Nils Olofsson, Gothenburg (Sweden)

“A storm in a teacup.”

Ana Letschow, Sofia (Bulgaria)

It’s clear that several future host nations of major sporting events do not comply with Western European ideals of human rights.

Many of these nations are still developing and emerging, both economically and socially.

People’s rights have to be fought for and developed over decades, as the Europeans did for centuries. This is a process that has to be accelerated in certain countries, so it remains important and appropriate to draw attention to the situation. That’s why a boycott by high-ranking politicians could be a small step towards an improvement of the human rights situation in these countries.

Fabio Lenzlinger, St. Gallen (Switzerland)

In my opinion, it doesn’t make sense to boycott major sporting events. Only dialogue and communication can effect change. The current situation in Ukraine is a good example: As was the case during the Soviet Union era, propaganda policies are being pursued (by

Powerlessness is never a nice feeling, especially if nobody is listening to you. In my opinion, there are certain controversial topics to which attention can only be drawn via a boycott. I’m thinking in particular about the situation in Tibet, which has been fighting Chinese oppression for decades. It’s perfectly understandable that the country was opposed to the awarding of the 2008 Olympic Games to Peking. The Tibetans have to take a stand on a regular basis.

Léna Müller, Frankfurt (Germany)

For me, a boycott is a political declaration of bankruptcy. Those who refuse to attend the Games aren’t contributing to a solution in any way. In Russia’s case in particular, it’s important for the West to pursue proactive policies with a view to changing the current situation in Russia.

Horst Mayer, Berlin (Germany)

“A small step towards an improvement.”

Boycott sends the wrong message 2014 marks a year of celebration in the sporting world, with the Winter Olympics in Sochi in February followed by the Football World Cup in Brazil this summer. These two events have one thing in common: they have both been misused as a platform for political disputes, and in the case of the Winter Olympics, this dispute is coming to a head with threats to boycott the Games.

Such a boycott would change nothing. On the contrary, it may be interpreted as a refusal to establish a dialogue on the issue, as was the case with boycotts of the Olympic Games in Moscow in 1980 or in Los Angeles in 1984. As a member of the IOC, I will be going to Sochi and watching the Games in person. I am personally looking forward to supporting the Swiss ­athletes, including our skiers, ski jumper S ­ imon Ammann and the national ice hockey team. I am also excited to see how the Winter Olympics are organised and hosted, not least because the stadium staging the Opening Ceremony on­ 7 February will also be a host venue for the 2018 World Cup. I believe that such a major event presents a perfect opportunity to strike up conversations and cultivate contacts. It is also likely that unpleasant issues will be addressed, ­because FIFA’s fight against discrimination does not end with the anti-racism campaign.

We must fight every form of social exclusion.

Anyone who decides to boycott the Winter Olympics in Sochi will be surrendering on this important issue, just as anyone running away from a problem will never be able to resolve it.

This reason alone is why it is important for me to travel to Russia.

Best wishes, Sepp Blatter T H E F I FA W E E K LY

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England expects little England won the World Cup in 1966 and have always headed for the finals with high expectations. This time the mood is one of sober realism.

David Winner

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Michael Regan - The FA/The FA via Getty Images

fter their feeble 0-0 draw with Algeria at the 2010 World Cup the following joke became popular among England fans: “I can’t believe we only managed a draw against a rubbish team we should have beaten easily … I’m ashamed to call ­myself Algerian!” The gag mixed self-mockery with instinctive disdain for smaller football nations and revealed much about England’s status anxiety. Because the English invented football and once controlled the world’s biggest empire, they like to think their team should still be the game’s top dogs.

Throughout the late twentieth century and beyond, the collision between this delusion and sporting reality triggered extreme national mood swings. England travelled to World Cups on clouds of jingo-fuelled euphoria, expecting to win. When they lost in the second or third round, usually to Germany or Argentina, media and supporters alike reacted with anger and confusion. Failure was seen as a sign of national “decline” and the team’s “under-performance” had to be someone’s fault. Sometimes the ­referee or an “unsporting” opponent would be blamed. Equally often, the press and public would turn on the manager or a key player.

“You lost the Cup” This scapegoating could turn ugly. David Beckham was hanged in effigy after being blamed for England’s defeat in 1998. Reserve goalkeeper Peter “The Cat” Bonetti, sacrificial victim of 1970, was subjected to chants of “you lost the World Cup” for the rest of his career.

Since first entering the World Cup in 1950, England have won the trophy once (in 1966, with home ­advantage) and reached just one semi-­ final. They have lost six quarter finals, fallen twice at the group stage and failed to qualify for the tournament three times. English fans mourn these “years of hurt” but, as Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski showed in their 2009 book ’Why England Lose’ (later re-issued as ‘Soccernomics’), this is actually a rather good record given the country’s resources.

England is a rich nation with plenty of football experience so the team is consistently in

the world’s top ten. They win most matches but generally lose to the top teams. One reason for this is that England’s footballers are mostly drawn from the ever-smaller pool of its shrinking working class. As the London Olympics showed, Britain remains a sporting powerhouse, but many of its most talented young athletes go into other sports. Not only do few young Englishmen play the game these days, the football education system lags behind the likes of Germany, Spain and Holland.

New English realism Last year Football Association chairman Greg Dyke set up a commission to find ways to i­ mprove the number and quality of players. At December’s draw, however, when his team were drawn in the tough-looking Group D, Dyke jokingly drew his hand across his throat.

Now, as England prepare to face Italy, ­Uruguay and Costa Rica in Manaus, Sao Paolo and Belo Horizonte respectively, there are plenty of signs of a healthy new realism. Fans and journalists still pose the traditional question “Will England win the World Cup?” But the answers tend to be pragmatic and downbeat. Former midfield star Paul Scholes, for example, says England

have “no chance”. Journalists point to England’s small number of world class players – the often disappointing Wayne Rooney, ageing Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard – and conclude that the team will do well just to reach the second round.

Meanwhile England’s coach Roy Hodgson is lining up pre-tournament matches against South American opponents like Peru, Ecuador and Honduras and will take his squad to Miami in to prepare for the unaccustomed heat of Manaus.

He is careful to play down his team’s chances.

Where his predecessors all felt obliged to predict victory, Hodgson lowers expectations. “Well it’s a tough group, there’s no doubt about that,” he said after the draw. “It’s going to be quite difficult to put a positive spin on the quality of our opponents.” Counter-intuitively, such modesty may be a good thing.

Past players have been burdened by the weight of expectation. Sven-Goran Eriksson, manager for the 2002 and 2006 tournaments, spoke of the phenomenon of the team’s “heavy shirt”. In 2010 goalkeeper Robert Green seemed frozen with fear before England’s opening match against the USA, then let in a soft goal. Another player in that game, Jamie Carragher, has argued that England should embrace “the idea of being the underdog on the world stage … We should be revelling in the image of the plucky outsider trying to unbalance the superpowers”. For ­ the first time in its football history, England expects … remarkably little. Å

Pre-tournament recce England manager Roy Hodgson on a visit to Rio. T H E F I FA W E E K LY

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Portsmouth, England

Booting up. Portsmouth kitman Bill Wright is literally left scratching his head as he puzzles over the correct choice of footwear in 1952.

The first screw-in studs became available in the 1950s and were deployed to great effect by Germany in the 1954 World Cup Final. The new accessory handed Sepp Herberger’s team a significant advantage on the near-waterlogged pitch at Wankdorf Stadium in Berne. The Germans mastered the treacherous surface far better than the Hungarian Wonder Team, who literally lost their footing and their first match after 51 games without defeat.

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Popperfoto / Getty Images

1952

MIRROR IMAGE

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Santa Fe, Argentina

Eitan Abramovich / AFP

2011 Colourful cluster. Today’s football boots are available in a dizzying array of colours and are made of synthetic materials. The manufacturers talk up a wide range of skill-enhancing features, with special zones for trapping the ball and shooting and tailored variants to suit individual playing styles. We don’t know whether the Uruguay kitman was aware of the burden of responsibility on his shoulders prior to the Copa America quarter-finals in 2011, but the boots did their job. Uruguay beat Argentina 6-5 on penalties.

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TALK ING POIN T S

T H E

Spanish Primera División

An intriguing clash of styles Jordi Punti is a novelist and the author of many football features in the Spanish media.

Not much happens in Spain in winter, when grey skies and cool temperatures are borne with ­exaggerated stoicism. It is probably for that reason that no one takes much notice of who is crowned the league’s so-called “winter champions”, except for the team in question of course. This season the second-class distinction has been earned by Barcelona, though they should perhaps be compelled to share it with Atletico Madrid. Both sides have amassed 50 points over the first half of the campaign and shown the same faith in their football, with Barça only topping the table on goal difference.

Their meeting last Saturday showed there is not much to choose between them, the two playing out a goalless draw at the Vicente Calderon. It was the third time they have cancelled each other out in three encounters this season, the first two coming in the Spanish Super Cup. Though the result might suggest otherwise, it was an exciting and highly charged affair, with play flowing from end to end and defensive organisation ­u ltimately winning out over attacking flair.

I N S I D E

The two Argentinian coaches – Diego Cholo Simeone and Gerardo Tata Martino – turned the evening into a clash of styles. Atletico played with their usual defensive intensity, with Barcelona responding in typical fashion, controlling the ball and passing it around.

Whenever Los Rojiblancos sought to up the pace and wrest control of the game, the Catalans retorted with their well-grooved, lyrical brand of football, displaying the patience needed to let the ball do the work rather than the players.

Though they all excelled, Atletico’s most creative players, namely Diego Costa, Koke and Arda Turan, caused Victor Valdes few problems in the opposing goal. As for Barcelona, people will ask if Martino picked the right team. Unexpectedly leaving his two star acts – Lionel Messi and Neymar – on the bench, he opted for confidence over genius by fielding Cesc Fabregas, Alexis Sanchez and Pedro, his most in-form forwards over the last few weeks. We will never know if Messi and Neymar would have been able to break through the defensive web spun by Atletico in the first half, though the Argentinian did come on for the injured Andres Iniesta at the restart, whereupon Barça relinquished their grip on the ball slightly but found the unpredictable edge that Messi invariably gives them. Indeed their best chance fell to him, with Atleti keeper Thibaut Courtois pulling off a fine stop.

Messi’s new year return is good news for Barcelona and for football lovers in general.

Comeback kid Lionel Messi (centre) is back in action. He takes on Atletico Madrid’s Miranda (right) and Mendes.

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T H E F I FA W E E K LY

His two-month injury layoff came to an end in the Copa del Rey tie against Getafe a few days ago. He marked the occasion by scoring twice in 20 minutes, his second goal coming after a typically explosive run that left several defenders trailing in his wake, proof that he has made a full recovery.

In the press conference that followed Saturday’s match at the Calderon, Simeone was asked what the difference was between the two teams. “The difference is €400m in their budgets,” he said. Though factually correct, his reply had a whiff of populist sentiment about it. After all, Atletico have also beaten more than their fair share of clubs with smaller budgets. The second half of the season will determine what really separates the two sides and who holds the upper hand.

Messi’s return and Neymar’s upturn in form could prove decisive. While Barça have been putting out a different line-up every week, Atletico have stuck to virtually the same 14 players, with few variations along the way.

Simeone has put his faith in a select group, to the extent that he has sent young Brazilian striker Leo Baptistao on loan to Real Betis.

It remains to be seen, however, if his chosen few will be able to cope physically when the business end of the domestic and European season arrives.

Should Barcelona and Atletico Madrid keep going toe to toe, the title could conceivably come down to their meeting on the last day of the season at the Camp Nou, though Real Madrid may well have something to say about that of course. Though not at their best, Real chiselled out a priceless 1-0 win at Espanyol on Sunday, allowing them to move to within a mere three points of their rivals.

With half a season remaining, all is to play for in Spain. Å

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Image

O N

and is now head coach of Milan’s youth team, Barbara instead favoured Clarence Seedorf, another veteran of the glory days who left for Botafogo in 2012. The Dutch midfielder had long been the preferred candidate of Silvio Berlusconi, who has never had great affection for Allegri. Indeed, in the end it was Seedorf who was installed in the AC Milan hot seat.

The 37-year-old will make his coaching debut on Sunday against Verona and will be assisted from June by another two former Milan stars, Jaap Stam and Hernan Crespo.

Seedorf the saviour The Dutchman has been tasked with restoring AC Milan’s flagging fortunes.

Serie A

Milan reunion for Seedorf, Stam and Crespo Luigi Garlando is an editor at Gazzetta dello Sport and is the author of numerous children’s

Ricardo Moraes/REUTERS

books.

The first half of the Serie A season ended with a show of strength from the top three sides, who struck a total of 11 goals between them on the last matchday.

League leaders Juventus hit four at Cagliari, while Roma netted the same number against Genoa to remain eight points behind. Meanwhile Napoli scored three at Verona, who have been one of the league’s surprise packages this year.

A five-point gap has now opened up between the runaway trio and fourth-placed Fiorentina, meaning Juventus, Roma and Napoli find themselves in a three-horse race while the rest of the pack chase for scraps below them.

But last weekend the title talk was drowned out by the aftershocks of AC Milan’s 4-3 defeat away to minnows Sassuolo. It was Milan’s seventh league defeat of the campaign and led to the sacking of their coach Massimiliano Allegri, who guided i Rossoneri to the Scudetto in 2010-11.

In the aftermath of the encounter, the club’s longstanding CEO Adriano Galliani said that he would postpone decisions on the coach’s fate until the following day. In the meantime, though, club director Barbara Berlusconi – the daughter of owner Silvio Berlusconi – hinted to the media that the axe had already fallen when she described it as an “unacceptable situation” and that a change was needed.

This show of discord was just the latest episode in a boardroom duel that Berlusconi senior had tried to defuse by assigning different responsibilities to the two antagonists, putting Barbara in charge of corporate policy while Galliani handles sporting affairs. Any truce was shortlived, however, as the pair continued to spar over the choice of the new coach.

The trip to Reggio Emilia was supposed to provide an easy run-out for Milan’s new signing Keisuke Honda. Dozens of Japanese journalists came to record the midfielder’s debut, only to see him upstaged by 19-year-old rookie Domenico Berardi, who bagged all of Sassuolo’s goals. Berardi is the youngest player to score a quadruple since Silvio Piola (1938 World Cup winner and all-time leading Serie A goalscorer with 274), and the first to do so against AC Milan.

The Juventus loanee has already netted 11 Serie A goals in his debut campaign and could become Italy’s next World Cup revelation, just as Paolo Rossi was at Argentina ’78. Following the latest serious injury suffered by Giuseppe Rossi, Berardi is now a prime candidate to partner Mario Balotelli up front at the Brazil showpiece.

Failing that, Allegri, who is favourite to take over from Azzurri coach Cesare Prandelli after the World Cup, could himself end up handing a first international call-up to Berardi, the very youngster who precipitated his downfall at Milan. Å

“The situation is no longer acceptable.”

While Galliani pushed for Pippo Inzaghi, who led the line during the club’s last golden age T H E F I FA W E E K LY

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EVERY GASP EVERY SCREAM EVERY ROAR EVERY DIVE EVERY BALL E V E RY PAS S EVERY CHANCE EVERY STRIKE E V E R Y B E AU T I F U L D E TA I L SHALL BE SEEN SHALL BE HEARD S H A L L B E FE LT

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Premier League

A new era of success David Winner is an author and journalist from London. He wrote

“Arsenal and Wenger have been playing a long-term game.”

“Brilliant Orange” and “Dennis Bergkamp: Stillness and Speed”.

Thinking strategically has advantages. Last August Arsenal lost their first league match 1-3 at home to Aston Villa and manager Arsene Wenger’s 17-year reign was threatened by his own supporters.

Frustrated by eight years without a trophy, angered by a lack of marquee signings and driven, it seemed, to the very brink of insanity by two unlucky penalties and a dodgy red card, the fans hurled abuse at their veteran gaffer.

Wenger is probably Arsenal’s greatest manager, surpassing even Herbert Chapman who made the club a power in the 1930s. Yet anti-Wenger stickers began to appear on the walls of London Tube stations and a fan group called The Black Scarf Movement staged protest marches and denounced his squad as weak and “padded out with kids”.

Even some former players criticised their old boss for apparently aiming only for Champions’ League qualification, failing to hold on to the likes of Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie

and recruiting youngsters rather than stars.

But the Arsenal board stuck by Wenger and his capture of Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid defanged the protests.

What happened next was more remarkable.

Arsenal began to play the club’s most elegant and powerful football since the days of Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry. This week they met Aston Villa again, in Birmingham, comfortably beat them 2-1 and went back to the top of the League they have led for most of the season.

Can the Gunners hold on and win their first title in ten years? Maybe not. Most pundits make Manchester City or Chelsea favourites: for the moment, they both have deeper, more expensive squads.

Yet Arsenal keep raking in points. Even with Ozil less than brilliant of late, they have a terrific midfield and the meanest defence in Britain. Previously-derided players like striker Olivier Giroud, defender Per Mertesacker and

midfielder Aaron Ramsey have been majestic.

(Players tend to improve under Wenger’s tutelage).

Other clubs think mainly in the short term, sacking managers when things go wrong and buying marquee stars with no clear plan of how to use them. (Local rivals Tottenham Hotspur are a prime example.)

Arsenal and Wenger, it is now clear, have been playing an entirely different long-term game.

Moving from their ancestral home of Highbury and building the expensive Emirates stadium was a hugely risky manoeuvre that has made the club financially powerful but, for a decade, left them as vulnerable as a snail moving to a new shell. Had Arsenal failed to qualify for the Champions’ League three years in a row they risked financial disaster.

Wenger’s achievement since 2004 in keeping Arsenal in the top four on slender resources was as impressive as building his Doublewinning teams of 1998 and 2003 and the Invincibles of 2003-4 (the most beautiful side England has ever had).

Laurence Griffiths/Getty Image

Even cleverer was the way he played his weak hand like a poker champ, pretending to cleave to his transfer policy for personal, idealistic reasons, diverting attention from the club’s potentially catastrophic fragility. Now this strategy is about to yield dividends. Having largely paid for the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal are financially a match for anyone and seem poised for a new era of success.

Last year Wenger told me how, in the late 90s and early 00s, he stealthily transformed Arsenal from old English football to being a bastion of Dutch-style total football: “Of course I had a plan. But I did not shout from every rooftop that I had a plan!”

He’s now pulled off an even better trick. Even if he doesn’t win the league this season, he may well do next year or the one after. Arsenal are back as heavyweight contenders. Å Arsenal for ever Arsene Wenger has managed the Gunners for 17 years.

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Name: Ottmar Hitzfeld Date and place of birth: 12 January 1949, Lorrach Playing career: Lorrach, Basel, VfB Stuttgart, Lugano, Lucerne Coaching career: SC Zug, Aarau, Grasshoppers Club, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Switzerland Major honours as coach:

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Christian Grund / 13 Photo

Champions League (2), Intercontinental Cup, German Championship (7), Swiss Championship (2), World Cup qualification (2)

T H E F I FA W E E K LY

OT TMAR HITZFELD

“Six years at Bayern are like 20 at any other club” Ottmar Hitzfeld is one of the most successful coaches in history. Interviewed by The FIFA Weekly, he reflects on his career and how the game has changed, explains why he is in favour of video replays, and identifies the break-up of the former Yugoslavia as a pivotal catalyst for today’s international football.

As told to Thomas Renggli

Congratulations! In the FIFA Ranking for last year Switzerland came eighth, two places ahead of Brazil, the game’s most successful nation. Does this reflect the reality of the situation?

No, it’s not the real footballing situation, it’s due to the way points are awarded. Brazil as World Cup hosts weren’t obliged to qualify, so all they’ve played are friendly matches and the Confederations Cup. Brazil are better than Switzerland. But I’m proud we’re in the top ten. My team has earned this place by working very hard. We had a 14-match unbeaten run, but we were very consistent before that too : we only lost once in 2011 and twice in 2012. We’ve earned a lot of respect in the international game. It sank in at the group stage draw last December, where Switzerland were drawn from Pot 1. It was a fantastic feeling and an image boost for Swiss football.

Before then the other nations didn’t really care which pot the Swiss came out of, but it was totally different this time. You sensed a real change in how we were perceived.

The fundamental quality in the top 30 teams is going up all the time. The so-called smaller nations such as Belgium, Bosnia and indeed Switzerland have stepped up a level or two.

Football has become much more global, driven by the cross-border transfer market.

Most of the internationals in the countries you mention are playing overseas. Only ten percent of our squad play in Switzerland. The smaller nations are increasingly benefiting

from international experience, and that’s boosting their performance.

What’s the impact of youth development programmes?

They have a major impact. Switzerland is well-known for youth and coaching development. The players are well trained in terms of tactics and technique. And it’s a value for money system too, which is why you find some 30 Swiss players in the leading European leagues.

The make-up of teams such as Switzerland and Belgium also reflects certain political and demographic developments in Europe. Can we say that the break-up of the former Yugoslavia may indirectly have had the biggest impact on relative sporting strength across the continent in the last quarter of a century?

Definitely. The former Yugoslavia was well-known for depth of talent in a variety of sports involving the ball. It was the same in basketball and handball. In football these players are now adding quality to national teams all over Europe. Everyone is benefiting from that, including Switzerland.

Are Balkan players better than Swiss players?

I wouldn’t necessarily say better. We have good players from a variety of backgrounds, including Stephan Lichsteiner, Diego Benaglio and Tranquillo Barnetta, although the last two are second-generation immigrants. But it’s absolutely true that Switzerland would scarcely be able to qualify for any finals without our immigrants.

T H E F I FA W E E K LY

Why do players with overseas roots do so well?

It’s a blend of talent, desire and background. Mentality is another important component. Swiss parents will tend to advise their kids to follow conventional career paths, but immigrants are more inclined to see football as an opportunity for social advancement. You see it happening in Germany, France and England too, albeit to a lesser degree.

How do you as a coach deal with a multicultural dressing room?

You approach the players as individuals regardless of their roots. Switzerland is a much more open place now. I no longer see much of a cultural difference between the Western and the German-speaking Swiss. The players from immigrant backgrounds bring another quality to the team in terms of character and culture. It’s one of the reasons I made Gokhan Inler my captain. You have to show the immigrant players the respect they deserve. They’re making a huge contribution to Swiss football.

As a player you were a deadly striker and finished as top scorer with FC Basel. You once scored six goals in a single game for Stuttgart, which remains a German record to this day.

What’s your advice to strikers going through a barren patch?

There’s no failsafe recipe. Scoring is the toughest aspect of football and good strikers are correspondingly rare. Even the big countries like Germany and France know all about that. It’s an even bigger problem for us in 27

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OT TMAR HITZFELD

“Football’s changed a lot. The younger players have a much stronger mentality and far more confidence than we did at the same age.”

Hitzfeld, seen here playing for Basel in 1974, was a prolific goalscorer.

Switzerland due to our smaller talent pool.

You’re always on the lookout for good strikers.

But we do have players with goalscoring ability in our team, the likes of Seferovic, Derdiyok or Gavranovic. However, they’re all put in the shade by Alex Frei. He was a phenomenon, and an incredibly lucky break for our national team. We’ll be waiting 20 or 30 years for another Swiss national like him.

Frei scored in half the games he played.

Imago

Turning to tactics and approach, you have a reputation for favouring results-oriented football. Doesn’t that rather contradict your style as a player?

Not in the slightest. At the end of the day a striker contributes goals to the quest for a positive result. You’ll never survive as a coach with pretty football on its own. You’ll be

dispensed with very quickly. The coach has to find the right blend. In the Bundesliga, Dortmund and Bayern combine getting results with stylish play, using pressing and offside traps.

The coach must always devise a system to suit the players. In Switzerland we’re currently blessed with a generation of gifted footballers.

And that’s why our football is attractive.

Would coach Hitzfeld pick Hitzfeld the player? (laughs) Yes, I’m sure of it. He’d be a regular.

You’ve coached in the pro game for 30 years.

What’s been the biggest change in all that time?

The world has changed substantially, and football with it. We used to favour manto-man marking. I introduced zonal marking T H E F I FA W E E K LY

and a back four with SC Zug as long ago as 1983. I then did the same with Aarau. They told me I was committing sporting suicide.

The Germans played with a libero for a very long time. The long ball game was popular in the past. The right midfielder played on the right, and the central midfielder in the centre.

There’s far less space nowadays and the focus is on short passing. I was instructing my teams to keep it tight a long time ago. That aspect has become 30 percent more important in the last 20 years. On top of that the younger players have a much stronger mentality and far more confidence than we did at the same age. That’s partly due to computers, mass media and the digital world. My generation had a very authoritarian upbringing. You weren’t considered a man until you were 22, but nowadays it’s more like 16.

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OT TMAR HITZFELD

Champions Hitzfeld with Jurgen Kohler after conquering Europe in 1997.

Do you recognise yourself in the young players?

Of course. I consider it a huge privilege to work with the youngsters, speaking to them face-to-face, listening to them talk, understanding what makes them tick. It helps keep me young.

Is there a conflict due to the generation gap?

No. I’m adaptable and can get inside what someone is thinking. It’s important for a coach to continually adapt to his situation and players, and to be a good listener. I believe in intuition and instinct. There are a wide variety of mentalities and also a variety of tools. You need to be tougher on some players and gentler with others. You have to apply the brakes to some but push others.

“My wife was horrified when Uli Hoeness called. I assured her I’d only be helping out for the rest of the season.”

talk of my coaching career. Picking the team up demanded a huge investment of energy from me, analysing our mistakes of course, but also restoring the belief that we could come back and win it. And that’s what we did two years later, which is why I can look back on the defeat in 1999 with very little rancour now.

At the end of the day, you’re almost powerless to intervene from the touchline, so how much

do you bemoan your fate as a coach in moments of bitter defeat?

As a coach you’re always dependent on outside influences, and that includes the referee. A good recent example of that was FC Basel in their decisive final Champions League group stage meeting with Schalke.

The goal that settled it was scored from a blatantly offside position. The decision was obviously wrong, but all you’re left with three days later is the result.

You’re one of the few coaches to win the Champions League twice, with Dortmund in 1997 and Bayern in 2001. How would you compare the two?

And there was the extraordinary last-gasp defeat with Bayern against Manchester United in 1999…

Dealing with shock defeats is part and parcel of being a coach. The 90 minutes were up and we’d won the Champions League, but three minutes later we were losers. In the wake of that defeat I held the longest team 30

The General Ottmar Hitzfeld has twice led Switzerland to the World Cup finals.

T H E F I FA W E E K LY

Imago, Denis Balibouse / Reuters

Dortmund’s victory was a huge sensation.

Expectations were much higher with Bayern.

You’re obliged to win European trophies there.

The level of ambition is different. Bayern are the gold standard, at home and nowadays internationally too. It’s why Pep Guardiola went to Bayern and not Manchester.

That leads us to the current debate about the use of video. What’s your position?

We’ll have video replays at some stage.

In the first instance the important thing is the introduction of goal-line technology.

That needs to become the norm in all the major leagues. But as soon as the conditions are right we also need to enlist technological help for offside decisions and perhaps even controversial situations in the box. I’m in favour of this development.

There’s also been a significant cultural shift in German football. Once dominated by toil, effort and physique, the emphasis now is on skill, class and creativity. What set it all off?

It can be traced to optimised coach and youth development schemes and the setting up of academies. The process began after Germany’s desperately disappointing showing at Euro 2004 in Portugal. And they switched from zonal play to man-to-man marking in the youth sections. There was always talent in Germany, but young hopefuls weren’t pushed as hard as they are now.

Keystone

You’ve been Switzerland coach since 2008.

Is the stress level lower than in club football?

You can’t really compare the two. As a club coach you have more than 60 matches per season but as a national coach you’re lucky if it’s ten. So the pressure in an individual match is greater for a national coach, because it’s hard to put a bad result right. But the day-to-day stress is significantly less. You have much more recovery time. This was the reason I withdrew from club football. At the age of 55 I opted to take a break. Six years at

Your beer sir Luca Toni soaks Hitzfeld as Munich celebrate in 2008.

Bayern are like 20 at another club. I needed two years to regenerate.

And then you came back…

The key factor was that I’d recovered.

I regained my motivation and desire for coaching.

What was your wife’s reaction?

She was horrified when Uli Hoeness called. I assured her I’d only be helping out for the rest of the season, although it ended up as a year and a half.

How far can Switzerland go?

Our priority is to survive the group stage.

There are no limits after that. But it would be inappropriate to start talking about the quarter-finals at this stage.

Who’s going to win it?

Brazil, Argentina, Germany or Spain. It’ll be one of these four. What intrigues me is whether a European team can win in South America for the first time. Å

The World Cup in Brazil will be the final chapter in your coaching career. What are your expectations of the tournament?

I’m really looking forward to it. It’ll be a tournament packed with superlatives. The global image, media coverage and TV presence will be even greater again, just like it is every four years. For me personally rounding off my career with a World Cup in Brazil will be a real highlight.

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FIFA WORLD R ANKING Rank Team

Change in ranking Points

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Spain Germany Argentina Colombia Portugal Uruguay Italy Switzerland Netherlands Brazil

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

1507 1318 1251 1200 1172 1132 1120 1113 1106 1102

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 56 58 59 60 61 62 63 63 65 66 67 68 69 69 71 72 73 74 74 76 77

Belgium Greece England USA Chile Croatia Côte d'Ivoire Ukraine Bosnia-Herzegovina France Mexico Russia Ecuador Ghana Denmark Sweden Algeria Czech Republic Slovenia Serbia Egypt Costa Rica Romania Iran Cape Verde Islands Panama Scotland Armenia Venezuela Mali Nigeria Peru Honduras Tunisia Turkey Hungary Austria Japan Iceland Cameroon Paraguay Montenegro Korea Republic South Africa Wales Albania Australia Burkina Faso Norway Slovakia Guinea Libya Israel United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Finland Republic of Ireland Senegal Bolivia Zambia Togo Jordan Saudi Arabia Morocco Bulgaria Sierra Leone Poland

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 -1 0 0 0 10 -1 -1 -1 4 2 -3 -3 -3 5 -4 -3 -1 4 -2 -2 -1 -1 0 0 0 0 1 8 1 1 2 -5 -5 0 0 -3 0 8 3 -2 0 -3 1 0 1 -7 14 -1 0 -1 -1

1098 1055 1041 1019 1005 971 912 907 899 893 892 870 852 851 831 793 792 766 762 752 748 743 734 727 726 722 717 716 715 703 701 698 692 689 677 668 648 641 624 616 607 594 581 576 574 571 571 566 558 557 555 552 548 548 546 539 528 526 519 519 509 504 487 486 486 464 461

Ranking Aug 2013

Sep 2013

Oct 2013

Nov 2013

Dec 2013

Jan 2014

1 -41 -83 -125 -167 -209 Top spot

78 79 79 81 81 83 84 85 85 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 97 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 125 127 128 129 130 130 132 133 134 135 135 137 138 138 138 141 142 143 144

Biggest climber

Trinidad and Tobago Oman Haiti Congo DR Jamaica Belarus FYR Macedonia Congo Gabon Uganda El Salvador Angola Northern Ireland New Zealand China PR Estonia Azerbaijan Ethiopia Moldova Botswana Liberia Benin Cuba Qatar Georgia Lithuania Niger Zimbabwe Kuwait Central African Republic Equatorial Guinea Kenya Bahrain Canada Guatemala Tajikistan Dominican Republic Iraq Latvia Malawi Tanzania Sudan Mozambique New Caledonia Luxembourg Lebanon Burundi Cyprus Namibia Philippines Kazakhstan Myanmar Malta Rwanda Suriname Turkmenistan Grenada Syria Korea DPR Hong Kong Lesotho Gambia Afghanistan Tahiti Palestine Vietnam Antigua and Barbuda

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Biggest faller

0 6 0 1 -1 -2 -1 -1 -8 -1 2 -1 -1 -1 0 1 0 -2 0 0 1 0 0 2 -1 -1 0 2 -1 -1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 -5 0 -1 2 0 -2 0 1 -2 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 3 1 2 2 -6 3 3 0 -7 2 2 -5 1 1

441 440 440 439 439 431 425 421 421 413 395 384 381 378 376 366 363 361 359 354 354 335 334 333 330 326 318 312 311 310 309 304 299 291 286 285 282 280 272 265 261 258 256 249 243 236 230 229 229 219 216 204 198 198 197 195 194 188 188 185 184 184 184 179 174 166 164

145 146 146 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 156 156 159 160 161 162 163 164 164 166 167 167 169 170 170 172 172 172 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 187 189 190 190 190 193 194 194 196 196 198 198 200 201 201 203 204 205 206 207 207 207

Mauritania St Lucia Kyrgyzstan Thailand Singapore St Kitts and Nevis Guyana Belize Laos Malaysia St Vincent and the Grenadines Liechtenstein India Puerto Rico Nicaragua São Tomé e Príncipe Indonesia Guam Maldives Chad Bangladesh Barbados Chinese Taipei Dominica Sri Lanka Aruba Faroe Islands Solomon Islands Nepal Pakistan Bermuda Seychelles Mauritius Curaçao Vanuatu Yemen Mongolia Fiji Samoa Guinea-Bissau Bahamas Swaziland Madagascar Montserrat Cambodia Brunei Darussalam Timor-Leste Tonga US Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Papua New Guinea British Virgin Islands American Samoa Comoros Andorra Eritrea South Sudan Macau Somalia Djibouti Cook Islands Anguilla Bhutan San Marino Turks and Caicos Islands

-3 1 1 -2 1 -1 -1 7 -1 0 -2 -2 -2 -2 1 -2 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

161 155 155 153 152 150 149 146 144 143 142 141 141 141 137 126 124 123 120 116 116 101 95 95 90 87 87 86 86 86 83 67 66 65 53 50 49 47 45 42 40 37 33 33 28 26 26 26 23 21 21 18 18 17 17 11 10 10 8 6 5 3 0 0 0

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First Love

Place: Oslo, Norway Date: 12 January 2013 Time: 10.35 am

Photograph by Levon Biss with support from Umbro/RPM

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THE SOUND OF FOOTBALL

THE OBJEC T

Perikles Monioudis

Hanspeter Kuenzler

Not all footballers are born to sing, as the producers responsible for Northern ­ English footballing wizard Paul Gascoigne’s album will no doubt have realised.

Nevertheless, they were not deterred by such a minor ­detail back in 1990, when they created an album of nearly an hour of music entitled “Let’s Have a Party”. Less than ten minutes of the album featured Gascoigne himself; the remaining tracks were provided by guests such as Elvis Presley, who contributed a medley of his hits from beyond the grave.

After his apprenticeship with Newcastle, 23-year-old “Gazza” blossomed at Tottenham Hotspur, and became a national hero for his mischievous antics and an emotional performance at the 1990 World Cup in Italy.

“Let’s Have a Party” is a classic example of the dangers that lie in wait for a naïve young 36

footballer when his advisors take leave of their senses. It appears that “Gazza” once publicly announced his ambitions to become a pop star. This led to a series of serious but poorly received interviews with music magazines such as Melody Maker, Q and Smash Hits, in which he managed to list a series of musical influences considered completely uncool by the respective publications. It ­ ­later became apparent that his contribution to the album was limited to choosing a couple of his favourite songs to be reinterpreted by other singers with the accompaniment of a studio computer. The aforementioned Elvis rehash sat alongside a disco medley of Mozart and Tchaikovsky classics. Seventies singer-songwriter Gilbert O’Sullivan then sang ten minutes of his biggest hits before the record gave way to similarly lengthy

soul and Motown medleys.

“Gazza’s” music contributions were limited to roaring along with “All You Need is Love” and two raps. One of these was “Fog on the Tyne (Revisited”), a remake of a melodic tribute to the dubious delights of Newcastle with “Gazza” accompanying the song’s original artists, folk-rock band Lindisfarne. The track reached number two in the UK charts, but the second single, “Geordie Boys”, only managed to chart at number 31, while the album did not trouble the Top 100.

Smash Hits labelled “Let’s Have a Party” as “the most tragic album ever made.” It was the first time that folk hero “Gazza” had encountered such malice.

If only someone had warned him … Æ

Gazza and Friends, “Let’s Have a Par ty” (BMG Records) T H E F I FA W E E K LY

Sion Ap Tomos

The singing Geordie

“For a really satisfying cigarette that’s kind to your throat, give me a 'Craven A' every time”.

These were the words attributed to England’s wing wizard Stanley Matthews in a newspaper advertisement of 13 December 1952. Matthews was pictured in his England shirt, contentedly holding a 'Craven A' even though he didn’t actually smoke.

Everton legend Dixie Dean advertised budget Carreras Clubs back in 1930. It was around this time that a link between smoking and cancer was becoming firmly established.

Arsenal manager Herbert Chapman, for example, insisted on defender and future captain Eddie Hapgood promising he did not drink or smoke prior to signing him back in 1927.

There is no place for cigarettes, or indeed the very thought of smoking, in the modern world of coaching. Mind you the cigarette case pictured above, produced in England in the 1880s, would perhaps not be out of place in the hands of some professionals today.

England star Wayne Rooney has been snapped with a cigarette in his hand on several occasions. The same goes for the Italian World Cup winning goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and French World Cup winner Zinedine Zidane. Former Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini once stated in exasperation that Italian striker Mario Balotelli smoked “five or six cigarettes” a day.

But anyone who came across him would undoubtedly remember the Argentinian World Cup winning coach of 1978 as the king of all smokers. Cesar Luis Menotti’s face was sometimes invisible behind the shroud of smoke billowing upwards from the dugout.

Menotti would have been delighted to have received a cigarette case with a footballing motif as a birthday present. Today it would seem to be at best misplaced for many footballers and indeed for people from many other walks of life. Å

TURNING POINT

“One sliding tackle at Wembley changed everything” Although a fractured ankle brought his career at Tottenham to an end, Ramon Vega used the subsequent injury layoff to think seriously about his future.

Today, he is an asset manager leading a successful investment fund in London.

Name: Ramon Vega Date and place of birth: 14 June 1971, Olten, Switzerland

Abbie Trayler-Smith/Panos

E

verything in my life was going according to plan: I was 28 years-old and in the prime of my footballing career, had a good contract with Tottenham and a League Cup final ahead of me. I was a Swiss international with a good life in London, so who knows where life might have taken me if the final against Leicester City had turned out differently that afternoon in 1999.

At some point in the match, Leicester striker Emile Heskey was bearing down on goal having already beaten my colleague, Sol Campbell. I knew that to prevent us losing the game, I had to stop him, no matter what.

I sprinted after him, waited for the exact split second in which to make my move, and put in a sliding tackle that took the ball away from under his feet. The Tottenham fans were ecstatic, and we went on to win that final 1-0.

There was just one drawback: tests back in Switzerland later revealed that I had fractured my ankle making that tackle. The doctor gave me the shocking news that I would be out for nine months. Although my world didn’t fall down around my ears, it is never an appealing prospect for a professional athlete to spend three-quarters of the year not playing football but with physiotherapists and in the gym ­instead.

I was put on a strict recovery programme, which was good, but each evening I sat alone in my London home and started to consider

Position: Central defender Playing career: Grasshopper Club Zurich, Cagliari, Tottenham Hotspur, Celtic, Watford, Creteil International career: 23 caps for Switzerland

things. What if my career was already at an end? What would I do next? Would I stay in the business of football and become a manager?

Could I envisage training to become a coach?

Nine months is a long time in which to reflect on such questions, and it would have been all too easy become desperate and go round in ­circles. Instead, I tried to create a foundation for the future in my mind.

Two years later, when I was playing for Watford, I began to put my plan into action and started to study to become a financial expert, working on my books in the morning and ­training in the afternoon. I already knew the industry after completing a commercial ­apprenticeship with a Swiss bank and enjoyed the experience so much that, at the age of 32, I decided to retire from football. Initially, I had an opportunity to become involved with an T H E F I FA W E E K LY

i­nvestment firm, and later I founded my own company as a fund manager. I now have ten employees.

There came a point when I became tired of football. I no longer watched games on television because I would rather look after my ­business. Nowadays, I go to matches again, and if the opportunity arises to attend a game at Wembley, I like to think back to 1999: that League Cup final, victory with Tottenham, and the sliding tackle that changed my life. Å As told to Alan Schweingruber

In Turning Point, personalities reflect on a decisive moment in their lives.

37

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Tomorrow brings us all closer To new people, new ideas and new states of mind.

Here’s to reaching all the places we’ve never been.

Fly Emirates to 6 continents.

FIFA QUIZ CUP

The FIFA Weekly Published weekly by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)

Winter finals and a rare Luxembourg triumph – test your knowledge and you could win tickets to the 2014 Final in Rio!

Internet: www.FIFA.com/TheWeekly Publisher: FIFA, FIFA-Strasse 20, PO box, CH-8044 Zurich Tel. : +41-(0)43-222 7777 Fax : +41-(0)43-222 7878

A scene from the USA-Costa Rica qualifying encounter. How many World Cup finals took place in the meteorological winter?

1

President: Joseph S. Blatter

R 1 B 3

M 2 F 4

Secretary General: Jérôme Valcke Director of Communications and Public Affairs: Walter De Gregorio

2

Chief editor: Thomas Renggli

Luxembourg have entered qualifying for every World Cup since 1934 but wins have been rare.

Which of these men lost to them?

Art director: Markus Nowak

O

Y

Staff writers: Perikles Monioudis (Deputy Editor), Alan Schweingruber, Sarah Steiner Contributors: Jordi Punti, Barcelona; David Winner, London; Hanspeter Kuenzler, London; Roland Zorn, Frankfurt/M.; Sven Goldmann, Berlin; Sergio Xavier Filho, Sao Paulo; Luigi Garlando, Milan; Andreas Wilhelm

L

3

Picture editor: Peggy Knotz Production: Hans-Peter Frei (head of section), Richie Krönert, Marianne Bolliger-Crittin, Mirijam Ziegler, Susanne Egli, Peter Utz Proof reader: Nena Morf Contributors to this issue: Honey Thaljieh, Graziella Waldvogel

Gundogan beats Neuer from the penalty spot in the Champions League final. But how far, in the original unit of measurement, was the spot from the goal line?

A 10 U 13

4

R

O 12 Y 14

With the exception of the Final, which team conceded no goal scored by an opposing player for the duration of the World Cup? M Brazil 1994

S Hungary 1954

T Netherlands 1974

K Italy 1934

Editorial assistant: Loraine Mcdouall Translation: Sportstranslations.com Project management: Bernd Fisa, Christian Schaub Printer: Zofinger Tagblatt AG www.ztonline.ch Contact: feedback-TheWeekly@fifa.org Reproduction of photos or articles in whole or in part is only permitted with prior editorial approval and if attributed “© The FIFA Weekly, 2014”.

The editor and staff are not obliged to publish unsolicited manuscripts and photos. The FIFA logo is a registered trademark. Made and printed in Switzerland.

The answer to last week’s Quiz Cup was COPA (detailed answers on FIFA.com/theweekly).

Inspiration and implementation: cus

Please send your answers to the E-mail feedback-TheWeekly@fifa.org by 22 January 2014. Correct submissions for all quizzes received by 11 June 2014 will go into a draw to win two tickets to the FIFA World Cup Final on 13 July 2014.

Before sending in your answers, all participants must read and accept the competition terms and conditions and the rules, which can be found at en.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/the-fifa-weekly/rules.pdf T H E F I FA W E E K LY

39

ASK FIFA!

Meet the FIFA Quiz Cup winners

What was the most eventful and spectacular match in World Cup history?

Luziana Alvares, Bilbao

C O S T- E F F I C I E N T

Having travelled all the way from Merida, Venezuela, to Zurich, Nereida del Carmen Cordoba Burbano and her companion Jose Beluardi Sanchez Gil pose in Sepp Blatter’s office. After travelling to Switzerland and visiting FIFA’s headquarters, the pair were invited to the Ballon d’Or ceremony for an exclusive winner’s experience. “Meeting Sepp Blatter is the highlight of my life as a football fan,” said Nereida.

Should simulation and diving be punished with a “time penalty”?

288 135 Based on Cristiano Ronaldo’s estimated €17 million annual salary, the World Player of the Year’s 59 goals in 2013 cost Real Madrid €288,135 apiece.

However, it means the Portugal

82+18

L A S T W E E K’S P O L L R E S U LT S:

NO

YES

18%

82%

4

QUADRUPLE S TRIKE

AC Milan led Sassuolo Calcio 2-0 after 13 minutes of last Sunday’s encounter, but Domenico Berardi scored four times in the space of just 32 minutes to earn the underdogs a 4-3 victory.

The 19-year-old from the south of Italy became the first player to score four times against Milan in a Serie A fixture. The shock result prompted

THE NEW FOOTBALL MAGA ZINE The FIFA Weekly appears every week on Friday as a print edition and an online magazine (www.Fifa.com/TheWeekly).

We report on the biggest stars and the hottest topics, but we also focus on a dialogue with our readers.

Join the debate at feedback-theWeekly@fifa.org

QUICKFIRE BR ACE

59

the immediate dismissal of Milan

Only 59 seconds separated Arsenal’s

boss Massimiliano

two goals against Aston Villa last

money of all three Ballon d’Or

Allegri, formerly the

Monday. Jack Wilshere (pictured) and Olivier

finalists, beating the per-goal

mastermind of Sassuolo’s

Giroud struck in the 34th and 35th minutes at

star offers the best value for

prices posted by Lionel Messi

promotion to the top flight.

Villa Park in Birmingham to send the Gunners

(€410,256) and Franck Ribery

back to the top of the standings, a point ahead of

(€718,750 Euro).

­Manchester City and two clear of Chelsea.

40

T H E F I FA W E E K LY

Kurt Schorrer / foto-net, Getty Images

Answered by Thomas Renggli, chief editor: If you define spectacular by the number of goals and the circumstances, it has to be the 1954 World Cup quarter-final when Austria beat Switzerland 7-5. It's still known in the two countries as the Hitzeschlacht von Lausanne, the ‘Heated Battle of Lausanne’ due to temperatures close to 40°C. The Swiss took a 3-0 lead but the Austrians replied with five goals in eight minutes.

Austria keeper Kurt Schmid collapsed at half-time with sunstroke but had to carry on as substitutes weren’t permitted at the time. Swiss captain Roger Bocquet also collapsed; it later turned out he had a brain tumour.

The 12-goal thriller remains the highest-scoring game in finals history.