Brazilian fans downbeat
Rio de Janeiro: Three weeks to Russia World Cup kick-off and the Brazilians are downbeat, underperforming, and generally hangdog – Brazilian fans, that is. Newspapers obsess over the state of superstar Neymar’s health. And the ghosts of the disastrous 2014 World Cup lurk. According to an opinion poll by the Parana Institute, two thirds of the Brazilians think the ‘Selecao’ are favorite to lift the trophy and 35 per cent see Neymar as likely to be player of the tournament, compared to 30 per cent for Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo. Sixty six percent have little or no interest in the upcoming championship, while 14.5 percent don’t even know where it’s taking place.
‘France nothing special’
Stockholm: Denmark coach Age Hareide gave a withering assessment of his World Cup first-round rivals France claiming they have no real leader and have little chance in Russia. “I don’t believe in this team. They are nothing special,” Hareide said. “They don’t have a leader such as Zinedine Zidane to lead them, someone who knew how to galvanise them. They need to play as a team,” said the Norwegian. The 64-year-old also singled out Manchester United’s Paul Pogba for criticism – over his flashy haircuts. “He played against Manchester City with his hair dyed blue and white, maybe he’ll have it red and white to play us. Does he only think about his haircuts?” asked the coach.
Blacklisted fan gets ticket
Moscow: A soccer fan blacklisted by Russian authorities for bad behaviour was granted a document allowing him to attend World Cup matches, while several other fans have skirted a stadium ban. Russia has vowed to crack down on crowd unrest ahead of the World Cup, to be played June 14-July 15, and to weed out troublemakers by screening fans. However, documents show that Pavel Cherkas, a 32-year-old fan who was blacklisted last year for being drunk at a match, applied for and received a World Cup fan ID after the ban had taken effect. When the ministry of communications and mass media, which oversees the fan ID programme, was asked how a blacklisted fan was cleared to attend the World Cup, Cherkas was informed his ID had been revoked, without explanation.
National slogans announced
Moscow: The worlds governing football body, FIFA, published Thursday a list of official logos for each of 32 participating teams in the upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup and the logo of hosts Russia is ‘Play With an Open Heart’. ‘The votes have been counted. The fans have spoken,” FIFA said in a statement. “We now have the 32 slogans that captured the hearts, and votes, of the global FIFA Club community. The winning slogans will be displayed on the 32 team buses at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia,” the statement from FIFA said.