World Cup 2014 - The Contenders

Who will win the World Cup?

With just under a week to go before Brazil Take on Croatia in the first Game of the 2014 World Cup on home soil the pundits are beginning to refine their predictions of possible winners.

According to the bookies it looks like this: Brazil 3/1 Argentina 5/1 Germany 6/1 Spain 13/2.

The tournament has been held 19 times, but only won by 8 nations so considering former winners seems sensible.

Lets take a look at the top three and also a possible outside chance.

Brazil

No team has a better World Cup record than Brazil having played in all 19 tournaments winning it on five occasions. However they are only ranked 4th in the World by FIFA. On the down side people are pointing to the lack of competitive football for Felipe Scolari's squad as they did not have to qualify being the hosts. Others fear that the weight of expectation on the team from home supporters may prove to much at a vital moment.

On the plus side in Neymar they have a world class striker supported by the classy Robinho and the speed of Dani Alves. Goal Keeper Julio Cesar brings confidence and organisation to the defence

Verdict: Brazil will go close as normal, but I think others have more complete teams.

Argentina

Manager Alejandro Sabella's side are trying to win the tournament for the third time. They have competed in the finals fifteen times and are ranked 7th by FIFA. They were top scorers in the qualifying competition and only Columbia conceded less goals. Their strength lies in scoring goals and in Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain and Angel Di Maria they have a range of options. Many say that Messi has found it difficult to reproduce his Barcelona form when playing for his country.

Verdict: When it gets to the big games having the ability to score goals in a knockout competition is always going to give a team an advantage. Messi has to get it right in this competition sooner or later. I have opted for Argentina

Germany

Germany have appeared in 17 tournaments winning 3 times and are ranked second in the World by FIFA. They were unbeaten in the qualifying competition winning 9 out of 10 games and scoring 36 goals, more than any other side.

On the plus side Germany have a good mixture of youth and maturity with defenders such as Philip Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger having over 100 caps each blended with the passing skills of Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil and the striking power of the 2010 World Cup Young Player of the Tournament Thomas Muller. Add a world class goal keeper in the form of Manuel Neuer and they seem to have an excellent chance.

On the down side even coach Joachim Low admits there is still work to do particularly in defence. Drawing with Sweden 4-4 on home soil when they were leading 4-0 suggests they may be prone to lapses in concentration. Also no European country has won when the competition has been held in South America.

Verdict: I think they have a really good chance but I think it will go to a South American Team.

Chile: An outside chance.

Chile have competed in 8 World Cup finals and are ranked 13th in the World by FIFA. Their qualifying competition got off to a flying start beating Bolivia and Venezuela away from home but three straight defeats saw Argentinian coach Claudio Borghi replaced by fellow countryman Jorge Sampoli. After losing his first game in charge he won the next 5 and drew the remaining game. Their attacking style of play is reflected in the facts that only Argentina scored more goals in qualifying. However Chile also conceded more goals than any other team and only drew one game.

There are some familiar players from European football With Alexi Sanchez from Barcelona, Eduardo Vargas from Valencia and Arturo Vidal from Juventus. Wigan fans may recognise midfielder Jean Beausejour.

Verdict: They may not win but they will be exciting to watch.

Hang on What about Spain?

They have appeared in 13 of the tournaments are the current holders as well as being European Champions and are top ranked by FIFA.

My reason for opposing them is their low goal count. They only scored 14 in qualifying the 25th lowest total. Yes they can keep possession but in a knock out competition played in South America I think they will have to tell Del Bosque he will have to hand back the trophy.

http://uefacup.com is an independent blog dedicated to European football, offering coverage of the Uefa Cup, Ufea Champions League, and the top domestic football leagues. Visit us for unbiased comment on football news, topical issues, live scores and results.

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Find Soccer Jobs at the 2011 World Cup, 2014 World Cup (and Beyond)

Are the sounds of the vuvuzela calling to you? Do you want to wish you could be part of the World Cup action in South Africa, rather than just watching the games on TV?

This year's competition might be halfway over, but the job opportunities for you are just beginning. If you love soccer (or should we say football) and want to turn that love into a career, check out these opportunities at the 2011 Women's World Cup, the 2014 World Cup, and with some of the world's largest soccer organizations.

Soccer Jobs at the 2011 Women's World Cup
Mark your calendars: the Women's competition will be held June 26 - July 17, 2011 in Germany. The best way to get your foot in the door to this elite soccer world is to volunteer. Volunteers are responsible for a wide range of activities, including guest services, hospitality, IT and communication, logistics, marketing, transportation and more.

Volunteering will not only help you make contacts at FIFA, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association and the world's governing body for all things soccer, but the experience will look great on a resume. In addition, World Cup volunteers typically enjoy free refreshments, travel, and other perks during their service. For more information, visit the Fifa Women's World Cup volunteer page.

Soccer Jobs at the 2014 Men's World Cup
Like the Women's World Cup, the best way to get involved is to volunteer with FIFA, the organization that runs both events. The 2014 event will take place in Brazil, and the opportunities will be announced as soon as this year's World Cup ends. For more information, watch the 2014 World Cup website.

Soccer Careers with the UEFA
The Union des Associations Européennes de Football (UEFA) works to promote the game and develop unity and solidarity between the different Europe's different football associations. You don't have to bend it like Bechkahm to work for them; UEFA currently employs administrators, IT specialists, coaches, journalists, and translators who offer a variety of backgrounds and skill sets. For information on job opportunities with UEFA, visit their "work with us" page.

Jobs at U.S. Soccer
Kindergarten co-ed teams. Middle school travel leagues. Professional teams. In the United States, U.S. Soccer is the governing body that oversees all soccer teams, leagues and organizations in the States. Although soccer is still relatively new to many Americans, U.S. Soccer was founded in 1913 and was one of the first organizations to be associated with FIFA. For a list of jobs and internships at U.S. Soccer, visit their jobs page.

Soccer Jobs with Major League Soccer
Whether you root for the Chicago Fire, the New England Revolution, or the Kansas City Wizards, Major League Soccer (MLS) has the job of overseeing them all. MLS works to promote and support professional soccer clubs in the U.S. Check out the MLS jobs page, which not only features jobs at MLS, but also links to each team's individual job listings.

Noel Rozny writes the bi-weekly career blog myPathfinder for the myFootpath website. myFootpath is a resource to help you in your search for a college, degree program, career, graduate school, and non-traditional experiences. Visit www.myfootpath.com to start your college or degree program search.

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World Cup 2014 at Porto Alegre

One of the most anticipated events in the sporting world happens to be the FIFA World Cup, which is having its 20th edition this year. It is the biggest single-event sporting competition in the world and is held once every four years. Fans of the game across the globe follow the gaming action live, watch their favorite players vie for glory on the field and witness new records being set.

Brazil, which has won the title five times and are the only team to have qualified for every tournament since its start, will play host this year to the FIFA World Cup which begins on 12th June, 2014. Porto Alegre has been gearing up to host the FIFA World Cup 2014 ever since Brazil was declared as the host nation. From revamping its stadiums to upgrading its public utility services, they are leaving no stone unturned to give football fans a once in a lifetime experience.

The city has worn a festive look and going all out to impress one and all. The Estadio Beira-Rio stadium, which will be will be hosting five games, has undergone a complete makeover in preparation of the FIFA World Cup. Not only has the overall infrastructure of the stadium has been revamped to accommodate the teeming multitude of soccer fans, but an extra and creative metal roof has also been installed to cover the stands, ramps and the turnstile areas.

Live action station

The place where all the live action will take place starting 12th June, 2014, is the Estadio Beira-Rio. The stadium is located on the banks of the River Guaiba, and has a picture-postcard setting to it. Estadio Beira-Rio, which has saw many a scintillating derby matches and has also hosted four Copa Libertadores finals, is slated to host five games in the FIFA World Cup. The match that has excited everybody is the Round-of-16 tie. Beira-Rio has a seating capacity of 50,287, a number that was largely boosted due to the construction project that the stadium authorities undertook as a part of the revamping process. Being the largest football ground in southern Brazil, the Beira-Rio has some eye-catching support features as well. Furthermore, it has superb connectivity to ease smooth inflow and outflow of spectators at the time of the matches.

Weather during the World Cup

Porto Alegre has four very defined seasons and generally has a warm, humid temperate climate with hot summers and no dry season. Summer months have average temperatures ranging from 27ºC to 35ºC, with temperatures sometimes exceeding the 35ºC mark as well. Winters here are quite cold with records of subzero temperatures as well as heavy snow. But compared to the other capitals of Brazil, Porto Alegre has a milder climate with an annual average temperature of 19.5ºC. In the months of June-July (at the time of the World Cup), Porto Alegre is expected to have cool weather with temperatures hovering between 20-23ºC accompanied by calm to gentle breeze. Such weather conditions will not only be enjoyable for the live spectators at the stadium, but also for the players who will benefit from the absence of sweltering heat and humidity.

Games and their Dates for this city

Porto Alegre will play host to nine teams who will play a total of five matches during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Although the details are not known yet, what is known is that of the nine teams, one team will certainly play more than once. Even though Brazil is hosting this edition of the World Cup, the host team will not get a chance to play at the Estadio Beira-Rio at Porto Alegre.

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2014 World Cup

The 2014 World Cup maybe some way off yet, indeed we have yet to witness the 2010 version in South Africa. Nevertheless, even though some 5 years away there is already a world cup buzz in Brazil.

The 2014 venues have recently been chosen, they are as follows:

As with all selection processes there are winners and losers, the winners are, the capital, Brasilia (no shock there), naturally too, Rio and Sao Paulo are selected. Belo Horizonte gets some of the games as does Porto Alegre, Curitiba in the south and Cuiaba in Central Brazil.

The north-east has done very well, with 3 cities chosen, Salvador, Recife/Olinda and Fortaleza. The Amazon region too has been selected (would have been an uproar if it hadn't) . There were only 2 possible venues, Belem or Manaus, the latter prevailed leaving the city of Belem very disappointed.

2 of the 3 north-eastern world cup venues have something extra to smile about, as Recife and Salvador get new stadiums (currently being built). All other venues will use existing stadia with extensive modernisations and improvements.

The official announcement citing the selected cities caused ripples of regional excitement as of course, hosting the world cup affords great opportunities for regeneration, notwithstanding more jobs and more investment. There is however a price to pay, such as state and local governments have to organize everything and ensure they meet the guarantees the Brazilian Federal Government have given FIFA.  

Everyone is excited, but nervous too, as all Brazilian's know the spotlight will be on them not only in terms of footballing pressure but other pressure factors too, such as; social and economic.

Brazilian's are very conscious of the world's eyes staring at them and will want to put on a show (and paper over any cracks too) - and I fully expect a treat come 2014 from the country of soccer [http://brazilwithoutborders.com/index.html] and samba.  

One of the best sites in English, for Brazilian football is this Brazilian Soccer Site [http://brazilwithoutborders.com/worldcup2014.html] There are weekly football previews there too in addition to 2014 world cup updates.

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FIFA 2014 World Cup Soccer - Who Won 1930 Through 1962?

The FIFA 2014 World Cup comes to Brazil, but who won the first Championship and when?

The First Cup was in 1930 in Uruguay, South America. The tournament celebrated Uruguay's Centenary Constitution and because they were the 1928 defending Summer Olympic Soccer Champions. Thirteen Teams Participated, 7 from South America, 4 from Europe and 2 from North America. All the games were played in Montevideo, Uruguay, and the 4 semi-finalists were Argentina, Yugoslavia, United States and Uruguay. Uruguay defeated Argentina 4-2 in the finals and became first FIFA Champion.

The second FIFA World Championship was held in 1934 in Italy. Thirty two teams participated and 16 qualified for the championship round. Italy defeated Czechoslovakia 2-1 and became the second World Champion.

The 1938 FIFA World Cup was a staged in France as European War Clouds gathered and Italy retained it's championship beating Hungry 4-2 in the finals.

The 1950 FIFA World Championship was held in Brazil in June and July. This championship was the first since 1938 because 1942 and 1946 tournaments had been cancelled because of the European wars. Uruguay won the title beating host Brazil 2-1 in the final game in front of 200 thousand stunned Brazilian fans.

The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the 5th World Tournament and staged in Switzerland in June and July in the shadows of the Alps. The tournament was won by West Germany who beat Hungary 3-2 in the finals giving Germany their first title.

The 1958 FIFA Championship was staged by Sweden in June and the title was won by Brazil. They beat Sweden 5-2 in the finals for their first Cup victory. This was the only championship in Cup history in Europe a South American team won. The tournament debuted 17-year-old Pelé.

The seventh FIFA Cup in 1962 was held in Chile in May and June. Brazil won back-to-back titles 1958 and 1962. They retained their championship by beating Czechoslovakia 3-1 in the finals. This marked the second time a country defended a World title successfully.

For Information About FIFA 2014 Brazil World Cup [http://fifa2014worldcupsoccer.com], See [http://www.FIFA2014WorldCupSoccer.com]

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Brazil - The World Cup Football Destination of 2014

World Cup Football is a global phenomenon that has passed through all cultural boundaries in the world. Every sport lover in this world dreams about watching the game LIVE. With the 2014 tournament just around the corner, a lot many people have already started preparing for the occasion. Brazil being the host country is already qualified to play the Game. Apart from Brazil, other countries like Japan, Australia, South Korea, Iran, Italy, Argentina and Unites States and Costa Rica have all successfully qualified themselves as official entry teams of the 2014 FIFA Tournament.

Just like fairytale stories, people would like to get tickets to the biggest sports event that is World Cup football 2014. World Cup tickets and their prices have recently been revealed by FIFA. There is nothing more fascinating than having the event tickets in your hand and watch the live game of your favorite Football stars right in front of you.

Brazil Tour:

If you have already bought the tickets to the FIFIA world tournament, then you should note down few places that you must visit before you leave the country. The Morro do Careca is one of the most attractive destinations of Brazil. It is a large dune and is situated in Natal. The height of the dune is about 120 meters and this makes it magnificent. It is placed right inside the beach of Ponta Negra and it is considered to be one of the best beaches of Brazil.

If you look in to the past, then you will be able to know that it was once a famous spot for entertainment and recreation in Brazil. Skibunda was a device which was widely used by tourists to climbing and getting down the tall hill. However, few environmental led to the closure of the hill for the common tourists. This step was taken for the overall protection of the dune.

Now, it would be totally foolish for a nature lover to miss out the Iguazu Falls. These are waterfalls which can be seen from both Argentina and Brazil. These falls are amazing to look at and thousand s of visitors religiously tour the country to make a visit to the falls.

Buying Tickets:

There are many websites that have started selling World Cup tickets online. They are also providing effective package deals. The packages have been carefully designed to make sure that everyone gets the best share of the biggest game of the world.

The opening game packages generally include 7 days of stay in Brazil and the tickets to the opening match, including the ceremony. These packages are very limited. However, if you book them now, then you will definitely be able to get one for yourself and for your other family members.

Conclusion:

Now, package developers have also designed packages that will help you to watch all the matches of your favorite team. For instance, if Brazil is your favorite team, then you can book tickets to watch all their games and will be availed with all their match tickets. Now, if the team pushes to the finals, then you might be able to watch the final game.

Nolan Perker is a well known author who writes for world cup tickets and many other topics about Brazil World Cup 2014. He regularly contributes for the 2014brazilworldcuptickets.com

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Why Visit Brazil?

Whether you are looking for an exotic holiday destination to spend time on the holidays, looking for a place to invest the money or just want to have some fun in a great sunny place, Brazil is just for you! Why you should go there?

There are tons of reasons why to visit Brazil. If you are a football fan you won't probably need any other words as '2014 FIFA Football World Cup' as a reason. But for others there is also something interesting. Like for example miles of sandy beaches. Those beaches have terrific golden sands and clear waters. Brazilian beaches are not surprisingly a focal point for family and friends to spend quality time with each other. If you don't like only laying back and relaxing on the sand you can choose volleyball which is, after football of course, the most favourite Brazilian sport.

Looking for more entertainment? All right: Rio Carnival. Brazilian people love to party that's why they have their own unique carnival. This event happens annually in February. So once a year Rio hosts a thousands of gorgeous and fun-filled people wanted to feel the emotions of the best carnival in the world. And Brazilian people are also known as most musical people. They love to sing, laugh, listen to hot music. And of course they are a passionate of dancing. They not only like to do this but also know how. Their Latino style is enjoyed all around the world

Living is not only sports, carnivals, dancing and beaches! It is also food. While going to Brazil you will feel how it is to be in heaven of great food and wonderful drinks. For example very exotic juices are available in abundance - not only from avocado, passion fruit or papaya but also fruits that don't exist any other place like acai and guarana. As it comes to cuisine the types of dishes depend on the region. For example the national dish in Rio is feijoada ( black bean stew, with cuttings of pork and with a slice of orange) while in other regions there are different opinions in this subject.

And why invest in Brazil? Well, some reasons are the same as the one which encourage you to visit Brazil - it's a beautiful country, with nice (and also beautiful) people where every invested minute and every invested penny is getting back in a second. But not let me be pointless with those words and listen to some economy/facts:

* Brazil, South America's strongest economy, has the tenth largest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the world
* Brazil is not only the largest producer of coffee beans in the world, but also a leading manufacturer of aircraft and mobile phones.
* Gold, platinum, petroleum and iron ore are some examples of Brazil's vast natural resources.
* Brazil's tourism trade has been increasing at a rapid pace and the Government's National Tourism Plan has identified concrete objectives for the foreseeable future.

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