World Cup Daily: Government no-show; Stars on parade; Jose loves Aussies; Brilliant Belgium
THE Socceroos may have to negotiate one of the tougher groups in Russia but that hasn’t swayed big-time supporter Jose Mourinho. The ‘Special One’ is also mixing with some superstars.
Football
Don't miss out on the headlines from Football. Followed categories will be added to My News.
AUSTRALIA may have to negotiate one of the toughest groups in Russia but that hasn’t swayed Jose Mourinho.
The Manchester United manager — speaking to the RT Television Channel — predicted the Socceroos will finish second behind France and reach the round of 16.
That’s not bad considering the other two teams in Group C — Denmark and Peru — are both ranked in the world’s top 11 teams in the latest FIFA rankings.
“I think France, no problems, will finish first,” Mourinho said.
“Big fight to finish second. I’ll go for a surprise. C’mon Australia, let’s finish second!”
Picking Australia to reach the final 16 wasn’t his only surprise choice. Even though hosts Russia are in the midst of a dire run of form, he choose them to finish second in Group A behind Uruguay.
Superstars on show in Cup advert
Zinedine Zidane is back on the sidelines of a football field — but only as part of Adidas’ star-studded new World Cup advert.
The former Real Madrid manager is among a host of superstars from around the globe to have appeared in the sportswear giant’s campaign.
Zidane, who left Real Madrid last week after leading the club to an unprecedented third consecutive Champions League trophy, is pitch-side in a five-a-side cage match.
England’s Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard both feature in the game, as well as Mohamed Salah, Heung-Min Son, Roberto Firmino and David de Gea.
The advert starts and ends with Adidas and football’s most valuable asset, Lionel Messi.
The Argentinian is seen striding through a studio followed by shots of the German sportswear giant’s most well-known stars.
Paul Pogba, Luis Suarez and former England captain David Beckham all feature, as well as Jose Mourinho, the Manchester United manager, who is up against Zidane in the cage match.
Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil appears as well as Gabriel Jesus, the Manchester City striker who is making his first appearance at a World Cup for Brazil.
Federal Government staying away
THE Australian Government is steering clear of the World Cup, deciding against sending an official delegation to the tournament hosted in Russia.
The fraught and frosty relationship between the two nations, at opposite ends of the geopolitical spectrum, means Australia effectively joins the United Kingdom in a state boycott of the tournament.
The opening match and final of each World Cup are usually richly attended by heads of state and government representatives, becoming informal negotiating events.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop briefly touted the possibility of a boycott of the tournament in March, quickly clarifying that she was referring to a governmental boycott.
This week, she confirmed there will would be no Australian representatives travelling to Russia.
“The Australian Government will not interfere in the decisions of the Football Federation of Australia in relation to the World Cup,” Bishop said.
“The Australian Ambassador to Moscow will attend the Socceroos games.”
Australia has regularly protested against Russian human rights abuses and international law breaches, including the 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
Last month, Ms Bishop accused the Russian government of “direct involvement” in the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17, also in 2014, which killed 38 Australians.
While these issues are firmly on the mind of the Australian Government, and many fans heading to the world’s biggest sporting event, FFA and the Socceroos are eager not to be implicated.
The prevailing view from FFA is that those questions aren’t something that should see Australia — or any of its players — withdraw, and there is no genuine push from any corner to do so.
When asked whether they held concerns over playing at a World Cup in Russia given its human rights record, some Socceroos expressed private concerns, some didn’t have an interest in global affairs, others shrugged.
Some complained at being asked the question and none were prepared to speak publicly, eager to keep the focus on football as they prepare to step out on the game’s biggest stage.
Brilliant Belgium flex muscles
Belgium showed flashes of their attacking prowess, beating Egypt 3-0 in a World Cup warm-up with the help of goals from Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard.
After a dominant first half, substitute Marouane Fellaini swept home from close range in injury time to complete the scoring.
Egypt, held goalless for the second time in three matches, showed how much they miss injured Liverpool star Mohamed Salah.
Driven forward by the speed and insight of Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne, Belgium were 2-0 up at halftime before losing some fluency amid a flurry of substitutions after the break.
Salah, Egypt’s great scoring hope for the World Cup, is still recovering from the shoulder injury he suffered in the Champions League final which Liverpool lost 3-1 to Real Madrid.
The defeat was Egypt’s final warm-up before Russia, while Belgium play Costa Rica early next week.
Egypt opens their World Cup campaign in Russia against Uruguay on June 16 while Belgium’s first Group G match is against Panama on June 19.
Panama and Nigeria both suffered 1-0 defeats in their final tune-ups against Norway and the Czech Republic respectively.
Tomas Kalas scored the winner in Austria, for the Czechs, who were beaten 4-0 by the Socceroos last weekend.
The Super Eagles also lost against England last week ahead of their sixth participation at the World Cup and are on a five-match winless streak.
But Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr is not troubled, despite having to contend with former champions Argentina, Croatia and newcomers Iceland in a tricky Group D.
“I don’t worry about friendly results,” said Rohr.
“We are not ready now for the World Cup but we will be ready in 10 days.”
Israel fumes after Argentina snub
Argentina officials have apologised to Israel for cancelling a pre-World Cup friendly between the two nations, but said their players’ safety was under threat.
Some Israeli politicians have accused the Argentine team of caving to terrorism in cancelling the match following pro-Palestinian protests.
The protests included images of Argentina’s white and sky-blue striped jersey stained with red paint to resemble blood and threats to burn posters of Argentina star Lionel Messi.
Claudio Tapia, president of the Argentine Football Association, apologised for cancelling the match but stood by the decision.
“What has happened in the last 72 hours, the actions, the threats that have occurred have led us to take the decision not to travel,” he said in Barcelona, where the Argentine team is training prior to the start of the World Cup next week.
“(We) apologise to the Israeli community. It’s nothing against the Israeli community, the Jewish community and I would like everyone to take this decision as a contribution to world peace,” he said.
Star’s family staying home over racism fears
England defender Danny Rose says his family won’t go to Russia over fears of being racially abused.
The Russian Football Union was fined $38,500 by FIFA last month for racist chances by fans towards France players during a friendly match in St Petersburg, one of the host cities for the tournament.
“I’m not worried for myself,” Rose said.
.
“But I’ve told my family I don’t want them going out there because of racism and anything else that may happen.
“My dad’s really upset. I could hear it in his voice. He said he may never get a chance again to come and watch me in a World Cup. That was emotional, hearing that.”
Rose criticised FIFA’s fine, saying it was nowhere near enough to be a deterrent.
“That fine is disgusting,” he said.
He added that England have discussed what to do if they face racist behaviour at the World Cup, and told the Standard players had discussed walking off the pitch in such an event.
“Whatever we do here isn’t going to change what is happening all around the world,” Rose said.
“I’m just numb to it now. Nothing is going to change. I just get on with it. It shouldn’t be like that but it is.
“Until it actually happens, and under what circumstances, it’s hard to say what you’d actually do.”
Matildas star ready for fresh start after Games heartache
Star forward Caitlin Foord is still scratching her head about why the Matildas flopped at the Olympics as she yearns for the return of a “fun” and “positive” atmosphere in the squad.
Matildas star unsure ‘what went wrong’ at Olympics
Why the Matildas performed poorly at the Olympics remains a mystery to one of their best players.