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FIFA Ballon d’Or reviewed | Transfer fi gures revealed | New anti-doping test profi led | Preparations in Brazil | Celebrations in Russia | Ambitions in Qatar | Africa’s new champions | Argentina’s blind hero | America’s unlikely fi lm star

March 2012

March 2012

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3 FIFA WORLD I MARCH 2012

EDITORIAL

“I was deeply shocked

and saddened by the

tragic incidents in the

Egyptian city of Port

Said. At the same time,

I have called for a full

report into this black

day for football in

order to ensure that

such catastrophes

can be avoided in the

future.”

An emotional few weeksDear friends of football,

The fi rst two months of this year have already seen a number of footballing spectacles and celebrations which have served as a reminder of the global joy which our game inspires. At the same time, following the recent terrible events in Egypt, we have also witnessed how that joy can be tarnished.

In January, the leading stars of both the men’s and women’s game descended upon Zurich for the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2011, an event which saw Lionel Messi winning FIFA’s top men’s individual honour for the thirdconsecutive year. On an emotional evening, Japan’s FIFA Women’s World Cup-winning captain Homare Sawa was crowned Women’s World Player ofthe Year, and Sir Alex Ferguson received the Presidential Award in recognition of his 25 years of continued success at just one club.

In February, I then had the pleasure of travelling to the Gabonese capital, Libreville, to attend the fi nal of the Africa Cup of Nations, and see Zambia crowned continental champions for the fi rst time in their history.

While the FIFA Ballon d’Or and Africa Cup of Nations both symbolised the joie de vivre with which football should always be associated, last month also showed the dangers to which our game can be exposed. I was deeplyshocked and saddened by the tragic incidents in the Egyptian city of PortSaid and expressed my deepest sympathies to all those affected. At thesame time, I have called for a full report into this black day for football inorder to ensure that such catastrophes can be avoided in the future.

While, sadly, there is still clearly work to be done to ensure that football stadiums around the world can be viewed purely as places for peaceful celebrations, we can continue to take heart from the large number of positive stories surrounding our game, which, thankfully, far outweighthe negative ones.

This latest issue of FIFA World contains several such stories, including dthe incredible tales of Silvio Velo, the captain of Argentina’s blind football team, and USA defender Jay DeMerit, whose unlikely rise up the footballingladder was recently turned into a documentary fi lm.

There are also updates on all three of the next FIFA World Cups™, aswe take a look at the continuing preparations for Brazil 2014, the growing excitement building up around Russia 2018, and the astonishing sporting ambitions which are already bearing fruit ahead of Qatar 2022.

Football has acquired an unprecedented global reach and magnitude in recent years and we must do our utmost to ensure that the sport is alwaysseen in a positive light. With diligence, passion and common respect for ourfellow humans, however, I remain confi dent that our game will continue to be a force for good.

Joseph S. Blatter


Splashing the cashJanuary’s player transfer window witnessed another major spending spree by clubslooking to shake up their dressing rooms during the European winter break. Figures published by FIFA subsidiary TransferMatching System in February revealed that clubs around the world spent around USD 400 million on international transfersduring the period – an increase of 25% on the January 2011 fi gure of USD 320 million.Paris Saint-Germain were among the bigspenders, bringing in Brazilian international Maxwell from Barcelona and Brazilian-born Italian international Thiago Motta(pictured) from Inter Milan. While European clubs accounted for 84% of the spendingon international transfers during the month,that fi gure was down from 92% in January2011 – suggesting that European clubs might no longer have things all their ownway when it comes to luring the world’sbest players.

Zambians crownedZambia are the surprise new champions ofAfrica following a penalty shoot-out victory over Côte d’Ivoire in the 12 February fi nalof the CAF Africa Cup of Nations. After120 minutes of goalless action and 16penalties had failed to separate the sides in the Gabonese capital of Libreville, it was left to Zambian midfi elder Stoppila Sunzu to complete an 8-7 shoot-out victory after Côte d’Ivoire’s Gervinho missed thetarget with his kick. Zambia’s title triumph was their fi rst in international football and capped a series of surprises at this year’s Cup of Nations. For a full review of thetournament, turn to page 38.

Black day in EgyptAt least 79 people died after violent clashes broke out following an Egyptianleague match between Al-Masry and Al-Ahly at the Port Said Stadium on 1 February. More than 1,000 injuries wererecorded as the crowd attempted to fl eethe stadium, while players were forced torun from the pitch to escape chasing fans. Following the tragedy, FIFA said it would be working closely with the Egyptian footballauthorities to determine the causes. Worldfootball’s governing body also said it would donate fi nancial aid of USD 250,000 to the

families of the victims. “I stated after the tragedy that this day was a black day for football, and I’m still very shocked by what happened,” said FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter. “Many of the victims were soyoung. The football community, including FIFA, must assist its Egyptian brothers andsisters.”

Match-fi xing bansFIFA sent a clear message around the world in February that match-fi xing andillegal betting will not be tolerated by extending 26 sanctions imposed by the Turkish and Finnish Football Associationsto have worldwide effect. Taking in players, coaches, club and match offi cials, the 24bans imposed in Turkey, which ranged from one-year to lifetime exclusions from football-related activities, were the result of a vast investigation into alleged match-fi xing and betting on matches in the country’s league championship. Two players were given two-year suspensionsfrom all football activities following a similar investigation in Finland. “FIFA’s commitment to tackling match-fi xing isunwavering,” said FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke. “If you do not play by the rules, you will be punished.”

Aroundthe world

5

12

38 496

FIFA WORLD I MARCH 2012

6Libreville, Bata, ManchesterStriking images from the world of football

12Golden boyAnother hat-trick for Lionel Messi

20An eye on BrazilFIFA steps up cooperation with 2014 organisers

24CentennialcelebrationsRussian football looks back – and forward

28Moving costsBehind the international transfer headlines

38African kingsAn emotional triumphfor Zambia

44Thinking bigQatar’s footballing aspirations

49From pub to screenThe improbable rise of Jay DeMerit

54Blind ambitionMeet the skipper of Argentina’s “bat pack”

60AssociationsSão Tomé celebration, Capello resignation

62World rankingZambia and Gabon reap Africa Cup rewards

64ArchiveRemembering Russia’s“Black Panther”

VIEW NEWS FOCUS SUMMARY

Inside this issue


VIEW

Showing their coloursGabon fans celebrate the co-hosts’ second goal against Niger in the group stage of this year’s CAF Africa Cup of Nations while a painted Senegal supporter waits for the game against Equatorial Guinea to begin.

7 FIFA WORLD I VIEW


9 FIFA WORLD I VIEW

Hangthis…

gNorwegian international Brede Hangeland seems to have had enough as his Fulham side endure a snowy 3-0 defeat away to English Premier League high-fl iers Manchester City in February.


Letters to FIFAA selection of comments from the FIFA World and FIFA.com mailbagsd

January/February issue

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

Bravo Barça!Thank you to the magnifi cent Barcelonateam whose performances at the FIFA Club World Cup showed the world howthe beautiful game should be played and enjoyed by the millions of fansworldwide. Their emphatic destructionof Santos was quite simply a masterclass. If they continue to play so beautifully, they will have no equals!

FIFA.com user (Australia)

What a wonderful performance by Barcelona. They dominated from thefi rst minute of the fi rst match. But no one should judge Messi and Neymar based on this one game. Barcelona area dream team and Santos are “just” a good team. Let’s wait for the 2014 FIFA World Cup – that’s when we’ll really be able to say who’s the better player.

FIFA.com user (Brazil)

Interestingly, nine of the 11 players on Barça’s winning team came up through their La Masia youth academy. This shows that organic development and staying true to your own unique style of football works.

FIFA.com user (USA)

Barcelona were fantastic! Hopefully,they will keep playing this style offootball forever and stay faithful to their tradition of beautiful football. Long liveBarcelona!

FIFA.com user (Ecuador)

Race to BrazilZico is making excellent progresswith Iraq. It really looks like he’ll takeus to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Iraqalways get good results with Braziliancoaches.

Hassan (Iraq)

As an Argentinian, I would just like tosay well done to Venezuela! I hope that Argentina’s title drought will end at thenext World Cup and Messi will justify the comparisons that are being madebetween him and Maradona. Come onArgentina!

FIFA.com user (Mexico)

I want Venezuela and Bolivia to doas well as they can in the World Cup qualifi ers because I want football in South America to be competitive and well-balanced, without any talk of

“small teams”. And obviously I want my home country Colombia to improveand win.

Walterino (Colombia)

With its 2-1 victory over Tonga, American Samoa showed the worldjust how far its football has progressedsince its 31-0 defeat to Australia 11 years ago.

FIFA.com user (USA)

The [CONCACAF third round] group with Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guyana is an interesting one.Mexico are the favourites to win it, butyou never know, the other teams couldget some unexpected wins and turn it into a surprise group. Form will be an important factor – whichever teamsshow the best form will qualify.

FIFA.com user (USA)

Rebuilding Haitian football | Tackling match- xing | Growing the women’s game | Race to Brazil heats up | 2012 year preview | Tokyo Exco review | Green Goal success | New goalkeeper courses | Ethiopia’s nest hour | Year-end rankings

January/February 2012

On top of the worldBarcelona take FIFA Club World Cup by storm

11 FIFA WORLD I VIEW

Tackling match-fi xingIt’s sad to see the amount of money being made from this illegal business, but it’s also a relief to know that something is being done about it.

FIFA.com user (Mexico)

I agree that match-fi xing in the worldgame needs to be tackled and am happy that FIFA’s security departmentis playing a crucial role in applyingprevention measures.

FIFA.com user (England)

True greatDr Socrates was a real surgeon on thefi eld. He was very elegant and played

artistic football alongside Zico, Falcao and Eder. We may never see another player of his ability. Rest in peace, Socrates.

FIFA.com user (USA)

The great players always make everything look easy and Socrates was no exception. He was the captain ofone of the best teams not to win aWorld Cup.

FIFA.com user (Trinidad and Tobago)

I remember watching the 1982 World Cup and he was a class act. He seemed to glide across the pitch and the ballwas tied to his boot lace. His goal

against the USSR at the 1982 FIFA World Cup was fantastic. I have great memories of him. RIP the bearded one.

FIFA.com user (Wales)

SupermessiLionel Messi’s reputation soared even higher in January as the Barcelona and Argentina forward was named the world’s best playerfor a historic third straight year. For more, see page 12.


NEWS

13 FIFA WORLD I NEWS

It was the crowning moment of this year’sFIFA Ballon d’Or gala, even if the outcome itself had been widely predicted by most football fans in the months leading up to the glittering awards ceremony. For the third year in a row, Barcelona’s diminutive Argentinian forward Lionel Messi was hailed as the world’s best player, following on from his triumph at the inaugural FIFA Ballon d’Or 2010 and its previous incarnation, the FIFA World Player Gala, in 2009.

Messi’s margin of victory was once again emphatic, with the 24-year-old star picking up more than twice as many votes as his nearest rival, the 2008 FIFA World Player Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi’s Barça team-mate Xavi was named as the third-best player for a third consecutive year after receiving just over nine per cent of the votes cast by national team coaches and captains, and football journalists selected by French magazine France Football.

Coming off the back of another impressive year for Barcelona, in which the Catalan club secured the Spanish league and Super Cup, lifted the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Super Cup trophies and then capped their achievements with a second FIFA Club World Cup in three years, it was certainly no big surprise to

Lionel Messi has cemented his reputation as the leading footballer of his generation after being voted the world’s best player for a third straight year.

By Mark Ledsom, Zurich

Messi’s triple triumph

p

hear Messi’s name read out at the Zurich Kongresshaus. Rather, the drama camefrom the sense of history being made as Messi’s status as the undisputed king of world football was confi rmed once again.

Although two other players (Ronaldo and Zinédine Zidane) had previously won the FIFA World Player award three times, Messi is the fi rst to do so in consecutive years. Michel Platini, the former French midfi eld maestro turned UEFA President, was the only other player to achieve a similar run of success, winning the France Football Ballon d’Or three times between l1983 and 1985 – though that award was only open at the time to European players based at European clubs.

“It’s a huge pleasure and a huge honour for me to get this award for a third time,” Messi told the Zurich audience after receiving the award from Ronaldo. “I would like to share this pleasure with the people who voted for me and I also want to thank my Barcelona and Argentina team-mates.”

Barça’s nightOn a night in which Barcelona’s current dominance of club football was plain for all to see, Messi and Xavi were among a quintet of Barça stars selected for the


FIFA/FIFPro World XI, with team-mates Gerard Piqué, Dani Alves and Andrés Iniesta also making it onto the dream team.

The fantasy line-up, chosen by members of the world players’ union, was drawn exclusively from three clubs, with Real Madrid quartet Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso and Cristiano Ronaldo joining Manchester United’s Nemanja Vidić and Wayne Rooney in the talent-packed side.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola was also among those honoured in Zurich, with the 40-year-old manager being named as the

FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men’sFootball, ahead of Manchester Unitedmanager Sir Alex Ferguson and Real Madridcoach José Mourinho, the winner of lastyear’s inaugural FIFA World Coach award.

“I would like to share this award withJosé Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson,because it is an honour to be a colleagueof yours and of all the coaches aroundthe world who love this game,” saidGuardiola, a former graduate of Barça’syouth academy who went on to makenearly 400 appearances for the club’s

senior team, and has now won 13 major titles with the Spanish giants since taking over as coach in June 2008.

“I also want to dedicate this to the thousands of people who have worked at Barcelona for more than 100 years and helped to develop one of the best clubs in the world,” Guardiola added. “It is a privilege to be a part of this magnifi cent club.”

Sweet for SawaWhile Barcelona took the top two prizes in the men’s categories, Japan were the night’s other main winners, with the country’s representatives taking home no fewer than three awards.

Japan’s title triumph at last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup™ was strongly reflected in the women’s football categories, with Nadeshiko team captain Homare Sawa being named FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year while team coach Norio Sasaki was voted FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women’s Football.

“I am really happy that I was able to add a new page to Japanese football history, and even happier that my award will show Japanese children that a Japanese player can win a Ballon d’Or,” a kimono-clad Sawa told reporters immediately after the ceremony.

Sawa’s success ensured a rare second place for Marta, as the Brazilian star’s

FIFA Ballon d’Or:Lionel Messi (47.88%)Cristiano Ronaldo (21.6%)Xavi (9.23%)

FIFA Women’s World Player:Homare Sawa (28.51%)Marta (17.28%)Abby Wambach (13.26%)

FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men’s Football:Pep Guardiola (41.92%)Sir Alex Ferguson (15.61%)José Mourinho (12.43%)

FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women’s Football:Norio Sasaki (45.7%)Pia Sundhage (15.83%)Bruno Bini (10.28%)

FIFA Ballon d’Or 2011 – the winners

FIFA/FIFPro World XI:Iker Casillas; Dani Alves, Gerard Piqué, Sergio Ramos, Nemanja Vidić; XabiAlonso, Andrés Iniesta, Xavi; CristianoRonaldo, Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney

FIFA Puskás Award:Neymar

FIFA Presidential Award:Sir Alex Ferguson

FIFA Fair Play Award:Japan Football Association

FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter gets the gala festivities under way.


Lionel Messi’s historic coronation as the world’s best footballer for a third straight year prompted plenty of speculation at the FIFA Ballon d’Or gala as to whether the Argentinian star can already be considered the best player of all time.

While Messi himself has repeatedly shied away from talk comparing him to the greats of previous years, stating once again in Zurich that his plan was to “just try to enjoy every moment, enjoy some great experiences and win titles,” there was no shortage of football talents past and present in attendance at the gala expressing views on the subject.

“Messi is currently the world’s best player, and he may well be the best player of all time,” said former world champion and two-time Ballon d’Or winner Franz Beckenbauer. “But we’ll only fi nd out in time. In the coming years, we’ll see if he really is the number one.”

Raymond Kopa, the former French international who won three consecutive European Cups with Real Madrid and was awarded the Ballon d’Or in 1958, was meanwhile among those who pointed out that most of Messi’s major achievements to date have been in club football.

“We shouldn’t forget that when he plays for Argentina, he doesn’t get his way as much,” Kopa said. “He’s surrounded by great players when he plays for his club. It was similar with me. I won the Ballon d’Or because I had some brilliant team-mates around me. You never reach number one all by yourself.”

Other gala attendants were somewhat sceptical about the validity of even comparing players of different generations.

“Messi is the whole package, a born fi nisher with a real killer instinct, even if he seems very nice off the pitch,” said UEFA President Michel Platini, the only other player in the men’s game to have won the Ballon d’Or in three successive years. “But you shouldn’t try to place him in time. He’s the great player of this generation, just like there were great players in other generations.

“It’s only in football that people compare generations. I’ve never heard someone compare [Italian pop singer] Adriano Celentano, The Beatles or Edith Piaf, but in football it happens.”

Echoing Kopa, Platini said he also felt that Messi could do with a FIFA World Cup win with Argentina to assure him of a place alongside the likes of Pelé or Maradona.

“Messi will always be great with or without the World Cup … but the World Cup does something special,” the Frenchman insisted. “Look at Diego Maradona, everyone remembers what he did in 1986, nobody remembers so much what he did with Napoli, with Barcelona. It’s the World Cup which sticks in people’s minds.”

While Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson agreed with Platini’s general point about the diffi culty of comparing across the generations, he insisted that Messi had certainly earned his place among the all-time greats.

“There is this generational thing of course, and a lot of critics over the years have addressed this question and asked whether a player like Pelé would be able to play at today’s level,” Ferguson pointed out. “But my answer to that is that great players can play in any generation. They would all be able to play at any level simply because they are great players – and Lionel Messi without any question comes into that category.”

Sitting beside Ferguson at the time, Messi’s coach Pep Guardiola said he was happy to bow to the Scottish manager’s greater experience.

“It’s a good question for Sir Alex because he was lucky enough to see the likes of Pelé and Di Stéfano play,” Guardiola grinned. “But I think we’ll agree with Sir Alex and say that Leo can sit with that group of players. Those are huge words and it’s now up to him and what he does in future to see if he can stay there.”

incredible run of fi ve consecutive FIFA Women’s World Player awards fi nally came to an end. American striker Abby Wambach, whose side narrowly lost out to the Japanese in last year’s thrilling fi nal, took third place.

“I had been feeling satisfied with the fact that I made it to the last three nominees alongside Marta and Abby, so I was surprised and totally delighted to receive the award,” Sawa added. “The trophy is actually really heavy, and I felt that it was fi lled with the weight of the 18

years since I joined the national team and the 30 years since Japan started playing women’s football.

“Our success in Germany also came just a few months after the terrible earthquake that struck Japan last year. Even though all we did was win a football competition, so many people told us that our victory raised their spirits and gave them the courage to carry on. So helping my compatriots to feel that way made me very happy indeed.”

Coming onto the stage to accept the coach’s award, Sasaki also refl ected on the

wider national signifi cance of his team’s tournament victory.

“In Germany, throughout the FIFA Women’s World Cup matches, we managed to show our courage and also provide support and courage to the Japanese people,” Sasaki told the gala audience. “There were also many, many people from the football family who provided support and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them. I am just so overwhelmed and excited because I feel this award has been presented to the entire Japan team.”

Simply the best – ever?


The Japan Football Association’s efforts to boost morale across the country in the wake of last year’s catastrophe were additionally recognised at the gala, with the association receiving the FIFA Fair Play Award. As well as commending the association for its post-disaster activities, the award recognised the fact that Japanese teams won Fair Play Awards at two FIFA tournaments (the FIFA U-17 World Cup and the FIFA Women’s World Cup) in the space of eight days, and also ended a diffi cult year with an exemplary hosting of the FIFA Club World Cup.

“We received the FIFA Fair Play Award once before, following our joint hosting of the 2002 FIFA World Cup with Korea Republic, but to win again this year is very special,” JFA President and former FIFA Executive Committee member Junji Ogura said after the show. “Last year we also had the 90th anniversary of our association and, thanks to our women’s team, became world champions for the fi rst time. To receive these awards on top of all that, I really think I am a blessed president.”

Feting FergusonIn addition to finishing runner-up to Guardiola in the FIFA World Coach of the Year vote, Sir Alex Ferguson received the special accolade of the FIFA Presidential Award in honour of his “outstanding dedication, commitment and service to football” during 37 years as a coach. Coming onto the stage to hand over the award, FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter listed the 30 major trophies won by Ferguson to date, and made particular reference to his staggering 25-year reign as manager of Manchester United.

“In today’s world, where coaches are expected to produce instant results or be [dismissed], his longevity is absolutely extraordinary, and a shining example of what can be achieved through stability, continuity, investment in development and trust and confi dence in the coach himself,” Blatter told the audience before calling Ferguson to the stage.

“What an honour to give me in the twilight of my life!” replied the coach with a grin. “This is very much appreciated and

in recognition of my 25 years at a club that always shared my vision and passion. Manchester United is a special club, which has always retained the courage to play to try to win. We don’t always win, sometimes we lose. But we always try to win, and that’s more important than anything.”

As well as refl ecting on one man’s contribution to the game over the course of 37 years, the gala also celebrated what can be achieved in the space of 12 seconds, with a dazzling run and strike scored by rising Brazil and Santos FC star Neymar picking up the FIFA Puskás Award for the “most beautiful goal” of the year.

“I think it’s the best goal I’ve ever scored,” acknowledged a grinning Neymar after the show, as the highly rated 19-year-old recalled his solo effort against Flamengo in a Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A match played in July of last year. Picking up the ball near the touchline, Neymar weaved his way past two opponents before playing a neat one-two with a team-mate. He then wriggled clear of two more Flamengo defenders before deftly poking the ball past the advancing keeper.

“It was just about the perfect move,” beamed Neymar whose goal was voted ahead of similarly spectacular strikes by Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney and Messi in a poll of more than 1.5 million visitors to the FIFA.com and francefootball.fr websites.

Having been widely tipped as a young player who could one day be picking up the gala’s main prize, Neymar said he was “just happy to be here attending this party, and if one day I’m nominated [for the FIFA Ballon d’Or] then I’ll be even happier”.

Neymar’s patient approach may turn out to be the right one, with Lionel Messi showing no signs yet of surrendering his grip on the annual awards ceremony. A record-breaking fourth year at the top may be too early to predict, but the Argentinian star’s parting words certainly signalled his intent.

“I guess that’s all,” the modest star shrugged as the glittering show came to a close. “Thank you, and let’s see how much more we can do.”

Gala briefs

Tuning inThis year’s FIFA Ballon d’Or gala attracted a broad global following, both in terms of conventional television broadcasts and online streaming. A total of 36 television networks broadcast the show to a staggering 185 territories around the world – up from 170 for last year’s inaugural FIFA Ballon d’Or event. FIFA’s offi cial website FIFA.com witnessed an even greater surge in interest, with the site seeing nearly four times as manyvisitors and page views as last year. More than 125,000 users watched the gala via the site’s live stream, while over 1.5 million votes were cast online toelect the winner of the FIFA Puskás Award for the year’s most beautiful goal.

Trophies on tour

The Japan Football Association isplanning to put its three trophies fromthe FIFA Ballon d’Or gala on special display for the people living in the disaster-damaged areas of East Japan.The trophies will be presented in early April when the Japanese women’s team are due to play a friendly match against the USA. Announcing the plans in Tokyo two days after the gala, JFA President Junji Ogura said the association hoped to further encouragerecovery and restoration efforts in the affected regions.

Honoured guests: Sasaki, Sawa and Ogura pose with their awards at the gala.


Q&A

Shortly before Sir Alex Fergusonreceived the FIFA Presidential Award in recognition of his phenomenalachievements during 37 years as acoach, FIFA World caught up with the dlegendary manager to get a brief insight into the secrets of his success.

FIFA World: You first entered coaching in 1974. How has football changed since then?Sir Alex Ferguson: The game has changed in all sorts of different ways.When I fi rst started, for example, you could tie players down with muchlonger-term contracts. In fact, when Iwas Aberdeen coach, we used to joke about giving players contracts with eight-year options! The level of media attention at that time was also very different. It was less intense, and there was less pressure on the players. So thegame has changed fundamentally. Manyof the changes, such as the introduction of sports science, have been for the better, of course.

Many coaches bring about ashort-term improvement in resultswhen they first arrive at a club,but success is difficult to maintain.How have you managed to remainsuccessful over such a long period of time? I think it’s actually easier to maintain motivation levels and keep adaptingwhen you stay with the same club.It’s also been an advantage that I’vegenerally had the same staff around me for more than 20 years. Everybody at the club knows who the coach is, which has

Sir Alex FergusonFIFA Presidential Award winner

brought stability and enabled us to plan for success in the future.

When you first started in the game,coaching giants such as Sir Matt Busby, Bill Shankly and Jock Steinwere still plying their trade. How doyou think they would have fared inthe modern game?I’ve had to adapt over the years, andthey would have done the same. Perhaps you don’t always like some of thechanges you see but you have to fi nd away of coping and readjusting. You have to change your own mindset, by makinga conscious effort to adapt and welcomechange. Don’t resist it. The older you get, the more stubborn and resistant tochange you become. But that approachdoesn’t work.

Coaching a football team is acomplex business nowadays, withspecialist medical staff, nutritionists,psychologists and statisticians all

contributing their expertise. Isit important for coaches to haveknowledge of these different areas?I have overall control, of course, butI let the other staff get on with their own jobs. There are too many differentaspects now. When I fi rst started out in coaching, I only had my own team and the youth to worry about, and those are the two areas I’m still very much involved in. But I couldn’t possibly take control of all the different facets of the club nowadays. It would be too complex.

You’ve been quoted as saying you’d like to retire in three years’ time. Are you looking forward to aquieter life when that day comes?No, I’m not looking forward to retirement at all! I’ve been on the treadmill for so many years that I won’t know what to do with myself when I come off it. The most important thing is to make sure that you remain active and working.

18 FIFA WORLD I MARRCH 2012

Hard-earned successHomare Sawa’s coronation as the current queen of women’s footbball comes at thelatter end of a lengthy and impressive careerin which she has matureed from being achild prodigy in the Japaneese national teamto being its highly-experienced captain.Making her full internationnal debut in 1993at the age of just 15, Sawwa demonstratedher strength of characterr and will to winby fi ring four goals past tthe Philippines inthat maiden outing and has rarely beenout of the line-up since.

Back in 2001, she tookk the brave stepof travelling thousands off kilometres fromhome to try her luck in thee USA’s Women’sUnited Soccer Associationn (WUSA) leaguewith Atlanta Beat, for wwhom she scoredthe fi rst goal in the clubb’s history. Afterthe WUSA folded in 20033, Sawa returnedto her homeland to turn out for NTVBeleza, where she remainned until anotherUSA outfit – Washingtton Freedom –snapped her up ahead oof the inaugural2009 Women’s Professionnal Soccer (WPS)campaign. Although she rreturned to Japanto sign for current club INAAC Kobe Leonessain the build-up to the FIFAA Women’s WorlddCup 2011™, the physicaal and techniccacalimprovements which she hhad made durriinggher American adventurres were cclelelel arrarrrrlylyyllyyllyllyevident in Germany last ssummer aas s SaSaSaaaawwwwwaawled her country to glory in a thrilliinng g fi fi nnanaannananallllllvictory against the USA.

Sawa’s participation att Germaannyy 202000000111marked her fi fth straight appearraanncceeee aaatthe tournament, following on ffrroommm hhhhheeeeeer rWomen’s World Cup debbut in Nooorrwwaayyy iinnn1995. The long wait certainly proveeedd wwwororrrrrttttthhhttit, as the Japanese improoved drammmmattiicacacaaacaalllllyy on a record that had prevviously prrroooducuucucceddededeedededdjust one quarter-fi nal appearanceee innnn fifivvvvvvveeeeee e ee eattempts.

As if taking home a goldd medal wwererererreeee nnooonon t t tenough, Sawa also made a clean sweeeepe ooooof ffthe individual awards in Germany, winnnnn inggggthe adidas Golden Ball forr the decisivvveee e roooolllelelshe played in leading Japan to thee ttitleeeeeee,,and the adidas Golden BBoot for theheeeee fifivvee eegoals she scored in the process.

“She’s an iconic figure for the Nadeshiko,” said Japan’s women’s senior coach Norio Sasaki, on the importance of the inspirational 33-year-old midfi elder to o o his team and the sport as a whole inn hhhhiis country. “She perfectly symbolises theee kkkinndd d d of football that our team tries to ppppuuull oofofofff.f. I’d like the whole world to learn ababbbouutt ooouur r r football through Sawa, that’s wwwwhyy y sshshhee’e’e’s our captain.”

Having tasted top-level succeesesss lalaatetee iinnn heheer career, Sawa is now eyeing aanoooon ththhhhtt eererrerre ssssshhohoohhhot t at glory with her team-mateses aat tthhisisisis yyeear’’r’s ss Women’s Olympic Footbbabaallll TTTTTToooououoouuurnrnrnnrnrrnamamamamamenenenenttt.t. Success at London 2012222 wwooouuulldd ssseeeee JJaapappaan make history as the fi rrsrsstt teteeaamamm ttto o wwiwinn FFIFA Women’s World Cupppp aanndddd OOOlOlyymymmppiicc ttiittles in successive years – aaaanndd ppproroovvivividdedede tthheee pperfecttctctctctcttcttttt send-off for Sawawwwaa wwhwhhoo o hahaaasss hhihintntededd that shshhshhhhshssshsshs e e eemight retirereree fffoollooowwiwiwwinnggnggnng tttttheheeheeh GGGaamamamaa es.


Hat-trick heroIt was another phenomenal year – even bybyby the incredibly high standards of Lionel MeMeeeeMeeMM ssssss i i – as the young man from Rosario rerer elledede iin another impressive haul of trtrtropoppo hiieess wwith the help of his FC Barcelona teteeteteaammm--mm- atttta esesees.

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else eluded them over the Madrid, little epast 12 months, with Messi course of the ptect of the club’s successes. often the architCatalan side wrapped up In May, the

cessive Spanish league title their third succg Manchester United aside before brushingsi scoring the decisive goal) 3-1 (with Messons League fi nal. As well in the Champircelona secure their third as helping Bar

wn in the space of six years, European crowd the individual feat of top-Messi achievede competition for a third scoring in the

straight year.ason got under way in a The new sethe old one when similar vein to Barça

ccessive Spanish Super Cup won a third suc4 aggregate win over Real fi nal with a 5-4Messi scoring three times Madrid, with Mlegs, as well as providing over the twothe two other goals. Nine the assists for ther goal and an assist put days later, anot

2-0 in the UEFA Super Cup. paid to Porto 2ce on the team was similarly Messi’s infl uencpan at the end of the year, apa parent in Japbecame the fi rst club ever asassasa Barcelona bA Club World Cup twice – tott wwwwin the FIFAeir current status as the best reeereeaffi fifi firming theworld, spearheaded by the teeteaaamaa in the w

ayer.wwwowoorrlr d’’’ss s best ploals are only part of what OfOff cooouo rse, gsuch an extraordinary mmmmaaakeees Messi

the end of another year in fofoof oottttbbbabaallller. At twowed not only the sport’s wwwhwhwwhwhiicichh he againhis fellow professionals, ffans but also m-mate and FIFA Ballon Barcrcelelelelonnono aa teaXavi attempted to sum up dd’d’d’d OOOrOrOrOOrOO nooommmmminee Xhat set his colleague apart.tththhtt ee aatttrrrribibbuuutes tat everything, everything,” “““HHe’’e ssss gggood ad. “He’s got that winning XXaXaaXaXaavivi eeexxxpplalainedh makes him the best in the mmmmeemeenntntaaallitti yy whichgot such skill and speed of wwwoowowooorlrlddd aaand he’s

ut there are loads of aspects exexexececccuututu ion … Bu scores goals, is good in the ttoo hhhhis game: hemall size, but the main thing aaaiair despite his smity: he’s humble, a winner is his personaliputs the squad fi rst. He’s an and he always phe whole of world football example for thhild who wants to play the and for any ch

game.”


With just over two years remaining until Brazil’s staging of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, FIFA’s January visit included several high-level meetings with both the tournament’s Local Organising Committee and the Brazilian government, as well as the chance to check up on developments in the host cities of Fortaleza and Salvador da Bahia.

January’s visit also provided a first opportunity for Brazilian footballing icon Ronaldo to meet with his FIFA counterparts, following his appointment to the LOC management board at the end of last year. The two-time world champion told

Eye on the ballFIFA stepped up its on-the-ground monitoring of Brazil’s 2014 FIFA World Cup™ preparations in January, as a delegation led by Secretary General Jérôme Valcke madethe fi rst in a series of two-monthly visits to the host country.

reporters he was optimistic about the months ahead “because of the strong will of everybody to show that Brazilians are not only great footballers but also great organisers”.

The FIFA and LOC delegations stopped off fi rst at the Brazilian sports ministry in Brasília, where the FIFA Secretary General met Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo in order to set out FIFA’s priorities for the visit. Valcke emphasised the importance of staying across several of the country’s key stadium, airport and urban transport projects and again stressed the need for speedy approval by the Brazilian parliament

of the so-called General Bill – the package of laws pertaining specifi cally to the 2014 tournament.

“It is essential that we have the possibility to discuss the issues regarding this famous

bill face-to-face,” Valcke later told a media conference as debate continued over some of the bill’s fi ner points, including insurance liabilities and ticketing prices.

Asked if Brazil had been making a lot of demands of FIFA, Valcke gave a good-humoured response: “Probably because you guys won fi ve World Cups you think you can ask, ask, ask…!” he joked. “It’s true that you have to ask in order to get things. That’s a principle of life. But the discussions are far advanced. Now is the time to sign agreements.”

Hands-on approach: Ronaldo meets construction workers at the new Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador da Bahia.

“The discussions are far advanced. Now is the time to sign

agreements.”FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke


Ticking clockRebelo said he was confi dent that the pending issues would soon be resolved, with the minister expecting the General Bill to be passed by the parliament by March.

“Brazil asked to host this event and at the time we agreed with all the requirements,” he explained. “Our goal was to have the bill approved by the end of last year, so we are not as advanced in terms of legislation as we are in terms of the stadiums. We need to move on and speed up.”

Following on from their meeting with Rebelo, the FIFA and LOC delegations travelled north for the fi rst two stadium visits of the year. First up was Fortaleza’s

Castelão Stadium, a semi-fi nal venue for next year’s FIFA Confederations Cup, where the delegation launched a clock counting down to the stadium’s planned inauguration on 30 December 2012.

Ronaldo and FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke inspect progress on the Castelão Stadium in Fortaleza.

They then continued on to Salvador da Bahia to check on the latest status of the Arena Fonte Nova, which hopes to be confi rmed in June 2012 as a FIFA Confederation Cup venue. “It will be a huge challenge,” said Valcke. “But having met the team today, I am confi dent that if the work continues with the same enthusiasm, the stadium, accommodation and transportation will be ready on time for the FIFA Confederations Cup.”

Benefi cial exchangeHaving seen for themselves how work on the stadiums was progressing, the FIFA and LOC delegations made their

“There’s a strong will to show that Brazilians

are not only great footballers but also great organisers.”

LOC management board member Ronaldo

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January’s fi ve-day trip to Brazil was an important step and the perfect way to begin 2012, as it gave us, for the fi rst time, a true feeling of what is happening at the venues in Brazil, so that we no longer have to rely only on evaluation reports. All the negative media reports over the last few months nearly had me doubting whether the Brazilians really wanted to host the FIFA World Cup™ – something that was almost impossible to imagine, because I know the one thing that every football fan dreams about experiencing is a FIFA World Cup staged in a Brazilian way.

Together with Ronaldo and the sports minister Aldo Rebelo, we had an amazing time, and were overwhelmed by the warm

FIFA SECRETARY GENERAL

welcome and reception from the Brazilian people, the host city and state authorities, as well as the beautiful scenery and diversity of this wonderful country that is Brazil. The passion for football and the huge anticipation for the FIFA World Cup could be felt at every corner and provided the best motivation for us to recharge our organisational batteries.

We were reassured in particular by the construction workers who told us that they would work around the clock to make sure that the stadiums were delivered on time. It is these people whose hard work truly needs to be acknowledged, and so Ronaldo and I have made it clear that we will provide

the workers with free tickets to a World Cup match in the venues which they helped to build, just as we did for the stadium workers at South Africa 2010.

Being able to travel through the country with a Brazilian icon like Ronaldo is also something special. His humility and presence alone cause people to dream, and it is those dreams that make a FIFA World Cup special. As a Frenchman, I was privileged to have witnessed France win the World Cup title on home soil – a once-in-a-lifetime experience which I hope the Brazilians will also be able to enjoy in 2014. It is the responsibility of the Brazilian national team to make this dream a reality, of course, but together with the LOC and the Brazilian government we can at least ensure that Brazil is a champion when it comes to the organisation of the event.

We still have a lot of work ahead of us before 13 July 2014, when we will hopefully be able to say that we have achieved it: that FIFA, the LOC, the Brazilian government and the Brazilian people have scored the most important goal of all, a successful 2014 FIFA World Cup™. For this to become a reality, we must continue at the same pace as we have started 2012. I am already looking forward to our upcoming visits to Recife, Brasília and Cuiabá in March when I will be joined by both Ronaldo and Pelé – two true icons in the land of football.

Jérôme Valcke

way back south to Rio de Janeiro for the board meeting of the Local Organising Committee on the fi nal day of the trip.

The meeting, the fi rst of its kind to be staged in Brazil following several similar meetings around the world over the last two years, covered a wide range of technical aspects relating to the organisation of preliminary events and the tournament itself and resulted in a number of announcements.

São Paulo was selected as the host city for December’s FIFA Confederations Cup

draw, with the actual venue still to be confi rmed, while a March deadline has been pencilled in for the unveiling of the offi cial World Cup slogan. An update was provided on the team base camp evaluation process, with the fi rst sites scheduled to be announced by mid-2012, and the event’s marketing plans were also discussed.

“It was a very good meeting,” Valcke concluded, “and I defi nitely hope that the Sports Minister will be part of all the board meetings until 2014 because

such an exchange of information on that high level is crucial and very benefi cial for all parties involved. I’m very pleased that we’re walking side by side with the federal government and in the right direction.”

The next leg of the Secretary General’s 2012 tour of Brazil will take place in March, when he visits the stadiums in Recife and Cuiabá alongside Ronaldo and Brazilian legend Pelé, as well as attending the next status meeting of the LOC management board in Brasília.

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Russia’s future hosting of the 2018 FIFA World Cup™ was a popular talking point in January as St Petersburg hosted a special event to celebrate 100 years of the Russian Football Union.

By Mikhail Malkin, St Petersburg

St Petersburg’s Mikhailovsky Theatre provided a suitably historic setting on 19 January as football dignitaries from across Russia, Eastern Europe and the wider world came together to mark the hundredth anniversary of a remarkable football association. While the theatre building itself predates the Russian Football Union (RFU) by nearly 80 years – having opened its doors in 1833 by decree of Tsar Nicholas I – the RFU has certainly enjoyed its fair share of drama in the century since its own founding in a St Petersburg restaurant (see “From guests to hosts”).

Russia celebrates past and future

Underlining the importance of football, and the upcoming FIFA World Cup™, to modern Russia, the night’s opening address was made by none other than Vladimir Putin.

“Today marks a celebration for Russia’s army of football supporters and all of our sports fans,” the Russian Prime Minister told the gathered guests. “Exactly one hundred years ago, the newly created Russian Football Union became the fi rst organisation in our country to unite lovers of the beautiful game. Since that day, Russia has been an integral part of the world’s football family.”

Turning his attention to the preparations for 2018, Putin confi rmed that Russia planned to waive visa restrictions for all fans arriving in his country with tickets for the tournament. He also announced that organisers were looking at allowing free transport between the host cities for all ticketed fans.

“We have begun proactive, intensive work to prepare for the World Cup,” Putin added. “This massive project must bring together the efforts of government, business, public organisations and supporters. I have every confi dence in

252525252525222525252 FIFA WORLD I NEWS

our success: we will host one of the best tournaments in the history of world football.”

Passionate fansHaving attended the opening of the 20th edition of the annual CIS Cup competition and met with representatives of several fan groups earlier in the day, FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter then told the audience how impressed he had been with the people’s passion for the game and with their overwhelming support for Russia’s hosting of the 2018 tournament.

“After seeing the fans, I know that both the country’s leaders and ordinary supporters want Russia to host the World Cup,” Blatter said. “We have absolutely no doubt that Russia will deliver an exceptional tournament.

“It will be the fi rst time that Eastern Europe has had the World Cup on its soil, and the tournament will also connect all the people of Russia,” added Blatter, whose two-day Russian visit also included individual meetings with leaders from 15 of the region’s football associations.

In his joint role as UEFA President and FIFA Vice-President, Michel Platini said he was particularly keen on working alongside the Russians in the build-up to 2018 – having not had much joy when pitted against them during his playing days.

“I was never part of a team that managed to beat Russia, even though I was involved in fi ve matches against them,” recalled the former French midfi eld maestro with a smile.

“My contemporaries and I grew up with stories of the fantastic Lev Yashin, and youngsters today still watch those blurred black-and-white images of this legendary goalkeeper flying through the air,

“We will host one of the best tournaments in the history of world

football.”Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin


making saves in his black outfi t and cap.Russia is, of course, a huge country, covering 11 time zones, and that has tobe refl ected in the standard of the football here. I am confi dent that it will continueto develop and that the 2018 World Cupcan only help the process.”

Home win?As the night continued with a colourfulshow in which actors and singers gave a

From guests to hosts

As Russia looks ahead to welcoming the world in 2018, it seems fi tting torecall that the country’s football association was brought into existence withthe specifi c aim of taking part in one of the sport’s earliest internationalcompetitions.

It was in January 1912, with just a few months until the start of thatyear’s Olympic Summer Games in Stockholm, that a handful of ex-pats withnames like MacPherson, Hartley, Pearson and Duperron gathered at theVienna restaurant in St Petersburg to found the All-Russian Football Union.

After suffering a narrow 2-1 defeat to Finland at the Games (and amuch more comprehensive 16-0 thrashing by Germany in the subsequent“consolation tournament”), Russia played just fi ve more friendly gamesbefore the empire – and the All-Russian Football Union – was swept awayby the events of the Russian Revolution. Barring a couple of friendly matchesagainst Turkey in the 1920s, it was to be a full 40 years before Russianfootballers would again play in FIFA-recognised internationals, this timewithin the framework of the Soviet Union Football Federation.

With the muscle and size of the entire USSR now behind the team, majorsuccesses soon followed on the pitch, starting with a gold-medal triumphat the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne. Four years later, the Soviet teamcelebrated an even bigger fi rst, when they won the inaugural UEFA EuropeanChampionship (known at the time as the European Nations’ Cup), beatingYugoslavia 2-1 in the Paris fi nal. A further Olympic triumph was to followin Seoul in 1988, before the break-up of the Soviet Union three years laternecessitated further adjustments.

The modern Russian Football Union wasformed in February 1992 and reinstatedinto FIFA just over a year later, inheritingthe match results and titles of its Soviet-erapredecessors, but struggling to emulatetheir achievements in the early years of thenew organisation.

Twenty years on from that rebirth, however, the RFU can look back on anumber of positive achievements that havegiven fresh confi dence to the future WorldCup hosts. EURO 2008 proved to be a major

turning point for the men’s senior team, as a young Russian squad playing highly attractive football reached the semi-fi nals of a major tournament for the fi rst time since the Soviet era.

Signs of a successful youth programme had already been seen in previous years, starting in 2005, when Russia won the UEFA European Women’s Under-19 Championship to secure the country’s fi rst post-Soviet title. A second came just one year later, when the boys matched the girls with victory at the UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship.

Russia has also emerged as a force to be reckoned with in the sport’s sand and indoor versions. At the FIFA Futsal World Cup, the country has secured top-four fi nishes in its last three fi nals appearances, while its rise in beach soccer has been even more formidable – with the Russian team transforming itself from group-stage casualties on their FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup debut in 2007 to shock world champions in Ravenna last year.

Secured 99 years after the founding of the RFU, Russia’s sandy triumph over the established beach soccer stars of Brazil fi nally ended the country’s long wait for a senior world title, and also demonstrated the sporting ambition of the modern Russian association.

As Russia now prepares to stage the biggest football event of them all in 2018, the contrast between today’s association and those ex-pat founders of 1912 could hardly be more striking. From being mere willing guests at international tournaments of old, the Russians are now relishing the opportunity to play welcoming hosts to the football world.

theatrical rendition of football’s emergence over the years into the world’s most popular sport, RFU President Sergey Fursenko echoed Platini’s optimism on the future of Russian football – going as far to suggest that his country could emerge as real contenders for a home-soil triumph in 2018.

“Pelé once said that Russia will win the football World Cup when Brazil succeeds at the ice hockey world championships,” Fursenko told FIFA World. “Well, last year

we won the Beach Soccer World Cup so I would say the ball is now in Brazil’s court!

“Speaking more seriously, we want to get some more experience under our belts before hosting the World Cup, so we’re going to do all we can to also bring the European Youth Championship to Russia as well. We are going to do our best to achieve all our objectives and I really believe we can host the World Cup in 2018 and win it too!”

Team captain Igor Netto takes hold of the Henri Delaunay Trophy

following the Soviet Union’s victory at the inaugural UEFA European

Championship in 1960.


The truth about transfers

Football clubs spent more than USD 3 billion on international player transfers last year – but newly released fi gures from the global market’s fi rst-ever offi cial review reveal that headline-grabbing millionaire superstars formed only a small percentage of footballers on the move.

Football fans around the world havelong become accustomed to newspaperor internet headlines telling them aboutthe latest multi-million dollar transfer ofbig-name players to similarly big-nameclubs. But while billions are indeed beingspent on player acquisitions at the sport’shighest level, detailed fi gures from the fi rst-ever Global Transfer Market report revealtthat the vast majority of transfers involve

no money at all changing hands. The comprehensive review has been prepared by FIFA TMS, the FIFA subsidiary which oversees the online transfer matching system that became mandatory for all professional football clubs in October 2010. In keeping with one of the system’s central aims – to increase transparency regarding international transfers – statistics from each calendar year (starting with 2011) will now

be collated and published to give a detailedpicture of the global transfer market.

“The transfer matching system wascreated for a number of reasons, mostnotably to ensure that international playertransfers were conducted in a correctmanner, both legally and fi nancially,” pointsout Marco Villiger, FIFA’s Director of LegalAffairs. “By checking the fi nancial detailsat both ends of the transfer – both within

Big money transfers, such as Samuel Eto’o’s move to Russian side Anzhi, account for only a small part of the international transfer market.


The vast majority of last year’s transfer-related payments involved fi xed-sum agreements between two clubs (“Agreed transfer compensation”). Ten per cent was spent on conditional payments which are generally dependent upon how players perform at their new clubs (e.g. “If the player makes more than 40 appearances for Club B, Club B will pay Club A an additional USD 250,000”), while training compensation and solidarity contributions, both of which are intended to offset the cost of training a young player, accounted for a combined eight per cent of clubs’ outlay.

the system itself and through the follow-up enquiries made by our Integrity and Compliance Department – TMS is intended to help minimise the threat of corruption or money laundering in football.”

“On top of that, the system has already been adapted to monitor the international movement of players aged under 18, both professional and amateur, in an effort to stop players being shipped abroad at too young an age.

“Now, with the publication of the Global Transfer Market report, we are also coming good on our promise to open up the market to outside scrutiny. There is a lot in the review which will be of interest

60

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30

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DecNovOctSepAugJulJunMayAprMarFebJan

Transfers

DecNovOctSepAugJulJunMayAprMarFebJan

Transfers

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to people working in the football industry, but there’s also plenty for general football fans, who I’m sure will be surprised by

some of the fi ndings – especially if their only previous knowledge of the transfer market has come from the back pages of newspapers.”

Big spendersSince the transfer matching system deals exclusively with footballers whose registrations are transferred from one association to another, the report does not include players who switched clubs within the same country or footballing territory. What it does show, however, is the large amount of money that was spent last year by clubs signing players from outside their own associations.

“Football fans may be surprised by some of

the fi ndings, especially if their knowledge of

the transfer market only comes from the back

pages of newspapers.”FIFA Director of Legal Affairs Marco Villiger

82%

10%

7%

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Agreed transfercompensation

Conditional transfer compensation

Training compensation

Solidaritycontribution

Total:

USD 3.1 billion

70%

10%

12%

8%

Transfer types

Open registration periods by confederation

The FIFA TMS report shows that the vast majority of transfers in 2011 involved players who were out of contract with their previous clubs.

Financial compensation in international transfers

Registration periods: global transfer activity in 2011


In total, clubs spent USD 3.1 billionon such transfers in 2011, a fi gure thatcorresponds to an average transfercompensation of USD 1.5 million perplayer. As with the newspaper scoops,this headline fi gure tells only part of thestory, however.

A closer look at the fi gures in the reportmakes it clear that the “average” transferfee is skewed upwards by the relativelysmall number of multi-million dollar deals.Looking instead at the “median” fi gure (the“typical” transfer which sits exactly in themiddle of the full list of transfer fees), thereport fi nds a fee of only USD 200,000.

Countering the common perceptionof football transfers even further is thefact that only 14 per cent of last year’sinternational transfers involved any kindof fi nancial compensation from one clubto another. In other words, a surprising86 per cent of international transfers areconducted without any money whatsoeverchanging hands. The main reason for this isthat 70 per cent of players were free agentswhen they signed for their new clubs (eitherbecause their previous contracts had expiredor been terminated, or because they weresigning their fi rst professional contract).

It is also interesting to note that two-thirds of all agreements between clubs forthe transfer of a player involve loan deals.Taken together with the large number ofdeals involving free agents, it turns out thatthe permanent club-to-club agreementswhich tend to dominate media coverageconstituted just ten per cent of the totaltransfers completed in 2011 (see “Transfertypes” graphic).

“Of course, the media will continue to focus on the glamour of the big-name signings, but we hope that this review will at least shed some light on the overall scale of the international transfer market, and the number of players who are moving from country to country to do their job without huge sums of money being involved,” says Mark Goddard, general manager of FIFA TMS.

Around the clockThe total number of international transfers completed in 2011 backs up that assertion, with more than 11,500 such moves taking place last year – amounting to one such transfer taking place, on average, every 45 minutes.

While the fi rst edition of the Global Transfer Market review contains plenty ofinteresting statistics, both for casual fans and industry experts, it is viewed by the TMS team as only a fi rst step, with plans to add more detailed information and market trends in the coming years.

“This is obviously just a starting point, because even with the main fi gures such as the total amount that was spent on international transfers last year, you want to have something to compare that to,” explains Goddard. “Obviously, USD 3 billion is a lot of money, but it’s only when we bring out next year’s report that we’ll be able to say whether club spending is going up or down.”

A link to the full version of the Global Transfer Market 2011 report can be found onthe FIFA TMS webpage: www.fi fatms.com


Meet the typical footballery conclusion of the Global Transfer MarketOne keyeport is that there is no such thing as an2011 ree footballer, with the report pointing outaverageferences in the ages, nationalities and pay vast diffs among the thousands of players whopacketsnternational moves last year.made intheless, the data which clubs have to enterNevertransfer matching system when processinginto the ional transfers does at least make it possibleinternatapolate the most common traits among to extralayers on the move in 2011. Based on thethose p

nationalities and salary details provided forages, nplayer, the report reveals that, statistically each past, the “typical” professional footballer at lea23, Brazilian and not paid as much as youis “2uld expect”.woThe relative youth of the average player is T

borne out by the fact that over 75 per cent bof professional players making international otransfers are aged 27 or under. “Players do continue to be transferred internationally … well into their thirties,” the reportnotes, “but the numbers taper offsignifi cantly after the age of 35.”

The preponderance of Braziliannationals in the international transfer market is no new phenomenon but it isstill remarkable to see that the country’s players accounted for 13 per cent of all

international transfers carried out in 2011. ding in the seven per cent of internationalAddrs involving Argentinian players, the two transfe

American neighbours provided a full fi fth South Ahe players crossing international bordersof all thr (see graphic).last yea

d upon samples drawn from ten different Basedtions around the world, FIFA TMS calculatedassociate average player salary in 2011 amountedthat they comfortable USD 244,000. As with theto a ver

mount spent on transfer fees (see maintotal amowever, this fi gure was heavily skewed bytext), hoall number of extremely high-paid playersthe smahe sample. Looking instead at the median within tthe report comes up with a fi gure of USDsalary, t– meaning that half of the professional 43,000

lers in the sample earned more than USD footballa year, and half of them earned less.43,000

e the “typical” player is therefore takingWhilear less money than the superstars at thehome fahe game, the FIFA TMS report goes on totop of tre both the average and median salariescomparthe GDP per capita in the countries whereagainst

yers are based, and notes that footballers inthe playstill enjoy a higher standard of living thangeneral

most.

Players’ salaries

Age distribution

Player nationalities

The age distribution of players in international transfers showed a sharp decline in interest in players aged 28 or over.

Brazilian and Argentinian players continued to be the most internationally mobile in 2011.

A study of players’ average and median salaries, based on samples from ten associations, reveals a wide difference in pay between the sport’s highest and lowest earners. In almost all associations, however, footballers’ salaries still compared favourably with GDP per capita.

Transfers

1,200

1,600

1,000

1,400

800

600

400

200

0Brazil Argentina France Uruguay Colombia Serbia Nigeria England Spain Portugal

13%

7%

3% 3% 3% 3% 3% 2% 2% 2%

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38

Transfers

1,200

1,000

800

600

400

200

0

Player age

USD

600,000

700,000

500,000

400,000

300,000

200,000

100,000

0WesternEurope 1

WesternEurope 2

WesternEurope 3

Asia EasternEurope

Latin America 1

Latin America 2

NorthAmerica

Africa MiddleEast

Average salary

Median salary

GDP per capita

Global average USD 244,000Global median USD 43,000


Piloting anew course

FIFA’s medical expertsare hoping to add a new weapon to their armoury in the fi ghtagainst doping byusing footballers’ individual steroid profi les as a smarterway of catchingpotential cheats.

While Barcelona were setting a new milestone on the pitch at December’s FIFA Club World Cup by becoming the fi rst team to lift the trophy twice, an important fi rst was also taking place off the fi eld as FIFA’s Medical Department used the year-ending tournament to pilot an innovative testing procedure in the fi ght against doping.

In the weeks leading up to the world club showpiece in Japan, FIFA doping control offi cers paid an unannounced visit to each of the seven participating teams to conduct out-of-competition doping tests on the players, the results of which were used to provide baseline values for a new procedure known as steroid profi ling.

Steroid profi les are intended to address the problem that many of the substances

used in doping occur naturally within the human body. Detecting small increases in these substances is made even more diffi cult by the fact that “normal” levels can vary signifi cantly from one person to another. Profi ling therefore takes a different approach, comparing an individual’s test results against the historical values of his or her previous results, rather than against a single, absolute threshold. In this way, physicians can pinpoint deviations in the

individual’s biological markers which might raise the suspicion of manipulation.

While variances in a player’s biological markers across different tests do not in themselves constitute proof of wrongdoing, they could raise a suspicion of manipulation and therefore provide rational grounds for follow-up tests and the inclusion of the player in FIFA’s international registered testing pool – the group of international-level players who are categorised as being

FIFA’s anti-doping timeline

FIFA has been committed to thefi ght against doping in footballfor almost half a century now,from the introduction of drugtesting at the 1966 FIFA WorldCup™ to the latest trials ofsteroid profi ling. Here are afew of the key milestones:

1966Drug testing is introduced at the FIFA World Cup™. FIFAthus becomes one of the fi rst international federations,alongside its counterpartsin cycling (UCI) and athletics(IAAF), to introduce testingin its world championship.The IOC follows suit at the1968 Olympic Games

1970FIFA expands its anti-dopingactivities to cover all of itscompetitions in order to

fensure that the results of national and international matches are a fair refl ectionof the ability of those takingpart.

1974A member of the Haitiansquad becomes the first player to be sent home froma FIFA World Cup for failinga doping test.

1994Following a further positivetest at the 1994 FIFA World Cup™, world football’sgoverning body sets up theFIFA Medical and ResearchCentre (F -MARC), anindependent research unit to protect players’ healthand promote football as ahealthy activity. Since then,no player has tested positivefor doping at a men’s FIFAWorld Cup.

Steroid profi ling will be carried out at all of this year’s FIFA competitions.


at high-risk of doping and on whom FIFA focuses its testing.

“Steroid and blood profi ling might currently be the most effective means of fi ghting doping,” explains FIFA’s Chief Medical Offi cer Prof. Jiri Dvorak. “The main advantage is that the profi les are based on the consistency of the player’s physiology. New drugs are constantly appearing on the market and it can take several years to create an effective method of detecting them, but a human being’s physiology is inherited and remains broadly the same through several generations.

“Another positive side-effect of this study is that it is helping to raise awareness of our existing anti-doping programme and hopefully acting as a deterrent to would-be cheats and their advisors because it shows the lengths we are going to in order to expose them.”

As well as curbing the use of illegal substances, Dvorak is also keen to emphasise that profi ling can be in players’ own interests. “By indicating deviations from a player’s baseline values, profi ling can make it easier to identify diseases or abnormalities at an early stage, bringing added health benefi ts for players.”

Sports-specifi c approachFootball is not alone in considering a long-term, individual-orientated approach to anti-doping, with the international cycling and skiing federations having already introduced blood profi ling into their testing concepts. FIFA is, however, the fi rst international sports federation to investigate the possibility of using an individual steroid profi le.

The decision to focus on steroid rather than blood profi ling was based upon results from an extensive series of blood tests carried out at the 2002 FIFA World Cup™ and at the UEFA EURO 2008, which did not show any indication of blood manipulation at international elite level in football.

“It is not cost-effective or practical to carry out endless numbers of anti-doping tests, so you have to consider what

advantages athletes would seek to gain in your particular sport,” explains Dvorak. “Blood profi ling examines the different components of the blood count to detect blood doping and makes sense in sports which call for high endurance, such as cycling or cross-country skiing. So the blood profi le that has been introduced by the International Cycling Union is a perfectly valid and targeted strategy in terms of the most commonly observed prohibited substances in cycling.”

Thankfully, doping as a whole remains a relatively rare phenomenon in football, with so-called “social” drugs such as marijuana accounting for the vast majority of positive tests, followed (at a considerable

2011FIFA carries out a pilot study at the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup into the use of steroid profi ling (see main article).

1999The World Anti-DopingAgency (WADA), anindependent agency funded by the sports movement and the world’s governments, isset up to fi ght doping and monitor compliance with theWorld Anti-Doping Code – the document harmonisinganti-doping policies acrossall sports.

2004FIFA signs a collaboration agreement with WADA and the IOC, as a result of which it makes various amendments to its Statues and Disciplinary Code to ensure the appropriate sanctions for doping infringements are enforced in all FIFA member associations.

2008FIFA ratifies the 2009 World Anti-Doping Code, which, importantly for FIFA, provides for individual case management, meaning all doping cases must be considered and sanctioned uniquely. In the same year, FIFA establishes its Anti-

fDoping Unit, a team of fmedical and disciplinary staff

dealing specifi cally with anti-doping matters.

2009On 1 January 2009, FIFAincorporates the applicableprovisions of the World Anti-Doping Code intoits own FIFA Anti-DopingRegulations.

distance) by stimulants, anabolic steroids and glucocorticosteroids.

Spreading the wordWhile an analysis of the pilot-study test results by the Swiss Laboratory for Doping Analyses in Lausanne has fortunately shown that none of the players’ values lay outside the normal parameters, a separate feasibility looking at the testing procedure itself and the costs involved has shown steroid profi ling to be an effective procedure.

“The results of the study clearly demonstrate that steroid profi ling is a precise and reliable way of establishing each player’s steroid blueprint, and it will be possible to use this method in the near future to prevent manipulation using steroid hormones in professional football,” says Dr Martial Saugy, head of the laboratory.

FIFA now plans to introduce steroid profi ling in all of its competitions later this year, and its medical team will share their initial fi ndings and experiences with their colleagues in the confederations and at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). While the programme is still in its infancy, WADA has welcomed football’s targeted solution.

“We were very happy to hear that FIFA has piloted this study,” WADA’s Director General David Howman told FIFA World. “The challenges to sport presented by doping are becoming increasingly sophisticated and the anti-doping movement has to explore every avenue in its efforts to root out cheats. We look forward to sitting down with FIFA to learn more about their experiences with steroid profi ling.”

“Steroid and blood profi ling might currently

be the most effective means of fi ghting

doping.” FIFA Chief Medical Offi cer Prof. Jiri Dvorak


The distinctive fl ame-red body of the TTnative Brazilian rufous-bellied thrush took to the air in February, as organisers celebrated the 500 days remaining until the FIFA Confederations Cup 2013 kicks off in Brasília’s new Estádio Nacional.

The bird, which was designated as one of Brazil’s national symbols following a presidential decree in 2002, provides the main visual element of the tournament’s offi cial emblem, and will be increasingly “spotted” on the nation’s streets as the event draws ever closer.

Being staged next year for the ninth time, the FIFA Confederations Cup involves the reigning world champions, the champions from the six confederations and the host country’s national team.

In 2001, the event was fi rst used as a test run for the organisers of the following year’s FIFA World Cup™ in Korea/Japan, an idea which was then repeated ahead of the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups™ in Germany and South Africa. However, the high quality of the participating teams and the frequently attractive nature of the football on display mean that the competition is now seen as being much more than just a warm-up for the main event.

Indeed, the concept has been so successful that the 16 matches played at South Africa 2009 were transmitted live to 149 territories, with audience fi gures totalling 550 million people.

“To all of us in the Local Organising Committee, the FIFA Confederations Cup is much more than just a preparatory

tournament for the FIFA World Cup,” said Brazil legend and current member of the LOC’s Management Board, Ronaldo, who was a FIFA Confederations Cup winner at Saudi Arabia 1997. “We’re determined to put on a great fi esta next year, a genuine Festival of Champions.”

Shaping upFive of the tournament’s eight participants are already known, with Brazil and defending world champions Spain having

been joined by CONCACAF champions Mexico, AFC Asian Cup winners Japan and South American champions Uruguay. Two more teams will be added to the line-up this year, following the completion of UEFA EURO 2012 and the 2012 OFC Nations Cup, before the octet is completed at the start of 2013 by the winner of that year’s Africa Cup of Nations.

“I think that we’ll have the strongest set of national sides since the tournament

began,” added Ronaldo. “It will be a great opportunity for Brazilian fans to watch top-level football in new stadiums, as well as to give the world a little taste of our hospitality.”

As with the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ one year later, Rio de Janeiro’s legendary Maracanã stadium is set to host the 30 June Confederations Cup final. Belo Horizonte and Fortaleza are also scheduled to host matches, while Recife and Salvador are still waiting on fi nal approval from FIFA and the Brazil 2014 LOC. A fi nal announcement on the tournament’s match schedule and the confi rmed host cities is due to be made in June of this year, with the fi nal draw set to take place in São Paulo on 1 December.

As well as hosting the tournament, the Brazilians will certainly be among the favourites to win the title, having already being crowned FIFA Confederations Cup champions a record three times, in 1997, 2005 and 2009.

Having helped inspire Brazil to the second of those triumphs at Germany 2005, star forward Ronaldinho used the 500-day countdown event to express his own desire to make the squad again next year.

“It’s an extremely important competition, it’s like a preview for the FIFA World Cup,” said the 2002 FIFA World Cup™ winner and two-time FIFA World Player of the Year. “The next edition will have a special fl avour since it’s in Brazil. For that reason I’m very motivated, and I’m hoping to take part in this competition in 2013.”

Confederations Cup takes wing

On 1 February, FIFA and the Brazil 2014 Local Organising Committee marked the start of the 500-day countdown to next year’s FIFA Confederations Cup by “letting fl y” the tournament’s colourful offi cial emblem.


The US women’s team endured an unusually bumpy ride during the qualifying competition for last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup™, but there were no such diffi culties for Pia Sundhage’s side this time around, as the Americans dominated the eight-team Olympic qualifying event from start to fi nish.

In their first two matches against Dominican Republic and Guatemala, the USA ran out 13-0 and 14-0 winners. They then wrapped up the group stage with a 4-0 victory over Mexico, the same side whose shock 2-1 win over the Americans in November 2010 had consigned Sundhage’s charges to the play-offs for Germany 2011.

“It was redemption for us,” admitted midfi elder Carli Lloyd, after scoring three of the game’s four goals. “There’s no second chance in Olympic qualifying, so we came out strong.”

A similar show of strength against Costa Rica in the semi-fi nals saw the USA score three times without reply to make sure of

US womenromp to Olympicqualifi cation

p yp

The USA have emerged as strong contenders for a fourth gold medal at this year’s Women’s Olympic Football Tournament, after cruising through January’s regional qualifying tournament in Vancouver.

The US team celebrate the 3-0 win over Costa Rica that made sure of their place at London 2012.


their Olympic spot. The icing on the cake then came with a 4-0 victory over their Canadian hosts in a fi nal match watched by a competition-record crowd of 25,427.

“We understand that 13 or 14-0 games can be looked down upon by some fans, but the truth is that we didn’t get the job done properly in the last qualifying tournament and so this is a statement we are making to the rest of our region and the rest of the world,” said striker Abby Wambach, who fired in six of the Americans’ 38 goals in Vancouver, including two in the fi nal, to overtake former team-mate Kristine Lilly as the second-highest goalscorer in the history of international football.

“We’re not taking any game for granted, and that’s why the results are the results that you have seen,” added Wambach, who is now “just” 27 goals shy of fellow American Mia Hamm’s all-time record of 158 international goals.

Consolation for CanadaWhile unable to contain their southern neighbours in the fi nal, Canada were at least able to console themselves with the tournament’s second Olympic qualifying spot, secured with a 3-1 win over Mexico in the semi-fi nals. Boosted by the form of striker Christine Sinclair, whose nine goals made her the tournament’s top scorer, the Canadians are already vowing to up their game further by the time London 2012 comes around.

“This is a massive learning curve for us,” Canada’s coach John Herdman told reporters after the final. “The Americans can boss a game because of their physicality, they can outrun you. But we can close that gap with some more conditioning work, and how we select and manage the players. If we can do that a little bit better, then we’ll be closer.”

While Canada are now looking ahead to only their second appearance at the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament, having also qualifi ed for the last edition in Beijing, the Americans will be aiming to build upon by far the best record of any country at the Games. Since hosting and winning the inaugural tournament at

Atlanta 1996, the USA have struck gold at three of the four editions held to date, as well as taking silver behind Norway at Sydney 2000.

Taking shapeThe line-up of the teams who will be out to stop the Americans adding to their gold medal haul is now all but complete, with only the representatives from Oceania still to be determined in April.

Aside from the British hosts, Brazil and Colombia were the fi rst teams to secure places in the 12-nation tournament all the way back in 2010, with the South American qualifi ers for the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup™ also doubling up as the region’s Olympic qualifying tournament. Sweden and France then booked the two remaining European slots thanks to their semi-fi nal appearances at Germany 2011. Reigning world champions Japan will of course be expected to mount another strong challenge to the Americans, having come through unbeaten in their own regional qualifying competition in September last year, along with fellow qualifi ers Korea DPR. Africa will meanwhile be represented by some new faces, after South Africa and Cameroon fi nally ended Nigeria’s unbroken run of three straight Olympic qualifying successes.

The picture is less clear for the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament, with seven of the 16 fi nal places still up for grabs.

Four European teams (Spain, Switzerland, Belarus and the British hosts), three African (Gabon, Morocco and Egypt) and two South American (Brazil and Uruguay) have already made sure of their places. The identity of the remaining participants will only become clear in April, however, following the completion of the Asian, CONCACAF and Oceania qualifi ers and a fi nal play-off tie between Senegal and the fourth-best team from the Asian qualifying competition, scheduled to take place in Coventry, England, on 23 April.

Hot on the heels of that match comes another key date, with the official draws for both the men’s and women’s tournaments due to be held in London just one day later.

FIFA briefs

FIFA 12 scores bigFIFA brand licensee EA SPORTSannounced in February that its offi ciallylicensed FIFA 12 video game hadbecome the biggest-selling sports gameof all time. The Canada-based designersreported that the game’s latest editionhad sold more than ten million copiesby the start of the month. FIFA 12 isthe 19th game in the FIFA series to belaunched since the start of the offi ciallicensing agreement in 1993.

Japan confi rmedJapan has been offi cially confi rmed asthe host of this year’s FIFA U-20 Women’sWorld Cup, following the receipt inFebruary of the necessary governmentguarantees. The Japan FootballAssociation was fi rst proposed as thetournament’s new host at December’sExecutive Committee in Tokyo, after itwas decided that Uzbekistan was nolonger able to stage the event.

Thai tasterA host of Asian football dignitariesgathered in Bangkok on 17 January tocelebrate a colourful launch ceremonyfor this year’s FIFA Futsal World Cup.The event, which was also attendedby Thailand’s Prime Minister YingluckShinawatra, culminated in the unveilingof the tournament emblem as well asits offi cial mascot, a football-playingelephant. Taking place between 2 and18 November, the FIFA Futsal WorldCup 2012 will be the tournament’sseventh edition and the fi rst to feature24 sides.


FOCUS

39 FIFA WORLD I FOCUS

A win for the ages

Zambia secured their fi rst continental title in poignant fashion last month, winning the CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2012 just a few kilometresfrom the site of the plane crash in which the country’s previous “golden generation” tragically lost their lives.

By Mark Gleeson, Libreville

Few continental title victories can havebeen more universally acclaimed than that of plucky Zambia in this year’s CAF Africa Cup of Nations. Completed against signifi cant odds at the end of a tournament already packed with surprises, the Southern African nation’s maiden win was even more compelling for the way that it tied the current crop of Zambian stars to the emotive memories of a past fallen generation.

Upsetting pre-tournament favourites Senegal and Ghana on their way to the 12 February fi nal, the Copper Bullets thens

Delight and despair: Zambia celebrate their penalty shoot-out triumph over the dejected Ivorians.

took on highly fancied Côte d’Ivoire in the emotionally charged setting of Libreville. The Gabonese capital was already indelibly etched in the collective memory of Zambia’s football supporters as the city from which their national team’s airplane had taken off in 1993 en route to a World Cup qualifying match in Dakar, crashing with no survivors just minutes later.

Though they could have been weighed down by the pressure of that sad history, the current Zambian squad and their French coach Hervé Renard sought instead to draw inspiration from their tragic predecessors.


Upon arriving in Libreville two days before the fi nal, the entire Zambian delegation headed to the shoreline close to the crash site to pay their respects. While tears were shed and wreaths laid, the players and offi cials also spoke of the galvanising effect that the visit had had on the team’s spirit.

“It may have been 19 years ago, but it feels like yesterday,” insisted Zambian FA President Kalusha Bwalya, the undoubted star of the 1993 squad who only missed the fatal fl ight because of a club commitment with his Dutch side PSV Eindhoven. “A lot of people had worked hard for that team and I’m sure that our boys know all about the gallant heroes who died off the coast of Gabon. I’m happy that we can connect the old team and the new team – it’s a good connection for us and for the Zambian people.”

While clearly not lacking for motivation, Zambia’s current stars still had to go out and fulfi l what many were already describing as their destiny. After a physically draining and nerve-biting 90 minutes, including a second-half penalty miss by Ivorian captain Didier Drogba, it took extra time and 17 penalty shoot-out kicks before the Zambian celebrations could fi nally begin.

“They found the strength, I don’t know where,” said Renard, fi ghting back tears as his players paraded the trophy. “We were talking about it right from the time we started our preparations in December. I told them if we got to the fi nal we would play in Gabon where the plane crashed and our fi rst match was against Senegal, where the team had been headed to play.

“My players were magnifi cent. We were not the best but we had a force that has made us African champions.”

Whether it was fate or just footballing fortune that determined the fi nal result, there were certainly few dry eyes among the neutrals as Renard’s men lifted the trophy, capping a remarkable end to a tournament which had already had more than its fair share of surprises.

There were still fi ve days to go before the Africa Cup of Nations fi nal between Côte d’Ivoire and Zambia when the tournament’s fi rst coaching casualty was announced.

Amara Traoré was the man in question, paying the pricefor Senegal’s surprise early elimination with his job – a harsh blow for a young coach who had shown much early potential.“It was very sad for a coach who represented the

inspiration of local coaches to succeed at the top level,”said his Ivorian counterpart François Zahoui.

The Africa Cup of Nations has traditionally had a high attrition rate among coaches who football associations feel have not delivered the required result, but whilemore coaching casualties are likely in the coming daysand weeks, it is possible that dismissals will not come as thick and fast as they often have in the past.

The main reason for this is the proximity of this year’s tournament to the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup™qualifi ers, with 15 of the 16 Cup of Nations participants set to begin their Brazil 2014 campaigns in June.

But for those coaches who do avoid the axe followingworse-than-expected results in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, there will be little time to learn from past mistakes, with a number of tough group fi xtures already awaiting some of the teams who struggled.

Morocco, for example, were expected to be serious contenders for the African crown but did not make it past the fi rst round. They must now prepare for a World Cup qualifying group that includes a Côted’Ivoire side eager to prove themselves after falling just short in the Cup of Nations fi nal.

Brazil in focus – for coaches who survive

Senegal coach Amara Traoré was dismissed two weeks after his team’s early exit.

“It may have been 19 years ago, but it feels

like yesterday. I’m happy that we can connect the old and new Zambian

teams.”Zambian FA President Kalusha Bwalya

Four-time African champions Ghana will also surely not be fi lled with joy at the prospect of travelling to Ndola in June for a meeting with Zambia, the newly crowned African champions who eliminated theGhanaians in this year’s semi-fi nals.

Whoever takes up the reins for Senegal will meanwhile be thrown into key early qualifi ers against Liberia and Uganda in June. The aim will be to rediscover the solid form that saw the Senegalese qualify unbeaten for the 2012 Cup of Nations, while forgetting the fi nals themselves, where the West Africans, like so many other favourites, crumbled under the burden of expectation.


Opening day upsetsThe twists and turns that punctuated the event could be seen from the very fi rst day when Senegal, another of the pre-tournament favourites, were beaten 2-1 by the Zambians and the supposed minnows of Equatorial Guinea rose to their status as tournament co-hosts to snatch a late victory against Libya.

Despite fi elding a squad full of stars from top European sides and coming to the fi nals with one of the best records from the qualifying competition, the Senegalese would go on to lose all three of their matches. The second of these, against an Equatorial Guinea side positioned more than 100 places behind them in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, was widely considered as one of the biggest shocks in the history of the Africa Cup

Gabon’s diminutive defender Edmond Mouele lines up behind Mali’s Mustapha Yatabaré and Cheick Diabaté during the two sides’ quarter-fi nal clash.

Up in the air: Zambia’s Hichani Himoonde and Côte d’Ivoire’s Max-Alain Gradel vie for the ball during the closely contested fi nal.

of Nations. Played out under a blanket of torrential rain, with players frequently skidding across the sodden Bata pitch, the game had seemed on course for an already unlikely 1-1 draw when Equatorial Guinea full back Kily – who plays his club football for Spanish fourth-tier side Langreo – fi red in a long-range shot four minutes into stoppage time.

The 2-1 win sent the Equatoguinean underdogs through as the fi rst team to reach the quarter-fi nals. In a surprisingly good tournament for the home sides, they were then joined two days later by their Gabonese co-hosts who thrilled their own supporters and neutrals alike with a highly dramatic 3-2 win against Morocco. As if looking to prove that they could match their neighbours kick for kick, Gabon’s victory also came courtesy


of a late long-range winner – Bruno Zita Mbanangoyé curling in a spectacular free kick in the eighth minute of time added on – scored shortly after the North Africans appeared to have snatched a share of the spoils by converting an injury time penalty.

“In my job, one day you can be king and the next day not,” acknowledged Morocco coach and former Belgian international Eric Gerets as another highly fancied team bowed out of the tournament after just two games. “We choose the most diffi cult job in the world and must accept the consequences, but I know the Moroccan

Motivation in defeat

Côte d’Ivoire stars Kolo Touré and Gervinho weren’t the only players to suffer the anguish ofpenalties at this year’s Africa Cup of Nations, with young Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyangalso failing to score during the shoot-out that spelled the quarter-fi nal exit for the tournament’splucky co-hosts.

But while Côte d’Ivoire had come to the competition as strong favourites for the title, Gabon’sPanthers had been widely expected to go out in the group stage – as they had done in three of theirsfour previous appearances at the fi nals – and the fact that they didn’t owed a lot to Aubameyang.

The 22-year-old Saint-Étienne striker scored three of his team’s six goals during that opening stage,including the only goal in the closing 1-0 win over 2004 African champions Tunisia which earnedthe co-hosts a surprise top place in the group, one point ahead of the North African heavyweights.

During those three opening games, Aubameyang achieved heroic status in Gabon, evoking hugecheers every time he touched the ball or whenever his face appeared on the giant TV screens atthe stadiums in Libreville and Franceville. Team-mates also heaped praise upon the young star,with midfi elder Eric Mouloungui describing Aubameyang’s goals against Niger and Morocco as themoments that turned the country’s fans from sceptics into believers.

The sense of disbelief was therefore understandably high when a timid shot from Aubameyangwas comfortably saved by Mali keeper Soumaïla Diakite in the shoot-out that concluded theirquarter-fi nal encounter. As the only player not to score, it was his kick that ended the dreams whichhe himself had inspired among the Gabonese fans.

A distraught Aubameyang was helped off the pitch by his father and former Gabon captainPierre, but support was also soon fl ooding in from every level of Gabonese society. First up wasa consolation message from none other than the country’s president, Ali Bongo Ondima. Then,braving a restaurant for dinner on the night after the game, the player received a rousing receptionfrom the other diners.

It was an emotional moment for the striker whose involvement in this year’s tournament was farfrom a foregone conclusion. Eligible to play for both Italy and France, and having already playedfor the French U-21s, Aubameyang only fi nally opted for Gabon in 2009. But after all the ups anddowns of his fi rst major tournament, heseemed happy with his decision.

“I did not expect the reaction I got,”Aubameyang said. “I was really touchedand am now more motivated than everto perform for my country.”

people are very generous and love footballso I hope we can change things in thefuture and put a smile back on their faces.”

Sudan were another of the tournament’ssurprise packages, bouncing back froman opening defeat against Côte d’Ivoirebefore twice coming from behind to draw2-2 with Angola. In their decisive groupstage game they then beat Burkina Faso2-1 to grab their fi rst win at the fi nals in42 years and narrowly secure a place in thelast eight. That turned out to be as far asthey went, with Zambia making the mostof the red card shown to Sudan’s Saif Eldin

after just 19 minutes to eventually run out 3-0 winners. But the Sudanese, fi elding a squad made up entirely of home-based players, could still take considerable pride in having reached the quarter-fi nals for the fi rst time since winning the Africa Cup of Nations all the way back in 1970.

Big guns undauntedFor all the surprises and big-name casualties, there was still a sense right up until the semi-fi nals that West African giants Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire were moving inexorably towards a “dream fi nal” between the continent’s top-ranked sides.

The Ivorians, in particular, showed little sign of the nerves that were affecting the other leading teams, with coach François Zahoui even talking of a “calmness and serenity” in his side as they topped their group with three straight wins. The Ghanaians also came out on top of their group, beating Botswana and Mali in their fi rst two matches before securing the point they needed against Guinea to progress.

The two favourites then successfully navigated the quarter-fi nals, Ghana coming through a bruising 2-1 encounter with Tunisia that went to extra time and Côte d’Ivoire fi nally ending Equatorial Guinea’s surprise run with an emphatic 3-0 win.

One day later, the tournament was also shorn of its other home side, with Gabon suffering the agonies of a penalty shoot-out exit to Mali.

“The Gabon public are as disappointed as we are, but I feel we gave them a lot of pleasure too,” said winger Eric Mouloungui after the game. “Before the competition, they were sceptics, pessimists even. But we rose up and took them with us, changing their expectations.”

Smooth organisationThe same could also be said for the two countries’ hosting of the event, which more than matched the on-pitch performances of their teams. Adopting many of the high standards that had made South Africa’s staging of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ such a success, and also providing an infrastructure that worked seamlessly

Aubameyang looks for a way past Tunisia’s Khalil Chemmam and

Hocine Ragued during Gabon’s fi nal group-stage match.


Group A21.1. Equatorial Guinea v. Libya 1-021.1. Senegal v. Zambia 1-225.1. Libya v. Zambia 2-225.1. Equatorial Guinea v. Senegal 2-129.1. Equatorial Guinea v. Zambia 0-129.1. Libya v. Senegal 2-1

Group B22.1. Côte d’Ivoire v. Sudan 1-022.1. Burkina Faso v. Angola 1-226.1. Sudan v. Angola 2-226.1. Côte d’Ivoire v. Burkina Faso 2-030.1. Sudan v. Burkina Faso 2-130.1. Côte d’Ivoire v. Angola 2-0

Group C23.1. Gabon v. Niger 2-023.1. Morocco v. Tunisia 1-227.1. Niger v. Tunisia 1-227.1. Gabon v. Morocco 3-231.1. Gabon v. Tunisia 1-031.1. Niger v. Morocco 0-1

Group D24.1. Ghana v. Botswana 1-024.1. Mali v. Guinea 1-028.1. Botswana v. Guinea 1-628.1. Ghana v. Mali 2-01.2. Botswana v. Mali 1-21.2. Ghana v. Guinea 1-1

Quarter-fi nals4.2. Zambia v. Sudan 3-04.2. Côte d’Ivoire v. Equatorial Guinea 3-05.2. Gabon v. Mali 1-1 a.e.t. (4-5 PSO)5.2. Ghana v. Tunisia 2-1 a.e.t.

Semi-fi nals8.2. Zambia v. Ghana 1-08.2. Mali v. Côte d’Ivoire 0-1

Match for third place11.2. Ghana v. Mali 0-2

Final12.2. Zambia v. Côte d’Ivoire 0-0 a.e.t.

(8-7 PSO)

a.e.t. = after extra timePSO = penalty shoot-out

Results: Africa Cup of Nations 2012

across their national borders, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea were put forward by CAF President Issa Hayatou as an example of how well co-hosting can be done.

“This is the fi rst time that we had two countries bidding together to host the fi nals and it proved a great success,” said Hayatou, pointing out that Ghana and Nigeria had only stepped in late on to co-host the 2000 fi nals following the late withdrawal of original hosts Zimbabwe.

“It is not written in our statutes that the Africa Cup of Nations has to be organised by one country, and co-hosting offers an ideal opportunity for small countries to save resources compared to having one country catering for 16 teams. This might be a way for many of our member associations that don’t have the chance to host the Africa Cup of Nations on their own to one day hold the event.”

The fi nal twistsWith the hopes of the home teams extinguished, albeit much later than many had expected, the path seemed clear for either Ghana or Côte d’Ivoire to triumph. But, clearly, the Zambians had other ideas.

After surviving several defensive scares in their semi-fi nal against the Ghanaians, Renard’s men took control of the match with just 12 minutes remaining – young substitute Emmanuel Mayuka collecting a pass from Isaac Chansa before coolly fi ring his team into the fi nal.

There was no such upset in the other semi-fi nal as Côte d’Ivoire maintained the upper hand in their long-standing rivalry with Mali, though it took a superb solo effort from Gervinho to eventually decide the match in the Elephants’ favour.

Boasting a perfect record of fi ve wins from fi ve matches (as well as six from six in qualifying) and having not conceded a single goal en route to the fi nal, the Ivorians were the understandable favourites, though the squad tried their best to keep an air of humbleness amid all the confi dent assertions of their superiority by the tournament’s pundits.

Perhaps they too were aware of history, not just in regard to Zambia, but also concerning their own team’s two previous appearances in the Africa Cup of Nations fi nal. On both those occasions the scores had fi nished goalless after extra time, with Côte d’Ivoire going on to beat Ghana on penalties in 1992 before losing to Egypt in the same manner in 2006.

For the Côte d’Ivoire fans it will of course seem cruel that they have now suffered that same fate in their latest fi nal appearance, particularly after their side maintained that impressive record of making it all the way through the tournament without conceding a goal. Given the historic baggage which Zambia brought with them to Libreville, however, few will surely have begrudged the Southern Africans their remarkable triumph.

Final respects: Zambian players and coaching staff lay fl owers near the site of the 1993 air crash.

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An aerial view of the 250-hectare ASPIRE Zone sports complex being used as a launch pad for the next generation of Qatari footballers.


Qatar may have faced considerable scepticism in the West since winning the right in December 2010 to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, but the tiny Gulf state is determined to prove that it can stage the planet’s biggest footballing spectacle effectively and provide a showcase for the entire Middle East region.

When it comes to the country’s performances on the pitch, meanwhile, the Qataris are also keen to not just make up the numbers in 2022. Rather, it is their ambition to have a national team worthy of the occasion, and early indications already suggest that their work in this regard is starting to pay off.

Last year, the country’s leading side Al-Sadd were crowned Asian champions before going on to fi nish in third place on their December debut at the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan, two achievements which provided proof of the giant strides

being made by Qatari football. The club’s penalty shoot-out victory over Korea Republic’s Jeonbuk Motors in the AFC Champions League fi nal represented a particularly huge landmark in Qatar’s fl edgling footballing history, sending out a clear message to those who believed the country’s sporting interests extended barely beyond falconry and camel racing.

“Al-Sadd’s success was a source of great pride for us and a true demonstration of the development of our football infrastructure,” says Hassan Al-Thawadi, Secretary General of the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee. “I’m absolutely certain that the initiatives being undertaken by clubs such as Al-Sadd and also the national team will ensure that we have a very good team in 2022 that will do us proud.”

Al-Thawadi is also convinced that Al-Sadd’s achievements have provided a positive fi rst response to those who

questioned Qatar’s lack of footballing pedigree both in the build-up to and in the immediate aftermath of the country’s 2022 hosting victory.

“We didn’t expect the avalanche of accusations, inaccuracies and misperceptions that came in the aftermath of what was supposed to be a historic day,” he acknowledges. “But at least it showed us the issues we have to tackle about the true face of Qatar and the Middle East.

“Each World Cup provides a showcase for the host nation’s culture,” he continues. “In our case, the legacy is not only about

nation-building but it’s also about the entire region. It’s indisputable that the Middle East is passionate about football but it has not had the proper spotlight thrown on it. So we’ve always said 2022 will be a Middle Eastern World Cup. I can’t disclose a lot just yet but there is a tangible

“The Middle East is passionate about

football but it has not had the proper spotlight thrown on it. So we’ve

always said 2022 will be a Middle Eastern World

Cup.”Hassan Al-Thawadi, Qatar 2022 Supreme

Committee Secretary General

Qatar 2022 head Hassan Al-Thawadi (above) believes Al-Sadd’s achievement in winning the 2011 AFC Champions League (left) demonstrates the improving standards of Qatari football.


initiative right now towards developing a 2022 World Cup with a distinctly Middle Eastern fl avour.”

Youthful aspirationsUnderpinning Qatar’s efforts to be taken seriously as an emerging footballing nation is the state-of-the-art ASPIRE Academy for Sports Excellence, based in a gigantic multi-sport complex located in the capital Doha, where dozens of hand-picked student athletes are given specialist training by elite youth coaches drafted in from overseas.

Eduard Graper, a talent-spotting Dutchman who has also worked at the famed Ajax academy, is the man who coaches the coaches at ASPIRE and oversees the football skills development centre. He believes football in Qatar can only go one way. “It’s a different culture so nothing is going to happen overnight. But the facilities here in terms of sports science and research are second to none,” he explains. “Not even Manchester United can match them.”

The long-term plan is to turn as many ASPIRE graduates as possible into stars of the future. Three classes have already graduated from the academy since its inception, including half of the current national U-19 side.

One member of the U-19 squad who embodies the soaring sense of ambition being felt by Qatar’s young players is Muhammad Hussein.

“Interest in football in Qatar has grown a great deal,” he tells FIFA World. “This has put a certain responsibility on the players and there is now an excellent professional mentality. The proof is at a club like Al-Sadd, which has proved that nothing is impossible. With hard work and persistence, you can reach your goals.”

As part of the generation which will be the country’s ambassadors as they pursue regional and international ambitions before getting ready to host the world, Hussein is also keenly aware of the role his country’s hosting of the World Cup will play in painting a new picture of the Middle East.

“It will entirely change the way people see the region,” he says. “People think of

the Middle East as having political problems and lacking stability and security. However, if they come and see Qatar now or in 2022, they’ll be amazed at the level of security and of course the hospitality of the people of Qatar and all the Arab people. I’m sure that their opinions will change 180 degrees.”

Home helpLike several other Asian countries, Qatar has, in the past, acquired a reputation as something of a career-ending staging post for European and South American players. But while foreign players will continue to be brought in to provide short-term allure for the 12-team Qatar Stars League, efforts are now also underway to encourage the development of young home-grown talents.

“They have a great vision here to provide a true environment for the future stars of Qatar sport,” reckons ASPIRE’s Director General Ivan Bravo, a former director of strategic planning at Real Madrid. “You can organise World Cups, have great venues and facilities, but the way you really drive passion and pride is by having your own people accomplish success.”

Those plying their trade in the Stars League have also been impressed by what the Qataris have started to achieve.

“This is the beginning of professionalism in Qatar,” insists Pa Modou Kah, a Norwegian defender who played for seven years in the Netherlands and is now

contracted to Al-Khor. “Obviously they have huge steps to take to become a big football nation but in the long run they will get there. All of us who have played in various leagues around the world are hopefully helping too, by bringing our own experience. The people here are open-minded and really try to help each other.”

While all efforts are being focused on preparing Qatari’s footballers for 2022,

“People who come to Qatar now or in 2022

will completely change their views of the

Middle East.” Muhammad Hussein, Qatar U-19 player

Qatar want to build a team that can hold its own against Asia’s traditional footballing powers.


offi cials in the country are of course not averse to success coming earlier. While the tiny nation would still appear to have some way to go before it can compete with Asia’s traditional powerhouses, qualifi cation for the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ in Brazil is still seen as a dream worth pursuing.

Qatar started comfortably enough with a 4-2 aggregate victory against Vietnam in the second round of Asian qualifying. As this edition of FIFA World went to print, dthe team were on course for a place in the region’s fourth round, holding a three-point and nine-goal lead over nearest rivals Bahrain with just one round of matches left to play.

“The Qatar FA realised some time ago that there was a need to restructure its football,” says Mushtaq Al-Waeli, the association’s senior advisor for planning and development. “In conjunction with the ASPIRE academy, there is now a very strong focus on youth. The idea is to bring them through a specifi c development programme all the way to the senior team.”

Wider pictureAs Al-Waeli also explains, the country’s leaders took the decision to invest so heavily in sport as a great way of bringing about social transformation in a country that has some of the highest obesity levels in the world. “The Emir wants to take the people on a journey, to use sport as a tool for change,” he says.

This is an objective shared by Wayde Clews, ASPIRE’s Director of Sport. “Maybe only a small percentage of our young athletes will reach the highest level,” the Australian national points out. “But at least we are creating a sporting environment for them here, and a healthy, positive lifestyle.”

With around 700 boys honing their skills at talent centres across the country, the

future is certainly looking much brighter for Qatari football.

“You have to understand that this country does not have a huge amount of history sports-wise,” says Eduard Graber, whose coaches, drawn from all the major footballing countries, scout around 10,000 kids every year in schools before picking out the best for specialist training.

“I’m trying to create an environment of football and every week we invite teams from all over the world to come and play against ours. Everything needs time though. Look how long it took Europe to get where it is – and people expect Qatar to get there in ten years! It’s always about your talent pool and in Qatar there are still only 4,500 registered players.”

For Hassan Al-Thawadi, whose bid team confounded all expectations in 2010, Qatar’s size is no obstacle to achievement, however. “By 2022 you will see Qatari players in Spain’s La Liga and the English Premier League,” he confi dently predicts. “Also, you will fi nd young players from Europe looking to come to the Middle East to play in our leagues here. If ever a country has showed that nothing is impossible, it’s us.”

“The way you really drive passion and pride is by having your own people accomplishing

success.”Ivan Bravo, ASPIRE Academy

Director General

Fans of the Qatar national team hope to have plenty to cheer by the time 2022 comes around.


There is nothing very “Hollywood” about TTEngland’s pub football league – the popular name given to the loosely organised collection of fi xtures that take place on public pitches every Sunday, operating outside of the country’s offi cial 24-level football pyramid. And yet the story of one player who left the United States to launch an international career in exactly these surroundings has now been projected onto cinema screens on both sides of the Atlantic.

In 2010, American defender Jay DeMeritcompleted an improbable journey from thelowest levels of English “pub league”football to the heights of playing at theFIFA World Cup™. Now, his story has beenchronicled in an equally unlikely documentary fi lm.

By Mark Ledsom

From pub leagueto silver screen

p g


Filmed in the weeks leading up to the2010 FIFA World Cup™, Rise & Shine: theJay DeMerit Story tells the tale of how yGreen Bay native Jay DeMerit headed toEngland at the age of 23, after failing tosecure a place at any Major League Soccerclubs. Against all the odds, he climbedup from the pub leagues and through

the amateur divisions before securing aprofessional contract with Watford FC and then helping the club win promotion to thecountry’s Premier League (see “Green Bay to Vancouver – the roundabout way”).

It was the defender’s subsequentcall-up to the USA’s World Cup squad

that prompted the makers of Rise & Shine to produce the documentary, but the making of the fi lm itself turned out to be an adventure on a scale comparable to DeMerit’s own rollercoaster career.

“It’s always a huge deal in the US when an American player gets into the English Premier League and there had already been some ideas kicking around of turning Jay’s story into a real Hollywood-style picture with actors playing the parts, but nothing had come of it,” explains Nick Lewis, who co-directed the fi lm along with Ranko Tutulugdzija, a college soccer colleague of DeMerit.

“As the World Cup got closer, Ranko and I were discussing how the story could be told best as a documentary and we both agreed that it had to be fi lmed straightaway, since Jay was about to leave England at the end of the season.”

Lewis, it should be explained, is an attorney, while Tutulugdzija is an acupuncturist, and neither of them had originally planned to direct the fi lm.

Dedicated amateurs“We had a professional English director all lined up for the project but then, just before we came over to shoot the fi lm,

his wife suffered pregnancy complications and he had to cancel,” Lewis explains. “Suddenly we had to decide whether to call it all off or go ahead on our own. I could talk for an hour about what we did and the discussions we had, but essentially we made up our minds to do it.

“The situation kind of mirrored Jay’s story a bit, because we had no plan and no résumé – just like when he set off for England. All we had was an idea in our minds and the dedication to get it done.”

During the subsequent hectic period of shooting the fi lm, the amateur directors travelled to Green Bay, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, London, Watford, Johannesburg and Rustenburg, grabbing interviews with DeMerit’s friends, family members and team-mates along the way, as well as fi lming the varied locations that formed the backdrop to his career.

Even when the fi lming was completed, there was still the major headache of fi nding the funds to complete the project. To save money, most of the editing process was carried out on a laptop, but the two men still needed additional fi nancing to help get the fi lm distributed, and to secure expensive rights to the footage of DeMerit in action.

With no personal backers to turn to, the pair went instead to Kickstarter.com – a

DeMerit made his professional breakthrough with English second- tier side Watford FC.

Getting to grips with Lionel Messi during a March 2011 friendly.

“The fi lm kind of mirrored Jay’s story,

because we had no plan and no résumé – just an idea in our minds and

the dedication to get it done.”

Rise & Shine co-director Nick Lewis


Rise & Shine: the Jay DeMerit Story recounts DeMerit’s unlikely climb up the yfootballing ladder, in the words of the player himself as well as those of the friends, fellow players and coaches whom he encountered on the journey.

The documentary begins in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where DeMerit had been a promising schoolboy athlete, before going on to impress with his college soccer team at the University of Illinois in Chicago. It was his failure to get picked up by any Major League Soccer clubs in his home country that prompted the young defender to embark on the tortuous journey that would eventually, many years later, earn him a place in the USA’s World Cup squad.

Persuaded by an English team-mate to try his luck in Europe, DeMerit headed to the Old Continent with less than two thousand dollars in savings. The fi lm describes the two friends’ almost comical attempts to get trials – literally turning up on bicycles at training grounds in Belgium and the Netherlands and fl ourishing hand-written recommendations from a scout who, at that time, had not actually seen DeMerit play – before tracing his slow but determined climb up England’s footballing ladder.

“He came over here looking to play pro football, believed he was good enough,” recalls Dennis Bainborough, former coach of Southall FC, where DeMerit spent an entire season playing in the ninth level of the English football league system. “I never believed it the fi rst time I saw him,” Bainborough acknowledges in the fi lm. “He was so raw, so green.”

After many false starts, all the time staying at the house of his friend’s mother and doing odd jobs to contribute a little to the family’s bills,DeMerit’s refusal to take ‘no’ for an answer fi nally paid off. Having built upsomething of a reputation at Southall, he was given an opportunity to play a few games for nearby Northwood, whose pre-season schedule included a friendly game against professional side Watford FC.

Watford, who were playing at the time in the second tier of English football, were so impressed with how well DeMerit coped with their Icelandic striker Heiðar Helguson that they offered the American a two-week trial period, before “slinging him in at the deep end” in the words of then Watford coach Ray Lewington with a starting appearance in another pre-season friendly, this time against Spanish top-division side Real Zaragoza. Again,

Green Bay to Vancouver – the roundabout way

DeMerit rose to the occasion, showing enough raw talent to persuade the club to offer him a one-year contract.

Fortunately, for both player and club, DeMerit did enough in his fi rst professional season to earn another year’s extension. At the end of that season, in a promotion play-off fi nal against heavy favourites Leeds United, it was DeMerit who headed in the opening goal in a 3-0 win that fi red Watford into the Premiership. The American was named man of the match while the fi nancial worth of his header to the club led to it being dubbed “the 70 million pound goal”.

“That was probably the most special moment I’ve had on a football fi eld, because it symbolised everything about my journey, with my friends, my family, my old coaches, my non-league team-mates all there in the stadium,” DeMerit tells the camera as he looks back on the goal that completed his leap from the pub league to the Premiership.

“You see this line of superstars and you’re like ‘How am I here? How am I supposed to be here?’ when three years earlier I was watching these guys on television with my pub friends or before playing non-league games.”

In March 2007, four years after leaving the United States on what many of his friends and family had considered to be a wild goose chase, De Merit received his fi rst call-up to the national squad. He went on to represent his country at both the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 – where the Americans famously reached the fi nal after ending Spain’s record 35-match unbeaten run – before playing in every minute of the USA’s 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign.

In a voiceover near the end of the documentary, DeMerit insists that “hard work, perseverance and a relentless belief are you all you need to achieve [your] dream”.

Perhaps patience should also be added to that list. After joining Vancouver Whitecaps at the end of 2010, DeMerit fi nally made his MLS debut last year at the age of 32, a “mere” nine years after being overlooked by the league’s talent scouts. Though now barely two thousand miles – or a three-and-a-half hour fl ight – from his Green Bay home, DeMerit can certainly not be accused of taking a short cut.


fundraising website for creative projects. Promising their donors rewards ranging from free copies of the fi lm to the boots which DeMerit wore in South Africa, they were fi nally able to raise their full target of USD 215,000.

Chance encounterA chance encounter with a former FIFA employee at New York’s Kicking and Screening football film festival then provided another boost. Attending the festival in his new role as a freelance film-maker, one-time head of FIFA’s World Cup offi ce Alex Klosterkemper was so impressed by the documentary’s message that he passed on a copy to world football’s governing body. FIFA Films, the department which oversees the external use of competition footage, agreed to let the fi lm-makers use the shots of Jay in action at a reduced rate.

“The project would probably have been dead without the footage rights, so that was the moment when we knew it was really going to happen,” recalls

Tutulugdzija. “Again, it was just like the journey Jay went on. I doubt he ever thought he would be in the players’ tunnel at a FIFA World Cup, getting ready to walk out and face England, and we certainly never thought we would be making a fi lm that would be shown in cinemas across England and the USA, with major organisations like FIFA donating footage to us.”

With the footage acquired, the fi lm-makers were able to secure screenings in around 150 cinemas across the United States. A further 55 theatres showed the fi lm upon its January launch in the UK.

“A lot of the screenings were aimed at soccer-specifi c communities, and in the towns and cities where Jay grew up or played football, but it’s also been amazing to get so many letters and emails from people who aren’t into soccer, or even any other sports, and still enjoyed the fi lm,” says Tutulugdzija.

“Jay kept believing in himself, and certainly with the US cinema-goers it’s that positive mentality and hard work ethic that’s been appreciated. If the fi lm has done well in the US, it’s because of the fact that it’s not just about an individual footballer’s career, but more about the wider message of what he did and how he did it.”

A link to the Rise & Shine website can be found on the FIFA World web page: dwww.fi fa.com/fi faworld

“I doubt Jay ever thought he would be playing at the FIFA World Cup, and we

certainly never thought we’d be making a fi lm

that would be shown in cinemas across England

and the USA.”Rise & Shine co-director Ranko Tutulugdzija

High-fl ier: DeMerit keeps tabs on England’s Emile Heskey during the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ group stage.


Q&A

Shortly after the fi rst screenings of Rise& Shine in England and ahead of his second season with MLS side Vancouver Whitecaps, FIFA World caught up with dJay DeMerit to hear his thoughts on the project that turned him into a somewhat reluctant fi lm star.

FIFA World: Your football career has obviously involved quite a few strange twists and turns – but how strange was it to see that career described in a documentary film?

Jay DeMerit: For me, it’s always a bitweird to be asked to do these kind of things, and I was very sceptical at the start, fi rstly because my playing careeris not yet over and secondly because I knew I’d have to do a lot of ‘look at me’ style things. But the fi lm-makers did avery good job planting the seed in myhead about why we should get the storyout there and how it was ultimatelyabout that story rather than just being about me. I went to the premiere in Seattle and it defi nitely feels funny to bein a theatre and see yourself on the big

Jay DeMerit

screen, but it was also very humbling to see the fi lm come to fruition, knowing how much the soccer communities in England and the USA had helped make it possible.

The early parts of the film show all the knock-backs and rejectionthat you had to face when you first started playing in England. Do youthink that’s what makes it work asa story?

I’d say that’s the general message, yes. I was talking to [the fi lm’s directors] Nick and Ranko just the other day and we were saying how it’s not just a soccer story, it’s more about having a dream and going out to achieve it.

And it sounds like the making of thefilm was quite an achievement in itsown right…

Yeah, it’s kind of funny how it mirrored the story of the movie itself, with so many setbacks and so much perseverance required to get the fi lm out there, using social media and getting all the money

together after being about USD 130,000 short with 30 days to go. It really looked for a while as if it wouldn’t happen but then it somehow came together in the last couple of weeks, with the likes of FIFA also helping out. So, in the end, it was really down to all the contributions thatwe got from all levels of the game.

Just to update your story a bit since the film was made, you’renow getting ready for your second season captaining Vancouver, after a pretty tough opening season inthe MLS.

That’s true, but we all knew there’d be a lot of challenges in coming into theleague as a new expansion team. Last season we had a lot of injuries, changes of managers, players coming and going and no training ground of our own – things that we’ve now generally sorted out. We’ve just signed a great player,Sébastien Le Toux, from Philadelphia,and we’ve got a hungry new manager with a new school approach, so I can’twait now for the season to begin.

And what about your international career? You haven’t had a call-upsince Jürgen Klinsmann took over ascoach of the US team.

I haven’t heard from Jürgen Klinsmannpersonally yet, but I know he’s startinga new cycle now looking ahead to the next World Cup, so of course he’ll wantto look at some of the other guys and give them a chance to show what theycan do. The thing about me is that I try to stick to what I’ve done best in the past, and hopefully people know nowwhat I can offer. Of course I want to keep playing for the national team and hopefully I can prove that by playing well for Vancouver. But, if not, then that’s thenature of football – and I probably know as much as anyone about all the game’s ups and downs!

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The lives of the world’s best footballers TTare usually synonymous with multi-million-dollar contracts, publicity and global celebrity. The Argentinian Silvio Velo is an exception to this rule, however. At forty years old and twenty years into his career as an Albiceleste, the striker champions a different cause as the top exponent of the emerging sport of blind football, which will once again be on the list of events at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.

“Being considered the best in the world at what I do is an important honour of course, but I think that my friends and family enjoy it more than I do. I never attached much importance to that kind of label,” Velo tells FIFA World in Buenos dAires, where his qualities on the pitch have earned him the nickname “The Blind Maradona”.

His story is also an unusual one and is a true lesson in perseverance and determination. The fourth of 13 brothers and sisters, Velo was born blind after being infected with toxoplasmosis and spent his childhood in love with the radio ... and football. “I spent it listening to whatever matches were on, Boca Juniors, of whom I was a big fan, even lower-division games. I may have been born unsighted, but that didn’t stop me from having an uncontrollable passion for football.”

The blind Maradona

Argentina captain Silvio Velo is considered one of theworld’s most talented players in the sport of blind football. Now preparing for a last tilt at Paralympic gold medal glory, the 40-year-old two-time world championhas been speaking to FIFA World about London 2012,ddisabled rights and the hobby that changed his life.

By Alejandro Varsky, Buenos Aires

This passion resulted in Silvio playing his fi rst matches with sighted friends, which put him at a disadvantage but at the same time was a great challenge. “It wasn’t easy, but it was one of the nicest things that has happened to me. To join in and play with other boys, even though I couldn’t see the ball. It felt very special being there as one of the guys, that was important,” he smiles.

But life was not all football, and Velo encountered a new diffi culty: his home

town of San Pedro, which is 160km from Buenos Aires, did not have any educational facilities for the blind, which meant that he had to transfer to a specialist school in the capital. It was only there that he was to fi nally discover the sport of blind football, which uses a noise-making ball to make things a lot easier for unsighted players. Though he could not imagine it at the time, this proved to be the launch pad for an impressive sporting career.

Velo in action against Brazil at the blind football Copa América in 2009.


National fi gureIn 1991, Velo received a call from one of his teachers. It was Enrique Nardone, one of the people responsible for drawing up the rules for the sport, who wanted to offer him a place in the inaugural Argentinian blind football team. “I accepted straight away, how could I refuse? I had dreamed about it all my life: playing football and

making it into the national team. I knew that it was my opportunity and I didn’t let it slip away,” Velo recalls.

Success followed soon after, with the Murciélagos (“Bats”) quickly making a name for themselves and winning two World Championships, among other titles. “Blind football is becoming increasingly well known, but it still needs more promotion.

It would be great to show it on television,” he says with a smile.

While his footballing skills have helped turn Velo into a well-known fi gure in his homeland, he remains all too aware of the diffi culties which still confront blind and partially sighted people in their daily lives.

“There is a lack of information on how to help us in our everyday lives, like with

Why the blindfolds? – A beginner’s guide to blind football

Originally based on the Laws of the Game for the indoor, fi ve-a-side sport of futsal, the rules of blind football were developed by an international trio consisting of Argentina’s Enrique Nardone, Carlos Campos of Spain and Brazilian Ramón Souza.

Taking into account the participants’ level of visual impairment, the rules provide for two teams of fi ve players each, in which only the goalkeepers are sighted. Because of the obvious advantage that this confers, goalies may not leave their respective areas, which measure two metres by fi ve. Since the other players may have varying levels of visual impairment, eyeshades are worn to ensure that everyone plays under equal conditions.

Playing on a pitch of approximately 40 x 20 metres, with rebound walls ensuring that the ball never goes out of play, the players have two things to help them: the ball, which makes a ringing sound due to the ball bearings contained inside it, and the indications provided by the three guides, namely the goalkeeper, the coach and a special assistant behind the opposing goal.

“It’s important for spectators to remain silent during the match so that we don’t lose our bearings and can hear the guides properly,” says Silvio Velo, who adds that the players shout “Voy!” or “Go!” to indicate that they are challenging for the ball.

Blind football will be on the Paralympic programme this year for a third time, with the fi rst two tournaments in 2004 and 2008 having both been won by Brazil. Eight men’s teams are due to take part, with two groups of four teams being used to determine the identities of the semi-fi nalists. Games will be held at the brand new Hockey Centre in the Olympic park, on alternating days with the Paralympic’s other football event, a 7-a-side competition played by athletes with cerebral palsy.

Brazil’s Severino Silva takes a penalty during the fi nal of the 2004 Paralympic Games fi ve-a-side tournament in Athens.


Key terms• Countdown: During the last two minutes of each

half, the clock is stopped for free kicks, kick-ins,goal clearances and corner kicks.

• Extra time: If a match in the knockout stages istied at the end of 50 minutes (a regular game ofblind football consists of two halves of 25 minuteseach), the teams play ten minutes of extra time todetermine the winner. If the score still remains tied, apenalty shoot-out is then used to decide the match.

• Guides’ areas: The pitch is divided into thirds, witheach team allowed one guide for each third of thepitch to call out instructions: the attacking third;the midfi eld third, for which the team’s coach isthe guide, and the defensive third, for which thegoalkeeper serves as the guide.

crossing the road, for example,” points out Velo, who still travels 320km three times a week to train with the national team. “I am in a privileged position, everyone wants to help me because I appear on television and in magazines. That’s why I say that it’s important to use your position to make a contribution. In my case, I tell my story and try to help out.”

Silvio is well qualifi ed to talk about promoting disability sport – he was the fl ag bearer for the Argentinian delegation at two Paralympic Games and was one of the 100 personalities chosen to carry the torch of the Beijing Olympic Games in Buenos Aires. This is why he is quick to underline the sport’s importance in the development of unsighted people:

“Football gave me everything. I am what I am thanks to that; it teaches us values such as sacrifi ce, discipline, team spirit, solidarity. Sport instilled all of that in me and now I put it into practice in my everyday life.”

Golden ambitionA lot has happened since Silvio Velo agreed to join the Murciélagos – two decadess

Blindfolds are used to prevent partially sighted players receiving an unfair advantage.

Germany take on Turkey at a 2010 “blind football day” event, played in front of the German national parliament.


Breaking down barriers with Argentina’s “Batmen”

Since its debut in 1991, the Argentinian blind football team has captured the attention of football lovers, not just thanks to the good results achieved over the years – two World Championships, two Copas América and one Pre-Olympic Cup – but also due to the bravery and determination of the team’s individual members.

“The Murciélagos [“Bats”] have broken down barriers,” explains their sproud captain Silvio Velo. “Before people thought of blind people as ‘poor things’, people who begged for money or sold biscuits on trains. We have now destroyed this myth.”

Velo, who was a tournament winner, top goalscorer and best player at the 2002 World Championship in Brazil, has been the team’s public face in the media and has been received by various Argentinian Presidents over the past 15 years. “It’s a big thing to be face to face with the country’s

most representative fi gure, one of the many honours and achievements of my career,” he affi rms.

In 2005, Velo and his team-mates even appeared on Diego Maradona’s famous television show, La Noche del Diez [“An Evening with No. 10”] zto promote their activities. For the captain, who was the one appointed to speak with Maradona in front of millions of viewers, it represented something more than a courtesy call: “It really helped us to get our message across. All athletes are equal. Whether we can see or not, we all have to make sacrifi ces. I may not have seen Maradona thread a ball through an opponent’s legs, but I have the same burning passion for this sport as anyone else. That’s the magic of football: it allows a blind person to do things that are supposedly intended only for someone who can see. ”

Argentina’s “Bats” have made a name for themselves, both on and off the pitch.

of anecdotes and triumphs, which have seen him feted by numerous personalities and bodies, including an event staged last year in his honour by the Buenos Aires city government. Attended by a host of top footballers and stars from the world of entertainment, the homage was particularly pleasing for Velo’s biggest admirers, namely his wife Claudia and his fi ve children.

“All the tributes they paid me were a real treat after all the sacrifi ces I made,” acknowledges the man who, despite winning two world titles and being labelled the world’s best player, still has one burning desire left in his heart: to win gold at the Paralympic Games in London this September.

Certainly, this would be the icing on the cake for a player who has already won bronze and silver medals at the

Paralympics. In 2004, when the sport made its Paralympic debut, Velo and his team-mates only narrowly missed out on gold following a penalty shoot-out defeat against arch-rivals Brazil. Four years later, they fared better from the penalty spot, beating Spain 1-0 in a shoot-out to decide the bronze medal.

“We have just fi nished second in the Pan-American Games and I want to prepare myself in every way to achieve this goal,” Velo insists. “It won’t be easy because there are teams like Brazil, China and Spain, but I will give everything I’ve got to win gold. It would be the ideal way to bring my sporting career to an end.”

Even when the time does come for Argentina’s captain to fi nally hang up his boots, he already has plenty of off-the-fi eld activities into which he can throw his energy. When not practising with

the national team, or working on his autobiography and a television series at his San Pedro home, he can be found travelling the country to give motivational speeches at companies, prisons and schools.

“I try to get my message across and underline the importance of being positive. What have I got to cry about? It would have been easy for me to resign myself and wonder why this happened to me, but you have to make the most of the other senses and move forward, tackling life head on,” he explains.

And he’s certainly put this into practice: “Life has gone pretty well for me! I can’t complain. What’s more, if I’d been able to see, today I’d be retiring from any club in the world. And here I am, still playing for Argentina’s national team – in my own way! That’s all thanks to football and the passion and spirit I carry inside me.”


SUMMARY

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Asia Africa North & Central America and Caribbean

Member associations

The AFC Champions League group stage kicks off this month, with 32 teams in the chase for the continent’s leading club title. Both the group stage and the subsequent round of 16 are divided into East and West Asian halves, before the competition turns into a pan-Asian affair from the quarter-finals onwards. Record winners Pohang Steelers of Korea Republic (pictured), who last lifted the trophy in 2009, have been given a tough start after being drawn against Japan’s 2008 champions Gamba Osaka in Group E. Reigning champions Al-Sadd of Qatar are meanwhile absent altogether, having finished sixth in their domestic league competition and missing out on a qualifying spot.

Football education topped the agenda in Asia in recent weeks, as the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur played host to the Asian Football Confederation’s annual Elite Education Seminar (EES). Held in two parts from 9-20 January and 1-14 February, this year’s seminar involved a record 29 individual courses and was attended by around 800 participants from all over the continent. “I believe that the future is Asia, and that Asia is the future,” was the confident message of AFC Acting President Zhang Jilong as the event got underway. “Because of this we need more … frontrunners with the right knowledge and skills to work together to develop the Asian game even more.”

The CONCACAF region mourned two former playing legends in February, following the deaths of former USA international Harry Keough and long-time Honduran national team player and youth coach Rodolfo Trinidad Ramírez Godoy. Keough (pictured on the left), who died at his St Louis home at the age of 84, represented his country at the 1950 FIFA World Cup™, as part of the USA team which famously beat England 1-0 in one of the tournament’s greatest ever upsets. The former defender’s death leaves Walter Bahr, Clarkie Souza and Frank Borghi as the team’s three surviving members. Godoy, more commonly known by his nickname “Popo”, spent 13 years on the Honduran national team before moving into coaching. His greatest success came at the 1976 CONCACAF Youth Championship in Puerto Rico, where he guided Honduras to second place to secure qualification for the FIFA U-20 World Cup 1977 – earning the country its first-ever appearance in a FIFA tournament.

Ted Howard was installed as CONCACAF’s Acting General Secretary in January, stepping up from his role as Deputy General Secretary following FIFA Executive Committee member Chuck Blazer’s decision to leave the post after 21 years. Howard, 66, was executive director of the old North American Soccer League from 1971 until 1984, director of marketing for Ohlmeyer Communications for three years and director and group manager of NBA Marketing from 1988 until he joined CONCACAF in 1998. In addition to his duties at CONCACAF, the American also serves on the FIFA Referees Committee as well as the FIFA Stadium and Security Committee.

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

The island archipelago of São Tomé e Príncipe celebrated some rare footballing success in January when they won a competitive tie for the first time in their history. The former Portuguese colony, with a population of just over 160,000, beat Lesotho 1-0 in a two-legged qualifier for the next CAF Africa Cup of Nations in 2013. A penalty converted by Jair Nunes after only three minutes was enough to assure São Tomé of victory in the opening home leg, before a goalless draw in Maseru saw them through to the qualifying competition’s second round. São Tomé will next face Sierra Leone, the same team that they shocked 2-0 during the first leg of a 2002 FIFA World Cup™ qualifier – though they went on to lose the second leg 4-0. The team’s only other victory was back in November 1999, when they beat Equatorial Guinea 2-0 in a friendly.

South Sudan were inaugurated as provisional members of the Confederation of African Football on 10 February at the organisation’s congress in Libreville, Gabon. A flag-raising ceremony was held to welcome the world’s newest country, declared independent in July last year. A new South Sudan Football Association was established at the start of the year and a first election for leaders will be held in April. The association is aiming for full FIFA membership by 2014, with the intervening time being used to develop the country’s football infrastructure and administration.

61FIFA WORLD I SUMMARY

South America

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Oceania

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Europe

The improving standard of New Zealand’s women’s football was further demonstrated in January, with two of the country’s most promising young talents signing professional contracts with European clubs. Aroon Clansey (pictured), understudy to veteran national team goalkeeper Jenny Bindon at last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup™, secured a dream move to English FA WSL side Liverpool, while full-back Anna Green penned a deal with German side Lokomotiv Leipzig. “It’s a really good feeling and it’s kind of scary at the

same time because Liverpool are such a huge club,” said lifelong Reds fan Clansey. “It’s going to be an honour.” The Football Ferns, who picked up their first point at a FIFA Women’s World Cup™ last year when they drew with Mexico, now have a number of players playing in Europe’s toughest leagues, with leading national team players such as Rebecca Smith and Amber Hearn starring in Germany’s Frauen-Bundesliga with VfL Wolfsburg and FF USV Jena and team captain Hayley Moorwood plying her trade in England’s top division with Chelsea.

Tonga played host to a FIFA Futuro III refereeing instructors course in February with referee and fitness trainers from all over the Pacific taking part. The workshop, led by FIFA Refereeing Development Senior Manager Fernando Tresaco-Gracia, was the first of its kind to be staged in Oceania, with participants receiving instruction and attending practical sessions on a wide range of refereeing development issues.

Colombia have handed their national team reins to Argentina’s 2006 World Cup coach José Pékerman, whose first task will be getting the country’s 2014 FIFA World Cup™ qualifying campaign back on track. Pékerman, 62, takes over from Leonel Álvarez, who was dismissed in December after Colombia took just four points from their opening three qualifying matches, two of which were at home. The Argentinian, whose playing career included a spell at Deportivo Independiente Medellín, is Colombia’s first foreign coach in over 30 years, the last having been his compatriot Carlos Bilardo. As well as taking Argentina’s senior side to the 2006 World Cup quarter-finals, Pékerman boasts an outstanding record from his days as a youth coach, having won three FIFA U-20 World Cup titles with Argentina in 1995, 1997 and 2001.

Uruguay coach Óscar Tabárez received a rare off-the-pitch honour in January, when he was named a “Champion for Sport” by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Tabárez, who led Uruguay to a fourth-place finish at the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, was given the award “in recognition of his commitment to promote education and sport programmes for vulnerable children in Uruguay, his charitable activities in the framework of the Tabárez Project, and his dedication to the ideals and aims of the Organization.” Tabárez is one of only 13 sports personalities to have received the UNESCO award and only the second footballer, following on from the award’s very first recipient, Pelé.

European football’s governing body, UEFA, presented a stark set of financial figures from the continent’s leading clubs in January. The publication of UEFA’s fourth Club Licensing Benchmarking Report revealed that the clubs in Europe’s leading divisions had posted combined losses of EUR 1.6 billion in the 2010 financial year. Describing the figures as a “wake-up call” for club owners, and an additional justification for UEFA’s new financial fair play measures, General Secretary Gianni Infantino pointed out that while club revenues had risen 6.6% to EUR 14.4 billion, these gains had been offset by a 9.3% increase in expenditure. ”We are still in time, and it is encouraging that revenues are still going up,” Infantino added. “But the [expenditure] figures cannot continue to rise in this way.”

England’s Football Association announced the surprise departure of national team manager Fabio Capello on 8 February, four months to the day before the start of UEFA EURO 2012. The highly-experienced Italian coach took charge of England in December 2008, leading them to the quarter-finals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, and then through their successful qualifying competition for the upcoming EURO. Capello stepped down from the post following a disagreement with The FA over their decision to remove the England team captaincy from John Terry.


Rank Team +/- RanksJan–Feb

2012

PointsFeb

2012

+/- PointsJan–Feb

2012

1 Spain 0 1566 22 Germany 1 1369 243 Netherlands -1 1359 -64 Uruguay 0 1317 85 England 0 1179 66 Portugal 1 1155 557 Brazil -1 1152 98 Italy 1 1115 339 Croatia -1 1101 1010 Denmark 1 1090 5811 Argentina -1 1081 1412 Chile 0 996 2313 Russia 0 989 1814 Greece 0 979 1515 Côte d’Ivoire 3 967 7816 Switzerland 0 950 5217 France -2 930 1518 Sweden -1 924 3319 Bosnia-Herzegovina 0 920 5120 Republic of Ireland 3 893 2921 Mexico 0 882 1622 Australia -1 832 -3423 Ghana 3 819 4024 Norway 0 793 525 Serbia 2 791 16

Turkey 4 791 2227 Paraguay 0 781 6

Slovenia -2 781 129 Czech Republic 2 775 2630 Japan -11 762 -107


2012

PointsFeb

2012

+/- PointsJan–Feb

2012

31 USA 2 750 2932 Colombia 3 746 3733 Peru 1 743 3134 Korea Republic -4 714 -3835 Israel 2 708 4336 Algeria -4 684 -5037 Hungary 0 678 1338 Slovakia 1 675 2739 Belgium 1 663 1640 Ecuador 2 644 1041 Armenia 4 639 2742 Wales 7 635 4443 Zambia 28 630 17144 Mali 25 625 14945 Gabon 46 617 23046 Venezuela -5 615 -2747 Iran -3 606 -1748 Scotland 0 602 349 Panama -2 594 -650 Jamaica 2 589 1651 Montenegro -1 585 052 Romania 3 583 2153 Libya 10 581 6754 El Salvador 10 576 70

Estonia -2 576 356 Nigeria -11 573 -39

Tunisia 3 573 3258 South Africa -2 559 859 Honduras -8 549 -30

Ukraine -5 549 -19


2012

PointsFeb

2012

+/- PointsJan–Feb

2012

61 Egypt -25 545 -15362 Morocco -1 543 2063 Costa Rica -1 539 1764 Sierra Leone -4 533 065 Guinea 14 517 8166 Cameroon -10 502 -4967 Belarus -2 494 -768 Senegal -25 490 -13569 Cape Verde Islands -11 477 -7270 Poland -2 470 -2471 Austria 0 469 10

Canada 3 469 14Haiti 9 469 36

74 Latvia -4 463 -375 Burkina Faso -9 462 -3776 China PR -2 456 177 Uzbekistan -10 455 -4078 Albania -1 452 279 Finland 6 439 34

Iraq -6 439 -1881 Georgia -5 436 -1582 Jordan -1 431 583 Angola 2 424 1984 Guatemala 5 422 2285 Trinidad and Tobago -7 416 -3286 Northern Ireland 1 412 987 Uganda -5 411 088 Bulgaria -5 408 -289 Saudi Arabia -2 407 490 Antigua and Barbuda -6 405 -2

Bullets shoot up ranking

February’s CAF Africa Cup of Nations has left its mark on the latest edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, with newly crowned champions Zambia catapulting themselves back into the top 50 for the fi rst time in over a decade. The Copper Bullets climbed 28 places to 43rd position after clinching their fi rst international title in Libreville.

Despite being edged out on penalties in the fi nal, Côte d’Ivoire (15th, up 3) remain the continent’s highest-ranked team, while tournament hosts Gabon (45th, up 46) and Equatorial Guinea (110th, up 41) shot up the ladder after defying expectations to make the last eight. Third-placed Mali (44th, up 25) also gained considerable ground while Egypt, winners of the previous three editions, paid the price for failing to qualify by dropping 153 points to 61st in the ranking.

In the top ten, Germany (2nd, up 1) have leapfrogged the Netherlands into second place behind leaders Spain. Portugal (6th, up 1) and Italy (8th, up 1) have also made headway, while Denmark (10th, up 1) have swapped places with Argentina. These changes are due to the devaluation of matches from previous years as no top-ten team played a match in February.

The results of 51 international matches were included in this month’s ranking, of which 32 took place at the Africa Cup of Nations and 19 were friendly matches. The next ranking will be published a week early, on 7 March, to allow the Asian Football Confederation to use an up-to-date ranking in the fourth-round draw of its 2014 FIFA World Cup™ preliminary competition on 9 March.

Zambia captain Christopher Katongo lifts the trophy following his side’s Africa Cup of Nations win over Côte d’Ivoire.

63FIFA WORLD I SUMMARYFIFA WORLD I SUMMARY


2012

PointsFeb

2012

+/- PointsJan–Feb

2012

91 Kuwait 4 399 2792 Guyana 0 388 293 Lithuania 0 383 194 Togo 6 380 3095 Oman -5 377 -1696 Qatar 1 372 897 Bahrain -2 366 -698 Malawi 1 362 399 Zimbabwe 3 348 7100 Vietnam 1 347 3101 FYR Macedonia 2 345 10102 Mozambique 3 332 13103 Iceland 1 330 5104 Botswana -10 328 -45105 Bermuda 1 321 7106 Korea DPR 1 314 2107 Bolivia 2 309 0108 Rwanda 2 308 4109 Azerbaijan 2 306 6110 Equatorial Guinea 41 305 158111 Niger -13 302 -59

Sudan 9 302 37113 Puerto Rico -5 301 -9114 Lebanon -2 299 6115 Gambia 3 292 21116 Cuba -3 290 0117 St. Kitts and Nevis -3 287 2118 Faroe Islands -4 285 0119 Congo DR -3 280 4120 Namibia 2 271 12

New Zealand -2 271 0122 Syria -5 270 -5123 Kenya -2 267 7124 Liechtenstein 6 263 17125 Liberia -2 258 0126 Suriname -1 254 0127 Cyprus -1 252 -1128 Central African Republic 0 251 0129 Dominican Republic 0 247 0130 Congo 1 245 0

Thailand -6 245 -12132 United Arab Emirates 6 243 20


2012

PointsFeb

2012

+/- PointsJan–Feb

2012

133 Grenada -1 240 -1Luxembourg -6 240 -12

135 Belize -2 238 8136 Benin 0 237 9137 Ethiopia -4 230 0138 Kazakhstan 1 225 5139 Tanzania -2 224 -1140 Tajikistan 0 218 0141 Chad 1 207 19142 Moldova -7 205 -24143 Burundi -2 199 0144 Nicaragua 1 189 24145 St. Vincent and the Grenadines -1 172 1146 Indonesia -3 161 -22147 Yemen 2 159 6148 Singapore -1 155 -6149 Turkmenistan -3 154 -10150 Malaysia -2 153 -4151 Samoa -1 149 0152 Nepal 1 144 0153 Curaçao -1 142 -4154 Bahamas 1 141 0

India 4 141 3156 Philippines 1 139 0157 Bangladesh 1 138 0158 Madagascar 2 135 0159 Fiji 2 133 0

Malta -3 133 -7161 Lesotho -8 131 -13162 Palestine 0 128 7163 Hong Kong 5 126 17

New Caledonia 3 126 10165 Aruba -1 120 0166 Chinese Taipei 1 116 6

Guinea-Bissau -4 116 -5168 São Tomé e Principe 28 113 86169 Barbados -4 107 -12170 Mongolia -1 106 0171 Laos 3 105 9172 Cambodia -2 104 3173 Vanuatu 1 103 7174 Myanmar -2 99 0


2012

PointsFeb

2012

+/- PointsJan–Feb

2012

175 Maldives -2 98 0176 Dominica -5 95 -5177 Tonga -1 88 0178 Afghanistan -1 85 0179 Swaziland 1 83 8180 US Virgin Islands -2 82 0181 Pakistan -2 76 0182 Solomon Islands -2 75 0

Sri Lanka -2 75 0184 Tahiti 0 73 0185 Cayman Islands -2 72 -2186 St. Lucia -1 65 0187 American Samoa -1 61 0188 Comoros -1 55 0189 Seychelles -1 53 0190 Eritrea -1 45 0191 Somalia -1 43 0192 Kyrgyzstan -1 42 0193 Guam -1 36 0194 Papua New Guinea -1 34 0195 Mauritius -1 32 0196 Macau 1 29 3197 Cook Islands -2 28 0198 British Virgin Islands 0 23 0198 Djibouti 0 23 0200 Anguilla 1 9 0201 Bhutan 1 6 0

Brunei Darussalam 1 6 0203 Mauritania 1 4 0204 Timor-Leste 1 2 0205 Andorra 1 0 0

Montserrat 1 0 0San Marino 1 0 0Turks and Caicos Islands -5 0 -13

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

FIFA Calendar March-April 20122-4 March IFAB Annual General Meeting, London22 March UEFA Congress, Istanbul26-30 March FIFA committee week, Zurich29-30 March FIFA Executive Committee meeting,

Zurich17-19 April CONCACAF Champions League

Final, fi rst leg

23 April Play-Off Men’s Olympic Football Tournament, Coventry

24 April Offi cial Draw for Olympic Football Tournaments, London

24-26 April CONCACAF Champions League Final, second leg

Elections The following member associations have elected presidents since the last issue of FIFA World:

Portugal: Fernando GOMES DA SILVAAmerican Samoa: Alex GODINET (re-elected)Malawi: Walter NYAMILANDU MANDA

(re-elected)United Arab Emirates: Yousuf AL SERKAL (acting)

Tajikistan: Rustam EMOMALIGuyana: Franklin WILSONSyria: Salah EDEEN RAMADANTurkey: Husnu GURELI (acting)Seychelles: Roch HENRIETTE (acting)


FIFA ArchiveGoodison Park, Liverpool, England 25 July 1966

The Russian Football Union’s recent celebrations to mark the fi rst 100 years of its existence (see article on page 24) provide a timely reason to look back on the career of one of the greatest Russian players of all time: goalkeeper Lev Yashin, also known as the “Black Panther” because of his all-black attire.

Yashin had a spectacular career. With the Soviet Union, he won the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament in Melbourne in 1956 and the European Championship in Paris in 1960. He also appeared in three FIFA World Cups™ from 1958 to 1966 and was included in the Soviet squad in 1970 at the age of 41, although he only played a supporting role. However, his 13 appearances in World Cups is still a Russian record today. With Yashin between the posts, the Soviet Union always reached at least the quarter-fi nals of the World Cup. The best fi nish they achieved was fourth place in England in 1966, when the “Black Octopus”, as he was jokingly dubbed in England on account of his long arms, was unable to prevent his team from succumbing 2-1 to West Germany in the semi-fi nal. One

of the most stunning saves of Yashin’s career, when he pushed a free kick around the post, is pictured here.

At the height of his powers in 1963, Yashin was voted European Footballer of the Year (now merged within the FIFA Ballon d’Or) by France Football magazine, and he remains the only goalkeeper to have won the award.

Lev Yashin revolutionised the art of goalkeeping. He knew how to organise his defence and would also support his team-mates by running out of the penalty area to thwart attacks. The concept of the modern footballing goalkeeper was thus born – a model that is still applied in goalkeeping training today. As well as being an idol on the pitch, Yashin gained much respect after hanging up his boots for his work on behalf of the Russian Football Union. He received the prestigious FIFA Order of Merit in 1988 for his services to football, and in 1998 was selected as the goalkeeper in the FIFA World Team of the Century.

Lev Yashin died of cancer in Moscow in 1990 at the age of 60.

Spectacular saves, such as the one shown here to block a German free kick during

the semi-fi nals of the 1966 FIFA World Cup, were just part of what made Lev Yashin

such a formidable keeper.

65 FIFA WORLD I SUMMARY FIFA WORLD I SUMMARY

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Coming up In the April issue of FIFA World

From globetrotter to planet saverFootballer-turned-environmental activist Lutz Pfannenstiel

And then there were ten…The remaining Asian candidates for Brazil 2014

Lawmakers gatherIFAB Annual General Meeting reviewed

Publication date:2 April 2012


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