From Brazil to Russia: a Look at 2018 World Cup
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014 SPORTS Deila eyes Euro boost to start Celtic reign LONDON: Celtic manager Ronny Deila will call on all Glasgow club into the group stages where they can “Everyone is available for this match and we want are doing. “I think we have a good plan for that. This three of his World Cup stars as the Norwegian looks compete against the cream of the continent. to put as strong a team as we possibly can on to the is going to be the first important game and I think to start his reign with a crucial Champions League That means negotiating the treacherous qualify- pitch. We really want to win but we will need a good after the two weeks in Austria we have prepared as victory against KR Reykjavik late yesterday. ing stages, a journey that starts with the second performance up in Iceland.” well as possible.” Deila admits it is not ideal to have Deila was the surprise choice to take over from round first leg tie in the unglamorous surroundings With Celtic’s captain Scott Brown ruled out for such an important game thrust upon his side before Neil Lennon, who quit at the end of last season, after of the 3,000-capacity Vollur Stadium. three months with a serious hamstring tear suffered the domestic season has started, but he is banking leading Stromsgodset to their first title in Norway for And with so much at stake he has asked Nigeria last week, Deila has already been hit with one major on his players’ experience of the qualification 43 years. defender Efe Ambrose, Honduras defender Emilio blow and he can ill-afford a second on the pitch. process to come through for him. “I can’t do any- With domestic dominance in Scotland virtually Izaguirre and England goalkeeper Fraser Forster, He has opted to slow his changes to the team’s thing about that. Every minute of the day I try to do assured given Rangers’ continued absence from the who all made the trip to the World Cup in Brazil, to tactics-he wants to adopt a high-tempo pressing the best for the team,” Deila said. top-flight, it is the Champions League where Celtic return to club action sooner than preferred against game-and revert to their more familiar style against “A lot of the players here have been through this now define their progress. Deila, 38, knows he can’t the Icelandic champions, who have won their last Reykjavik in a bid to ensure his players aren’t out of before so we have enough knowledge to go afford an embarrassing European exit if he is to win five matches. “All our players who are at the World their comfort zone in such an important fixture. through at this stage. “They are used to winning over the skeptics who claim he doesn’t have the Cup are ready to play in this game. Fraser, Efe and “We need to take things step by step,” Deila said. football games and that is the most important part. experience to succeed with the Scottish champions. Emilio have all come straight from the World Cup so, “In time we want to raise the tempo of the team but “If we are on top of it then we will have an intensity To keep the critics onside, Deila must take the of course, they are ready to play,” Deila said. of course the players have to feel safe in what they Reykjavik will struggle with.” — AFP From Brazil to Russia: A look at 2018 World Cup MOSCOW: Brazil barely managed to get everything swing. “All of the projects are being developed pretty invasion by Zenit St. Petersburg supporters in which ready in time for the World Cup. Russia insists it won’t much at the same speed, with one or two exceptions,” an opposition player was punched in the head. have any such problems in 2018, although the coun- architect Peter Lavelle of the Populous firm, which “Russian football is making certain efforts towards try faces other pressing issues - including racism and designed the Kazan and Sochi stadiums and is work- combatting (racism),” Sorokin said. “This thing exists violence. ing on the Saransk and Rostov-on-Don arenas, told everywhere, we are no exception. So we are going to Just like in Brazil, the sheer size of Russia is set to The AP. But as long as projects remain uncertified, do what we can.” cause logistical challenges for organizers and fans in delays are inevitable, warned construction analyst Some Russian clubs’ fans have shown they are “on 2018, with thousands of kilometers (miles) separating Vitalie Iambla of consultancy firm PMR. a different planet in terms of their mindset,” said Piara some host cities. But the successful staging of the “We will have also stadiums built . a few weeks or Powar, head of anti-discrimination group FARE, which Sochi Winter Olympics in February without any major months before the first whistle of the tournament,” he is monitoring Russia ahead of 2018. “We have football organizational problems has raised Russians’ confi- said, adding that rising building material costs and fans going on the rampage, looking to attack visible dence in producing a high-class tournament. the ruble’s decline against other currencies over the ethnic minorities. So in that sense, the whole shebang After the games, Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko told last year are likely to cause cost overruns. is there and it’s getting worse.” parliament that Russia would avoid the “Brazilian sce- The government’s model for the new stadiums is Last year, Russia passed its Fan Law, which intro- nario” of massive construction delays. the Kazan Arena, which opened on time last year duces stadium bans for troublemakers at sports Of the 12 stadiums in 11 host cities, two are com- costing around $400 million. events. Powar said the law was “very stringent” but plete but must be reconfigured to host football. A The St. Petersburg stadium, however, is a sign of needs to be accompanied by education initiatives. third, the Spartak Stadium in Moscow, will open in what can go wrong. The 69,000-capacity arena, which The budget for the World Cup has been set at 660 September. The others, including Moscow’s 81,000- will host a 2018 semifinal, is scheduled to open in billion rubles ($19.24 billion), but the question of total capacity Luzhniki where the final will be played, are 2016, far beyond its one-time finishing date of costs is thorny. The official figure covers the stadiums new projects where construction has either started or December 2008. During that time, construction has and some stadium-related infrastructure, but not oth- will begin this year. been marred by delays while costs have soared to er developments such as around $20 billion of rail The Russian government insists it will complete $1.1 billion, something Prime Minister Dmitry upgrades linked to the World Cup preparations by the the stadiums on time, although Mutko told local Medvedev has labeled “disgraceful.” Transport Ministry. media in March that some aspects of the design But a bigger issue may be fan racism, after inci- Another worry for Russia is the performance of its process “gave cause for disquiet” as deadlines were dents in Russian club football in recent years. Monkey team, which was knocked out in the group stage in missed. “That is a normal working concern,” organiz- chants aimed at Manchester City midfielder Yaya Brazil without a win. That poor performance put ing committee head Alexei Sorokin told The Toure by CSKA Moscow fans during a Champions coach Fabio Capello’s job in question, while renewed Associated Press. “That does not mean we are lying League game in November earned the club the first of focus is being given to developing young players for down calmly and waiting for things to happen. It sug- two UEFA racism sanctions last season, and highlight- 2018 and even naturalizing foreign talent, a sugges- gests that we are ... attentive to it.” ed Russian football’s problems with discrimination tion that in recent months has been mooted in the Six stadiums still need to go through a design cer- and violence. Last season also saw a swastika flag government. However, one thing is on Russia’s side. tification process before construction enters full waved at a Spartak Moscow game, and a violent pitch As host, it will not need to qualify. — AP Avoiding milkshakes fired Germans to glory BERLIN: The omens were not good. In late May, as dubbed “Campo Bahia”. the Germany football team gathered at their World The fortress, erected in the middle of a poor town Cup training camp in Italy, news broke that manager of 800 residents, was protected by high walls and Joachim Loew had been stripped of his driver’s armed guards. Some 30 kilometres (18 miles) and a license for six months after a series of speeding tick- 15-minute ferry-crossing from the nearest city of ets. Days earlier, Kevin Grosskreutz, a versatile Porto Seguro, the camp’s isolation meant no distrac- defender, had been caught urinating in the lobby of a tions, no sponsors, no well-wishers and no journalists luxury hotel in Berlin. Two other players, attending a to stir dissent. “We’re glad that none of you tried to public relations event, had been involved in a high- climb over the walls and sneak into the camp,” team speed car crash that seriously hurt two pedestrians. manager Oliver Bierhoff told reporters on the eve of The troubled start fuelled public panic about the final.