ﬁ nest hour | Year-end rankings On top of the world...1986/02/21 · Chelsea. Anelka was capped 69 times by France but announced his international retirement last year, following

Rebuilding Haitian football | Tackling match-fi 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 fi nest hour | Year-end rankings

January/February 2012

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

3 FIFA WORLD I JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012

EDITORIAL

“The coming year will

be of huge signifi cance

when it comes to

FIFA’s activities off the

pitch.”

An important yearDear football friends,

Following the overwhelming success of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa and last year’s groundbreaking FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in Germany, we now fi nd ourselves preparing for a year in which neither of our most senior tournaments are due to be played. This does not mean that we expect a quiet 12 months ahead, however. Far from it!

While the senior tournaments naturally command the largest share of public and media interest, we at FIFA are also fully committed to the constant development of our beautiful game, in all its versions and for all of its players, whether young or old, male or female. In this regard, the coming year is already sure to contain many great sporting opportunities for those less accustomed to the global spotlight. The best young female players will have their chance to shine when we stage the latest editions of the FIFA U-17 and U-20 World Cups, before attention turns to the indoor game with Thailand’s hosting of the FIFA Futsal World Cup. Before all that, there are also the Olympic Football Tournaments to savour as part of this year’s London 2012 Games.

As regular readers of this magazine will be well aware, the year ahead will also be of huge signifi cance when it comes to FIFA’s activities off the pitch. Already in 2011 we drew up a major new road map aimed at strengthening our organisation against those who might look to abuse our game for their own selfi sh benefi ts. We will achieve this by taking the necessary steps to increase transparency and introduce stricter compliance standards. While many details must still be worked on in the months leading up to this year’s FIFA Congress, I was heartened to see the strength of support that the Executive Committee expressed for these reforms during December’s meeting in Tokyo, more about which can be found on page 12 of this issue.

It is of course vital that FIFA can demonstrate good governance in the running of our own affairs if we are to be taken seriously in our mission to promote football as a means of achieving positive social change. During December’s FIFA Club World Cup, I was able to see with my own eyes the extent to which football could restore hope to youngsters in Japan whose lives had been devastated by last year’s earthquake and tsunami. The example set by those children, and the many others who I have met in similar circumstances, will certainly provide plenty of motivation in the months ahead as FIFA strives to make further improvements both on and off the pitch.

The New Year is traditionally a time for setting new targets, and we have certainly identifi ed ours in advance. I hope that as many FIFA World readers as possible are able to reach their own personal goals this year, and wish you all a healthy and happy footballing year.

Joseph S. Blatter


board. The 35-year-old Ronaldo will be following in the footsteps of other notable players who have gone on to head their countries’ World Cup organising teams, with Michel Platini and Franz Beckenbauer having held similar posts for France 1998 and Germany 2006 respectively.

Anelka’s Shanghai surpriseChinese Super League side Shanghai Shenhua pulled off a major transfer coup even before the current January transfer window had opened, with the signing in December of former French striker Nicolas Anelka from English Premier League club Chelsea. Anelka was capped 69 times by France but announced his international

retirement last year, following his much-publicised fall-out with the French Football Association during France’s disappointing 2010 FIFA World Cup™ campaign. Shanghai will be the latest staging post in Anelka’s nomadic club career which has already included spells at nine clubs in France, England, Spain and Turkey.

World beatersBarcelona proved once again to be in a class of their own in December after clinching the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan with a scintillating fi nal display. Pep Guardiola’s men brushed aside South American champions Santos 4-0 to become the fi rst team ever to win FIFA’s global club competition twice. While the Catalan giants took the top honours, this year’s tournament saw a number of other notable performances, with Asia’s representatives standing out in particular. AFC champions Al-Sadd of Qatar upset Africa’s Espérance in the quarter-fi nals before fi nishing in third place, just ahead of newly crowned Japanese champions Kashiwa Reysol, who had surprised CONCACAF champions Monterrey in the other quarter-fi nal. For a full tournament review, turn to page 32.

One of a kind

Football lost one of its most iconic stars on 4 December with the passing of Brazilian legend Socrates. The tall, graceful midfi elder, an exponent of Brazil’s celebrated jogo bonito, died in São Paulo after suffering an intestinal infection aged 57. The player affectionately known as The Doctor formed part of a midfi eld trio alongside Zico and Falcão that lit up Brazil’s play at the 1982 and 1986 FIFA World Cups™. FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter expressed his condolences in a letter to Ricardo Teixeira, his counterpart at the Brazilian Football Association. “It is with great sadness that I learned of the death of Socrates, one of the most brilliant players in the history of Brazilian football,” he wrote.

On board for 2014When it comes to the FIFA World Cup™, nobody knows more about hitting targets than Brazil’s Ronaldo, the tournament’s all-time leading goalscorer. This is a knack Brazil’s Local Organising Committee will be hoping to capitalise on in the lead-up to the 2014 edition after the legendary marksman accepted an invitation from LOC President Ricardo Teixeira to become a member of the body’s new three-man management

Around the world

5

32

20 406

FIFA WORLD I JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012

6Manchester, Santiago, MadridStriking images from the world of football

12Tokyo talksGovernance reforms dominate Exco meeting

16Coming soonFootballing highlights of 2012

20Tackling match-fi xingHow the battle will be won

24Global tour Promoting women’s football around the world

28Green credentialsFIFA Women’s World Cup™ sets new environmental benchmark

32Brilliant BarçaFIFA Club World Cup glory for Messi & Co

40Making the cutRace for Brazil 2014 heats up

48A new startPutting Haitian football back on its feet

52Special onesNew courses aimed specifi cally at keepers

58AssociationsMore silverware for Japan, and David Beckham

60Men’s rankingSpain end the year on a high

62Women’s rankingUSA still the team to beat

64ArchiveWhen Ethiopia were kings of Africa

VIEW NEWS FOCUS SUMMARY

Inside this issue


VIEW

United we standPlayers and fans of Manchester United and Sunderland give a standing ovation to United manager Sir Alex Ferguson during celebrations to mark his staggering 25 years as the club’s coach.

7 FIFA WORLD I VIEW


Real disappointmentTwo Real Madrid fans fail to mask their unhappiness following a 3-1 home defeat against Spanish league arch-rivals Barcelona.

9 FIFA WORLD I VIEW

Fall guysChile and Paraguay are involved in a fi ve-player pile-up during the latest round of

South American qualifi ers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup™. Chile won the home game 2-0 to go fi fth in the standings. For more on the race to Brazil 2014, see page 40.


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

November/December issue

Let us hear your views, either on what you have read in FIFA World, or in regard to anything else in the world of international football. 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.

Taking shapeThe 13th day of the month is lucky in some cultures. I notice from the newly released 2014 World Cup schedule that the fi nal will be on 13 July – hopefully a lucky date for Brazil if they get to the fi nal!

Harry (England)

I’m very proud of my hometown, Fortaleza. I can’t wait to see Brazil play here and to welcome the whole world to my sunny and beautiful town!

Felipe (Brazil)

Southern heatEven though up to six teams, including Brazil, can qualify from CONMEBOL, the competition will be much more diffi cult than in previous editions. While more slots may be available, the teams are more balanced now. For example, Venezuela are serious candidates now and Peru have also improved a lot lately, so it’s going to be very diffi cult for each team.

FIFA.com user (USA)

Argentina have started the 2014 qualifi cation campaign the same way as the last one, by winning at home and losing on the road. With Brazil not taking part in the qualifi ers, Argentina will probably qualify, but they really will have to play a lot better away from home.

Dale (USA)

The CONMEBOL qualifi ers give Uruguay another chance to stamp their authority on the South American continent. With Brazil’s absence, anything other than fi rst place in the qualifi cation table will be a shocking disappointment for the Uruguayans.

Myke (Cameroon)

Lesotho hopeFootball for Hope has been brilliant for the football community. I hope the programme continues to grow in strength and uses football to change the world for the better for years to come.

FIFA.com user (England)

The development of the Football for Hope Centres should be a great way to promote AIDS/HIV awareness and I hope FIFA continues to support many local initiatives that help tackle the effects of the epidemic.

FIFA.com user (England)

Stamp of approvalPutting the stamp collection on display is an excellent idea and I’m sure the exhibition will be fantastic, especially for those of us who love to collect stamps. I have my own collection of stamps but unfortunately, none

Brazil 2014 takes shape | Tournament marks 1,000-day countdown | Russia begins work for 2018 | Hope in Lesotho | Warming up in Spain | Tight race in South America | Best clubs prepare for Japan | FIFA Ballon d’Or nominees | World’s smallest league | Football meets philately | Grassroots goes online

November/December 2011

POINT OF NO RETURNFIFA President sets out reforms

11 FIFA WORLD I VIEW

of football. It’s a great idea and I congratulate FIFA.

Patori (Uruguay)

What a brilliant idea by FIFA to gather together all the stamps, letters and artefacts from days gone by in order to preserve them and show them around the world.

César (Ecuador)

Smallest leagueIt sounds like there’s a really nice atmosphere in the Scilly Isles’ two-team

“league”. Compared to other leagues in Europe, it’s a little like going back in time. However, it must be diffi cult to get motivated to line up against the same opponents every single week!

FIFA.com user (France)

Bachelet visitBachelet is doing tremendous work for gender equality and it is vital that she keeps promoting the cause of women’s football. Chile’s success in hosting the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup was a genuine milestone in her career as

President. It’s not only a question of gaining equality for women’s football, but of integrating it into football’s structures at all levels.

FIFA.com user (Spain)

It’s really fascinating seeing Michelle Bachelet, the former President of Chile, doing her utmost to promote women’s football. I would like FIFA to encourage other women like Bachelet to use their positions of high offi ce to help promote the women’s game.

FIFA.com user (Ghana)

A GOLDEN YEAR?The men’s and women’s Olympic Football Tournaments are just two of this year’s footballing highlights. For more, see page 16.


NEWS

Reforms gather pace

FIFA’s ongoing governance reform programme was the main topic of December’s Executive Committee meeting in Tokyo, with the executive unanimously approving the road map announced in October, and also confi rming the members of the new independent body which will oversee the process.

13 FIFA WORLD I NEWS

Holding its last meeting of the year on the two days leading up to the fi nal of last year’s FIFA Club World Cup (see tournament review on page 32), FIFA’s Executive Committee reasserted its overwhelming support for the reform process which is aimed at improving governance standards and increasing transparency within world football’s governing body.

“The Executive Committee stands strong and is united and will respond to the expectations of the FIFA Congress and public opinion and we’ll carry out the necessary reforms,” vowed FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter at a media conference following the meeting.

The next step on the road map was also taken in Tokyo, as the executive was presented with the list of members who will sit on the Independent Governance Committee (IGC) chaired by international compliance and anti-corruption expert Professor Mark Pieth. Selected and appointed by Pieth himself, the names on the IGC list have been drawn from a deliberately wide range of fi elds, both from within and outside the football industry (see “Pieth’s picks”).

The selection of the IGC members follows on from the creation at the end of last year of the three new specialist task forces (Task Force Revision of Statutes, Task Force Ethics Committee and Task Force Transparency & Compliance) which, together with the existing Task Force Football 2014, will work on the substance of the reforms, before making their fi nal proposals to the Exco.

“The four task forces have already had their first meetings with their respective chairmen,” Blatter told the media conference, adding that the four committees would hold a joint meeting in mid-January before having their fi rst get-together with the IGC at the end of February.

“Our road map is very ambitious and we want to take time to look at the proposals made by the Independent Governance Committee so that we reach 2013 with results and decisions to be taken,” the FIFA President added.

Blatter reiterated the importance of fi nally putting to bed the issues of the past,so that Prof. Pieth and his committee could be left to concentrate on the future.

FIFA briefs

Development programmesThe Tokyo meeting also saw the Executive Committee give its backing to a series of new football development programmes with a total budget of USD 60 million for the period 2012-2014. Aimed in particular at member associations with fewer resources, the new programmes will focus on governance and institutional empowerment, income generation and diversifi cation, registration and national competition management systems, and development, infrastructure and sports equipment projects.

Sion sanctionsThe Executive Committee set a fi nal deadline of 13 January for the Swiss Football Association to enforce the registration ban imposed on FC Sion/Olympique des Alpes SA by the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber and to sanction the attitude of the club “repeatedly trying to circumvent this decision in a legally abusive manner”. The Swiss FA was instructed to declare forfeit, or deduct three points from, all matches in which FC Sion had fi elded players deemed ineligible by FIFA and UEFA. The sanctions follow on from December’s ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport that FC Sion were not entitled to be reinstated in this season’s UEFA Europa League, following UEFA’s decision to expel them from the competition.

Hijab discussionFollowing a discussion on the global development of women’s football, FIFA Vice-President HRH Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein has been invited to make a presentation about the wearing of hijab headscarves in football at next year’s annual meeting of the International Football Association Board in England on 3 March 2012.

• Establishment of four task forces: Revision of Statutes; Ethics Committee; Transparency & Compliance; Football 2014

• Establishment of Independent Governance Committee (formerly “Committee Good Governance”): defi nition of competences and appointment of members

• Update on fi rst reform proposals by the four task forces

• First feedback and proposals by Independent Governance Committee

• Approval of reform proposals by the four task forces

• Approval and implementation of changes to the FIFA Statutes

• Ethics Committee starts working with new structure: two chambers

• Bidding process for future FIFA World Cups™

• New election of the members of the Ethics Committee• Approval of further changes to the FIFA Statutes

Exco 21.10.2011:Structural set-up and

transparency

Exco 17.12.2011:Details/update on fi rst reform

proposals

Exco March 2012:Defi nition of further reforms

Congress May 2012:Approval of reforms and

implementation

Congress May 2013:Completion of good governance process

Road map Key steps

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Regarding the planned publication in Tokyo of the fi le relating to the 2001 collapse of FIFA’s former marketing partners ISL/ISMM, the FIFA President confi rmed, however, that this had been delayed due to legal reasons.

“This is a particularly important matter for me, because FIFA needs to lay this issue to rest,” Blatter insisted. “The Executive Committee has decided that we should open this fi le, and everyone thought that we would be able to do so today. But I have not lost hope, and am optimistic that, at the beginning of 2012, the Swiss court dealing with this matter will allow us to be open and transparent.”

Brazil 2014 updateThe state of Brazil’s preparations for hosting the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ was also on the Exco agenda, with FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke providing members with an update.

While commenting favourably on the improved situation when it came to stadium construction work, Valcke expressed concern over the fact that the General FIFA World Cup Bill – comprising the necessary government guarantees for the event’s organisation – had still not been passed by Brazil’s parliament.

“Clearly Brazil is not so far advanced when it comes to the preparation of the World Cup,” Valcke later told the media conference. “There remain problems with airports and roads, and there is not much public transport, but I must say we are very happy with the country’s new sports minister and his support for the World Cup.”

Decisions were meanwhile taken concerning the future staging of two of FIFA’s other tournaments, with Morocco being confi rmed as the hosts of the FIFA Club World Cup in both 2013 and 2014 – following on from Japan, which will again host the competition in 2012.

Morocco is set to be the fi rst African country to stage FIFA’s leading club competition and, following a presentation by the Moroccan Football Association in Tokyo, Blatter said he fully expected a tournament which would be “excellent in all aspects: logistically, culturally and fi nancially.”

Pieth’s picksLess than a month after being appointed as chairman of the Independent Governance Committee (IGC) charged with overseeing FIFA’s reform process, renowned governance expert Professor Mark Pieth has named the fi rst ten members who will sit alongside him on the committee.

As promised during a media conference given by Pieth at FIFA’s Zurich headquarters at the end of November, the members have been chosen from a broad spectrum of specialisations, both within and outside the football industry.

For the past 21 years, Prof. Pieth has led the advisory group on bribery in international business for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In 2004, he was chosen by the United Nations to serve on an independent inquiry team examining alleged corruption in the Iraqi oil-for-food programme. He has also helped the Swiss federal justice department draft laws to curb money laundering, organised crime, drug abuse, corruption and the confi scation of assets.

For biographies of the other members of the IGC, please see the links section at FIFA World’s webpage: www.fi fa.com/fi faworld.

Independent Governance Committee members

ChairmanProf. Mark Pieth

From within footballMember associations: Sunil Gulati, President of the US Soccer FederationPlayers: Leonardo Grosso, President of FIFProWomen/IOC: Lydia Nsekera, President of the Burundi FA, member of the IOCClubs: Carlos Heller, former Vice-President of Boca Juniors

Key actors outside footballGovernment: Lord Peter Goldsmith, former UK Attorney GeneralCivil society: Alexandra Wrage, President of TRACE Michael Hershman, President and CEO of the Fairfax GroupMedia: François Morinière, CEO of Groupe L’EquipeBusiness law: James Klotz, Miller Thompson LLP (Canada)Compliance: Guillermo Jorge (Argentina)

The IGC will coordinate its work with the chairmen of the task forces:Dr Theo Zwanziger Task Force Revision of StatutesFrank van Hattum Task Force Transparency & ComplianceClaudio Sulser Task Force Ethics CommitteeFranz Beckenbauer Task Force Football 2014

Meanwhile, this year’s FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup was re-allocated, with a number of logistical and technical issues forcing the Executive Committee to move the event away from the originally planned hosts, Uzbekistan. Thanking the Uzbekistan Football Federation for the efforts it had made to date, the committee said it would be happy to award another tournament or new development projects to the country whenever it becomes possible in the future. Japan has been

proposed as the new host for the women’s U-20 competition, with formal confi rmation due once the necessary government guarantees have been received.

The next FIFA Executive Committee meeting is due to be held at FIFA’s Zurich headquarters on 29 and 30 March 2012, at which point the fi rst set of concrete proposals by the Independent Governance Committee are due to be ready for discussion.


Midway between the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ and the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ in Brazil, 2012 is the only year of the current four-year FIFA cycle not to boast a senior men’s or women’s World Cup or a Confederations Cup. But with the success of last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup™ still fresh in the mind, and the FIFA Confederations Cup 2013 soon set to whet appetites for Brazil’s big event in 2014, the intervening months will still include plenty of sporting highlights for fans to savour.

As well as FIFA’s own competitions, three of the six confederations will also be staging continental championships in 2012. The fi rst is just around the corner, with Gabon and Equatorial Guinea set to

The coming year promises to provide plenty of exciting action for fans of international football, while also shaping up to be an important year for FIFA both on and off the pitch.

Out with the old…

co-host the CAF Africa Cup of Nations from 21 January. As well as involving fi rst-time hosts, hopes are high that the tournament will end with new champions, thanks to the large number of surprises that were seen in the qualifying competition.

Egypt are the most striking absentees, having failed to make it to the fi nals of a competition of which they had won the last three editions. The Pharaohs will instead fi nd themselves watching from the sidelines this time around, along with a host of other former winners including Algeria, Cameroon and South Africa.

In Oceania, meanwhile, there will be more than just confederation silverware to aim for when the eight-team OFC Nations

Cup 2012 kicks off in Fiji on 3 June. The tournament, which has so far only been won by either New Zealand or former OFC members Australia, doubles up this year as Oceania’s second round of qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup – with the four semi-fi nalists all being rewarded with a place in the confederation’s (decisive) third round. The winners of the Nations Cup will also go on to represent the region at the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2013.

The only confederation yet to get its qualifi cation competition under way is UEFA. But before Europe’s teams set out on the road to Brazil, the continent’s elite will be gunning for glory closer to home when 16 of them line up to contest the

Who will succeed Argentina’s 2008 hero Ángel di María as the scorer of this year’s Olympic gold medal-winning goal?


Azerbaijan will provide the backdrop for the U-17 event, while Japan is expect ed to take over the hosting duties of the U-20 version, following December’s decision to move the tournament away from planned hosts Uzbekistan (see previous article).

For the U-20 tournament, the omens might appear to point to a Korea DPR victory, at least if the previous sequence of winners’ names (USA, Germany, Korea DPR, USA, Germany…) is anything to go by. The North Koreans have again qualifi ed for the event, though they’ll face stiff opposition from fellow Asian representatives Japan and China PR and the European quartet of Germany, Norway, Switzerland and Italy. The rest of the line-up for the 16-team tournament

UEFA EURO 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. The tournament appears to have one of the strongest fi elds ever assembled as, unlike the Africa Cup of Nations, the vast majority of the leading teams have made it through to the fi nal 16. Indeed, all of the top ten European teams in the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking have made it to the old continent’s summer showpiece, with only three of the top 16 missing out.

The new European champions will barely have had time to celebrate their triumph, however, before focus switches to the start of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifi ers in the UEFA zone. Last July’s Preliminary Draw in Rio de Janeiro has already set up a number of mouth-watering clashes, in particular the match-up of 2010 world champions Spain and 1998 winners France, who will go head-to-head in their race to qualify in October 2012 and March 2013.

London callingAnother major highlight of the sporting year will be the Olympic Football Tournaments taking place between 25 July and 11 August as part of the 2012 London Games. Marking the 23rd edition of the men’s tournament and the fi fth edition of the women’s, it will also see Olympic football return to the land of its birth for the third time after the Games of 1908 and 1948. While London serves as the backdrop for most of this year’s Olympic activities, the football tournaments will cater to fans the length and breadth of Great Britain – with matches taking place in Coventry, Manchester, Newcastle, Cardiff and Glasgow, as well as in the English capital.

Famed for their pride and passion, the British fans will be hoping for a return to the glory of the fi rst two FIFA-recognised Olympic Football Tournaments, when Great Britain won back-to-back gold medals, fi rst as hosts in 1908 and then when they defended their title at the 1912 Games in Stockholm.

Feminine futureThe next generation of female football players will take centre stage in the second half of the year when the FIFA U-17 and U-20 Women’s World Cups get under way.

FIFA Calendar 20129 January FIFA Ballon d’Or gala, Zurich21 January – 12 February CAF Africa Cup of Nations, Gabon/Equatorial Guinea10 February CAF Congress, Libreville13-16 February FIFA committee week29 February Fixed date for international friendly matches2-4 March IFAB Annual General Meeting, London22 March UEFA Congress, Istanbul 26-30 March FIFA committee week29-30 March FIFA Executive Committee meeting, Zurich23 April Play-off for Men’s Olympic Football Tournament 2012:

AFC v. CAF24 April Offi cial Draw for Olympic Football Tournaments,

Wembley Stadium16-17 May Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup, Zurich21-22 May FIFA Executive Committee meeting, Budapest23 May OFC Congress, Budapest23 May CONCACAF Congress, Budapest24-25 May 62nd FIFA Congress, Budapest1-5 June Fixed dates for international competition matches3-11 June OFC Nations Cup, Fiji8-12 June Fixed dates for international competition matches8 June – 1 July UEFA EURO 2012, Poland/Ukraine25 July – 11 August Olympic Football Tournaments London 201215 August Fixed date for international friendly matches18 August – 9 September FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, Japan (TBC)7-11 September Fixed date for international competition matches22 September – 13 October FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, Azerbaijan24-28 September FIFA committee week27-28 September FIFA Executive Committee meeting, Zurich12-16 October Fixed date for international competition matches2-18 November FIFA Futsal World Cup, Thailand14 November Fixed date for international friendly matches6-16 December FIFA Club World Cup, Japan14-15 December FIFA Executive Committee meeting, Tokyo

will be fi nalised following completion of the U-20 championships in the remaining confederations early this year.

The FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup is due to kick off on 22 September in Azerbaijan, and might be seen as a tournament pitting Asia against the world, with the two previous editions both having been won by teams from the East. Korea DPR won the inaugural competition in New Zealand in 2008 while their southern neighbours from Korea Republic were crowned champions in Trinidad and Tobago in 2010. The South Koreans will not be around to defend that crown in 2012, however, having fi nished fourth behind qualifying trio Japan, Korea DPR and China PR at November’s AFC U-16 Women’s Championship.


While the competition on the fi eld is always the main attraction, FIFA’s women’s youth tournaments always have an important side role of promoting female football at the levels just below the senior game. Azerbaijan, the fi rst European hosts of the tournament, are therefore using the competition to turbocharge development of their national women’s game.

“We see it as part of our responsibility as hosts to develop women’s football in Azerbaijan,” says Rovnag Abdullayev, President of the Azerbaijan Football Association. “We’re already implementing

many different projects, including a national football championship for girls at U-15 and U-17 level.”

While AFC teams are expected to be among the main challengers in both of the women’s youth tournaments, there will also be a distinctly Oriental fl avour to November’s FIFA Futsal World Cup as the tournament makes its third Asian stop-off, with Thailand this time taking up the hosting duties.

Following on from previous editions in Hong Kong (1992) and Chinese Taipei (2004), the return to Asia refl ects both the

passion for the indoor game in the region as well as the desire to further promote the growth of the sport. In the same vein, this year’s tournament is set to be the biggest yet, with the expansion from 16 teams to 20 for the 2008 edition being followed up with a widening to 24 teams this time around.

The big question for the futsal fans will be whether the greater number of participating teams can help end the duopoly of Brazil and Spain, the only two countries to have triumphed at the six editions staged to date. Following on from recent challenges to the established order in the game’s other codes (Spain and Japan’s maiden World Cup wins in the men’s and women’s 11-a-side game, Russia’s shock win over Brazil in last year’s FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup), many a neutral will be hoping to see a new name at the top of the futsal tree this year.

A year of changeAway from the field of play, 2012 is also set to be a highly signifi cant year for the FIFA administration, with the fi rst set of reforms aimed at strengthening corporate governance, tackling the threat of corruption and increasing transparency due to be unveiled. Following on from the discussions of the FIFA Executive Committee in Tokyo at the end of last year (see article on page 12), the coming months will see further studying of the proposals put forward by the new task forces and the Independent Governance Committee with the aim of already implementing the fi rst concrete measures at the 62nd FIFA Congress taking place in Budapest in May.

In addition to pursuing these far-reaching changes to football governance, FIFA will also continue to push ahead in 2012 with its proposed reforms to the existing players’ agents regulations. Under the proposals, the concept of players’ agents will be replaced by that of “intermediaries”, covering anybody negotiating a transfer or contract between a professional player and a club. Pending further discussions with the different stakeholders, this new system is set to be presented to the May Congress for a fi nal decision.

Girls just want to have fun: the potential stars of the future will be hoping to emulate Germany’s 2010 triumph when the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup starts.


Meanwhile, a special meeting of the International Football Association Board will take place in July after UEFA EURO 2012 to discuss the outcome of the second phase of goal-line technology testing, which is due to get under way in March with a further examination of the systems which successfully came through the recently completed fi rst phase.

The coming year will also be a busy one in terms of FIFA’s football development and social responsibility programmes. FIFA’s Member Associations & Development Division is set to introduce a number of new priorities in 2012, with topics such as governance and electoral processes within the member associations topping the agenda. Meanwhile, dedicated initiatives will be introduced to help the most vulnerable of FIFA’s 208 member associations increase their revenue and diversify their activities. In addition to continuing its well-established and successful Goal, Financial Assistance and course programmes, the division will also be developing new teaching material for beach soccer, futsal and women’s football.

When it comes to FIFA’s ongoing social responsibility activities, the next 12 months are set to see the opening of nine new Football for Hope Centres, starting with centres in Ghana and Rwanda in early 2012. Built as part of FIFA’s offi cial “20 Centres for 2010” campaign, and designed to leave a lasting football and social legacy for Africa following the continent’s fi rst staging of the FIFA World Cup™, the next nine centres will take the total number of completed projects to 14, with the fi nal six expected to open by 2013.

Each of the centres will be provided with solar equipment and installation know-how courtesy of FIFA World Cup Sponsor Yingli, ensuring that the centres have a continuous power supply and a minimal impact on the environment.

Beyond 2012While still more than two years away, activities related to the 2014 FIFA World Cup will clearly feature highly on FIFA’s agenda for 2012. As well as keeping a close eye on Brazil’s physical preparations

for the event, FIFA will be celebrating a number of marketing milestones during the year, including the unveiling of the tournament’s slogan in the fi rst quarter and the launch of the Offi cial Mascot towards the year’s end. There will also be key moments to look forward to in the countdown to the FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013 – next year’s big curtain-raiser to the World Cup itself. The full match schedule for the eight-team contest, which pits the Brazilian hosts and Spanish defending world champions against the champions from each of the six continental confederations, will be announced in June. December will then see the staging of the tournament draw, by which time all but the African representatives will have been fi nalised.

More teams than ever will have the chance to topple Brazil when the Futsal World Cup gets

under way in November.

Nine new Football for Hope Centres are expected to open across Africa in 2012.

In a testament to the growing scale and complexity of hosting a FIFA World Cup, work is also already well under way on Russia’s staging of the 2018 event, with a February workshop for the 13 candidate host cities due to be followed later in the year by an inspection tour of all the proposed venues. A decision on which 11 of the 13 candidates has made the fi nal cut is expected to be taken in September in order to allow the successful cities a better opportunity to prepare for the competition.

With further preliminary meetings due to take place regarding Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup™, the coming year will clearly be an important one, both in terms of crowning the new champions of today and in laying the foundations for the tournaments of the future.


Interview with Chris Eaton

Fighting talk

After originally joining FIFA in an advisory role overseeing security arrangements for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, former INTERPOL operations manager Chris Eaton took up a permanent position as Head of Security for world football’s governing body at the start of 2011. Much of the intervening 12 months has been spent on developing a strategy for tackling match-fi xing, a scourge which threatens, if left unchecked, to destroy the integrity of the

game. But, despite the worrying number of recent scandals around the world, Eaton insists the battle against match-fi xing will be won.

FIFA World: You’ve been a year in the job as FIFA’s Head of Security, Chris. Can you tell us a bit about the role, and how it came about?

Chris Eaton: Well, the Security Department itself already existed

before my appointment, but after my appointment, the role evolved. It was obvious that FIFA needed a stronger connection to police support and investigative capabilities, given that the World Cup in particular exists in a public environment, so I was employed to liaise with the South African police in the build-up to and during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. During the tournament, though, it became clear


One year into his job as FIFA’s Head of Security, Chris Eaton tells FIFA World about his plans to tackle match-fi xing and how 2012 will be the year in which “football fi ghts back”.

It’s been said many times that match-fixing is a big problem for sport, and football in particular. But is it possible to say just how big?

It’s impossible to precisely quantify the scale of the problem, but what you can do is look at the concrete fi gures we have from the various criminal investigations into match-fi xing scandals, and compare those to the estimates of the huge amounts of money being gambled on football worldwide. The criminal investigation that’s been running in Italy for over a year now has apparently identifi ed EUR 2 billion in criminal income being generated by the Mafi a and the Camorra over the course of four to fi ve years, which amounts to around EUR 400 million a year – or three per cent of the total EUR 12 billion that is estimated to be spent in legal and illegal football betting in that country alone. On a global level, organisations like the World Lotteries Association and INTERPOL assess that there is between EUR 200 and 500 billion being gambled on sport every year, which, based on the Italian fi gures, suggests that organised criminals around the world may be taking an annual profi t of EUR 15 billion or more from match-fi xing.

So with all the money involved in gambling in general, how do you go about identifying the match-fixers?

Well, you have to realise fi rst of all that nobody’s really been looking at this properly until recently. They’ve either turned a blind eye, or just been naïve and thought ‘this is the beautiful game, who would take advantage of the beautiful game?’, so there hasn’t been enough focus on this issue, either by the police or the football authorities. The upside of that is that the criminals have not had to be too careful and they’ve left a lot of big fi ngerprints that we know how to fi nd. That’s helped us to identify some of their methods and targets, and we can now use that knowledge for the most important part of my job, which is to prevent the

“I’m trying to create a hostile environment for

the fi xers, and make them realise that we will

expose them.”

match-fi xers from getting anywhere near games in the fi rst place. We’re focusing on the lower leagues around the world where we know the fi xers have been operating and, here at FIFA in particular, we’re focusing on the World Cup qualifi ers – especially the ones involving teams who know they have a lesser chance of making it to the fi nal tournament – and we’re also looking at international friendly games, which are the international match of choice for match-fi xers. What I’m trying to do is to create a hostile environment for the fi xers, and make them realise that we will expose them, we will name them and we will make them subject to criminal investigations.

What are the main detection tools at your disposal? Does it begin with monitoring betting sites for unusual patterns?

I would say that has been the starting point in the past. And those kind of monitoring systems, such as the

to me that FIFA also had a gap in responding to criminality against itself, particularly in regard to match-fi xing and the infi ltration of the organisation. I discussed this with the Secretary General and he tasked me, along with FIFA’s Legal Division, with developing a programme of investigation support to combat match-fi xing and the potential infi ltration of criminals into FIFA and its associations.


one operated by FIFA’s Early Warning System subsidiary, will continue to be an important part of the armoury for catching those who slip through the nets that we’re now building. But we’re focusing now on prevention, which means having to get our hands dirty and get the information as soon as the fi xers make their initial approaches and, ideally, long before any games are actually fi xed.

So it’s about getting information earlier?

That’s right. And this coming year is going to be extremely important in that regard, because we’re going to be starting a lot of new projects in 2012. Last month, we launched a joint task force with the Asian Football Confederation, which has three investigators operating out of Kuala Lumpur and focusing on match-fi xing and anti-corruption in Southeast Asia,

Global Complex in Singapore, which will become fully functional in 2013 with the fi rst group of trained offi cers attending the FIFA competitions taking place later this year. But perhaps the most exciting development is the new anonymous reporting strategy that we’ll be launching in February with the aim of making sure that the real targets of match-fi xing – the players, offi cials and administrators – have somewhere they can turn to.

How will the anonymous reporting actually work?

It starts with a website and hotline that allows people who have been

or offi cials who have been unfairly compromised but are now ready to come clean. We want to offer an incentive for those who come forward and tell us the truth, rather than those who are found out through our own investigations. The message will be that if you come forward and admit you’ve been involved in match-fi xing, the Disciplinary Committee will recognise the fact you’ve come forward, and consider this when determining any subsequent sporting penalties. But if we fi nd out the truth when you haven’t told it to us, then you can expect a ban for life from football plus whatever we can get out of the criminal prosecution side.

“The coming year has to be about saying

that these people have taken advantage of

the game for too long and that it’s time for

football to fi ght back.”

and we’re going to be adding more and more investigators throughout this year, including someone in Colombia covering the Americas, an Arabic-speaking investigator based in Jordan and a UK-based global investigations coordinator who will also help me with our monitoring of Europe and Africa. On top of that we have the new FIFA Anti-Corruption Training Wing that’s been set up within the INTERPOL

approached by match-fi xers, or have heard about approaches, to pass on the information, anonymously if they wish. We will then have each report assessed by independent intelligence assessors so that we can follow up on the information provided. We’ll have the possibility of rewards for whistle-blowers as well as a one-off amnesty period, under the control of our Disciplinary Committee, for players

How hard is it, though, to get successful prosecutions when today’s match-fixers are operating on a global scale, often remotely influencing matches in many different countries?

I would say that the most frustrating part of my job at the moment is that international policing is very complex and slow when it comes to cross-border investigations because the various national police forces were not really built for effective investigation of a transcontinental complexity. This has been improved upon a lot in some areas, in particular when it comes to


anti-terrorism. And I think that’s what we need to see now when it comes to match-fi xing: for the police not just to follow the money after matches have been compromised, but to react swiftly enough to prevent the crime in the fi rst place.

But it took something as terrible as the 9/11 attacks to get greater police cooperation on terrorism? Do you think they will be ready to take match-fixing in football as seriously?

This is why we need to point out the gravity of match-fi xing. Not only is the money involved staggering, but it has to be remembered that we’re talking about organised crime groups and we know they’re not spending this money on nice houses and televisions! This is going into other criminal activities and that’s why governments have to get on board, because this huge liquidity from football is being used to fuel other crime. Lots of police forces are already aware of this, but I can’t spend all my

Battle-linesThe main fronts in FIFA’s war on match-fi xing

time talking to individual police forces. We need to escalate it to INTERPOL and to the United Nations and other international collegiate organisations so that the specifi c crime of match-fi xing gets some sort of recognition, either through a new UN convention or through an amendment to an existing one, such as the transnational organised crime convention, that can specifi cally target the enormous growth in gambling and bookmaking through the internet. We don’t need a match-fi xing equivalent of 9/11, although in some ways we’ve already got our equivalent now. We already have hundreds of

players in prison and administrators under investigation with cases open in something like 50 countries. That’s a quarter of FIFA’s membership, so it’s frightening. The coming year has to be about football waking up and resisting, saying that these people have taken advantage of the game for too long and that it’s time for football to fi ght back.

And you’re confident that match-fixing can be eradicated?

Absolutely. I’ve been involved in criminal investigations for 40 years and I am yet to meet a truly smart criminal. The problem is that it’s too easy right now for lazy, greedy people to make a living out of compromising poor and vulnerable players. So we need to offer protection to the players and

referees, and give them someone to tell their stories to. We have heard terrible stories of intimidation, even possible examples of players being killed for refusing to cooperate with match-fi xers, or committing suicide because of the shame of match-fi xing allegations. But I’m heartened by the growing awareness in the football community and by the seriousness with which the police are now looking at the issue. You have to remember that the large number of investigations that we have going on is not because the problem is new but because the police are fi nally concentrating on it. So, in that sense, I think it’s a good sign, a sign of progress, a sign that we will defeat the match-fi xers and I have no doubt that we will.

Rehabilitation programme (for unfairly

compromised players and

offi cials)

Status:

scheduled to run

from February to

end of 2012

Anonymous reporting hotline

Status:

scheduled to

operate from

February to end

of 2012

Whistle-blower programme

Status:

scheduled to run

from February to

end of 2012

Amnesty procedure

Status: scheduled to run from February to April 2012

Regional investigators

Status:

began December

2011

International network of

relevant national, regional and

global authorities

Status:

ongoing

2012

2013


Japan’s dramatic extra-time victory over the USA in the fi nal of last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup™ sent out a strong message about the competitiveness of women’s football at the very highest level, with teams from three different continents having now been crowned champions at the six editions of the tournament held to date.

That statistic compares favourably with the men’s version, which has been running for more than 80 years but has only ever been won by sides from Europe or South America. Nevertheless, the evenly balanced nature of the competition among the very top teams cannot disguise the

Maintaining the momentumA touring conference on women’s football is currently working its way around the world, with the aim of using last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup™ as a springboard for the game’s future development.

huge disparities that still exist in other parts of the world and between the international level and women’s club football.

Following up on the success of the 5th Women’s Football Symposium which took place during the closing days of the 2011 tournament (see October issue of FIFA World), FIFA has now embarked on a series of international conferences, each staged by a different continental confederation.

Structured around a series of keynote presentations, working groups and panel discussions, the conferences give participants the opportunity to discuss the various development challenges facing

member associations in their region and set out their development programmes for the next four years.

The African Football Confederation (CAF) got the ball rolling with a three-day conference in Johannesburg from 18-20 November, attended by representatives from across the African football spectrum and a host of global experts in the women’s game.

“This conference should not be a talk show, but should provide pragmatic discussions for the development of women’s football in Africa,” said Kirsten Nematandani, President of the South African Football Association during the opening speeches, which were followed by an analysis by FIFA’s Technical Study Group focusing on the tactical and technical trends that emerged from Germany 2011. Attention on the second day then turned to a case study of world champions Japan, presented by Eiji Ueda, chairman of

Delegates discuss future plans for the women’s game during the second conference in Kuala Lumpur.


the Japanese Football Association (JFA) women’s football committee, and Hiroyuki Horino, Japan’s assistant coach. Horino explained that women’s football in his country had been in a similar situation to Africa less than two decades ago: “It was a minor sport back then and it was vital that we built up effective structures, but the most important factor of all was that we were enthusiastic.”

One of the main topics in Johannesburg was how to improve the competitiveness of African teams at the FIFA Women’s World Cup. With the exception of Nigeria, who made it through to the quarter-fi nals when the tournament was held in the USA in 1999, no African team has made it out of the group stages. Addressing this clear underachievement, the speakers emphasised the need for Africa’s football leaders to focus on youth development and above all to exercise patience.

Hope calls for patienceEngland coach Hope Powell, one of the guest speakers at the well-attended event, underlined the massive untapped potential for women’s football in Africa but warned against trying to fi nd quick-fi x solutions.

“I’ve had 13 years to develop a long-term plan,” explained Powell, who last year broke the record for the most matches in charge of an England team in either the men’s or women’s game after surpassing the previous record set by Walter Winterbottom. “Women’s football is improving but it’s important to grow steadily. We’re hoping that resources will be made available to grow the game worldwide and that as a result we’ll see better competition.”

Powell, also the fi rst women to obtain the UEFA Pro-Licence, Europe’s highest coaching award, encouraged the African associations to learn by watching the leading teams from around the world, but insisted: “Respect your own culture and develop your own style. You have to stick to your principles and what works for you. Remain true to your own philosophy of the game and build your strategies around that.”

Those with an inside view of the women’s game in Africa also stressed the

importance of encouraging young African girls to take up the game.

“We need long-term development, starting at youth level,” said FIFA instructor Jacqueline Shipanga from Namibia. This view was backed up by former Nigerian women’s star Mercy Akide-Udoh. “We need to get former players to go into schools and sell the game to girls by encouraging them to play,” added the former African Women’s Footballer of the Year.

During the course of the conference, delegates came up with a number of proposals to take the women’s game forward in Africa. Member associations were urged to improve their women’s football structures, for example by appointing a women’s football development offi cer and ensuring representation for women’s football on their executive committees, while the technical directors were advised to take women’s football more carefully into account when structuring their development programmes.

The importance of grassroots programmes for girls and having a league and competitions at youth and senior level was a recurring theme, with member associations also being encouraged to

increase the number of tournaments at regional, national and continental levels, allowing players to pit themselves against the best teams from their region.

Burundi’s Lydia Nsekera, currently the only female president of a member association, brought the conference to a close with a rallying cry: “Let’s come together for the development of women’s football and change the mindset of our football leaders to make women’s football a priority.”

Japanese lessonsJapan were unsurprisingly the centre of attention once again when the Asian Football Confederation played host to the second conference in Kuala Lumpur from 6-8 December.

As in Africa, participants were keen to learn more about the structures and processes that had turned Japan into world champions – and Japan’s national women’s team coach Norio Sasaki was more than happy to oblige.

“Winning the World Cup was an unbelievable experience for us and we want to share it with everyone,” he said at the start of his presentation, which explained in detail how the JFA had

Equatorial Guinea made their debut at this year’s

FIFA Women’s World Cup, but there is still much work to do in making

African women’s football more competitive.


set clear targets in the years building up to their triumph in Germany, backed up by a solid commitment from the squad members and an involvement of the players in the development of team strategies. “By sharing this knowledge, we hope that other countries can take it and use it for the development of the game in their country. It’s important that this conference gives everyone an understanding of how top teams work.”

In addition to the insights offered into Japan’s development success, the conference also featured case studies of the American, Australian and German national teams, as well as working groups in which participants sought ways of increasing the number of competitions and boosting development in the member associations.

On the fi nal day, Jürg Nepfer, FIFA’s Head of Education & Technical Development, and Mayi Turner-Kerr, FIFA’s Women’s Football Development Manager, presented FIFA’s development programmes for women’s football for the next four years, explaining how the focus in this period will continue to be on establishing and running national competitions and providing education programmes, materials and fi nancial support. AFC Technical Director Jim Selby and Women’s Football Director Julie Teo then outlined the AFC’s women’s football competitions and development programmes for 2012-2015.

Perhaps the greatest testament to the efforts being made in the name of women’s football, as well as to the size of the challenges which are still faced by many national associations, came with the delayed arrival of Afghanistan international

Zahra Safdar on the second day of the Kuala Lumpur conference.

“I couldn’t make the fi rst day because I missed my fl ight due to a visa problem, but I knew I couldn’t miss this,” said Safdar, who also serves on her national association’s women’s football committee. “I wanted to meet experienced football people and share my ideas with them, because the only time I can escape from my country’s problems and forget about what is going on is when I’m playing football.”

Bringing the event to a close, AFC General Secretary Dato’ Alex Soosay said that women’s football in Asia had come of age, and not just in regards to Japan’s triumph in Germany.

“We now have national women’s teams in Palestine, Jordan, Iran, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives, just to name a few, and all these are promising countries,” Soosay pointed out. “These are the results of everyone putting their resources, hearts and minds into the development of the game.”

Following on from the opening events in Africa and Asia, the next steps are to hold similar conferences for the CONCACAF region, in Canada from 26-29 January, and for the UEFA region, in Italy in April.

“The only time I can escape from my

country’s problems and forget about what is going on is when I’m

playing football.” Afghanistan international Zahra Safdar

Former USA coach April Heinrichs gave insights into the Americans’ approach to the women’s game.

FIFA briefs

Calls heardNearly 60 social improvement projects from all over the world will receive fi nancial support from FIFA’s Football for Hope programme during 2012. Following the annual “call for proposals” selection process, aimed at assessing the feasibility, sustainability and likely impact of proposed programmes as well as the robustness of the applying organisations, a total of 59 projects were chosen – ranging from a refugee integration programme in Australia to youth unemployment courses in Ecuador and the UK and a pan-African programme for youngsters with intellectual disabilities.

Sound successCharities across Africa are set to benefi t from strong sales of the offi cial 2010 FIFA World Cup™ music album, with FIFA Partner Sony announcing in November that “Listen Up! The Offi cial 2010 FIFA World Cup Album” had raised over USD 2.5 million for social causes. The majority of the proceeds – in excess of USD 2.3 million – has been designated by the participating artists and FIFA for investment in the tournament’s offi cial “20 Centres for 2010” campaign.

Stretching outLess than two months after its national roll-out in the land of the reigning men’s world champions, Spain, FIFA’s “11+” injury prevention programme has received the backing of the Japanese women’s world champions. Speaking at a training event held in Japan for 77 regional coaches, national team coach Norio Sasaki and star midfi elder Aya Miyama explained how they had already incorporated the programme into their warm-up routines – to obvious effect. The course participants, some of whom had travelled from China, Hong Kong and Thailand, will now take the simple but effective “11+” exercises back to their home regions.


The fi nal report into the Green Goal environmental campaign at last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup delivers a clear message: that major sporting events attracting hundreds of thousands of spectators can still be organised in an environmentally friendly manner. Presented in Frankfurt in November, the tournament’s Legacy Report reveals how Green Goal hit its targets in almost all areas to deliver a large-scale but climate-neutral event.

Following in the footsteps of the Green Goal programme which operated during the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™, the 2011 version saw organisers adopt a set of even more demanding measures, aimed at reducing harmful emissions in fi ve core areas of energy, water, waste,

As well as furnishing a new standard for women’s football, the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011™ set a new benchmark for environmental awareness – leaving a green legacy not only for the German hosts but also for future organisers of other large-scale tournaments and events.

By Andreas Alf, Frankfurt

Germany’s green legacy

mobility and catering. The calculations used in the report were also more strict, encompassing emissions created not only during the tournament, but also in the build-up to the event, and, unlike in 2006, also factoring in the emissions caused by international travel to and from Germany.

Overall, the various measures carried out in all areas of the tournament’s organisation led to total emissions equivalent to just under 40,000 tonnes of CO2, or three per cent less than had been expected by the project leaders before the event.

To achieve the ambitious aim of making the tournament climate-neutral, all the emissions which could not be prevented were instead compensated for, thanks to a EUR 600,000 investment by FIFA,

the German Local Organising Committee and the German Football Association (DFB). The funds were distributed across Gold Standard-certifi ed projects in developing countries (see “Going for gold”) which, by the end of 2011, had already ensured a complete balancing out of the tournament’s emissions.

“A modern fi rst-class FIFA World Cup must consider the environment and devise

a corresponding programme to reduce any negative effects on the environment,” FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter explained in the report’s foreword. “And this is something the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011 Environmental Campaign did a great job in.”Planet Earth also took centre stage during the FIFA Women’s World Cup opening ceremony.

“The experience we’ve gained from this

campaign will be hugely important with regard to

future tournaments.” FIFA Head of Corporate Social Responsibility

Federico Addiechi


Stadiums as supportersWhile carbon offset projects are an effective way of compensating for harmful emissions, it is of course even better to prevent such emissions occurring in the fi rst place. The support of the stadium owners proved essential in this regard, with eight of the tournament’s nine stadiums adopting the ECOPROFIT environmental management system, which helps train building operators in effective and cost-efficient ways of protecting the environment.

The adoption of ECOPROFIT led to 50 individual measures being taken before the tournament – from the installation of toilet fl ushing systems that use less water to the introduction of energy-effi cient lighting and ground-water pitch-sprinkler systems – and a further 20 since, at a total cost of EUR 710,000 to the stadium owners. The investment is intended to pay for itself in terms of the resulting savings, however, with 80% of the costs expected to be recovered within the next three years. The energy-related measures alone are forecast to produce savings of around six million KWh a year.

There were similar success stories in the areas of waste management and environmentally friendly catering, the latter being a new category that was not included in the 2006 Green Goal.

Regarding waste management, the report found that the high standards of the 2006 FIFA World Cup had been maintained and, in some areas, even improved upon, thanks in particular to the introduction of re-useable, unprinted drinking beakers which have since been used at other events, and a marked reduction in the amount of food packaging. The lack of a uniform system for separating different types of waste at the stadiums and fan parks was picked up upon, however, as an area for improvement at future events.

When it came to the catering, each stadium was called upon to offer fans at least one organic product and to also consider the sourcing of their food in an effort to use more local products. The biggest hits here were the Frankfurt stadium’s organic Bratwurst sausages,

24,000 of which were gobbled up by enthusiastic fans. Less spectacular sales were seen at other stadiums, however, particularly at those where a choice between similar organic and non-organic products was available. Since organic products are generally more expensive, the report’s authors note that the supporters’ expectations of good but reasonably priced food must always be borne in mind when considering green catering options.

Transport issuesAs is usually the case with major international events, by far the biggest cause of harmful emissions during the FIFA Women’s World Cup was transport, accounting for 33,600 tonnes of greenhouse gases – or 80% of the total emissions.

Just over half of the transport-related emissions were caused by the international travel of teams, fans and offi cials to and from Germany. This too was generally expected, since three-quarters of the international visitors came by air, although the fi nal number of overseas visitors was still something of a surprise for the organisers.

“In all aspects, we had fewer emissions than we expected, except for when it came to international transportation,” Martin Schmied, the Institute for Applied Ecology’s Green Goal project leader, told FIFA World. “But this was simply because of the fact we did not reckon on so many fans travelling to Germany!”

Within Germany itself, the organisers made a concerted effort to get fans onto public transport, working closely with the German Federal Railways to offer combined match and transport tickets, as well as laying on additional trains, buses and dedicated World Cup shuttle buses.

While many fans took advantage of the offers available, a considerable number still chose to travel to matches by car, accounting for 55% of the journeys made to the stadiums (compared to 25% for the 2006 FIFA World Cup). The report suggests that the main reason for this was the family-friendly nature of the tournament with many parents taking their children to the matches, and apparently favouring their own cars for these journeys.

when the moment happens

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Energy-effi cient ovens in Mali and biogas plants in India are among the projects being funded by Green Goal offsets.

One positive to be drawn from this, however, was that most cars were at least used by many occupants, at an average of 3.4 people per car, compared to 2.7 for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Even with the higher percentage of supporters coming by car, the overall emissions caused by transport within Germany were eight per cent less than forecast before the tournament.

Something to shout aboutAlmost as important as the environmental measures was the accompanying promotion campaign that was run in and around the stadiums, with the aim of educating and alerting football fans, clubs and the general public about the efforts being undertaken by the organisers.

“We are very proud that we were able to communicate the messages of Green Goal in a visually effective manner,” LOC general coordinator Ulrich Wolter told FIFA World. “Now, after the tournament, we are getting lots of invitations to conventions and congresses to share our know-how, which is exactly what is needed – for us to pass on our success to organisers of future tournaments.”

While the DFB has already announced plans to build on the success of the FIFA Women’s World Cup with sustained environmental protection programmes at stadiums and clubs across the country, FIFA is also taking up the baton by promoting similar activities at a global level.

“The experience we’ve gained from this campaign will be hugely important with regard to future tournaments,” said FIFA Head of Corporate Social Responsibility Federico Addiechi following the presentation of the Legacy Report in Frankfurt. “There are of course differences from one country to the next, so we need to be aware of that. But we have the framework now and we will be expanding this to cover six key areas of water, waste, energy, transport, procurement and climate change in time for the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ and all future World Cups.”

An electronic version of the full Legacy Report can be downloaded from the links section of our webpage: www.fi fa.com/fi faworld

Going for goldVoluntary carbon offset programmes are an increasingly popular way in which individuals, companies and organisations can compensate for environmentally harmful carbon emissions by buying so-called carbon credits, but choosing the right programme to support can be a diffi cult matter. To ensure that every euro of the Green Goal 2011 compensation payment was spent effectively, the campaign’s organisers only selected projects that have met the World Wildlife Fund-recognised Gold Standard. The standard’s criteria have been developed to make the contribution of projects to the effective reduction of harmful emissions more transparent and to emphasise the contribution to sustainable development in developing countries. The carbon credits purchased as compensation for the 40,000 tonnes of CO2 emitted as a result of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011 will originate from the following fi ve projects:• Nicaragua’s Amayo wind power project. Recognised as both a United Nations Clean

Development Mechanism (CDM) and Gold Standard project, Nicaragua’s fi rst ever windpark boasts 19 wind turbines and is contributing to clean and reliable electricity, in particular for the country’s Rivas region

• A small hydro-electric plant in Honduras. Built to provide electricity for four villages, this Gold Standard/CDM project is also helping to create 129 temporary jobs and 32 permanent positions in the village of La Esperanza.

• Indian biogas project. Up to 5,500 households will be able to cook with environmentally friendly gas thanks to the construction of decentralised biogas plants. This Gold Standard/CDM project replaces kerosene with clean gas, preventing the production of harmful waste gases and soot.

• Cleaner ovens in Mali and Ghana. Also designed to reduce health problems caused by cooking, these two Gold Standard projects will provide families with modern stoves, which burn wood and charcoal in a much more effi cient and complete manner. As well as reducing the amount of fuel required, the new ovens also reduce the amount of harmful soot and carbon monoxide emissions.

International transport 51% Transport within Germany 33% Organisation 5% Energy at stadiums 4% Hotel stays 3% Stadium construction work 2% Public viewing 2%

Emissions listA breakdown of where emissions were created


FOCUS

33 FIFA WORLD I FOCUS

Barcelona’s stylish and emphatic win over South American champions Santos in the fi nal of the FIFA Club World Cup 2011 was a reminder of just why former Santos and Brazil legend Pelé famously dubbed football the “beautiful game”. The Catalan outfi t delivered an attacking masterclass to bring a thrilling conclusion to a tournament in which Asia’s lights also shone brightly.

By Stephen Sullivan, Yokohama

Perhaps the greatest tribute to the newly crowned world champions Barcelona is that we have ceased to be surprised by their brilliance. It could take years, however, for us to fully appreciate that this is a team not only making football history, but revolutionising whole aspects of the sport. Somehow, Pep Guardiola and his players are ruling football while rewriting some of its golden rules. “They played a 3-7-0,” observed the bewildered Santos coach, Muricy Ramalho, after his side’s 4-0 fi nal defeat. “If I put out that formation in Brazil, they would call the police!”

While it’s true that Guardiola’s selection was to some extent infl uenced by the leg-break suffered by David Villa in the team’s semi-fi nal against Al-Sadd, his team demonstrated once again that no matter how they go about their business, nobody does it better, or certainly not at the moment. As Neymar, a subdued fi gure in the fi nal, graciously observed: “Today, the best team in the world showed us how to play football.”

After watching his charges romp home 4-0, with a brace from Messi bookending strikes by Xavi and Cesc Fàbregas, even the Barça coach himself, a man who has

made the nonchalant shrug his trademark, indulged in some lavish praise. “I’m so honoured to work with these great players,” he enthused. “In the fi rst half, they were like artists. Whatever they envisioned in their minds, it appeared on the pitch.”

Guardiola stopped short of describing his team as the best in their club’s history, but there is no questioning his status as Barça’s most successful coach. Since he took charge in 2008, the Catalans have won 13 of the 16 trophies they have competed for. Johan Cruyff, his mentor and the previous record holder, won “just” 11 – and had fi ve more years in which to do it.

Leaving records strewn in their wake is becoming commonplace for Guardiola’s side. Not only have they become the fi rst side ever to win two FIFA Club World Cup crowns, but their tally of eight goals from two matches at this FIFA Club World Cup set a new benchmark for the competition, while the 4-0 fi nal win over Santos – the biggest this competition has ever seen – witnessed Lionel Messi become the fi rst player at FIFA’s club showpiece to score in two separate fi nals. Remarkably, the little

The history-makers

Football for HopeFIFA’s commitment to building a better future

Hundreds of social organisations worldwide make use of the unique appeal of football and the sport’s core values in their daily work.

In response, FIFA called to life Football for Hope to provide support and more visibility, as well as a platform for discussion and collaboration.

The ultimate goal is to use the world’s most popular sport to spark positive change for a better future.

www. fa.com/footballforhope


Play-off for quarter-fi nals8 December Kashiwa Reysol v. Auckland City 2-0

Quarter-fi nals11 December Kashiwa Reysol v. Monterrey 1-1 a.e.t. (4-3 PSO)

11 December Espérance v. Al-Sadd 1-2

Match for fi fth place14 December Monterrey v. Espérance 3-2

Semi-fi nals14 December Kashiwa Reysol v. Santos 1-3

15 December Al-Sadd v. Barcelona 0-4

Match for third place18 December Kashiwa Reysol v. Al-Sadd 0-0 a.e.t. (3-5 PSO)

Final18 December Santos v. Barcelona 0-4

AwardsBest player

adidas Golden Ball and Toyota Award: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

adidas Silver Ball: Xavi (Barcelona)

adidas Bronze Ball: Neymar (Santos)

FIFA Fair Play Award Barcelona

Results round-up

“The win has very signifi cant meaning, not only for ourselves, but

for all clubs in Qatar and throughout Asia,”

Al-Sadd coach Jorge Fossati

Argentinian’s second of the evening was his 29th in 26 competitive appearances for Barcelona this season, and he emerged as a worthy recipient of the adidas Golden Ball award as the tournament’s outstanding player.

Midfi eld conductor Xavi took the Silver Ball, while bronze went to Neymar. Still just 19, the extravagantly gifted Santos star cut a frustrated fi gure in the fi nal, but had already shown in the previous round just why he is attracting so much fuss. The teenager’s opener in the 3-1 win over Kashiwa Reysol was a thing of beauty, and it proved to be the fi rst of three outstanding goals from a side who rivalled Barcelona for the affections of neutral Japanese fans. The fi nal brought only disappointment, of course, but Neymar drew comfort from the knowledge that they had been beaten by a truly extraordinary team. “Barça are the best,” he said. “It’s impossible to stop them. Losing 4-0 to a team like that is no disgrace.”

Joy for AsiaAlthough Barça were to reign supreme, this was a tournament at which there was always likely to be more than one winner. For Kashiwa Reysol in particular, Japan

2011 represented the culmination of a fairytale year in which they had also made history by becoming the fi rst Japanese team to win second and fi rst-tier titles in successive seasons.

Due to a break in the J.League calendar enforced by the March earthquake and

tsunami, the Chiba outfi t made their FIFA Club World Cup debut just four days after rubber-stamping their involvement by clinching the championship on a dramatic fi nal day. It would have been understandable had such a physically gruelling and mentally demanding season left them jaded and yet, much to the delight of their noisy band of yellow-clad supporters, the opposite proved to be the case.

With performances full of verve and attacking enterprise, Kashiwa swept aside Auckland City, edged out Monterrey after 120 minutes and penalties, and then went on to dominate a large chunk of their last-four encounter against Santos. Ultimately, three moments of magic from Neymar, Borges and Danilo settled the match in the Brazilians’ favour, but the visiting South American journalists – not to mention Muricy Ramalho, the Santos coach – were full of praise for the Sun Kings’ stylish display. Wasted

Mutual admiration: Messi and Neymar congratulate each other after picking up their individual awards.


opportunities were Kashiwa’s sole failing against the South Americans and the same fl aw led to them missing out on third place, losing on penalties to Al-Sadd following a goalless draw they had thoroughly dominated.

Nonetheless, for Nelsinho, the Brazilian coach who has masterminded the J.League champions’ meteoric rise, his team’s performance at FIFA’s club showpiece merely reaffi rmed what he already knew. “We showed here that Japanese football is really growing and developing, and that the young players especially are developing very quickly,” he said. “I worked in Japan in the ‘90s too, and I must say that there has been a huge evolution since my fi rst spell here.”

Qatar, the 20th country represented at the FIFA Club World Cup, has proved to

be another of Asia’s fastest-developing football nations, with Al-Sadd’s mere presence at Japan 2011 as Asian champions offering ample evidence of their progress thus far. There was certainly no shame

in Jorge Fossati’s side – who went on to fi nish third – fi nding themselves outclassed by Barcelona in the last four. After all, as Santos discovered to their cost in the fi nal, plenty of the game’s biggest and most illustrious names suffer the same dispiriting fate. Indeed, even before facing

Messi and Co, it was widely adjudged that Al-Sadd had exceeded expectations by seeing off African counterparts Espérance in the previous round, a result hailed as “historic” by their Uruguayan coach. “The win has very signifi cant meaning, not only for ourselves, but for all clubs in Qatar and throughout Asia,” said Fossati. “For our region, this has been a great day.”

Chances spurnedJoy for Al-Sadd spelt despair for Espérance, of course, and the Tunisians went on to lose again in the fi fth-place play-off, going down 3-2 to Monterrey. These results offered a misleading refl ection of Nabil Maaloul’s side’s contribution to the tournament though, with the stats from their defeat to Al-Sadd – 20 efforts on goalto the Asians’ seven – underlining

“Today, the best team in the world showed us how to play football.”

Santos forward Neymar

Kashiwa Reysol’s Jorge Wagner (right) and Al-Sadd’s Kader Keita tussle for the ball in the match for third place.


Two days after Kashiwa Reysol and Auckland City had got the FIFA Club World Cup under way on 8 December, a FIFA delegation including President Joseph S. Blatter, acting Asian Football Confederation President Zhang Jilong and Japan Football Association President Junji Ogura visited Natori, one of the towns closest to the epicentre of Japan’s devastating 11 March earthquake, to pay tribute to the victims with a minute’s silence.

The ceremony was held in the coastal district of Yuriage, adding further poignancy to the occasion. It was in Yuriage that rescue workers fi rst arrived in the aftermath of the catastrophe to fi nd few survivors, with virtually all of the homes and buildings in the area having been wiped out by the crushing tide of the tsunami which followed the earthquake.

From Natori, the FIFA President and his counterparts travelled up the coast of Japan’s Tohoku region to the Matsushima Football Centre, one of several facilities to have benefi ted from FIFA assistance following the March disaster. The impressive renovation and expansion of the centre includes

Pitching in

A group of displaced Japanese youngsters posed

for pictures with Barcelona’s stars (above); President

Blatter took to the pitch with local children at the

renovated Matsushima Football Centre (right).

a restored football turf pitch that will provide training facilities for the communities in the area who lost their football pitches to the earthquake.

“As today’s visit by the FIFA President indicates, the global football family is praying for the recovery of the people in Tohoku,” JFA President Ogura told members of the local community as Blatter received an update on the progress of the assistance projects.

“It’s a great pleasure to be with you today,” the FIFA President later told a group of 200 young players from local clubs. “But more important is that you are here and playing football on a very good pitch. A few months ago you were affected by a disaster but now you’re back on the fi eld of play.”

Barcelona also took time out from training in Yokohama ahead of their opening match against AFC champions Al-Sadd to meet a group of youngsters who have been unable to return to their homes since the disaster struck nine months ago.

The 13 youngsters, aged from nine to 18, have been temporarily housed in a Tokyo school since being evacuated from their homes in the region around the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant. They were visibly thrilled at the opportunity to meet stars such as Lionel Messi, Xavi and Gerard Piqué.

The Barça stars answered all of their questions before presenting them with Barcelona shirts, posing for photos and signing autographs. “I’m very happy. I cannot wash my hands after I shook hands with Messi,” 17-year-old Hikari Niitsuma told reporters after he was handed a shirt by the Argentinian superstar.

“It was great that we could meet them,” said central defender Gerard Piqué in an unusual mirroring of the excitement normally expressed by fans meeting their idols. “It’s wonderful to see their excitement at watching us train and humbling to see the joy they get out of wearing the shirts with our names on them.”


the way in which they went about their business. If the African champions had a failing, it was their inability to convert chances into goals, this despite possessing two of the competition’s most impressive attackers in Yannick N’Djeng and Youssef Msakni. The latter in particular, still just 21, showed enough pace and panache to suggest that his team-mates may yet prove justifi ed in praising him to the heavens. “He’s out of this world,” said N’Djeng of his young colleague. “Truth be told, he’s got the potential to become the kind of star Tunisia has never seen before.”

Monterrey also travelled to Japan with an impressive array of attacking options, and the likes of Humberto Suazo, César Delgado and Aldo de Nigris all showed fl ashes of their undoubted ability during the Mexicans’ two matches. Fifth place was not, however, what the CONCACAF champions had come in search of, with captain Luis Pérez even suggesting beforehand that they could “beat anyone” and go all the way to the fi nal. Defeat on penalties to Kashiwa Reysol in their opening match left such predictions ringing hollow, and while they were well worth a subsequent 3-2 win over

Espérance, Monterrey’s principal legacy was in preserving Mexican sides’ unusually poor record at the FIFA Club World Cup.

Nonetheless, coach Victor Vucetich attempted to accentuate the positive. “It was a very good experience for us and in future, given another opportunity at this tournament, I hope we can do much better,” he said. “Fifth place was clearly not our goal. But I think the fact we have beaten a strong team like Espérance shows the growth of football in CONCACAF.”

Part-time record-breakerWhile Monterrey fell below their fans’ expectations, Auckland City ended up in the position that most fans – and even some within their own camp – fully expected. The New Zealanders had caused a minor sensation at the 2009 edition in UAE, upsetting host representatives Al Ahli before shocking African champions TP Mazembe Englebert, who went on to reach the following year’s fi nal. This time, with the freshly crowned J.League champions lying in wait, a repeat always looked unlikely, and yet the Kiwis still competed with an intensity that belied their amateur status.

Auckland also returned home with one of their players having claimed a unique and unlikely place in the competition’s record books. Daniel Koprivcic, who earns his living as an offi ce administrator, was taking part in his fourth FIFA Club World Cup, putting him one edition ahead of the likes of Xavi, Carles Puyol and Andrés Iniesta. And no-one was more surprised at this achievement than Koprivcic himself.

“It’s hard to believe really,” said the Croatia-born striker. “You have all these famous big-name players at this tournament, and here’s me with this record. It’s amazing because, for me, football has never been more than a hobby. I’ve never played professionally and, although I take the game seriously, it’s only something I’ve done in my spare time.”

From part-timers like Koprivcic to superstars such as Messi, there were countless players who contributed to making this a FIFA Club World Cup to remember. Japan can now look forward to welcoming the tournament back next year and, should the 2012 event enjoy the same passion, excitement and exemplary hosting as this year’s edition, it’s sure to prove a very happy return.

Back next year: the world club showpiece proved

a hit with Japanese fans, who can look forward to

welcoming the stars of club football again in 2012.


While the race to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ in Brazil has not yet started in Europe, the action in the rest of the world is already well under way. Indeed, a third of the teams who entered the preliminary competition have already bowed out, with the latest round of matches in November claiming several surprise scalps.

Literally the biggest country to suffer an early exit was China PR, whose 4-0 win over bottom-placed Singapore on 15 November came too late to prevent the world’s most populous nation from crashing out during the closing stages of Asia’s third qualifying round. Despite being drawn as top seeds in Group A, the Chinese, under new coach José Camacho,

fi nished up third in the four-team group behind West Asia’s Jordan and Iraq, whose top-two fi nishes saw them through to the fourth qualifying round at China’s expense.

After qualifying for their fi rst FIFA World Cup™ in 2002, China have now failed to make it to the fi nal stages of Asian qualifying for the past three editions, prompting plenty of soul-searching among the team’s players, offi cials and technical staff.

“We all agree that the Chinese team needs to change,” Camacho told a media conference ahead of the game in Singapore. “We have a lot of things to

Delights and disappointments

Asian and Caribbean upsets, tight battles in South America and a fi rst-ever win for American Samoa were among the latest qualifying tales as the race for Brazil 2014 heated up.

Ángelo Padilla savours the moment as Guatemala cruise to the fi rst of their two wins over Grenada in November.


do, a lot of areas where we can improve, starting with the training sessions. We need to train more, and then compete more to get better.”

While coaches are often the fi rst people to pay the price for a disappointing campaign, Camacho has been told that he will be given the time to make the necessary changes, with the Chinese Football Association hoping to use the former Spain coach’s expertise in the coming months to help further educate the trainers of China’s professional league clubs.

Zambian table tennisThe former Spain, Benfi ca and Real Madrid coach also received the backing of China’s team captain Li Weifeng, who insisted that his country’s footballing problems could not be solved simply by appointing another new coach.

“Chinese soccer has been on the wrong path for the past ten years, and while others have been making great strides forward, we have been retreating,” Li told reporters. “Camacho has not been given enough time, so we should be patient and believe in him. Obviously Chinese players’ understanding of football strategy is some way behind the coach’s requirements, so it is a little like asking a Chinese coach to teach a Zambian table

tennis team, and expecting immediate success.”

China were joined on the sidelines in November by several other former World Cup participants, including 1966 and 2010 FIFA World Cup™ contenders Korea DPR – a second straight 1-0 defeat against last year’s Asian Cup semi-fi nalists Uzbekistan on 11 November ensuring that the North Koreans were the fi rst team from South Africa 2010 to be ruled out of the tournament’s next edition.

While Uzbekistan joined Japan in qualifying ahead of Korea DPR in Group C, Australia and Iran also secured places in the confederation’s fourth qualifying round with a game to spare after justifying their status as top seeds in Group D and Group E respectively (see “State of play – AFC”).

Stunned 1-0 by Oman on 11 November, the Australians bounced back with an away win by the same scoreline over Thailand four days later. Meanwhile Iran, who are bidding for a fourth FIFA World Cup fi nals appearance, following on from their successful 1978, 1998 and 2006 campaigns, made sure of their progress after maintaining their unbeaten record with a 4-1 away win over Indonesia, whose World Cup qualifying drought extends all the way back to a solitary appearance back in 1938 when the country was still playing under the colonial era name of Dutch East Indies.

“Asia for now is a kingdom of three kings, namely Australia, Japan and Korea Republic. But we must work hard to make them accept Iran as the fourth king and this is our goal for the near future,” said Carlos Queiroz, Iran’s highly experienced coach, following the win in Jakarta.

While six teams have safely made it through to Asia’s fourth round, the remaining four berths will only be

State of play – AFCRound-one eliminations (July 2011): Chinese Taipei, Pakistan, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Macau, Timor-Leste, MongoliaRound-two eliminations (July 2011): Palestine, Bangladesh, Laos, Turkmenistan, Philippines, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Maldives, Syria, Vietnam, Yemen, Malaysia, Kyrgyzstan, India, NepalRound three of Asian qualifying will be completed on 29 February, with the top two teams in each group progressing to the fourth round.

Group A Played Points Group B Played Points Group C Played Points

Jordan 5 12 Korea Rep. 5 10 Uzbekistan 5 13Iraq 5 12 Lebanon 5 10 Japan 5 10China PR 5 6 Kuwait 5 8 Korea DPR 5 6Singapore 5 0 UAE 5 0 Tajikistan 5 0

Group D Played Points Group E Played Points

Australia 5 12 Iran 5 11Saudi Arabia 5 6 Qatar 5 9Oman 5 5 Bahrain 5 6Thailand 5 4 Indonesia 5 0

= through to fourth round = eliminated

QUALIFIERS

Australia booked their place in the third round of Asian qualifying with a tightly contested 1-0 away win over Thailand.


State of play – CONCACAFRound-one eliminations (July 2011): Montserrat, Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Aruba, Turks and Caicos Islands, Bahamas*.* Bahamas withdrew from the competition on 19 August, citing the incompletion of their national stadium project in Nassau. Round-two eliminations (October-November 2011): Dominican Republic, Suriname, Cayman Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Bermuda, Barbados, Nicaragua, Dominica, Puerto Rico, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia. Belize, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Haiti, Curaçao, US Virgin IslandsRound three of CONCACAF’s qualifying competition will run from June to October, with the top two sides from each group progressing to the fourth round.

Group A Group B Group CUSA Mexico HondurasJamaica Costa Rica CubaGuatemala El Salvador CanadaAntigua and Barbuda Guyana Panama

QUALIFIERS

decided on 29 February when the last set of matches in round three is due to be played. Below Australia in Group D, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Thailand are all still capable of securing second place. In Group E, 2022 FIFA World Cup™ hosts Qatar look well placed to qualify alongside the Iranians as they hold a three-point lead and nine-goal advantage over their neighbours and sole remaining rivals Bahrain.

In a surprisingly open Group B, meanwhile, perennial World Cup qualifi ers Korea Republic are still locked in a three-horse race with Lebanon and Kuwait, with 1990 World Cup qualifi ers the United Arab Emirates the only side no longer in contention. Bidding to make their eighth successive appearance at the fi nals – and their ninth in total – the South Koreans have struggled away from home, fi rst being held to a 1-1 draw in Kuwait in September before losing 2-0 in the United Arab Emirates in their fi rst November game and then suffering a stunning 2-1 defeat in Beirut against the same Lebanese team who they had beaten 6-0 in their opening match. Those setbacks led to the dismissal of head coach Cho Kwang-Rae in December, leaving his successor the task of securing at least a point from February’s decisive match against the Kuwaitis, for which Korea Republic will at least have home advantage.

Caribbean surprisesThere were further November upsets in the CONCACAF region, covering North and Central America and the Caribbean, as three of the six top seeds in the confederation’s second qualifying round failed to progress. Former World Cup participants Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago both fi nished as runners-up in their respective groups, with only the group winners going through to the third round, while Grenada – top seeds in Group E – lost four of their six matches to fi nish bottom of the group.

The misfortunes of the favourites were, of course, balanced out by the joy of the teams who fi nished above them. Guyana’s Golden Jaguars secured a place in the next round at Trinidad and Tobago’s expense

thanks to a 2-1 home win over the Soca Warriors on November’s penultimate matchday. The 2006 FIFA World Cup participants rallied to beat Guyana 2-0 in Port of Spain four days later but it was too little too late for the Caribbean islanders who fi nished a single point behind their conquerors to miss out on the penultimate round of qualifying for the fi rst time in three decades.

“This is history for Guyana and we created it by showing what belief, determination and a will to accomplish something can do for our lives and our country,” said Guyana’s Trinidad-born coach Jamaal Shabazz after his adopted

country’s decisive win over the land of his birth. “It was a moment we dreamed about and we worked together and made it happen.”

There was similar ecstasy for the tiny state of Antigua and Barbuda on 11 November as they ended fellow Caribbean nation Haiti’s dreams of repeating their 1974 FIFA World Cup™ qualifi cation. Boasting a population of around 90,000 people – compared to the roughly ten million inhabitants of Haiti – Antigua and Barbuda pulled off a shock 1-0 home win in a packed-out cricket stadium in the Antiguan capital of St. John’s, with 30-year-old journeyman Kerry Skepple poking home the decisive

It’s back to the drawing board for China.


Ins & OutsOn 2 July 2011, Timor-Leste had the dubious honour of becoming the fi rst team to exit the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ qualifying competition, following a 7-1 aggregate defeat to Nepal (see October issue of FIFA World). Since then another 66 teams – including Nepal – have followed Timor-Leste through the exit door, leaving “just” 136 countries in contention for the 31 qualifying berths…

goal eight minutes from time. Like Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti managed a consolation victory on home soil four days later, but were left two points adrift in the group’s fi nal standings.

“We can go on to become a power in the Caribbean, we can beat anyone on these islands,” was the confi dent assessment of Antigua and Barbuda striker Peter Byers, whose eight goals during the round have made him the leading goalscorer among the teams still able to qualify for Brazil (see “TOP SCORERS” list). Having got the better of Haiti, Byers and his team-mates will now focus on the even bigger challenge of CONCACAF’s third qualifying round, where they will take on confederation heavyweights the USA and Jamaica, as well as fellow second-round survivors Guatemala.

Although starting their campaign as second seeds, having briefl y slipped below

Grenada in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking used to determine CONCACAF’s second-round draw pots, the Guatemalans proved to be the strongest team in Group E – winning all six of their matches, including two comfortable victories over the struggling Grenadians.

The three other CONCACAF groups, meanwhile, went according to form with top seeds El Salvador, Panama and Canada all securing relatively easy passages into round three. While the Salvadorans and Panamanians matched Guatemala’s achievement in winning all their matches, Canada found the going only slightly tougher – winning four of their games and drawing twice. Their closest rivals throughout most of the stage were St Kitts and Nevis, but the Caribbean team ultimately paid the price for too many drawn matches, including November’s goalless decider in Basseterre

that allowed the North Americans to progress.

Few shocks in AfricaAs CONCACAF’s second round of qualifying drew to a close and the Asian Football Confederation approached the end of its third round, the fi rst stages of qualifying were just getting under way in Africa and Oceania.

Africa’s opening round saw fewer surprises than in the other regions, with nine of the 11 knockout ties ending in relatively straightforward wins for the seeded sides. The two exceptions involved unseeded Equatorial Guinea and Lesotho who made the most of home wins in their fi rst legs to see off Madagascar and Burundi.

“It was a boost for the whole country and very exciting for the team,” Lesotho coach Leslie Notsi told FIFA World after his side had made sure of progression

KeyQualifi ed team (host nation Brazil)Countries which can still qualifyCountries which have failed to qualifyCountries which did not enterCountries not affi liated to FIFA


by following up their fi rst-ever victory in a World Cup qualifi er with a 2-2 draw in the Burundian capital Bujumbura. “We fl ew back via Johannesburg and then took a bus to Maseru, but there were still people waiting to cheer us when we fi nally crossed the border at around 11 p.m.”

Most of the other favourites progressed comfortably enough, with Kenya, Namibia, Ethiopia, Congo DR and Congo all winning by margins of fi ve goals or more. But there were a couple of near shocks involving Rwanda and 2006 FIFA World Cup participants Togo, both of whom were held to away draws against their unseeded opponents during the fi rst leg.

Coming from behind to scrape a 1-1 draw against Eritrea, the Rwandans fi nally booked a place in the second round thanks to a 3-1 home win in the tie’s second leg. Togo’s Sparrow Hawks could also only manage a 1-1 draw in their opening leg against Guinea-Bissau but came through with a 1-0 victory in the second leg. The win

State of play – OFCRound-one eliminations (November 2011): Cook Islands, Tonga, American SamoaFirst-round winners Samoa will now join the OFC’s seven highest-ranked teams in a second round coinciding with the group stage of June’s 2012 OFC Nations Cup. The two top teams in each group will progress to the third round.

Group A Group BVanuatu FijiNew Caledonia New ZealandSamoa Solomon IslandsTahiti Papua New Guinea

State of play – CAFRound-one eliminations (November 2011): Seychelles, Guinea-Bissau, Djibouti, Mauritius, Comoros Islands, Madagascar, Somalia, Burundi, Eritrea, Swaziland, São Tomé e Príncipe, ChadThe 12 teams who made it through the fi rst round of African qualifying will now join the confederation’s top 28 ranked teams for the second round. Scheduled to run from June 2012 to September 2013, this round will see only the group winners progress to the decisive third round:

Group A Group B Group C Group D Group ESouth Africa Tunisia Côte d’Ivoire Ghana Burkina FasoBotswana Cape Verde Morocco Zambia GabonCentral African Rep. Sierra Leone Gambia Sudan NigerEthiopia Equatorial Guinea Tanzania Lesotho Congo

Group F Group G Group H Group I Group JNigeria Egypt Algeria Cameroon SenegalMalawi Guinea Mali Libya UgandaKenya Zimbabwe Benin Togo AngolaNamibia Mozambique Rwanda Congo DR Liberia

QUALIFIERS

confi rmed after the match that stand-in coach and former French international Didier Six had signed a contract to take charge of the team until 2014.

31st time lucky Of all the hard-fought victories being celebrated around the world in November, however, surely none could have been as sweet as American Samoa’s 2-1 win over Tonga during the opening round of qualifying in Oceania.

The win was the fi rst ever by the American Samoans in an offi cial international match, and ended a run of 30 straight defeats, including 12 consecutive losses in their three previous World Cup qualifying campaigns. Including their world record 31-0 defeat to Australia in April 2001, the South Pacifi c islanders had conceded 129 goals and scored just twice in those previous dozen appearances before their landmark win over Tonga.

Played as part of an opening round that involved the four lowest-ranked teams in Oceania, American Samoa’s maiden win was followed up with their fi rst-ever draw – a 1-1 tie with the Cook Islands – to put the minnows on the brink of an unlikely progression to this year’s second round of qualifying.

American Samoa were brought back down to earth, however, in the fi nal minute of the tournament’s decisive

was made all the more memorable by the return to the side of star striker Emmanuel Adebayor, nearly two years after the player had announced his international retirement. The Togolese Football Association also

Close but no cigar: American Samoa’s squad refl ect on their historic achievements during Oceania’s fi rst qualifying round.


and that is bigger than the game itself, quite frankly.”

Still tight in South AmericaWith qualifying action in Europe not due to start until September following the completion of this year’s European Championship, the only other confederation

whose members can all still dream of a place at Brazil 2014 is CONMEBOL.

Since the South American qualifi ers consist of a nine-team league in which every country plays each other twice over a two-year time frame, it will be some time

Top scorersThe early goalscoring standings in the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ qualifying competition show that 13 players have so far managed to score fi ve goals or more for their respective nations. Belize striker Deon McCauley leads the way with 11 goals, although his country’s elimination in CONCACAF’s second qualifying round means he won’t be able to add to that impressive tally. Of the players whose teams are still in contention, Peter (“Big Pete”) Byers is the current hot shot – having fi red in eight of the 26 goals scored by Antigua and Barbuda en route to CONCACAF’s third round.

2014 FIFA World Cup™ preliminary competition leading goalscorers*:Player Country Matches played Goals scored1. Deon McCauley Belize 8 112. Peter Byers Antigua and Barbuda 6 83. Lê Công Vinh Vietnam 4 74. Blas Pérez Panama 4 65. Park Chu-Young Korea Republic 4 66. Tamarley Thomas Antigua and Barbuda 5 67. Hasan Mahmoud Jordan 6 68. Richmar Siberie Curaçao 6 69. Lesly St. Fleur Bahamas 2 510. Luis Suárez Uruguay 3 511. Erick Ozuna Dominican Republic 6 512. Shinji Okazaki Japan 5 513. Jean-Eudes Maurice Haiti 6 5

* up to and including matches played on 26 November. Shows players who have scored fi ve goals or more, with number of minutes played used to rank players on same number of goals.Players in bold play for countries who can still qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

match. Needing a win against neighbours and tournament hosts Samoa, they had a golden opportunity with around ten minutes remaining but could only strike the post. Their chances were only fi nally dashed in the last minute of the game, however, when Samoa’s Silao Malo fi nished off a counter-attack to make sure of his team’s place in the next round.

No happy ending to American Samoa’s historic week, then, but there was still something of a fairytale feeling as the team looked back on their achievements at the tournament.

“It’s amateur football at its best,” said team coach Thomas Rongen. “The game at the highest level can be very cynical, but this is just about 23 guys making sacrifi ces. They’re not getting anything to be here, and some are spending time away from their jobs and losing money because of that.

“Our goalkeeper has been carrying this 31-0 [defeat to Australia] with him, and the fi rst thing after the game, he looked at me. He was crying, and said ‘I can now tell my children that I’m a winner’

“We can go on to become a power in

the Caribbean, we can beat anyone on these

islands.”Antigua and Barbuda striker Peter Byers following his team’s decisive CONCACAF

second-round win over Haiti

yet before the fi rst qualifi ers and the fi rst eliminations are known.

November’s South American matches suggested, however, that many of those decisions could go right the way down to the wire, with the race to join the Brazilian hosts proving just as tight as expected (see South American qualifying preview article in last month’s FIFA World).

While Uruguay continued to set the early pace thanks to a 4-0 win over Chile on 11 November, all of the confederation’s other teams have already lost at least one match, with just four points separating the Uruguayan leaders from eighth-placed Peru.

Underlining the apparent closeness of the contest, none of the sides who played two matches in November were able to manage back-to-back wins. Two-time world champions Argentina continued their somewhat stuttering start to the campaign, managing only a 1-1 draw at home to bottom-placed Bolivia before picking themselves up with a 2-1 win in Colombia.

Belize striker Deon McCauley is currently the competition’s top goalscorer, though his country are now out of the running for Brazil 2014.



Chile, meanwhile, bounced back from their defeat in Uruguay to beat Paraguay 2-0, just four days after the Paraguayans had celebrated a 2-1 win over Ecuador. As if trying to prove that all the South American teams are capable of beating each other at the moment, Ecuador then managed a 2-0 win over Peru, while Venezuela – the only South American team never to qualify for a FIFA World Cup – continued their impressive start with an away draw in Colombia and a home win over Bolivia.

With most of the South American teams having now played a quarter of their matches, the Venezuelans are currently level on points with the Uruguayans and Argentinians at the top of the standings (see “State of play – CONMEBOL”), although Uruguay have played one game less than their nearest rivals.

Still, with more than six months separating November’s matches from the competition’s restart in June, there is plenty

“Our goalkeeper was crying after the game, and said to me ‘I can

now tell my children that I’m a winner’ and that

is bigger than the game itself, quite frankly.”

American Samoa coach Thomas Rongen after his team’s fi rst-ever international win

State of play – CONMEBOL

State of play – UEFAThe European qualifying competition is due to begin in September 2012, with 53 teams chasing 13 qualifying places. The nine group winners will automatically qualify for Brazil 2014, while the eight best runners-up will contest play-offs to determine the four remaining places.

Group A Group B Group CCroatia Italy GermanySerbia Denmark SwedenBelgium Czech Republic Republic of IrelandScotland Bulgaria AustriaMacedonia Armenia Faroe IslandsWales Malta Kazakhstan

Group D Group E Group FNetherlands Norway PortugalTurkey Slovenia RussiaHungary Switzerland IsraelRomania Albania Northern IrelandEstonia Cyprus AzerbaijanAndorra Iceland Luxembourg

Group G Group H Group IGreece England SpainSlovakia Montenegro FranceBosnia and Herzegovina Ukraine BelarusLithuania Poland GeorgiaLatvia Moldova FinlandLiechtenstein San Marino

QUALIFIERS

QUALIFIERS

Almost a quarter of the matches in the South American qualifying competition have now been completed, with early leaders Uruguay the only unbeaten side. The top four will automatically qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, with the fi fth-placed team heading into an intercontinental play-off against the fi fth-best team from Asia.

Pld PtsUruguay 3 7Argentina 4 7Venezuela 4 7Ecuador 3 6Chile 4 6Colombia 3 4Paraguay 4 4Peru 3 3Bolivia 4 1

of time for teams to turn things around. As Argentina striker Gonzalo Higuaín said in a reference to his side’s win over Colombia that could equally be applied to the World Cup qualifi ers as a whole, “Now, we have six months to try to fi nd our best shape. We took a good step today, but the qualifi ers are long…”

Keeping it close: Bolivia’s Christian Vargas stays on the heels of Venezuela’s Juan Arango in a match that eventually fi nished 1-0 to the

Venezuelans (opposite page); Chile’s Matías Campos Toro (right) is congratulated after

wrapping up a 2-0 win over Paraguay with his fi rst international goal.


The refurbishment of Haiti’s Sylvio Cator Stadium in Port-au-Prince is a shining example of the progress that has been made in getting Haitian football back on its feet.


The Haiti fans who have turned out to watch their team’s fi nal 2014 FIFA World Cup™ qualifi er against Antigua and Barbuda are in fi ne spirit despite the searing mid-afternoon heat and the disappointment of knowing that, regardless of the result of the match they have turned up to see, their team will not be going to the fi nals in Brazil.

Decked out in the national colours of red and blue, the fans had long been hoping that this 15 November match, the fi nal Group F fi xture in round two of CONCACAF’s preliminary competition, would seal their team’s progression to the third round of qualifying and give their heroes the chance to vie with the powerhouses of CONCACAF football, the likes of Mexico and the USA, for a place at the 2014 fi nals.

But despite a blistering start to the campaign which saw them rack up 17 goals and concede just twice in their fi rst three matches, two points dropped at home to Curaçao in October and a 1-0 defeat away to this afternoon’s opponents Antigua and Barbuda four days earlier have put paid to the Haitians’ qualifi cation hopes.

Inside the Sylvio Cator Stadium, the fans wave fl ags and dance to the upbeat Creole sounds which ring out from speakers on all four sides. Football and music have always gone together in this vibrant Caribbean nation. The only lull comes in the tenth minute of the match, when Tamorley

Back in business

Haiti may have been foiled in their attempts to reach Brazil 2014, but the Caribbean nation’s footballing future is looking much brighter for the long term following extensive reconstruction efforts in the wake of the 2010 earthquake.

By Louis-Joseph Olivier, Port-au-Prince

Thomas puts the visitors ahead. “You have to fi ght for Haiti’s honour!” shouts one Haitian fan, while those around him spur on the players by cranking up the volume and dancing with even greater gusto.

The Grenadiers rally in the second half. Captain Judelin Aveska levels the scores on the hour mark before striker Kervens Belfort pops up a few minutes later to score the winner, ensuring that Haiti’s 2014 campaign ends, at least, on a high note after the painful defeat in Antigua four days earlier.

Human catastropheJackson, a 60-year-old Haitian, typifi es the mood among the fans as they exit the stadium. “I’m sad to see our team eliminated because we are one of the best teams in this region,” he says. “But after Friday’s result, it was important that we won to end the qualifi ers with our heads held high.”

If there’s one team among the 203 that lined up to take part in the 2014 qualifi ers entitled to hold their heads high, then it’s certainly Haiti. For rarely before can a team have entered a World Cup qualifi cation competition under such trying circumstances.

On 12 January 2010, the country was ravaged by a massive earthquake, measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale, which reduced three-quarters of the capital Port-au-Prince to rubble within 35 seconds


and was followed by over 50 aftershocks, further devastating the area and resulting in over 100,000 deaths and countless injured, as well as leaving more than one million homeless. Occurring in what was already one of the world’s poorest countries, it was a humanitarian disaster on a mammoth scale.

The catastrophe brought football, like every other aspect of life in the Caribbean nation, to a shuddering halt. The Haitian Football Association’s headquarters were fl attened and 32 of its staff members lost their lives, with its president Yves Jean-Bart one of only two survivors.

For several months, organised football was out of the question. Even those parts of the country’s sporting infrastructure that had withstood the force of the earthquake remained unavailable for use. The pitch in the Sylvio Cator Stadium, for example, like all other football pitches and areas of open space in the capital, quickly became a tented village for hundreds of displaced families in the days that followed the disaster.

Support from football familyFollowing a visit by Yves Jean-Bart to the Home of FIFA in March 2010, during which the Haitian FA President described the shocking extent of the damage, world football’s governing body followed up its initial emergency aid of USD 250,000 to the shattered member association by granting a further USD 3 million.

In addition, following FIFA’s decision to grant Haiti all two per cent levies from friendly matches involving teams participating in the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, the 32 fi nalist associations joined the effort by making an additional donation of two per cent from each friendly, bringing the total amount of fi nancial support provided to just over USD 4 million, a fi gure further augmented by contributions and support arriving from CONCACAF and many different associations around the world.

These funds have been used for a wide range of projects aimed at getting Haitian football back on its feet. In August 2011, work began on upgrading the Sylvio Cator Stadium where Haiti play their home

games. The stadium, the only sports arena in the impoverished nation, was equipped with a new football turf pitch, fl oodlights and a competitions offi ce, while the changing rooms and seating were upgraded to modern standards.

And the investment hasn’t only been about the senior national team. Since the earthquake, the association has relocated 12 kilometres to the north-east of Port-au-Prince, to the site of the national technical centre in Croix-des-Bouquets, which was built before the earthquake

“Haitian people believe that football is something that can

get our country moving forward to where we

want to be.”Interim Haiti coach Carlo Marcelin

Creole melodies: Haitian fans lend fervent musical support to their team using a collection of improvised horns and drums.


with funding from FIFA’s Goal Programme. The headquarters are equipped with new offi ces, pitches that are used by national and youth teams and a variety of clubs, as well as accommodation and provisions for the schooling of younger players. Meanwhile, the technical centre itself has been upgraded with new access roads and amenities such as a kitchen and perimeter fencing.

In addition to the infrastructural investment, a significant portion of the funds has been spent directly on supporting Haiti’s footballing operations on the pitch. Almost USD 400,000 has been spent on providing basic equipment to the country’s clubs and national teams, including the women’s national youth team, and a further USD 200,000 has gone towards relaunching the national league competition, which provides a welcome distraction for football fans in the shanty towns and displacement camps up and down the country.

Although he decided to step down as Haiti’s national team coach following the end of the latest qualifying campaign, Brazilian-born trainer Edson Tavares believes that a solid foundation has been put in place for the country’s long-term footballing future.

“Now that FIFA’s project at the association’s headquarters in Croix-des-Bouquets is in its fi nal stages, the physical and logistical things are ready, so that’ll really help the national team,” said the outgoing coach. “For example, in future they’ll no longer need to use hotels and train in the main stadium and they’ll have their own base where they can prepare.”

New teamOne of the changes introduced by Tavares during his 14 months in charge of the team was a concerted effort to recruit players of Haitian descent now plying their trade in Europe and the USA.

Among the players to return to his roots was Jean-Marc Alexandre, who, despite being born on the island, left for the USA as a young child. The 25-year-old midfi elder, an MLS champion with Real Salt Lake in 2009, is confi dent that this injection of

new talent will continue to benefi t Haitian football once the disappointment of the 2014 campaign has faded.

“We’ve made progress over the last year, there’s no doubt about it,” he says. “The coach brought about an attacking philosophy that is sticking in our minds. If everyone plays to the best of their ability for the national team, then it’s thanks to him.

“Most of the players in the team are 25 or 26 years old, so we know we’ll be together for a few years,” he said. “That’s what gives us this thirst for victory, along with the pride of making our people happy.”

In November, Tavares was succeeded on an interim basis by Carlo Marcelin, the technical director of the Haitian Football Association. Like Alexandre, Marcelin is mindful of the boost that positive showings by the nation’s footballers can give the beleaguered population: “Football has a big impact in Haiti. We remember our older generation that took part in the 1974 World Cup in Germany, so we’ve always kept a special place for football in our society,” he says.

“We were colonised by the French and I think football’s the one thing we learned from that period. It’s much easier for kids

to play football in the street than baseball or other sports and today Haitian people believe that football is something that can get our country moving forward to where we want to be.“

Long-term improvementWith only 22 months having passed since the disaster, and with such huge disruption and loss in the Haitian football community, it was always going to be a tall order for the newly assembled team to qualify this time out, but the Haitians’ determination to take part in the preliminary competition despite the terrible circumstances they had to endure speaks volumes for their country’s resilience, and with another four years to rebuild and develop the structures, hopes are high that they can make it all the way to Russia in 2018.

“We must never forget the hard work of those colleagues who we lost in the earthquake but also, because of what happened, it’s meant that there’s been new investment in football,” says Marcelin.

“We’ve rebuilt the infrastructure, like our offi ces here which are thanks to FIFA, as well as the stadium. We’ve introduced a new system for the development of young players and we’ve made many other changes this year. We’ve put in place many new youth programmes, and that allows us to have some hope for the future of our football.”

The national technical centre has been fi tted out with new amenities (above); football pitches were turned into tented villages (left) in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake.



The special ones

Goalkeepers have long had a reputation for being “different” from their outfi eld team-mates but, even at the international level, they have not always received the dedicated training support that their specialised position requires – something which FIFA is now looking to change.

“My colleagues spend most of their time with their backs turned towards me. I don’t believe it’s because I’m unpopular.” These words by the USA’s 2002 FIFA World Cup™ goalkeeper Brad Friedel may have been uttered in jest, but they nevertheless point towards the distinct role football’s shot-stoppers take up within the team. Quite simply, goalkeepers are different.

It wasn’t always that way, however. When the rules prohibiting outfi eld players from handling the ball were fi rst introduced

role into a specialist position requiring a different skill set to outfi eld players. Meanwhile, more recent changes, such as the “back pass” and “six-second release” rules, have greatly increased the speed of the game and the need for tactical awareness, as well as obliging goalkeepers to develop the skill of controlling the ball with their feet.

Modern goalkeepers are expected to take an active part in the attacking play and assume the role previously occupied by a libero in defensive play, while the specifi c nature of the position also requires coaching of psychological aspects to enable keepers to cope with the intense pressure of the position. In short, goalkeeping has graduated from being an ill-favoured position given over to those players considered less talented to a coveted role practised only by those blessed with specialist technique and leadership.

Saving planRefl ecting the special status of the position within the game, FIFA’s Education & Technical Development Department recently launched a new goalkeeping programme directed primarily at goalkeeping coaches working at national level. Bringing together the technical, physical, psychological

A leap in the right direction: FIFA’s instructors have been

passing on their expertise at seminars and coaching courses

worldwide (left); participants pick up advice on training

methods at November’s FIFA Goalkeeping seminar in FYR

Macedonia (right).

by The Football Association in 1863, the position of goalkeeper was allocated to a team member haphazardly, and even by the start of the 20th century, goalkeepers were not differentiated from other players in terms of appearance or the way they played the game.

However, subsequent rule changes such as the introduction of dead-ball situations, the offside law, and the prevention of goalkeepers handling the ball outside their own penalty areas gradually turned the


and tactical aspects of goalkeeping, the programme aims to boost the standard of goalkeeping instruction worldwide and encourage the use of dedicated coaches.

Following a successful pilot phase in the fi rst half of 2011, the programme is now being taken around the world, with seminars recently being held in Malaysia, Ecuador, FYR Macedonia and Iceland. At these regional events, goalkeepers who have played the game at the very highest level, such as Slovakia’s Alex Vencel and the Republic of Ireland’s Pat Bonner, join other top-level coaches in passing on their expertise to participants and introducing them to world-class training methods.

FIFA instructor Vencel is well placed to provide goalkeeping tuition, following a lengthy career as a professional goalkeeper which saw him represent Czechoslovakia twice before going on to make 19 appearances for Slovakia between 1994 and 1998. The 44-year-old also made more than 500 appearances in club football, making his debut for home-town club Slovan Bratislava in 1988 before moving to France in 1994, where he helped RC Strasbourg win the French league cup in 1997.

“I’m very happy that I can participate and help develop this programme for FIFA,” says the towering Slovak. “In the past,

there was nothing for goalkeepers. The problem is that we don’t have enough coaches and nobody knows how to train them properly. They just get sent off alone to do their own thing at training – that is not the way to produce good goalkeepers. It’s a very specialised position and the goalkeeper has a very important role in modern football.”

Leading from the back As well as participating in the seminars and coaching courses around the world, Vencel has worked together with FIFA’s Education & Technical Development Department to put together a training kit consisting of a comprehensive manual accompanied by three DVDs on technical preparation, physical preparation and exercises for young goalkeepers.

Targeted at a broad audience of both amateur and professional footballers as well as coaches and instructors, the manual provides a wealth of ideas on how to improve training programmes and make them more interesting, as well as giving practical goalkeeping tips and highlighting the importance of individually targeted work.

For Vencel, the most important aspect of goalkeeping nowadays is that you not only need to be a talented shot-stopper and acrobat, but also a leader who will command the troops on the fi eld. “One of the most important things is organisational skills – which in turn obviously help their decision making and ability to read the game. Keepers need to be managers on the fi eld and they need to be taught that from a young age. A goalkeeper coach must work on what the keeper says to his players on the fi eld, because at times, keepers tend to just shout without communicating a message. Especially for younger keepers, it’s about learning when to talk and when you have to keep your mouth shut.”

Women’s version When it comes to women’s football, goalkeeping has often been cited as a relatively underdeveloped area of the

“It’s a very specialised position and the

goalkeeper has a very important role in modern football.”

FIFA goalkeeping instructor Alex Vencel

Former Slovakia goalkeeper Alex Vencel (left) and Germany’s current number one Nadine Angerer (right) visited the Home of FIFA in Zurich last year to contribute their expertise to the goalkeeping course material.


game. Although the recent report on the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011™ by FIFA’s Technical Study Group pointed out considerable improvements since the 2007 edition, it also noted continuing shortcomings and called for better coaching of women goalkeepers from youth level onwards, arguing that it was “paramount that associations invest in good goalkeeping coaches for their female goalkeepers, starting with the youth teams”.

In keeping with this philosophy, FIFA has produced a separate goalkeeping manual for female goalkeepers, along with specifi c DVDs. As with the men’s version, the women’s manual has been created with the help of experienced goalies, including current Germany stopper and skipper Nadine Angerer.

“Even before contributing to the instruction manual, I was already aware that I wanted to get involved in goalkeeping coaching, and my participation this week has reinforced this wish,” she said.

“The criticism levelled at women goalkeepers in the past was justifi ed, but I believe that every country has a good goalkeeper. The main problem is that goalkeepers are not given the proper training or that the proper structures are not in place. Some football associations do not even have a goalkeeping coach, so how can their goalkeepers be expected to develop? Having had the good fortune to work with my own coach, who has transferred his philosophy onto me, I now hope I can also make a difference and help make the next generation of goalkeepers better players.”

Living proof of the benefi ts that can be realised through one-to-one sessions with a dedicated goalkeeping coach, Angerer started working with such a specialist just before the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2007™ and went on to star in a successful campaign that saw Germany win the title without Angerer conceding a single goal.

“He does a fantastic job,” says the 33-year-old keeper of her trainer. “It’s not just a question of catching balls. You have to have the right technique, know how to approach a ball properly, move effi ciently and exude calmness and authority rather than running about wildly.”

Speaking to FIFA World during a visit to FIFA’s Zurich headquarters to fi nalise the contents of the women’s goalkeeping manual, Angerer described the importance of the project.

More than a handful

For fans leaving the stadium after a hard-fought victory by their team, the goalkeeping moments that stand out are likely to be the spectacular saves – the full-length dive to fi ngertip a goal-bound shot past the post or the brave dive at the feet of an onrushing striker to smother the ball.

Yet, while these are undoubtedly crucial elements of a goalkeeper’s armoury, a study by FIFA’s Education & Technical Development Department into the components of goalkeeping shows that the greater part of a goalkeeper’s involvement in the game involves the less dramatic actions.

Covering 43 matches in prestigious tournaments such as FIFA World Cup™ qualifi ers and UEFA Champions League matches, the study broke down all of the goalkeepers’ manoeuvres during the match into the various separate “interventions”. The analysis shows that ball distribution – whether

from dead-ball situations, such as goal kicks, or from throw-outs – was by far the most common function performed by goalkeepers, accounting for almost 60.86% of their total interventions, as opposed to diving saves, which made up only 3.59% of their overall activity.

Moreover, while goalkeepers are most commonly associated with their handiwork, another surprising result of the study was the extent to which good footwork has become a key element of the goalkeeper’s art. According to the fi ndings, goalkeepers intervene in play almost twice as often with their feet (66.06%) as with their hands (33.94%).

Of course, all of a goalkeeper’s actions on the pitch are important, but quantifying their match involvement in this way gives coaches an insight into the elements of the position that require the most drilling.

Interventions with feet: 2,081

Interventions

with hands:

1,069

Distribution from dead-ball

situations: 1,011

Standing saves 163 (5.17%)

Saves with a dive 113 (3.59%)

Refl ex saves 36 (1.14%)

Aerial balls 176 (8.76%)

1 v 1 challenges 155 (4.92%)

Distributions 1,917 (60.86%)

Back passes 490 (15.56%)

Interventions in play

and defensive dead-

ball situations:

2,139


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SUMMARY

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Asia Africa North & Central America and Caribbean

Member associations

Japan added yet another trophy to their bulging cabinet of women’s football trophies in November when their youngsters secured victory at the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship in China PR. The win earned Japan their third international women’s title of 2011, following on from the senior team’s triumph at last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup™ and the U-19 team’s victory in Vietnam in October. The U-16 side dominated the latest tournament, winning all five of their matches – including a 10-0 demolition of Thailand – to finish with an impressive 18-0 goal tally.

Japan’s impressive performances in both the men’s and women’s game also saw the country dominate the AFC Annual Awards in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 24 November, as Japanese representatives picked up nine of the 19 available awards. Following respective victories in last year’s Asian Cup and FIFA Women’s World Cup, Japan picked up National Team of the Year awards in both gender categories, and was also named Member Association of the Year, while senior women’s team trainer Norio Sasaki and U-19 and U-16 assistant Takako Tezuka took home the best male and female coach awards. Other Japanese winners included Aya Miyama, who was named AFC Women Player of the Year, and Hideki Ishige, who was voted best men’s Youth Player. Uzbekistan’s Server Djeparov was named AFC Player of the Year for a second time, while Australia’s Catilin Foord picked up the Youth Player award in the women’s category.

Former England captain David Beckham ended his five-year stay in the USA with a flourish in November, after winning his first Major League Soccer title in his last game for the LA Galaxy. The Californian club saw off Houston Dynamo 1-0 in the season-ending MLS Cup on 20 November, with American international Landon Donovan grabbing the only goal of the game. Beckham, whose contract with LA Galaxy was due to expire in December, has now won league honours in three different countries, following on from his earlier successes with Real Madrid and Manchester United.

Olympic women’s football champions the USA will begin their bid for a record fourth gold medal this month when they travel to neighbouring Canada for the CONCACAF women’s qualifying tournament. The Americans, whose three gold medals from their four previous Games is already unsurpassed in either the men’s or women’s game, are set to face Mexico, Guatemala and Dominican Republic in Group B of the qualifiers, while the Canadian hosts take on Costa Rica, Cuba and Haiti.

The Cuban Football Association celebrated 100 years of football on the island on 11 December with festivities including the inauguration of a new national football museum, a game to commemorate the island’s first-ever match between club sides CD Hatuey and Rovers AC, and a friendly international against Costa Rica’s national side. The latter encounter seemed set to make history in its own right as an Evier Cordovez penalty put the home side on course for their first-ever win in 14 attempts against the Ticos. The visitors had apparently not read the party script, however, with Kenny Cunningham heading past Cuban keeper Odisnel Cooper two minutes into stoppage time to ensure a 1-1 draw.

Egypt midfielder Ahmed Hassan has equalled the all-time record for men’s international appearances after turning out for his country for the 178th time. The 36-year-old Zamalek player came on as a second-half substitute during his side’s 2-0 friendly defeat by Brazil in Doha on 14 November. The former Beşiktaş and Anderlecht star is now tied with former Saudi Arabia goalkeeper Mohamed Al Deayea as the most-capped player in history but could become the sole record holder as early as next month when Egypt are due to stage a rematch against Brazil in Cairo. Hassan still has some way to go, however, to surpass the record set in the women’s game by Kristine Lilly, who made a staggering 352 international appearances for the USA between 1987 and 2010.

Gabon are looking forward to their first-ever appearance in the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament after qualifying for this year’s London Games with a surprise victory at the CAF U-23 Championship. The Baby Panthers clinched their country’s first-ever continental football title after seeing off tournament hosts Morocco 2-1 in the 10 December final. The Moroccans’ run to the final was enough to secure them a place at the Games as well, while Egypt grabbed Africa’s third automatic qualifying spot thanks to a 2-0 win over Senegal in the match for third place. The Senegalese will have a further chance to qualify for the Olympics in April, when they are due to play off against the fourth-best team from the ongoing Asian qualifying competition, which is due to wrap up in March.

59 FIFA WORLD I SUMMARY

South America

www.oceaniafootball.com

Oceania

www.conmebol.com www.uefa.com

Europe

Tahiti’s future hosting of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in 2013 is already being used as a massive incentive to further develop the game’s profile in the country. In December, a FIFA beach soccer coaching course was held in Pirae for 16 trainers – some of whom will be coaching sides in Tahiti’s new 10-team beach soccer league which is due to get under way in May. The sessions were led by FIFA instructor Angelo Schirinzi, who is also player-coach of Switzerland’s highly-successful beach soccer team, while Heimanu Taiarui and Tearii Labaste of Tahiti’s national squad also passed on their knowledge to the participants. Tahiti became Oceania champions in February after wrestling the OFC Beach Soccer Championship crown from Solomon Islands and went on to post a win over Venezuela at September’s World Cup in Italy, the country’s first-ever triumph at a FIFA event.

The Oceania Football Confederation’s Just Play grassroots programme rounded off 2011 with a week of footballing celebrations across eight of the OFC’s member associations. Children from Cook Islands, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Tonga and Vanuatu joined in the fun during the series of gatherings held over several days to coincide with Universal Children’s Day, a United Nations initiative held on 20 November each year to promote international togetherness and awareness among children.

Colombia’s Leonel Álvarez has become the first coaching casualty of the South American qualifying competition for the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ after being dismissed from the post just three games into the campaign. The 46-year-old coach, who was Colombia’s second most-capped player before turning to management, had been at the helm for just four months. His reign began brightly with a 1-0 away win over Bolivia in the altitude of La Paz. Things went literally downhill after that, however, with a home draw against Venezuela and a 2-1 home defeat by Argentina earning the side just a single point from the November qualifiers.

Universidad de Chile completed a 4-0 aggregate win over Ecuador’s LDU Quito in December’s two-legged Copa Sudamericana final to become only the second team from Chile to win a South American club competition – and the first to do so since Colo Colo won the Copa Libertadores in 1991. Coached by Argentinian Jorge Sampaoli, who took over from Marcelo Bielsa at the start of 2011, Universidad followed up a 1-0 away win over their Ecuadorian opponents on 8 December with an emphatic 3-0 home win six days later. The Chilean outfit were unbeaten throughout their entire campaign, with other highlights including a 4-0 win over Brazilian giants Flamengo in Rio de Janeiro during the round of 16 stage and a 2-1 aggregate semi-final win over Flamengo’s city rivals Vasco da Gama.

Defending European and world champions Spain’s pairing with 1968 European champions Italy was one of many tantalising match-ups to be thrown out at December’s final draw ceremony for UEFA EURO 2012. The star-studded ceremony, held at the Palace of Arts in Kiev, Ukraine, placed Vicente del Bosque and Cesare Prandelli’s teams in Group C, alongside qualifying play-off winners Croatia and the Republic of Ireland, whose Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni will now have another chance of pitting his wits against his homeland. Group B was generally seen by the participating coaches to be the toughest, following the drawing together of three-time world champions Germany, 2010 FIFA World Cup™ runners-up the Netherlands, 1992 European champions Denmark and the tournament’s 2004 runners-up Portugal. Poland were joined in an evenly balanced Group A by Greece, Russia and the Czech Republic while their Ukrainian co-hosts were handed a tough-looking assignment in Group D against former FIFA World Cup™ winners France and England and 1992 European semi-finalists Sweden.

December also saw some key announcements for European women’s football, with the main news being the decision to expand the UEFA European Women’s Championship from 12 teams to 16. UEFA has similarly decided to expand its women’s U-17 championship event from four to eight teams, in line with its other youth competitions. In a further boost for the women’s game, the confederation has also now launched a dedicated women’s football section on its official www.uefa.com website.

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.


No budging Spain

Spain ended 2011 where they started off – on the highest rung of the football ladder. The reigning world champions took up almost permanent residence at the top of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking in 2011, having held top spot in every month of last year except August, and claimed the title of Team of the Year for the fourth year running. Notably, the highest four positions in the year-end ranking are occupied by the semi-fi nalists from the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, with the Netherlands (the only other team to hold top spot in 2011), Germany and Uruguay all continuing the good form they showed in South Africa.

Wales’ impressive haul of 330 points, the most gained by any team throughout 2011, saw them crowned Best Mover of the Year, a fi tting testament to the outstanding coaching work put in by Gary Speed, who sadly passed away in late November. The Welshmen fi nd themselves back in the top 50 thanks to a series of outstanding results in the second half of the year, including wins over Montenegro, Switzerland and Bulgaria in the EURO 2012 qualifi ers. Other teams further down the ranking to see their stock rise dramatically during the course of 2011 include Sierra Leone, who leapt 65 places to 60th, and Bermuda, who catapulted 68 places to 107th.

A comparison with the continental composition of the top 50 in December 2010 reveals that CONMEBOL (9, up 3), CONCACAF (3, up 1) and the AFC (4, up 1) have grown stronger, while CAF (7, down 3) and UEFA (27, down 2) have fewer teams in the top 50 than they had a year ago. The top-ranked teams from each of the confederations are Spain (1st, unchanged), Uruguay (4th, up 3), Côte d’Ivoire (16th, up 5), Japan (19th, up 10), Mexico (21st, up 6) and New Zealand (119th, down 56).

Between November and December, changes in the ranking were thin on the ground, with Oceania’s first round of

qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ providing the month’s only competitive matches. Samoa’s home soil victory in the four-team tournament saw them achieve the biggest climb of the month, both in terms of points and places, as they rocketed 55 spots to 149th. Their neighbours and beaten fi nalists American Samoa meanwhile climbed 18 places to their highest-ever position of 186th in the world following their fi rst-ever international victory – a 2-1 win over Tonga earlier in the competition.

The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 18 January 2012.

Rank Team +/- RanksNov-Dec

2011

PointsDec

2011

+/- PointsNov-Dec

2011

+/- PointsDec 10-Dec 11

1 Spain 0 1564 0 -3232 Netherlands 0 1365 0 -3583 Germany 0 1345 0 -1404 Uruguay 0 1309 0 1565 England 0 1173 0 -226 Brazil 0 1143 0 -3047 Portugal 0 1100 0 108 Croatia 0 1091 0 169 Italy 0 1082 0 11710 Argentina 0 1067 0 -27111 Denmark 0 1035 0 24512 Russia 0 971 0 -1113 Chile 0 970 0 1914 Greece 0 964 0 -5215 France 0 915 0 4816 Côte d’Ivoire 0 912 0 66


2011

PointsDec

2011

+/- PointsNov-Dec

2011


17 Switzerland 0 898 0 5818 Sweden 0 891 0 17919 Japan 0 884 0 10820 Bosnia-Herzegovina 3 869 31 28721 Mexico -1 866 0 7122 Republic of Ireland -1 864 0 18323 Australia -1 851 0 3524 Paraguay 0 795 0 -3725 Norway 0 788 0 -20726 Slovenia 0 780 0 -11627 Serbia 0 775 0 -6228 Turkey 0 769 0 2829 Ghana 0 761 0 -14730 Algeria 0 758 0 7131 Egypt 0 755 -2 -32332 Korea Republic 0 752 0 105


2011

PointsDec

2011

+/- PointsNov-Dec

2011


33 Czech Republic 0 749 0 -234 USA 0 721 0 -14635 Peru 0 712 0 22636 Colombia 0 709 0 15137 Hungary 0 665 0 33

Israel 0 665 0 11439 Venezuela 0 661 0 14640 Slovakia 0 648 0 -20641 Belgium 0 647 0 12142 Ecuador 0 634 4 9943 Nigeria 0 627 0 -9844 Senegal 0 625 0 16145 Iran 0 616 0 12046 Armenia 0 612 0 9747 Scotland 2 599 0 5748 Wales 2 591 0 330

61 FIFA WORLD I SUMMARY FIFA WORLD I SUMMARY


2011

PointsDec

2011

+/- PointsNov-Dec

2011


49 Panama 2 589 4 8850 Cameroon -2 588 -14 -8251 Montenegro 0 585 0 -23952 South Africa 1 577 0 2753 Honduras 1 574 4 5854 Jamaica -7 573 -36 5155 Ukraine 0 568 0 -13456 Romania 0 562 0 3157 Estonia 1 555 12 12958 Cape Verde Islands -1 549 5 10559 Tunisia 0 537 0 -4160 Sierra Leone 1 526 5 30261 Morocco -1 524 0 8762 Burkina Faso 0 518 0 -12663 Libya 0 514 0 6364 Belarus 1 501 0 -15965 Costa Rica -1 495 -8 2866 Poland 0 492 5 4367 Mali 0 472 0 -1668 Latvia 0 466 0 2669 El Salvador 0 463 0 21270 Austria 1 459 0 -11071 China PR 1 457 2 6872 Canada 0 455 0 4473 Georgia 1 451 0 274 Albania 1 450 0 -4775 Uzbekistan 1 449 0 17476 Trinidad and Tobago 10 448 39 7577 Gabon 0 445 0 -20378 Iraq 3 440 11 11579 Zambia 0 439 3 -280 Guinea -1 436 0 -13381 Haiti -3 429 -9 6182 Jordan 0 417 -2 11283 Angola 1 412 0 3484 Bulgaria 1 410 0 -14585 Oman 8 408 21 7986 Finland 2 405 0 -1487 Antigua and Barbuda -4 404 -14 10588 Northern Ireland 1 403 0 -21289 Uganda 2 398 4 -3190 Guatemala 0 397 0 15091 Guyana 6 387 17 11292 Lithuania 2 382 0 -15093 Qatar 2 378 3 11794 Malawi -7 374 -33 -2295 Botswana 1 371 0 -16496 Saudi Arabia 2 363 2 -6697 Niger 1 361 0 1298 Zimbabwe -28 354 -108 10799 Kuwait 1 351 0 32

Vietnam 35 351 117 184101 Bahrain 1 350 10 -2

Togo 0 350 0 37103 FYR Macedonia 0 333 0 -108104 Iceland 0 325 0 64


2011

PointsDec

2011

+/- PointsNov-Dec

2011


105 Mozambique 0 322 -2 -24106 Rwanda 8 314 17 129107 Bermuda 2 310 3 261108 Bolivia -2 309 0 -35

Puerto Rico -2 309 0 125110 Korea DPR 0 306 0 14111 Lebanon 0 305 0 213112 Azerbaijan 1 300 0 -43113 Sudan -1 297 -7 -69114 Syria 1 291 -2 -5115 Cuba -23 290 -100 -222116 Faroe Islands 0 285 0 114

Gambia 2 285 5 -40St. Kitts and Nevis 1 285 1 46

119 New Zealand 0 271 0 -235120 Kenya 13 269 29 29121 Namibia 0 264 0 110122 Thailand 10 262 19 22123 Liberia 0 258 0 176124 Benin 0 257 0 -205125 Congo DR 0 254 0 64

Suriname -3 254 -7 -3127 Cyprus -1 253 0 -114128 Luxembourg -1 252 0 72129 Central African Rep. -1 251 0 -12130 United Arab Emirates -10 250 -15 -52131 Dominican Republic -2 247 0 181132 Liechtenstein -2 246 0 130133 Congo -2 245 0 6134 Grenada -28 241 -68 -108135 Ethiopia 2 230 5 -1136 Moldova -1 229 0 -182137 Tanzania -1 224 -4 -32138 Kazakhstan 0 220 1 65139 Tajikistan 0 208 1 82140 Burundi 5 203 29 1141 Belize -1 194 0 140142 Indonesia 2 189 13 -23143 Chad -2 188 0 41144 St. Vincent/Grenadines 2 170 0 38145 Singapore 7 165 19 16146 Turkmenistan 1 164 0 -9147 Lesotho 1 160 0 98148 Malaysia 7 154 14 26149 Samoa 55 149 149 123150 Equatorial Guinea 1 148 0 76151 Curacao -2 146 -8 76

Yemen -1 146 -7 -67153 Nepal -10 144 -33 90154 Bahamas -1 141 0 128

Nicaragua -1 141 0 55156 Malta -1 140 0 64157 Bangladesh -15 138 -43 54158 Palestine 6 137 24 97159 Philippines 0 136 6 27160 Madagascar -3 135 0 44


2011

PointsDec

2011

+/- PointsNov-Dec

2011


161 Fiji -3 133 0 30162 India 0 131 12 -1163 Guinea-Bissau -3 121 -8 0164 Aruba 8 120 28 113165 Barbados -4 119 -6 -68166 New Caledonia -3 116 0 27167 Chinese Taipei -2 114 5 12168 Mongolia -2 106 0 74169 Hong Kong -1 105 0 -20170 Cambodia -1 101 -2 32171 Dominica 2 100 10 -96172 Myanmar -3 99 -4 -10173 Maldives -7 98 -8 17174 Laos 1 96 10 31

Vanuatu -3 96 0 29176 Tonga 26 88 85 71177 Afghanistan 1 85 8 75178 US Virgin Islands -1 82 0 77179 Pakistan -5 76 -11 20180 Solomon Islands -1 75 0 35

Sri Lanka -4 75 -10 -4Swaziland -1 75 0 -7

183 Cayman Islands -2 74 0 -14184 Tahiti -2 73 0 42185 St. Lucia -1 65 0 28186 American Samoa 18 61 61 61187 Comoros -1 55 0 31188 Seychelles -5 53 -16 43189 Somalia -2 47 -4 15190 Eritrea -6 45 -20 5191 Kyrgyzstan -3 42 0 -8192 Guam -3 36 0 19193 Papua New Guinea -3 34 0 34194 Mauritius -3 32 0 16195 Cook Islands 1 28 18 11196 São Tomé e Principe -4 27 0 MD197 Macau -4 26 0 12198 Djibouti 2 25 20 9199 British Virgin Islands -5 23 0 -18200 Turks and Caicos Islands -5 13 0 -6201 Anguilla -4 9 0 9202 Bhutan -4 6 0 -3

Brunei Darussalam -4 6 0 -3204 Mauritania -3 4 0 -34205 Timor-Leste -2 2 0 -1206 Andorra -2 0 0 -2

Montserrat -2 0 0 0San Marino -2 0 0 0

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

Ranking goes interactiveAn interactive version of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking can now be accessed on FIFA.com, allowing users to better understand the ranking system – and even perform their own calculations. A new prediction tool means that visitors to the site can put in scores for upcoming matches and see how the theoretical results would affect their chosen team’s ranking points. Users can also create charts plotting the ups and downs of up to four sides simultaneously, discover the various teams’ highest and lowest positions over a given time period and check out the biggest movers of the last few months. To try out the interactive ranking for yourself, simply click on the dedicated “FIFA Ranking” link at the top of the FIFA.com homepage.


Rank Team +/- RanksOct.-Dec.

2011

Rankingend of

2010

PointsDec.2011

+/- PointsOct.-Dec.

2011

1 USA 0 1 2148 -32 Germany 0 2 2143 -33 Japan 1 5 2106 04 Brazil -1 3 2093 -285 Sweden 0 4 2073 -126 France 1 8 1990 87 Canada 2 9 1989 258 England -2 10 1983 -29 Korea DPR -1 6 1967 010 Australia 0 12 1956 011 Italy 0 11 1937 712 Norway 0 7 1908 -20

Denmark 2 14 1908 2014 Netherlands -1 15 1897 015 Iceland 0 17 1854 -616 Korea Republic 0 18 1845 017 Spain 1 19 1841 2218 China PR -1 13 1831 019 Russia 1 20 1812 1020 Finland -1 16 1802 -1121 Mexico 1 22 1774 -1822 Scotland 1 24 1770 -223 Ukraine -2 21 1767 -3424 New Zealand 0 23 1752 0


2011

Rankingend of

2010

PointsDec.2011

+/- PointsOct.-Dec.

2011

25 Switzerland 0 26 1733 326 Czech Republic 0 25 1730 127 Nigeria 0 27 1686 -2428 Colombia 1 32 1654 929 Republic of Ireland -1 29 1646 -230 Thailand 2 33 1645 931 Vietnam 0 34 1641 132 Belgium 1 35 1639 1933 Poland -4 30 1630 -1534 Hungary 0 31 1610 -535 Argentina 0 28 1609 -436 Romania 0 37 1585 -537 Belarus 1 38 1583 1838 Austria 2 39 1577 1439 Slovakia 3 42 1573 2240 Uzbekistan -2 48 1565 041 Costa Rica 3 41 1557 2442 Chinese Taipei -1 36 1556 043 Portugal -6 39 1555 -2244 Serbia -1 45 1547 1045 Chile -1 46 1544 1146 Wales 1 47 1531 2247 Myanmar -1 44 1523 648 Trinidad and Tobago 0 43 1500 -2


2011

Rankingend of

2010

PointsDec.2011

+/- PointsOct.-Dec.

2011

49 Ecuador 1 51 1484 050 Ghana 1 50 1457 051 Peru 1 54 1450 052 Papua New Guinea 1 55 1447 053 India 1 56 1438 054 Northern Ireland 10 64 1437 5255 Bulgaria -6 49 1434 -5956 Equatorial Guinea -1 62 1431 0

Iran 2 53 1431 558 Paraguay -2 58 1430 059 Greece -2 57 1413 -1460 Jordan -1 52 1405 -1261 Cameroon 5 72 1404 2462 Haiti -1 63 1396 063 Slovenia 0 60 1386 -364 Croatia -2 65 1384 -665 Israel -5 61 1380 -1766 South Africa 1 59 1366 067 Turkey -2 66 1356 -2768 Indonesia 69 1346 -569 Uruguay -1 71 1344 070 Hong Kong -1 67 1342 071 Azerbaijan -1 74 1341 072 Morocco -1 75 1340 0

USA hold on as Japan hit new heights

While the USA might look back on the year 2011 with mixed feelings after their defeat to Japan in the fi nal of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™, they could at least take solace in holding on to top spot in the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking going into 2012, despite dropping 14 points since the September 2011 ranking. Hot on their heels are Germany, who picked themselves up from their own quarter-fi nal defeat against the Japanese to win four of the fi ve matches they played in the fi nal months of the year, with their 17-0 humbling of Kazakhstan indicating a return to fi ne goalscoring form.

Japan’s newly crowned world champions will justifi ably look back on their achievements in 2011 with delight. Fittingly, the Nadeshiko capped their outstanding footballing year by achieving their highest-ever position in December’s ranking (3rd, up 1). Their ascent comes at the expense of Brazil (4th, down 1), who slipped out of the top three for the fi rst time since June 2008 following a series of inconsistent results, including two draws against Canada (7th, up 2) and a defeat by Denmark (12th, up 2).

Another team scaling new heights are Northern Ireland (54th, up 10), whose 3-1 home-soil victory over 1995 world champions Norway (12th, unchanged) in the UEFA EURO qualifi ers helped lift them to their highest position since the women’s world ranking was introduced in 2003. That defeat for the Norwegian women leaves them languishing fourth in their qualifi cation group, seven points behind leaders Iceland, with an uphill battle to qualify for the fi nal tournament in neighbouring Sweden in 2013.

Spain saw an improvement in their ranking thanks to their strong performances in the EURO qualifi ers, moving up to 17th place at the expense of China, who continued to plummet in December. Besides Spain, other teams inside the top 50 to reach an all-time high in the rankings include Mexico (21st), Scotland (22nd), Colombia (28th), Belarus (37th) and Wales (46th), who all improved one place on their September position. Further down the ranking, the only team to make a signifi cant move was Cameroon, who improved fi ve places to 61st.

The December ranking includes 135 countries, the highest number since December 2007 when a new record was set with 150 teams.


FIFA Calendar January – February 2012

9 January FIFA Ballon d’Or gala, Zurich21 January – 12 February CAF Africa Cup of Nations,

Gabon/Equatorial Guinea

10 February CAF Congress, Libreville, Gabon13-16 February FIFA committee week29 February Fixed date for international friendly matches

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

Kenya: Sam NYAMWEYAPhilippines: Mariano ARANETA (re-elected)Dominican Republic: Osiris GUZMANTrinidad and Tobago: Lennox WATSON (acting)

Tahiti: Henri Thierry ARIIOTIMABritish Virgin Islands: Andrew D. BICKERTONCzech Republic: Miroslav PELTA

The next FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking will be published on 16 March 2012.

* team provisionally listed in ranking** team inactive for more than 18 months and therefore not ranked


2011

Rankingend of

2010

PointsDec.2011

+/- PointsOct.-Dec.

2011

Tonga -1 68 1340 074 Bahrain 1 72 1339 875 Venezuela -2 75 1338 076 Kazakhstan 3 78 1332 1377 Estonia 0 79 1328 -278 Tunisia -4 82 1323 -1279 Algeria -1 80 1320 080 Faroe Islands 0 69 1318 081 Fiji 0 85 1306 082 Egypt 2 84 1304 583 Guam -1 82 1300 0

Lithuania -1 80 1300 085 Guatemala 1 87 1293 586 Laos 87 1292 487 Philippines 1264 -388 Malaysia 90 1256 4

Dominican Republic -1 93 1256 0Guyana -1 89 1256 0

91 Bosnia-Herzegovina -1 95 1247 1192 Tahiti -3 96 1238 093 Bolivia -3 92 1236 094 Latvia -2 94 1220 095 Mali -2 91 1215 096 Cuba -2 102 1200 097 Singapore 1195 -15

Solomon Islands -1 98 1195 099 Palestine -4 99 1189 -8100 New Caledonia -2 1188 0101 Luxembourg -4 97 1187 -6102 El Salvador 1 106 1181 33103 Zimbabwe -2 103 1180 13104 Cook Islands -4 104 1170 0105 Suriname -3 100 1159 0106 Honduras -7 101 1157 -18107 Vanuatu -3 107 1144 0108 Ethiopia -3 115 1136 0


2011

Rankingend of

2010

PointsDec.2011

+/- PointsOct.-Dec.

2011

109 Angola -2 105 1134 0110 Samoa -2 1124 0111 Congo DR -2 108 1113 0112 Malta -1 111 1112 6113 Puerto Rico -3 112 1108 0114 Armenia -2 113 1104 0115 Nicaragua -9 110 1094 -41116 Nepal -3 116 1080 0117 American Samoa -3 1075 0118 Guinea -3 114 1073 0119 Georgia -3 117 1071 0120 FYR Macedonia -2 119 1066 16121 Namibia -4 118 1051 0122 Bangladesh -3 992 0123 Sri Lanka -3 965 0124 Maldives -3 121 954 0125 Zambia -3 122 952 0126 Bermuda -3 950 0127 Lebanon -3 944 0128 Pakistan -3 934 0129 Syria 927 -71130 Tanzania -4 124 915 0131 Dominica -4 123 908 0132 Iraq 882 -93133 Mozambique -5 875 0134 Malawi -5 833 0135 Botswana -3 127 703 0

UAE 1729 0Panama ** 1379 0Jamaica ** 1339 0Côte d‘Ivoire ** 77 1331 0Senegal ** 86 1290 0Congo ** 1238 0Benin ** 1187 0Moldova ** 1177 0Barbados ** 1173 0


2011

Rankingend of

2010

PointsDec.2011

+/- PointsOct.-Dec.

2011

Kyrgyzstan ** 108 1143 0Sierra Leone ** 1132 0Bahamas ** 1111 0St. Lucia ** 1061 0Eritrea ** 1060 0Gabon ** 1031 0Grenada ** 1029 0Cyprus ** 1023 0St. Vincent/Grenadines** 120 1008 0Burkina Faso ** 1003 0St. Kitts and Nevis ** 974 0Turks/Caicos Islands ** 963 0Guinea-Bissau ** 927 0US Virgin Islands ** 885 0Kenya ** 879 0Brit. Virgin Islands ** 867 0Swaziland ** 863 0Cayman Islands ** 847 0Curaçao ** 831 0Belize ** 125 814 0Antigua/Barbuda ** 126 756 0Comoros ** 534 0Albania * 1417 0Bhutan * 889 0Liberia * 877 0Qatar * 873 0Lesotho * 858 0Aruba * 803 0Afghanistan * 750 0

FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD RANKING – KEY CRITERIA

• Result of the match• Home v. away, or neutral ground• Importance of the match• Strength difference between the teams• Goal difference and goals scored

The FIFA Women’s World Ranking was fi rst published in July 2003 to rate some 150 FIFA member associations on the basis of several factors including victories, home advantage, the strength of the

opposition and the importance of matches. The ranking is published four times a year. According to FIFA’s Big Count survey in 2006, 26 million women and girls around the world currently play football.


FIFA ArchiveAddis Ababa, Ethiopia 21 January 1962

The battle to be crowned African champions is about to get under way once more, with Equatorial Guinea and Gabon all set to co-host the 2012 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations. In many ways, the history of the tournament mirrors the eventful history of African football as a whole, with colonialism playing a signifi cant part in the early years of the sport’s development – helping to carry football from Europe to Africa where it soon spread across the continent.

The history of Ethiopia provides a good example of this. In the immediate aftermath of Italy’s occupation of the country, football was originally intended only for the white colonial rulers. The organisation of sport and leisure activities in the 1920s and 30s excluded the native population from participating. However, once British troops re-conquered East Africa at the start of the Second World War, racial barriers were removed and the locals were allowed to form their own football teams.

It was 20 years, however, before Ethiopia’s national team would win a tournament, fi nally experiencing their fi rst taste of victory on 21 January 1962 after beating the United Arab Republic (present-day Egypt) 4-2 in extra time as hosts of the third edition of the Africa Cup. Ethiopia’s title triumph was the fi rst by a sub-Saharan African team. The photo captures the historic moment when Haile Selassie, the last Emperor of Ethiopia,

presented the trophy to Luciano Vassalo, the captain of the Ethiopian side. On the right is Ydnekatchew Tessema, CAF President at that time, who made a considerable contribution to the development of football in Ethiopia and co-founded the Ethiopian Football Association.

As well as bringing North African dominance to an end, the historic win in Addis Ababa began a string of successes for other sub-Saharan African nations in subsequent editions, as Ghana, Congo DR, Sudan and Congo all followed Ethiopia up onto the winner’s podium. It wasn’t until 1976 that a North African team, namely Morocco, reclaimed the title.

This year is the second time in the history of the Africa Cup of Nations that the tournament has been jointly organised by two countries (after Ghana-Nigeria 2000), and it is the fi rst time ever that the reigning champions have failed to qualify, with Egypt going out in the qualifi ers. Also absent from the tournament are two more African heavyweights, Cameroon and Nigeria, while Ethiopia will also be missing out on what would have been their tenth appearance at the fi nals. So, will more history be made this year? With Botswana, Niger and host nation Equatorial Guinea all in the running as debutants, the chances of a new African champion being hailed in the Gabonese capital Libreville on 12 February are certainly high.

Ethiopia’s Emperor Haile Selassie hands over the trophy to national team captain Luciano Vassalo following their country’s

fi rst and, so far, only triumph at the Africa Cup of Nations in 1962.


66

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FIFA WORLD I JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012

FIFA World – No. 26,

January/February 2012

Offi cial monthly publication of

the Fédération Internationale

de Football Association (FIFA)

Publisher:

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Coming up In the March issue of FIFA World

ShowtimeWinners take the stage at the FIFA Ballon d’Or gala

Africa’s new championsWho will succeed Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations?

Ambitious hostsQatar sets out to become a force in football

Publication date:1 March 2012

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Documents

ﬁ nest hour | Year-end rankings On top of the world...1986/02/21 · Chelsea. Anelka was capped 69 times by France but announced his international retirement last year, following