Tag: Germany

Martin O’Neill says that he is relieved to have avoided the big guns

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Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill says that he is relieved to have avoided the big guns in the World Cup 2018 qualification group.

The details of the opponents were recently revealed and Ireland are in a group containing the likes of Wales, Serbia, Austria, Moldova, and Georgia. Almost all of them have an equal chance of reaching the finals. O’Neill is a manager under pressure due to various reasons. Unlike Wales, who have progressed a lot in recent times, Ireland have been an underdog for a considerable period of time. Even the arrival of O’Neill has not improved their fortunes.

At this stage, a tough draw with opponents like Spain, France, and Italy in the group stages would have proved extremely difficult for Ireland to handle. As it is, they will go into the qualification campaign with a real hope of reaching the finals. Ireland have not reached the finals of the World Cup since 2002. In fact, the team has managed to reach the finals only on three occasions in their entire history. Hence, they were relying upon a huge slice of luck in terms of the draw and this is what exactly Martin O’Neill has received. As a result of this draw, Ireland cannot only hope of qualifying for the finals but they can also hope for winning the group. Continue reading Martin O’Neill says that he is relieved to have avoided the big guns →

Now that Sepp Blatter resignated, doubts are starting to emerge in relation to the location of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups

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The resignation of Sepp Blatter brings forth a number of consequences as FIFA now has to delegate and select a new president that can replace the Swiss football administrator who has been hampered with corruption and bribery.

Sepp Blatter was the main supporter of having the 2018 World Cup in Russia despite all of the problems involving Ukraine as both countries are still in war following the annexation of Crimea.

However, since Blatter is no longer the president of FIFA this has casted a string of doubts concerning if whether or not the location of the next World Cup should and can be changed.

England is still hoping to host the 2018 World Cup and their dream might actually turn into a reality depending on who is elected as the new president of FIFA and if that person is willing to change the location of the approaching football tournament. Continue reading Now that Sepp Blatter resignated, doubts are starting to emerge in relation to the location of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups →

Germany indulged in large scale doping

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The footballers for West Germany who played against England in the nation’s only successful FIFA World Cup campaign could have been injected with performance enhancing drugs, a recent report has revealed.

A report that has been prepared by researchers in Germany have attributed the government with continuing with a large scale doping scandal that transcended all sports and also percolated to football and this has brought down a huge cloud on the successful Germany World Cup winning team of 1974 under the leadership of Franz Beckenbauer as well.

The reports were leaked by a German publication of a long research into state financed doping in the country. According to the leaked report attributed to the unpublished report, the doping scandal may have kicked off under state aid after the Second World War and such was the insistence of the government to be better than their East German counterparts that they spent millions of dollars to fund the project.

According to the report, an interior minister of the country at that time had stated that the athletes of Germany should have the same conditions as well as services as the East German bloc and this led to a competition with the bitter rivals that led to the doping experiments.

The report also stated that amphetamines were used on a large scale by the soldiers of the country in the Second World War and the footballers in Germany continued the trend starting from the 1950s well into the 1980s.

However, it has also been claimed that the German players could also have administered the drugs on themselves accidentally through the use of a decongestant for colds that was used on a large scale during that time. England defeated the team 4-2 in the final of the 1966 World Cup on home soil.