Alexei Sorokin claims that the nation will be spending as much as $ 10 billion

Russia 2018 Organizing Committee Alexei Sorokin claims that the nation will be spending as much as $ 10 billion on improving the facilities are ahead of the World Cup 2018 in Russia.


There has been much speculation about the World Cup going ahead as planned. This is due to several allegations and sanctions being imposed on the nation. Russian athletics has received a huge setback with allegations of doping by a large number of players. This has threatened the feasibility of World Cup 2018, which is being promoted as a very clean tournament, going ahead as scheduled.

Sorokin confirmed that there are no changes to the plan initially made by the Russians in order to successfully host the World Cup. There will be a total of 11 cities involved in hosting different games over the course of the tournament, which runs between June 14 and July 15. Moscow, Samara, Saransk, Nizhny Novgorod, Ekaterinburg, Kaliningrad, and Rostov-on-Don. Unlike Brazil, Russia are planning to finish all their work regarding stadiums before the end of 2016. This will allow the country plenty of time to focus on other activities like improving transport and hotel infrastructure. Brazil made the mistake of being involved only in stadium construction throughout the 10 year period since they knew they would be hosting the tournament. (more…)

WORLD CUP 2018: BRAZIL STILL IN THE RACE

After recent performances at the FIFA world Cup 2018 qualification matches, many have questioned the hopes of seeing the star studded Brazilian team in the Cup Finals in Russia come 2018. The team’s head coach Dunga said the team’s qualification is far from conclusion.

The South American giants fought back from two goals down to draw level with Paraguay in a crucial match. Brazil men national team has won only two games of six. The team has played a draw in three matches and lost one.

Coach Dunga even admitted that the qualification is complicated. The results from the match with Paraguay leaves out the option of automatic qualification for the five-time world champions.

In the match against Paraguay, amazing strikes from Dario Lezcano and Edgar Benitez gave Paraguay the lead. However, a lapse in concentration in the final ten minutes turned the game around for The Little Canary as they scored two goals. Ricardo Oliveira struck in the 80th minutes followed by an impressive effort by Barcelona star, Dani Alves in injury time.

Brazil would face group leader, Ecuador next. Dunga still insists that it isn’t over but “complicated.” In his post-match interview, Dunga said: “The beauty of football is that the next match of ours is against the leader.” (more…)

Bury’s David Flitcroft is hoping to sign new players in January

David Flitcroft has set his eyes in signing a few performers in this January transfer window but in order to add these players into his team, the 41 year old English manager might have to offload some players of his own in order to create enough space and avoid having an overblown squad with too many players which will unnecessarily increase the wage bill of the team.

Even if Flitcroft does indeed decide to release some of his players and generate some cash from those sales, the manager is well aware that he has his limits when it comes to signing new players to his team as Bury FC does not have the same kind of financial freedom as other clubs when it comes to luring in top players to his team but nonetheless, he will do everything in his power to sign the best players that he can but more importantly is to strengthen the areas of his team which have appeared to be the most vulnerable.

‘’With the injuries we`ve had over the past four or five weeks it`s important that we try and bring some potential signings to fruition. However, it`s not easy because a January transfer window is never easy. You`re usually trying to wrestle with clubs, wrestle with players and different deals’’ (more…)

The preliminary qualification to the World Cup 2018 is set to see a number of top African teams

The preliminary qualification to the World Cup 2018 is set to see a number of top African teams come up against some lesser-known rivals, but former Chelsea striker Samuel Eto’o says that the gap between the top and bottom teams has reduced significantly in recent years.

Teams like Algeria have been able to become successful in the Africa Cup of Nations in recent years. They have been able to cause an upset by beating the likes of Ivory Coast along the way. Cameroon were once one of the biggest teams in African football, but they have been reduced to the stature of being minnows due to the constant infighting.

Eto’o is the goal scoring legend for the national team, but he has retired from international duty since 2014. His absence will be a major blow for the national team. Despite his absence, the 34-year-old striker is confident that Cameroon will be able to do well in the upcoming qualification group. The national team will go straight into the second qualification round due to their significantly better stature. They will face winners of the first-round qualification.Eto’o is an extremely successful player at the level of a World Cup competition. He has featured in four tournaments from 1998 to 2004. (more…)

Croatia will take on Norway tomorrow

Croatia will take on Norway tomorrow in what’s believed to be a top-of-the-table clash.

Croatia is sitting at the first position in Group H Euro qualifying right now, but, if they lose to Norway, they might even go down to no. 3.

Norway, on the other hand, will be leading the table if they end on the better side in Zagreb.

However, on the basis of what history suggests, Norway’s win is unlikely.

Out of the last 28 Euro qualifiers that Croatia has played on the home turf, they have not lost any and not only have they been unbeaten, if you see the no. of goals that have been scored against them, it’s not that many.

It would definitely not come as a shock for anyone if the hosts end up stretching that unbeaten run to 29.

Also, Norway has not been as good a team away from home as they have been at it and that does not encourage people enough either to put money on them.

Although if you take only these qualifiers into account, you would not agree to that as in this qualifying tournament, the Norwegians already have a couple of away victories under their belt.

But, if you see their overall record when they visit other places, you would use the word ‘ordinary’. (more…)