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WORLD CUP 2014

WORLD CUP

‘Spain must not gloat over previous victories’

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque says his only fear for the 2014 World Cup is players gloating over past victories and failing to be humble in the face of the great challenge ahead in Brazil.

Published: 31 December 2013 14:44 CET
'Spain must not gloat over previous victories'
Spanish coach Vicente Del Bosque said Spain were not inferior to any other team but they needed to be cautious in the lead-up to the 2014 World Cup. Photo: José Jordan/AFP

"We have to forget the past and not gloat over what we have won in previous years," Del Bosque told Spanish daily AS in an interview published on Tuesday.

"Humbleness is not an empty word. When I ask for it, it is because it is the path to success."

Spain, champions of Europe in 2008 and 2012 and World Cup winners in 2010, face fierce competition in the tournament, which kicks off in Brazil on June 12th, he warned.

"The players have won a lot, almost everything, and their vision is not the same as it was five or six years ago. That is my only fear. We come back to humbleness. You have to be humble, sportsmen, and good lads."

Del Bosque said Spain are not inferior to any other team but they need to be cautious.

"We are the rival to beat and there are powerful rivals, especially the South Americans and among them Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and Chile," Del Bosque said.

"Then there are the Europeans, teams like Germany, Holland or Portugal. It is not easy and you have to show respect with all our rivals."

Argentina's Lionel Messi, Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and France's Franck Ribery were all heading to Brazil hungry for a first world title and backed by strong teams, the Spain coach warned.

"The small advantage Spain have is that we are a team, beyond our good individuals," he said. "But there are other teams at our level."

Del Bosque said 35-year-old Barcelona captain Carles Puyol, who has been dogged by injury problems over the last couple of seasons, is a "concern" but he hoped he would make the Spain team. "We still have time to make decisions," he said.

The Spain coach said he was not worried about keeper Iker Casillas suffering from a lack of playing time after being left on the bench for Real Madrid's Liga games, playing only in the Champions League and the domestic King's Cup.

"For us, Casillas is not a worry so long as he maintains his activity in the Champions League and the Cup. Iker is good because if he was not they would not play him," Del Bosque said.

He had words of praise for Atletico Madrid's Brazilian forward Diego Costa, saying he stood out from other players.

"Diego Costa is different. He can play as a striker  but he can also start from midfield or the wings, right or left. Beyond that, beyond the goals, he has and he transmits an energy that helps Atletico. He is not someone who waits for the ball to score, he joins in with the team."

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SPORT

Norway’s football clubs to vote on Qatar World Cup boycott

Will Norwegian football star Erling Braut Haaland stay home or play on what fans have dubbed a "cemetery?" This Sunday, a meeting of Norway's football community will decide whether to boycott next year's World Cup in Qatar.

Published: 18 June 2021 11:27 CEST
Norway's football clubs to vote on Qatar World Cup boycott
Norway's forward Erling Haaland (L) and teammates wear jerseys reading "Fair play for migrant workers" before the international friendly football match between Norway and Greece at La Rosaleda stadium in Malaga in preperation for the UEFA European Championships, on June 6, 2021. JORGE GUERRERO / AFP

Under pressure from grassroots activists the Norwegian Football Federation(NFF) has decided to hold an extraordinary congress to decide on whether to pass up football’s showpiece event all together.

The games on the pitches in the Middle Eastern emirate will “unfortunately be like playing on a cemetery,” according to Ole Kristian Sandvik, spokesman of the Norwegian Supporters Alliance (NSA), invoking a commonly used metaphor among opponents of Norway’s participation.

Norway, which has not qualified for a major international competition since Euro 2000, is currently fourth in its World Cup qualifying group behind Turkey, the Netherlands and Montenegro. 

So while qualification seems an uphill task, the result of the vote could have an impact on whether Norway and its young star Haaland — one of the rising stars of world football — continue to play qualifying matches. 

The movement calling for a boycott began north of the Arctic Circle when football club Tromso IL spoke out against turning a blind eye to alleged human rights abuses at the end of February.

“We can no longer sit and watch people die in the name of football,” the first division club proclaimed.

Qatar has faced criticism for its treatment of migrant workers, many of whom are involved in the construction of stadiums and infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup, with campaigners accusing employers of exploitation and forcing labourers to work in dangerous conditions.

Qatari authorities meanwhile insist they have done more than any country in the region to improve worker welfare.

“There is no doubt that this World Cup should never have been awarded to Qatar,” Tom Hogli, a former professional footballer turned public relations officer for Tromso IL, told AFP.

“The conditions there are abominable and many have lost their lives,” he added.

In March, a spokesman for the Qatari organisers put the number of deaths on the construction sites at “three” since 2014, with another 35 having died away from their workplaces, challenging the heavy toll reported by some rights groups.

Push from fans
The Tromso call began gathering pace in Norway, where clubs operate under a democratic structure, and under pressure from fans, many teams now say “nei” (no).

According to Sandvik, the fans feel that the deaths on the World Cup sites would have been avoided “if they had not had to build hotels, railways and stadiums”.

Nearly half of Norwegians, 49 percent, now say they are in favour of a boycott, while only 29 percent are against it, according to a poll published by newspaper VG on Wednesday.

The Nordic country’s national squad has already protested conditions in Qatar, but stopped short of calling for a boycott.

Before recent Norway games, Borussia Dortmund superstar Haaland, captain Martin Odegaard and the rest of the team have worn t-shirts with slogans like “Human rights on and off the pitch.”

Other countries, like Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark have also followed suit.

FIFA, on the other hand, argue that awarding the hosting of the World Cup in Qatar has opened the door to social progress.

“We know there is still work to be done, but we need to recognise the significant progress achieved in a very short time,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in May.

‘Few successes’ 
While the executive committee of the NFF have said they regret Qatar being awarded the World Cup, they oppose a boycott.

President Terje Svendsen said he thought it was “not the right tool to improve the human rights situation or the working conditions in Qatar,” when speaking at the federation’s ordinary annual congress in March.

According to the NFF, a boycott could end up costing Norway 205 million Norwegian kroner ($24 million, 20 million euros) in fines and compensation as well as lost revenue.

Feeling the pressure from grassroots campaigns, the NFF referred the matter to an extraordinary congress which on Sunday will bring together the eight members of its executive committee, representatives of 18 districts and of hundreds of professional and amateur clubs.

The discussions will be revolve around the findings of an expert committee which, with the exception of two members representing fans, has also come out against a boycott.

“For a boycott to succeed, you need a critical mass behind it, an opposition that calls for it in the country, the UN to put pressure on the
authorities, the business world, the trade unions and civil society to put pressure on it in the long term,” committee chairman Sven Mollekleiv said in a debate hosted by broadcaster TV2.

“Historically, there are few successes,” he said.

Rather than a boycott, the committee recommended 26 measures to consolidate and further the gains made in Qatar but also to ensure that FIFA doesn’t become complicit in so called “sportswashing” — the polishing of a country’s public image through a major sporting event.

Some initial supporters of a boycott, like Tromso’s Hogli, have since sided with these conclusions, although calls for a complete boycott remain.

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