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WORLD CUP 2014

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Germany dominate Portugal in World Cup

Thomas Müller scored a hat-trick as Germany thrashed Portugal 4-0 to leave Cristiano Ronaldo's dreams of dominating the World Cup in tatters on Monday.

Published: 16 June 2014 19:54 CEST
Germany dominate Portugal in World Cup
Müller celebrates his opening goal. Photo: DPA

A decisive first-half saw Germany race into 3-0 lead as Müller converted a penalty, then fired home their third on the stroke of half-time after a Mats Hummels header had also hit the target.

Portugal played almost an hour with a man down after defender Pepe was red-carded for aiming a head-butt at Müller.
  

   
World Player of the Year Ronaldo played the full 90 minutes of the Group G opener despite recent injuries, but the Portugal captain was powerless to prevent his side being over-run.
   
The Portuguese suffered the same fate at Salvador's Arena Fonte Nova as their Iberian neighbours Spain last Friday when the holders were routed 5-1 by the Dutch.
   
Germany continued their domination of Portugal by adding Brazil 2014 to their list of recent wins over Ronaldo's side which includes the 2006 World Cup, plus the 2008 and 2012 European championships.
   
The result capped a remarkable day for Germany, in front of Chancellor Angela Merkel, just hours after news broke that ex-Formula One champion Michael Schumacher has come out of his lengthy coma.
   
Having declared himself '100 percent fit', Ronaldo lived up to his word with an early shot, then put Hugo Almeida into space, but the Germans were soon on top.
   
Sami Khedira fired wide after a loose pass from Rui Patricio with eight minutes gone at the start of a busy period for the Portugal goalkeeper.
   
When left-back Joao Pereira tugged back on Mario Götze's shirt, Serbian referee Milorad Mazic pointed straight to the spot.
   
Müller, who scored five goals in the 2010 finals to claim both the Golden Boot and best young player award, planted his penalty in the bottom corner to open the German's account on 12 minutes.
 

   
Portugal coach Paulo Bento was forced into an early substitution as Almeida pulled up with a muscle injury to make way for Eder.
   
Götze then crashed a shot just wide of the post, just before the Germans went 2-0 up.
   
Toni Kroos swung in a corner and centre-back Hummels out-jumped Pepe to plant his header past Patricio on 32 minutes.
   
Portugal's fortunes went from bad to worse on 37 minutes when the standing Pepe aimed a head-butt at the seated Mueller after an altercation to earn a straight red card.
   
Müller had his revenge on the stroke of half-time when he chested down Kroos' long pass and smashed his shot past Patricio as it finished 3-0 at the interval.
   
After the break, Portugal kept chipping away at the solid German defence, which had been a concern coming into Brazil.
   
But Portugal's fortunes were summed up when one of Ronaldo's trademark free-kicks cannoned off the German wall leaving the world's best player with his head in his hands.
   
Having already lost injured midfielders Marco Reus and Lars Bender before arriving in Brazil, there were worrying scenes for Germany coach Joachim Löw when Hummels had to be helped off on 73 minutes.
   
Sampdoria's 22-year-old Shkodran Mustafi, the son of Albanian immigrants, came on to win only his second cap.
   
Müller wrapped up his hat-trick on 78 minutes in scrappy fashion in a goal-mouth scramble after Patricio had parried a shot.

 
 
Teams
 
Germany: Manuel Neuer – Jerome Boateng, Per Mertesacker, Mats Hummels (Shkodran Mustafi 73), Benedikt Höwedes – Sami Khedira, Philipp Lahm (cap), Toni Kroos – Mesut Özil (Andre Schürrle 63), Thomas Müller (Lukas Podolski 82), Mario Götze

Portugal: Rui Patricio – Joao Pereira, Pepe, Bruno Alves, Fabio Coentrao (Andre Almeida 65) – Raul Meireles, Miguel Veloso (Ricardo Costa 46), Joao Moutinho – Nani, Hugo Almeida (Eder 28), Cristiano Ronaldo (cap)
 

Yellow card: Joao Pereira (11)
Red card: Pepe (37)
Referee: Milorad Mazic (SRB)
 

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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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