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WORLD CUP 2014

WORLD CUP

Germany out to end World Cup third place rut

Germany captain Philipp Lahm is desperate to avoid his side becoming the eternal third place team as they plot how to beat Brazil in the World Cup semi-final.

Germany out to end World Cup third place rut
Photo: DPA

While celebrating beating France 1-0 in Friday's quarter final, Lahm knows a defeat to the hosts on Tuesday in Belo Horizonte would condemn him to a third straight appearance in the third place play-off.

"I really do not need that, that's something I want to rule out," joked Lahm, who was on losing teams in semi-finals at the 2006 and 2010 World Cup finals.

"We definitely want more, that wasn't our last appearance in Rio."

Man-of-the-match Mats Hummels' 13th-minute header sealed victory over France. Germany have now reached the semi-finals at 13 of the 20 World Cup finals and last failed to reach the last four at France '98.

SEE ALSO: Germany vs. France player ratings

German coach Joachim Löw has reached the semis of all four major tournaments during his eight-year reign and the Germans are eager to return to Rio's Maracana Stadium for the final on July 13th.

First they must beat Brazil, formidable even without star striker Neymar, who suffered a fractured vertebrae in their quarter final win over Colombia, and suspended captain Thiago Silva.

And Löw has urged his players "to take the next step" in their bid to end a 24-year wait for a fourth World Cup title by knocking-out Brazil.

Having ground out a 2-0 extra-time win over Algeria with an unconvincing display in the last 16, Germany raised their game to see off Didier Deschamps' France on Friday

"We'll see how things go now, only top teams reach the semi-finals, but we have now won 28 of our last 31 competitive matches," said Germany's head coach.

"It needs a special performance to permanently be in the last four, but now we are trying to take the next step.

"The team is established, stable and can handle a game, just as they did against Algeria.

"The team is improving from game to game, they are fully focused and are working very hard."

On the eve of the last eight match, seven of the German squad had suffered from mild 'flu.

But Löw said illness was not a factor in his defensive reshuffle as Per Mertesacker sat out the France win while Lahm was moved to right-back.

"It was a tactical decision to play (centre-backs) Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels, because (Karim) Benzema, (Mathieu) Valbuena and (Antoine) Griezmann are very fast," said Löw.

"In our analysis, we saw there was hardly any room through the midfield, so we wanted to have Philipp on the right and use the flanks more for tactical reasons.

"I don't know if he will stay there for the semi-final, I want to see how the players recover first."

A fourth World Cup title for Germany will elevate the 54-year-old Löw to the exclusive status enjoyed by Franz Beckenbauer (1990), Helmut Schön (1974) and Sepp Herberger (1954) who also coached the football-mad nation to world titles.

Löw has five survivors in his squad from the 2006 World Cup in Germany and ten of the side who finished third at South Africa 2010.

But he says maintaining consistent standards has been the key to Germany's success in Brazil, even after injury deprived him of winger Marco Reus before leaving Germany.

"The team has changed over last few years and there aren't many survivors from 2006 and 2010, but it's good to have a few changes, not just the same players who have been at the top level for the last eight to ten years," said Löw.

"We were without Reus, but players like Hummels have come in and done very well.

"We have been working on consistency, invested a lot and we have excellent players," he said.

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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.

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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