Sports

AMMAN  –– Wihdat will play Shabab Urdun while Baqaa play Ramtha in Leg 1 of the 34th Jordan Cup semifinals on Saturday. Leg 2 will be played on June 17 before the final on June 20 caps the football season. Wihdat reached the semis after a 1-0 win against holders That Ras whom they drew 1-1 in Leg 1. That Ras, a relative newcomer to the Jordan Professional League, won the Jordan Cup last year –– their first ever major title. Shabab Urdun advanced on penalties after  Hussein won 2-0 and Shabab Urdun won Leg 1 by the same score. Earlier, Ramtha had moved to the semis after eliminating Faisali. They lost 1-0 and won by the same score before advancing 5-4 on penalties. Baqaa beat Sheikh Hussein 5-2 and 2-0 to advance.  Wihdat won their 13th league title last week while Shabab Urdun who were league champs last year finished ninth. Shabab Urdun won the 31st Super Cup after they beat That Ras.

AMMAN — HRH Prince Feisal, president of Jordan Olympic Committee (JOC), launched the initiative Living Sport on Thursday in a special ceremony that also marked the Kingdom's celebration of Olympic Day.

The new initiative — targeting Jordanians of all ages — is aimed at promoting healthy lifestyles among Jordanians who do not have the time to use the gym or playground or those who think that sports is only for athletes and competitions.

"Living Sport is a long-term programme which will be at the heart of all JOC's activities and operations, and which will evolve as needed through time to remain relevant to all that we do," Prince Feisal told reporters. 

"Living Sport has no end date,” he added, stressing the power of sports in making a positive difference.

"We will be focusing more on Jordanians living in governorates and not only Amman as we believe that in certain areas we need to spread awareness regarding sports and its benefits." 

"Sports can be practiced anywhere and not necessarily at the gym or playground and this is what we are trying to tell the community," the prince said.

Advertisements depicting people at their homes or offices will be placed around the Kingdom to show people that practising sports at home and work is easy and healthy.

JOC Secretary General Lana Jaghbeer said Living Sport is based on several plans, including Community Well Being, an annual one-month campaign that will be launched every year on Olympic Day to address key health and social issues. 

"Through specially created JOC committees, sports will be promoted as universal," she said.

An "Ambassador" programme within the initiative will target 6-11 year olds, Jaghbeer added.

"We look at the media as our partners in this great initiative, and that is why JOC News Service will be a key player in building relations with the media. We have also already prepared the strategy for a comprehensive marketing campaign covering the whole Kingdom," she said.

SALVADOR –– Spain will be lifted by a reminder of the glory of four years ago as the defence of their World Cup crown begins against 2010 finalists the Netherlands in Salvador on Friday in a standout Group B opener.

Spain, also 2008 and 2012 European Championship winners, arrive in Brazil with 16 players retained from the squad that triumphed in South Africa, the most returned at the following World Cup by any world champion, with many still bearing the scars of a bruising encounter with the Dutch in 2010.

Spain dominated possession in Johannesburg and took a barrage of heavy tackles by a fierce Dutch defensive guard, but fans streaming to the Fonte Nova arena will be hoping for a more attacking treat this time around as Xavi, Andres Iniesta and David Silva’s superb passing game comes up against a Dutch counter attack possessing Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie.

Vincent Del Bosque’s La Roja, bolstered this time by the prolific Brazilian-born Diego Costa, begin among the favourites for the tournament in Brazil, where success would see them become the first Europeans to win the World Cup in the Americas.

Much has been made of the addition of Costa, who hails from Lagarto in the northeast of Brazil and whose family will travel the 350 kilometres to Salvador to see him take on the Dutch. His presence in Spain’s starting XI will bring added value to a team who have often played without a traditional centre-forward.

A revelation in La Liga last season with 36 goals as Atletico won the title, Costa has reacted angrily to claims from Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari that he had offered him the chance to play at the World Cup, insisting only Spain called.

Costa will lead an otherwise familiar line-up in Salvador with defenders Cesar Azpilicueta, Sergio Ramos, Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba in front of goalkeeper Iker Casillas, and the dynamic midfield of Xabi Alonso, Sergio Busquets, Silva, Xavi and Iniesta helping Costa unlock a Dutch side set-up to counter.

The Dutch tactics under coach Louis van Gaal have been hotly debated in the Brazil build-up after he opted to ditch a traditional 4-3-3 approach in favour of a
5-3-2, after losing midfield king pin Kevin Strootman to long-term injury and favouring a more pressing approach.

“I don’t think at the moment we are capable of playing tika taka,” Arjen Robben, told Dutch team website Ons Oranje. “The counter is a very dangerous weapon that we will be certainly using at this tournament.”

While Van Gaal has also pushed to blood more youngsters into the national side, his team to face Spain will include a core of household names, including a rejuvenated Wesley Sneijder who has bounced back from losing the captaincy and his place in the side to take a key role as provider for Robben and Van Persie.

Sneijder will play just in front of midfield enforcer Nigel de Jong — fortunate to stay on the pitch in the 2010 final after a kung-fu kick on Xabi Alonso — and Jonathan de Guzman if fit. Ron Vlaar will lead a back line including the promising Daley Blind, son of Danny who becomes Dutch coach in 2016.

Van Persie’s form and fitness is key to Van Gaal’s plans. The captain endured a stop-start domestic campaign and while he has said he is fit for the World Cup after some niggling injuries, the jury is still out after not looking completely comfortable in training.

Group B rivals Australia and Chile also play Friday in Cuiaba.

LISBON –– Portugal’s troubles in the World Cup qualifiers have shown that they will need a lot more than an on-song Cristiano Ronaldo to mount a serious challenge in Brazil.

Although they can beat any team on their day, Portugal are prone to unexplained lapses and can be chronically wasteful in attack.

Portugal reached Brazil in style with Ronaldo netting all their goals over the two legs of a memorable 4-2 aggregate playoff win over Sweden.

But that performance masked a difficult qualification campaign in which they were held to unexpected draws by Northern Ireland and Israel, and forced into the drama of a two-leg playoff after losing Group F’s top spot to Russia.

It could have been even worse had Ronaldo not dug them out of a hole in the match away to Northern Ireland, scoring a second-half hat-trick in a 4-2 win after they had trailed 2-1 and been reduced to 10 men.

“We certainly had an inconsistent campaign. If that wasn’t the case, we wouldn’t have had to contest a playoff,” said coach Paulo Bento. 

“Even though we lost one of the games against Russia, we put in two good performances, but there were three other matches in which we didn’t play so well.” 

Worryingly for Portugal, Ronaldo has suffered some nagging minor injuries in the run-up to the World Cup and was rested for their friendly against Greece in Lisbon, and Portugal’s training sessions after complaining of muscular pain in his left thigh.

After years of basing their game around a playmaker, firstly Rui Costa and then Deco, Portugal have changed their style to try and get the best out of Ronaldo.

Although they traditionally play a possession game, under Bento they have started to mix this with long passes into space for Ronaldo and Nani to run on to.

After Ronaldo, midfielder Joao Moutinho has become the most influential player in the team. The Monaco player is part of a fluid three-man midfield triangle which dictates the pace, tirelessly recovering balls and delivering pinpoint passes.

Joao Pereira and Fabio Coentrao are two energetic fullbacks who like to burst forward and, in Pepe and Bruno Alves, they have a fiery, intense pair of centre backs, sometimes too much so.

A big concern is the centre forward position where Helder Postiga and Hugo Almeida have been less than clinical.

The highly unpredictable Ricardo Quaresma would have been an interesting alternative, but was overlooked by Bento, the third World Cup in a row where he has been in contention for a place and has missed out.

There is plenty of experience in the side with Raul Meireles, Bruno Alves, Postiga, Pepe and Pereira all over 30, and one of the criticisms aimed at Bento is that he has been too conservative in his team selections. 

For a small country, Portugal have had an exceptional record at big tournaments over the past decade, reaching the final at Euro 2004, the semi-finals at the 2006 World Cup, the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 and the semi-finals of Euro 2012.

Despite this, they have not always pleased the neutrals and ultimately they have not won anything either, losing to Greece in the 2004 final in their own Lisbon backyard when Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari was their coach.

But one thing that is in their favour this time is that other teams are regarded as favourites and, despite their old colonial connection with Brazil and a shared language, there will be very little pressure on them from the home fans.

SAO PAULO –– The last time Brazil played at home in the World Cup finals a 2-1 loss to Uruguay ended their hopes of winning a first world title and plunged the country into a state of mourning.

When the Brazilians face Croatia in the opening match of this year’s World Cup on Thursday 64 years after that tumultuous loss, the pressure to win will be just as huge.

Defeat by Croatia at the Corinthians arena would not mark the end of Brazil’s World Cup chances.

It would, however, deflate a nation of 200 million people who expect the home team not only to win this match but every one of their games over the next month. Nothing except a sixth world title will suffice.

The omens are good for a positive result against Croatia as no host nation has ever lost their opening match in the World Cup.

Brazil are favourites not just because of their great World Cup record but also because Luiz Felipe Scolari’s team have won 15 of their last 16 games, including five in a row to win last year’s Confederations Cup.

Scolari has no injury doubts and barring any late surprises the team that lines up against Croatia is expected to be the same one that beat Spain in the final 12 months ago.

Julio Cesar will be in goal, hoping to bury the ghosts of 2010 when his error against the Netherlands led to Brazil’s elimination in the quarter-finals.

Thiago Silva and David Luiz will be in the heart of the defence, with Marcelo and Dani Alves on the flanks.

Paulinho, Luiz Gustavo and Oscar will form a three-man midfield, with Neymar and Hulk working between them and centre forward Fred.

Brazil’s hopes rest with Neymar, the 22-year old Barcelona forward who seems to rise to the occasion when wearing a yellow shirt.

Top players

Croatia, meanwhile, are missing some of their top players.
Banned centre back Josip Simunic and long-term casualty Ivan Strinic were written off before Niko Kovac named his squad, left back Danijel Pranjic was ruled out of the opening fixture with an ankle sprain and Gordon Schildenfeld is doubtful with a hamstring problem.

That means Kovac will probably field Sime Vrsaljko on the left and the inconsistent Dejan Lovren could be deployed alongside the tried and tested Vedran Corluka in the middle.

Corluka acknowledged his partnership with Lovren had malfunctioned in the past but hoped it would be a different story in Sao Paulo.

“We’ve only played together a few times and I can’t say that it worked to perfection,” Corluka told reporters.

“But there is a first time for everything I hope we will click at crunch time and this is certainly it.

“I have a positive stage fright because this is a big match on the biggest stage. Every child who’s ever kicked a ball dreams of playing in the World Cup and here we are in the opening game against Brazil.”

Captain Darijo Srna will fill his usual right back slot while Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic are to pull the strings in the centre of midfield behind a three-pronged forward line of Ivan Perisic, Mateo Kovacic and Ivica Olic.

The robust Nikica Jelavic will probably be preferred to Brazilian-born striker Eduardo da Silva as a lone striker.

The match kicks off at 5pm local time in the Corinthians arena on the outskirts of South America’s biggest city.

AMMAN — The last matches on the local football agenda kick off when the 34th Jordan Cup quarterfinals resume on Wednesday. Shabab Urdun face Hussein after they won 2-0 in Leg 1, while Wihdat play That Ras after a 1-1 draw. So far in the Jordan Cup, Ramtha moved to the semis after eliminating Faisali. They lost 1-0 and won by the same score before advancing 5-4 on penalties. Baqaa beat Sheikh Hussein 5-2 and 2-0 to advance. Wihdat coach Mahmoud Shilbayeh, whose team won the league last week, said the players are in their best form.  “We are in high spirits and although some players were on duty with the national and Olympic squads and we drew in our first match, we aim to keep up our results and play for a win,” he was quoted by the local media as saying.

RIO DE JANEIRO — Was it a goal, or wasn’t it?

The question shouldn’t need to be debated in the next five weeks in Brazil, where goal-line technology will be used for the first time in a World Cup.

Fourteen cameras — seven trained on each goalmouth — have been hung up in all 12 World Cup stadiums. The cameras will record 500 images per second, and a computer will digest the frames. Within a second of a ball crossing the line, the referee’s special watch will vibrate and flash “GOAL”.

End of the debate? It should be. The designer of the system says 2,400 tests have been run in Brazil, without a mistake.

“This is the future,” said Dirk Broichhausen, who heads the German company GoalControl, whose system will be used at the tournament and was demonstrated Monday at Rio’s Maracana stadium.

It’s also a type of technology that FIFA repeatedly balked at in the past. But the 2010 World Cup changed that when a shot by England’s Frank Lampard in the second round against Germany was clearly over the line, but disallowed. That goal would have tied it 2-2. Instead Germany won 4-1. And that helped end the indecision.

“Most of the time the referee doesn’t have the best vantage point for his decision — goal or no goal,” said Johannes Holzmuller, who heads a FIFA programme that helped implement the technology. “The same applies for normal TV cameras.”

He said the human eye could record only 16 “frames” per second, no match for a high-speed camera.

Holzmuller was asked about the cost by several Latin American reporters, who said it seemed far too expensive for their leagues.

“For the World Cup, it [the cost] is quite simple. It’s confidential.” Holzmuller said.

Asked about it later, Broichhausen replied: “Nothing about the cost.”

Different types of goal-line technology have already been used in club football, including the Hawk-Eye system in the Premier League this past season.

Holzmuller said the GoalControl system had proved reliable, even if several of its seven cameras were blocked by players. Broichhausen suggested the system could not be hacked, and FIFA has repeatedly said it’s just another aid to help the referee.

“This system is not able to be manipulated because the system is offline,”Broichhausen said. “Offline means no internet connection. There is no possibility to manipulate or disturb anything.”

The system has tested perfectly so far. That does not mean it is perfectly accurate.

Like most engineering projects, this one has a margin of error. It officially measures correctly within a plus-minus margin of 1.5 centimetres, but Broichnausen suggested the real margin could be about 0.5 centimetres.

“All of these 2,400 goal incident were correctly recognised by the system,” Holzmuller said. “So yes, we can trust the system. We are sure it works 100 per cent.”

AMMAN –– Asian Football Confederation (AFC) extraordinary congress on Monday  voted to merge the region's presidency with the FIFA vice-presidency starting from 2015, a move HRH Prince Ali supported to preserve unity in the continent's governing body of the sport.

At a meeting held in Brazil's Sao Paulo, the congress approved the amendments to the AFC statutes proposed by the AFC member associations relating to the formation of the executive committee. This amendment means that the individual elected as AFC president at the elective congress in 2015 shall automatically assume the position of FIFA vice-president.
Prince Ali, who is also president of the Jordan Football Association and head of the West Asia Football Association, was elected as Asia’s FIFA vice president for Asia in 2011, while Bahrain's Sheikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa is AFC president.  

In an open letter to the Asian football community in April, Prince Ali criticised the proposal to merge the two posts saying it was politically-motivated, and urged Sheikh Salman to spend less time on politics and more on developing the sport. 

But in a statement following the vote, the prince said he asked all member associations present at AFC congress ahead of the vote to pass this amendment and to be united in this vote for the best of Asia. 

"The AFC congress yesterday agreed on a proposal made by a number of member associations to merge the position of FIFA vice president with the AFC presidency starting from 2015. In the spirit of Asian solidarity and harmony, I asked all member associations present at AFC congress ahead of the vote to pass this amendment and to be united in this vote for the best of Asia," Prince Ali said in a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times. 

"Our unity as a confederation is crucial at a time when we must work together to develop football in Asia; which I believe is our core mission. A mission I am committed to. It is far more important than positions, chairs and seats," he added. 

Prince Ali said he would spare no effort to work towards  the development of football in particular and sport in general as FIFA vice president until the new elections are held in 2015.

"It is my hope that I can leave behind a football legacy that is making a difference for all football players, both men and women, from working to allow headscarf wearers to play the game they love to activating social responsibility in football and creating opportunities for youth to enjoy the sport and uphold its true values. I remain committed to continuing my football journey forward through AFC, FIFA and Asian Football Development Project."

KAMPALA/ABUJA –– Guards search customers and peer into bags at Kampala’s Kyadondo bar, almost exactly four years after militants set off explosives in a sports ground outside, killing dozens of fans watching the last World Cup final on a giant screen.

The crowd is small and mood subdued — but Edmond Twebembere does not want to let security fears spoil his night out. “I love the place, maybe too much... So, as scary as the history is, I decided I will come,” said the 32-year-old. “I could still die somewhere else.”

It is an attitude that has helped Kyadondo bounce back from the assault. But a spate of more recent attacks has highlighted the vulnerability of thousands of much less substantial venues were African crowds will gather to cheer on this year’s contest.

Makeshift structures with televisions set up in back allies, public squares and open-sided shacks, the viewing centres scattered across towns and villages would stretch even the best-equipped security force trying to protect them.

“Attacks targeting screening venues have already started ahead of the World Cup ... and are likely to continue even after the final on 13 July,” IHS Country Risk analyst Robert Besseling wrote in a report issued on Monday.

In East Africa, the main threat is Al Shabaab, an Al Qaeda-linked group that is killing civilians to punish their governments for sending troops to confront its fighters in Somalia. Across the other side of the continent, in Nigeria, another threat comes from Islamist movement Boko Haram.

Memories of the Ugandan blasts echoed across the continent last week when suspected Islamist militants set off a car bomb that killed 18 people watching a game on television at a centre in Nigeria’s northeastern Adamawa state.

A week before, a suicide bomber set out to strike an open-air screening of a match in Nigeria’s central city of Jos. His car blew up on the way, killing three people.

A blast wounded 15 people watching an English Premiership football match at a pub in the Tanzanian city of Arusha in April.

Nigeria’s army has issued a nationwide warning to tighten security at the centres. Uganda’s police said there were new “strict regulations” on venues screening live matches.

Kenya — which is still reeling from the deadly September raid on its capital’s Westgate shopping mall and a string of grenade and bomb attacks — stepped up police patrols around venues and told managers to “register and screen” fans.

BRASILIA –– Anti-World Cup protests are not the only problem Brazilian security authorities will face during the football tournament. They are also bracing for an invasion of Argentine hooligans.

The football fan clubs called “barras bravas” in neighbouring Argentina are notoriously violent and Brazilian police are taking no chances.

Brazil plans to beef up security in and outside stadiums where arch rival Argentina will play, deploy undercover cops and bring in Argentine police officers to spot troublemakers, police officials in some host cities said.

“I don’t care what they call these people. Brazilian police, in cooperation with foreign police, will be tough in responding to anyone who comes here to commit crimes,” said Andrei Rodrigues, Brazil’s security chief for the World Cup.

More than 50,000 Argentine fans are expected to come to Brazil for the World Cup, many driving across the border in cars and buses.

Brazil’s government already faces the threat of street protests by Brazilians opposed to the high cost of hosting the tournament. Massive demonstrations broke out last year during a warm-up for the World Cup and have continued on a smaller scale, sometimes with violence.

Although deadly incidents are rare at World Cups, Argentine barras bravas have a history of violence, from stabbing English fans in Mexico in 1986 to fighting each other during the last tournament in South Africa four years ago.

Like fans from all over, many Argentines were unable to secure tickets to World Cup games and will be milling around outside the stadiums. That could spell trouble if the barras bravas run into local fan groups, or “torcidas”, which are blamed for growing violence plaguing Brazilian football.

A record 30 people died in football-related violence last year in Brazil, the highest in the world after Argentina and Italy, according to data compiled by Brazilian researcher Mauricio Murad.

England vs Argentina 

“There will be a lot of torcida youths angry that expensive tickets left them outside the stadiums. If they encounter Argentine barras bravas you could easily have clashes,” said Rafael Alcadipani, a professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation who has studied the protests around the World Cup.

“It is a very dangerous mix. The risk of violence is imminent at this World Cup.”

Like Argentina’s barras bravas, some of Brazil’s torcidas are believed to be linked to organised crime that uses them to distribute drugs and arms in slums of large cities such as Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires.

Brazilian police are also worried that Argentine barras bravas could clash with English fans in the city of Belo Horizonte where the teams will play only three days apart.

These teams have long had one of the sport’s fiercest rivalries, fuelled by the Falklands war of 1982 and Diego Maradona’s notorious “Hand of God” goal that helped oust England from the 1986 Cup.

This time, England and Argentina will only face each other if they reach the final.

“We are aware of the history between the two countries and cannot ignore the risk of clashes between English and Argentine fans,” said Alberto Luiz Alves, spokesman for Minas Gerais state police, which expects 1,500 barras bravas to reach the city.

This time around, English hooligans pose less of a threat due to the distance and cost of flying to Brazil, plus tough British laws that allow authorities to stop known troublemakers from leaving the country.

Brazil hopes to stop barras bravas at the border using a list with more than 2,000 names of violent hooligans provided by the Argentine government. That will be the first line of defence against violent fans, Rodrigues told Reuters at the brand new national control centre with wall-to-wall screens linked to cameras in all 12 host cities.

Brazil also plans to deploy 157,000 police and troops to secure borders and maintain order around stadiums.