"I told some close friends this morning that we would get the Netherlands in the first game and that is how it turned out. The Netherlands have changed the way they play but have still got (Rafael) Van der Vaart, (Arjen) Robben and (Robin) Van Persie."
Joachim Loew (Germany):
"In our preparations, we have to get used to the humidity and high temperatures. I have already been to Fortaleza and Recife http://www.carolinahurricanesteamstore.com/adidas-marcus-kruger-jersey , where we will conditions difficult to acclimatize to. We will have to adapt our preparations."
Alejandro Sabella (Argentina):
"It is positive that we didn't get the Group of Death and we will be playing in favorable locations like Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre and Belo Horizonte. Now I have to start doing my homework and study the rivals.From now we have to study every detail from an individual and collective viewpoint."
Jose Pekerman (Colombia):
"I really respect Japan, Cote d'Ivoire and Greece. It's been a long time since Colombia has been in a World Cup. We hope to do our part. We performed well in the qualifiers but that is now in the past. Anything can happen in the group phase so we have to be careful."
Paulo Bento (Portugal):
"It's an even group http://www.carolinahurricanesteamstore.com/adidas-lee-stempniak-jersey , but for me the favorites to finish top are Germany because of their potential and their history. Ghana and the USA are also very organized teams with good individual players with European experience.Our goal is to get through to the round of 16."
Sebastian Bauza (Uruguay, president of football federation):
"It's obvious that we have a tough group and I don't think anybody would envy us for the rivals we will be up against. But I'm sure that if you ask the coaches of Italy and England they will also tell you that they are not overly happy about having to play Uruguay."
Cesare Prandelli (Italy):
"Our target is to win every match we can. If we had drawn three not very good teams everybody would have thought we were favorites, but with a big team like England or Uruguay we have to suffer. We remember the match against England in the (2012) Euros. We played a fantastic match but England is now a different team http://www.carolinahurricanesteamstore.com/adidas-klas-dahlbeck-jersey , a more technical team. In any case, England v Italy is the most fascinating match you can imagine in a town like Manaus."
Ottmar Hitzfeld (Switzerland):
"It's an interesting group with high level teams that have different styles. France is a very tough opponent but all the teams pose a threat.Now we have to make the most of the time we have to prepare for the conditions that we're going to face."
Louis van Gaal (Netherlands):
"We have to play the world champion, we have to play Australia who we have never beaten and Chile was 3-0 up recently against Colombia before it ended 3-3 http://www.carolinahurricanesteamstore.com/adidas-justin-williams-jersey , so that is not a weak team. The opponents are tough, but for the playing conditions it is not too bad."
Luiz Felipe Scolari (Brazil):
"We can't worry too far ahead past the group stage. If you start thinking about the second round you forget about the teams in the first round, which are important. We have to worry about these teams first."
Marc Wilmots (Belgium):
"It's an interesting group http://www.carolinahurricanesteamstore.com/adidas-justin-faulk-jersey ," said Wilmots. "There are no world-class players within our opponents. I'm not saying it will be an easy group, but our first objective to reach the round of 16 is still the same."
SHANGHAI, March 20 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Athletics Association (CAA) announced here on Monday that 2 amateur runners will be selected to take part in the marathon race of 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
The CAA released a plan called "Run for Olympics" at the China marathon annual conference that reserves two qualifying berths for amateurs, one male runner and one female runner.
According to the IAAF, each team can send (at most) 3 men and 3 women racers to marathon competitions at the Olympic Games.
There are two ways for amateurs to join the "Run for Olympics" selection, either the results or the rankings. The plan welcomes all the male runners faster than 2:19:00 and female runners with results better than 2:45:00.
And the top ten runners, both in men and women's group of IAAF golden label races, also have the chance to fight for the Olympics berths. China has now 4 golden label races, namely Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen and Dongying.
Du Zhaocai, the CAA vice president, told Xinhua the plan will be carried out this year, starting from IAAF World Championships in London. Any professional athlete registering in CAA will not be included in the selection plan.
"All the results and rankings from 2017 to 2020 will be taken into consideration," said Du, "I believe the plan will encourage many runners to run for their best and it will attract more people to join the sport."
TEHRAN, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Iran's judiciary spokesman on Sunday confirmed five-year jail sentence for an Iranian nuclear negotiator, Tasnim news agency reported.
A member of Iran's nuclear negotiating team arrested recently by the country's intelligence forces has been sentenced to five years in jail on espionage charges http://www.carolinahurricanesteamstore.com/adidas-josh-jooris-jersey , Iranian Judiciary's Spokesman Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei was quoted as saying.
"The conviction of (Abdol-Rasool) Dorri Najaf Abadi on charges of spying for foreign intelligence services and leaking information have been upheld," Ejei said speaking at a press conference in Tehran.