Sports Briefs
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APART from hoisting the 18-carat trophy, the German team that won the World Cup is also $35 million richer. The prize money is the largest in the World Cup history. Spain, winner of the 2010 World Cup, received $30 million.
That money is the only thing Germany gets to keep (except for bragging rights) since the expensive trophy stays with FIFA and team receives a cheaper replica.
Argentina, which lost to Germany in the final on July 13, received $25 million as the runner-up, which is up from $24 million in the 2010 edition. The Netherlands earned $20 million for finishing third and Brazil earned $18 million for placing fourth.
Here’s a look at the prize money distribution for the 2014 FIFA World Cup:
Group Stage (16 eliminated teams): $8 million each. Round of 16 (eight losers): $9 million each
Quarterfinals (four losers): $14 million each
Fourth place: $18 million
Third place: $20 million
Runner-up: $24 million
Winner: $35 million.
Messi Didn’t Deserve Golden Ball – Maradona
DIEGO Maradona, Argentine football legend, is very unhappy that Lionel Messi, his compatriot was named best player of the World Cup. He named James Rodriguez, a Colombian striker who scored six goals in the tournament as more deserving of the honour than Messi. “I’d give Lio the sky, but when it’s not deserved and it’s just marketers who want to make him win something he didn’t win, it’s unfair,” Maradona said on Sunday, July 13, after Argentina lost the World Cup final to Germany 1-0.
“Rodriguez was the best player of the World Cup,” Maradona said on his TV programme “De Zurda,” which is broadcast by Venezuelan network Telesur and retransmitted in several Latin American countries.
The 23-year-old Rodriguez was the revelation of the World Cup having emerged as the top scorer with six goals. Messi, on his part, dazzled in the group stage with four goals, but failed to score in the last four games, including the final.
Maradona said Messi himself did not seem to feel he deserved the trophy. “It looked like he didn’t want to take it,” he said.
But Maradona praised Argentina and said the match could have gone either way.
“I’m sad about Mario Goetze’s goal. But we can’t forget that we took this World Cup step by step. If we had scored we would be partying. Germany was not dominant.”
Maradona, 53, was Messi’s childhood idol and is his rival for the title of greatest-ever Argentine footballer.
To many fans, the 27-year-old Barcelona striker still needs to add a World Cup win to his resume to match the greatness of Maradona, who led his team to the title in 1986.
Paralympians Set for IWAS Junior Games
EMEKA Offor, renowned businessman and Rotary International Polio ambassador to Nigeria, will lead a team of Nigerian Paralympians to Buckinghamshire, England, for the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports, IWAS, Junior Games.
The 2014 Junior Games which will hold at Stoke Mandeville Stadium, will mark the 10th year since the games began.
More than 250 registered athletes (the largest attendance ever) from 25 different countries including Nigeria will compete in seven sports including Archery, Athletics, Powerlifting, Shooting, Swimming, Table Tennis and Wheelchair Fencing.
Nigerian Paralympians, David Ombugudu, a Table Tennis player and Emmanuel Godwin, a weightlifter, both polio survivors will have a chance of a lifetime to compete at the Games, courtesy of the Sir Emeka Offor Foundation.
Addressing a group of Nigerian Paralympians from People With Disability, an NGO based in Abuja during a visit to the corporate headquarters of Chrome Group, Offor said: “Our Foundation is interested in supporting good projects especially when it has to do with polio survivors and disabled people. We’ll do whatever we can to help you because your success will encourage other survivors to develop confidence in themselves.”
Barcelona Signs Suarez
LUIS Suarez, controversial Uruguayan striker is now a Barcelona player. The Spanish club announced on Friday, July 11, that it had struck a deal to sign Suarez from Liverpool football club of England. Barcelona said in a statement that Suarez “will be travelling to Barcelona next week for a medical, to sign his five-year contract and to be officially presented to the media and fans as an FC Barcelona player.”
Liverpool confirmed the deal on the club website. “Liverpool FC confirms that Luis Suarez will be leaving the club after a transfer agreement was reached with FC Barcelona,” a statement read. “The player now has permission to complete the usual formalities, which will then conclude the transfer. We would like to thank Luis for his contribution and the role he played in helping bring Champions League football back to Anfield.
“Everyone at Liverpool Football Club wishes Luis and his family well for the future.”
No details of the fee or how it would to be paid was disclosed. Suarez, currently serving a four-month ban for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup, has since been confirmed as a Barcelona player.
— Jul. 28, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT
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