2018 WORLD CUP

  The Asturian coach has been officially unveiled as La Roja’s new coach. He has been presented at an event organized by the Spanish Football Federation in which he explained how delighted he is to be undertaking the projects and its fundamentals. The 48-year-old told the attending media: “I’m very excited about this challenge and the possibility of ratcheting the team up a notch. I’ll be giving it everything I have. I’m ready and really eager to win the competitions that await us. All I can say is, ‘Let’s go win them!” Luis Rubiales, the president of the Federation, explained that after the resignation of his replacement Fernando Hierro after the team’s exit from the 2018 FIFA World Cup and after the dismissal of Julen Lopetegui they pu all their hopes on Luis Enrique by saying: “He is the only coach with whom we got in touch. It’s been very straightforward because of his commitment and passion, and we’ll be doing everything we can to make him feel comfortable.” The Federation’s new technical director Jose Francisco Molina described Enrique as a modern coach with a great work methodology. Luis Enrique’s Method Evolution not revolution The coach said there will be no radical changes to the team’s playing style, insisting that the style founded and defined by the former Spain coach Luis Aragones was what they should continue with. Tactical modifications “We’ll come up against opponents who respect us and who will defend en masse. That’s where our work will come in – enabling our players to recognize those instances and overcome them.” The coach explained to himself that one of the objectives is to improve effectiveness in front of goal. Psychology – Fundamental to Performance Luis Enrique will have a psychologist as part of his staff when coaching at club level. He says that a psychologist is an option they give to the players, privately seeking to help them as much as possible to improve their performance.  

  FIFA can confirm that the Russian edition of the FIFA Fan Fast has welcomed 7.7 million visitors worldwide. This Fest took Russia by storm following the exhilarating final of the World Cup that saw France take the title. At the 2014 edition of the FIFA Fan Fest, the number was up to 5.2 million fans. Tens of thousands of international and Russian fans opted for the FIFA Fan Fest locations of the everyday matches as their venues choices. Watching live football and enjoying an exciting music and cultural entertainment programme counted in hours reached a total of 917 hours of live football, 323 hours of live music, featuring 646 bands and all free of charge. FIFA’s Chief Commercial Officer, Phillipe Le Floc’h said: “The close collaboration between FIFA, the LOC, the Host Cities and our Commercial Affiliates made this project possible. The FIFA Fan Fests offered a free, safe and highly entertaining space to the 7.7 million local and international fans that came to watch matches in those spectacular locations. The work has already started to make the FIFA Fan Fest experience even more entertaining in the future and we are looking forward to welcoming fans at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.”  The day Uruguay played Host Country Russia was the highest day’s attendance on June 25th. That’s the day when 499.000 fans attended 11 venues. The best attendance was achieved by the Host City of Moscow. And at 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil top venue Rio de Janeiro had in total 937.330 visitors. Since the 2006 edition in Germany, the FIFA Fan fest has been part of the Official Programme of the FIFA World Cup. it has been definitely been one of the highlights for fans in  Russia since its featuring again at the 2010 and 2014 editions in South Africa and Brazil.

  After undergoing a medical and completing the formalities, the 25-year-old Alisson Becker makes his move to the Reds on Thursday. Alisson Becker transferred from Italian Serie A side Roma to English League – Liverpool. Liverpool has completed the transfer of the Brazilian goalkeeper on a multi-year deal. At the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia, Alisson played in all five of Brazil’s matches until their elimination in the quarter-finals after a defeat to Belgium of 2-1. Alisson has made it clear that he is very happy to be joining the new team, and says it’s a dream come true to wear such a prestigious shirt for a club of that size that is used to always winning. He made the statements on the club’s official website by adding that it’s a huge step for his career in terms of his life right now to be a part of this club and the Liverpool family. “You can be certain that I’ll give my all.” – Alisson said.    

  The new data that has been released today by FIFA, and has revealed that the most engaging FIFA World Cup in history is the Russia 2018. Over 7.5 billion fan engagements across all FIFA digital platforms had record-breaking interest from fans online during the World Cup. FIFA introduced a broader, a new bespoke app and more interactive coverage on social media, so this all-new digital initiatives and innovations gave completely different and innovative new visual stories approach delivered by the 32 reporters for the 32 competing teams. This innovations and approach played a key role in giving the fans more opportunities to follow, connect and engage with all the breaking news and with the latest action from across the tournament. Through a new customer service function, FIFA’s social media generated over 580 million interactions and that means increased responsiveness and extended the number of followers to more than 128 million. The stunning images from across the 11 Host Cities have led to growth and deepening of engagement of all official FIFA digital platforms. The videos that have been posted on the same channels reached over 1.25 billion video views, with more than four million new subscribers to FIFA’s YouTube channel. FIFA.com was ranked as the number one football site in the world while the FIFA official app becomes the number one sports app in over 128 countries for the tournaments. The interactive games that FIFA also generates, such as Panini Digital Sticker Album presented by Coca-Cola, Mc Donald’s FIFA World Cup Fantasy and Hyundai’s FIFA World Cup Match Predictor have generated huge fan engagement, over 25 million fans taking part in this apps. Through the official Russian VKontakte account, FIFA also expanded the coverage to the newer audiences which have passed the number of one million followers during the tournament. Beside VKontakte, WeChat and Weibo (Chinese app) were used apps in association with FIFA.  

  Kieran Trippier 27, wing-back, England Trippier’s dead-ball ability was fundamental to England’s run to the semi-finals built on the back of set pieces. The 3-5-2 formation allowed both Trippier and Kyle Walker to feature, allowed the Tottenham wing-back to find his place in the side, just with a switch of that formation. He was instrumental in some of the Three Lions most memorable moments when delivering the corner of Harry Kane’s winner against Tunisia and the sensational free-kick against Croatia in the semi-final.       Denis Cheryshev 27, midfielder, Russia This World Cup for Cheryshev would’ve been more of a dream experience if he had stepped out on the Luzhniki pitch for the Final. After having suffered an injury-disrupted spell at Villareal so far, and after failing to break through at Real Madrid this has been his time to shine. Striking in the quarter-final against Croatia was a simple evidence of that.       Takashi Inui 30, midfielder, Japan His signing is looking impressively since snapped up by Real Betis before the tournament as he drew plenty of admiring glances during Japan’s four games. He shone brightly as a disciple of the classic Samurai Blue style. His quick passing and non-stop dynamism along with the creative focus for the side, bringing goals, unpredictability and invention are just parts of why his reputation is on the rise.     Yerry Mina 23, defender, Colombia Mina’s quality as a rugged-but-classy centre-back had not gone unnoticed. He’s being picked up by Barcelona in January. His talent was far from common knowledge, having earned just a handful of appearances. All that profoundly changed with the towering performances in both boxes. Scoring in the dramatic equalizer against England and scoring in three successive games (including the mentioned one), ensured his hulking figure to stick in the minds of many.