Qualifiers
CONMEBOL BRAZIL 2014 QUALIFIER Standings AS OCTOBER 10, 2013
South America
Low: We want qualification on Friday
Thursday 10 October 2013
© Getty Images
Coach Joachim Low has said he wants Germany to be "greedy" against the Republic of Ireland in Friday's FIFA World Cup™ qualifier to finally secure their Brazil 2014 berth.
"We're greedy, we want to win the game before a home crowd and secure our qualification," said Low ahead of the Cologne international.
"I have fond memories of the compact Cologne stadium and we want to qualify as group winners without questions or discussions. I have a good feeling about Friday."
Germany are five points clear in Group C, needing just a point in Cologne to guarantee their place at next June's FIFA World Cup and Low's side thrashed the Irish 6-1 in Dublin in last October's qualifier.
Ireland are fourth in the group under caretaker manager Noel King after Italian great Giovanni Trapattoni's resignation last month after his side's qualification hopes went up in flames.
Republic captain Robbie Keane is an injury concern after the veteran striker missed the final training session before the squad flew to Cologne and had a scan on his ankle injury.
The Germans are eager to wrap up their qualification at home ahead of Tuesday's final qualifier away to Sweden in Stockholm and Low has said he expects a tough match against the Irish.
"The Irish are defensively compact and play with a physical presence," said Low. "It's in their nature, they defend incredibly well and get back quickly.
"It does not matter which coach is sitting on the bench and what players are on the pitch, the Irish are always difficult to play."
Injury absentees
Germany will be without injured winger Marco Reus and striker Miroslav Klose, who scored three of the six goals in Dublin between them.
Germany will be without injured winger Marco Reus and striker Miroslav Klose, who scored three of the six goals in Dublin between them.
Untested 25-year-old Max Kruse of Borussia Monchengladbach is set to make only his sixth appearance as a lone striker and Low has already ruled out using Bayern Munich's right winger Thomas Muller up front.
"Kruse isn't just the type of player who gets forward into the penalty area, but also drops back and gets into gaps. I'm pleased to have him in the squad," said Low.
Low has also said Bayern Munich midfielder Mario Gotze is set for a cameo off the bench, having only just returned from injury.
Captain Philipp Lahm will remain at right-back, despite having been switched to defensive midfield by Bayern coach Pep Guardiola.
Low's side will not be far from full strength, with only striker Klose and winger Reus missing through injury, while Hamburg defender Marcel Jansen is likely to fill the problematic left-back berth.
With Dortmund's Reus out due to an ankle injury, either Chelsea's Andre Schuerrle or Schalke teenager Julian Draxler is set to take over on the right wing.
Match times are currently set to local time, please click here to convert to your time zone. 
| Date | Venue | Matches | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11/10/13 15:00 | San Pedro Sula | Honduras | Preview | Costa Rica | ||
| 11/10/13 16:00 | Quito | Ecuador | Preview | Uruguay | ||
| 11/10/13 16:00 | Barranquilla | Colombia | Preview | Chile | ||
| 11/10/13 16:30 | San Cristobal | Venezuela | Preview | Paraguay | ||
| 11/10/13 17:36 | Kansas City | USA | Preview | Jamaica | ||
| 11/10/13 18:00 | Zagreb | Croatia | Preview | Belgium | ||
| 11/10/13 18:00 | Torshavn | Faroe Islands | Preview | Kazakhstan | ||
| 11/10/13 18:30 | Vilnius | Lithuania | Preview | Latvia | ||
| 11/10/13 18:45 | Reykjavik | Iceland | Preview | Cyprus | ||
| 11/10/13 19:00 | Yerevan | Armenia | Preview | Bulgaria | ||
| 11/10/13 19:00 | Chisinau | Moldova | Preview | San Marino | ||
| 11/10/13 19:30 | Ta'Qali | Malta | Preview | Czech Republic | ||
| 11/10/13 19:45 | Cardiff | Wales | Preview | FYR Macedonia | ||
| 11/10/13 20:00 | Buenos Aires | Argentina | Preview | Peru | ||
| 11/10/13 20:00 | Zenica | Bosnia-Herzegovina | Preview | Liechtenstein | ||
| 11/10/13 20:00 | London | England | Preview | Montenegro | ||
| 11/10/13 20:15 | Copenhagen | Denmark | Preview | Italy | ||
| 11/10/13 20:30 | Mexico City | Mexico | Preview | Panama | ||
| 11/10/13 20:30 | Amsterdam | Netherlands | Preview | Hungary | ||
| 11/10/13 20:30 | Andorra La Vella | Andorra | Preview | Romania | ||
| 11/10/13 20:30 | Tirana | Albania | Preview | Switzerland | ||
| 11/10/13 20:30 | Luxembourg | Luxembourg | Preview | Russia | ||
| 11/10/13 20:45 | Cologne | Germany | Preview | Republic of Ireland | ||
| 11/10/13 20:45 | Solna | Sweden | Preview | Austria | ||
| 11/10/13 20:45 | Maribor | Slovenia | Preview | Norway | ||
| 11/10/13 20:45 | Lisbon | Portugal | Preview | Israel | ||
| 11/10/13 21:00 | Baku | Azerbaijan | Preview | Northern Ireland | ||
| 11/10/13 21:00 | Kharkov | Ukraine | Preview | Poland | ||
| 11/10/13 21:30 | Tallinn | Estonia | Preview | Turkey | ||
| 11/10/13 21:45 | Piraeus | Greece | Preview | Slovakia |
Match times are currently set to local time, please click here to convert to your time zone.
© Getty Images
A total of 6,164,682 requests for tickets for the 2014 FIFA World Cup had been received when the initial application period ended at 12.00 CET/07.00 BRA on Thursday 10 October 2013, of which 70.86 per cent were from Brazil, with the remaining 29.14 per cent from the rest of the world. Requests have been received from 203 different countries, while tickets for the opening match in Sao Paulo (726,067 requests), for the Brazilian team’s matches and for the final (751,165) in the Maracanã stadium on 13 July 2014 were most in demand.
As demand is greatly exceeding supply, FIFA will conduct an electronic random selection draw under notarial supervision for the various matches. During the initial part of the random selection draw, all ticket applications received from those applicants who qualify for priority access, as per the 2014 FIFA World Cup Bill – namely elderly persons, students and members of the Bolsa Familia – will be drawn against the more than 300,000 category 4 tickets reserved. Subsequent steps in the draw will allocate the remaining category 4 tickets as well as the other tickets in all other categories.
All applicants will be informed by e-mail or SMS of whether or not their application was successful by 4 November 2013 at the latest.
It is important to note that the applicants must have enough funds on their selected payment method to cover the price of their purchased tickets as the money will be deducted immediately once the tickets have been successfully allocated. If a payment transaction is not successful, the ticket application will be automatically rejected as per the ticket sales regulations and the tickets in question will be re-allocated to other applicants.
The highest number of ticket applications were made by residents in Brazil (4,368,029) followed by those from the USA (374,065), Argentina (266,937), Germany (134,899), Chile (102,288), England (96,780), Australia (88,082), Japan (69,806), Colombia (55,379), and Canada (49,968), in that order. The most popular category on average was category 4. Each applicant was entitled to apply for a maximum of four tickets per match and for a maximum of seven matches. FIFA will use its reasonable endeavours to place the seats adjacent to each other (i.e., beside or in front of each other) as long as the tickets are purchased as part of the same ticket order.
The most popular host cities were Sao Paulo, which will host the opening match on 12 June 2014, Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba. Great interest was also registered in the team-specific ticket series, with already qualified Argentina and the Netherlands being the most sought after in this category.
The ticketing sales process on FIFA.com will reopen on 5 November 2013 and will then remain open until 28 November 2013. During this sales period, tickets will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to availability. In other words, applications will be processed in the order they are received.
For further information please visit the official Brazil 2014 Tickets page, available through the link on the right.
For further information please visit the official Brazil 2014 Tickets page, available through the link on the right.
No comments:
Post a Comment