FIFA have released the dates and venues for the matches of the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil, with the patience of traveling supporters set to be tested once again. Instead of keeping group games within a couple of venues located close to one-another, as used to be the norm, fans will face trips of up to 2,000 miles in order to watch all of their nation's opening clashes. One unlucky Group A team will begin in Sao Paulo, then trek 1,680 miles (2,700 km) up to Manaus, before an odyssey of 3,538 miles (5,698km) across the Amazon to Recife, a voyage one team from Group D and another from Group G must also endure. Even the hosts are not spared, with the seleçao kicking off in Sao Paulo before flying 1465 miles (2357km) to Fortaleza and then making another journey of 1042 miles (1677km) to Brasilia. The explanation for clocking-up so many air miles, according to the organising committee, is the varying weather, with the south of Brazil much cooler than the north. "The climate is so different you do not want to give an advantage to one country over another," said Head of Operations Ricardo Trade. The semi-finals will take place in Belo Horizonte's Estadio Mineirao (70,000) and Sao Paulo's Novo Estadio do Corinthians (68,000), with the final in Rio's renovated Maracana (85,000) on the 13th of July 2014. Starting times for matches will be 1700, 1900, 2300 and 0200 GMT. Brazil will kick-off the whole shebang in Sao Paolo on Thursday the 12th of June 2014 . (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile Tags World Cup Pens World Cup Posters Euro 2012 football

There are still three rounds of games to be played in the Campeonato Brasileiro before the half way stage in the competition is reached and eleven of the twenty clubs have already changed their managers since the start of the season. This staggeringly high rate of hiring and firing will perhaps increase further before the season is out. The most recent appointment was made at Grêmio who after a disappointing start to their campaign have called upon the services of Celso Roth who returns to the club for the fourth time. Naturally the success of these changes is dependent on the club and the abilities of the new manager at the helm along with external factors such as luck but the logic behind some of the decisions is extremely questionable. As with the rest of the football world clubs are predominately concerned with their immediate future and short termism takes precedence. However managerial merry go round in Brazil is exceptional in the pace that managers come and go. Corinthians who currently lead the table are under the command of Tite. He only took on the role last year and amazingly is now one of the longest serving managers in the top tier of Brazilian football. Struggling Santos The slow start Santos made in the league was to be expected. The Libertadores campaign was naturally prioritized which meant the line up their sent out in the first few games was a pale imitation of the first team. The strategy of resting players paid off as they were crowned champions in June. However they have not been able to kick on in the league as predicted and make up ground on the leaders. They were involved in the match of the season a couple of weeks ago when they lost 5 4 against a Ronaldinho inspired Flamengo side. Had Elano converted a penalty the game would have ended up a freakishly high scoring draw. Perhaps the highlight of the game though was the goal Neymar scored after a skillful dribble that left numerous defenders in his wake. It is the form of Ganso however that is perhaps the most worrying for Santos supporters. His return to domestic action after a tepid performance in the Copa America for the seleção has been particularly low key. Indeed his coach, Muricy has talked about the player needing to modify his game alittle and make it more difficult for the opposition to mark him. By getting in more advanced positions he will be able to add to the three goals he has scored in 2011. Santos are four months away from jetting off to Japan to dispute the World club championship where potentially they will take on Barcelona. The need is to put a good run to together and start to make some progress up the table. They are currently just one place off the relegation but in a league that is unbelievably tight, a couple of consecutive victories can launch a team several places higher in the standings. Corinthians recent inability to convert draws into wins has meant they have not been able to create any distance between themselves and the chasing pack. This group of clubs is made up of Flamengo, São Paulo and Vasco. However Santos have played two games less than their rivals at the top and if there are able to gain maximum points from these fixtures they will be 13 points behind Corinthians. Winning the league from this position would take a monumental effort and the chances are low. That said, the Libertadores champions will surely perform much better in the second half of the season and aim to finish in the top six. © Paul Tobitt & Soccerphile.com Tags World Cup Pens World Cup Posters Brazil Brazilian football

*Brazil won the FIFA U-20 World Cup, defeating Portugal 3:2 in the final in Bogota. Mexico beat France 3:1 to clinch third. The seleçao were top gunners with 18 goals in seven matches but Nigeria were the most prolific, averaging three goals a game. Spain were the most on-target team, shooting on goal 54 times in five games. Five of the 24 entrants failed to find the net - Austria, England (in four games), Mali, North Korea and Panama. Three youngsters tied for the golden boot but Spain's Alvaro Vasquez took the least time to score five - 219 minutes as opposed to 353 for Alexandre Lacazette of France and 557 for Henrique of Brazil. *Scourge of FIFA Andrew Jennings continues to build the case against Chuck Blazer . The supersized American of the Ex.Co. might have blown the whistle on his CONCACAF boss Jack Warner but does not appear to be cut from much of a different cloth. *Hernan Dario Gomez has resigned as coach of Colombia. *Spain was unusually quiet yesterday as La Liga players went on strike over money. Actually, the nation could have done with a breather as the thermometers hit 35C , young Catholic pilgrims from across the globe succumbed to heat exhaustion on World Youth Day in Madrid and arguments continued over the latest Barça v Real bust-up earlier in the week. The European champions won an entertaining Spanish Supercup 3:2 at home after a 2:2 draw away courtesy of another wonder goal from Lionel Messi in the Camp Nou, before the closing seconds saw the clash of the titans go back to the playground. *Still in Spain, Valencia's right-sided attacker Juan Mata , who starred in his country's Euro U21 win in Denmark, is off to Chelsea, while Colombian marksman Falcao , once thought to be Stamford Bridge-bound, has signed for Atletico Madrid as replacement for Sergio Aguero. *Arsenal 's much-trumpeted malaise appears to have begun in earnest with a 0-2 home reverse to rejuvenated Liverpool. With Cesc Fabregas now back in the blaugrana and Samir Nasri moments from Manchester City, Arsene Wenger was a tableau of sodden schadenfreude on the touchline as his dreams of an Ajax-on-Thames dissolved in the London drizzle. Wenger's ideal of a top-notch youth system supplying all his needs with multi-functional footballers has run out of steam in the face of his rivals' active recruitment of established specialists. Or as Alan 'If in doubt, launch it' Hansen wrote in today's Telegraph, "They need more destruction than creation." Only some sheepish yet hectic transfer activity can cure the sick patient that is the Gunners, but with the transfer market sure to exploit any panic-buying from Arsenal, January might realistically be the next time they can dam the flood. *Russia opened one of its stadia for the 2018 World Cup. Yekaterinburg's renovated Central Stadium opened and will be expanded from its current 27,000 capacity to 40,000 for the World Cup. (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile Tags World Cup Pens World Cup Posters Euro 2012 football

* Saturday night in Rio sees the draw for the 2014 World Cup qualifiers for all except South America (CONMEBOL). All eyes will be on the European draw where 1998 World Cup winners France have been downgraded to the second pot, meaning they will play one of the top seeds England, Spain, Holland, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Croatia, Norway or Greece. A host of Brazilian soccer stars are on hand to pull the balls out of the bags: Cafu and Neymar will draw the African teams, Zico the Asian teams, Bebeto CONCACAF, Mario Zagallo Oceania and Ganso and Ronaldo will do Europe. *German legend Jurgen Klinsmann was confirmed today as the USA's new coach. 'Klinsi' has lived in America for 12 years and was offered the manager's job back in 2006 but declined because US Soccer was unwilling to accede to his demands to overhaul the whole organisation's coaching set-up. The former Stuttgart, Inter, Monaco, Tottenham, Sampdoria and Bayern star, who won the European Championship and the World Cup for Germany, went back to setting up a soccer consultancy, most recently with Toronto FC, before the US came calling again following th e national team's embarrassing capitulation in the Gold Cup final. The appointment is still a big risk as Klinsmann has little experience as a manager. He took a hitherto mediocre Germany on home soil to the 2006 World Cup semi-final where they lost to eventual winners Italy, and lasted less than a season as Bayern Munich coach. He has also had a tendency to fall out with management wherever he has played as he is possessed of strong opinions. This 'my way or the highway' approach was what scared off US Soccer five years ago, but in 2011 with no tournament until the World Cup to worry about, they are prepared to take the risk. How much Klinsmann will prove to be a first-team coach or a youth system administrator remains to be seen. * Alex Sabella , who had spells at Leeds and Sheffield United at the end of th e 1 970s, h as been named Argentina manager after Sergio Batista was sacked following the team's quarter-final exit from the recent Copa America they hosted. Sabella, 56, also had lengthy stays as a player at River Plate and Estudiantes, where he was first-team coach for the past two years. * England and North Korea kicked off the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia with a 0-0 draw in Medellin. The host nation play France on Saturday in Bogota. 24 teams contest the tournament, which ends on the 20th of August in the capital city. * 18 Italian clubs and 26 Italian players are due at their football association's disciplinary hearings in Rome next week in connection with match-fixing . Two Serie A clubs are implicated - Atalanta and Chievo, as well as former azzurri internationals Cristiano Doni and Beppe Signori. Tags World Cup Pens World Cup Posters Euro 2012 football

Five of the eight places for the 2013 Confederations Cup have now been decided and already the line-up looks tasty already. BRAZIL - Hosts SPAIN - World Cup holders JAPAN - Asian Cup 2011 winners MEXICO - Gold Cup 2011 winners URUGUAY - Copa America 2011 winners These famous five will be joined by the winners of Euro 2012, the 2013 African Nations Cup and next year's Oceania championship. The Brazilian World Cup warm-up event will take place between the 16th and 30th of June 2013 in five cities - Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Porto Alegre, Rio and Salvador. (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile Tags World Cup Pens World Cup Posters Euro 2012 football

Banned Ex.Co. member Mohamed Bin Hammam has slammed Sepp Blatter and Chuck Blazer following his expulsion from football last week. He compared Blatter to a tyrant wiping out his rivals and called for Blazer to go before the FIFA Ethics Committee for receiving suspicious payments. Bemoaning his life ban from football, the former Asian Football Confederation chief told Sky News, "This is the act of the dictators and we have witnessed this through history...When they think that a person is prominent to replace him, the first thing they do is execute him." With reference to his ban for handing out cash for votes, Bin Hammam denied he was guilty, but also admitted that clientelism was an everyday fact of FIFA life. "This is a normal, a normal, normal practice," he confirmed. "This watch is a gift." The Qatari then went on to have a dig at Chuck Blazer , whose whistleblowing began his impeachment process. "We have, during the investigations, discovered that Chuck Blazer himself has received from the Caribbean (Football) Union $250,000. For what, God knows." This news was broken by Andrew Jennings and Blazer's defence sounds, well a little odd. Claiming it was Jack Warner repaying him a loan, he added, "As a precaution, I have set aside these funds and am prepared to return them should it turn out that the CFU was the source of the funds and not Jack Warner as was represented to me." Jennings also revealed Blazer pocketed 10% of CONCACAF's marketing and TV rights money over the past five years, a total of $9.6m. The 66 year-old New Yorker defended his bonuses as "consistent with industry standards." * * * Ricardo Texeira , was it something we said? The Brazilian soccer chief, FIFA Ex.Co. member and former son-in-law of that great dictator Joao Havelange, has something against the English all right. This is what he told Brazilian magazine Revista Paui at the weekend: "The islanders (the English) are the pirates of the world, a bunch of pirates.... The BBC is a state organisation...It’s all orchestrated...I will make their lives hell...In 2014, I'll be able to get away with anything. The most slippery, unthinkable, Machiavellian things. Denying press credentials, barring access, changing game schedules. While I'm at the CBF, at FIFA, they won't get past the door! And you know what? Nothing will happen. You know why? Because in 2015 I'm out of here... " Why do you hate us so much, Ricardo? Are you worried London's smoothly organised Olympics next year will show up your disorganised World Cup two years later or the Rio Olympics in 2018? Oh I remember - you took at least $12m in bribes from FIFA's now defunct marketing company, ISL, your company laundered the money and our media (Andrew Jennings, the BBC et al.) pointed it out, that's right. Oh and you have been awarding yourself contracts for 2014 and you were willing to sell your vote for 2018. The truth hurts, Ricardo. And when the Zug prosecutor's report is finally revealed, you'll be history like Jack Warner and the other crooks in Zurich. Enjoy your time in football while it lasts. -Sean O'Conor Tags World Cup Pens World Cup Posters Euro 2012 football

BRAZIL 0:0 PARAGUAY aet; Paraguay won 2-0 on penalties CHILE 1:2 VENEZUELA Vizcarrondo 34' (0-1), Suazo 69' (1-1), Cichero 80' (1-2) After Colombia and hosts Argentina exited on Saturday, Sunday's 2011 Copa America claimed the biggest scalp of all - Brazil . Much fancied Chile also lost, 2-1 to Venezuela, emerging like Peru as the surprise package of the tournament. The seleçao lost 2-0 on penalties after a 0-0 draw in La Plata. Both sides had a player sent off, Lucas for Brazil, Antolin Alcaraz for Paraguay. But Brazil were undoubtedly on top for the 120 minutes, while Paraguay failed to register a single shot on target. Ganso, Neymar and Alexandre Pato spurned fine chances to score. Brazil amazingly then lost all rhythm in the spot-kicks, missing four through Elano, Thiago Silva, Andre Santos and Fred. Venezuela reached the last four of the Copa for the first time with strikes from Oswaldo Vizcarrondo and Gabriel Cichero. The Vinotintos are on a roll after their two late goals in their final group game against Paraguay, whom they meet again on Wednesday, this time for a place in the final. Semi-Finals Tues: PERU v URUGUAY 21:45 La Plata Weds: PARAGUAY v VENEZUELA 21:45 Mendoza (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile Tags World Cup Pens World Cup Posters Euro 2012 football

FIFA World Cup 2014 Qualification It might seem a world away, but for some countries, the 2014 World Cup has already finished. Qualifiers for the finals in Brazil began in June, and these nations will be watching FIFA's big party on television having been eliminate d: Afghanistan Anguilla Aruba British Virgin Islands Cambodia Chinese Taipei East Timor Macao Mongolia Pakistan Sri Lanka Turks and Caicos And at the end of today, Montserrat look likely to join them, trailing Belize 5-2 from their home leg. With just over three years before the finals in Brazil, the tournament's top gunner is Vietnamese hot-shot Lê Công Vinh with seven goals, followed by the Bahamas' Lesly St.Fleur with five. South American qualification begins in October, Africa and Oceania in November 2011 and Europe in August 2012. On the 29th of July, FIFA will determine the inter-federation playoffs at the end of normal qualification and on the 30th will make the draw for UEFA, CAF and CONMEBOL qualifiers. The breakdown of finalists is thus: Brazil (hosts), Europe 13, Africa 5, Asia 4 or 5, South America 4 or 5, North & Central America 3 or 4, Oceania 0 or 1. (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile Tags World Cup Pens World Cup Posters Euro 2012 football

Once again Brazil failed at the World Cup despite entering the competition as favourites. Robinho looked to have sent them on their way to the last four in Port Elizabeth before a Wesley Sneijder brace put the Dutch through instead. The expected fightback never came and for a second World Cup in a row the world's most valued soccer nation trooped off into the shadows. So once again, young starlets are emerging post- tournament to raise the spirits of the seleçao. And most hopes are being pinned on the Santos duo of Ganso and Neymar . Paulo Henrique Chagas de Lima , known as 'Ganso', is a 21 year-old number ten, has drawn comparisons with Zinedine Zidane and seems the obvious replacement for Kaka once he hangs up his boots. His first game in the yellow and green was in last August's 2-0 friendly win over the USA. The name of Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior , who turns 19 this week, has been in global circulation a little longer, as he exploded onto the scene as a 17 year-old striker, but only made his Brazil debut in the same friendly last summer, bagging the opening goal . Needless to say, almost every big European club has been linked with the duo, especially with Neymar, and one hopes neither young man will risk hopping across the Atlantic too soon. With Brazil sure to be a force in 2014 with the World Cup on home soil, this young pair from Pelé's old club could be following in the great man's footsteps and raising gold to the sky... -Sean O'Conor Tags World Cup Pens World Cup Posters Euro 2012 football

Brazil 2:0 Republic of Ireland Emirates Stadium, London 40,000 Fabio Capello was in the stands at Arsenal tonight, one of no doubt an army of World Cup team spies on hand to watch the South American giants and joint favourites for the World Cup. The England coach will have left Ashburton Grove pondering just what his team can do in South Africa to defeat what, along with Spain, is the most impressive team going into the tournament. Ireland , in their first outing since the trauma of Thierry Henry's handball in Paris wrecked their African dream, were the fall guys for the samba storm. The Irish started confidently though and were unlucky not to steal the lead when Julio Cesar made a fingertip save to deny Kevin Doyle a quarter of an hour in. Robbie Keane, back from injury, and Damien Duff on the left were real irritants to Brazil 's muscular back four. There are worse teams than Ireland who will be in South Africa this summer, and few better fans. For Giovanni Trapattoni, who was not his usual jolly self post-match following a sobering evening, there is a manageable Euro 2012 qualifying group to look forward to, with Russia and Slovakia the main challengers. Ireland had battled well from the off, but with a minute left until the interval, disaster struck as Robinho received a pass from Maicon in what looked a decidedly offside position on the right wing. No flag appeared and the Santos star's whipped-in cross was tragically diverted by Keith Andrews's outstretched leg past his own goalkeeper to give Brazil the interval advantage. After the break, the South Americans were just too hot to handle, driving a fiery wedge down the middle of the Irish half, with Kaka once more the prime instigator. Robinho seemed to be enjoying himself immensely on his return to England, scoring one, missing a sitter and watching another in the net disallowed for offside. For a while the Irish looked like whipping boys and a rout was even on the cards. Daniel Alves came on and hit the side netting with his first foray when he might have scored, while substitute striker Grafite , who plays in Germany for Wolfsburg, was also a real danger in attack. Michel Bastos , in only his third appearance for his country, gave an assured performance with his left-sided link play and could yet be an unheralded star in South Africa. The killer second arrived in the 76th minute when a flowing forward charge involving Kaka and Grafite let Robinho slot coolly under Shay Given with a right-footed finish. The Emirates was only two-thirds full, thanks to tickets priced more than England v Egypt the following night, no doubt to pay for this stop on 'Brazil's World Tour'. That said, the 40,000 present were largely pro-Brazil and generated some noise once the selecao really got into their stride after the break. On tonight's showing, Brazil look likely contenders for the crown in South Africa, with perhaps only Spain capable of upsetting them when they are on top form. Dunga 's pragmatic approach found room for Adriano as the main striker tonight in Luis Fabiano 's injured absence, but the former World Cup winner apparently has shut the door to another veteran hero - Ronaldinho . Repeated questions at the press conference afterwards elicited the same response - that every player has had their chance to impress and there are no practice games left to stake a claim. "We have the team already built and decided," Dunga told journalists. Ditto no entry for Milan teammate Alexandre Pato , frozen out but aged only 20, nine years Ronaldinho's junior and with years left in him. Ronaldinho's absence in South Africa will disappoint many a fan and marketing man but the determination in Dunga's face was evident. "We have been working three and a half years." Republic of Ireland: Given, Kelly, St. Ledger, McShane, Kilbane, Lawrence (McCarthy 69), Whelan (Gibson 56), Andrews, Duff (McGeady 56), Doyle (Best 78), Keane. Subs Not Used: Westwood, Brian Murphy, Foley, Wilson, Stokes, Cunningham, Long.