Uefa retains 2010 World Cup qualifying format for 2014

Uefa will use the same format to decide which 13 European nations qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil as it employed for the 2010 tournament.

The same 53 European countries which played in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers will compete in nine groups, with the winners of each going to South America.

The eight best runners-up will be drawn in two-legged play-offs to determine the other four qualifying nations.

The preliminary draw for the 2014 World Cup is scheduled for 30 July in Brazil.

Europe will have its lowest share of teams at the World Cup since the inaugural event in 1930 when only four travelled to a 13-nation tournament in Uruguay.

At the 1994 World Cup in the United States, the last to feature 24 countries, 13 European teams played.

That number increased to 15 out of 32 teams four years later with 14 going through the qualifying process while France qualified automatically as hosts.

In 2002, defending champions France again qualified automatically, to ensure 15 European nations were present in Japan and South Korea.

However, Europe was reduced to 13 qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup with hosts Germany taking up a 14th spot.

Defending champions are no longer guaranteed a spot, so 2010 World Cup winners Spain will join 52 other nations who will be split into eight groups of six teams and one group of five.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the executive committee of European football's governing body.

Uefa has also approved recommendations on corruption and match fixing to "establish a network of integrity officers around Europe involving all national associations and on fostering collaboration with state authorities".

Meanwhile, Uefa secretary general Gianni Infantino reiterated that the Bosnian federation would be suspended from April if it did not cut its ethnic-based three-member presidency to one.

Uefa and world governing body Fifa have given the Bosnian federation until the end of March to do so or face suspension.

FCUK

French Connection has distributing stores worldwide. It predominantly sells its clothing through its own stores, although many major department stores in the UK have in-store concessions.

In April 2001, French Connection began branding their clothes "fcuk" (usually written in lowercase). Apparently they first discovered the acronym when a fax was sent from theirHong Kong store, entitled "FCHK to FCUK".^[2] Though they insisted it was an acronym forFrench Connection United Kingdom, its similarity to the word "fuck" caused controversy.^[3]

French Connection exploited the controversy of the name, producing an extremely popular range of t-shirts with messages such as "fcuk fashion", "fcuk this", "hot as fcuk", "mile high fcuk", "too busy to fcuk", "fcuk football", "lucky fcuk", "Fun Comes Usually Kneeling", "fcuk on the beach", "Cool as fcuk", etc. There were also a number of regionally specific messages, such as "fondle constantly until knackered" (in the UK), "fcuk in hull" ,"no fcukin worries" (in Australia) and "fcuk off". "Chugging the fcuk" and "Munching on fcuk" were popular shirt titles but were later found as inappropriate.

In 2001, during the introduction of French Connection in San Francisco, big banners hung on the front of the newly opened store saying "San Francisco's first fcuk."^{[citation needed]}

French Connection launched a trademark infringement case in the London High Court challenging the owner of "First Consultants UK Ltd", a computer company, over its use of the fcuk acronym. It was proven in the case the Internet Domain fcuk.com was registered prior to French Connection applying for the UK Trademark and its claim for passing off was dismissed. Mr Justice Rattee, refused to grant an injunction, describing French Connection's use of it as "a tasteless and obnoxious campaign."^[4][5]

A fcuk store in Toronto, Canada.

The company also threatened legal action against the political youth organisationConservative Future, which had briefly adopted the spoof abbreviation "cfuk" (short for "Conservative Future UK").^[6]

Another judge reportedly expelled a potential juror from his courtroom for wearing one of the fcuk range of T-shirts, saying that the "mis-spelt Anglo Saxon word" was a distraction and did not dignify the court proceedings.^[7]

Following years of complaints, the UK's Advertising Standards Authority banned a number of advertisements and ordered the company to submit all posters for approval before running them.^[3]

The fcuk brand has also been controversial in the United States, with the mayor ofBoston, Massachusetts, Thomas Menino telling French Connection to remove their ads from billboards throughout the city, according to the Boston Metro.^{[citation needed]} TheAmerican Family Association has urged a boycott of fcuk products.^[8]

[edit]Fashion vs Style

In February 2006, French Connection launched the Fashion vs Style campaign that replaced the previous fcuk advertising. The first advertisement in the campaign was directed by Duncan Jones, son of David Bowie, and featured girls in the roles of Fashion and Style fighting.

It was reported in the national press that this advert received between 121 and 127 complaints in the first week of being broadcast^{[not in citation given]} and may become as controversial as the previous fcuk campaign.^[9]

[edit]The Man and the Woman

The brand campaign for SS10 featured a series of stark, grainy, black and white advertisements centred around two chic and idealised figures: "The Man" and the "The Woman". The campaign received generally positive reviews from the press and blogosphere.^[10][11][12]

[edit]

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger considering an appeal against Uefa imposed one-match ban

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted that he is considering the possibility of appealing against his Uefa imposed one-match ban.

The Frenchman was left fuming after Robin van Persie was sent off for a second bookable offence against Barcelona, after the striker kicked the ball away only a fraction of a second after the whistle was blown.

And the former Monaco boss took the matter up with referee Massimo Busacca after the Gunners had been eliminated from the Champions League, only to eventually land a one-match ban for his remonstrations.

But now the north London outfit's manager has confirmed that he is considering an appeal.

"Yes, I might [appeal against the ban]," Wenger said, according to The Times.

"It will be one of the very few times that I feel I don’t deserve to be punished because I don’t feel I did anything wrong.

"I have no chance to speak my mind and I will have to accept it, but frankly I don’t feel wrong and you don’t feel at ease if you know you have done something wrong. This time I am quite relaxed. I don’t even listen to what they say because I know what I’ve done and what I have said."

Wenger added: "I expected to be punished because they [Uefa] will only do a meeting like that to punish people.

"I asked to have a personal hearing but Uefa said that it was not possible [before the appeals process]. That is very strange because I would have to say some interesting things."

Bayern Lick Wounds After Exit

Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge described their last-gasp exit from the Champions League at the hands of Inter Milan last night as a "dagger through the heart".
Goran Pandev curled home the decisive goal in the 88th minute to give the holders a 3-2 victory at the Allianz Arena and send them through on away goals.
Bayern had been in total control at half-time, leading 3-1 on aggregate, but they missed a host of chances to kill the tie off, failing to take advantage of woeful Inter defending.
Wesley Sneijder pulled one back for the visitors before Pandev completed a sensational comeback and booked the defending champions' place in the quarter-finals.
"That was a dagger through the heart. We were too naive in the second half. The task now is to salvage what can be salvaged in the Bundesliga, and that won't be easy," Rummenigge told the club's website.
Coach Louis van Gaal, who will leave his post at the end of the season, admitted his side were the architects of their own downfall.
"Losing like that is very disappointing," he said.
"Yet again, we've brought it on ourselves, and not for the first time this season. We've learned nothing from our mistakes, and that's a shame. We created so many chances, but we've failed to put them away. We didn't keep it as tight in the second half.
"We've brought this defeat upon ourselves, and that's the most painful thing, because you can't say Inter were better than us. We now have to lead the team out of this trough, because we still have our target of qualifying for next season's Champions League."
Bayern lie in fourth place in the Bundesliga table, two points off the Champions League places.
Van Gaal's players also bemoaned their inability to see out the game.
Mario Gomez, who scored Bayern's opening goal, said: "We have only ourselves to blame. We're gutted, because we were superb for 65 minutes. It really hurts."
Bastian Schweinsteiger added: "It's unbelievable that we've been knocked out by Inter Milan. I'm deeply disappointed. I thought Inter were physically exhausted, they could hardly run any more. But we've still not managed to play it cleverly."

Arjen Robben said: "We're making the same mistakes over and over again. It's unbelievable, we should have been 4-1 up. We've conceded three goals at home again, and that just can't be happening."

Red Devils :Confident Ahead

Chris Smalling is convinced the Old Trafford factor can help steer Manchester United into the Champions League quarter-finals next week.
Although the Red Devils produced a disappointing performance in Marseille, a goalless first leg does give them the advantage, even if Sir Alex Ferguson's men are vulnerable to the away goal.
They remember all too well they were eliminated by such a narrow margin last term, when Arjen Robben struck for Bayern Munich.
However, with the home fans in full voice, Smalling is confident United will avoid a similar scenario.
"We have been pretty immense at Old Trafford all season," said the England Under-21 star.
"So, while we were disappointed not to get that away goal we will approach our task full of confidence."
With Ferguson confirming on Friday that Rio Ferdinand is not due to return to training until the beginning of next week, Smalling is set to resume his central defensive partnership with skipper Nemanja Vidic.
It will be Smalling's seventh Champions League game out of eight this term and, although he did gain some European experience last year as Fulham charged to the Europa League final, the 21-year-old accepts the standard this term has been far higher.
"I played in Europe with Fulham last season but that was in smaller stadiums with smaller crowds," said the Londoner.
"It was one step but the Champions League is the biggest competition. Hopefully I can get many more games because as each game passes I am getting more confident.
"Experiences like that are the only way you can improve.
"I do have a few jitters but I like these sort of occasions."
On the first-leg performances, United do have the quality required to claim a quarter-final berth.

Lúcio on bench

FC Internazionale Milano centre-back Lúcio suffered a buttock injury during Friday night's draw at Brescia Calcio and is expected to sit out the second leg against FC Bayern München.

Lúcio was substituted 65 minutes into Friday night's 1-1 draw at Brescia Calcio, and scans this morning confirmed a muscle strain in his buttock. No further details were revealed, although the 32-year-old captain of Brazil seems certain to be absent when the Nerazzurri look to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit against the side they beat in last season's final.

Gerrard Injury:Problem For Reds?

LIVERPOOL medical chief Dr Peter Brukner insists surgery was the only solution to Steven Gerrard’s troublesome groin injury.

The Reds skipper went under the knife on Thursday and will be sidelined for up to four weeks.

Brukner and his team had tried to nurse Gerrard back to fitness after he suffered the problem in the win over Chelsea on February 6.

Gerrard sat out three games before returning to face West Ham and Manchester United but it flared up again and he missed Thursday’s 1-0 Europa League defeat to Braga.

“Steven had a minor operation on Thursday and will be out for around three to four weeks,” Brukner said.

“We tried to manage it for a few weeks and he had a short break but he still wasn’t able to play at his best because of it. In the end we decided to

go down this route. It’s nothing too serious but he needed to get it done.

“He has had a lot of problems in that area over the years and they never completely go away. We needed to get on top of things. But it wasn’t a major problem and we’re hoping he will get back playing quickly.”

Gerrard will be sidelined for next Thursday’s second leg against Braga at Anfield and the league trip to Sunderland three days later.

He will also miss England’s Euro 2012 qualifier against Wales on March 26 and the following friendly against Ghana at Wembley.

Liverpool’s trip to West Brom on April 2 is likely to come too soon for him but he could return for the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final on April 7 if the Reds get past Braga.

Barcelona Vs Arsenal

The three goals against Arsenal on Tuesday took FC Barcelona past the 900 goal mark in official international games. Messi’s first made it 900 exactly and Xavi and Messi’s second made it 902 –and counting!After winning at Camp Nou with an aggregate of 4-3.

Tuesday’s game was a great occasion at the Nou Camp and it also marked a historic record for the club, as they passed the 900 goals mark in international football, a figure reached in just 467 games, during which 479 were conceded. 

Is It Possible?:Kaka Moving To Chelsea

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has ruled out making a move for Real Madrid star Kaka.

The 28-year-old has been linked with a move away from the Bernabeu this summer following the arrival of Jose Mourinho, who is reportedly lining up Werder Bremen’s Mesut Oezil as his replacement.

Kaka was understood to be a transfer target for Chelsea two years ago when Luiz Felipe Scolari was the manager at Stamford Bridge, but a move failed to materialise.

Then Manchester City came close to luring Kaka to the Premier League before the Brazilian moved to Madrid last summer.

Ancelotti managed Kaka at Milan for six years between 2003 and 2009, but has confirmed he will not be trying to sign him again this summer.

"Kaka cannot come to Chelsea," he told Sky Italia.

"He was one player of mine and has done so much for Milan, but now he belongs to Real Madrid and he will decide about his future along with his current club.

Jouer Le Football

aka football!
I totally love football so this is kinda an ode to football from my side,

Specially to BARCELONA FC and LIVERPOOL FC, my all-time favourite teams:
When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark
At the end of the storm
There's a golden star (sky)
And the sweet silver song of a lark

Walk on...
Through the rain...
Walk on...
Through the rain
Walk through the wind
And your dreams be tossed and blown...

Walk on... (walk on)
Walk on... (walk on)
With hope (with hope)
In your heart...
And you'll never walk alone
You'll never walk alone.
Alone...

Walk on... (walk on)
Walk on... (walk on)
With hope (with hope)
In your heart...
And you'll never walk alone
You'll never walk alone.
Alone...

You'll never...
You'll never walk alone...

Walk on... (walk on)
Walk on... (walk on)
With hope (with hope)
In your heart...
And you'll never walk alone
You'll never walk alone.
Alone...

You'll never walk...
You'll never walk alone...