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World Cup chit-chat: France's manager sues Nasri's girlfriend
France coach Didier Deschamps has sued Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasir's girlfriend for her 'f*** France and f*** Deschamps' post on Twitter.
-The Hottest Sporting Buzz: Nasri's girlfriend lets loose
Deshcamps' lawyers said that his client has filed a legal complaint for 'public insult' against Anara Atanes.
According to Sport24, Atanes had tweeted 'f*** France and f*** Deschamps! What a s*** manager' after he excluded Nasri from his provisional World Cup squad for the summer tournament.
The tweet for which Anares faces a lawsuit has been removed from Twitter, the report added.
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Brazilian prostitutes get free English lessons!
Prostitutes in Brazil have signed up for Free English lessons in order to get a good grip on the language so that they can welcome the British World Cup fans 'properly' during the tournament next month.
More than 300 Brazilian hookers have reportedly been attending government-funded classes to learn key phrases in English as they prepare for the big kick-off on June 12.
According to the Daily Star, Cida Vieira, president of the Association of Prostitutes in Belo Horizonte, where England play Costa Rica on June 24, said that it is vital that the hookers know the language as the sex trade is legal in Brazil and the business is expected to boom during the month-long tournament.
Vieira said that it would be important for the girls who will be able to use English to let their clients know what they are charging and learn about what turns them on, as they want to give the England fans a proper welcome and provide them with a value-for-money service.
The Brazilian hookers will reportedly mingle with England fans in the street as they test out their newly acquired language skills in order to look for business and they are also planning to hang around bars to pick up tourists and dance with prospective clients.
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Official condom for World Cup released
The official World Cup condoms have reportedly been released this week, to provide safety measures for saving goals during the tournament.
According to Metro.co.uk, the official World Cup condom has been released in conjunction with the #ProtectTheGoal campaign.
The condom reportedly features the classic Brazilian colors of yellow and green.
This summer's World Cup in Brazil has been subbed as the 'sexiest tournament ever' and speculations are rife that the carnival and samba atmosphere is set to lead to plenty of promiscuity, the report added.
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Pele says protests and building delays threaten World Cup
Protests in Brazil and delays in building stadiums are putting the World Cup next month at risk and prompting tourists to stay away, soccer great Pele said on Monday.
Brazil's tournament organizers have faced headwinds since the country was tapped to host the World Cup in 2007.
Hundreds of thousands of Brazilian protesters took to the streets during the Confederations Cup last year over the high cost of the sporting extravaganza, as well as against taxes, inflation, corruption and poor public services.
Pele, a triple World Cup winner and special advisor of the World Cup organising committee, was in Mexico City giving a news conference when he was asked if the protests in Brazil could jeopardize the tournament.
"Yes, because I know that 25 per cent of foreigners have already cancelled their trip to the country," he said.
Many fear protests will continue during the tournament from June 12 to July 13, after demonstrators angered by the cost of the event burned tyres last week near the $450 million Sao Paulo Corinthians Arena, the stadium where the tournament will open.
"That's one of the problems I pointed out six years ago. We knew that Brazil won the right to have the World Cup, and now one month before the Cup, stadiums there are not yet finished and have many problems, and that's a shame," Pele said.
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Zico laments missed opportunity amid chaos
England coach Roy Hodgson has warned his players to sacrifice their egos for the good of the team at the World Cup lest they end up like the strife-torn France side of the 2010 finals.
France endured a dismal World Cup at South Africa, crashing out of the group stage after the expulsion of forward Nicolas Anelka from the squad following a heated clash with then-coach Raymond Domenech and a subsequent players' revolt.
Hodgson said he would be quick to knock any threats to team harmony on the head in Brazil where England will play Group D rivals Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica when the tournament kicks off next month.
"One thing is for certain: there's no chance for any team in the World Cup if they're not in it together," he told British media.
"We've seen that in the past, examples where teams who were not together, like France in the last one where all the problems were coming out.
"If you want to win any tournament, if you want to win a league for that matter, you'd better make certain that you as a team are all together. That you're all singing off the same hymn sheet, that you all have the same aspirations and that you're all prepared to make sacrifices for each other.
"... The thing you can control is your teamwork, making sure you choose a group of players who are prepared to work as a team, that you deal with any problems that come up from individuals that are trying to eat away at the fabric of your team and maybe destroy your teamwork.
"I've always been very clear on that. I don't have any hesitation. When you stand in front of a group of players for the first time and say: 'Listen, the only way we're going to win this is by being a team', you'll find 20 of them will say: 'Yeah, yeah, you're right'.
"But then, if they don't start doing it as a team in the course of the tournament, you're quite entitled to say: 'You didn't ... say anything about it before, you were the first to say you agreed, and now you're out of the team it's a big problem, it's not about the team any more, it's all about you.'
"I've never been afraid to say those things. But luckily I've not had to say it too often."
Hodgson said he had been "lucky" in having a group of senior players that set the right tone for the more youthful members of his squad, singling out captain Steven Gerrard for praise.
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We're in it to win it, says Japan's Nagatomo
Japan defender Yuto Nagatomo cannot be accused of lacking ambition and says he will be going to Brazil next month with only one goal - winning the World Cup.
Nagatomo is expected to be a key player for the Blue Samurai at their fifth successive World Cup finals, where they have been grouped with Greece, Ivory Coast and Colombia in the opening round.
"As a player who will compete with the burden of wearing the (national flag), I cannot conceive of going into the tournament
thinking about losing," Nagatomo told Kyodo news agency at Tokyo Airport. "I aspire to win the championship."
No Asian team has won soccer's greatest international prize and Japan's best results were a place in the last 16 when they co-hosted the tournament in 2002 and again in South Africa in 2010.
Their 2-2 draw with Netherlands followed by a 3-2 win over Belgium last November have convinced some that if any Asian team is going to make a big impression in Brazil, it will be Alberto Zaccheroni's Japan.
As the starting left back, Nagatomo will be looking to help shore up a defence that has proved porous over the last couple of years.
But just as important a role for the 27-year-old in the Italian coach's attacking style, however, will be to get down the flanks and into the attack and perhaps even add to the three goals he has scored in his 67 internationals.
Nagatomo scored five goals for Inter Milan last season in a more advanced position than he plays for his country and will be out to leave a lasting impression in Brazil.
"I want to deliver a performance that will live on in people's memories and be talked about again and again," he added.
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Zico laments missed opportunity amid chaos
Former Brazil great Zico has joined the chorus of people criticising the organisers of this summer's World Cup in Brazil, lamenting a missed opportunity to showcase the country amid massive protests against the cost of the event.
Many Brazilians are livid at the amount of public money being spent on stadia in a nation that in many areas sorely lacks basic public services for its citizens.
People are also angry at high taxes and corruption among authorities.
"Brazil hasn't managed to take advantage of this opportunity. There's been no planning and no project," the former Udinese playmaker told the Corriere Dello Sport.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets during the Confederations Cup last year over the high cost of the sporting extravaganza, as well as against taxes, inflation, corruption and poor public services.
Since then the protests have continued, and last week demonstrators angered by the cost of the event burned tyres near the $450 million Sao Paulo Corinthians Arena, which will host Brazil's opening Group A match against Croatia on June 12.
"Let's hope that there aren't any problems, but when you finish the stadiums only a few days before the event it's inevitable that there are worries," said Zico, who starred in the flamboyant Brazil side that thrilled during the 1982 World Cup before being defeated by Italy in the second round.
"The stadiums have been built in large part with public money, and the people are not happy about this, as when the organisers won the right to host the World Cup they said that public money would only go towards infrastructure projects."