‘el Pocho’ lightens mood
Belo Horizonte: When the coach needs to lighten up, squirt some water on him. That’s what Ezequiel lavezzi did during Argentina’s 3-2 win over Nigeria, and his teammates seem to think it’s a good idea. lavezzi, a known jokester, was receiving instructions from Alejandro Sabella during Wednesday’s match when he sent a squirt from his water bottle right in the coach’s face. Sabella didn’t flinch and just kept talking. Midfielder Ricardo Alvarez said Thursday it’s the kind of thing everyone on the team has come to expect from lavezzi, also known as “el Pocho,” or the chubby one. “We know el Pocho and we know the personality he has,” Alvarez said. “These things do good for the group, having a person like el Pocho who is always happy and in a good mood.” After the match, a smiling lavezzi explained his move by saying he thought the coach needed to lighten up. What Sabella thought of it remains unclear.
Suarez ban excessive: Chiellini
Milan: Giorgio Chiellini believes luis Suarez has been harshly punished by FIFA for biting his shoulder during their decisive World Cup match. Suarez was banned from all football activities and stadiums for four months, suspended from Uruguay’s next nine internationals, and fined. “Now inside me there are no feelings of joy, revenge or anger against Suarez for an incident, which happened on the pitch and is done,” Chiellini wrote in his blog for Sportlobster. “There only remains the anger and the disappointment about the match. At the moment, my only thought is for luis and his family, because they will face a very difficult period. “I have always unequivocally considered the disciplinary interventions by the competent bodies, but at the same time I believe the proposed formula is excessive. I sincerely hope he will be allowed to stay close to his teammates during the games, because such a ban is really alienating for a player.”
FIFA lifts Beckenbauer ban
Berlin: FIFA has lifted Franz Beckenbauer’s ban from all football-related activity for failing to help an investigation of alleged corruption in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup votes, the German great’s manager said on Friday. Football’s governing body informed Beckenbauer on Friday that the ban was lifted with immediate effect, manager Marcus Hoefl said in a statement posted via his Twitter feed. FIFA imposed the 90-day ban on June 13 at the request of ethics prosecutor Michael Garcia.
Banned Suarez returns home
Montevideo: luis Suarez quietly returned home to Uruguay on Friday following his expulsion from the World Cup, long after a crowd that had come to greet him as a national hero had drifted away. President Jose Mujica was among some 1,000 people who went to Carrasco International Airport in Montevideo to meet Suarez Thursday night, but he left after being told that Suarez’s flight had been delayed. A private jet carrying the star striker finally arrived at about 5 a.m., but Suarez left without making comments to the press. FIFA threw Suarez out of the World Cup on Thursday with a nine-game and four-month ban for biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini - a punishment that was overwhelmingly seen as unfair by Uruguayans. “I came to encourage Suarez because Suarez is the God of the national team. He gives his soul to the team,” said lucia Romanello, who came to the airport.