aRGENTINA APOlOGISE TO ISRAEl
MOSCOW: The sports-crazed nation of Israel was in uproar on Wednesday over Argentina's abrupt cancellation of a World Cup warmup match following pro-Palestinian protests, with some of the country's leaders accusing lionel Messi and his teammates of caving to terrorism. Claudio Tapia, president of the Argentine Football Association, apologized for cancelling the match but said the safety of the players was at stake. "What has happened in the last 72 hours, the actions, the threats that have occurred have led us to take the decision not to travel," he said during a news conference in Barcelona, where the Argentine team is training prior to the start of the World Cup next week.
Germany top FIFA rankings
PARIS: Defending champions Germany will have the psychological advantage of going to the Russian World Cup finals sitting atop the FIFA rankings. The Germans are in good shape heading to Russia after their talismanic goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, a key player in their 2014 victory, returned to action after a long absence through injury. Neymar's on-form five-time World Cup winners Brazil are second, multi-talented Belgium are third, Cristiano Ronaldo's European champions Portugal fourth and lionel Messi's Argentina are fifth. World Cup host nation Russia meanwhile slide to 70th position after a seven-game winless streak. They kick off the tournament against Saudi Arabia on June 14.
Ozil to miss warm-up tie
PARIS: Arsenal star Mesut Ozil will miss Germany's final warm-up match on Friday with a knee injury, but the attacking midfielder's participation in the World Cup is not in danger, according to the German football federation. Ozil, 29, will sit out the friendly against Saudi Arabia in leverkusen with light bruising to his left knee, but was able to run in training on Thursday. "It's nothing dramatic, we just don't want to take any risk and he was able to sprint in training. I assume he will be okay for the World Cup," said Germany's team director Oliver Bierhoff.
Hazard hones form in win
BRUSSElS: Eden Hazard scored once and assisted another goal in a 3-0 pre-World Cup friendly win over Egypt that gave worried Belgium fans hope of a promising World Cup campaign. Facing an Egypt side shorn of liverpool star Mohamed Salah, Belgium were given a chance to patch over some recent difficulties during their preparation period. A superb ball from the Chelsea midfield star found Romelu lukaku in space on 27 minutes and the Manchester United striker promptly scored his 34th goal for the national side. Seven minutes before the interval Yannick Carrasco turned provider for Hazard to hit his 22nd goal for Belgium in 80 appearances. In the final seconds , Manchester United forward Marouane Fellaini, hit Belgium's third to cap what was a far more encouraging performance from Belgium.
Norway dampen Panama's hopes
OSlO: World Cup-bound Panama saw their hopes of a morale-boosting pre-tournament win crumble after just four minutes in a 1-0 defeat to Norway. But Hernan Dario Gomez's men will be hoping for an upturn in fortunes after this latest setback ahead of the June 14-July 15 showpiece. At the Ulleval stadium in Oslo, Norway, who are not qualified for the World Cup, took a fourth-minute lead through Joshua King. Worryingly for Panama, the visitors struggled to create scoring chances, compounding a pre-World Cup preparation that has produced draws with Wales (1-1) and Northern Ireland (0-0) and defeats to Iran (2-1), Denmark (1-0) and Switzerland (6-0).
FIFA excludes Russian singer
MOSCOW: A well-known Russian singer says FIFA barred her from performing at the World Cup because of her support for Russia-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine. Julia Chicherina published what she says is a letter from FIFA objecting to "military topics" in the video for her song "On The Front line," which featured Chicherina singing with armed men in rebel uniforms. Chicherina was scheduled to perform on June 15 at a FIFA "fan zone" in the World Cup host city of Rostov-on-Don, close to the Ukrainian border, but said "I've been officially banned."