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ESPN International will provide live coverage of the 2009 UCL Final in the regions of Africa, Australia, Canada, and Latin America. ESPN STAR will televise the Final in English, Cantonese and Mandarin across Asia. On-site studio and match production teams will provide content to a variety of ESPN outlets around the world, including ESPN’s pan-regional network in Latin America; ESPN HD in Brazil; ESPN in the Pac Rim, ESPN Atlantic, and TSN and RDS in Canada. Immediately following the match, ESPN International will produce post-match programs simultaneously in three languages – English, Spanish and Portuguese, and ESPN’s three reporters (one for each language) will be inside the stadium during the match.
English Premier League Champions Manchester United vs. Spanish La Liga Champions FC Barcelona;
Coverage across ESPN’s Domestic and International Networks; Live Reports from Stadio Olimpico; Digital Services; Studio Programs; ESPN The Magazine Profile; et al
ESPN’s multimedia coverage of the 2008-09 UEFA Champions League (UCL) season will culminate Wednesday, May 27, with the live telecast of UEFA Champions League Final around the world, reaching more than 167.8 million television households in 115 countries and territories in the U.S., Latin America, Africa, the Pacific Rim, Asia and Canada. The 2009 Champions League Final between defending champions Manchester United , led by FIFA World Player of the Year Christiano Ronaldo , and FC Barcelona, featuring Argentinian striker Lionel Messi, from Stadio Olimpico in Rome will mark the 15th straight year the Champions League Final has been televised on ESPN’s U.S. and International networks.
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There is no one thinking of international football without pointing out the five-time winners of the World Cup, Brazil. The football history of this South American country is so illustrious that one might even think that they invented contemporary soccer. From this obvious thought comes this popular quip: “The English invented it, the Brazilians perfected it.”
Brazil’s history:
Brazil may now be ranked fourth in the world by FIFA, but A Seleção Canarinho have a high status worldwide created by their particular and unique history filled with success.
In the beginning
Ironically, Brazil’s first national team football game was a 2-0 win against English club Exeter City F.C. However, despite enjoying a good debut to the game of football, the Brazilians failed to make any impact in the following years to come. The Brazilian Football Confederation’s struggle to find quality players, due to the country’s internal discord within football, resulted in the national team’s class being far from the expected level of professionalism.
Brazil’s Football Confederation suffered from disputes between the football federations of Sao Paulo and of Rio de Janeiro, making it impossible for the national team to fill in players from any of these federations. These huge internal problems saw Brazil dumped out from the 1930 and 1934 World Cups at the earliest stage.
The South Americans bounced back four years later with a third-place finish and this successful campaign was marked by Brazil’s Leonidas da Silva coming out as the top scorer of this particular tournament.
Brazil staged the 1950 World Cup (for the first and only time currently) as the competition returned from its break after the World War II. This event became particularly unique not only because of the composition of the tournament – who didn’t have a single final – but also because of how the hosts, Brazil, brutally lost against Uruguay in the tournament’s most deciding encounter. The match was played at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro and attracted a massive number of 199, 845 spectators watching Brazil who only needed a draw to win triumph on the day. The hosts were a goal up at every fans’ delight, but a stunning comeback from the Uruguayans saw Brazil loose 2-1 in a brutal manner. This defeat – called “Maracanzo” in South America and “Final Fatidica” in Brazil – provoked an uncontrollable upset within Brazilian fans. This match will always be remembered as a “fateful final”.
The country almost completely changed its squad of players for the 1954 World Cup in order to brush away the disaster at the Maracana stadium in 1950. Either way, the Brazilian team still lacked of talent; an ugly 4-2 defeat against the hosts Hungary – later portrayed as the Battle of Berne – ousted them from the tournament.
Brazil’s Golden Years
But then came Brazil’s true moment in the world of football. The 1958 World Cup in Sweden was meant to be their time. Vicente Feola, Brazil’s coach in those days, was determined to build a disciplined side capable of being champions. Strict rules were imposed to put some missing order in the national team while a psychologist and a dentist were appointed to help the players who were suffering from the effects of the 1950 World Cup as well as from some dental problems affecting their performances.
The 1958 World Cup in Sweden was a memorable success for this South American country. They became the first to win the World Cup trophy outside their continent. On their road to glory, Brazil beat Austria 3-0 in their opening game but it was the match against the USSR which proved to be the real challenge. Brazil’s team leaders, Bellini, Nilton Santos, and Didi, influenced the coach to include Zito, Garrincha, and Pele. They eventually won the match 2-0. In the quarter-finals against Wales, youngster Pele scored the only goal for Brazil to advance to the next stage. They met France and defeated them heavily in the sem-finals by five goals to two. Brazil ultimately came up against hosts Sweden in the final of the tournament where a repeat of the semi-final score line gave Brazil the cup.
Brazil successfully defended their World Cup trophy in 1962 on South American soil, in Chile. But unfortunately for Pele, a serious injury in Brazil’s first game against Mexico ruled him out for the rest of the competition where Garrincha emerged as the star player.
Once again, Brazilian football had to face the consequences of intense pressure caused by disputes between Brazil’s major clubs and the national team. Vicente Feola’s attempt to cut his 46-man squad to only 22 players who would travel to the 1966 World Cup in England provoked a lot of internal problems as everyone wanted to enjoy the exposure of being at the World Cup. The two-times World Cup winners at that time displayed their worst World Cup performance in England and saw their dream of retaining their trophy fall apart disastrously. Brazil could not even manage to qualify from the group stages. They and Bulgaria were the casualties of Group 3, while Hungary and Portugal (who went on to clinch the third place) progressed at their expense.
Pele’s injury problems throughout the tournament definitely came at the misery of the Brazilian national team. The striker was constantly fouled by opponents and his many injuries cost him a bad tournament.
But an in-form Pele powered Brazil to their third World Cup triumph in 1970. It was an All-star team that made history in Mexico, with the likes of Carlos Alberto, Jairzinho, Tostao, Gerson and Rivelino all along side Brazil’s playmaker Pele.
A Seleccao also won the Jules Rimet Trophy for the third and final time.
Unfortunately for the Brazilians, the departure of the country’s great stars and of Pele as well saw the national team’s standard fall under the feet of the Netherlands.
After finishing fourth in the 1974 World Cup, Brazil bounced back with a good performance in the 1978 World Cup in Argentina where controversy against the former World Champions saw them loose a place to the final. They had to content themselves with a third place finish after beating Italy 2-1.
In 1986, Brazil were eliminated from the tournament by Italy after a thrilling 3-2 game where Paolo Rossi’s hat-trick made the difference. Four years later, they were once again eliminated, this time by France.
Brazil went on like this without lifting the World Cup trophy but the country’s ‘dangerous elites’ brand didn’t fade away.
The four-time World Cup champions were 90 minutes away from clinching their fifth trophy in 1998 but a sizzling display from the hosts, France, spiced up by Zinedine Zidan’s brace crushed Brazil 3-0 in the final.
Brazil ended their disappointment in 2002, beating Germany 2-0 in the final to emerge as the country with the most World Cup trophies to their name. Brazil then went on to win the Copa America two years later and followed their achievement with an unforgettable Confederations Cup campaign where a crushing 4-1 victory against rivals Argentina handed them the title.
The Seleccao were expected to play at a very high tempo and retain their World Cup crown four years later but the team failed to leave to the fans’ expectations. Their campaign was also hugely tarnished by a so-called 3-0 victory over Ghana. It was believed by many that Ghana’s claims of being the ‘true Brazilians’ let the South American Giants to get stressed up and forge their way through to the quarter-finals.
Brazil were accused of playing with 12 men as the referee’s decisions on the day went all against the four-time African champions. Adriano and Ze Roberto’s goals were completely offside but all the same stood up and the game was sealed 3-0 in the end. It provoked so much controversy that offside debates rose on many soccer programs around the world.
Brazil were punished for their unprofessional and unfair behavior in the quarter-finals by Thierry Henri’s suspicious offside goal which gave France a 1-0 victory to progress to the semi-finals.
Their exit from the 2006 World Cup in Germany was followed by a lot of criticism on Brazil’s Star player Ronaldinho and on the coach Carlos Alberto Parreira – who later resigned on July 19th. Former Brazilian captain Dunga replaced him and despite suffering from criticism for his ‘boring’ tactics, Brazil managed to defend their Copa America crown.
The country is now second behind Paraguay in the 10-team table in the road to the World Cup in South Africa.
How Brazil reached the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa
A 3-0 victory in the 2007 Copa America final against Argentina gave Brazil the cup and ultimately saw them qualify as South America’s representatives for this year’s Confederations Cup. Brazil are the defending champions of this competition and a repeat of the form they had four years ago could see them retain their title. Brazil failed to qualify to the Confederations Cup twice (in 1992 and 1995) but bounced back in 1997 by emerging as Champions. They lost in the final in 1999 and only secured the fourth place in 2001. It was worse in 2003 as they exited in the first round but a dazzling performance in 2005 brought them glory. How will Brazil fair in 2009?
About Brazil’s coach
Carlos Dunga isn’t the supporter’s best football personality. The former World Cup captain’s strategy of deemphasizing the status of Brazil’s star players hasn’t come under appreciation despite some recent results showing Brazil’s ability to score and defend as well. Anyway, the coach will have some points to prove after some poor performances in the Olympics saw Brazil crush out at the expense of long-time foes Argentina.
Brazil’s key and star players
AC Milan ace Ricardo Kaka could enjoy his first Cup tournament for Brazil since the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The 2007 World Player of the Year excluded himself from the Copa America two years ago and was refused the right to feature in last summer’s Olympics by his Italian club Milan.
Injuries and match-fitness have often been Kaka’s problem; The 27-year-old attacking midfielder has proven to be a true inspiration within the Brazilian national team. Kaka is not only good on the ball with fluid runs, but also an excellent stunner. The AC Milan midfielder has scored a number of long range shots at the surprise of opponents.
Ronaldinho might be out of the spotlight as at now, but the former Barcelona playmaker could make a good return to his international career when Brazil play in South Africa. Ronaldinho hasn’t featured as a regular player for his country and club over the course of the year 2008/09 but he has shown that he sometimes possesses the perfect touches.
Manchester City’s ace Robinho is Brazil’s new kid on the block. The 25-year-old forward is best known for his spicy performance on the ball. Robinho can play everywhere on the pitch and therefore cause trouble at any given time. Robinho is still looking for his way to become a Football Great and perhaps June’s Confederations Cup tournament might see him perform at his highest level.
In defence, Brazil can boast about Julio Cesar’s presence in goal. The Inter Milan stopper has been constantly impressive throughout the whole year and has been equally good for his club and for his country.
Paraguay Analysis
Paraguay will try and go back to winning ways when they host Chile with a sixth consecutive home win on Saturday, June 6. La Albirroja suffered a rare defeat to Uruguay followed by a draw against Ecuador which let Brazil close the gap to only three points at the top of the table.
However, the Paraguayans’ confidence ahead of the clash should be boosted after Edgar Benitez’s heroic injury-time equalizer against Ecuador in their last qualifier gave them a share of the points. It perhaps wasn’t the best result, but securing a draw in such a dramatic manner always comes as a relief and almost appears as a victory.
But if Paraguay haven’t been able to show up their best form recently, it is also due to playmaker Roque Santa Cruz’s disappearance from the limelight. If made available, the Blackburn Rovers striker will have some points to prove when he features against Chile.
Chile Analysis
On the other side, Chile are flying high since they went down 1-0 in Ecuador in October 2008. They Chileans recorded a famous 1-0 victory over Argentina to the year 2008 on a good note before continuing on this good track with a 3-1 win in Peru and a good goalless draw at home to Uruguay despite playing with ten men for almost an hour.
Chile have impressed a lot, managing to brush aside a total of four defeats so far by picking up 18 massive points out of six good victories. Chile are just one point behind Brazil and currently three points above the drop zone containing teams like sixth-placed Colombia who have 14 points.
It looks like Chile’s dream of reaching the finals of the World Cup will come into reality. They still need to affront Argentina’s killers Bolivia, five-time World Champions Brazil or even Colombia before the end of the campaign, which explains that there are hurdles to surmount in the road ahead.
Chile were hammered 3-0 at home by rampant Paraguay, but now that the leaders are enduring their lows, can the Chileans keep up their good form by upsetting them?
Chile went missing from the 2002 and 2006 World Cup finals. It is certainly time for them to reach the promise land once again.
Winning against Paraguay will let them be closer to achieving this dream.
Written by: Angela Asante LiveSoccerTV Correspondent
Uruguay welcome CONMEBOL defending champions Brazil on Saturday, June 6, at the Centenario stadium as qualification for the World Cup resumes in South America.
Both teams will enter the game with the fervent desire of clinching all three points. Brazil are very much on course to qualifying for the World Cup finals in South Africa, despite occupying only the second place in the table behind leaders Paraguay.
As for Uruguay, things have toughened up if they are to snick a way through to the promise land. The Olympic Sky Blue failed to collect a vital away win against Chile in their last qualifier.
After a goalless draw in Santiago, Uruguay consequently lie fifth in the table, just one place behind Argentina, and three points above the Colombians. But the gap is closing up between fifth-placed Uruguay who have 17 points and seventh-placed Ecuador who have 14 points. Uruguay surely have some work to do if they want to seal themselves a place in South Africa 2010. Even the play-off spot isn’t guaranteed. They need to catch up Argentina who have slipped unto fourth in the table, and cool down the pressure created by the likes of Colombia, and Ecuador by giving their maximum in their six remaining matches. One of them includes a home encounter against Brazil, and there is no doubt about the difficulty of this game.
Uruguay certainly know all about Brazil’s wrath of getting behind in important games. Uruguay were leading 1-0 after only nine minutes when they played away to Brazil in the first part of their qualification campaign. But a brace from Sevilla’s striker Luis Fabiano in the 44th and in the 65th minutes cancelled Uruguay’s opener and gave victory to Brazil at the end of the ninety minutes.
The Uruguayans would want no repeat of that when they host rivals Brazil, although the visitors go into the game as favorites.
A good win for the Samba boys on April 1st against Peru, while foes Argentina suffered a 6-1 trashing in Bolivia, moved Brazil a step further to completely sealing their place in the top four of South America’s 10-team table.
Former captain and current coach Carlos Dunga seemed to have responded to the fans’ criticism after managing some good wins this year – be it in a friendly or a competitive match.
The 45-year-old boss could boost his image and cool down the pressure that is on Brazil’s national team by re-calling one of Brazil’s finest players of all time who comes in no other name than Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima.
The three-time World Footballer of the Year looks to be back to his best after suffering some years under the effects of obesity and therefore, lack of match fitness.
Ronaldo’s returning to the squad will come as something new to Dunga’s Brazilian team. The coach had completely ousted the 32-year-old striker from his thoughts by omitting him not only from the starting line-up, but also from the entire Brazilian selection since 2007.
After upping their performance in their last games, Brazil are not far away from qualifying to the World Cup finals in South Africa. Ronaldo has clearly cited his envy to play for the national team at the World Cup, and Dunga is now keen to welcome him back into the team.
“I’ve said already that the national team doors are open for any player who is technically good enough,” Dunga said in a news conference earlier in May.
“He is certainly in excellent form and is being watched by the technical staff.
“It’s the first time since 2006 that he has managed to play more than 10 games in a row, so the trend is for him to progress.
“Ronaldo has never stopped scoring goals,
“He knows his potential. There is one year between now and the World Cup for everyone to work and earn a chance,” Dunga concluded.
Ronaldo may add more fire to Brazil’s striking forces already composed of Luis Fabiano, Wagner Love and Manchester City’s ace Robinho.
After an unsuccessful spell at AC Milan emphasized by a grave knee injury, the number 9 opted to switch to Corinthians where he now seems to have found back his love for football. Ronaldo has played 13 games for the club and has scored an impressive number of 10 goals already. Uruguay’s defense will need to be very composed if they want to keep Ronaldo from working wonders.
However, it doesn’t mean that the Brazilians will be under no threat. Uruguay’s Diego Forlan could make the damage at the other end of the pitch. The Atletico Madrid forward is enduring some tough times in club football to help his team qualify to the Champions League for the second year running. But an extraordinary strike against Espanyol in Atletico Madrid’s 3-2 comeback could give Forlan the much-needed confidence that Uruguay might seek.
Written by: Angela Asante
Bafana Bafana (The Boys) is South Africa’s national team of football. The country can certainly not place itself among the ranks of Brazil or one of Europe’s elite Italy but the history of this club is no less than notable.
South Africa were under FIFA’s ban until 1992 when they were ordered the right to return into Football’s Governing Body Association and participate in competitions again.
The club was long hit by racial segregation which led to FIFA taking sanctions against them. South Africa then returned to football with a memorable 1-0 victory over Cameroon. It was Bafana Bafana’s first game in a decade. Four years later, South Africa then went on to host and win the 1996 African Nations Cup in what became the team’s most unforgettable triumph.
Despite reaching the stars in a heroic manner, South Africa didn’t have what it took to succeed on the International stage. Bafana Bafana made it to the 1998 and 2002 World Cups in France and Korea-Japan respectively only to suffer early group stages exits.
New Zealand’s national team of football, also called the All Whites, are arguably Oceania’s most successful football country but their record on the International stage especially is yet to reach good standards. New Zealand participate in this year’s Confederations Cup for another time, portrayed as the team with the least chances to do any harm. However, their underdog status could cause some surprise, as the All Whites are still very much in a developing phase in football.
New Zealand don’t have a lot to celebrate when it comes to World Cup history. The All Whites were there only once; that was in 1982. Three defeats on the trot – certainly due to the country’s lack of knowledge and quality in football – are New Zealand’s only memories from a disastrous and miserable World Cup campaign 27 years ago.
Nevertheless, the All Whites can turn the sight on their glorious side of football where cup success is a frequent thing. They’ve been in every single OFC Nations Cup tournament since it was founded in 1973 and are four-time winners of the OFC Nations Cup (1973, 1998, 2002, and 2008).
They country may boast of two Confederations Cup appearances in Mexico 1999 and in France 2003 but it also goes without saying that there is still room for improvement. After failing to progress to the next stage of the Confederations Cup at each attempt, New Zealand have another opportunity to go one better than they did previously.
The Azzurri are one of football’s top teams around the world. The Italians can count four World Cup titles, one European Championship, one Olympic trophy and two Central European International Cups as part of their illustrious football history. However, if Italy have enjoyed a lot of success on the International stage, they also had to endure many twists and turns.
Italy’s history
Italy played its first game in 1910 against France in Milan. The Azzurri’s overwhelming 6-2 victory over Les Bleus was therefore rewarded with the crowd throwing out cigarettes packs as presents to the players. The Azzurri’s biggest ever defeat came in 1924, where they heavily lost 7-1 to Hungary in Budapest. However, the Italians quickly raised their standard with a successful 1928 Summer Olympics campaign in Amsterdam where they won bronze medals. The third place – secured by an 11-3 crushing victory over Egypt – was a huge consolation for the Azzurri who had lost in the semi-finals against Uruguay.
Italy turned down participation to the planet’s first ever World Cup tournament in 1930. Four years later, the Italians – led by Vittorio Pozzo – hosted the competition and went in to lift the trophy after defeating Czechoslovakia 2-1 in the final in Rome. Italy then successfully defended their World Cup title in 1938. These were the years of the famous Giuseppe Meazza, Luis Monti, Giovanni Ferrari, Silvio Piola or also Virginio Rosetta; but the black days in Italian football was just about to arrive…
Spain’s national football team La Roja are currently on a high after surmounting the fears of not reach the Euros by ultimately qualifying to the competition to win it in style.
Spain had to wait forty-four years before triumphing once again on the International stage in major competitions. And after going through some hard times, the country has now clinched the first spot in the Coca Cola Fifa Rankings. They are one of six other nations to occupy the first place despite the fact that they have never won the World Cup.
However, their unbeaten run (over 31 games unbeaten) certainly gives a reason to FIFA mounting them above the likes of World Champions Italy and CONMEBOL winners Brazil to become World Number 1s.
Spain have not lost a game since Romania beat them in a friendly match in November 2006. La Roja had a 100% match record in the Euro Championship in 2008, and this record has been the same in their World Cup qualification campaign.
The likes of Fernando Torres, David Villa, and Iker Casillas, have certainly contributed a lot to Spain’s success. But the Spanish national team is also a squad where each and every player on the pitch is good enough to team up with the rest to help La Roja succeed.
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