Hosts of 2014 World Cup Brazil

Australia national football team profile

Australia national football team represents Australia in international association football competitions.The team is controlled by Football Federation Australia (FFA), which is currently a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and also an invitee member of the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) since 2006.Two FIFA World Cup tournaments, in 1974 and 2006. 14th is Australia's highest ever FIFA World Ranking since the rankings were introduced in 1992. Australia topped their group in the 2010 World Cup qualification and became one of the first nations to qualify for the finals tournament without losing a match and only conceding one goal.World Cup qualification in 2006 has seen Australian association football increase considerably in domestic popularity and in international competitiveness.The road to the 1974 World Cup began with a series of home and away matches against Iraq, New Zealand, and Indonesia. The Socceroos, having won this tournament, then played and won a two-legged fixture against one of the Socceroos' biggest rivals Iran, managing to hold on to a slim overall lead in front of 120,000 Iranian fans in the Azadi Stadium, Tehran, during the second leg. South Korea, having itself knocked out Israel at the equivalent stage, was then drawn as Australia's final hurdle. Over the course of another two-legged playoff the scores remained even, and so a deciding match was played in Hong Kong. Australia won this match, through a Jimmy Mackay goal, scored off a free kick.The Australian team was known for its near misses in its attempts to qualify for the World Cup. most notably 1998 against Iran and 2002 against Uruguay.
Also they have lost the play-offs of 1966 (North Korea), 1970 (Israel), 1986 (Scotland), 1994 (Argentina), 1998 (Iran) and 2002 (Uruguay).
The Australian national team first played at the World Cup finals in West Germany in 1974 after having missed out in play-offs in 1966 and 1970, losing to North Korea and Israel respectively It would prove to be their only appearance until 2006.
Provisional squad list:GK Adam FEDERICI,GK Brad JONES,GK Mark SCHWARZER,Michael BEAUCHAMP,Marco BRESCIANO,Tim CAHILL,Nick CARLE,David CARNEY,Scott CHIPPERFIELD,Jason CULINA,Brett EMERTON,Richard GARCIA,Vince GRELLA,James HOLLAND,Brett HOLMAN,Mile JEDINAK,Joshua KENNEDY,Harry KEWELL,Shane LOWRY,Scott McDONALD,Mark MILLIGAN,Craig MOORE,Lucas NEILL,Jade NORTH,Thomas OAR,Nikita RUKAVYTSYA,Carl VALERI,Dario VIDOSIC,Luke WILKSHIRE,Rhys WILLIAMS.

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Uruguay national football team profile

Uruguay national football team represents Uruguay in international football competition. It is controlled by the Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol.
Uruguay have won two FIFA World Cups, including the first ever World Cup in 1930 as hosts, beating Argentina 4-2 in the final. They won their second title in 1950, upsetting hosts Brazil 2-1 in the final match. They also won the Gold Medals in football at the Summer Olympics twice, in 1924 and 1928, before the creation of the World Cup. They also won the 1980 Mundialito, a tournament among former World Cup champions Uruguay hosted in 1980 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first World Cup. Uruguay is one of the most successful teams in the world, having won 18 official titles: 2 FIFA World Cup, 2 Olympic Games and 14 Copa América.Uruguay is the only country in the world to win a World Cup with a general population of under 4 million inhabitants and is by far the smallest nation to do so. The second smallest country to have won the World Cup is Argentina with a total population of over 40 million people. Uruguay is also the smallest country ever to win any World Cup medals.Uruguay is also the smallest member nation of CONMEBOL, South American Football Association. Nevertheless, Uruguayan national team also have won the Copa América 14 different times, a record it shares with Argentina.Uruguay was chosen as the host nation for the first World Cup, held in 1930, the centenary of Uruguay's independence. During the World Cup, Uruguay won all its matches, and converted a 1-2 half-time deficit to a 4-2 victory against Argentina at the Estadio Centenario. Due to the refusal of some European teams to participate in the first World Cup, the Uruguayan Football Association urged other countries to reciprocate by boycotting the 1934 World Cup played in Italy. For the 1938 World Cup, France was chosen as host, contrary to a previous agreement to alternate the Championships between South America and Europe, so Uruguay again refused to participate.Uruguay again won the World Cup in 1950, beating hosts Brazil in one of the biggest upsets in World Cup History. The final was at the Maracanã Stadium in Brazil. Uruguay came from behind to beat the host nation in a match which would become known as the Maracanazo. Many Brazilians had to be treated for shock after the event, such was the surprise of Uruguay's victoryMay 1, 2009 Uruguayan National Team are ranked by FIFA 16th in the world and 3rd in South America, below Brazil and Argentina only.
Uruguay Provisional squad list: GK Juan CASTILLO,GK Fernando MUSLERA,GK Martin SILVA,Sebastian ABREU,Egidio AREVALO,Martin CACERES,Edinson CAVANI,Sebastian EGUREN,Alvaro FERNANDEZ,Sebastian FERNANDEZ,Diego FORLAN,Jorge FUCILE,Walter GARGANO,Diego GODIN,Alvaro GONZALEZ,Ignacio GONZALEZ,Nicolas LODEIRO,Diego LUGANO,Jorge MARTINEZ,Alvaro PEREIRA,Maximiliano PEREIRA,Diego PEREZ,Jorge RODRIGUEZ,Andres SCOTTI,Luis SUAREZ,Mauricio VICTORINO.

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Denmark national football team profile

Denmark national football team is controlled by the Danish Football Association.It is represented the country of Denmark in international football competitions since 1908. The team has been a solidly competitive side in international football since the mid-1980s, with the triumph in the 1992 European Championships (Euro 1992) tournament as its most prominent victory, beating the the European champions in the semi-final, and the world champions in the final . They also won the Confederations Cup in 1995 defeating Argentina 2–0 in the final match.

On October 10, 2009, Denmark qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup by winning their qualification group with a victory over Sweden.1982 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Denmark finished with 8 points from as many games, including a 3–1 win against eventual World Cup champions Italy, but Denmark failed to qualify for the final tournament despite the impressive result. Qualification for the Euro 1984 saw the team beat England at Wembley Stadium when Allan Simonsen converted a penalty kick for a 1–0 win. Denmark qualified for their first international tournament since 1964.first World Cup appearance in the 1986 FIFA World Cup, and with the attacking duo of Michael Laudrup and Preben Elkjær the team surprised the world, sweeping the group, including a 6–1 thrashing of Uruguay. In the second round Denmark once again faced Spain, and once more Denmark lost out.Denmark qualified both for the 2002 FIFA World Cup and the Euro 2004, but despite impressive results in the group stage in both tournaments, especially the 2–0 win against reigning World Cup winners France in 2002, Denmark were defeated in the first post-group stage round in both tournaments. The Euro 2004 will be best remembered for an incident in the game with Italy, where Italian star Francesco Totti was caught on camera by a Danish cameraman, spitting on Danish player Christian Poulsen, and the joint elimination of Italy by Denmark and Sweden in the last group stage match when the two teams drew 2–2 following a Swedish goal in the 89th minute, making for the exact and famous result that would see the Italians eliminated.For the 2006 World Cup qualification, Denmark was paired with, among others, 2002 World Cup bronze winners Turkey and Euro 2004 champions Greece competing for only one guaranteed spot at the final tournament. Following a poor start of the qualification, Denmark were trailing both Turkey and surprise leaders Ukraine. Denmark needed Turkey to lose points in the final games in order for Denmark to clinch the 2nd place of the group and one last chance to qualify via two play-off games. Indeed, had Turkey lost points to Albania in their last game, Denmark would have gone through, but instead they had to settle for 3rd place in the group and a longer summer break.

After failing to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, coach Olsen considered leaving the job, having received several offers from club teams, but decided to stay and extended his contract until after the 2010 FIFA World Cup, spurred on by his and the team's popularity among the Danish population.Provisional squad list: GK Stephan ANDERSEN,GK Kim CHRISTENSEN,GK Jesper CHRISTIANSEN,GK Thomas SORENSEN,Daniel AGGER,Mikkel BECKMANN,Nicklas BENDTNER,Simon BUSK POULSEN,Thomas ENEVOLDSEN,Christian ERIKSEN,Jesper GRONKJAER,Lars JACOBSEN,Daniel JENSEN,Leon JESSEN,Martin JORGENSEN,Thomas KAHLENBERG,Simon KJAER,Michael KROHN-DEHLI,Per KROLDRUP,William KVIST,Soren LARSEN,Anders MOLLER-CHRISTENSEN,Patrick MTILIGA,Christian POULSEN,Jakob POULSEN,Morten RASMUSSEN,Dennis ROMMEDAHL,Michael SILBERBAUER,Mikkel THYGESEN,Jon Dahl TOMASSON.

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Brazil national football team profile

Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international football. It is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation.They are the most successful national football team in the history of the World Cup, with five championships (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002).Brazil hosted the 1950 FIFA World Cup which was the first tournament to be held after World War II. It is the only time Brazil has hosted the tournament to date (not counting the upcoming 2014 tournament).For the 1954 FIFA World Cup, in Switzerland, the Brazilian team was almost completely renovated, so as to forget the Maracanã defeat, but still had a group of good players, including Nílton Santos, Djalma Santos, and Didi. Brazil didn't go very far though. The quarterfinals saw the favorites Hungary beat Brazil 4–2 in one of the ugliest matches in football history, which would become infamous as the Battle of Berne.
1994 World Cup.

Brazil, to the surprise of many, went 24 years without winning a World Cup or even participating in a final. Their struggles ended at the 1994 tournament in the United States, where a solid, if unspectacular side headed by the likes of Romário, Bebeto, Dunga, Taffarel, and Jorginho won the World Cup for a then-record 4th time. Highlights of their campaign included a 1–0 victory over the host in the round of 16, a sensational 3–2 win over the Dutch in the quarter-finals (often cited as the game of the tournament) and a 1–0 win over the Swedes in the semis. This set up a classic confrontation, Brazil vs. Italy, in the final. After a dour and unexciting 0–0 draw, penalty kicks loomed, and when Roberto Baggio lifted his spot kick over the crossbar, Brazil were champions once again.
1998 World Cup

Brazil finished runner-up in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. After a very respectable campaign during which they beat Netherlands on penalties in the semi-final following a 1–1 draw with goals from Ronaldo and Patrick Kluivert, the team lost to host France 3–0 in a problematic final game. Brazilian marking at defensive set pieces was poor, and Zinédine Zidane was able to score two headed goals from France's corner kicks. Also, Brazilian star Ronaldo suffered an epileptic seizure a few hours before the match. Many criticized the decision to reinstate Ronaldo into the starting lineup as he put on a poor performance.
2002 World Cup
"Three R's" (Ronaldo, Rivaldo, and Ronaldinho), Brazil won its fifth championship at the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in South Korea and Japan.Brazil's opening game against Turkey, Rivaldo fell to the ground clutching his face after Turkey's Hakan Ünsal had kicked the ball at his legs. Hakan Ünsal, who had already been booked, was sent off while Rivaldo jumped to his feet and continued playing. Rivaldo escaped suspension but was fined £5,180 for play-acting, he became the first player to be punished in FIFA's crackdown on "simulation" and "diving". They followed with a 4–0 win over China and a 5–2 win over Costa Rica.Next they defeated Belgium 2–0, in the round-of-16. Against England in the quarter finals, Brazil won 2–1. Ronaldinho scored the winner with a remarkable lofted free kick and also assisted teammate Rivaldo for their first goal, but was sent off for stamping on the right ankle of England's Danny Mills. The semifinal was against Turkey, which Brazil had faced in their group. Again, this match was difficult, as Brazil won 1–0 with a goal by Ronaldo. Rivaldo had scored one goal each in all five game up to this one but did not manage to hit the target in the sixth. He had seemed all set to repeat Jairzinho´s great achievement in 1970 when he scored in every game of the World Cup.

The final was between two of the most successful teams in the competition's history: Germany and Brazil. Incredibly, the teams had never played each other in the World Cup before, besides a match between Brazil and East Germany in the 1974 FIFA World Cup. German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn had been the tournament's best keeper, but could not maintain that level of play, as Ronaldo vanquished his France '98 demons, scoring both goals in the Brazilian 2–0 triumph.
Copa América 2007

Brazil participated in the Copa América 2007 which was hosted by Venezuela. They were placed in Group B with Mexico, Ecuador, and Chile. Brazil surprisingly lost to Mexico 2–0 in their opening match, then bounced back with a comfortable 3–0 victory over Chile with three goals from Robinho, and won 1–0 against Ecuador, Robinho scoring on a penalty kick. They advanced to the quarter-finals, where they defeated Chile again 6–1. The semi-final was against Uruguay, after a 2–2 draw, Brazil won 5–4 on penalties. Their opponent in the final was Argentina, which were the favorites to win, having won all their matches on the way to the final. However Brazil scored early in the 4th minute when Júlio Baptista scored, and then in the 45th minute, defender Roberto Ayala scored on an own goal. Later in the second half, in the 69th minute, substitute Dani Alves scored Brazil's third goal, as the scoreline became 3–0. After the tournament, Robinho was awarded the Golden Boot in addition to being named the best player in the tournament.
2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

After a 3–1 victory over Argentina in Rosario, on September 5, 2009, Brazil qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

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