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June 1, 2014
It was a tough decision to make but More Than a Game will not be travelling to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. MTAG does not feel comfortable travelling to Brazil aware that FIFA and the Brazilian authorities have squandered billions on white elephant football stadia and further redistribution from the poor to the rich when instead they could have worked towards improving the lives of the millions of poor in Brazil. The ongoing protests throughout Brazil remind us that the citizens of that country are extremely unhappy that so much money has been wasted. The ludicrous costs of attending Brazil 2014 also convinced us that it was a financial waste of time to attend this tournament. We will watch the tournament on the TV but sadly we will not attend. Hopefully, More Than a Game will return in July 2015 at the South American Copa America, due to be held in Chile.
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Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Tickets go on sale today for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brasil. Have had this date scrawled in the diary for some time thinking it would be the usual first ticket stage free-for-all of previous tournaments when you had a pretty decent chance of picking up a few tickets if you applied before the masses. Instead though they are so late getting their act together for 2014 that this first stage is nothing more than a massive ticket lottery, which runs from today until mid-October. Doesn't matter when you apply between now and then; your name will go into a virtual hat. Back in 2006 they ended up with six applications per ticket available. Imagine the ratio will be much higher this time. I also reckon tens of thousands will buy and get tickets and then change their minds about going to Brasil nearer the time. The cheapest tickets are running at $90 for first round matches for foreigners. You could always buy a cat 4 from a local once you get out there instead, with some Brazilians only paying ten quid for the pleasure. After all, if you apply now for first round games, you have no idea which teams you are going to end up watching. Ecuador v Gabon for $175 anyone? 
Friday, August 2, 2013
OK, it isn't exactly spring (as previously promised) - midsummer, in fact, in northern Europe - but More Than a Game finally begins our Brazil 2014 blog today. Why has it taken so long to start blogging about Brazil? After all, the ongoing nation-wide protests in Brazil were certainly one of the biggest global talking points of 2013 to date. And then there was the Brazil-hosted Confederations Cup and this week's visit by the new pope. Well, the explanation is that we continued to focus our efforts on our Sierra Leone project, which took us right through until the end of June...while the last month has been all about enjoying the much-shorter-than-we-would-wish-it-to-be northern European summer. More Than a Game has also been prompted back into action this week having been asked by numerous individuals in the space of a few days 'what are your plans are for Brazil?' Will you still be going? What project does MTAG have planned? How long will you be there? Mael Griffon, recently returned from a stint living in Tolyatti in deepest Russia, was the most recent person to ask me about our plans; yesterday, in fact, at football training. Mael is planning to travel to South America early next year and has already kindly offered to get involved in our 2014 project. Jeffrey Young, Johan Nordby and Michael Finch are three other friends who have recently expressed a strong commitment to getting on board in Brazil. Yes, we are still planning to travel to the 2014 Brazil World Cup - God willing - and we will definitely have a project in place that we really hope will help improve the lives of others in some way; and raise awareness of some worthy causes. Just what the project will be and when it will start is still uncertain but we are at least finally sitting down and brainstorming ideas. And, yes, the Brazil 2014 blog has finally begun today... ...oh yeah, and, by the way, if you are planning to go to Brazil please drop us a line and let us know about your plans. Maybe you can help More Than a Game's project - when it is announced - in Brazil next summer, or meet up somewhere on the road for a cold sundowner beer. Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Brazil 2014 blogs will begin appearing here in spring 2013. For the time being, More Than a Game is focusing on its Sierra Leone fundraising activities. We have big plans for Brazil and will reveal these later in the year. 
Wednesday, September 12, 2012 Tuesday saw the third round of Brazil 2014 European qualifiers with no major shocks. Georgia looked like pulling off the biggest upset of the evening against reigning World and European champions Spain. However, a goal four minutes from the final whistle gave the Spanish a 1-0 victory after Georgia had earlier hit the post. Wales were humiliated 6-1 away in Serbia, while Northern Ireland could only manage a draw with lowly Luxembourg, who had narrowly lost to Portugal four days earlier. On an evening when only four of the 24 European fixtures ended in draws, Ukraine managed to pick up a point at Wembley against England, who needed a Frank Lampard penalty to salvage a point. Meanwhile, Bosnia made it 12 goals in two matches with a 4-1 victory over Latvia, while Belgium showed once again that they are becoming a force to be reckoned with after they drew 1-1 with Croatia. The next rounds of European qualifying matches take place on October 12 and 16. Serbia trounce Wales 6-1:Results from September 11 in full:
Cyprus 1-0 Iceland Israel 0-4 Russia Georgia 0-1 Spain Romania 4-0 Andorra Bosnia-H 4-1 Latvia Bulgaria 1-0 Armenia Norway 2-1 Slovenia Turkey 3-0 Estonia Slovakia 2-0 Liechtenstein Hungary 1-4 Holland San Marino 0-6 Montenegro Serbia 6-1 Wales Sweden 2-0 Kazakhstan Switzerland 2-0 Albania Austria 1-2 Germnay Belgium 1-1 Croatia Greece 2-0 Lithuania Italy 2-0 Malta Northern Ireland 1-1 Luxembourg Poland 2-0 Moldova England 1-1 Ukraine France 3-1 Belarus Scotland 1-1 Macedonia Portugal 3-0 Azerbaijan Monday, September 10, 2012 The European section of the Brazil 2014 qualifiers finally got under way on Friday evening with some close calls rather than upsets for a number of the more fancied teams. Iceland's 2-0 victory over Norway and Bulgaria's draw with Italy were perhaps the biggest surprises of the night but the likes of Portugal and France were also made to sweat. Ireland needed two late goals to avoid defeat in Kazakhstan, Croatia narrowly slipped past Macedonia and France edged Finland 1-0 away from home. Greece had to come from behind to beat Latvia 2-1 in Riga in monsoon-like conditions, Portugal flattered to deceive in their 2-1 win over lowly Luxembourg, while Germany could only manage three goals at home against the Faroe Islands. There were though emphatic away performances for Bosnia and England with Bosnia winning 8-1 in Liechtenstein and England, who are now undefeated in eight matches under new boss Roy Hodgson, running out convincing 5-0 winners away to Moldova. Highlights of Bosnia's eight-goal drubbing of Liechtenstein, with two players helping themselves to hat-tricks: Russia 2-0 Northern Ireland Azerbaijan 1-1 Israel Kazakhstan 1-2 Eire Georgia 1-0 Belarus Liechtenstein 1-8 Bosnia-H Estonia 0-2 Romania Malta 0-1 Armenia Croatia 1-0 Macedonia Lithuania 1-1 Slovakia Albania 3-1 Cyprus Andorra 0-5 Hungary Finland 0-1 France Latvia1-2 Greece Montenegro 2-2 Poland Holland 2-0 Turkey Slovenia 0-2 Switzerland Bulgaria 2-2 Italy Germany 3-0 Faroe Islands Iceland 2-0 Norway Luxembourg 1-2 Portugal Moldova 0-5 England Wales 0-2 Belgium Scotland 0-0 Serbia Denmark 0-0 Czech Republic Highlights of Portugal's narrow victory over Luxembourg, with Luxembourg taking a shock early lead: 
Thursday, August 16, 2012 With just a couple of weeks to go until European teams begin their 2014 World Cup qualification campaigns, many pitted their wits against teams from Africa, South America and Asia this week. Here is a round-up of all the international friendlies: Albania 0-0 Moldova Japan 1-1 Venezuela South Korea 2-1 Zambia China PR 1-1 Ghana Russia 1-1 Ivory Coast Armenia 1-2 Belarus Azerbaijan 3-0 Bahrain Bulgaria 1-0 Cyprus Luxembourg 1-2 Georgia Norway 2-3 Greece Sweden 0-3 Brazil Ukraine 0-0 Czech Republic Denmark 1-3 Slovakia Austria 2-0 Turkey Croatia 2-4 Switzerland Hungary 1-1 Israel Montenegro 2-0 Latvia Belgium 4-2 Holland Estonia 1-0 Poland Germany 1-3 Argentina Macedonia1-0 Lithuania N Ireland 3-3 Finland Serbia 0-0 Ireland Slovenia 4-3 Romania Wales 0-2 Bosnia-H England 2-1 Italy France 0-0 Uruguay Scotland 3-1 Australia Iceland 2-0 Faroe Islands Portugal 2-0 Panama Puerto Rico 1-2 Spain Paraguay 3-3 Guatemala Canada 2-0 Trinidad and Tobago Costa Rica 0-1 Peru Ecuador 3-0 Chile El Salvador 0-2 Jamaica One of the best goals was undoubtedly this superb effort from Estonia's Vassiljev in their 1-0 victory over Poland: Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Starting to put together the new More Than a Game Brazil 2014 blog. We have a very big project planned for Brazil 2014 and expect to make an announcement about that in October. In the mean time, we will bring you news about the qualifying campaigns from around the world as 40 African teams, 10 Asian nations, 53 European countries, 12 nations from North, Central America & the Caribbean, 8 teams from Oceania and 9 national federations from South America fight it out for the right to compete at Brazil 2014. |
More Than a Game's Brazil 2014 World Cup blog & adventure
Group A
Croatia Serbia Belgium Scotland Macedonia Wales Group B
Italy Denmark Czech Republic Bulgaria Armenia Malta Group C
Germany Sweden Ireland Austria Faroe Islands Kazakhstan Group D
Holland Turkey Hungary Romania Estonia Andorra Group E
Norway Slovenia Switzerland Albania Cyprus Iceland Group F
Portugal Russia Israel Northern Ireland Azerbaijan Luxembourg Group G
Greece Slovakia Bosnia Lithuania Latvia Liechtenstein Group H
England Montenegro Ukraine Poland Moldova San Marino Group I
Spain France Belarus Georgia Finland AfricaGroup A
Ethiopia Central African Republic South Africa Botswana Group B
Tunisia Sierra Leone Equatorial Guinea Cape Verde Group C
Ivory Coast Tanzania Morocco Gambia Group D
Sudan Ghana Zambia Lesotho Group E
Congo Gabon Burkina Faso Niger Group F
Nigeria Namibia Malawi Kenya Group G
Egypt Guinea Zimbabwe Mozambique Group H
Benin Algeria Mali Rwanda Group I
Libya Congo DRC Cameroon Tongo AsiaGroup A
Korea Iran Qatar Uzbekistan Lebanon Group B
Japan Iraq Australia Oman Jordan North, Central America & CaribbeanGroup A
USA Jamaica Guatemala Antigua & Barbuda Group B
Mexico Costa Rica El Salvador Guyana Group C
Panama Canada Honduras Cuba OceaniaGroup A
Tahiti New Caledonia Vanuatu Samoa Group B
New Zealand Solomon Islands Fiji Papua New Guinea South AmericaChile
Uruguay Argentina Ecuador Venezuela Colombia Bolivia Paraguay Peru
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