World Cup Briefs

 

Suarez vs CR7

 

Luis Suarez says that any personal rivalry he may have with Cristiano Ronaldo from their time playing against each other in La Liga is not a factor when Uruguay meet Portugal today in the World Cup.

Suarez says that the pride of the entire team playing for their country overshadows any rivalries that may linger from club teams.

Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez gave high praise to the reigning European champions and said that it will be a collective effort to try and slow down Ronaldo. He did not indicate whether defender Jose Maria Gimenez would be in the line-up after missing the group stage final with a thigh injury.

 

Germany taunted in reported hack

 

A Russian governor has blamed a hacker after comments linking Germany's World Cup performance to the two World Wars were posted on his Twitter account.

The message on the account of Oleg Korolyov, the governor of the Lipetsk region, stated that "Germany performed disgracefully at the 2018 World Cup only because on this land they unleashed two World Wars and the souls of tens of millions of victims took revenge and will take revenge on them."

The message was later deleted, and a subsequent post appeared suggesting that an unnamed hacker wrote the first message to undermine "productive cooperation" between Russia and German businesses.

Germany slumped out of contention in the opening stage of the World Cup for the first time since 1938 after losses to Mexico and South Korea and a narrow win over Sweden.

 

No Mendy

 

Left-back Benjamin Mendy has been ruled out of France's round-of-16 World Cup match against Argentina because of a muscle injury.

France coach Didier Deschamps says Mendy, who returned from injury to make an appearance as a substitute in France's last group game against Denmark, "has a little muscular problem and won't be available tomorrow". He did not disclose any detail of the injury.

The attack-minded Mendy was included in Deschamps' squad for the World Cup despite his lack of playing time with Manchester City. Mendy only returned to competition from a serious knee injury in April.

Mendy's absence means Atletico Madrid defender Lucas Hernandez will start at left-back against Argentina.

 

Blame VIPs

 

FIFA says VIP fans are often to blame for empty seats at its World Cup games.

Empty seats have been seen, often in prime positions, during numerous games, including some which were officially sold out. That's because FIFA measures its 98 per cent attendance rate for the World Cup based on the number of tickets sold and delivered, rather than the number of people who attend the game on the day.

FIFA competitions director Colin Smith said: "We want every seat filled inside the stadium. The reality is that there are some no-shows."

He added empty seats is often caused by VIP fans either choosing to watch part or all of the game in an indoor hospitality area. If they don't turn up at all, Smith says, security concerns mean their seats sometimes can't be redistributed because "in certain cases, it may be difficult at short notice to have access for general public fans at the VIP areas".

 

Daddy Delph

 

England midfielder Fabian Delph is returning home temporarily from the World Cup because his wife is due to give birth to their third child.

The English Football Association says that Delph flew home from Kaliningrad, where he played for England in its 1-0 loss to Belgium on Thursday.

England next plays on Tuesday in a last-16 match against Colombia in Moscow.

 

Fair-play rule review

 

FIFA says it will review a rule that saw Senegal eliminated from the World Cup because they had more yellow cards than Japan.

The rule, in use for the first time at the World Cup, meant that Japan barely attacked in the end of their 1-0 loss to Poland on Thursday because they were due to qualify on their disciplinary record.

FIFA's competition director, Colin Smith, says that officials will evaluate the rule after the World Cup "but as it currently stands we don't see any need to change".