World Cup 2014: 5 Reasons Spain Lost So Miserably In The Group Stage

By IBTimes Staff Reporter
on June 18 2014 5:45 PM 

 

As the defending World Cup and back-to-back European Champions, Spain entered the 2014 World Cup with lofty expectations to repeat, as many experts considered Vicente del Bosque’s squad to be among the greatest national teams in history.
What followed in the group stage sent shockwaves through world soccer. Spain not only lost both games, but were outscored 7-1 by the Netherlands and Chile.
What could possibly have prompted such a flame out? How does such a talented team lose so early in the group stage?
Here are five reasons why Spain couldn’t reach the knockout phase:


Tough Competition
While Spain boast a world-class roster, they faced two very good squads. The Netherlands have an excellent attack, and entered the match with a chip on their shoulder after losing to Spain in the 2010 final in South Africa. Many experts were quick to point out that Chile boast several quality players, including Arturo Vidal, Alexis Sanchez, Eduardo Vargas, Mauricio Isla, and goalkeeper Claudio Bravo. As a South American team, they had a strong contingent of supporters in attendance in Rio de Janeiro.
Predictable Strategy
With the exception of striker Diego Costa, the 2014 roster looked rather similar to the 2010 roster. When a starting XI has a familiar look, it is not difficult for the opposing head coach to game plan. Spain probably needed a shakeup with young players like Jese, Asier Illaramendi, and Alvaro Morata to throw off the competition.

 Poor Goalkeeping
While Iker Casillas is considered one of the best goalkeepers in the world, he has been criticized by some for lackadaisical play. His former Real Madrid manager, Jose Mourinho, even benched Casillas in favor of backup Diego Lopez in 2013. Spain could have received a better effort from their man in the net against the Netherlands and Chile. Pepe Reina would probably have been a better choice.
Resting On Laurels
Spain failed to play like Spain, and it seemed as though the squad was expecting to cruise through group play. The overconfidence looked apparent in their passing, which seemed erratic compared to how they played in Euro 2012 and the 2010 World Cup. Their opponents looked one step ahead of them. It was a rude awakening in the second half against the Netherlands, when Spain surrendered four goals in 45 minutes.

 

Gunning For Goliath
After so much success, Spain may have had “success fatigue.” It’s difficult to maintain such great play for so long, as Brazil proved since Pele’s retirement (Brazil won just two World Cups since 1970). Spain also seemed to be a much different team without their star center back and unsung hero Carles Puyol, whose absence appeared to be too much to overcome. The Netherlands and Chile seemed to relish the opportunity to take down a somewhat vulnerable Spain squad and knew that the champions' reign couldn't last.
In some ways, Spain's downfall should have been expected. Three of the last four world champions couldn’t get out of the first round. Spain had a major challenge in defending their title, and their impressive run in recent years had to end some time.
 http://www.ibtimes.com/world-cup-2014-5-reasons-spain-lost-so-miserably-group-stage-1605344

Student Commits Suicide After Losing $3000 USD In World Cup Gamble

He gambled with money borrowed from loan sharks and committed suicide after losing it to World Cup bets

• Published: 26.06.2014
• Kukogho Iruesiri Samson

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Failed gambling led him to suicide

A second-year college student has died after jumping from the 7th story of  high rise building in his school  following heavy losses in World Cup gambling.

The student who, simply identified his surname Lin in news reports, committed suicide after losing a big bet, reportedly over$3000 USD.

A Debt And A Death

A witness who spoke with Information Times said the student might have committed suicide after pressure from loan sharks.

"I heard him say 'do not force me' and 'give me two more days and I'll return you the money'

"He talked on the phone for more than 10 minutes. I saw him hang up and stand up and then all in a sudden he just disappeared," Information Times reported the witness as saying.

An online media quoting a classmate and friend of the deceased student reports that Lin had gambled nearly $7,000 US dollars on several students.

“We heard that he borrowed quite a lot of money and the interest rate was rather high,” another student quoted in the report said.

Deadly China Betting

Lin is now the second Chinese to die in World Cup related circumstances after a 51-year-old former footballer, Li Mingqiang, died of 'over-excitement' while watching the Spain-Netherlands match which ended 5-1 in favor of the Orange boys.

China has become the World's gambling capital and just last week, police in Hong  busted an illegal World Cup betting ring which raked in an astonishing $600 million USD in one week - an all-time record.

http://pulse.ng/student_pulse/baba-ijebu-no-good-student-commits-suicide-after-losing-3000-usd-in-world-cup-gamble-id2944929.html?utm_campaign=baba-ijebu-no-good-student-commits-suicide-after-losing-3000-usd-in-world-cup-gamble&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

Amazing Rice ART in Japan.

Stunning crop art has sprung up across rice fields in Japan , but this is no alien creation. The designs have been cleverly PLANTED!

Farmers creating the huge displays use no ink or dye. Instead, different colour rice plants have been precisely and strategically arranged and grown in the paddy fields. 

10 Things You Need To Know About Hunger In 2013

10 Things You Need To Know About Hunger In 2013

How many hungry people are there in the world and is the number going  down? What effect does hunger have on children and what can we do to help them? Here is a list of 10 facts that go some way to explaining why hunger is the single greatest solvable problem facing the world today.

1. Approximately 870  million people in the world do not eat enough to be healthy. That means that one in every eight  people on Earth goes to bed hungry each night. (Source: FAO, 2012)
2.The number of people living with chronic hunger has declined by 130 million people over the past 20 years. For developing countries, the prevalence of undernourishment has fallen from 23.2 to 14.9 percent over the period 1990–2010 (Source: FAO, 2012)
3. Most of the progress against hunger  was achieved before 2007/08. Since then, global progress in reducing hunger has slowed and levelled off.  (Source: FAO,  2012)
4. Hunger is number one on the list of the world’s top 10 health risks. It kills more people every year than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. (Source: UNAIDS, 2010; WHO, 2011).
5. A third of all deaths in children under the age of five in developing countries are linked to undernutrition. (Source: IGME, 2011) 
6. The first 1,000 days of a child’s life, from pregnancy through age two, are the critical window in which to tackle undernutrition. A proper diet in this period can protect children from the mental and physical stunting that can result from malnutrition. (Source: IGME, 2011) 
7.  It costs just US $0.25 per day to provide a child with all of the vitamins and nutrients he or she needs to grow up healthy. (Source: WFP, 2011)

8.  If women in rural areas had the same access to land, technology, financial services, education and markets as men, the number of hungry people could be reduced by 100-150 million. (Source: FAO, 2011) 
9. By 2050, climate change and erratic weather patterns could have pushed another 24 million children into hunger. Almost half of these children would be in sub-Saharan Africa. (Source: IFPRI, 2009)
10. Hunger is the single biggest solvable problem facing the world today. Here are eight effective strategies for fighting hunger

http://www.wfp.org/stories/10-things-you-need-know-about-hunger-2013