EU-DIGEST

Spain regained first place from Brazil in FIFA's monthly world rankings Friday. The European champions regained the top spot they lost to the South Americans in July after friendly wins over fellow World Cup qualifier Argentina and Austria. Brazil beat England 1-0 and Oman 2-0 in the past week but was still overtaken because older ranking points lost value and its wins came against lower-ranked opposition. The Netherlands and Italy stayed third and fourth, while the biggest mover in the top 10 was Portugal, which rose five places to fifth by twice beating Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0 to qualify for next year's World Cup.

Labels: EU, Fifa, Soccer, Spain

Giampaolo Pazzini was denied a late winner by the referee as Italy and Holland fought out a stalemate in Pescara. Substitute Pazzini was judged to have used his arm to bundle the ball home with seven minutes remaining, while at the other end Gianluigi Buffon made a fine save from Rafael van der Vaart to mark his 100th cap with a clean sheet. When play resumed, the Dutch dominated possession but were unable to turn that into goals. The Dutch suffered a setback when Arsenal striker Robin van Persie limped off and was replaced by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt had the first opportunity of the game in the 20th minute with his right-footed strike from the edge of the area going wide of the far post. Italy goalkeeper Buffon, who celebrated a century of appearances for the Azzurri tonight, made a stunning save to deflect Van der Vaart's free-kick that had taken a deflection off Palladino's head.

Labels: EU, Fifa, Italy, Netherlands, Soccer

Soccer - Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka head shortlist for Fifa World Player of the Year award

The 23-man roll was drawn up by FIFA’s Football Committee and will be voted on by the captains and head coaches of the world’s national teams, with the winner to be announced on Dec 21. The Fifa short list includes: M Ballack (Germany), G Buffon (Italy), I Casillas (Spain), C Ronaldo (Portugal), Diego (Brazil), D Drogba (Ivory Coast), M Essien (Ghana), S Eto’o (Cameroon), S Gerrard (England), T Henry (France), Z Ibrahimovic (Sweden), A Iniesta (Spain), Kaka (Brazil), F Lampard (England), L Fabiano (Brazil), L Messi (Argentina), C Puyol (Spain), F Ribery (France), W Rooney (England), J Terry (England), F Torres (Spain), D Villa (Spain), Xavi (Spain).

Labels: Fifa, Player of the year award, Soccer

Soccer - Abu Dhabi to host Club World Cup

The Club World Cup, which brings together the best football teams in the world, will take place in the capital a year from today. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (Fifa), football’s world governing body, announced yesterday that the 10-day tournament would take place starting on Dec 10, 2009. The Club World Cup brings together the winners of each Fifa region’s respective cup competitions, from the Champions League in Europe to the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Champions’ Cup in North and Central America. Among the teams competing in this year’s Club World Cup are Manchester United, the English and European champions, Pachuca, the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup winners, and Gamba Osaka, the Asian champions. Adelaide United, of Australia, and Waitakere United, of New Zealand, will play in tomorrow’s curtain-raiser. The line-up for the tournament is completed by Liga de Quito, of Ecuador, and Al Ahly, of Egypt.

Labels: Abu Dhabi, Club World Cup, Fifa, Soccer

Soccer - Fifa Congress backs president Sepp Blatter over '6+5' foreign quota proposal - Football News - by Vicky Hodges

Fifa president Sepp Blatter is confident Europe will support his foreign quota proposal which could be in place by the 2012/13 season.The European Commission earlier rejected Blatter's controversial plan which is aimed at protecting the identity of national teams, warning it would contravene EU labour rules. Blatter's proposal was supported by 155 delegates, with five against and 40 abstaining and despite the EU's ruling is ready to push on with his proposal.

While the '6+5' proposal dominated Fifa's annual congress, they also formally accepted the revised World Anti-Doping Agency drug code. In the past, Fifa had resisted WADA's blanket two-year ban for first-time doping offences, saying that the length of any suspension should take into account individual cases, and that team sports were different from individual events.

Labels: EU, Fifa