Reporter: Monaz Haque, Berlin Franz Beckenbauer: President of the Organizing Committee of FIFA world Cup 2006. The best sticker of all times with style and confidence. He won the World Cup as a player with German national team in 1974 and as a head coach leaded the German team in 1990 and won the world cup for the second time. He played for Cosmos New York and won the US Championship - (Soccer Bowl) in 1977, 1978 and 1980 Jurgen Klinsmann He was a major player in the German team, champion in Italy 1990. Since July 2004 he has the position of coach of German National Team. Pele & Claudia Schiffer: Super footballer Pele & super model Claudia Schiffer at the opening ceremony in Munich. USA Czech 0:3 - With the heat of the day in Gelsenkirchen, this was the smartest outfit of the USA. Luca Toni (Italia) in duel with Sammy Kuffour (Ghana). Italy Ghana 3:0 Italy enters its World Cup opener against Ghana with more knowledge about its opponent than itself. Italy coach Marcello Lippi won't decide until hours before Monday's game whether to start playmaker Francesco Totti, Alessandro Del Piero as a third forward, or Simone Perrotta as a fourth midfielder. O P I N I O N   C O R N E R Though the US and Aussies teams have had an early exit from this World Cup tournaments, the true fans are on. And there’s no better way to stay current than by browsing the wide range of World Cup News. Here is some opinion of Stars out of Football: 28 June: Shana Zadrick, a French Fashion Designer: I knew France would beat Spain! I'm not so sure about Brazil, but I'm going to go with France, 1-0. Germany should beat Argentina and Italy should have no problems with Ukraine. Since England lost a player, I'm going with Portugal in that match. I see a Germany/France final now. Hope so! :) • From: Joana; Sao Paulo, Brazil • Posted: July 04, 2006 • Comment: Yes, Ronaldo is the greatest striker of all times, seems to be a great person above all, but like his team mates, he didn't deserve to wear the Brazilian uniform this time. Soccer in Brazil is like a religion; it's actually our religion! Our country is sad after the game against France. Not because we lost, because losing is part of the game, and we know it. But we are sad because we did not fight. Our players, including Ronaldo, just stood there, watching Zidane play his best game in long years. After the end of the game, the country was crying, but did you see any Brazilian player crying? To play for our national team is supposed to be an honour, and when you get to be called to wear our uniform, you have to give your blood on the field! And it didn't happen... ZDF Video: Germany - Argentina Tango: Argentina - Deutschland Brazil mourns after losing against France Semifinal on Tuesday : Germany vr. Italy France vr. Portugal Football Against Racism You may notice on 1st July, that France doesn't suit up a lot of white guys. Of the 23-man roster, 16 of them are something other than white. And this brings great displeasure to French racist politician Jean-Marie Le Pen. He argues that the people of France can't take much joy in the success of the team, because it's not really representative of the French people. French player Lilian Thuram spoke up about it yesterday, and did so impressively. His comments, in part: "When we take to the field, we do so as Frenchmen. All of us. When people were celebrating our win, they were celebrating us as Frenchmen, not black men or white men. It doesn't matter if we're black or not, because we're French. I've just got one thing to say to Jean Marie Le Pen. The French team are all very, very proud to be French. If he's got a problem with us, that's down to him but we are proud to represent this country. So Vive la France, but the true France. Not the France that he wants." Webportal: Asia Today

FIFA World Cup 2006™ Germany Die Welt zu Gast bei Freunde - Time to make friends The 18th FIFA World Cup has started in Germany on 9th June 2006 with a reduced cultural program but a huge sports events. "We have tried to make a party, but a nice afternoon party", said Christian Stueckl, who was in charge of the 30-minute spectacle opening gala at Munich World Cup Stadium, prior to Friday's first game between host Germany and Costa Rica. With native Bavarian music, "flying women" who has lifted to the top of stadium and hip hop songs, Stueckl has tried to make the most of his half hour, but the concern about the condition of the field for the game that was followed limited his creativity. In January the FIFA has cancelled the opening gala for the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany. The gala was planed to replace the usual opening ceremony in Berlin's Olympic Stadium - two days before the tournament begins. "FIFA hasn't taken a decision to cancel lightly but sporting considerations are crucial," argued FIFA president Sepp Blatter. The highlights of the opening ceremony was to award during the opening festivity to those players who, over the years, did all their best on the field and had the satisfaction to hold in their hands the World Cup Trophy. Pele, widely considered the world’s greatest ever player and a World Cup winner in 1958, 1962 and 1970, has carried the Trophy on to the pitch of the futuristic Munich stadium together with German supermodel Claudia Schiffer. Among others 170 legendary players were Maradona, Beckenbauer, Mario Kempes, Alcides Edgardo Ghiggia, Bobby Charlton, Didier Deschamps, Platini, Giancarlo Antognoni, Giuseppe Bergomi, Marco Tardelli and many more of FIFA World Cup winners from 1950 to 2002 – legends from Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Italy, Germany, and Uruguay. The 18th FIFA World Cup 2006™ has stared in Germany contest by 32 teams with 64 matches will be played. The eight groups of four teams are spread out throughout Germany in the twelve new or refurbished stadiums, with the opening game in Munich and the final will be held in Berlin‘s new World Cup Stadium. ADIDAS the sports article company and the main sponsor of FIFA World Cup has constructed an artificial stadium in front of the German Parliament Building in Berlin for four weeks, in which three German TV stations are transmitting together with over 100.000 football fans a mega colourful 24 hours TV program. Germany World Cup 2006™ Squad: Goalkeepers: Jens Lehmann, Oliver Kahn , Timo Hildebrand Defenders: Arne Friedrich , Robert Huth, Marcell Jansen, Per Mertesacker , Christoph Metzelder, Philipp Lahm, Jens Nowotny Midfielders: Michael Ballack, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Tim Borowski, Torsten Frings, Sebastian Kehl, Bernd Schneider, Thomas Hitzlsperger, David Odonkor Forwards: Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski, Mike Hanke, Oliver Neuville, Gerald Asamoah Germany's Miroslav Klose (L) celebrates his goal against Costa Rica with team mates Lukas Podolski and Torsten Frings (R) during their Group A World Cup 2006 match in Munich June 9, 2006. Germany beat Costa Rica 4-2 Friday in the opening match of the tournament, hoping to inspire enough confidence in the team for the rest of the World Cup. Germany captain Michael Ballack missed the game with an injury but striker Miroslav Klose celebrated his 28th birthday by scoring two goals. Paulo Wanchope also had two for Costa Rica. ECUADOR 2 POLAND 0 Ecuador's Agustin Delgado, left, scores past Poland's Artur Boruc. Poland and Ecuador had offered a fantastic match on the tournament's opening day. They had come here to the City of a Thousand Fires, a name honouring Gelsenkirchen's coal-mining past, to essentially decide who would provide the greatest challenge to Germany in group A. Powered by Carlos Tenorio's glancing header midway through the first half and Agustin Delgado's simple finish near the end, Ecuador took a giant step towards the second round by earning a 2-0 victory over favoured Poland before a sell-out crowd of 52,000 at the Arena. South Korea took the lead in the 31st minute after a cool finish from Togo. Cho Jae-Jin and Lee Eul-Yong tried long-range efforts as South Korea tried to get back into the game against Togo, but they still seemed dazed at having gone behind. Surprise semi-finalists of 2002, the South Koreans looked like they might suffer a taste of their own medicine when Togo, on their FIFA World Cup debut, took a 31st-minute lead through Kader. RONALDO created World Cup history on Tuesday at the game against Ghana, when he became the most prolific goalscorer in the competition, collecting his 15th goal to eclipse the previous record held by West Germany's Gerd Mueller. Berlin, 28 June: Two days without a match to watch brings us to amuse the following news - Former German Foreign Minister is trading his parliament seat for a professor's cap at Princeton? Former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer has accepted a teaching gig at Princeton. Starting this fall, he will teach international crisis diplomacy to the next generation of American elites. [source: Spiegel Online] Forza Italia - Viva La France: who's going to win? To be very impartial, Germany was not at all a good team in the whole WC tournament. Only home advantage brought them till quarterfinal. German team is very young in compare to other countries, average age 21 years. Out of Michael Ballack a few of them has such a WC tournament experience. France on the other hand is number one team in the world with Zinedine Zidane at the top. He showed at the game against Portugal at semi-final and against Brazil in quarterfinal what a great player he is, completely bossing the game, looking in total control and enjoying it. What a contrast to Ronaldinho who was pretty anonymous though that was not entirely his fault, France were just set up as a much more balanced team. Now about the final match, in compare to Italy, France has a solid defence with Makelele and Vieira in front of them never let the name’s of Italy unsettle or get by them. Italian coach Marcello Lippi didn't have time to join his team and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi in singing "O Sole Mio" after Italy's World Cup semifinal victory against Germany Tuesday night. France can win this World Cup 2006 without any problem. Viva le France!!

Australia's Socceroo fans gear up for World Cup Match in Germany FIFA World Cup 2006™ Germany Happy Birthday Zinédine Zidane (34): The man who incarnates French hopes has racked up trophies and superlatives as one of the world's top players, playing the last five years with star-studded Real Madrid. Zidane will come back with his team for France in the next round of the World Cup. Zidane, celebrating his 34th birthday today (22 June), is an extrovert on the playing field and a quiet family man off it. He is involved in charity work in France and North Africa. Berlin, 24th June: Germany, Argentina Favored to Advance to World Cup Quarterfinal. Podolski scored on just three minutes, driving home the loose ball after Sweden keeper Andreas Isaksson parried. And Podolski finished smartly after Miroslav Klose's pass on 12 minutes. Beckenbauer marries surprisingly in middle of the WC events Franz Beckenbauer, president of the organizing committee of FIFA gave the yes-word to his life companion Heidi Burmester surprisingly during the football world cup events. Just before the last group plays he married his life companion Heidi Burmester on Friday (23.06) noon at 12.30 o'clock in the register office at Oberndorf, in Bavaria, so the newspaper „Bild“ reported and a friend of the German Press Agency confirmed. „We wanted to be really for us only, and wanted to avoid every kind of festivity“, said Beckenbauer . Heidi, the third wife of him, said: „We are simply lucky“. 60-years-old Beckenbauer has been living for several years with Heidi Burmester (39), who used to work as a secretary for Football club Bayern, and the couple have two children, Joel Maximilian, aged four, and one-year-old Francesca Antonie. England, Portugal to Play for World Cup Football Quarterfinal Berlin,June 26 England will try to avoid a third straight quarterfinal defeat in a major football tournament after beating Ecuador 1-0 to set up a World Cup encounter with Portugal, which eliminated the Netherlands by the same score. David Beckham scored with a free kick in Stuttgart yesterday while a strike from Portugal's Maniche was enough to defeat the Netherlands in a match in Nuremberg that featured a World Cup record four dismissals. France face Brazil at Quarterfinal - A replay of the 1998 WC final? France's Thierry Henry celebrates a 3-1 win after the match Spain vs France. Photo Courtesy of AFP June 28th, Hanover: Zidane and France scored in the last minutes to extend their lead to beat Spain 3-1 and move to the quarter final of the FIFA world cup soccer 2006 !! This could have been Zidane’s last match if they had not won!! Now France has to face Brazil on Saturday. Brazil has defeated Ghana and reached also to quarterfinal. So a replay of the 1998 World Cup final is set up !! QUARTERFINAL 30. Juni 2006: Zum Sommeranfang hat Hyundai den Urlaub-Check 2006 für die sichere Fahrt in den Urlaub im Angebot Germany vr Argentina 5:3 - June 30, Berlin: After a dream Quarterfinal match between Germany and Argentina took the Klinsman team of Germany the lead in a penalty shootout 5:3 against Argentina. Jens Lehmann, keeper of German team saved twice in a shoot-out to give the hosts a 4-2 win on penalties over Argentina yesterday, after their World Cup quarterfinal had ended 1-1 after extra time. He saved 2 penalties, while Germany scored all four of their spot kicks The most interesting quarterfinal game: France - Brazil (1:0) 9th July Finale: Italia World Champion 2006 adidas WORLD OF FOOTBALL Some important venues for spectators of the WC are located in and around Berlin. In front of the Parliaments building a giant temporary Stadium has been built by the main Sponsor ADIDAS sports article company. The Adidas Arena is looks like a real arena and several thousands spectators can seat there to watch the games projecting in giant TV-Screens placed in different angels. All German prominent TV moderators are always broadcasting there entertainment program from there, and not only on match days. During the WC, the "Strasse des 17. Juni" (5 km) has been closed for traffic between the "Grosser Stern" and the Brandenburg Gate and Pariser Platz.