Futbol en Vivo

Chile manager Jorge Sampaoli has criticised the Arena Corinthians pitch ahead of the final group match against Netherlands. Arena Corinthians will be the home of Brazilian outfit Corinthians once the World Cup comes to an end. A very impressive stadium that has been purpose-built for the World Cup, this will be able to hold just under 63,000 fans at any given moment. The pitches at the World Cup 2014 have so far been excellent, but Sampaoli has blamed the Arena Corinthians pitch for not being conducive to good football.

Chile going to the final match against Netherlands hoping to get a win. Both teams are level on six points after having won the first two group matches. However, Netherlands lead the table because of a better goal difference compared to Chile. The Latin American team has to be Netherlands in order to finish top of the group, which will be of major significance when it comes to the last 16 opponent. Brazil are expected to top their group, which will put them against the runners up of group B. Currently, this position is occupied by Chile.

Sampaoli will be aware that facing Brazil in the last 16 stage puts his team at a major disadvantage. Hence, he has targeted a win against the Dutch, but it will not be easy against the brilliant attack featuring Arjen Robben.

“We normally do not train at the stadiums. We prefer to stay near our place, also to preserve the grass. The surface today is totally deteriorated. In a World Cup, (teams) shouldn’t be permitted to train at the stadium before the match. The pitch in the stadium is in a bad state, we don’t want to destroy it more. Tomorrow we will have a match in the stadium on a pitch that does not reach our expectations,” said the Chile manager.

Corinthians managed to continue their climb up the table after a 1-0 win over Cruzeiro on Wednesday. This was a very important victory given that their opposition were prior to the match. A defeat for even two dropped points would have put Corinthians at a serious disadvantage for the title. However, now they can hope towards maintaining their place near the top of the table. Paolo Guerrero scored the only goal of the game in the 68th minute to give Corinthians the victory. This was also the second consecutive victory for Corinthians, who have 16 points on the board of the nine matches.

As a result of this victory, Mano Menezes’ team now moved level on points with Fluminense and São Paulo. Internacional are not too far behind and are also on the same number of points. Since Corinthians did not have much injury problems apart from the absence of goalkeeper Cassio, Mano Menezes named a similar starting line-up apart from the goalkeeper change. Walter, who was named in the Corinthians goal, made some crucial saves in the first of to deny the opposition. Corinthians also had several opportunities to break the deadlock in the first half, but were guilty of some poor finishing.

In the second half, the goal proved very crucial, as Corinthians held on for three points. The defeat for Cruzeiro is vitally important not only for Corinthians but also for the entire Brazilian league, as they had already opened a three-point advantage after just nine matches. A victory for them in this match would have almost put them out of touching distance. The top of the Brazilian championship is proving to be an intriguing title race this season. Most of the top clubs are in with the chance to win the title at the end of the season.

Tottenham midfielder Paulinho has returned to his former club Corinthians, at least on a temporary basis. It has been revealed by the Brazilian club that the 25-year-old will be training with them in Brazil prior to the start of the World Cup 2014. Brazil will be taking a risk on the midfielder, who has rarely featured for the Tottenham first-team in the second half of the season. Former club manager Tim Sherwood even challenged Paulinho to show his best form next season onwards. Paulinho was a £ 16 million signing in the summer after he moved from Corinthians.

Prior to the move, he had spent five years with the Brazilian club from 2008 to 2013. He soon after the move, it seems that he still maintains cordial relationship with his former club, as they have allowed him to use their training facilities before the World Cup. Brazil’s opening match of the tournament will be against Croatia, but before that, they come up against the likes of Panama and Serbia in friendly matches. It is expected that Paulinho has to impressive heavily in order to feature in the final squad, as manager Luiz Felipe Scolari has only named a provisional squad until now.

It is expected that performance in this too friendly matches will play a major role in selection for the final squad.

“It’s a great pleasure to train at Corinthians and even more so because I’m preparing for a World Cup. I was fortunate to have one of the happiest times of my life at Corinthians and it’s going to be good for me [to be back],” said the midfielder about his return to Corinthians – at least on a temporary basis. There has been a lot of speculation about the future of the midfielder at Tottenham with Chelsea being interested in him.