Week 2 - World Cup, 2014, Brazil, German

Brazil rethinking national team's future after disastrous loss, failure in home World Cup

SAO PAULO –  The World Cup held potential disaster for Brazil - the country, not the team.

Yet the country pulled of a magnificent tournament, albeit with a few bumps. It's the team that has left many Brazilians wondering what went horribly wrong.

The cup was widely seen as theirs for the taking, especially on home turf. They leave the Cup in fourth place with their star badly injured and the brutal memory of a 7-1 rout by the Germans in front of a global audience.

The most successful nation in World Cup history has been eliminated in three straight tournaments, enough to raise questions about whether it's doing the right things to keep up with countries that have dominated the sport in recent years.

It's already clear Brazil won't be the same after the home tournament.

A change in coach is almost certain, and new players will be joining Neymar and Oscar for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Critics say bigger changers are needed, including in the local football confederation.

The resounding 7-1 loss to Germany, which embarrassed the nation, could become a turning point for the national team. The semifinal defeat has everyone thinking about the need to rebuild.

"We failed. We didn't play up to expectations, we know it wasn't a good tournament," said striker Neymar, who missed the last two matches because of a back injury. "We didn't play the kind of football that the Brazilian national team plays. It was just regular, and that's why we still reached the semifinals, but it wasn't Brazilian football, not the kind of football that enchants everybody."

Brazil never displayed its traditional "Jogo Bonito," or "Beautiful Game," and ended the tournament with three wins, two draws and two losses, including 3-0 to the Netherlands in the third-place match on Saturday.

"Brazilian football has to evolve in general," right back Dani Alves said. "We can't discredit the work that has been done by this team, but we have to find a way to start restructuring our football from the youth levels up."

The president of the Brazilian confederation, Jose Maria Marin, had said that losing the World Cup at home would be like "going to hell."

"We need to think football differently," said Brazilian coach Paulo Autuori, who led Sao Paulo to the Club World Cup title in 2005. "We need the Brazilian confederation in the hands of people from football. We need people in charge who can think football."

Marin, a former politician, is leaving the confederation next year and will be replaced by Sao Paulo state federation president Marco Paulo Del Nero. Both were politically linked to Ricardo Teixeira, who ruled the confederation for more than 20 years before resigning in 2012 citing medical reasons and amid a cloud of allegations of corruption and irregularities in his administration.

Del Nero had said he would like Scolari to stay as the head of the national team despite his failure to win the title at home, but Marin was expected to announce on Monday that the confederation will not keep the coach after the World Cup. Scolari had said it would be up to the confederation to decide whether he would continue.

Scolari was picked to lead the 2014 team mostly because of his popularity and experience from the 2002 title, but many critics said he was outdated as a coach. Before rejoining the national team, the coach was relegated in the Brazilian league with Palmeiras.

"We should thank him, but we need to choose new people with new thoughts about how to play the Brazilian way," said former Brazil star Zico, who also blamed Brazil's problems "on poor administration, a lack of structure and a vacuum of leadership."

Scolari said Brazil is going through a period in which there are "fewer young promising players" in the country, and said that the confederation needs to "keep working" to make sure more appear in the future.

There are a few names already rumored to be the next coach, including Tite and Muricy Ramalho, who have been successful with local clubs in recent years. Ramalho is a four-time Brazilian champion, while Tite led Corinthians to the Club World Cup title in 2012. There is also talk in local media about international coaches, including Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, and Chile's Argentine coach Jorge Sampaoli.

Regardless of the new coach, many of the players will be changing.

Of the 23 players picked by Scolari for the home tournament, only seven will be younger than 30 in Russia — Neymar, Oscar, Marcelo, Luiz Gustavo, Paulinho, Willian and Bernard.

"It was disappointing in the end, but we have to remember that this generation has started a rebuilding process for 2018 with a fourth-place finish at the World Cup," Scolari noted.

Neymar, who will be 26 in Russia, will still be carrying the hopes of the national team for a sixth world title.

"This will hurt for a long time, but we know that better days will come," the 22-year-old striker said. "We have to do whatever possible to make sure we can make the Brazilian people happy again."

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2014/07/14/brazil-rethinking-national-team-future-after-disastrous-loss-failure-in-home/

Structure of the Lead：
WHO-the country (Brazil)
WHEN- after disastrous loss, failure in home World Cup
WHAT- The World Cup held potential disaster for Brazil - the country, not the team.
WHY- disastrous loss
HOW-not given
WHERE- SAO PAULO

Key Words:
1. tournament: 比賽；錦標賽；聯賽
2. albeit: 儘管，雖然

3. brutal: 殘忍的，冷酷的；野蠻的；粗暴的
4. rout: 潰敗，潰退

5. eliminated: （比賽中）淘汰
6. confederation 同盟，聯盟；邦聯
7. semifinal 準決賽的
8. enchant 使著魔
9. discredit 使丟臉；敗壞……的名聲
10.allegation 斷言；申述；辯解；主張
11.relegate 貶謫；放逐
12.vacuum（跟外界隔絕的）孤立狀態

Week1-Ukraine Crisis

Gas Deal Eludes Russia and Ukraine, but Talks Will Continue

By JAMES KANTEROCT. 21, 2014

BRUSSELS — Russian and Ukrainian officials meeting here on Tuesday failed to reach a deal that would restart Russian deliveries of natural gas during the coming winter.
The dispute, which focuses on how much and how soon Ukraine should pay Russia for gas it has already consumed, and the terms for future deliveries, has raised concerns in Europe that supplies of energy from Russia that are piped through Ukraine could be interrupted this winter.
Günther H. Oettinger, the European Union energy commissioner who has already brokered several rounds of talks, told a news conference that he aimed to sign a final agreement next Wednesday.During the coming days “everyone has got some homework to do,” Mr. Oettinger said late Tuesday, after talks that lasted most of the day. But “we have some prospects of a secure supply situation this winter for all European citizens,” he said.The standoff between Russia and Ukraine is delicate for the European Union, which is reliant on the shipment of gas through Ukraine for about a fifth of its gas supplies. Gazprom, Russia’s natural-gas giant, shut the taps in 2006 and 2009 because of disputes with Ukraine, leaving many homes in Central and Eastern Europe without heat.Russia raised its gas prices to Ukraine early this year, and Gazprom halted exports in June because of the size of Ukraine’s outstanding bills. But the Ukrainians have accused the Russians of deliberately setting unfair terms to penalize the government in Kiev for tying itself more closely to the West.
The gas feud represents another front between Ukraine and Russia. Skirmishing in eastern Ukraine has continued in recent weeks between pro-Russian rebels and forces allied with the government in Kiev despite a cease-fire.Key sticking points in the gas talks have been how to calculate the size of Ukraine’s debt and how quickly it should be repaid. One remaining question is whether the European Union will step in to help Ukraine pay its bills.Of the $3.1 billion that Ukraine was agreeing to pay toward settling its debt, an amount of $1.6 billion “is still lacking,” Alexander Novak, the Russian energy minister, told reporters.“This cash gap requires funding,” said Mr. Novak, who suggested that the European Union “should examine the situation and share some of that burden.”For the Ukrainian energy minister, Yuri Prodan, the main contention appeared to be the terms on which it had agreed to buy further supplies of gas, at $385 per 1,000 cubic meters.“The situation needs to be regulated in a fashion so as to continue until spring of next year,” said Mr. Prodan, who called for a binding agreement locking in that price.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/22/business/international/gas-deal-eludes-russia-and-ukraine-but-talks-will-continue.html?_r=0

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- Russian and Ukrainian officials

WHEN- on Tuesday

WHAT- meeting

WHERE- Brussels

HOW-not given

WHY- failed to reach a deal that would restart Russian deliveries of natural gas during the coming winter.

Key Words:

1.      standoff:僵局

2.      halt:暫停

3.      penalize:【律】對……處刑；規定……應處刑使不利；對……不公平

4.      skirmish: 進行小規模戰鬥