England head coach Roy Hodgson refuses to rule out success in Brazil

England head coach Roy Hodgson has not ruled out England winning the World Cup but admits his side will face a tough test if they are to claim international football's ultimate prize.

Hodgson's men booked their place in next year's finals in Brazil after a tough qualifying campaign with a 2-0 victory over Poland on Tuesday night.

England are regarded as one of the outsiders to win the tournament of the countries that have already booked their place and Hodgson was keen to adopt a cautious approach.

But the experienced campaigner also made a point of keeping alive hopes of a surprise victory by saying it was not impossible England could return home with the trophy.

"European teams don't win in South America, but I don't think there's any point in saying 'this is impossible'. I also think we've been in a slight transition period, young players are coming through, we're getting better, but we're not at the level of some other teams who are clearly bigger favourites."

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England move up in world rankings but will not be seeded for World Cup draw

England will not be seeded for the World Cup draw in December despite moving up seven places to No 10 in the world rankings.

FIFA is using the rankings released on Thursday to determine the seeds for the tournament, with hosts Brazil and the top qualified teams sure to be kept apart in the group stage.

Roy Hodgson's side will therefore be in pot two and will be drawn into a group which includes one of Brazil, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Colombia, Belgium, Switzerland and either Uruguay or the Netherlands when the draw is made on 6 December.

Uruguay face a play-off against Jordan in November to confirm their place in Brazil, but if they lose, their seeded place will be taken by the Netherlands.

The new rankings have also confirmed which of the teams will be seeded for the European play-off draw. Portugal, Greece, Croatia and Ukraine will all be in pot one, with France, Sweden, Romania and Iceland in pot two.

Scotland, who beat Croatia 2-0 in their final World Cup qualifier on Tuesday, are the biggest climbers in the new rankings, jumping 28 places to 35th.

Wales, who beat Macedonia last week before earning a creditable draw with Belgium on Tuesday, are up eight places to 44th.

The Republic of Ireland are down one place at 60th, with Northern Ireland down four at 90th.

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Hattrick Perdana Ronaldo di Timnas Portugal

BERITA BOLA TERBARU , Hattrick Perdana Ronaldo di Timnas Portugal. Sama halnya dengan Italia, Portugal pun meraih hasil sempurna mana kala menghadapi Irlandia Utara pada lanjutan kualifikasi Piala Dunia 2014. Bermain di Windsor Park, Sabtu (7/9) dini hari WIB, anak asuh Paulo Bento itu berhasil mempermalukan tuan rumah dengan akhir 4-2.

Mega bintang Cristiano Ronaldo berhasil mencetak hattrick untuk klub berjuluk Seleccão das Quinas itu. Ini merupakan hattrick perdana Ronaldo semenjak berkostum Portugal. Tambahan tiga gol ini membuat Ronaldo mengemas 43 gol dan mencatatkan namanya sebagai pencetak gol terbanyak kedua dalam sejarah Portugal.

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Barca Masih Buru Gelar Baru

Berita Bola Terbaru, Barca masih buru gelar baru. Pelatih Josep Guardiola telah berhasil membawa Barcelona menjuarai Piala Dunia Antar Klub 2011. Tapi pelatih berkepala plontos itu mengatakan timnya masih lapar akan gelar.

Gelar juara dunia antar klub merupakan gelar ke-13 bagi Guardiola selama melatih tim Catalan tersebut. Seperti diketahui Barca mengalahkan dengan mudah wakil dari Amerika Selatan Santos dengan skor meyakinkan empat gol tanpa balas.

Dia juga mengatakan gelar tersebut merupakan kado sempurna untuk menyambut tahun 2012. Apalagi sepekan sebelumnya, Barca berhasil menumbangkan Real Madrid di edisi El Clasico perdana musim ini dengan skor 3-1.

“Ini akan menjadi kejutan buat saya jika tim bermain menyerah,” ujar Guardiola seperti dilansir Watoday, Senin (19/12/2011).

Meski saat ini Real Madrid kembali memimpin pacuan La Liga, Pep tetap yakin mereka akan bisa bersaing untuk mempertahankan gelar juara La Liga yang menjadi salah satu target mereka di musim ini.

“Target kami adalah bermain sepakbola hebat untuk banyak orang, berjuang mempertahankan La Liga dan perjalanan mengelilingi Eropa untuk menunjukan ke orang level kami,” tandasnya.

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Barcelona Klub Terbaik Dunia

Berita Bola Terbaru, Barcelona klub terbaik dunia. Barcelona sukses menjadi juara di ajang Piala Dunia antarKlub setelah menaklukkan Santos dengan skor telak di International Stadium, Yokohama, Minggu (18/12/2011). Lionel Messi menjadi aktor kemenangan tersebut dengan mencetak dua gol di laga final tersebut.

Barcelona mampu memperlihatkan ciri khas permainan mereka dalam pertandingan ini. Klub asuhan Pep Guardiola ini mendominasi permainan sepanjang babak pertama, umpan-umpan pendek gaya Blaugrana mampu menghipnotis para pemain Santos yang lebih banyak berusaha menahan gempuran anak-anak Catalan ini.

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