By Tom Parsons
May 23 – Social media platforms are already buzzing about what could be one of the greatest World Cup’s of all time. Players and fans alike are sharing news, views and opinions on Brazil 2014 with just 21 days until it begins.
England’s World Cup preparations have included a trip to Portugal for some training and team bonding. Daniel Sturridge has been active on social media platforms including posting photos of himself with other members of the England squad. He’s also used his Instagram account to show Alex Oxlade Chamberlain mocking his wavy armed goal scoring celebration next to the pool in the apartment they’re staying in.
Liverpool team mates Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling clearly enjoyed Oxlade Chamberlain’s impression with their reactions. Sturridge himself didn’t seem as amused as he comments: “I’m not happy!”
USA’s football coach Jurgen Klinsmann’s son Jonathan has deleted his Twitter account after posting a Tweet which referred to the non-selection of arguably one of the greatest American football players of all time, Landon Donovan.
Klinsmann’s son seemingly found Donovan being left out the squad by his father as hilarious as he Tweeted “HAHAHAHAHAHAH DONOVAN HAHAHAHAA I DIDNT EVEN NOTICE UNTIL MY PHONE NOTIFIED ME”. Jonathan Klinsmann is currently part of a US under 18 training camp and plays as a goalkeeper. He did see the errors of his ways and later Tweeted “Yes, I deleted the tweet, Yes, I realize it was VERY classless. But again, My sincerest apologies to everyone who was offended.”
Donovan, obviously frustrated at Jurgen Klinsmann’s decision to omit him, went to his Facebook page to address his thoughts on the decision.
“It has been an honor and privilege to have represented the US National Team in three World Cups. I was looking forward to playing in Brazil and, as you can imagine, I am very disappointed with today’s decision. Regardless, I will be cheering on my friends and teammates this summer,and I remain committed to helping grow soccer in the US in the years to come. Thanks for all your support,” he said.
Meanwhile in Iran, where Twitter has been banned and blocked since 2009, defender Hossein Mahini has become the first Iranian footballer to have his Twitter page verified, meaning that every nation at this year’s festival of football will have at least one representative on Twitter.
Fellow countrymen Sardar Azmou and midfielder Mohammed Reza Khalatbari who will also be on the plane to South America have joined the social networking site. Mahini has stated “the people of Iran and our fans like to know what we are doing while [in Brazil]”. Many Iranian’s still use Twitter through proxy servers and those Iranian nationals living abroad will want to follow their team at their 4th World Cup appearance.
French International Paul Pogba has decided to hand over the reigns of his Twitter account to the “Pogba family” for the duration of the World Cup. Obviously keen to concentrate on his and the French team’s performances in Brazil, Pogba’s account will be run by Le Dos, Mamso and Ya’ Flo during the tournament starting next month.
Mexico’s coach Miguel Herrera has put a ban on smoking, drinking and in particular, sex for the duration of the competition, but is happy for his players to use Facebook and Twitter to connect with fans. So far the only country to ban their players from using social media during Brazil 2014 is Italy.
Twitter themselves have already said themselves that there are 50 million fans already on Twitter, 90 % of UK Twitter users will be tuning into the World Cup and that there have been 10 million mentions of the World Cup in the last 12 months!
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