Klinsmann calls on US bosses to give staff time off...
USA national coach Jurgen Klinsmann has offered a helping hand to the millions of Americans fretting about missing Thursday’s match against Germany - and has written an open letter encouraging bosses across the country to give workers time off to take in what has become one of the biggest games in the nation’s "soccer" history.
The match kicks off at 5pm BST – midday on the east coast of the States and even earlier on the west – and with the team earning four points from their first two games, they need only need a draw to progress from the "group of death".
More than 16 million people watched the so-called “USMNT” beat Ghana in the first game, while 25 million tuned in to watch the 2-2 draw against Portugal. And the tongue-in-cheek letter from Klinsmann may help them eclipse that figure.
“I understand that this absence may reduce the productivity of your workplace but I can assure you that it is for an important cause.
“You can just do what most of us will do: play hooky,” he writes…here's hoping the bosses across the pond take a sympathetic view!
Klinsmann's letter to bosses
Taking the World Cup to the streets of Australia
While their campaign may be over, an Australian comic double act known as The Stampede have taken the game to the streets of their homeland - including unsuspecting members of the public into their shenanigans.
The pair drop to the floor in agony in the middle of a supermarket because of the faintest of touches from a fellow shopper, score goals on busy pavements and celebrate with members of the public and stop cars to draw the line with the newly introduced referee’s foam…with hilarious consequences.
Eto’o's emotional meeting with young Cameroon fan
Upon leaving the team hotel as they prepared to depart Brazil after going out of the World Cup – Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o sidestepped the clamouring press pack and took time out to meet a young fan.
An emotional Eto’o hugged the youngster, clad in the national shirt of his country, before heading back to the team bus en route to the airport.
Not a single word was exchanged between the two, but the sort of special moment you will only get at a World Cup…
