GoalToons: World Cup moments

Get animated by watching the heroes, villains and highlights of previous tournaments as you have never seen them before. Eight episodes on World Cup greatest nations. The videos are available in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese and Arabic.

GoalToons: Brazil

GoalToons: Italy

GoalToons: Germany

GoalToons: Argentina

GoalToons: England

GoalToons: France

GoalToons: Spain

GoalToons: Netherlands

GoalToons credits:

Animation Director: Omar Momani

Animation: Sameer Aburezeq

Animation Assitant: Bassem Nabil

Narration on Germany, England and Netherlands: Mike V. Derderian

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Injuries pile up ahead of World Cup

Injuries have already made their mark on the World Cup with the likes of Victor Valdes, Kevin Strootman and Theo Walcott all failing to make the tournament long before its even begun.

And the injuries continue to pile up.

Italy have been dealt a blow as midfielder Riccardo Montolivo will miss out with a broken leg, while there were scares during Wednesday’s friendlies for Robin van Persie and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Thursday, 5 June 2014 12:00

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Van Persie prepares for Van Gaal's walk of fire

Much has been made of Robin van Persie's strong relationship with Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal, and he recently admitted he would walk on fire for the incoming Manchester United boss.

He probably wouldn't considering his injury record, but it's nice to know.

Sunday, 1 June 2014 12:00

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Dutch Master Van Persie overtakes class of legends

Netherlands destroyed Hungary 8-1 in Amsterdam on Friday evening in one of the Oranje's more impressive displays.

Louis van Gaal's side had already qualified for World Cup 2014 but put on a show in front of expectant fans in the Amsterdam ArenA, led by Robin van Persie.

The Manchester United striker has steadily climbed the goalscoring ranks for his country, but finally overtook Patrick Kluivert at the top of the list after he netted a stellar hat-trick against Hungary.

Van Persie celebrated his 40th strike by running to Kluivert - now assistant coach to Van Gaal - before repeating the act of emotion as he went one better than the former Ajax and Barcelona hitman with his third goal on the night.

Saturday, October 12, 2013 11:52

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Netherlands & Italy settle in for World Cup party

Victories for Netherlands and Italy in their World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday ensured they both booked their spot at the 2014 showpiece in Brazil.

Louis van Gaal's side progressed from Group D following a 2-0 win over minnows Andorra, while the Italians came from behind to defeat Czech Republic 2-1 in Turin.

Argentina, Costa Rica and the USA also sealed their passage to Brazil for next summer's international tournament as the beaches of Rio await!

Wednesday, September 11, 2013 12:00

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Race to Rio continues as stars face World Cup qualifiers

The race to qualify for World Cup 2014 continues in earnest this weekend with many top stars in action for their countries.

The world’s most expensive footballer, Gareth Bale, should feature for Wales although Real Madrid’s newest recruit is highly unlikely to make it to Rio.

Another big summer signing Mesut Ozil is in action for Germany, who are closing in on qualification, while Manchester United new-boy Marouane Fellaini will face Scotland with Belgium.

Elsewhere expect to see Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in action as club football takes a back seat this weekend.

Friday, 6 September 2013 11:50

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Ronaldo might need helping hand to reach Brazil 2014

 

If Cristiano Ronaldo is not worried, he probably should be. Portugal are labouring in qualification for another major tournament - this time, Brazil 2014.

Friday's 3-3 draw away with Israel has left Paulo Bento's men third in Group F, four points behind Fabio Capello's Russia, who also have a game in hand.

If they win, the gap will extend to seven, in all likelihood condemning Portugal to a life-and-death scrap with Israel for second place and passage into a nail-biting qualifying playoff.

There also remains the distinct possibility that Ronaldo, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of his or any generation, will not even make it to the World Cup next year.

Missing out could potentially deal a fatal blow to the Real Madrid superstar's hopes of adding a World Cup winner's medal to his heaving collection, and hand Lionel Messi a decisive advantage in their epic rivalry.

With this in mind, he needs all the help he can get. 
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Platini's Euro 2020 vision gets the green light

 

Friday brought confirmation from Uefa that the year 2020 will, for the first time, see the European Championships spread across 13 cities from all over the continent.

Michel Platini, president of the governing body, has been the biggest proponent of the idea and finally sees it come to fruition.

And now the stars of the next decade of international football, including the likes of Paul Pogba, Stephan El Shaarawy and Mario Gotze, can start to plan their triumphant EuroTrip!
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A convenient truth? Ronaldo, Rooney & RVP out of friendlies

 

Another raft of international friendlies are upon us and, with them, a whole host of convenient injuries to some of Europe's biggest stars.

Cristiano Ronaldo has pulled out of Portugal's clash with Gabon on Wednesday due to a badly gashed eye sustained against Levante this weekend.

Manchester United duo Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie, meanwhile, have also withdrawn from duty with England and the Netherlands, despite both featuring heavily in the Red Devils' comeback victory over Aston Villa on Saturday.

Of course, no one would be cynical enough to suggest that 'knocks' like these were crudely manufactured by club managers to buy their key men some crucial rest time, but no one can deny that the absence of their best players is a constant source of frustration to national team bosses.

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Sir Alex sweats as Kagawa & Van Persie limp back

 

With Wayne Rooney already sidelined with a gashed leg, the last result Sir Alex Ferguson will have wanted from the international break is more injuries to his collection of forwards.

He will not have been pleased, then, to see Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa limp off their flights back to Manchester. Van Persie was substituted at half-time in the Netherlands' match against Hungary, while Kagawa did not play for Japan against Iraq.

Sir Alex does, at least, have Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck to call upon as the Red Devils prepare to face Wigan Athletic.

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Van Gaal in the deep end with Netherlands job

 

After a disastrous Euro 2012 campaign which included squabbles within the squad and a string of toothless displays, Louis van Gaal has now been handed the task of getting Netherlands back on track.

A trio of dismal performances in Group B last month condemned Netherlands to an early exit and led to the resignation of Bert van Marwijk.

With a raft of Dutch players airing their differences with each other in public at last month's tournament, Van Gaal will step into the Oranje hotseat for the second time in his career but will instantly face a tough test ahead of the World Cup 2014 qualifiers.
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England next on Low's hitlist

 

After a comfortable 4-2 win over Greece in the Euro 2012 quarter-finals on Friday night, Germany are on course to make the final of the tournament and have now won a record-setting 15 consecutive competitive games.
Joachim Low's men will face either England or Italy in the last four, and the Mannschaft coach is ready to add another major European nation to his list of defeated opponents ahead of the tournament decider in Kiev....
 

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Ronaldo passes Euro 2012 exam with flying colours to send Dutch & Danes packing

 

Cristiano Ronaldo answered his critics in stunning style on Sunday night with his virtuoso performance in Portugal's 2-1 victory over Netherlands at Euro 2012.

After enduring a difficult start to the competition, the Real Madrid star scored both goals to book his side's place in the quarter-finals against Czech Republic - sending the Dutch and Denmark home.
That took Ronaldo's tally for the season to an astonishing 65 for club and country, although the 27-year-old will know that his work has only just begun if he is to deny arch-rival Lionel Messi yet another Ballon D'Or.
 

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Messi steals the limelight from Euro 2012

 

All the attention may be on events at Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine but Lionel Messi still managed to hog the limelight after his hat-trick in Argentina's 4-3 friendly win over Brazil on Saturday.

The Barcelona star's superb treble in front of 82,000 fans at the Meadowlands Stadium in New York - home of American football teams the Giants and the Jets - took his season's tally to a remarkable 82 goals for club and country to single-handedly beat the combined number of times the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and Portugal found the net on the same day.

And with his arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo firing blanks, Messi proved once again why he is rated as the world's best player.

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Euro 2012 race set to start

 

The day has finally arrived. Euro 2012 will kick off this evening as tournament co-hosts Poland take on Greece in Group A's opening fixture.

With all 16 nations having made all of their final preparations ahead of the tournament, it's now left to us to sit back and enjoy day after day of world-class football.
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Euro 2012 squads arrive in need of an immediate health check

 

Euro 2012 has yet to get underway but various nations are already smarting from injuries and withdrawals.

England are first in the casualty queue as Gareth Barry, Frank Lampard and, most recently, Gary Cahill have all been ruled out of the tournament, leaving Roy Hodgson reaching for cover.

Yann M'Vila is a doubt for France's opener against England after suffering from an ankle sprain, while Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has only recently returned to training following a thigh problem.
Elsewhere, Italy defender Andrea Barzagli is a doubt for the tournament due to a calf problem, while Nani is Portugal's biggest injury concern with a knock to his right foot.

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Europe's giants take an unlikely beating

 

Saturday saw shock results all over the continent as some of Europe's best and brightest were brought down to Earth by the smaller nations.

Netherlands lost 2-1 at home to Bulgaria, Germany were blown away by Switzerland in an extraordinary 5-3, while Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal could only draw 0-0 with lowly Macedonia.

It was a day in which the Davids of European football delivered some unexpected beatings to the much-fancied Goliaths, putting preconceptions into doubt ahead of Euro 2012...

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Ruud decides to hang up his boots

 

A whole heap of defenders enjoyed a particularly comfortable night's sleep on Monday after the news came through that Ruud van Nistelrooy has decided to call time on his playing career.

The Malaga striker, who terrorised both the Eredivisie with PSV and the Premier League in a Manchester United shirt before initially coming to Spain with Real Madrid, happily declared that "I couldn't have a better send-off than this" as he stopped to reflect on a sparkling career...

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Pick on someone your own size!

 

Goalkeeper Joe Hart might be England's last man standing by the time Wednesday night's international friendly against Netherlands at Wembley kicks off, given the rate of withdrawals from the Three Lions' squad.  

Glen Johnson became the fifth player to pull out, joining Darren Bent, Wayne Rooney, Tom Cleverley and Kyle Walker on the injured list..... 

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Europa League new Arrivals

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