World Cup notebook: Image of Pelé shines bright for Brazilian fans

The image of a young Pelé celebrating goals and lifting trophies with Brazil’s national team appeared brightly on the shirts, flags and banners of Brazilian fans gathering before the Seleçao’s World Cup match against South Korea on Monday.

The 82-year-old Pelé remained in a hospital in Sao Paulo recovering from a respiratory infection that was aggravated by COVID-19, and said he would watch the match on television.

“I’ll be watching the game from hospital and I’ll be rooting for each one of you,” he wrote on Twitter. "Good luck!”

In the 10th minute of each half, Brazilian fans opened a large banner with his image behind one of the goals at Stadium 974, a reference to the No. 10 jersey that he used to wear, and chanted his name. In the image, Pelé was shown with the white No. 10 shirt that he wore while playing for Brazilian club Santos.

After Brazil's 4-1 victory, Neymar carried a banner with the soccer great’s image and “Pelé” written on it. The entire team then posed behind it near midfield.

The news coming from Brazil early Monday was good. Two daughters and one grandson of the soccer great said he was not under an imminent risk of death.

It was reason for celebration for the many Brazilians who have been cheering for the Selecao and showing their support to Pelé in Qatar.

“We are all happy to hear that he is getting better,” 35-year-old Brazil fan Raphael Bissonho said. “He’s the King of Football, our biggest symbol in soccer. He represents Brazil as best as anyone. Let’s hope that soon he is out of the hospital and showing us a photo of him watching the national team on the television.”

Pelé had a colon tumor removed last year, but neither his family nor the hospital have said whether it had spread.

Director of Germany’s teams resigns

Oliver Bierhoff is the first managerial casualty of Germany’s early World Cup exit after agreeing to resign as managing director of the country’s national soccer teams and academy.

The German soccer federation said on Monday that Bierhoff agreed to prematurely end his contract. It was due to run through the 2024 European Championship.

Germany is set to host that tournament but there are concerns about the team’s direction after a second successive World Cup exit at the group stage coming after its second-round exit from the European Championship last year.

Bierhoff had a management role with the federation for 18 years since becoming manager of the men’s national team in 2004, two years after the former forward’s last game for Germany. He took over all of the national teams and academy in 2018 and received another promotion this year.

Americans' loss seen by 16.5M on US TV

The United States' tournament-ending 3-1 loss to the Netherlands at the World Cup was seen by 16.5 million on U.S. English- and Spanish-language television and digital streams, according to figures released by Fox and Telemundo.

Fox said its coverage of the round of 16 match, which started at 7 a.m. PST on Saturday, was viewed by an average of 12.9 million. That included almost 600,000 on its digital streaming services.

Telemundo said its Spanish-language coverage was seen by 3.58 million, including 1.26 million for its digital streams on Telemundo and Peacock.

Viewers were down from the previous two U.S. round of 16 matches, according to figures provided by Nielsen.

Korea superstar Son not at his best against Brazil

As Brazil’s big-time player made his return to the World Cup in Qatar, the superstar of South Korean soccer made his exit.

Son Heung-min is his country’s Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and, yes, Neymar, all wrapped up into one. Yet as Neymar recovered from an ankle injury to score in Brazil’s 4-1 win over South Korea in the round of 16 on Monday, Son’s latest chance to light up the sport’s biggest stage came and went.

For Son, there was the frustration of knowing he was never going to be at the peak of his powers at the tournament in Qatar. Not after a fractured eye socket only a few weeks earlier forced him to wear a protective facemask throughout his four matches.

Qatar stadiums’ future

The World Cup stadium was designed to leave a minimal footprint in the Qatari sand. It's now due to be dismantled.

Stadium 974 played host to seven matches, the last of which was Brazil's 4-1 win over South Korea in the round of 16 on Monday.

The Qataris say the stadium will disappear, but it isn't clear when that will happen. The Gulf country will soon stage an Asian Cup, the multi-sport Asian Games and maybe even an Olympics.

Uruguay players charged for confronting ref

Four Uruguay players were charged with offensive behavior by FIFA on Monday for their angry pursuit of the referee after being eliminated from the World Cup.

The Uruguayan soccer federation also faces an extra charge of discrimination, FIFA said without giving details.

The Uruguay team thought it should been awarded a penalty kick in stoppage time of its 2-0 victory over Ghana on Friday. One more goal would have sent Uruguay to the round of 16 instead of South Korea.

FIFA said Edinson Cavani, José María Giménez, Diego Godín and Fernando Muslera face disciplinary cases for “offensive behavior and violations of the principles of fair play” and misconduct.

Serbia charged for team, fan misconduct

FIFA brought disciplinary charges against Serbia on Monday for alleged misconduct by players and fans including offensive chants at a World Cup match against Switzerland.

Tensions flared in the stands and on the field in a rematch of their stormy game at the 2018 World Cup that revived ethnic Balkan rivalries.

Switzerland was captained by Granit Xhaka in Friday's match and he scored the opening goal with an assist from Xherdan Shaqiri in a 3-2 win that eliminated Serbia. Both Swiss players have ethnic Albanian roots and family ties to Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Serbia doesn't recognize Kosovo's sovereignty.

Fans find booze at hotels, Qatar's 1 liquor store

In a dusty neighborhood on the outskirts of Qatar's capital, guards stand duty at a gated compound ringed with razor wire, carefully checking passports and permits before allowing anyone inside. But this isn't a prison or a high-security area associated with the ongoing World Cup.

It's the liquor store.

Rigid limits on alcohol are a fact of life in this conservative Muslim nation on the Arabian Peninsula, which follows the same strict Wahhabi interpretation of Islam as its neighbor Saudi Arabia. Soccer fans coming to Qatar for the World Cup got a taste of that just before the tournament as authorities cancelled beer sales at stadiums.

Yet corks continue to be popped in luxury boxes at games. Fans are filling pints from beer towers at dozens of hotel bars, lounges and nightclubs with liquor licenses. Sales of $14 Budweisers at Doha's FIFA Fan Zone continue unabated.