Some of England's players will reportedly be offered as much as three weeks off after the World Cup.GETTY IMAGES
England's World Cup players "could miss the start of next season following their march" to the World Cup semifinals. The side is guaranteed to play its last match in Russia this weekend -- either in Sunday's final or Saturday's third-place playoff. Those games take place "just four weeks before the Premier League resumes, not enough time" for the starting XI "to have a proper rest and return to action for their clubs" (London TELEGRAPH, 7/8).
Less than a day after being knocked out the World Cup by Belgium, Neymar said that "he will find it hard to return to club football." He said that the defeat was "the low point of his footballing life." Neymar said on Instagram, "I can tell you this is the saddest moment of my career, the pain is huge because we know that we could have gone far, we knew that we had what it takes to go further, to make history ... but it wasn't to be this time" (REUTERS, 7/7).
Croatia defender Domagoj Vida escaped a FIFA ban on Sunday after posting a clip dedicating his country's victory over Russia in the World Cup quarterfinal to Ukraine. The 29-year-old shouted "Glory to Ukraine!" in a video posted by former Croatia int'l Ognjen Vukojevic "shortly after the dramatic finale in Sochi." FIFA said that it studied the video and "decided to issue a warning to Vida but not take any further measures" (AFP, 7/8).
Two men were detained in Moscow on "suspicion of robbing a British reporter who is in the Russian capital to cover the World Cup," Russia's Interior Ministry confirmed. Russian news agency TASS reported that the journalist was working for the BBC and "lost consciousness after drinking a drugged cup of coffee early on Friday morning and awoke to find his belongings had been stolen" (ESPN.com, 7/8).
The FA paid "for up to two members of each England player's family" to attend Saturday's quarterfinal against Sweden in Samara on a flight chartered by the governing body. Given the "scarcity and expense of finding flights to Samara at such short notice," the FA decided to fund two flights and a pair of tickets per player, a gesture which was "well received in the dressing room" (LONDON TIMES, 7/6).
England fans entered an IKEA in London to sing "It's Coming Home" and celebrate England's quarterfinal win on Saturday. Video from inside the store shows fans "dancing on beds and singing" after England managed to clinch a spot in the World Cup semifinals for the first time in 28 years. Shop workers inside the store were seen "putting their hands over their faces in disbelief while the group ran around" (London EVENING STANDARD, 7/8).
