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GERMANY Harry Sherlock "Ozil has remained quiet on the matter, while undogan was whistled by supporters prior to a friendly encounter with Saudi Arabia. And Effenberg does not believe that the players should have been included in Germany's squad for the tournament in Russia. "If you bet on certain values, as the DFB repeatedly conveys, then the decision can only be made by throwing the two players out," said Effenberg. Effenberg has experience of being excluded from the national team, being thrown out of the panel in 1994 after making an obscene gesture towards the supporters. "Ozil and Gundogan have now been lucky that the DFB acted in this case in an inconsistent way, and not quickly." Referring to Gundogan's experience against the Saudis, Effenberg added: "That's the worst thing that can happen to you, because you're asking yourself a lot of questions, like the value of wearing this jersey." Germany are regar...

Match Preview The two teams are not seen as favourites to progress through to the last 16 as the two other Group A teams are Uruguay and Egypt – who possess both individual and collective talent – but, as ever, surprises are expected to be in store. Russia will be looking to impress their fans on home turf when they open the tournament proper, having underperformed in Brazil in 2014 after crashing out in the group stages following a loss to Belgium and failure to register victory against South Korea and Algeria. Their form at Euro 2016 wasn't great either, picking up just one point in the group stages against England, and will be given the opportunity to redeem themselves when they host the finals in familiar territory. "We can’t really influence people’s opinions, we can only see what kind of a group we have," said head coach Stanislav Cherchesov. "We have been studying our opponents from day one. "There are no weak teams in any of the groups. Th...

Goal brings you all the details and information you need to know ahead of the opening World Cup game between Russia and Saudi Arabia This year's World Cup finals will open with a Group A fixture between host nation Russia and Saudi Arabia on  June 14  at the   Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, kicking off the beginning of the group stages. Thursday's match will be the only one held on that day to coincide with the  opening ceremony , with three group stage fixtures taking place each day until June 28. Russia are first-time hosts of the tournament and qualified automatically, and will be making their fourth appearance at the finals since 1990. Asian qualifiers Saudi Arabia's best result at a World Cup was finishing in the last 16 in 1994, and will be hoping for a better finish this tournament. Goal  brings you all you need to know ahead of the clash between the two sides that follows the opening ceremony. Game Russia vs Saudi Arabia Date Thursday, J...