Lost bag delays Iceland's Russia adventure

Croatia captain Luka Modric says determination and self-belief were always more important than physical stature in football and that will be as true in Sunday's World Cup final as in any other match.

At 1.72 metres (5ft 8in) and 66kg (146 lbs), the Croatia playmaker can cut a diminutive figure on the pitch but he has few rivals when it comes to skill, game-management and stamina.

On Sunday, the winner of four Champions League titles with Real Madrid will play the biggest match of his life against France and size will be the last thing on his mind.

"I've always ignored such talk," he told reporters on the eve of his nation's first World Cup final.

"I have never doubted myself even if others did, I always believed I could get to where I am today and thank God this came true.

"You don't have to be a giant to play football, I'm happy with where I am. I am happy with where I am and I never cared what anyone else said, it only further motivated me."

France will be clear favourites to win a second World Cup at the Luzhniki Stadium and Croatia will be relying on the resilience that got them through three lots of extra time and two penalty shootouts in their knockout matches.

Many of this generation of Croatian players grew up during the war following the break-up of Yugoslavia, however, and that have given them a mental toughness.

"I’ve seen a great deal of hardship in my life," added Modric, who lived in refugee hostels for several years as a child.

"The most important thing is to never give up, never give in to circumstances, believe yourself and to soldier on no matter what's in your way.

"There are ups and downs but whatever happens, you have to trust and believe in yourself.

"Fight for your dreams and success. This is what has always guided me."

Despite all the talent in their ranks, Croatia's place at the World Cup was in jeopardy as late as last October when Zlatko Dalic took over and Modric paid tribute to the impact the coach has had on the team.

"We are in the World Cup final, that was the influence of the coach," the 32-year-old said.

"He came into the picture at a very difficult moment ... In the first game, he talked us up to give us self-belief and told us we were still good players despite this crisis.

"He brought us calmness, he perked us up and what we most like is his sincerity and his attitude towards each and every player. We like having him around, he's shown his influence, not just as a coach but more importantly as a human being."

England scored an ignominious double on Monday, becoming the first country to be dumped out of Europe twice in a week and in the process losing both its prime minister and national soccer team manager.

Just days after English voters steered the United Kingdom towards a "Brexit" from the European Union, England provided another shock, crashing out of the Euro 2016 soccer competition to Iceland - the smallest country ever to appear in a major tournament.

"We embarrassed ourselves three of four days ago in the referendum, we've embarrassed ourselves now. It's a really, really sad time to be English," lamented English soccer fan Alex in the French city of Nice.

"Brexit2" quickly became a top trending topic on Twitter after Iceland, with its population of just 332,000 people, beat England's bevy of highly paid players 2-1.

"The beautiful Irony. #England knocked out of #Euro2016 by country not even in the EU! Maybe that's why they pressed the #Brexit button," joked one Twitter user.

Manager Roy Hodgson resigned within minutes, following hot on the heels of Prime Minister David Cameron who quit on Friday after the vote to leave the EU.

The referendum result stunned European leaders, sent the British pound to multi-decade lows, and cost Britain its AAA credit rating. Experts called it the biggest blow to the EU project since its inception after World War Two.

The response to the soccer shock was dramatic too as fans contemplated the 50th anniversary of England's 1966 World Cup win in about one month's time.

Pundits ranked the defeat for a country that claims to have invented the game and is ranked 11th in the world among the worst since it lost to the amateurs of the United States in the 1950 World Cup.

"Mon dieu! Brexit X2 in a week from hell. Exit Europe, lose AAA rating, lose to Iceland in #Euro2016 utter nightmare! #Brexit2," mocked one French Twitter user.

Jokes also proliferated online about petitions being set up to get the match replayed - a mirror of the online campaign to get the referendum vote overturned by Parliament.

One suggested Hodgson should take over from Cameron because he would be the perfect man to lead the country out of Europe.

Another suggested the cost of the England squad should be spent on Britain's NHS public health service, a reference to the campaign promise by the "Brexit" camp that cash sent by London to Brussels each week would now be directed to the NHS instead. The Brexit team has rowed back on that pledge since winning.

"The England squad costs £175m. Let's spend it on the NHS," said Twitter user @AndrewBloch.

Fans of Britain's European neighbours were quick to see the link.

"Both are embarrassing. Iceland really deserved the win. They played amazing football and England were completely overwhelmed for all their arrogance with their fans everywhere," said Benjamin Rimaud, 22, an Irishman from Dublin whose father is French, and who watched the game in a Paris bar.

"As far as the referendum is concerned it's embarrassing too. I don't think they realised what they were letting themselves in for."

France's soccer coach will have a subway train station named after him to celebrate his World Cup win and poet Victor Hugo will have to share his memorial slot on Paris's transport map with the team's goalkeeper and captain.

As "Les Bleus" headed home with the World Cup trophy on Monday, the French capital's RATP transport authority said it was renaming six metro subway stations in their honour for the day.

One station, Notre-Dame des Champs, will now be called Notre Didier Deschamps (Our Didier Deschamps), in an hommage to the coach.

Didier Deschamps is one of just three men in the history of the World Cup to take the trophy as team coach after winning it as a player - he helped the team to its first victory in the tournament in 1998.

Victor Hugo station is being renamed Victor Hugo Lloris after captain and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

Bercy station will become "Bercy les Bleus", close to "Merci Les Bleus".

"Les Bleus" are returning on Monday from World Cup host country Russia to celebrate their victory with a parade on the Champs Elysees.

At one end of that avenue another subway stop called "Charles de Gaulle - Etoile" is being renamed "On a 2 Étoiles", replacing the wartime leader with the boast "We have two stars", one for each World Cup win.

With demand for the French team jersey surging, police urged crowds to move away from the entrance of the Nike shop on the Champs Elysees early on Monday.

England, which surprised many by getting as far as the semis, has changed Southgate station on the London Underground to Gareth Southgate Station in honour of the national coach.

France winning the World Cup trophy in Russia, Chinese kitchen and bathroom appliance maker Vatti Corp is now in the spotlight -- it is time for the company to deliver on a bold promise. 

Vatti, as a sponsor for the French national soccer team, said a month ago that if France won the title at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, it would refund customers who made purchases of designated products between June 1 and July 3, based on invoice value.

Read more

WC celebrations rock Paris

On Monday, the Guangdong-based company said it had started the promised refund process, after the marketing campaign helped it net total sales of about 1 billion yuan ($150 million) during the promotional period, a year-on-year increase of over 20 per cent.

The sales of designated products, such as dishwashers and water heaters, which were listed in the refund initiative, hit around 79 million yuan, with online sales accounting for 29 million yuan and offline sales standing at 50 million yuan.

Vatti said the company will afford the refund of sales through its own online store, and its distributors and retail partners will be responsible for refunding offline sales and third-party online sales.

Also, total costs of the refund only include manufacturing and promotional cost, which is less than the combined sales price of 79 million yuan, thus exerting little impact on the company's bottom line, the company added.

"We chose to launch such a campaign to support the French team because the temperament of the French team is very compatible with our passionate, smart and fashionable brand image," Vatti said in an interview with China Daily.

The shares of Vatti surged as much as 9 per cent by midday on Monday before the rise narrowed to about 4 perc ent at closing, when share prices stood at 15.18 yuan.

Ma Bing, a 33-year-old bank employee in Beijing, bought a dishwasher in June after seeing Vatti's advertising post on an elevator.

"Well, my wife has been asking for a dishwasher for a long time. I am also a big fan of the French team. The dishwasher saved me from my wife's nagging when I stayed up at night for football matches. It was a good deal," Ma said, adding he has registered the refund information at a Vatti online store.

Vatti is one of a number of Chinese companies that are cashing in on the World Cup. Their combined spending on advertisements for this year's tournament hit $835 million, $400 million more than the next biggest spender, the United States, and easily exceeding that of host country Russia, according to market-research company Zenith.

Liu Buchen, an independent expert in the home appliances industry, said it is good for Chinese companies to experiment with creative marketing campaigns, but more effort is needed to ensure that enterprises do deliver their promises and consumers' rights are protected.

Copyright: China Daily/ Asia News Network

The prime minister of Iceland has resigned - the first major casualty of the Panama Papers leaks which have shed an embarrassing spotlight on the world of offshore finance.

The leaks, from Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca, showed PM Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson owned an offshore company, Wintris, with his wife.

He was accused of concealing millions of dollars worth of family assets.

A big protest was held in front of parliament in Iceland on Monday.

Reports suggest the agriculture minister will be the new PM.

Dozens of high-profile global figures are named in the huge Mossack Fonseca leak.

Gunnlaugsson had earlier called on the President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson to dissolve parliament, but that was refused.

Grimsson said he wanted to speak to political parties first.

"I do not think it is normal that the prime minister alone... should be given the authority to dissolve the parliament without the majority of the parliament being satisfied with that decision," the president told reporters.

Some observers describe his rejection of the prime minister's request as highly unusual.

After refusing to resign on Monday, the prime minister appeared to come under increasing pressure from within his governing coalition too.

He took to Facebook on Tuesday to outline his position.

"I told the leader of the Independence Party that if the party's parliamentarians think they cannot support the government in completing joint tasks, I would dissolve parliament and call a general election," he wrote.

Other Panama Papers reaction

France returns Panama to a list of countries which fail to co-operate over tax evasion

The US Department of Justice is reviewing the leaked documents to look for evidence of corruption that could be prosecuted in the US, the Wall Street Journal reports

Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela says his government has "zero tolerance" for illicit financial activities and would co-operate vigorously with any judicial investigation in any country.

The so-called Panama Papers leaked from Mossack Fonseca show that Gunnlaugsson and his wife bought Wintris in 2007.

He did not declare an interest in the company when entering parliament in 2009. He sold his 50% of Wintris to his wife, Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir, for $1 (70p), eight months later.

Gunnlaugsson says no rules were broken and his wife did not benefit financially.

The offshore company was used to invest millions of dollars of inherited money, according to a document signed by Palsdottir in 2015.

Court records show that Wintris had significant investments in the bonds of three major Icelandic banks that collapsed during the financial crisis which began in 2008.

Some of Icelanders' anger is believed to stem from the perceived conflict of interest.

The prime minister was involved in negotiations about the banks' future and had characterised foreign creditors who wanted their money back as "vultures", while Wintris itself was a creditor.

Gunnlaugsson kept his wife's interest in the outcome a secret.

A spokesman for the prime minister said on Monday that Palsdottir had always declared the assets to the tax authorities and that, under parliamentary rules, Gunnlaugsson did not have to declare an interest in Wintris.