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World Cup notebook

Notebook: Teen commits suicide after Brazilian loss

Police in Katmandu say a teenager in eastern Nepal committed suicide after her favorite team Brazil lost badly to Germany in the World Cup semifinals Tuesday.

Police said the 10th-grade student was depressed and hanged herself from the ceiling Wednesday morning in Bharaul village located 250 miles east of the capital.

The teenager was identified as Pragya Thapa.

Police said they were investigating and the body had been sent for autopsy.

Brazil lost, 7-1, to Germany in the semifinal match.

Players regroup

The Brazilian players are trying to put the loss to Germany behind them as quickly as possible, turning their focus to the farewell match at their home World Cup on Saturday.

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Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said the team ‘‘already has a new’’ objective: win the third-place game to give fans some reason to celebrate.

Scolari said Wednesday he knows the result is going to hurt forever, but stressed that a ‘‘bad loss’’ can’t erase what he considered was an otherwise good campaign by the national team.

Scolari has refused to quit his post before the World Cup is over, but said he will talk with the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) over his immediate future.

The Germany-Brazil semifinal was the most tweeted-about sports event in Twitter history.

The social media company said there were 35.6 million tweets sent out during the match. That easily beat Twitter’s previous record of 24.9 million set during the Super Bowl in February.

Playing on

Javier Mascherano and Pablo Zabaleta both stayed in the game for Argentina after being knocked down by blows to their heads during Wednesday’s World Cup semifinal.

Mascherano looked discombobulated after he clashed heads with Georginio Winjaldum in the first half against the Netherlands.

After receiving medical attention, he got back in the game and played a key defensive role to keep the Netherlands from scoring.

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Zabaleta went down bleeding from his mouth after smashing his face into Netherlands wingback Dirk Kuyt’s shoulder in extra time.

He also played on after team doctors put a piece of tissue in his mouth.

Nigeria suspended

FIFA has suspended Nigeria from international competition after football leaders were fired by the government following the team’s World Cup exit amid a dispute over player bonuses.

The suspension took effect immediately Wednesday, with Nigerian teams and officials barred from international matches and meetings.

FIFA has set a July 15 deadline to resolve the problem, or Nigeria faces exclusion from the Under-20 Women’s World Cup that starts in August in Canada.

Reporter killed

Brazilian officials said an Argentine reporter covering the World Cup was killed in a car accident in Sao Paulo caused when a vehicle being chased by police slammed into his taxi.

Police inspector Paulo Roberto Poli told Globo TV that Jorge Luis Lopez flew out of the car and hit a concrete wall, killing him instantly. The cab driver suffered minor injuries. The three occupants of the stolen car were arrested.