World Cup briefs on Thursday:

Ecuadorean odyssey to see French test

Five Ecuadorean backpackers are to embark on a 9,798km (6,088-mile) odyssey over land and water to see their side take on France at the Maracana on June 25.

After negotiating 3,263km of the Napo, a tributary of the Amazon River, the intrepid travelers, who will leave Quito on May 5, will then hire a vehicle in the northern city of Belem and cover a further 6,535km by road down to Rio.

Safe(t) sex

Bosnia coach Safet Susic is leaving nothing to chance as his compatriots embark on their first World Cup finals, banning sex in a bid to keep his squad fresh.

"There will be no sex in Brazil. They will have to get by as they can. We are not going to Brazil for a holiday," said Susic, as he urged his players to concentrate on the job in hand.

Diabolical decibels

For those who detested South Africa's noisy vuvuzela, cover your ears as here comes the Belgian version, Diabolica, capable of a headache-inducing 98 decibels.

More than 250,000 have already been sold, not just to fans of Belgium's Red Devils but also in Spain, where the contraption is produced, as well as Portugal and Brazil.

The two youngsters from the Wallonia region behind the instrument hope to sell around 750,000 in total.

J-Lo shaking hips to Brazil and Spain

US singer and actress Jennifer Lopez is backing her homeland -- but also Brazil and Spain -- at the World Cup.

"I'll be supporting the United States as my home country but I'd really like to see Brazil and reigning champions Spain play," Lopez told FIFA journal The Weekly.

Lopez has teamed up with US rapper Armando Perez, known as Pitbull, and Brazilian singer Claudia Leitte to sing the World Cup anthem, We Are One, during the event.

Where are my players?

Iran's Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz had a "negative impression" of their recent bonding session in South Africa, not least because many of his players were missing.

"We were supposed to have 28 players and that fell to 10," said the former Real Madrid coach, warning the abortive exercise would "reduce the chances" of getting out of a Group F which includes Argentina, Nigeria and Bosnia.

On the Record

Mexico coach Miguel "Piojo" Herrera gave the press plenty to mull over after answering 100 questions for sports daily Record.

He revealed he is a life-long fans of just-relegated Atlante and was always getting into scrapes as a schoolboy.

Further revelations included a vote cast for President Enrique Pena Nieto and a love of buying watches and clothes.

A little more coy on his team for Brazil, he indicated Jesus Corona del Cruz Azul should get the nod as first-choice goalkeeper ahead of Guillermo Ochoa.

Capello can take Russia far -- Panucci

Former Italy star Christian Panucci, now assistant to Russia coach Fabio Capello, insists his compatriot can take the team a long way as they target their first qualifcation from the group stage since the demise of the Soviet Union.

"Capello is a top-class manager. He spreads confidence like nobody else, while his understanding of football is truly unprecedented," indicated Panucci, forecasting "an outstanding performance in Brazil."

Brazilian dreams of winning caps for ... Russia

Brazilian forward Francisco Wanderson, two years with Rusian outfit Krasnodar, says he'd like to make the national side -- of his adopted country.

"It's too hard to win a call up for the Brazilian national side. The competition for a place in the Brazilian attack is too severe. Unfortunately, I haven't had a proposal from the Russians yet," Wanderson told ITAR-TASS news agency.