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Spain hope to get full points against Russia
Euro Diary English hooligans
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Kale let off due to lack of evidence Trescothick, Vaughan
steady England Batting comes second for Pathan
Murali may skip Australian tour
Zimbabwe to put
off Tests
Punjab boys, girls storm into semis ONGC, RCF advance
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Spain hope to get full points against Russia
Spain defeated the Soviets 2-1 40 years ago to win the title and are largely expected to score full points again as Russia are plagued by injuries and still reeling from an embarrassing 2002 World Cup when they crashed out in the group stage. Finalists in 1984, Spain are tipped to do well in Portugal with Real Madrid striker Raul and Monaco marksman Fernando Morientes leading their line. “I long to win something with Spain,” explained Raul. “We seem to get knocked out in the quarterfinals. I hope that does not happen again.” Raul has netted an impressive 38 goals in 71 matches for his country and he will be under pressure to continue that record if his team are to go further than the last eight. Unlike previous years Spain had to go through a qualifier to reach the Portuguese finals and coach Inaki Saez hopes the lower expectations can aid his team. “Spain used to qualify easily and then get knocked out just as easily. Let’s hope it turns our fortunes around this time,” he said. Celta Vigo midfielder Alexander Mostovoi is Russia’s key man and has spiced up the fixture by claiming that Spain, along with hosts Portugal, will benefit from favourable refereeing decisions. That has not been received well by the Spanish players who are still angry at some indifferent refereeing decisions in the 2002 World Cup in Asia that led to their exit. With Raul, Morientes, and Valencia’s Ruben Baraja forming a formidable spine it is hard to see how Russia, deprived of star defender Viktor Onopko, can turn the Spaniards over. However, Morientes is fully aware that the pressure is on Spain and only a victory will suffice. “A draw would not be bad on paper,” said Morientes, who is reported to be returning to Real after his remarkably successful loan spell at Monaco. “But I think we need to win as we face Portugal in the final match.” Fatigue is Saez’s main fear with Valencia’s stars tired from the UEFA Cup triumph and others from a long Primera Liga season. “The Spanish league is competitive and very long,” bemoaned Saez. “The reality is that some players are tired.” Russian manager Georgy Yartsev, (56), countered the comment by pointing out that the blistering heat in Faro will benefit Spain with Russia more used to winter climates. Yartsev is concerned by the potent Spanish attack, whose strength is underlined by the fact that Arsenal’s $ 30 million striker Jose Antonio Reyes is on the bench. “The Spain midfield is formidable but it is their attack we are really concerned about,” confessed Yartsev. Spain certainly have proven quality with a mixture of Valencia, Real Madrid and Barcelona stars but when it comes to tournaments they always seem unable to recapture the form from qualifying with no one able to pinpoint why. — AFP
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Euro Diary
Lisbon, June 11 He emigrated from Portugal in 1964 and will be going back to his native Leiria when France plays Croatia on June 17. “It will be the most special game in my life. I will see myself as a child again,” he said. But after all these years, he has become a true fan of Les Bleus and has fallen victim to split loyalties. So his dream is to see both go as far as possible before given the nod to defending champion France. “A final between France and Portugal, with Les Bleus coming out on top,” he said of his ideal scenario. After all, there is something in it for him too. “Like the players, we get a small World Cup, a small European Cup, a small confederation Cup,” he said of the trophies France has amassed over the past half dozen years. SIBERIAN HOLIDAY: German coach Rudi Voeller is sure his players have enough discipline not to be lured into the holiday spirit. When he was asked whether the nice weather in Algarve, the good hotel and the nearby beach could become a problem and create a “vacation spirit,” he had his answer ready. “Yes, well, we are in Portugal and not in Siberia,” Voeller said, adding quickly that the players were professional enough to stick to practice and ignore the distractions. PORTUGAL IN LEEDS: As the saying goes — in Leeds, do as the Portuguese do. Gary McCall, the head of marketing agency Poulter Partners, has brought in everything from sand to deckchairs and a beach bar to his firm to create a perfect Portuguese atmosphere for his staff during Euro 2004. And he is promising free beer as long as England remain in the competition. “We like to give them a few extra rewards, so, while we can’t get the whole 140 employees out to the championships, we thought we’d bring a bit of Portugal back here.” Two lucky employees with the best predictions on the England match will be flown to Lisbon for the final. COCKY FRENCH: Over two-thirds of the French think Les Bleus will successfully defend their title. A poll by the CSA agency showed 68 per cent thought the French would win again when only 18 per cent thought the team would fall short. Fourteen per cent had no opinion. Two-thirds of those polled though that the decision of coach Jacques Santini to leave after the championship to coach Tottenham Hotspur would have no impact on the team. PREMIERSHIP BOUND? Owen Hargreaves wants a move to the Premier League — but played down the possibility of moving next season. “My future does lie in the Premiership,” the 23-year-old Canadian born midfielder said. “That is not a question. But obviously I am at Bayern Munich and I have a contract until 2006 and I am happy there.” Hargreaves has started seven times in his 12 caps for England. He admitted he might get more opportunities if he played in England. “It depends,” he said. “I played in the Champions League against Real Madrid and those are big games and everyone is watching those. Obviously you have a better chance if you are here (England) every week and you can show yourself,” he said. Apart from England captain David Beckham, Hargreaves is the only non-English based player. SCHOLES GOAL DROUGHT: England midfielder Paul Scholes admits he’s frustrated at not having scored an international goal in three years. “People have said to me before that I’m not someone who relies on confidence, but I do,” Scholes said. “If you haven’t score for a while it definitely plays on your mind. It happened at Manchester United a couple of years ago, when I didn’t score my first goal until November. “The last few seasons have been great in terms of my goalscoring for United. It’s just England.” Scholes has scored 13 goals in 62 appearances for England. His last goal was in a 2-0 win at Greece in June 6, 2001. “When you’re a midfield goalscorer, it definitely plays on your mind,” Scholes said. “I never thought I’d go this long without scoring. So yeah, it worries you.” — AP
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English hooligans LONDON:
Thirteen more potential England football hooligans were banned from traveling to the Euro 2004 finals in Portugal on Thursday.
Three man were served with notices at their homes prohibiting them from traveling to Portugal with England set to open against defending champion France on Sunday.
— AP
Eager Gerrard LISBON:
England midfielder Steven Gerrard was a frustrated viewer of the 2002 World Cup in Japan. Forced out of the squad with a groin injury, his absence was keenly felt when England lost to Brazil in the quarterfinal despite having a man advantage in the second half. Back to fitness and in peak form, Gerrard is a key member of the England team for Euro 2004. “I’d love to have been there (in Japan), but I had to make a big decision,” Gerrard told reporters at England’s training camp outside Lisbon ahead of Sunday’s group B game against France. “I feel that I’m standing now here benefiting from the decision that I have made.
— AP
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Kale let off due to lack of evidence Mumbai, June 11 A reliable source in the BCCI told UNI that there was not a single person other than national selectors Kiran More and Pranab Roy themselves who were witness to the bribe offer made by Kale. The source further said that it was one man’s word against another. “They both cancel each other out this way.” The two selectors could not produce any evidence to prove their allegation that Kale had offered them money. The Subba Rao Committee’s report had recorded More’s statement that Kale made phone calls to him in June and July last year, offering him Rs 10 lakh for a place in the Indian side. Two months later, on September 21, the selectors picked Kale in the India ‘A’ team to play the visiting Kiwis in a three-day encounter in Rajkot. When the disciplinary committee asked the two selectors about this decision, More and Roy claimed that they did not want to damage Kale’s career, the source added. On the flip side, a senior BCCI official, who refused to go on record, said he was surprised that throughout the controversy, Kale did not once accuse the selectors of demanding money.
— UNI |
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Trescothick, Vaughan
steady England London, June 11 New Zealand (1st innings): Richardson c Vaughan b Giles 73 Fleming c Thorpe b Flintoff 117 Styris c sub b Giles 108 Astle b Harmison 15 McMillan lbw b Harmison 0 Oram c Strauss b Saggers 14 Cairns c Thorpe b Saggers 12 McCullum c Hoggard b Franklin not out 4 Mills c Jones b Hoggard 0 Martin c Vaughan b Hoggard 2 Extras
(b-2 lb-14 nb-2) 18 Total (all out, 121 overs) 384 FoW:
1-163 2-225 3-272 4-272 5-308 6-331 7-366 8-377 9-382 Bowling:
Hoggard 25-6-85-2, Harmison 32-9-80-3, Flintoff 14-2-48-1, Saggers 22-5-80-2, Giles 27-6-70-2, Vaughan 1-0-5-0. England (1st innings): Trescothick batting 45 Strauss c McCullum b Cairns 0 Butcher c Styris b Franklin 5 Vaughan batting 44 Extras
(lb-1, nb-4) 5 Total (for 2 wkts, 23 overs) 99 Fall of wickets:
1-1, 2-18. Bowling: Martin 1.5-0-1-0, Cairns 5-2-15-1, Franklin 5.1-0-26-1, Mills 5-1-31-0, Oram 5-0-17-0, Styris 1-0-8-0.
—AFP
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Batting comes second for Pathan “For the time being, I am focussed only on bowling, maintaining line, length and speed. However, as I grow, I may be attracted to batting too,” the 19-year-old bowler told reporters at the physical fitness camp for pace bowlers here. Chairman of the selection committee Syed Kirmani had recently remarked that Pathan possessed no mean batting skills and the cricket establishment was looking to groom him as an all-rounder in the mould of Kapil Dev. The handsome Baroda lad, who said he was not surprised when he was called up to play for India, observed that the recent tours of Australia and Pakistan had boosted his confidence. “I had a dream to play for the country in a Test match and it came true when I was selected for the Australia and Pakistan tours. My bowling efforts there have strengthened my confidence,” Pathan said. “I cannot forget any of the matches we played in Australia and Pakistan. As a team we did well, especially against Pakistan, winning the one-day and Test series,” he added. About his participation in the Olympic torch run, for which he took special permission from the cricket board, Pathan said “it was a great feeling. I was looking forward to it.”
— UNI |
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Murali may skip Australian tour
Colombo, June 11 Muralitharan, with a record 527 Test wickets to his credit, is expected to formally inform Sri Lanka Cricket about his stance at the weekend, the sources said, adding indications were that he would opt out of the tour. “The chances are that he is most likely to stay away (from the tour),” one source said. The ace off-spinner was not immediately available for comment. Sri Lanka are scheduled to play two Tests in Australia in July. Sri Lanka Cricket president Mohan de Silva said this week the cricket authority was encouraging Muralitharan to go to Australia. De Silva said it would advise Muralitharan not to bowl his controversial “doosra” in Australia as he ran the risk of being called for “throwing”. Sri Lanka has urged the International Cricket Council to change the rules in order to end the row over the bowler’s “doosra”, a delivery which spins away from right-handers instead of coming into them like a normal off-break. Muralitharan said in a statement last week that he had been defamed, pilloried and severely criticised by the world’s cricket media. “Even the Prime Minister of Australia has called me a chucker and then in the next sentence says I will be welcome to tour his country,” he said. — AFP
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Murali spinning online for a bride Chennai, June 11 Those logging on to www.tamilmatrimony.com will find the link: “International Cricketer Muralitharan looking for a life partner. Interested? Click here.” In Muralitharan’s featured page his age is stated as 30 years, religion as Hindu and qualifications as graduate. He states he has his own family business and is looking for a good looking Tamil bride and caste is no bar. Nowhere it is mentioned that he is a celebrity Sri Lankan cricketer except in the place for a photograph it is written: International cricketer looking for an alliance. One can directly contact him at muralispins@yahoo.com. Mr S. Suresh, Business Head of the website, told The Tribune, “We usually do not put out the contact details of an advertiser as interested parties are expected to contact through us and that is when we earn our fees.” “But in this case, Murali being a celebrity and had approached us through a friend, so we offered him the privilege,” he said. He said he did not know whether Muralitharan had already received responses since those interested could directly contact him but hoped by now a large number of Tamil women residing in different parts of the world had been bowled over by the celebrity cricketer. Though Muralitharan captured 527 wickets in Test cricket but his “doosra’ delivery had always been controversial with various cricketing body describing him as “chucker” and he was subjected to close scrutiny. But now, the 30-year-old Sri Lankan Tamil is busy scrutinizing applications from those who want to bowl him over with their beauty and charm.
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LONDON: Zimbabwe have agreed to postpone their remaining Tests this year, International Cricket Council (ICC) President Ehsan Mani has said.
ICC officials have been holding talks with the Zimbabwe Cricket Union
(ZCU) in Dubai to discuss a dispute which resulted in 15 white players quitting the national team. “We have decided to defer Zimbabwe’s Test matches against England and Pakistan, but Zimbabwe will continue to play Test matches according to the ICC’s 10-year programme from January 2005 onwards,” Mani said on Thursday. Zimbabwe were scheduled to play two Tests in Pakistan in October and were then due to host England for another two-Test series in November.
— Reuters
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Moscow, June 11 It turned out to be a very close encounter in the first round of the six-players Scheveningen tournament wherein all the six members of the World team will play one game each against the member of the rival team. In all, 36 games will be played in this unique event being organised to celebrate the 75th birth anniversary of late Armenian world champion Tigran Petrosian. The World team comprises Viswanathan Anand, Peter Svidler of Russia, Etinne Bacrot of France who was once the youngest grandmaster of the world, Francisco Vallejo Pons of Spain, Loek Van Wely of the Netherlands and Michael Adams of England. — PTI
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Punjab boys, girls storm into semis Chandigarh, June 11 According to Mr B.S. Brar, manager of the Punjab team, in the quarter-finals played this evening, Punjab boys subdued the challenge of Chattisgarh 77-61 after leading 44-25 at the breather. Talwinderjit (20), Jagdeep (18), Mandeep (15) and Yadwinder (14) were the main architects of Punjab win. In the girls section, Punjab beat Madhya Pradesh 54-53 after leading 30-16 at the breather. Ashna (18), Saloni and Rajan pal (12 each) were the main scorers for Punjab. In other quarter-finals, Chattisgarh beat Bengal 81-29, Karnataka defeated Maharashtra 59-40 and Tamil Nadu thrashed Kerala 45-39 in the girls section. In the boys section. Andhra beat Mizoram 96-58, Tamil Nadu routed Maharashtra 65-36 and Delhi trounced Karnataka 75-43. |
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ONGC, RCF advance Mandi, June 11 ONGC were off to a fine start Manoj sounded the board in the 5th minute, beating the goalkeeper from close distance. Phagwara boys had a couple of experienced player but they failed to perform well. Dun boys led 1-0 at half time. The Dehra Dun boys who were better in all departments dictated terms to the opponents and increased their margin soon after the breather through R.S. Rawal who connected a cross from the right flank. JCT suffered another blow midway through when Mondal hoodwinked two defenders before scoring an angular shot. ONGC won by 3-0. RCF Kapurthala, defeated Delhi’s Oriental Bank of Commerce by a solitary goal scored by Kulvinder Singh. The close encounter was played under slippery conditions due to heavy showers. It was a sharp opportunistic volley in the 30th minute which settled the issue. The earlier exchanges were dominated by the bank team and they had an easy scoring chance but Mukesh produced a weak shot. RCF improved in the second half and had as much of exchanges as their opponents. |
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