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| Monday, June 12, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Kuerten wins a thriller |
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Pierce completes a double
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PARIS, June 11 (DPA) — Gustavo Kuerten won his second title today after 1997 at the $ 10.25-million French Open in what turned from an apparent rout into a thriller during which he needed 11 match points to hold off Magnus Norman of Sweden 6-2, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (8-6). Kuerten thought he had won the match on his first chance just over three hours into the match and was already on his way to the net for the handshake, but the umpire ruled Norman’s baseline stroke on the line. Kuerten had to wait another agonising 40 minutes before finally succeeding against the heroic Norman when the Swede mis-hit a volley after 3:44 hours. The final set was a match in itself and lasted 95 minutes. Norman saved three match points serving 5-4 down, another four trailing 6-5, three in his fight from 6-3 down to 6-6 in the tiebreak. By winning Kuerten also snatched the lead in the ATP points race from Norman. “I thought at every match point that I would win. But at 6-6 in the tiebreak I thought I would lose. On first match point I thought the ball was out. The umpire was wrong,’’ said Kuerten. “This one counts more than the first one. This time I had more pressure. Here I am again and I am happy to be here,’’ he added. Kuerten now leads the series 4-2 with third seed Norman, who controlled his nerves too late in his first Grand Slam decider. Norman, 24, had dropped only one set before Sunday, but the experience of Kuerten, who was forced over five sets in his last two matches with Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Juan-Carlos Ferrero, proved more important than freshness in the final stages. The Brazilian also moved past Norman to the top of the ATP points race for the first time in his career. Kuerten has 505 points, Norman 486 in the next rankings issued tomorrow. Norman, who was bidding to become the third Swede to capture the French Open title after Bjorn Borg and Mats Wilander, had to settle for 2,120,000 francs. The Swede had moved on top of the points race may 15 after he defeated Kuerten in the Rome final, but it wasn’t to happen again in the biggest match of his career to date.
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PARIS, June 11 (AFP) — Australian pair Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde yesterday collected the only Grand Slam that had previously eluded them and became the most successful doubles team in history in the process. The second-seeded Woodies beat the third-seeded pair Paul Haarhuis of the Netherlands and Australian Sandon Stolle 7-6 (9/7), 6-4 in the French Open men’s doubles final. The Woodies won their fifth title of the season and their 58th career title as a team. The 1hr 53min triumph saw Woodbridge and Woodforde pass the Open Era record of 57 which they had shared with South African pair Bob Hewitt and Frew McMillan and Americans Peter Fleming and John McEnroe. The last team to win all four Grand Slam titles was Jacco Eltingh and Haarhuis. The Woodies, who last year helped Australia to the Davis Cup title, collected their 10th career Grand Slam title — including five at Wimbledon — more than any other team in the Open Era. It was their first title in France — which is the 12th different country in which they have won a trophy. Among those congratulating them at courtside was Tennis Australia president Geoff Pollard. Their only previous Roland Garros final was in 1997 when, as top seeds, they were beaten by Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Daniel Vacek. The Aussies first played
together at New Haven in 1990 and this will be their last
year as a combination as left-hander Woodforde is
retiring. |
CBI identifies phone numbers of ex-player NEW DELHI, June 11 (PTI) —Cellular telephone numbers used by a former Indian cricketer allegedly to contact bookies have been identified by the CBI, agency sources said here today. The agency would soon initiate steps to trace the numbers which the former Delhi batsman, who is currently abroad, had called from these cellphones, the sources said adding that they would get fresh leads once they got the tapes of the conversations carried out by the cricketer. The name of the former Indian team member had figured during the examination of bookies in Mumbai and here, they said, adding that the agency would examine him once he returns from abroad a few months later. Meanwhile, in a related development, stage is set for re-examination of former Test cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu who has been summoned again by the agency. Sidhu, who had deposed before the agency last month, had reportedly denied the allegation made by Manoj Prabhakar that Kapil Dev had offered him a bribe of Rs 25 lakh to play below his potential during a cricket match against Pakistan in 1994. Dev has, however, strongly denied the allegation. Besides Sidhu, former Indian cricket team manager Ajit Wadekar would also be re-examined by the agency, which registered a preliminary enquiry into the case on May 2 after a request from the Sports Ministry. The agency would decide whether to question Kapil Dev only after re-examining Wadekar and Sidhu next week, the sources said. The sources said examination of Kapil Dev would be possible if these two corroborated what they had told to Prabhakar on video tapes. Among the witnesses cited by Prabhakar, CBI has already questioned Wadekar and Sidhu and would shortly examine others including former skippers Mohammed Azharuddin, Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri, the sources said. CBI has also prepared a list of persons to be questioned and may send teams to different parts of the country and abroad, they said. Meanwhile, IT sources said they were planning to prepare details of return of cricketers and board officials whose names have surfaced repeatedly during the investigations of the match-fixing. The sources said, however, the department was only collecting information and was not planning to rush into investigation. The sources confirmed that they had been “sounded” by the CBI orally on these issues but said any such action as search and raids can be taken only after the investigating agency approached them with a formal request. Income Tax departments
in Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and Hyderabad were assessing
the incomes of prominent cricketers and board officials,
IT sources said. |
Belgium score 2-1 victory over Sweden BRUSSELS, June 11 (AFP) — Joint hosts Belgium opened the European Football Championships with a 2-1 victory over 10-man Sweden here on last night at the King Baudouin Stadium — after surviving a goalkeeping howler of the first order by Filip De Wilde. Midfielder Bart Goor scored the first goal of Euro 2000 in the 43nd minute of the group B tie and 21-year-old man-of-the-match Emile Mpenza bagged the second within a minute of the re-start with a blistering finish. Belgium looked to be cruising until De Wilde’s monumental blunder in the 53rd minute allowed Johan Mjallby to tap the ball into an unguarded net for Sweden, who later had skipper Patrik Andersson sent off for a second bookable offence. Victory for the Red Devils gives them a clear chance of reaching the quarter finals along with group B favourites Italy, who face Turkey tonight and the Belgians on Wednesday. Defeat for Sweden, meanwhile, was a bodyblow and made a mockery of their qualifying record, which saw them reach these finals without losing a match and conceding only one goal along the way. “I won’t deny that the result gave me greater pleasure than the way we played,” said Belgian coach Robert Waseige. “I won’t surprise you if I say it’s an excellent result for us, given that it wasn’t quite achieved the way we hoped it would,” he said. Waseige, who has transformed Belgium since taking over last year, then revealed his side’s dressing-room approach. “We got a result in several of the eight friendly matches we’ve played since August 1999,” he declared. “But we said to ourselves ‘now the laughing has to stop, today it’s the result that counts’. “Today, we got the result so I’m not going to be more Catholic than the Pope. I’m very pleased. We didn’t play well — but we did what it took to win and to defend that small lead right until the end.” Sweden’s joint coach Lars Lagerback said: “I think we started pretty good and created some chances, and after that we didn’t manage to play our normal game.” The match, played after a colourful though baffling opening ceremony, made a pulsating start with a string of scoring chances for the Swedes. The hosts were nearly caught out in the opening seconds when Daniel Andersson lobbed a hopeful ball forward and Bologna’s Kennet Andersson ran on for an angled shot that forced De Wilde to the floor. Patrik Andersson smacked in a low free-kick minutes later which was tipped round for a corner - from which Daniel Andersson saw a piledriver deflected away. Belgian defender Lorenzo Staelens made a dangerous clearance past his own post a minute later and giant striker Kennet Andersson nodded the resulting corner only just wide as Sweden turned on the pressure. But the ‘Red Devils’ gradually recovered from the shock, with Branko Strupar seeing a long shot saved in the 35th minute, earning a verbal tirade from colleague Marc Wilmots who was totally unmarked in a far better position. Winger Gert Verheyen then hooked over a cross which Mpenza met with a close-range header over the bar. Two minutes before the interval Goor broke the deadlock after a defensive error by Swede Roland Nilsson allowed the Belgian to run through and tuck his shot past ‘keeper Magnus Hedman with his left foot. The strike totally changed the mood of the game. It was tough luck on the Swedes who had been in the ascendancy in the opening stages but worse was to come immediately after the resumption after the interval. Swedish minds still seemed to be in the dressing room when Belgium made it 2-0 with the Scandinavian defence flummoxed by Branko Strupar’s backheeled through-ball. Mpenza dashed through, controlling the ball perfectly legally with his chest — despite Swedish pleas for a handball — and lashing a ferocious drive into the roof of Hedman’s net. At that point, Sweden
looked dead and buried. But De Wilde revived them with a
blunder that goalkeeping nightmares are made of —
tripping over the ball after a simple back-pass by
Philippe Leonard and allowing Mjallby to steer the ball
into an empty net from little more than one metre. |
MP police may grill Prabhakar INDORE, June 11 (PTI) — Madhya Pradesh Police, probing the alleged bunglings by a group of non-banking finance companies of which former Test cricketer Manoj Prabhakar is alleged to be one of the directors, will soon be sending a team to question him and other two persons named in the first information report filed here, police sources said. Highly-placed sources in Indore police said a police team was likely to be sent to Delhi soon to question Prabhakar and other directors allegedly involved in cheating people. Police here raided the office of the group of the companies after registering several cases in this regard. However, Prabhakar has denied any involvement in the group of companies beyond playing for them as a cricketer. But, police officials here claim that the seized counterfoils of the fixed deposit made by people bear the name of Prabhakar though it was yet to be authenticated whether he signed them. The sources said if necessary the police team, which will be headed by a Deputy Superintendent of Police, might even seek a production warrant from a Delhi court and bring Prabhakar and other directors here. Meanwhile, police parties have fanned out to several areas to find the whereabouts of an employee of the firm who reportedly fled the area after the police raided the office. The police have also seized a house journal of the company in which Prabhakar wrote a note to the investors and was mentioned as one of the directors of the company. The investors had alleged in their complaint that they were cheated by the firm to the tune of several lakh rupees. Indore police registered an FIR on June 5 after three complainants alleged that they had invested their money with the non-banking finance company and were cheated of the amount. The police have registered a case under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) against Prabhakar, who had denied his association with the APACE group of companies. He, however, admitted that he used to play for the firm and that was his only mode of association. Madhya Pradesh is the second state which has registered a case against Prabhakar. Uttar Pradesh police have registered cases against the former Test cricketer for campaigning in Nainital to convince people to invest their money in the company of which Prabhakar is alleged to be one of the directors. However, Prabhakar denied any involvement in the case claiming that it was part of a vicious campaign launched against him for naming Kapil Dev as the man who offered him bribe in 1994 for playing below his potential during a triangular series match in Sri Lanka. Kapil Dev has denied
Prabhakar’s allegation and decided to sue him for
damages. |
Abhinav
breaks
world record CHANDIGARH, June 11 — The young shooting sensation from Chandigarh, 17-year-old Abhinav Bindra, created history today, shattering the world record in the air rifle shooting scoring 596 out of 600 at the World Cup shooting meet in Munich (Germany). As per information received here from the National Rifle Association of India, Abhinav displayed great determination among a battery of 125 shooters. He, with effective concentration and steel nerves with balanced techniques, proved his mettle in .177 calibre. He is on a Europe tour along with other members of the Indian contingent. Earlier he took part in the competitions held in the Czech Republic and also won silver medal at the Warsaw Cup held in Poland with a score of 591/600. Last week at the World Cup organised in Milan (Italy), Abhinav shot 590/600. Abhinav, who just passed his class XII examination from St Stephen’s School with 82 per cent marks, is working hard to gain a berth in the Olympics and present feat will give him an edge. He is now sure to get the ‘hardship quota’ for the Sydney Olympics 2000 this September. It is a big achievement for this shooter who earlier secured a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games, where he was the youngest shooter. He also bagged the
national championship in his age group section at
Phillaur and Bangalore. |
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PARIS, June 11 (Reuters) — French Open singles champion Mary Pierce added the women’s doubles title today when she teamed up with Martina Hingis to beat Spain’s Virginia Ruano Pascual and Argentina’s Paola Suarez 6-2, 6-4 in the final. Pierce, who had claimed the women’s singles title less than 24 hours earlier with a straight-sets win over Conchita Martinez, returned to Centre Court with a heavily-bandaged left knee but it did not prevent the Frenchwoman from winning her first Grand Slam doubles title. Hingis and Pierce, the third seeds, raced through the opening set but trailed 4-1 in the second before recovering to sweep the final six games and the title. It was the second French Open doubles crown for Hingis, who won in 1998 with Jana Novotna and lost last year’s final with Anna Kournikova to the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena.
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State of the participating teams in Euro 2000 championship BRUSSELS, June 11 (AFP) — State of the 16 qualifying nations in the Euro 2000 which kicked off here yesterday: Group A: Germany: Lothar Matthaus is coach Erich Ribbeck’s main doubt to face Romania in Monday’s group A opener after a thigh injury that caused him to limp out of Wednesday’s 8-2 friendly win over Liechtenstein. Matthaus was only able to jog in training on Friday and did not participate in any team exercises with the defending champions. “I am working day to day, but I cannot say if I will play or not. I will be training with the team and will just wait and see. But the Germans are ready for this match,” said the veteran of five World Cups and holder of a world record 148 caps at senior level. If Matthaus does not make it central defender Jens Nowotny is the obvious replacement at sweeper with Carsten Ramelow coming into the back four. Paulo Rink is likely to partner Oliver Bierhoff up front. England: Alan Shearer, who has a knee injury, was a spectator as England trained on Saturday morning while absent altogether from training was Manchester United’s Paul Scholes, who has a slight back problem but will definitely play. Coach Kevin Keegan yesterday said he believed Shearer would play against Portugal but added that he would definitely be fit for the second match, all but killing speculation that a squad replacement might have to be called up. Tony Adams will replace Shearer as captain if the Newcastle forward does not make it. Portugal: Defensive midfielder Paulo Sousa remains the main doubt for the England match with a strained thigh. There are questions over the mental attitudes of Joao Pinto, who has been released by his club Benfica, and Sergio Conceicao, who has reportedly fallen out with the coach. Barcelona’s Luis Figo has been identified as the dangerman by England although they say they have no special plans for him. Romania: There was better news about Romania’s talismanic 35-year-old playmaker Georghe Hagi, who has been coach Emerich Jenei’s main doubt ahead of the opening clash with Germany. Jenei indicated that Hagi would play against the Germans. Meanwhile, midfielder Constantin Galca has revealed he is leaving his Spanish club Espanyol over what he claims is a breach of contract. More controversy came with the news that the Romanians have two faith healers — one Italian and one Spanish — supplementing the medical team in the low countries, much to the anger of the regular team doctors. Another Romanian veteran Miodrag Belodedici, who achieved the rare feat of winning the European Cup with two different clubs — Steaua Bucharest and Red Star Belgrade — is unlikely to make the starting line-up. Group B: Belgium: Red Devils coach Robert Waseige named an unchanged line-up from the team that played Denmark in a friendly (2-2) last week ahead of the tournament’s opening match with Sweden. Emile Mpenza will be partnered by Branko Strupar up front at the expense of Luc Nilis in Waseige’s preferred 4-4-2 formation. Defender Philippe Leonard, who became the father of a baby girl called Julia, keeps his place despite a bad game against the Danes. Mpenza admits he is feeling under pressure at his billing as Belgium’s talisman, saying: “But I’m moved by the fact that the hopes of an entire country are focused on me,” said Mpenza. Italy: The Italian media is giving Dino Zoff a rough ride and events in the past two weeks must be giving the coach reason to believe the Gods are against him. Defender Alessandro Nesta limped out of a training session on Thursday evening with an injured left shin and Ciro Ferrara is standing by to replace him while Fiorentina’s Angelo di Livio will step in for Gianluca Zambrotta if the Juventus man fails a fitness test on his right calf. Coach Dino Zoff had previously been hit by the withdrawals from his squad of the world’s most expensive player Christian Vieri and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon through injury. Fiorentina’s Francesco Toldo will replace Buffon and insist the ‘Azzurri’ must “play to the death” if they are to prevail in Euro. Sweden: Fredrik Ljungberg has played down reports that coaches Tommy Soderberg and Lars Lagerback have slapped a sex ban on players. Ljungberg had raised eyebrows 48 hours ago by claiming the Swedish players were watching blue movies to relieve the frustration. The Swedes are unlikely to risk Henrik Larsson early in the tournament as he is still feeling his way back after a long-term broken leg. Turkey: The mental welfare of Hakan Sukur remains the main cause for concern with the sensitive striker reported to be going through a crisis in confidence. The unsettled mind of ‘the Bull of the Bosphorus’ may be linked to reports that he will move to Italian team Fiorentina to link-up with his former coach at Galatasaray Fatih Terim where he would have the unenviable task of trying to replace Gabriel Batistuta. Turkey flew out on Friday, the last team to arrive in the low countries and promptly cancelled their first Press call. Politicians and officials appealed to their fans to behave but there are also worries about anti-Turkish political demonstrations in the Low Countries. Group C: Spain: Coach Jose Antonio Camacho yesterday revealed that Real Madrid striker Raul was training normally after the problems with his adductor muscles that kept him out of Spain’s two recent friendlies. Ismael Urzaiz of Athletic Bilbao is the only out-and-out centre forward fully fit and is likely to be partnered by Raul in a roving role. “I will do everything in my power to help the team score goals,” said Urzaiz, a controversial squad selection in the place of Fernando Morientes. “Looking back at the past does not help anyone. My first intention is not to let myself down and to leave Euro with my head held high.” Fernando Hierro insists he is getting fitter every day and could yet face Norway. Norway: Good news for Manchester United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who became a father of a baby son on Saturday. Another Norway striker Tore Andre Flo, meanwhile, insisted he was happy at his English club side Chelsea despite interest from Spanish champions Deportivo La Coruna. Strikers Steffen Iversen and defender Henning Berg are the two main injury doubts for coach Nils Johan Semb ahead of the match with Spain although Berg insists he will be fit. Yugoslavia: Veteran midfielder Dragan Stojkovic said he would retire next year at the end of the J-League season in Japan with Euro 2000 his final bow in a Yugoslavia jersey. Dusan Maravic, Vice-President of the Yugoslav Football Federation, had a swipe at the team — a talented collection of individuals but with fragile egos. “They can say what they want, but when there’s a job to be done that pride doesn’t show through all that much,” railed Maravac. Obilic’s Milorad Korac has replaced goalkeeper Alexandar Kocic, who has broken several fingers in his hand. Slovenia: Forward Ermin Siljak says outsiders Slovenia have adopted the motto of the Four Musketeers for Euro — “All for one, one for all.” Midfielder Zoran Pavlovic was ill but was expected to recover in time for the Yugoslavia match. Defender Zeljko Milinovic was back in training on Thursday after a strain at the back of his thigh that caused him to miss Wednesday’s session. Group D: Holland: Coach Frank Rijkaard on Saturday said that he had a full squad of 22 to choose from with Arsenal winger Marc Overmars now fully fit. “We’re all fit and we are raring to go,” said Rijkaard, ahead of the match against the Czech Republic at the Amsterdam Arena. Rijkaard has two positional issues to resolve. Either Boudewijn Zenden or Giovanni van Bronckhorst will play at left back and Aron Winter and Phillip Cocu are disputing a midfield berth. France: Zinedine Zidane has played down his standing as talisman for the world champions, insisting he is only 1/11th of the team. All indications are that coach Roger Lemerre will pair Real Madrid’s Nicolas Anelka and Arsenal’s Thierry Henry up front in tomorrow’s opener with Denmark. Anelka will not be moving to Juventus, the Italian club’s vice-president Roberto Bettega said yesterday. Apart from the new frontline the replacement of Frank Leboeuf by Laurent Blanc, who was suspended in the World Cup final win over Brazil, is the only likely change from the team that started the World Cup final. Denmark: For the first time on Friday all 22 Danish players were able to train normally. The Danes still have several worries, principally Jes Hogh who has an achilles tendon problem. Morten Jorgensen and Brian Steen Nielson remain doubts but Jon Dahl Tomasson and Thomas Helveg should be fit. Much attention ahead of the opener with France is on the goalkeeping duel between Peter Schmeichel and the man who hopes to replace him in the hearts of the Manchester United faithful, Fabien Barthez. Schmeichel will relinquish his penalty-taking duties to Stig Tofting. Czech Republic: Lazio’s Pavel Nedved is still the main source of anxiety for coach Jozef Chovanec ahead of the opener with co-hosts Holland. Marek Jankulowski, with only one senior cap, is the likely replacement for Liverpool’s Patrik Berger, who is suspended. Jankulowski has been
compared to team-mate Karel Poborsky, who is also a
likely starter against the Dutch. |
Moment of truth for England EINDHOVEN (Netherlands), June 11 (AFP) — England manager Kevin Keegan has talked a good game since taking over from Glenn Hoddle at the start of last year, but against Portugal on Monday night he will discover just how good his team is — with or without Alan Shearer. England, semifinalists when they staged the championship four years ago, believe they are good enough to make the last four again, but of all the major nations at Euro 2000 they are the most difficult to predict. Few would question that they boast of a clutch of world-class players in Alan Shearer, Michael Owen, David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Tony Adams, but whether they can get together into an effective team is another matter. Their form has been fitful under Keegan although there were promising signs against Brazil and Ukraine in their recent warm-up matches at Wembley. They face a Portugal side who England captain Alan Shearer believes are “as technically gifted as any in the world” but one lacking a truly dangerous striker. Both teams are keeping their plans closely under wraps, but the match poses an interesting dilemma for the coaches who have both stressed that a draw would not be a bad result. A victory would represent a giant step towards reaching the quarterfinals but a defeat would demand a riskier, more offensive approach in the other two group games while increasing the mental pressure on the players. It is difficult, however, to imagine the attack-minded Keegan fielding a team aimed at containing the Portuguese and hitting them on the counter charge. During his time as coach at Newcastle United, Keegan won plaudits for his ‘champagne’ football and in some matches he would even field four forwards. Newcastle, though, never won a trophy under Keegan and since taking over the national team the former England captain has been far less cavalier in his tactical approach, conscious that a single defeat in international football, unlike in league games, can be disastrous. Both teams have injury worries over key players ahead of the group A match with England’s leading goalscorer Shearer struggling to shake off a knee ligament injury and Portugal midfielder looking doubtful after picking up a thigh strain. Michael Owen, one of the stars of France 98, is certain to start in attack and will be partnered by either Emile Heskey, Robbie Fowler or Kevin Phillips if Shearer is unfit. David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Paul Ince are likely to start in midfield but the biggest selection question is who will join them on the left side. Dennis Wise, Steve McManaman and Nick Barmby, none of them natural left footers, have all been tried. The Neville brothers, Gary and Phil, should start in the full-back slots with veteran defender Tony Adams and Sol Campbell in the centre of defence and David Seaman in goal. Portugal will probably play a 4-2-3-1 system with either Sa Pinto or Nuno Gomes the lone striker ahead of an impressive attacking midfield of Figo, Rui Costa and Joao Pinto. The industrious Paulo
Bento is likely to start along side Sousa or Vidigal just
behind with a back four of Secretario, Fernando Couto,
Jorge Costa and Dimas in front of keeper Vitor Baia. |
Matthaus, Jeremies likely to play VAALS (Netherlands), June 11 (AFP) — Injured players Lother Matthaus and Jens Jeremies will almost certainly play for Germany against Romania in their opening Euro 2000 match, coach Erich Ribbeck said here yesterday. Matthaus picked up a right thigh injury in the 8-2 win over Liechtenstein on Wednesday and Jeremies hurt his left knee in Friday evening training. The 39-year-old Matthaus and tough midfielder Jeremies are key players in Ribbeck’s defence of their European title which they won four years ago in England with a 2-1 final victory over the Czech Republic. “Lothar took part in training,” Ribbeck told a Press conference yesterday. “That shows he his back to full fitness and, but for an extraordinary event, he will be playing.” Since arriving at their Vaals base near the German and Belgian borders, Matthaus, who skippered Germany’s World Cup winning side in 1990, had merely undergone light training. Yesterday he had a full session however. “Since Wednesday, my treatment has been effective,” said Matthaus, “Today I was able to deal with all the problems. I think that with extra training till Monday, everything will be fine.” “I am more confident today but the decision belongs to the coach.” Ribbeck added Jeremies, who was suspended by the coach for one international on the run-up to this June 10-July 2 event for publicly criticising him, also had full training. Ribbeck did not name his starting 11 for the Romania group A game in Liege, but gave a strong indication with an 11-a-side game which had Oliver Bierhoff playing with Ulf Kirsten as their strike duo. AC Milan’s Bierhoff, a national hero when his golden goal won Euro 96 for Germany, said he fully expected to play. “I think and I hope I will play given the team which played during training. In any case I showed against the Czech Republic I was on good form.” He also aims to stamp his authority on this event just as he did so gloriously, yet unexpectedly, in Euro 96 when he came on as substitute in the final though he had not been widely favoured by Berti Vogts during the tournament. “My ambition in this tournament is to be top scorer,” said Bierhoff, who knows how to score goals at the highest level. He was Serie A top scorer for Udinese with 27 goals, two more than Brazil’s Ronaldo, before moving to AC Milan in the summer of 1998. Bierhoff came on against the Czechs last Saturday to score twice in a 3-2 win, his first international goals in 616 minutes of football. He said he had a good understanding with Kirsten, whom he respected for often accepting a substitutes role for Germany despite often being the Bundesliga’s top scorer. Apart from Bierhoff and
Kirsten, Ribbeck fielded Oliver Kahn, Lothar Matthaus,
Thomas Linke, Jens Nowotny, Markus Babbel, Jens Jeremies,
Christian Ziege, Thomas Hassler and Mehmet Scholl. |
IWHF seeks apology NEW DELHI, June 11 (UNI) — The Indian Women’s Hockey Federation has asked for apologies from senior players of the team for not playing in the qualifying tournament for the Sydney Olympics where the Indian team finished last. Sandeep Kaur, Manjinder Kaur, Sita Gossain and Pritam Rani did not even attend the training camp for the qualifiers that were held in Osaka. India lost all five matches in the tournament. Sources said a committee that was appointed to go into the issue blamed the players, manager, coach and secretary-general of the federation for the fiasco. The committee recommended a one year ban on the players if they failed to tender apologies within a week and removal of the coach and manager. The coach and manager
were blamed for their failure to diagnose the problem and
rectifying it on time. |
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