 |
|
|
Latvia frustrate Germany Czech comeback rattles Dutch hopes Portugal’s hopes rest on victory Greece need draw to book quarterfinal berth France draw comfort from others |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rooney allowed to keep goal Play regular keeper in
ODIs: Dravid
Sampras’ shadow hovers over Federer
|
|
Latvia frustrate Germany
Porto, June 19 Germany will be eliminated if they cannot beat the Czechs in their last group D game after failing to repeat their convincing performance in the opening 1-1 draw with the Netherlands. The 2002 World Cup finalists are at risk of another early exit from the European Championship after failing to survive the group stage four years ago. The Baltic debutants looked well organised and resisted Germany in a tight, tactical first half of few highlights. The second half was more one-sided, Germany stepping up a gear but looking clumsy in front of goal and failing to breach a determined Latvian defence. Latvia right back Aleksandrs Isakovs received the fastest yellow card of the tournament when he clattered midfielder Torsten Frings a few seconds into the game. The opening skirmishes were tense and dull with no clear chance until Frings fired over the bar from outside the box on eight minutes. Germany threatened again when striker Kevin Kuranyi controlled the ball on his chest and shot narrowly wide but there was little to get excited about for the German fans. Germany, playing with two strikers, failed to put their opponents under real pressure and were far less convincing than against the Netherlands. However, they showed more initiative with the break approaching, midfielder Michael Ballack and Kuranyi firing in shots. Latvia fought bravely and threatened shortly before half time when striker Maris Verpakovskis surged powerfully into the box and produced a good save from goalkeeper Oliver Kahn. There was another pacey run from Verpakovskis 10 minutes into the second half which ended when he was sandwiched by two defenders but his appeal for a penalty was harshly turned down by English referee Mike Riley. Germany appeared to need a set piece to break the deadlock and came close in the 64th minute when Latvia goalkeeper Aleksandrs Kolinko did well to punch away a fierce Ballack free kick. German substitute striker Miroslav Klose wasted a fine chance in injury time when he headed wide, and Latvia held on for a point, their only realistic goal in a tough group featuring three former European champions. — Reuters |
|
Czech comeback rattles Dutch hopes Aveiro, June 19 The Czechs came back from two goals down to win a group D game full of exhilarating play when Vladimir Smicer tucked home the winner in the 88th minute to break Dutch hearts. The Dutch finished with 10 men after Johnny Heitinga was sent off. The two former winners produced a series of high speed enterprising moves as they both sought the victory that would put them on course for the quarterfinals after Germany were held to a goal-less draw by Latvia earlier in the day. The Dutch went 2-0 up with goals by Wilfred Bouma and Ruud van Nistelrooy before Jan Koller pulled one back to make it 2-1 at the break. Both sides made countless further chances, the Dutch twice hitting the woodwork, before Milan Baros earned the Czechs a deserved point with a thunderous equaliser in the 71st minute. The Dutch played out the last 20 minutes with 10 men after a second yellow card for defender Johnny Heitinga but the Czechs could not take advantage. The result puts the Czechs through with six points. Germany have two and the Netherlands and Latvia one. Germany play the Czech Republic and Latvia face the Netherlands in the final games next Wednesday. The Dutch army of orange-clad fans making up the majority of the 30,000 crowd had barely finished cheering Latvia's draw with Germany when they were on their feet again at the start of what would prove 90 minutes of exhilarating football. Jan Koller had blasted a close-range volley over the bar after less than two minutes but in the fourth Dutch defender Wilfred Bouma was left totally unmarked at the far post to head in Arjen Robben's right wing free kick. Clarence
Seedorf, recalled after missing the 1-1 draw with Germany through injury, then grazed the post with a free kick before Ruud Van Nistelrooy made it 2-0 in the 19th minute, sweeping in Robben's low cross from the left having been left alone as he initially jogged back from an offside position. The Czechs, knowing a win would clinch a place in the last eight, replied four minutes later after Dutch captain Philip Cocu gave the ball away to Milan Baros in the centre circle.
Baros charged towards goal, broke through Jaap Stam's tackle and rolled the ball into the path of Koller to tap in from close range. The Czechs continued to probe, playing some excellent football but finding the
Stam-inspired Dutch defence on the top of their game. The Dutch stormed back, with Johnny Heitinga and Seedorf both flashing long range shots just wide before Davids ended the half by rattling the post with another. The second half picked up where the first had finished, the opening two minutes producing good chances at both ends, which Dutch keeper Edwin van der Sar and his Czech counterpart Petr Cech both did well to foil. The keeper was powerless in the 71st minute, however, as Koller chested a long pass into the path of
Baros, who slammed the ball home from the edge of the box. Cech saved brilliantly from Andy van der Meyde a minute later and Van der Sar matched him with a double stop in the 75th, moments after Johnny Heitinga was sent off for his second yellow card. The Czechs went close to a winner when Pavel Nedved thumped a 30-metre right-foot shot that rattled the bar before Smicer delivered the killer blow. — Reuters |
||
|
Portugal’s hopes rest on victory
Lisbon, June 19 History is not on their side, as Portugal have not defeated their Iberian neighbours since 1981, and they have never won in five competitive matches with the 1964 European Champions. Spain, who have four points in Group A to Portugals three, are also under pressure to get a result, as they must avoid defeat at the capital’s Alvalade Stadium to reach the last eight — unless Greece lose to Russia by a greater margin in the day’s other contest. With all to play for then in the sure-to-be tense contest, both sides are at least publicly dismissing historical concerns and focusing squarely on the task at hand. Saez is of the opinion that his team’s 3-0 friendly win over Portugal in Guimaraes last September is all-but meaningless. “I will look at the game of course, and so will Scolari,” said the 61-year-old boss. “The line-ups may be similar, so it will serve as some kind of reference, but the games themselves will be completely different. “We are playing to decide who will go through to the next round of the tournament, and that sort of contest is nothing like a friendly.” Knowing that they need to avoid losing has the Spaniards talking confidently ahead of the do-or-die clash. Portugal’s silky defensive midfielder Costinha saw things from a different angle naturally. “After beating Russia, we are still fighting for the championship,” said the Champions League winner with FC Porto. “To succeed in this event it is necessary to overcome a number of great teams, and thats what we need to do on Sunday.” Portugal goalkeeper Ricardo was the most bold on Friday, answering a question about Spain’s chance of reaching the next round thus: “Spain have great players, but what are their chances of reaching the next stage? “Slim,” he answered. “Because Portugal will win the game.” — DPA
|
|
Greece need draw to book quarterfinal berth
Faro, June 19 It would mark a real turnaround in fortunes for Greece who had not won a match in a major finals before their shock 2-1 triumph over hosts Portugal on the opening day. “We have not achieved anything yet,” warned 65-year-old
Rehhagel.
“Everyone is saying we are through but that is not the case.” Rehhagel, known as ‘King Otto’ after winning two German championships, two German Cups and UEFA Cup with Werder Bremen in a 14 year reign, can expect royal treatment when he returns to Athens if his side can finish the job. It would also help Greek fans to forget the 1994 World Cup nightmare when they lost all three matches in the USA. The Greek Prime Minister has already invited the German manager for a cup of coffee after the competition but that could stretch to champagne if Greece continue their progress. Russia picked up the unwanted accolade of becoming the first team to exit Euro 2004 but vowed not to lie down for a third successive defeat. “Those who think we will just stroll around in this match are mistaken,” warned coach Georgy Yartsev. “We need goals and points at this Euro for the fans.” One ardent fan is Chelsea’s Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich who will no doubt be dismayed that his wide cheque book cannot help infuse new talent into the side to help them try and score in Portugal. Personnel problems plague Russia with captain Alexei Smertin and goalkeeper Sergei Ovchinnikov both suspended, though Roman Sharonov should return after serving a one-match suspension following his sending off in the opening 1-0 defeat by Spain. Meanwhile, Greece must do without Bolton midfielder Stylianos Giannakopoulos through injury and Georgios Karagounis who is suspended. Greece top the table with four points, the same as Spain, and could even go through if they lost to Russia and Portugal just draw with the Spanish as the deciding factor for teams finishing on the same number of points is their head-to-head match.
— AFP |
|
France draw comfort from others
Santo Tirso, Portugal, June 19 Coach Jacques Santini played down his disappointment following the 2-2 draw against Croatia, stressing that no side had yet reached the knock-out stage after only two games. Italy are facing early elimination after drawing their opening two matches against Denmark and Sweden, while Spain, Portugal, Germany, the Netherlands and England are also battling to seal places in the last eight. The holders seemed on course to book their spot when they went ahead in the first half against Croatia but they took their opponents too lightly after the interval and had to come from behind to avoid defeat. ''Of course, we were disappointed because we were planning to rest some of our players for the third match,'' Santini said. ''But there is no reason to get worried. We came here to play six matches. We are still in the race. The result confirmed that this tournament is going to be very tough. ''No team has clinched two wins in a row so far and none has qualified yet. Our position is not worse than any others.'' Only the Czech Republic can still make it to the next round after two matches if they overcome the Netherlands in Aveiro on Saturday. The French, last-gasp 2-1 winners over England in their opening match, still need a point against Switzerland on Monday to reach the quarter-finals. ''The tournament is tougher than we expected,'' said striker David Trezeguet. ''The Spaniards and the Italians are not in a better situation than we are. ''All the big names have experienced problems. Our results are not so bad after all. No one proved they were better than us.'' Italy will be knocked out regardless of what happens in their final match against Bulgaria if Sweden and Denmark draw 2-2, England need a point against Croatia, and in Group D the Dutch, Germans and Czechs are chasing two spots. ''If you look at the others you would see that we are not in such a bad situation,'' Santini said. ''To those who made pessimistic comments I want to remind them that we are still sole leaders of the group. — Reuters
|
|
|
Rooney allowed to keep goal Lisbon: England striker Wayne Rooney has been allowed to keep his second goal against Switzerland after UEFA investigated on Friday whether it should be credited as an own goal for Swiss keeper Jorg Stiel. Rooney’s close-range header gave England the lead in Group B clash and made him the youngest player ever to score in a European Championships but his second-half shot hit the post and rebounded off Stiel into the net. UEFA’s technical committee decided that the 18-year-old striker would be allowed to keep the goal. The original shot was on target so we confirm that Rooney is the score,” said UEFA spokesman Rob Faulkner.— AFP
Offer to Kahn Berlin: Latvia’s ambassador to Berlin has offered Germany goalkeeper Oliver Kahn honorary Latvian citizenship if he makes a blunder that helps the underdogs in their Euro 2004 match on Saturday. Ambassador Martin Virsis told Bild newspaper that although Latvia do not have much chance of victory he hopes they score a goal against Kahn, who has a Latvian grandmother and whose father was born in the eastern European country.
— Reuters
|
|
Play regular keeper in
ODIs: Dravid
Bangalore, June 19 Dravid, who has often expressed his reluctance to don the keeping gloves, said he considered wicketkeeping a challenge because he was "not a natural wicketkeeper". "Parthiv's performance is a great sign for India. I hope that he will be given the opportunities to become a full-fledged wicketkeeper-batsman that India probably needs in the future," Dravid told reporters on the concluding day of the training camp for Asia Cup probables here. Dravid's views come barely a week after skipper Sourav Ganguly's comment that he would have to continue with the vice-captain doubling up as keeper as it helped the team in terms of balance and batting depth. "If you can find somebody who can do the job as good as Dravid has done in the past two years for the team, then we might start thinking. But at the moment, he is doing such a wonderful job, we will have to stick with him," Ganguly had said here on Sunday. On whether he enjoyed keeping wickets in one-dayers, Dravid said, "I look upon it as a challenge. I keep saying this again and again. It's a challenge and it's not something that comes to me naturally."
— PTI |
|
Sampras’ shadow hovers over Federer
London, June 19 Ever since Federer finally converted raw potential into historic silverware at the All-England Club last year, comparisons have been made with the American who serve-and-volleyed his way to 14 Grand Slam titles before calling it quits last year. “I’m maybe the most natural ball-striker, but just for me, my game feels natural,” said the Swiss 22-year-old who has since added the Australian Open and Masters Cup to take his career singles titles tally to 17. “I feel like I’m living the game when I’m out there. I feel when a guy is going to hit the ball, I know exactly with the angles and spins, I just feel that I’ve got that figured out. And that is just a huge advantage.” Federer, who opens his Wimbledon campaign against British wildcard Alex Bogdanovic, has the grace and elegance on court which has spectators, exhausted by the slam-bang of the world’s baseliners, swooning. After years of knocking on the door, last year’s 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, 6-4 final triumph over mark Philippoussis came as a relief. “I proved it to everybody,” Federer said. “It was a big relief because there was pressure from all the sides and also from myself. “In the end when I held the trophy up it was very tough with the emotions. “It took me a long time because I was rather crazy when I was young,” added Federer who has built up a 17-match winning run on grass stretching back to his shock first round defeat to Croatia’s Mario Ancic in 2001. “I was using too much energy with all the negative thoughts and all of it would make me very tired at the end of a tournament. I would get to the quarters or the semis and I was very tired already and I couldn’t imagine myself playing two or three weeks in a row. “But that Wimbledon victory was such a dream. Now it still gets me all emotional inside.” Federer, however, has his work cut out if he is to feel really at home in the pantheon of the greats. Sampras was a seven-time winner, Bjorn Borg five while John McEnroe and Boris Becker lifted the famous trophy on three occasions. This year, he is seeded to face US Open winner Andy Roddick in the final with the American 21-year-old fresh from a successful defence of his Queen’s Club where he fired down more world record setting service howitzers. “I felt I was playing really good tennis last year,” said Roddick who has former Andre Agassi coach, Brad Gilbert in his corner. “Now I feel that it’s not surprising if I’m playing that well whereas, last year at Wimbledon, I was kind of like: OK, I’m playing great, let’s keep going. This year I might go in and I could be playing badly but still think that I could pull it together.” Roddick was beaten in the semi-finals by Federer last year but was in awesome form at Queen’s where he set a new record for ther world’s fastest serve timed at 246.2 kph. Roddick, who faces Taiwan qualifier Yeu-Tzuoo Wang in his opener, also put out 2002 Wimbledon champion and triple Queen’s champion Lleyton Hewitt in the semi-finals. “I don’t try for the record serves, they just happen,” said the American. Britain’s Tim Henman, four times a semi-finalist and seeded five this year, could be the biggest threat to a Federer-Roddick showdown on July 4 as he tries to become the first home men’s winner since Fred Perry in 1936. “At this time of year, there are so many opinions out there and the fact is there is very few I am worried about or interested in,” said the 29-year-old Henman. “I am pretty good at taking care of the things I can control and all these exteriors things which are out of my control are really not worth worrying about.” Henman, who could run into Philippoussis in the fourth round, became the first British man in 41 years to reach the last four of the French Open last month but then had a disastrous opening to his grass court season losing to Karol Beck of Slovakia in the first round at Queen’s. With Andre Agassi, the 1992 winner, not playing because of a hip injury, the crowd’s sympathy vote will be with Goran Ivanisevic who won in 2001 but has been unable to return since because of a series of injuries. The Croatian opens up against Mikhail Youzhny of Russia. Whatever happens, the tournament will be the end of the road for Ivanisevic. Hewitt, seeded seven, has the disadvantage of being lumped into Federer’s quarter of the draw while third seed Guillermo Coria, has been given a kind draw and could face fellow clay court devotee Juan Carlos Ferrero in the quarter-finals.
— AFP |
|
Mongia makes a quiet start London, June 19 Choosing to bat first at a place known for Shakespeare and not cricket, Warwickshire had a brilliant start yesterday with former Australia opener Mark Waugh (167) and captain Nick Knight (53) giving them their third century-partnership in a row. In the middle order, Jonathan Trott hit a crafty 54 while Bradley Hogg (56) also completed his half century. At the end of the day, Warwickshire were 495 for nine wickets in 104 overs. Handed over the ball, Mongia got the wicket of D.R. Brown when he caught the latter plumb in front of the wicket with the batsman on 16. The Indian returned with a figure of 17-1-82-1. With four players injured and another three on England duty, Lancashire had inducted Mongia to replace former West Indies captain Carl Hooper and the Indian’s registration was confirmed only last morning.
— UNI |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
