Bloemfontein, June 20
Paraguay overcame Slovakia 2-0 to move towards the World Cup second round. Well-taken goals from Enrique Vera and Cristian Riveros in the 27th and 86th minutes were too much for a toothless Slovakia side.

“We were good in defence, we did well in attack. It was a great match. We scored and we feel close to the round of 16,” man-of-the-match Vera told reporters. Paraguay coach Gerardo Martino added: “I think these results have strengthened us mentally, spiritually, not just as football players, especially in our attitude. We are getting closer to our objectives to make it to the final rounds.”

Slovakia’s first World Cup appearance is likely on borrowed time, with Italy still to come on Thursday, while Paraguay will expect to beat New Zealand the same day to progress.

“We made two mistakes. It was a high-quality opponent and their victory was deserved," Slovakia coach Vladimir Weiss conceded to reporters after the game. “We lost the match because we were not bold upfield. Paraguay didn’t play as good as they can and still we lost.”

The first half was slow and lit up only by Vera's superb finish. Paraguay's three-pronged attack had found space on the edge of the box and began to put it to good use when Lucas Barrios’s delicate pass was met by the outside of Vera's right boot as he dispatched a curling effort into the net from 12 metres.

Paraguay almost grabbed a second goal after good work by striker Roque Santa Cruz. But they did eventually stretch their lead four minutes from time thanks to Riveros’s sweet left foot.

Paraguay have not gone beyond the second round in seven previous World Cup campaigns but having seen off both Argentina and Brazil in an impressive qualifying run, they just might fancy their chances of breaking that duck this time around. — Reuters 

Nelspruit, June 20
World champions Italy suffered an embarrassing 1-1 draw with underdogs New Zealand in their second World Cup Group F match today, a result which complicates their chances of progressing to the knockout stage.

New Zealand, ranked 78th in the world, took a shock lead in the seventh minute after struggling Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro made a hash of trying to clear a free kick into the box and Shane Smeltz poked home.

Italy had talked all week about the difficulties an unchanged New Zealand side would pose from dead balls but they did not deal with the danger even if there was a slight suspicion of offside.

Coach Marcello Lippi stationed himself at the edge of his technical area with a worried look and his team increased the tempo with Riccardo Montolivo striking the post from distance before they levelled in the 29th minute.

Daniele De Rossi tumbled in the box under pressure from Tommy Smith as a cross came over and Vincenzo Iaquinta calmly slotted in the debatable spotkick. On a bright day in northeastern South Africa, where the giraffe-shaped stadium roof supports in Nelspruit glistened in the sun, Italy pushed for a second with Montolivo’s fierce shot one of a number of efforts but they never looked convincing.

The holders employed a 4-4-2 formation from the start rather than the 4-2-3-1 from Monday's 1-1 draw with Paraguay and then threw on three attacking substitutes as darkness fell but New Zealand dealt with the threat reasonably comfortably. — Reuters

Johannesburg, June 20
When the World Cup draw was made in Cape Town last December, most Spanish fans had their side’s second Group H game against Honduras chalked down as the match where La Roja would book their place in the knockout stages.

After going down 0-1 to Ottmar Hitzfeld’s Switzerland in their opening game, Spain, the European Champions find themselves in the uncomfortable position of needing a victory against Honduras at Ellis Park Monday to get their World Cup campaign back on track.

With Chile also winning their opener against the Central Americans, Spain boss Vicente del Bosque is aware that even a win could leave his team looking at finishing second in the group and facing a potential round of 16 clash against Brazil.

The idea of taking anything for granted has been firmly banished from the Spanish squad. Instead it is back to basics for Spain, starting with a limited Honduras side that, on paper at least, should pose no problems for the pre-tournament favourites.

At least del Bosque can count on a fully fit Fernando Torres in Johannesburg. The Liverpool striker came off the bench midway during the second half against the Swiss and is now ready to play full 90 minutes. “We are all ready to take to the pitch and give everything,” said Torres, who promised that Spain wouldn’t panic and abandon their methodical passing style of play as they had already overcome more difficult situations in the past.

Offensive midfielder David Silva is likely to be the one to lose out if Torres starts alongside David Villa up front but the 26-year-old striker said at a press conference that the team’s style, if not the system, would remain the same.

“It doesn't matter if we play 4-3-3, 4-4-2 or something else, we'll stick to our style of play. We always want the ball and, if possible, to hem the opponent in their own half,” he said.

“We can’t get nervous if we don’t score an early goal,” Torres added. Defeat would see outsiders Honduras eliminated if Switzerland and Chile draw their Monday encounter in Port Elizabeth.Despite losing playmaker Julio Cesar de Leon to injury before the tournament even started, coach Reinaldo Rueda remained upbeat, saying Switzerland’s heroics had given Honduras hope of making it to the next round. The Colombian is likely to start with Suazo up front after the Genoa forward recovered from injury. — DPA

Singapore, June 20
Indian badminton ace Saina Nehwal put behind a nervy start to clinch the second Super Series title of her career by winning the Singapore Open with a straight-game triumph over qualifier Tzu Ying Tai in the finals here today.

Top seeded Saina took just 33 minutes to beat Chinese Taipei’s Tai 21-18 21-15 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium here.

The world number six, who was the lone Indian left in fray after others crashed out by the semifinal stage, had bagged her maiden Super Series title in June last year when she claimed the top honours at the Indonesian Open.

“I never expected to reach the finals as there were two good Chinese players in the draw but I believed in myself and got the result I wanted,” the jubilant 20-year-old said.

The in-form Saina came here after winning the India Open Grand Prix Gold title only last week.

In the match, Saina was locked 18-18 with her rival after trailing 8-14 at one stage. But Saina clinched the opening game with seven smash winners to show against her rival’s three.

In the second game, Saina displayed a better net game and outwitted her rival in rallies to emerge triumphant.

Saina said she kept gaining confidence as the match progressed.

“I was nervous at the start of the match but I maintained my strategy of playing more rallies,” she said.

“I was down 8-14 in the first game but I just told myself that “play your best and give your 100 per cent”. I think that really worked well for me,” she added.

Saina said her opponent, despite being a mere qualifier, had some tricks to unsettle her.

“She defeated a few good players in the run-up to the finals. In the beginning, I wasn’t comfortable with her game. She had some tricky shots,” she said.

But as the minutes ticked by, she got a hang of her rival’s strategy.

“Slowly, I studied her game. I was down and very nervous that I would lose the match but I had spirit to fight it out,” she said.

Saina’s ranking is expected to improve with this triumph but the Hyderabadi said climbing the charts is not her priority right now. “Next is the Indonesian Open starting Wednesday and I want to give my best in that,” she said. Back home, Badminton Associating of India President V K Verma congratulated Saina on her triumph. “This sets her up for the gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics,” Verma said. — PTI

The house where he is staying during Wimbledon is bigger than before and there is a separate room for Charlene Riva and Myla Rose, the 11-month-old twins played at the All England Club. As the defending champion, he will open proceedings on Centre Court tomorrow and, as usual, he will start as favourite.

Although Federer has not won a title since the Australian Open, he should at least have less on his mind than he did last year, when his wife, Mirka, was eight months’ pregnant. After leaving the All England Club the six-time champion spent half of the next five weeks in hospital with his wife and, eventually, their two children.

 But he was on the practice court within four days of their birth, won a Masters Series title in Cincinnati within a month and reached a Grand Slam final within two. On his return to the All England Club last week, Federer said he felt fatherhood had actually improved his game.

“I played such great tennis in Cincinnati and also at the US Open that right away I knew that actually it had only helped me to play better tennis and maybe to relax a bit,” he said. “Maybe I put a bit too much pressure on myself [in the past], always trying to prove myself.

“Then winning the Australian Open was massive for me, proving to me that I could win a Grand Slam on hard courts again, even when guys like Rafa [Nadal], [Andy] Murray, [Novak] Djokovic, [Nikolay] Davydenko and [Juan Martin] Del Potro were playing such great tennis on that surface.

Cape Town, June 20
Portugal need to switch to attack mode against North Korea on Monday to get the big win they may need to open the door to the World Cup second round.With Portugal having drawn their Group G opener against Ivory Coast, and with Brazil still to come, second place in the group is likely to be decided on goal difference.

But North Korea’s battling, well-organised display in their 2-1 loss to the five-times champions has merely made the 2006 runners-up focus even more on finding a way to goal.

“The first game is one in which the team takes fewer risks because naturally they play with an eye on what comes ahead,” said Portugal manager Carlos Queiroz.

“In the second game everything will be much more clear as there is no room to wait. We have to start making things happen and not waiting for them to happen. We have to put our cards on the table and attack.” Portugal fans and many neutrals will hope a more attacking approach provides the stage for Cristiano Ronaldo to thrive.

The world’s most expensive player has not scored a competitive international goal for almost two years, although he went close against Ivory Coast when he smacked a long-range shot against a post. Meanwhile, FIFA rejected Portugal’s appeal against the yellow card he got in the first game so he will have to keep his cool in what is likely to be 90 minutes of close attention to avoid another booking and a ban that would rule him out of the Brazil game. North Korea earned widespread praise for their work ethic, discipline and technical ability against Brazil and Portugal midfielder Raul Meireles said he expected more of the same. — Reuters

New Delhi, June 20
Still optimistic of Usain Bolt’s participation, the Organising Committee (OC) of the 2010 Commonwealth Games today said if required, it would seek CGF President Mike Fennell’s intervention to ensure the sprint superstar’s presence in the October 3-14 event.

Triple Olympic and world champion sprinter Bolt’s coach Glen Mills yesterday said Games here were not part of the Jamaican’s schedule and came at a time when he would be doing his base training for next year’s world championships.

OC secretary Lalit Bhanot, however, said they were still hoping that Bolt will compete in the mega sporting event here.

“We don’t have any official communication from Jamaican NOC on whether Bolt will participate or not but we believe he will take part in the Games,” Bhanot told PTI.

“More than 150 athletes from Jamaica will take part in the Games. The Jamaican National Olympic Committee has sent the number of athletes and they will send the list of the athletes by September 3 cut off date. Before that we would not know anything,” he added. “Of course, we will definitely look into the option of requesting Mr Fennell to help us in regard to Bolt’s participation,” said Bhanot, who is also Indian Olympic Association General Secretary. — PTI 

BRIEFLY

Robben to decide comeback
JOHANNESBURG: Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk will allow Arjen Robben to decide when he is fit to play at the World Cup and has not ruled out the winger's return in their final Group E match against Cameroon on Thursday. “I am going to leave him to make the decision. He knows his own body best and he will let me know when he is ready,” Van Marwijk told a news conference on Sunday. — Reuters

Deco injured
JOHANNESBURG: Portugal midfielder Deco has been ruled out of their Group G match against North Korea on Monday due to a thigh injury he picked up during Friday's training session, the player's spokesman said. — Reuters 

‘I'm there for Gerrard’
LONDON: England skipper Steven Gerrard’s wife Alex Curran has said she is playing the role of a morale booster to the Three Lions’ captain. “It's not my role as a wife to talk about how he played. It’s my job to lift him up and make him feel positive. Hopefully, they can put it behind them. I’ve got everything crossed and I'm praying,” Alex wrote in her article for News of The World. — ANI