Cape Town, July 3
Germany crushed Argentina 4-0 with a sparkling display of attacking football on Saturday to book their spot in the World Cup last four.

A double from Miroslav Klose on his 100th international appearance, along with goals from Thomas Mueller and defender Arne Friedrich ensured the convincing win over a lacklustre Argentina.

"It's insane to beat Argentina 4-0. It's hard to find the words for a result like that," Mueller told German television after the match. "I think Germany is quaking right now and that's the right way to celebrate this."

Man-of-the-match Bastian Schweinsteiger added: "That gives you goose bumps seeing the way people are celebrating at home.

"We may have to play Spain next -- they're the best team in the world, in my view. But we're good enough, we believe in ourselves."

German coach Joachim Loew said the team had played "like champions".

"The team did everything nearly perfectly today," he said.

"The result is nearly unbelievable because Argentina have a strong defensive team. It was first class that we were able to get so many goals."

Germany got off to a dream start when Mueller snatched his fourth goal of the tournament, heading in a curled Schweinsteiger free kick after just three minutes.

Klose doubled Germany's lead in the 68th minute when Lukas Podolski out in a perfect pass from the left and the striker tapped in from close range.

Friedrich got a third with his first international goal in the 74th minute, finishing from a metre out after Schweinsteiger's cross, before Klose completed the rout with his second in the 89th minute.

Dictating the pace early in the first half, Germany refused to fall back after their quick lead, pressing high in Argentina's half and coming close to a second through Sami Khedira and Klose.

Germany, who beat Argentina on penalties at the same stage of the tournament in 2006, gradually allowed their opponents to come forward, responding with lightning-quick counter-attacks.

The Argentines, with playmaker Lionel Messi often stifled by two or three defenders, tried desperately to level with long-range shots before Klose doubled the German lead.

Friedrich then added the third six minutes later, before Klose volleyed home a cross from Mesut Ozil for the fourth and his 14th World Cup goal, just one short of Ronaldo's all time record.

"We just had a bad game. If you make mistakes like that, you go home," Argentine forward Carlos Tevez said. "We knew they could be dangerous on set-pieces and on the counter-attack. — Reuters

Johannesburg, July 2
Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan's penalty miss in the dying seconds of extra time against Uruguay on Friday cost the African side a place in the World Cup semifinals and broke hearts across the continent.

Ghana's striker Asamoah Gyan’s (3) penalty kick hits the crossbar during their quarterfinal in Soweto on Friday. — AFP

Uruguay's 4-2 shootout win after a 1-1 draw took them into the last four for the first time in 40 years where they will face Netherlands, who earlier shocked Brazil 2-1, and stopped

Ghana becoming the first African side to reach the semis.

Gyan blasted his spot kick against the bar with the last kick in added time on a night of pulsating drama at Soccer City that not even a Hollywood scriptwriter would have penned.

Uruguay made the most of being let off the hook to progress with Fernando Muslera saving two of Ghana's penalties before a cheeky chipped spot kick from Sebastian Abreu that was full of Latin bravado and panache delivered the spoils.

Uruguay celebrated their good fortune with unbridled joy on the pitch while Gyan broke down and wept. Ghana's Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac struggled to hold back the tears at the post-match news conference.

"At the end, we had a historic opportunity. It would have been a fairytale. We didn't deserve to lose in this way," Rajevac said, his eyes swollen as he bit repeatedly at his bottom lip.

The difference between the sweet taste of victory and bitter defeat turned on a handball by Uruguay forward Luis Suarez on the line that denied Ghana a goal in the final seconds.

While he was sent off for the offence, and will miss the semifinal, Uruguay got an effective lifeline that they snatched to book a meeting with the Dutch in Cape Town on Tuesday.

"We did what we had to do to win without playing brilliantly," was Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez's response to a question about the credibility of his side's success.

Gyan had netted two penalties in the first round of the tournament but struck Friday's effort high, grazing the top of the crossbar and then clutching his head in his hands as the opportunity of a lifetime slipped by.

Ghana had taken the lead on the stroke of halftime when Sulley Muntari, restored to the starting lineup after an earlier bust-up with the coach, fired a speculative shot from long range that deceived Uruguay keeper Muslera.

It came after the Africans had weathered a jittery opening spell as Uruguay's much vaunted attack of Suarez and Diego Forlan set up three good early chances.

Uruguay equalised 10 minutes into the second half when Forlan struck a wicked swerving free kick over the top of the defence and keeper Richard Kingson.

But it was the Black Stars who had the better of the late chances in a flowing game that taxed the physical conditioning of both sides.

Missed chances in extra time suggested the game would limp to the lottery of a shootout but it suddenly came alive when Kevin-Prince Boateng narrowly missed with a header in the 118th minute before the scarcely believable finish unfolded. — Reuters

London, July 3
Serena Williams again showed the gaping chasm between her and the rest of the field when she retained her Wimbledon singles crown with a crushing 6-3 6-2 win over Russia’s Vera Zvonareva on Saturday.

The victory, her fourth at the All England Club which took just 67 minutes, meant Williams overtook Billie Jean King with 13 grand slam singles titles to go sixth in the all-time list.

She celebrated the winning smash by flinging her racket into the air and gesturing to her entourage. Zvonareva was blinking back the tears by her chair after the defeat.

“This one is very special. Billie Jean, I got you,” Serena told her compatriot who was watching on from the Royal Box. “I’d like to congratulate Vera, she has been through so much and she defines what a champion and never giving up means.”

The defending champion opened confidently with a rock-solid service game to love, and the Russian's nerves will have settled after levelling at 1-1 in front of a packed Centre Court crowd on a warm.

Zvonareva took the American top seed to deuce in game three before Serena clinched it with a third ace. The first signs of pressure on the 21st seed came in the sixth game when three forehand errors gave Williams the first break point of the match.

But Zvonareva hit a pinpoint forehand into the corner to fend that off, and then a netted return from Williams made it 3-3. The decisive breakthrough came in game eight when a double fault from Zvonareva took it to deuce before a long backhand from the Russian gave Williams another break point.

Zvonareva earned her first break point of the match in game nine but Williams clung on and a long forehand gave the world number one the first set after 36 minutes.

The Russian looked unsettled and her tension was clear for all to see, including a host of former champions watching from the Royal Box, when a rushed netted forehand gave Williams a break in the opening game of the second set.

Zvonareva impressively saved two further break points trailing 1-3, but another double fault from the Russian meant a two-break deficit and an impossible mountain to climb.

Another confident service game took Williams to 5-1, and Zvonareva saved some pride with a hold of her own before Williams motored through the final game, smashing an overhead into the back wall for the moment of victory. — Reuters

New Delhi, July 3
India started their campaign at the BDO Hamburg Masters hockey tournament on a disappointing note, losing 3-6 to world number three Holland at the Ulhenhoster Hockey Club at Hamburg, Germany.

Bob de Voogd (9th minute), Robbert Kemperman (17th minute), Jeroen Hertzburger (22nd), Klaas Vermeulen (34th), Mink ven der Weerden (46th) and Constantijn Jonker (60th) were the goal-scorers for the Dutch side, while the Indian marksmen were Dhananjay Mahadik (18th), Sandeep Singh (43rd) and Ravi Pal (52nd).

India will next play world number two and Olympic Champions Germany, which beat beat Japan 5-3 in another match yesterday.

Against Holland, India started the encounter in a lethargic fashion, which resulted in numerous unforced errors in the deep defence.

Except for Sardar Singh, who played his heart out, Indian defenders wore a sorry look as the Dutch caught them on the wrong footing with frequent position interchange and quick passes.

The continuous pressure by the Dutch forwardline yielded result in the 9th minute when de Voogd scored from a Verga cross.

Eight minutes later, Kemperman made full use of a pass from a turnover in the Indian midfield to make it 2-0.

India, however, reduced the margin in the next minute from their first short corner when captain Mahadik slotted the home to the Dutch goalkeeper’s left with a carpet flick.

But Holland fired back in the 22nd and 34th minutes with goals from Hertzburger and Vermeulen to go into the breather with an impressive 4-1 lead.

Eight minutes into the second half, India pulled another back when drag-flciker Sandeep Singh scored from their second penalty corner.

But India's comeback hopes were dashed when Mink ven der Weerden made it 5-2 in the 46th minute from Holland’s third penalty corner.

Shortly after the goal, Tushar Khandker missed the target with a reverse flick off a Ravi Pal pass.

Ravi Pal then scored in the 52nd minute to make it 5-3 and give India glimmer of a hope.

But it was not to be India’s day as Holland completed their tally when Jonker scored after he was set up by Vermeulen in the 60th minute to pocket full three points from the high-scoring encounter. — PTI

Karachi, July 3
Angry over Malcolm Speed’s derogatory remark against the cricket board and its chairman on the John Howard issue, the PCB has sent a strong worded letter to new ICC president Sharad Pawar, asking him to take action against the former chief executive of the game’s governing body.

Speed lashed out at the Pakistan and Bangladesh cricket boards earlier in the week after the two countries joined hands with India, Sri Lanka and South Africa to reject former Australian Prime Minister Howard's nomination for the post of ICC vice-President.

Speed described PCB chairman Ejaz Butt as a “buffoon” and said Pakistan and Bangladesh were politicised cricket bodies.

PCB sources said Speed’s remark did not go well with Butt, who ordered chief operating officer Wasim Bari to shot off a letter to Pawar, asking him to initiate action against the former ICC CEO.

“His outburst against the chairman of an ICC full-member country speaks volumes of his hatred against ICC member countries not towing his line. It also shows his bias against the Asian and coloured countries. The PCB would request for action against the former ICC chief executive for using derogatory remarks against Ejaz Butt,” the letter read.

In the letter, sent to Pawar yesterday, the PCB said the game of cricket would earn bad repute if a free-hand was given to former ICC officials to issue such derogatory remarks.

“It is a test case for Sharad Pawar as he has just taken over and the fact remains that Speed is no longer an ICC official and free to air his views on any issue,” another PCB source said. — PTI

BRIEFLY

‘Mistake not giving Eng squad rest’
London: England manager Fabio Capello has admitted that his biggest World Cup mistake was not giving a break to the squad before the tournament. According to reports, Capello is convinced that he should have scrapped the two-week training camp in Austria to let his players refresh themselves following a hectic Premier League season. "Fabio now thinks it would have been best to let the players go away with their wives, girlfriends and families at the end of the season," The Sun quoted a close friend of Capello, as saying. "They could have let off steam, had a rest and then come back fresh for the World Cup finals, but he was so determined to do well in South Africa that he took them to Austria to train and prepare," the friend added. — ANI

Dunga hints at end of Brazil job
Port Elizabeth: Brazil coach Carlos Dunga expects his side's 2-1 loss to the Netherlands to be his last game in charge of the Brazilian team. "Everybody knew from the start that my contract was for four years," said Dunga in the post-match news conference. Dunga was appointed to the position to replace Albert Parreira following Brazil's defeat at the same stage in the 2006 World Cup. The coach added to the speculation about his future when asked if he took responsibility for the defeat. "Without a shadow of a doubt, I am the coach of the Brazilian team," Dunga said. "I have the greatest responsibility." Friday's quarterfinal loss sent the pre-tournament favourites tumbling out of the World Cup following widespread condemnation of the defensive style of play instilled in the side by Dunga. Dunga is a former defensive midfielder who led Brazil to World Cup victory in 1994 and was appointed to coach the team despite not having any previous coaching experience. — DPA

Malouda blames system for French flop
PARIS: France's World Cup fiasco was the fault of the system, a poor environment and the coach's refusal to listen to players, according to Florent Malouda. Malouda said there had been no dialogue between the players and outgoing coach Raymond Domenech during a disastrous campaign in which the team boycotted a training session in support of Nicolas Anelka, who was sent home for insulting Domenech. "It was difficult for me to accept the way the national team functioned compared to a great club like Chelsea. Every time I was called up to the national team, it was back to negative stories and bad vibes". — Reuters