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Casillas saves, Villa scores, Spain win
Spain not giving up on Torres yet
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Its not just about defence!
Germany go crazy over ‘title favourite’ young guns
Rafa takes another bite of history
Yousuf planning to make a comeback
Hamburg Masters: Germany beat India
Men’s hockey tourney begins
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Casillas saves, Villa scores, Spain win
Johannesburg, July 4 The quarter-final at Ellis Park exploded into life in the second-half with both goalkeepers saving spot kicks before Spain striker David Villa pounced in the 83rd minute to keep his team in with a chance of lifting the trophy for the first time. Villa is now the tournament's top scorer with five goals. "It's a good moment for Spanish football," said coach Vicente del Bosque, who now has to plot a repeat of Spain's 2008 European championship final win over Germany knowing they will have to raise their game to match their sparkling opponents. It was tough for Paraguay, playing in their first World Cup quarter-final, after they succeeded in nullifying Spain's talented strike-force and created chances of their own, defying predictions of an easy workout for the European champions.
Paraguay's manager Gerardo Martino was proud but frustrated. "We gave our all, we had opportunities, but unfortunately Spain converted and Paraguay didn't," he said. "We didn't have luck with us. It was a game we could have won. Now we have to resign ourselves to this tough blow." Before Villa popped up witht he winner, the game appeared headed for extra time after both sides had missed from the spot in an extraordinary flurry of activity that woke up the 55,359-strong crowd early in the second period. First, referee Carlos Batres ruled Spain defender Gerard Pique had hauled down Cardozo in the penalty area. The striker sent his spot kick low to the left of Iker Casillas but Spain's captain and goalkeeper saved comfortably. Moments later at the other end, Spain were awarded a penalty after Villa went down under a challenge from Antolin Alcaraz. Xabi Alonso netted high to Justo Villar's right, sparking celebrations on the Spain bench, but the referee made him retake the penalty kick after players from both sides encroached. Alonso struck his next attempt low to Villar's left but this was also saved. In the aftermath, substitute Cesc Fabregas, on for ineffective striker Fernando Torres, appeared to be brought down by the keeper but the referee awarded a corner. With both sides pressing for a late winner, Spain substitute Pedro hit the post following a brilliant run by Andres Iniesta. Villa picked up the rebound and struck a right-foot shot that remarkably went into the net off both posts. — Reuters
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Spain not giving up on Torres yet
Johannesburg, July 4 "He (Torres) is in good shape physically and in his defence you have to say that the team didn't really string together their attacks well," Del Bosque said at a news conference after his side kept alive their hopes of a first World Cup triumph. "We are satisfied with his work and his attitude and we are hoping for the best of him in our next matches," he added. While Torres has yet to find the net in any of Spain's games, Villa took his tally to five in five for the tournament and now has 43 goals in 63 appearances, one short of Raul's national scoring record of 44 in 102 matches. Looking ahead to the match against Germany in Durban on Wednesday, Spain captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas said Joachim Loew's prolific side, who thumped Argentina 4-0 in their quarter-final after thrashing England 4-1, were the best at the World Cup. "They proved that against both Argentina and England and I think we have to show them maximum respect," Casillas, who saved a Paraguay penalty in a dramatic second half at Johannesburg's Ellis Park, told reporters. "It won't be an easy match and they will be out for revenge after the European Championship," he added. "But we'll stand up to them." Torres added: "I am a great follower of German soccer and always have been. "For me, they are a great side and we'll have to be prepared as we haven't had a match as tough yet." — Reuters
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Its not just about defence!
Johannesburg, July 4 A 1-1 draw with Italy was a solid start to the tournament and the 2-0 win over Slovakia effectively secured passage to the last 16 — a process confirmed by a dull but calculated goalless draw with New Zealand. The game with Japan in the second round, though, showed a disappointing side to the Paraguayan approach. Facing a team that they should, given the pedigree of their players, have been confident of beating, Martino's men focused on frustrating Japan's midfield and the game ended a goalless stalemate. Had Paraguay lost the penalty shootout, they would have headed home with a certain sense of under-achievement but they won the lottery and their prize was a meeting with the European champions at Ellis Park. Oscar Cardozo had a second-half penalty saved by Spain keeper Iker Casillas and once David Villa put Spain in front it was hard to imagine a way back for Paraguay although Casillas had to be alert to keep out Lucas Barrios and Roque Santa Cruz.
— Reuters |
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Germany go crazy over ‘title favourite’ young guns
"Thanks, you heroes!" wrote Bild am Sonntag newspaper. "Unbelievable! Germany beats Argentina 4-0. Four to Zero!" Bild am Sonntag's normally difficult-to-please columnist Guenter Netzer, the former international, could hardly contain himself. "It was more than a victory, it was a demonstration of 'Uebermacht' (superiority)," wrote Netzer, now a popular TV pundit. "It was one of the best performances from a Germany team that I've ever seen." Netzer admitted he was wrong with his earlier public doubts about Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski. "I never would have thought they would have played such a strong World Cup." Former Germany coach Juergen Klinsmann, who led the team to third place in 2006 and is now a TV analyst, was also full of praise for the team and his successor, Joachim Loew. "The team seems to have a lot of fun and that's the base for attractive football — and Jogi (Loew) is doing an awesome job," Klinsmann told Reuters. Millions of fans have packed public viewing venues and were given credit by Loew for helping motivate the team. More than 350,000 watched on giant screens set up in central Berlin. Dropping their normal reluctance towards flag waving, German fans have wrapped themselves in their black, red and gold flags and celebrated with an unprecedented level of patriotism. "Deutschland einig Zauberland" (Germany united Magic Land) wrote the Sueddeutsche Zeitung. "The 4-0 win over Argentina wasn't only due to Germany's dominance on the pitch but also due to Loew's superior tactics," wrote the newspaper's columnist Thomas Hummel. — Reuters
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Rafa takes another bite of history
London, July 4 Nadal, who has not lost here since the 2007 final after victory in 2008, completely nullified the 1.95m Czech’s biggest weapons to storm to an eighth career grand slam and open up a cavernous lead at the top of the world rankings. The win, which completed a second French Open-Wimbledon double in three years for Nadal, came after two hours and 13 minutes when his 20th forehand winner left Berdych stranded at the net on his first championship point. He celebrated by slumping on to his back on the baseline, holding his face in his hands before embracing Berdych at the net. “More than a dream for me, always a dream to play in this final,” Nadal said in an on-court interview. From the moment Nadal bounced, weaved and stretched his way down the corridors of the All England Club to Centre Court like a fired-up prize fighter, there was a sense nothing could derail the 24-year-old. Melzer, Petzschner lift men’s doubles title Juergen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner eased to a quick-fire victory over Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau to win the Wimbledon men’s doubles title yesterday. Austrian Melzer and Germany’s Petzschner dispatched the 16th seeds 6-1, 7-5, 7-5 on a sun-baked Centre Court. The victory secured a maiden grand slam title for both players who never looked in serious danger of relinquishing their grip on the match after breaking their opponents three times in the opening set. Strolling on to court after Serena Williams had claimed her fourth singles title, the unseeded pair out-muscled their opponents with some stinging backcourt ground strokes and sharp net play. Petzschner hit an unstoppable forehand passing shot at match point and both players rolled on the floor in a celebratory embrace. Zvonarev suffers second final defeat
The emotion prompted by the 7-6, 6-2 defeat proved too much for Zvonareva, who had been thumped 6-3 6-2 by world number one Williams earlier in the day, and she burst into tears as she returned to her chair on Centre Court. After American King and Kazakh Shvedova, playing in only their third tournament together, took the first-set tiebreak, the Russians folded quickly.
Paes, Black clinch mixed doubles title London: Leander Paes notched up his 12th Grand Slam title after he and his Zimbabwean partner Cara Black clinched the Wimbledon mixed doubles championship with a straight set victory here on Sunday.
Last year’s runners-up and second seeds Paes and Black beat 11th seeds South African-American pair of Wesley Moodie and Lisa Raymond 6-4, 7-6 (5) in the finals here. With this win, Paes now have 12 Grand Slam titles - six men’s doubles and six mixed doubles Grand Slam crowns -- one more than his estranged men’s doubles partner and fellow Indian Mahesh
Bhupathi.Paes and Black, who put up an impressive performance coming into the final, broke their rivals thrice and pocketed the first set
6-4 in just 37 minutes. The first set featured as many as five breaks of serve, including one for every player in the first five games. The second set, which turned out to be a grueling affair, saw both the parties held their serves, although both Black and Raymond each struggled in one game. The Indo-Zimbabwean pair had earned a break point in the seventh game but couldn't convert it. In the next game, Wesley and Lisa also failed to covert a break point as the set went into a tie-breaker after a
6-6 stalemate. In the thrilling tie-breaker, the South African-American pair moved into the 4-2 lead but Paes and Black made a successful comeback with some sharp returns and surged ahead 6-5 before the Indian sealed the resounding victory with a volley at the net. Paes and Black had each won the title before with different partners.
Paes has lifted the trophy twice previously — with Martina Navratilova in 2003 and Lisa Raymond in 1999.
— Agencies |
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Yousuf planning to make a comeback
According to a report in the “Express” daily newspaper, after the advice given by Wasim, Yousuf has agreed to reconsider his decision and comeback to international cricket. “I am thinking about a possible return to international cricket it is possible but eventually what God wants will happen,” Yousuf said. The senior batsman has steadfastly refused to come out of retirement which he announced in March when the Pakistan cricket Board banned and fined seven players for misconduct and indiscipline on the tour to Australia early this year. Yousuf, one of Pakistan’s leading run-getters in test and one-day internationals, was also banned for an indefinite period although he was captain on the troubled Australia tour. Akhtar made to sign code of conduct Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has escaped the ignominy of being sent back home from England after he refused to sign the new code of conduct for players enforced by the Pakistan Cricket Board. According to sources, Shoaib was asked to sign the code of conduct which he had been delaying since the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka. “Eventually manager, Yawar Saeed threatened to send him home from England if he didn’t sign the code of conduct,” sources in the board said. Sources said it was captain Shahid Afridi who played the role of mediator and convinced Shoaib to sign the code of conduct. — PTI
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Hamburg Masters: Germany beat India
New Delhi, July 4 Senior drag-flicker Sandeep Singh sounded the board in the second minute of the match yesterday, while captain Rajpal Singh (15th minute) and Dharamvir Singh (41st minute) were the other scorers for India. The hosts scored through Jan-Marco Montag (11th minute), Florian Fuchs (16th minute), Maximillan Muller (50th minute), Christopher Zeller (64th minute) and Moritz Furste (70th minute). Desperate to shrug off a 3-6 humiliation against Holland in the campaign-opener, India began aggressively with Sandeep scoring in the second minute through a penalty stroke. Sandeep’s powerful drag-flick made a body contact with a German defender resulting in the penalty. Stung by the early reversal, Germany went in the hunt for the equaliser but Indian custodian Sreejesh thwarted a few attempts in the early minutes. Montag produced the equaliser in the 11th minute when he creditably converted a penalty corner. With Sardar Singh out of the encounter due to fever and groin pain, Indian defence-line was manned by Gurbaj Singh, Dhananjay Mahadik and Bharat Chikara. India broke back into the lead just four minutes later when Rajpal capitalised on a swift counter-attack organised by Mohd Amir Khan and Danish Mujtaba but could not maintain the difference as Fuchs found back of the Indian net within a minute. In the second half, India took the lead for the third time against the world number two.
— PTI |
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Bhopal, July 4 Conducted by the Madhya Pradesh government’s Sports and Youth Welfare Department under the auspices of Indian Hockey Federation, the championship would last till July 17 at the astro-turf Aishbagh Stadium, they said. The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) President, KPS Gill, and the Madhya Pradesh Urban Administration and Development Minister, Babulal Gaur inaugurated the championship. The teams have been divided into eight pools and one team from each pool will qualify for the quarterfinals. The teams taking part in the competition include Delhi, Puducherri, Jharkhand, Tripura, Punjab, Hyderabad, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mumbai, Manipur, Bhopal, Chhattisgarh. Apart from these, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Vidharbha, Karnataka, Haryana, Orissa, Madhya Bharat, Goa, Madhya Pradesh State Hockey Academy (MPSHA) Bhopal, Himachal Pradesh, CISF, SAIL, ONGC and ITBP would also participate in the championship, officials said. — PTI
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Karachi, July 4
Looking distinctly underwhelmed by their illustrious opponents, Paraguay's beanpole striker Oscar Cardozo combined well with his nippier partner Nelson Valdez to create a string of half-chances. Valdez even had the ball in the net after 41 minutes but Cardozo was ruled offside in the move.
Berlin, July 4
Vera Zvonareva fell to her second final defeat of the day yesterday when hours after losing to Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final, she and partner Elena Vesnina lost the doubles to Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova.
Karachi, July 4
London: