|
|
|
|
|
Germany geared up for Portugal
Tyton makes a point for Poland
|
|
|
Rafa-Djokovic in final
Sudha qualifies for London Olympics
HI names 32 core probables
|
|
Germany geared up for Portugal
Lviv (Ukraine), June 8 The two teams are going to play against each other for the 17th time. In the previous records, Germany have an upper hand with eight wins, five draws and three defeats. In their last two high-profile meetings in the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008 finals, Germany won both and will look to complete the hat-trick winning streak against the opponent at Lviv Arena Saturday night, reported Xinhua. Boosted by their young guns, Germany are tipped as one of the favourites to lift the trophy for the fourth time. They are drawn into the toughest group along with Portugal, Netherlands and Denmark. With the inclusion of some new faces, Germany are the youngest squad among the 16 finalists. Mesut Oezil, Sami Khedira and Bastian Schweinsteiger were Germany's midfield backbone in South Africa two years ago, who effectively linked the back four with the forwards and wingers. But they are not sure to feature together on Saturday's big match as the head coach Joachim Loew always surprises his opponent in the starting 11 with unexpected adjustments. Mario Goetze, the leading role in Dortmund, may get a chance in his first international tournament to test Portugal defenders with his good visions and ability to create space. Portugal are three games without a win in 2012 and will need to learn from the last two defeats against the Germans. Led by one of the best players in world, Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal will look to score goals after being goalless in three of their last five games. — IANS
|
|
Tyton makes a point for Poland
Warsaw, June 8 Tyton came off the bench in the second half for the co-hosts after Arsenal goalkeeper Szczesny had been sent off for bringing down Greek substitute Dimitris Salpigidis. The reserve goalkeeper promptly saved the resulting spot-kick from Greece captain Giorgos Karagounis to ensure the points were shared in a wonderfully entertaining match in Group A at the National Stadium. Poland will be kicking themselves, however, after throwing it away having gone in at half-time with a one-goal lead and with Greece down to 10 men after defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos was sent off harshly for two innocuous yellow cards. The Poles, who began the game with swaggering intent in front their home fans, had dominated the first half. It was no surprise when Robert Lewandowski gave them the perfect start after 17 minutes, although the goal had as much to do with the poor positioning of Greek goalkeeper Kostas Chalkias as the sharpness of Lewandowski. Chalkias found himself flapping his arms in no man's land to leave the Borussia Dortmund striker, who scored a hat-trick in the German cup final last month, to head home a swinging cross from Jakub Blaszczykowski. It was no more than the Poles deserved. They were hungrier, quicker to the ball and seemingly desperate to prove that while they are the lowest-ranked team in the tournament they have a realistic chance of reaching the quarter finals at least. — Agencies
|
|
Netherlands face Danes in opener
Krakow, June 8 Germany and Portugal also await in the fiendishly difficult-looking Group B and World Cup runners-up Netherlands want a fast start against the modest Danes in Kharkiv on Saturday to get points on the board before the trickier encounters ahead. Van Marwijk is aware however that 1992 winners Denmark are dangerous on their day and Morten Olsen's men have all the information they could ever need on their orange-clad foes. "We have no secrets. A lot of their players play in Holland and also in other European leagues, their style of play is a little bit the same, both teams respect each other," Van Marwijk told reporters. "For me it is the most important game." The two sides met in the 2010 World Cup group stage with the Dutch winning 2-0. Centre back Joris Mathijsen is almost certainly out of the Kharkiv match because of a hamstring problem so Ron Vlaar or Wilfred Bouma are likely to step in. Otherwise Netherlands will unleash their armoury of potent weapons including Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie, whose silky skills have been wowing the vast crowds at their training sessions in Krakow and helped destroy Northern Ireland 6-0 in their last friendly. The Danes believe they offer enough of a threat themselves to stun the Dutch, especially with their defence looking shaky given Mathijsen's injury and left back Jetro Willems in line to pick up only his second cap. "There are a lot of players who can take charge in midfield, and provide both goals and assists," said Denmark striker Nicklas Bendtner, who has six goals in his last eight internationals. — Reuters
|
|
Ribery calls for calm ahead of England match
Donetsk (Ukraine), June 8 The 29-year-old Bayern Munich star - who is competing at his fourth major finals - said there was no point planning their strategy to Monday's game to such an extent they felt they had already played the game by the time kick-off arrived. "We have some players who play in England and they know the English players well," said Ribery. "On Wednesday, I watched their friendly match against Belgium (a 1-0 win last Saturday) while having a massage. They defend really well and play on the counter attack. Up front they have either Andy Carroll or Danny Welbeck, who are two vastly different players. "One (Welbeck) is more at ease on the ball, who likes to dribble and the other (Carroll) is more robust and physical. "We will certainly do our homework on them. There are still a few days to go but we are going to approach this match calmly. There is no point in playing the game before it has even taken place as that would place unwanted pressure on us." Ribery, who came to the fore when he was at Marseille from 2005-07 after an unspectacular early career, accepted that he was now one of the senior players and a lot more responsibility fell on him. He has not always been appreciated by French crowds and been booed on several occasions - his role in the 2010 World Cup debacle did not boost his popularity and neither did revelations about the supposedly happy family man having sex with a prostitute. — AFP
|
|
Krakow, June 8 The build-up to the tournament being co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine was dominated by worries about racism among home fans. Coach Bert van Marwijk, Dutch officials and many of the press did not hear any racist abuse during Wednesday's session but it has since emerged that a handful of the squad did. "Some players did hear some monkey noises. That is why they moved to the other side," the spokeswoman said. The Dutch FA (KNVB) did not lodge a formal complaint but was contacted by soccer's European governing body after reports of the incident. "UEFA has now been made aware that there were some isolated incidents of racist chanting that occurred at the open training session of the Dutch team in Krakow," UEFA said in a statement. "Should such behaviour happen at further training sessions UEFA would evaluate the operational measures to be taken to protect the players. "UEFA has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to discriminatory behaviour and has given the power to referees to stop matches in case of any repeated racist behaviour." — Reuters
|
|
Free Kicks
Carry on camping, Kiev official
tells Sweden fans
KIEV: With hordes of Swedish fans due to arrive over the opening weekend of Euro 2012, Kiev is working around the clock to complete a campsite promised to 5000 of them. A local supplier acting on behalf of the city had promised to provide a suitable space for thousands of Swedish campers, as well as internet access and catering, shower and toilet facilities. But when Camp Sweden organisers arrived on Wednesday, they were dismayed to find that standards that fell far short of what they had been promised when they signed the deal in April. “"We had an inspection, and after that we wrote a letter to the city of Kiev and the Swedish Embassy," Camp Sweden organiser Ingo Soderlund told Reuters. — Reuters Defoe expected back with England KRAKOW: Striker Jermain Defoe is expected to rejoin England's Euro 2012 squad on Saturday after flying home to London on Thursday following the death of his father. England spokesman Mark Whittle said that Defoe should be back in time to be available for selection for England's opening Group D fixture against France in Donetsk on Monday. He is widely expected to be selected as an impact substitute. Defoe published a message of thanks to his well-wishers via his Twitter account on Friday. He said: "I want to thank the fans, my family, friends, the England boys, the FA and manager for their support. — Reuters Football is about fraternity and love: Pope Benedict
Vatican City: Pope Benedict XVI issued a message ahead of the kick-off of Euro 2012 later today in Poland in which he declared football was like a school that taught people about respect for one another and how to make sacrifices for the good of the rest of the team. The German-born pontiff - whose predecessor Poland-born Pope John Paul II was a well-regarded goalkeeper in his youth - added that football was also about fraternity and love. It was a pertinent and well-timed message for the championship, being co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine, has been overshadowed by some spectators chanting racist abuse at a Dutch training session in Krakow. — AFP |
|
Paris, June 8 A merciless Nadal teased Ferrer in the opening set, tortured him during the second before sucking the life out of the sixth seed in the third to wrap up victory with a forehand winner. "You cannot expect to win this semi-final in this way against one of the best players in the world - it was my best match at Roland Garros this year," Nadal said after ending Ferrer's ordeal. In the other semifinal, Novak Djokovic swept aside third seed Roger Federer 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 with a ruthless display. “This is a dream for me," a clearly delighted Djokovic said in an on-court interview after the match. Federer struck the first blow, breaking in the fifth game of the first set, but his delight was short lived as Djokovic immediately broke back— Reuters
|
|||||
|
Sudha qualifies for London Olympics
Huelva (Spain), June 8 The 25-year-old Indian, who barely missed the Olympic qualification mark in Shanghai Diamond League last month, showed tremendous form to clock an impressive 9:47.70 secs which earned her the Olympic B-grade. By clocking 9:47.70 secs here last night, Sudha broke her 9:49.25 secs national record set at the Shanghai Diamond League, a statement from the Athletics Federation of India said. Like in Shanghai, Sudha once again finished 11th in the race here which was eventually won by Ethiopian Etenesh Diro with a timing of 9:21.54 secs. Sudha's 9:47.70 secs timing set here was her seventh national record in five years. Her first record came in Jamshedpur nationals when she bettered controversial Tamil Nadu athlete Shanthi Soundararajan's previous mark by nearly 26 secs. After improving the record twice, Sudha lost it briefly in 2010 to training partner O P Jaisha during the inter-state meet at Patiala, but recaptured in style during her fifth place finish at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Sudha also became the inaugural Asian Games champion in the steeplechase event at Guangzhou with a time of 9:55.67 secs. — PTI
|
|||||
|
HI names 32 core probables
New Delhi, June 8 The players are: Goalkeepers: Bharat Chetri, Sreejesh P R and P T Rao; defenders: V R Raghunath, Ignace Tirkey, Sandeep Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh and Harbir Singh; midfielders: Sardar Singh, Kothajit Singh,Gurbaj Singh, Birendra Lakra, Manpreet Singh, M B Aiyappa, Bipin Karketta, Pardeep Mor and Gurmail Singh; forwards: S V Sunil, Gurvinder Singh Chandi, Sarvanjit Singh,Chinglensana Singh, Shivendra Singh, Danish Mujtaba, Tushar Khandker, S K Uthappa, Pradhanna Sommanna, Nithin Thimmaiah, Yuvraj Walmiki, and Dharamvir Singh, Akashdeep Singh, M G Poonacha and Prabhdeep Singh.
|
|||||
ONGC sail into semi-final Kunal registers emphatic win Ishant rules himself out of Lanka tour C’wealth C’ship: More medals for India
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Lviv (Ukraine), June 8
Paris, June 8
is Rafa Nadal after the red-hot Spaniard scorched his friend David Ferrer 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 to hurtle into a record seventh French Open final on Friday. Nadal now needs to win just three more sets to become the first man to hold aloft the Musketeers Cup seven times and after pulverising a claycourt specialist such as Ferrer for the loss of just five games, he is proving to be unbeatable on red dirt.
GDANSK: Germany central defender Per Mertesacker is fit for their Euro 2012 Group B opener against Portugal on Saturday after a brief injury scare, assistant coach Hansi Flick said on Friday. Mertesacker, who had been out since February after ankle surgery and returned to action only a few weeks ago, collided with Jerome Boateng in training on Thursday. "There was a bit a of a doubt about him yesterday after he collided with Jerome Boateng during a corner. He was lying on the ground but it turned out to be less dramatic," Flick told reporters just before the team's flight to Lviv, Ukraine. — Reuters
