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Strikerless Spain held by Italy
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Gomez header does it for Germany
THAT’S IT! Germany’s Mario Gomez (in white) scores the winner during the Group B match against Portugal in Lviv. — AP/PTI
Ukraine feel the pressure in opener
Cautious France wary of England
Sharapova blasts into history books
Patience, calm attitude made the difference, says Saina
England wobble after Best effort
Hockey squad for London to be annonced today
Vettel on pole in Canada
Nadal vs Djokovic final suspended
The court is covered after the postponement of the men’s singles final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal due to rain in Paris on Sunday. — AFP
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Strikerless Spain held by Italy
Gdansk, June 10 Antonio Di Natale came off the bench to fire the Italians ahead on the hour in Gdansk but they were in front for only four minutes before Fabregas latched on to a clever David Silva pass and fired past Gianluigi Buffon. Spain coach Vicente del Bosque surprised many by leaving Fernando Torres out of his starting line-up, opting for an attacking midfield trio of Fabregas, Andres Iniesta and Silva with playmaker Xavi pulling the strings in the middle. The world champions struggled to get their slick passing game going on a heavy-looking pitch and it was Italy who created the clearest chances in a cagey first half at the new amber-coloured stadium in the Polish port city. Playmaker Andrea Pirlo tested goalkeeper Iker Casillas with a low freekick in the 13th minute and the Spain captain had to be alert to keep out a 33rd-minute Antonio Cassano strike and a swerving volley from Claudio Marchisio three minutes later. Italy came close to an opening goal moments before halftime when Thiago Motta rose unmarked and his powerful header from Cassano's cross drew a fine reflex save from Casillas. The second half began with a bang when Fabregas sent Iniesta clear on the left of the penalty area but his fierce drive brushed Buffon's fingertips and flew past the post. A mistake by Sergio Ramos then allowed Mario Balotelli to home in on goal but the striker, who had a disappointing game, dithered too long allowing Ramos to sprint back and dispossess him. Italy coach Cesare Prandelli hauled Balotelli off and almost immediately Pirlo's superb pass released Di Natale and he finished clinically into the corner. After Fabregas's leveller, substitute Torres squandered two golden chances when he only had the keeper to beat but an outrushing Buffon was able to clear the first and his attempted chip landed on top of the netting on the second.
— Reuters |
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Gomez header does it for Germany
Lviv (Ukraine), June 10 The game never lived up to expectations and looked to be heading for a goalless stalemate, particularly after the Germans spurned a number of good chances. The importance of not giving up showed its worth yet again in the 72nd minute when a deep right-wing cross from Sami Khedira flicked off a Portuguese defender and Gomez for once found himself free to nod home the winner. "We started in this tournament with music but we have to improve... We'll have to attack with more focus but I'm confident we'll succeed in doing that," said German coach Joachim Loew, who at one point in the first half jumped from the bench to berate his players. Germany are now favorites to qualify from a tough group, especially after the fancied Dutch team surprisingly lost 1-0 to Denmark in the earlier game. Portugal hit the bar twice but otherwise rarely threatened and coach Paolo Bento will surely be worried by the ease with which the Germans stifled Portugal's rocket-heeled wingers Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani. Both had had frustrating evenings as a disappointing Portugal, who have now won just one of their last seven games, only looked dangerous in the last 10 minutes. Germany dominated yet almost went behind when Portuguese defender Pepe hit a close range shot against the crossbar late in the first half. The ball bounced down onto the line and was cleared. Gomez, preferred up front to Miroslav Klose, made no mistake when he evaded the diligent Portuguese defense and headed home his 23rd international goal. In a flat first half German fans caused almost as much excitement off the pitch, throwing what appeared to be rolled up pieces of paper at the Portuguese players on several occasions in the first half. Bento said he was happy with Ronaldo's performance, the Real Madrid forward did not impress and cemented his reputation for producing memorable performances at club level and falling short for Portugal.
— Reuters |
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Ukraine feel the pressure in opener
Kiev, June 10 Oleg Blokhin's side have suffered a series of friendly defeats including losses to Austria and Turkey, who both failed to qualify for Euro 2012, in their final warm-up outings. To make matters worse, 10 players were then laid low by a stomach bug as Ukraine prepared for Monday's Group D clash against Sweden while their three top keepers are all unavailable for the finals, one because of a doping violation. Having reached the World Cup quarter-finals only six years ago, Ukraine have since slipped from 13th in the FIFA world rankings to 52nd, losing five matches out of six at one stage last year. A sign of their troubles is that they still look to former AC Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko for inspiration, even though, at 36, he is well past his peak. Capped 108 times by his country, Shevchenko is promising the home fans an improvement on recent performances. "I won't dispute the fact that in the games against Austria and Turkey things happened in our team that were far from what was wanted. But there were reasons for this," he said. "I can assure you in the match against Sweden you will see an absolutely different style of play from the Ukraine national team." Shevchenko said he was ready to do whatever his country asked of him in the coming weeks. "To be honest, I don't care how many minutes I will be out on the pitch," he said. "The main thing for me is to do the right things to help the team." Most worrying is the loss of Ukraine's three first-choice goalkeepers, two to injuries and the third, Shakhtar Donetsk's Olexandr Rybka, to a two-year doping ban after he tested positive for a banned substance in a domestic game. That leaves Andriy Pyatov as their most experienced keeper with 26 caps while his two deputies, Maxym Koval and Oleksander Horyainov, have only three caps between them. This may prove problematic against Erik Hamren's attack-minded Sweden side. The coach recently dismissed suggestions of defensive worries after the Swedes conceded three soft headed goals in two friendly games. After years of conservative football under the pragmatic Lars Lagerback, Hamren will send out a team that is not afraid to be positive, with skilful players on the wings and overlapping fullbacks. He has also freed last season's Serie A top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic from his target man role, allowing him the freedom to torment opponents all over the pitch. — Reuters
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Cautious France wary of England
Krakow (Poland), June 10 But Blanc knows they face a familiar obstacle in old foes England, however their opponents may have been recast by new manager Roy Hodgson, and has wisely been cautious ahead of their group-opening clash in Donetsk on Monday. It is a fixture to remind him it is much too early for the cockerels to crow before his team face England and unpredictable co-hosts Ukraine plus durable Sweden in a tricky group. Bitter memories of France's discordant early exit from the 2010 World Cup finals, as well as happier times, may serve him well if reminders about unity and concentration are required. Inspired by Michel Platini and Zinedine Zidane respectively, France won the Euros at home in 1984 and in neighbouring Belgium and Netherlands in 2000, triumphs that leave them trailing only three-time winners Germany in the tournament's history. This week, they completed their preparations with a 4-0 warm-up victory over Estonia to stretch their unbeaten run under 1998 World Cup winner Blanc to 21 games, including 15 wins. But Blanc, who had a brief spell in the Manchester United defence in the twilight of his own distinguished playing career, knows and understands English football. "They are not at full strength, but what concerns me is that England will play in a certain style," he said. Strong in defence and blessed with gifted forwards in Franck Ribery and Samir Nasri, and a fine striker in Karim Benzema, France should be favourites, particularly as England are depleted by injuries and Wayne Rooney's suspension. Blanc recognises, however, that nothing can be taken for granted in clashes between such old enemies. "England will give everything because, when there are French against English, it raises the game above the normal international match," he said. Despite being without striker Rooney for their first two games, as well as injured defender Gary Cahill and midfielders Lampard and Gareth Barry, England are determined to progress and justify their FIFA ranking as the fourth best team in Europe and sixth in the world. — Reuters
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MOSCOW: The Russian soccer federation and the national team on Sunday urged their fans in Poland to behave after some supporters threw fireworks and displayed illicit banners during Russia's opening match. UEFA said on Saturday it was investigating the incidents which took place during the 4-1 win over the Czech Republic in the city of Wroclaw on Friday. "Some people in the stadium carried out acts which were unworthy of real soccer fans. There is no place in the stands for people who use sporting events to declare personal, political or other points of view," the federation said in a statement on its website.
Lviv mayor dismisses racism charge
LVIV (Ukraine): The mayor of Lviv on Sunday brushed off media allegations of racism in Ukraine and dismissed a call by a Jewish human rights group to avoid some restaurants in the city on the grounds they are anti-Semitic. Lviv is one of four Ukrainian cities to host matches. In the run-up to the tournament, German and British media reports spoke of widespread racism in the country and mentioned supporters of local soccer team Karpaty Lviv, who have been known to brandish Nazi flags at games.
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Sharapova blasts into history books
Paris: There was only one moment here yesterday when doubt crossed Maria Sharapova's face during her quest to win the French Open title for the Sara Errani. "Would you please welcome the runner-up," the on-court announcer said at the presentation ceremony. "Maria Sharapova!" For a nano-second the thought seemed to cross Sharapova's mind that her victory had been a cruel dream, but Errani, an ironic smile on her face, rose to receive her trophy. The world No 24, who was the lowest ranked player to reach the final here since the rankings were launched 37 years ago, never looked capable of stopping Sharapova's quest to become the tenth woman in history to have won all four Grand Slam titles. The Russian had too much power and too much experience of the big-match occasion for an opponent who had never previously gone beyond the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament and had won only one match in five previous visits to Roland Garros. Four and a half years after winning her last Grand Slam title, Sharapova has completed her comeback in style, her first Roland Garros title complemented by her return to the No 1 position in tomorrow's updated world rankings list. The 25-year-old, who has topped the list of the world's highest-earning sportswomen since 2004, hardly needs tennis given her blossoming interests in fashion and business, but has worked tirelessly after spending nine months out of the game following shoulder surgery four years ago. Just as impressively, she has learned to master clay, a surface on which she once admitted made her feel like "a cow on ice". Sharapova described this victory as "surreal, the most unique moment I've experienced in my career". "I proved that no matter how many punches I took in my career, I've always got back up. I never made excuses for me, not to myself, not to people. I always relied on my own talent, on the help of my team. That's really what gets me through and gets me up.” "I could have said: 'I don't need this. I have money. I have fame. I have victories. I have Grand Slams'. But when your love for something is bigger than all those things, you continue to keep getting up in the morning when it's freezing outside." Now the Russian would love nothing more than to win her second Wimbledon title in four weekends' time. Asked if winning here might give her inspiration at the All England Club, Sharapova said: "What do you think? I'm going to retire? This is going to give me so much motivation." When Sharapova raced into a 4-0 lead there were fears that this might be as one-sided as some other recent women's Grand Slam finals, but Errani demonstrated her fighting spirit, even if it took double faults by the Russian in one game to launch her comeback. Errani recovered to 4-2 and saved two set points when serving at 2-5, but Sharapova was not to be denied, converting her third set point in the following game by cracking a backhand winner down the line. The second set followed a similar pattern. Sharapova again took the initiative, breaking serve in the opening game, before Errani demonstrated some resilience. Sharapova broke serve for the fifth and final time to serve for the match at 5-2, though once more her opponent refused to lie down. A superb forehand winner by Sharapova when at full stretch set up the first match point, which she failed to convert by hitting a forehand long. An ace created a second, which Errani saved with an audacious drop shot. — The Independent
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Patience, calm attitude made the difference, says Saina
New Delhi, June 10 The 22-year-old world number five, who had defended her Swiss Open title in March, rallied to defeat Thailand's Ratchanok Inthanon 19-21, 21-15, 21-10 to lift her maiden Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold title today. "Overall, I am very happy with my performance because I was more relaxed and calm during the matches and it worked for me," Saina said from Bangkok. "There are times when I am under pressure and get irritated but in this tournament even when I was lagging, I was very patient. I didn't commit easy mistakes, I played long rallies and had some good smashes and also my net play was good," she added. Saina did not face any top-ranked Chinese in the event but she said it still was a tough field to battle against. "I am very happy to win this title. It was not easy but I played well in a lot of tough matches but it was a good win to have before the Indonesia Super Series," she said referring to next week's event.” "It was a very good match practice and a right way to start the preparation for Olympics,” she said. “It is tough to compete at the highest level. After Indonesia, (national coach Pullela Gopichand) Gopi sir will draw up my training schedule for the Olympics and this win is for him and my family and supporters who have been there for me." Saina said there are areas in her game that she needs to work on but as of now, she is focussed on the tournaments ahead. "No player is perfect so there are some areas where I have to work on but the next event is just a few days away, so can't do much about it," she explained. "Indonesia would be very tough, I am playing (Shoji) Sato from Japan in the first round and all the Chinese would also be there. I am leaving for Indonesia tomorrow and my matches start from Wednesday," she said. "I won't get much time to acclimatise but it depends on that particular day and how you are feeling. I can't promise a title but I can promise to give my best." On what the Thailand Open triumph means to self-belief ahead of the Olympics, Saina said, "It is really good to win but my confidence was never down. It is a different tournament and in all the matches that I have played I have never lost hope of winning. In this event also there were two-three matches in which I was down and I came back and this attitude has helped me. I was never tense," she said. — PTI
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England wobble after Best effort
As the first two days of this match were washed out, England had to get within 150 runs, rather than 200, and reach 277 to avoid the follow-on. But when Ravi Rampaul had Alastair Cook lbw, they were 13 for one. Jonathan Trott then played on to West Indies captain Darren Sammy before Best's first Test in nearly three years got even better. The fast bowler had England captain Andrew Strauss brilliantly caught by Darren Bravo at first slip. England were now 49 for three. But Kevin Pietersen (45 not out) and Ian Bell (20 not out) repaired the damage with an unbroken stand of 62, though Bell survived a sharp chance to short leg Adrian Barath off debutant spinner Sunil Narine. — AFP Scoreboard West Indies (1st Innings) Barath lbw Onions 41 Powell c Swann b Bresnan 24 Fudadin c Bell b Bresnan 28 Bravo c and b Finn 6 Samuels lbw Bresnan 76 Deonarine c Strauss b Onions 7 Ramdin not out 107 Sammy c Strauss b Finn 16 Narine b Onions 11 Rampaul c Prior b Finn 2 Best c Strauss b Onions 95 Extras (b-4, lb-8, w-1) 13 Total (all out, 129.3 overs) 426 Fall of wickets: 1-49, 2-90, 3-99, 4-128, 5-152, 6-208, 7-241, 8-267, 9-283, 10-426. Bowling: Onions 29.3-7-88-4; Bresnan 34-9-111-3; Finn 32-6-109-3; Swann 26-5-85-0; Trott 8-1-21-0. England (1st Innings) Strauss c Bravo b Best 17 Cook lbw Rampaul 4 Trott b Sammy 17 Pietersen not out 45 Bell not out 20 Extras (b-1, lb-6, nb-1) 8 Total (3 wkts, 30 overs) 111 Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-40, 3-49. Bowling: Best 7-1-25-1; Rampaul 7-1-18-1; Sammy 8-1-22-1; Narine 8-1-39-0.
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Hockey squad for London to be annonced today
Rupinder Pal Singh, Nithin Thimmaiah, Pradhan Somanna and Dharamvir Singh are most likely to miss out from being on the 18-member squad (16 + 2 standbys) for the London Games. Bharat Chetri will lead the side while Sardar Singh will be his deputy on the Europe tour. "In Olympics there is provision for 18 members, including two stand-bys. We have almost decided the squad, pending clearance from the Sports Authority of India (SAI)," a HI selector said on Sunday.
— IANS |
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Montreal, June 10 The double world champion's 32nd career pole, a tally that lifts him level with Britain's Nigel Mansell in the record books and one adrift of F1 greats Alain Prost and Jim Clark, also denied McLaren their 150th. "I think we've learned a couple of lessons from the last few races where we were quick but we didn't get it out of the car in qualifying," grinned the German. McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, who took the first win of his Formula One career in Canada in 2007, was fastest in Friday practice but had to settle for the second front row slot when it really mattered. A wildly unpredictable season has produced an unprecedented six different winners from the first six races with Vettel triumphant in Bahrain Red Bull have never won in Canada, with Vettel losing out to McLaren's hard-charging Jenson Button on the last lap in a rain-hit epic last year, and his team bosses were determined to rectify that. — Reuters
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Lviv (Ukraine), June 10
Kiev, June 10
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PARIS:
A furious Rafael Nadal held a tenuous two-sets-to-one lead over Novak Djokovic when rain forced an overnight suspension of their French Open final blockbuster in Paris.
With tennis history on the line, Nadal was leading 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 1-2 but down a service break in the fourth set, when the match was abandoned for the day at 6.50pm local time
The two combatants were asked to resume hostilities on Monday. — Agencies
LISBON: Portugal's most capped player Luis Figo has defended Cristiano Ronaldo after their 1-0 opening Group B defeat by Germany at Euro 2012, saying the team must improve his supply lines to get the best out of the forward. The Real Madrid striker had a disappointing game on Saturday in Lviv. "I think the team need to give him the chances to have a good performance," former World Player of the Year Figo, 39, said at the Volvo Ocean Race stopover in Lisbon on Sunday. "Cristiano's style is to finish, to score, so if the team don't produce those kind of opportunities then of course his performance is down."
Birmingham, June 10
New Delhi, June 10
