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Ronaldo two good for Dutch
Blanc, France face a dilemma
Bender turns it for Germany
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Rooney back as England eye qualification
English forward Wayne Rooney (C) during a training session at the Olympic stadium in Kiev. Rooney is set to play against Ukraine after a 2-match ban. — AFP
Powell slams ton
Farhat, Akmal lift Pak to 247
Coe denies link with ticket scam
Serie A: Pescara get point deduction, players banned
Sports Ministry questions pairing of
Paes, Bopanna Matthews seals series for Lanka
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Ronaldo two good for Dutch
Kharkiv, June 18 "We have succeeded in our great aim, which was to qualify for the quarterfinals," said Ronaldo. "Now we have to play against the Czech Republic, which is going to be hard, but we'll do our best." From a Dutch perspective, the final score was rendered immaterial as Denmark's 2-1 loss to Germany in the other Group B match meant they would not have qualified for the last eight even in case of victory. Portugal, for whom Ronaldo belatedly reproduced his Real Madrid form at this tournament, will compete for a semi-final place against the Czechs in Warsaw on Thursday. "It was the best game we have played so far, except for the first 12 minutes," said Portugal coach Paulo Bento. Runners-up at the World Cup two years ago and top scorers in qualifying, the Netherlands leave Ukraine with their tails between their legs after three consecutive defeats. "I think we started quite well today and we scored after about 10 minutes," said Holland coach Bert van Marwijk. "But you saw that when we concede a goal, the uncertainty remains. If we'd scored a second, we might have been more sure of ourselves, but we didn't take our chances." Mindful of the pressing need for goals, van Marwijk handed starts to both Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and van der Vaart, who replaced captain Mark van Bommel and inherited the captain's armband from him. Van der Vaart needed less than 11 minutes to vindicate his manager's decision, collecting a pass from Arjen Robben and shaping a delightful 25-yard shot inside the left-hand post to put Holland ahead. However, if the Dutch thought they were in for a comfortable evening, Portugal quickly had them on their toes with a flurry of chances sparked by Ronaldo drifting inside and brushing the post with a low strike. — AFP |
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Kiev, June 18
Coach Laurent Blanc may also ponder resting his three players who have been booked in the tournament but he was adamant Les Bleus will try to win the game, even though a one-goal defeat could still see them through. "It is always difficult to play against Sweden and we will prepare to win it," he told reporters. The balance, however, is difficult to find. France train at the excellent facilities used by Shakhtar Donetsk and it has been proving beneficial. If France finish top of the group they would need to travel to Kiev from Donetsk early on the day before the quarter-final, losing precious recuperation time. France, who snatched their first win in a major championship since 2006 when they beat co-hosts Ukraine 2-0 in their last match, would head the standings if they beat Sweden and England defeated Ukraine without making up an inferior goal difference. They have four points like England, with Ukraine in third place on three and Sweden on none. A draw in both games would put France and England through with Les Bleus top on goal difference. With the scenarios favouring France, Blanc could be tempted to rest players. — Reuters
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Lviv, June 18 Bender, replacing the suspended Jerome Boateng in his first international start, benefited from poor Danish defending to run on to a pass from Mesut Ozil and calmly slot home from close range in the 80th minute. Man-of-the-match Podolski, 27, became the youngest European player to win 100 caps for his country. — Reuters
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Rooney back as England eye qualification
Krakow, June 18 England, with four points from two games, need only a draw to progress to the quarter-finals from their final Group D match while Ukraine must win at the Donbass Arena to avoid the same fate as co-hosts Poland and be eliminated after the first round. Rooney is available again after serving a two-match ban for his red card against Montenegro in a Euro qualifier last year, but Ukraine are sweating on the fitness of Shevchenko, who scored both goals in the 2-1 victory over Sweden in their opening game. England manager Roy Hodgson must choose who makes way for Rooney, with Andy Carroll and Danny Welbeck netting superb goals in the 3-2 win over Sweden, but winger Theo Walcott could miss out with a hamstring injury after an inspired display as a substitute against the Swedes. Rooney said on Sunday that he was delighted to be available again and was sure England had no cautious thoughts going into their final group game. "The lads have done so well to put us in the position we are in now and hopefully I'll get a chance to play and try and shine and help us get through the group," he told a news conference. "It's great that we've scored a few goals and we've got the points that we've got. I'm not going to win the Euros on my own — there are 23 players who are going to chip in and help us win the tournament, or go as far as we can." Rooney said he was fit and ready to play, a prospect that may enhance England's chances — Reuters |
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Gros Islet, June 18
Opener Kieran Powell was the standout performer for the hosts, with his third first class hundred and his second in as many months. Picked after returning from a disappointing Test tour of England, the left-hander scored 139. Resuming the day unbeaten on 16, Powell played with fluency to raise his century just before tea at the Beausejour Cricket Stadium. The knock was his highest first-class score and it came after 108 for the senior West Indies against England Lions at Northampton last month. He sent down 12 fours and three sixes in an innings that required 255 balls and lasted six hours and 46 minutes. He reached his half-century just before lunch off 101 balls with four fours and a six – a straight hit off left-arm spinner Akshay Darekar – and brought up his century with a straight drive off off-spinner Rohit Sharma. Along the way, he shared crucial partnerships to keep Windies A on top. — PTI Brief Scores: West Indies A 320 for 8 (Powell 139, Thomas 50, Saxena 3-55) lead India A 230 (Saxena 61, Bishoo 3-40, Carter 3-67) by 90 runs
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Farhat, Akmal lift Pak to 247
Colombo, June 18 Farhat, playing his first one-dayer in four months, hit an impressive 56 and Akmal an unbeaten 55 in the day-night match to keep alive their team's hopes of levelling the series. Sri Lanka lead 2-1 in the five-match series, with one game abandoned due to rain. Pakistan batted steadily after losing out-of-form opener Mohammad Hafeez (six), with Azhar Ali (30) and Farhat adding 60 for the second wicket and then Akmal putting on 61 for the fifth wicket with skipper Misbah-ul-Haq (32). Akmal smashed two sixes and five fours in a 61-ball knock for his 15th half-century in one-dayers. Hafeez has now scored just 20 runs in his last four ODIs. — AFP |
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Coe denies link with ticket scam
London, June 18 His denial came as the International Olympic Committee launched an investigation into claims of ticket profiteering in 54 countries. The IOC is investigating newspaper claims that officials and ticket agencies have been breaking rules for sale of tickets as part of a moneymaking scam. Reporters, posing as touts, were allegedly offered thousands of tickets by Olympic officials from Greece, China, Serbia and Lithuania. Greek Olympic Committee (HOC) head Spyros Capralos claimed he persuaded 'close friend Lord Coe' to give him tickets. The extra allocation would be sold to corporate buyers despite rules they must go to Greek fans. The office of Lord Coe, 55, who won four Olympic medals, said: "With regard to 'boasts' by HOC that discussions on tickets took place with Sebastian Coe, we can confirm this is untrue. — ANI
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Serie A: Pescara get point deduction, players banned
Rome, June 18 Pescara president Daniele Sebastiani said the club, who were Serie B champions last term before losing their coach Zdenek Zeman to AS Roma, would fight the decision of the federation to uphold a prosecutor's charge. "We didn't expect this decision, rather we expected to be acquitted," Sebastiani told reporters. "Evidently in this first phase of the investigation the sporting judges wanted to give strength to the prosecution's version (of events). "We have absolutely nothing to do with any of this, and we will go, if we need to, all the way to CONI (The Italian Olympic Committee)." Piacenza's Mario Cassano, Ravenna's Alessandro Zamperini and ex-pros Luigi Sartor and Nicola Santoni were banned from soccer for five years following the wide-ranging sporting investigation into match-fixing for betting syndicates. A police case is ongoing. Former Inter Milan forward Nicola Ventola, who retired last year, was given a three-and-a-half-year ban by the federation. Serie A sides Siena and Sampdoria were both given fines of 50,000 euros ($63,100) for alleged collusion while playing in the second tier. — Reuters
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Sports Ministry questions pairing of
Paes, Bopanna New Delhi, June 18
They argued that the AITA decision had clearly “ignored and overlooked” the standing of World No 12 Rohan Bopanna and, his pairing with World No 7 Bhupathi. They said according to the qualification criteria laid down by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), they will get direct acceptance (among the 24 top teams) to the men’s doubles event, and they had repeatedly written to the AITA that they should be considered for Olympic selection as a doubles team. “The justification of denying two players who have qualified as a team on merit by sending just one Indian team, when India can send two teams, may be explained”, the Ministry’s letter to the AITA has said. The letter by the doubles duo also pointed out that “at no time did the AITA suggest that we would be considered as anything but a team; in fact their correspondence of March 2012 proactively states that we have a great possibility of having two doubles team in the Olympic main draw”. “The manner in which this has been communicated (to us) and handled by the AITA defies logic. We fail to understand how, without notice, putting together a combination of two players, who haven’t played together in months (Paes and Bhupathi last played together seven months ago; Paes and Bopanna have played alongside each other only twice in their careers) serves the interest of the country”, the letter noted. where it started
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Matthews seals series for Lanka Colombo, June 18 Earlier, opener Imran Farhat and Umar Akmal cracked half-centuries as Pakistan posted a competitive 247-7. Farhat, playing his first one-dayer in four months, hit an impressive 56 and Akmal an unbeaten 55 in the day-night match to keep alive their team's hopes of levelling the series. Sri Lanka win the five-match series 3-1, with one game abandoned due to rain. Pakistan batted steadily after losing Mohammad Hafeez (six), with Azhar Ali (30) and Farhat adding 60 for the second wicket and then Akmal putting on 61 for the fifth wicket with skipper Misbah-ul-Haq (32). — AFP
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Free Kicks
Robben points to Dutch feuding
Sheva trains with Ukraine squad Bendtner banned, fined 100,000 euros
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German defender Lars Bender scored a clinical late goal to give his team a workmanlike 2-1 win over Denmark on Sunday and secure top spot in Euro 2012 Group B.
Key England striker Wayne Rooney is set to feature at Euro 2012 for the first time on Tuesday but co-hosts Ukraine could be without their talisman Andriy Shevchenko as they battle to stay in the tournament.
England, with four points from two games, need only a draw to progress to the quarter-finals from their final Group D match
"But we've been loyal to our spirit and we've now shown that we're capable of reacting againt Denmark and Holland. We won't let up."
German defender Lars Bender scored a clinical late goal to give his team a workmanlike 2-1 win over Denmark on Sunday and secure top spot in Euro 2012 Group B. Germany, who looked comfortable throughout and finished with the maximum nine points, will play Greece, runners-up in Group A, in the quarter-finals after winning all three group games at the European Championship for the first time. Denmark failed to qualify, losing out to Portugal who beat the Netherlands 2-1 and will meet the Czech Republic in the last eight.
“This decision to nominate only one team to the London Games, when two (teams) have qualified and, in the bargain, to ignore our successful men’s doubles pairing, has surprised and disappointed us. At a time when our country is doing its best to improve its Olympic record, the stance taken by the AITA of refusing to nominate a team that has legitimately qualified on its own record - instead of nominating two players who have failed in four previous Olympic events and who have not played together this year — is bemusing and difficult for us to understand”, the letter said.
