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Five reasons why France can show Germany the exit door
‘Sachin who?’ asks Maria
IOA writes to PM; Ministry yet to receive proposal
Bhuvneshwar, Binny help India win second warm-up game
Walmiki dropped, Mujtaba, Chandi return for CWG
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Princes who could be king
NEYMAR
Every time it seems as if Neymar is about to slip or buckle, he produces something else to keep the national dream alive. Ability...
When still at Santos, Neymar scored a goal against Flamengo — 3.2 million views on YouTube and counting — which seemed to display every skill you could want in a footballer: pace, balance, technique and flair, and all perfectly executed at high speed. Role...
Able to play anywhere across the front line, Neymar is a puckish free spirit and the only player to deliver anything exciting in Luiz Felipe Scolari’s slightly turgid Brazil side. He has been shifted around, popping up on the left, right or through the middle, while those around him have looked limited and predictable. This has suited his game well, allowing him to seek out the spaces where he can do the most damage. Experience...
Before last season at Barcelona, Neymar had won almost every major competition he played in. He opted to stay loyal to Santos for longer than he needed to, leaving for Spain at the age of 21. By then he had won three state championships, one Brazilian cup and the Copa Libertadores. With Brazil — for whom he has 53 caps and 35 goals already — he won the 2013 Confederations Cup, dazzling on the biggest stage of his career. Neymar’s first year at Barcelona was, understandably, a learning curve. The team won nothing and he was not a regular starter. Prospects...
Neymar is already on the brink of a global stardom which only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo can match. He is three wins away from winning a World Cup for the host nation almost single-handedly, which, on the scale of meaningful achievements, would be near the very top. Although he plays for Barcelona, he feels – unlike Messi – to be his nation’s property more than Barça’s. JAMES
All of which was just throat-clearing for his last-16 performance against Uruguay, when he scored the goal of the tournament so far — a glance, chest down, spin and volley all in one movement — before tapping in the second. Ability...
James has a slightly different build from Neymar, stockier and stronger, and harder to push off the ball. He is not quite as fast as the Brazilian but does have a burst to take him away from opponents. It is the ability to see the pitch as if watching from above, though, which sets James apart, and allows him to direct games for his team. Role...
He is a brilliantly imaginative player but has a slightly more conventional take on the No 10 role. Manager Jose Pekerman has used him as the creative heart of a 4-2-3-1 system, behind the frontman, allowing the team to make up for the absence of the injured Radamel Falcao. Earlier in his career, at Banfield and Porto, James played out on the left wing. Experience...
Unlike Neymar, James came to Europe early, leaving Banfield for Porto when he was still 18. He had won an Argentinian title there —
Banfield’s only one — and went on to take three consecutive Portuguese championships with his new club and the 2011 Europa League.
Prospects...
For all his achievements in the game, he’s far less recognisable than Neymar – he has 2.7 million Twitter followers, to the Brazilian’s 12 million. If he does not win this World Cup, he may never do so. But he feels like the player likely to make the bigger impact on the top level of European ub football. —The Independent |
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Five reasons why France can show Germany the exit door
Sao Paulo, July 3 Here are five reasons favouring the French in the mouth-watering contest. They are the best they’ve been since 2000
Have something to prove
France have not performed at a major international since Zinedine Zidane dragged them to the World Cup final in 2006. France are a proud sporting nation and another early World Cup exit would not have been tolerated; however they manoeuvred through the group stages with ease and turned it on when they needed to against Nigeria. They will not fear Germany. France can stifle Germany
Germany are predominantly a team who like to play through the middle, with a false nine and a lack of width.
Germans are overrated
They were lucky to draw with Ghana, scraped past the USA and needed extra-time to beat Algeria. France will have learned a lot from that match as the North Africans exposed Germany’s lack of pace in
defence. Germans due for early exit
Since World Cup 2002, Germany have only once failed to reach at least the semis, when they failed to get out of the group stages in Portugal. In other tournaments they have finished third three times and been beaten finalists on two occasions. — The Independent |
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Seven German players have mild cases of flu
Seven Germany players are suffering mild flu symptoms ahead of the quarter-final match against France on Friday, coach Joachim Loew said in a German radio interview without identifying the players. "Seven players have somehow come down with slight cases of the flu," Loew was quoted telling Germany's ARD radio. He said that most had "throat aches" but did not reveal their names. "As a result, it's too early to make any final decisions about the lineup," Loew added.” He added: "It's not all that bad at the moment. I don't want to dramatize it." Don't blame Messi if Argentina fail: Maradona
Argentina are playing far below their best, are over-reliant on Lionel Messi and must improve if they are to beat Belgium in their World Cup quarter-finals, according to Diego Maradona. "We still haven't got started," Maradona said in a withering analysis of the team's performances so far in Brazil. "They need to get it into their heads that we can't be 'Sporting Messi'. Maybe he can score a great goal ... but if it doesn't come off for the kid, we can't jump on him tomorrow as if he's guilty of the Argentine disaster." He said Argentina's big name team were playing at only 40 percent of their capacity and criticized them for only squeaking past Switzerland 1-0 with a last-gasp goal in extra time. "The kid (Messi) is very alone ... The team doesn't have a change of rhythm, movements in its strikers," added Maradona, saying the players lacked a give-it-all attitude. No evidence of match-fixing in World Cup: FIFA
World football body FIFA said that no evidence of match-fixing was found during the World Cup as claimed by German daily Der Spiegel. The German newspaper Tuesday sensationally claimed that Croatia's 4-0 win over Cameroon was fixed. This led to the Cameroon football federation (FECAFOOT) opening a probe against its own players, reports EFE. Ralf Mutschke, FIFA's director of security, said in a statement that the allegations "put the integrity of FIFA World Cup matches in question, which is a serious allegation." Mutschke said that FIFA monitored all 56 World Cup games so far and has "no indication of any match manipulation on the betting market." Cameroon said that it will begin investigations about claims that seven players were involved in match fixing at the 2014 World Cup. Belgium-US game tv ratings trump
world series
More people in the United States tuned in to the U.S.-Belgium World Cup soccer match on Tuesday than they did for the World Series of baseball - the top championship game for the sport also known as the national pastime. Disney-owned ESPN said it was the second highest rated men's soccer game, with about 16.5 million viewers, and that it bested its record for its streaming video app WatchESPN, with 1.1 million viewers. Spanish-language broadcast network Univision said 5.1 million watched the U.S. play Belgium in the knockout match. The number of people watching the U.S. and Belgium was likely much higher, given that scores of thousands jammed bars, restaurants and sports stadiums to view the contest. Nielsen, which provides TV ratings, measures only U.S. households. The more than 22 million watching on Tuesday beat the number of viewers - some 19 million — who tuned in to see the Boston Red Sox win the World Series last year. Still, soccer has a long way to go before it catches up in popularity with football. The National Football League's annual Super Bowl drew in more than 111 million U.S. viewers this
year. |
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Eugenie, Kvitova in title clash
London, July 3 The 20-year-old from Montreal harried and chased third seed Halep from the baseline, producing a series of forehand winners. The match was interrupted three times. After four games Halep, 22, needed treatment on a sore ankle. Then in the tiebreak a spectator was taken ill in the sunshine and had to be led from the stand. On Bouchard's first match point Halep served an ace, but 13th seed Bouchard complained she had been distracted by a noise in the crowd. She argued with the umpire Kader Nouni but the point stood.
Bouchard thumped down a big serve that the French Open finalist could only push into the net. “It was a little crazy. I have never ended a match like that,” Bouchard said. “I'm happy I kept my focus and didn't get distracted and played well in the last game.” The Canadian, who reached the semifinals at both the Australian and French Opens this year, meets 2011 champion Petra Kvitova in Saturday's final. The Czech beat compatriot Lucie Safarova (7-6(6) 6-1) in the first semifinal. “I'm really excited ... it's my first grand slam final so I'm just going to go for it. I will probably have my toughest match yet so I'm looking forward to the challenge," a beaming Bouchard said. "My coach will watch her play and give me some tips on how she plays, but I'm just going to go out there and play my game. I think I can play even better than I did today." Federer, Djokovic take on generation-next
Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic face young and restless Milos Raonic and Grigor Dimitrov for places in the final as men's tennis reaches a potentially game-changing moment. In the space of 24 hours, the big four of the game were reduced to the big two following the shock exits of Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray. Sania in pre-quarters of mixed doubles, Paes-Stepanek in semis
Sania Mirza and Horia Tecau entered the pre-quarterfinals of mixed doubles with an easy win but it was curtains for Rohan Bopanna and his partner who went down after a hard-fought second round match on Thursday. Sania and her Romanian partner, seeded sixth, outplayed Mate Pavic and Bojana Jovanovski 6-3 6-3 in a rain-interrupted match. In another mixed doubles second round match, Bopanna and his Czech partner Andrea Hlavackova conceded the opening set advantage to lose 6-3 5-7 3-6 against Russia's Mikhail Elgin and Anastasia Rodionova of Australia. Meanwhile, Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek moved into the semifinal of the men's doubles with a win over Nenad Zimonjic and Daniel Nestor in the quarterfinals at the All England Club here on Thursday. The fifth-seeded Indo-Czech pair won 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-4 against the third seeded Serbian-Canadian pair in an encounter that lasted a gruelling two hours and 37 minutes on Court 1. |
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London, July 3 Tendulkar watched five-time Grand Slam champion Sharapova play but the Russian later admitted to have never heard of the Master Blaster's name, according to a report on tennisworldusa.org. In the post-match press conference, Sharapova was asked about the stars who watched her match and Tendulkar's name was mentioned. She was asked, "Sachin Tendulkar was the other person who came in at the same time as David (Beckham). Do you know who Sachin is?" Sharapova's reply was "I don't". The Russian said she had met Beckham a couple of times at events in Los Angeles. Tendulkar is a regular visitor to the Wimbledon Championships in June in England. This year too, he made his presence felt in the Royal Box at Wimbledon to watch few matches. Tendulkar is a good friend of Swiss star Roger Federer. On Saturday, Tendulkar was seated in the Royal Box along with former England captain Andrew Strauss, former England footballer David Beckham and several other sports stars. Following Sharapova's comment, Tendulkar's fan reacted with outrage — and a dose of humour — resulting in #whoismariasharapova trending worldwide. Sachin’s diehard fans have been bristling over the Russian star’s comment. An angry Sachin Tendulkar fan posted on Twitter: Dear Sharapova learn something from your tennis mate BTW who is Maria Sharapova. —Agencies
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IOA writes to PM; Ministry yet to receive proposal
New Delhi, July 3 After Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) extended its July 1 deadline by just two days, the IOA has sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on an "urgent basis" to furnish the guarantees within the next couple of days. The OCA had refused to extend the July 1 deadline by 15 days as requested by the IOA. “We (IOA) have written to Narendra Modiji for an appointment on Friday. His urgent intervention can only help the IOA to line up a potential bid. If we get an appointment, I would seek the government's approval for the bid. I am trying my best but you can’t do much in two days,” IOA secretary general Rajeev Mehta told The Tribune. The IOA is yet to submit a comprehensive proposal on Games-related estimation to the Sports Ministry. “The bid document is getting prepared. We are working on a detailed budget as part of the operative cost for the Games. The proposal will reach the ministry tomorrow,” Mehta said. However, a senior IOA official privy to the development said IOA's last-ditch effort to get the necessary approvals from the government is a futile exercise. “The IOA will need to get clearances from three ministries before submitting the OCA various guarantees from the government. How could you do it in just one day? The deadline will expire tomorrow,” he said. The IOA entered the fray late to replace Hanoi as the original host. It began the bidding process for the Asian Games just 10 days before the July 1 deadline.
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Bhuvneshwar, Binny help India win second warm-up game Derbyshire, July 3 Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck early for the Indians in the second innings as he removed Ben Slater for a duck, leaving Derbyshire yet to score a run. Shami bowled some testing lengths with the ball from his end before Stuart Binny came on and dismissed Chesney Hughes for 20. Ishant Sharma looked a more composed bowler on Day Three as he stuck to the basics and kept a check on the runs as Derbyshire crawled to 62-2 in 29 overs at lunch. Shami nabbed Paul Borrington for 29 as soon as play resumed, leaving Derbyshire at 78-3. Billy Godleman followed-up his first innings fifty with yet another half century as he along with Alex Hughes, who scored 38 at run-a-ball, took Derbyshire to 156-3 before the county side declared leaving India a target of 141 runs in 45 overs. Indian openers once again failed to put on a good start as Shikhar Dhawan was trapped in front of wicket by Matt Higginbottom for just 9 runs, leaving the score on 13-1. Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane then consolidated well and took India through to tea on 50-1 in 12 overs. Vijay continued his good show after tea as he stroked the ball well before he soon retired out for 41, leaving the scoreboard reading 78-2. Rahane helped himself to 39 runs in the company of Rohit Sharma before he too retired out with India two shy of 100. Rohit’s stay in the middle was cut short as David Wainwright dismissed him for a 19-ball 10. But India finally managed to reach home. Opting to gain some bowling practice on the third and final day against Derbyshire, India put the hosts in some trouble at 62 for two at lunch. Paul Borrington (17 not out) and Billy Godleman (18 not out) put up a 30-run partnership for the third wicket before the break. — Agencies Scoreboard Derbyshire 326/5d India 341/6d & 143/5 (36.3 ov) Derbyshire IInd innings India IInd innings Amla ton guides South Africans' win
Hashim Amla struck the only century of the South Africans' warm-up match against Sri Lanka Board President's XI in Moratuwa, off just 79 balls, and anchored the team to victory. Brief Scores: South Africans 297/9 (Amla 104, Duminy 54, Randiv 3-47) bt Sri Lanka Board President's XI: 189 (Randiv 53, Chandimal 50, Morkel 3-29) by 108 runs. |
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Walmiki dropped, Mujtaba, Chandi return for CWG
New Delhi, July 3 Walmiki was dropped from the side after his unimpressive show at The Hague, Netherlands. The Mumbaikar had made a comeback to the Indian team after almost two years when he was called for the World Cup preparatory tour in April. He was initially left out of the World Cup squad, but got a chance to showcase his talent when Nikkin Thimmaiah sustained a hamstring pull on the right side, ruling him out of the tournament. However, Walmiki failed to win the confidence of chief coach Terry Walsh and High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans. Both Danish and Chandiwill be returning from injuries to boost the midfield and forward line. Danish had suffered a knee injury in May last year and had returned to the squad. Squad
Goalkeeper: PR Sreejesh (vice-captain) |
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France may be much lower on the ranking ladder than Germany but don't be surprised if they turn the tables on fancied Germany in the quarterfinal clash on Friday. What boosts their chances further is the below-par showings of the German side in the tournament so far.
Here are five reasons favouring the French in the mouth-watering contest.
India registered a five wicket win in their second warm-up game against Derbyshire as they were set a target of 141 runs to win from 45 overs after the county side declared their innings on 156-3 following another half-century from Billy
Godleman. Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck early for the Indians in the second innings as he removed Ben Slater for a duck, leaving Derbyshire yet to score a run. Shami bowled some testing lengths with the ball from his end before Stuart Binny came on and dismissed Chesney Hughes for 20.
Hailed almost from birth as the next great product of Santos, Neymar has always been a very obvious talent. Like all of the great Brazilian players, he has footwork faster, more imaginative and more precise than anyone else on the pitch. Not naturally strong, but lithe and quick, he can dance past players with the ball glued to his feet.
Just as precocious as Neymar, and six months older, James was already famous at 12 after winning a televised tournament in Colombia for his first club, Envigado. Like Neymar, James is blessed with preternatural technical ability and a first touch which takes opponents out of the game. 
From there he went to Monaco, experiencing a new league but winning nothing. James had to do some adjusting after both those moves but plays now with the nous and experience of someone well trained in elite-level European football. He has 26 international caps, less than half of Neymar’s haul, but does seem to have benefited from a longer spell in Europe.
French teams are prone to implode, it’s happened all too often before. But this time, Didier Deschamps has overcome the infamous Gallic mood to create a harmonious dressing room that contains genuine quality. They may have needed until the final 10 minutes to score past the brilliant Vincent Enyeama – one of the keepers of the tournament, by the way – but make no mistake, this is the best French team since they won the 1998 World Cup and European Championships in 2000.
If they continue with that tactic, it should be easy for Deschamps’ men to nullify the German threat. In Pogba and midfield partner Blaise Matuidi they have two of the most athletic midfielders in the World Cup.
France’s opponents may have put in the best performance of the tournament so far when they thrashed Portugal 4-0 in their opening game, but since then Joachim Low’s side have not been up to scratch. 
Powerful Canadian Eugenie Bouchard overcame match-point jitters to claim an eventful 7-6(5) 6-2 victory over Romania's Simona Halep 7-6(5) 6-2 at Wimbledon on Thursday and reach a grand slam final for the first time.
With Bouchard rattled, Halep saved four more match points but her intensity was short and she sent a ball long to offer the Canadian her sixth chance.
Suddenly, Dimitrov and Raonic have the opportunity to tip the balance in favour of the next generation by breaking down the door which has been frustratingly ajar for a decade. Federer is a seven-time Wimbledon champion, the holder of a record 17 majors and will be playing in his 35th Grand Slam semifinal and ninth at the All England Club. Djokovic's 2011 Wimbledon title was just one of his six majors and he will be playing in his 23rd last-four at a Grand Slam and fifth in a row in London. Dimitrov and Raonic, both 23, score nought. — Agencies
