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Germany, here we come!
Shoot-out demons return to haunt the Dutch |
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Argentina
in final adds insult to Brazil’s injury
Captain Cook shows lack of imagination
Rs 100 cr to Sports Ministry for CWG, Asian Games
Boxing India saga gets murkier
Tour de France: Greipel wins sixth stage
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Germany, here we come!
Sao Paulo, July 10
After the teams battled to a 0-0 draw in the first ever goalless semi-final, Romero plunged low to his left to save the first kick from Dutch defender Ron Vlaar, then flew high to his right to palm away Wesley Sneijder's effort. The pressure of scoring the winning penalty kick fell to Argentina substitute Maxi Rodriguez, who picked power over placement and, while Jasper Cillessen got a hand to the ball, it ricocheted up off the underside of the bar and into the net. Twice champions Argentina now travel to Rio de Janeiro for Sunday's final against old rivals Germany, who thrashed hosts Brazil 7-1 in the other semi-final in Belo Horizonte on Tuesday.
Goalkeeping hero Romero, who clutched the ball tight as he spoke to reporters after the game, put his saves down to a lot of self-belief and a little luck. “...I'm really happy with everything,” he said in a televised interview. “(Penalties) are a question of luck, that's the reality ... I had confidence in myself and, fortunately, everything turned out well.” While Romero basked in the limelight, Cillessen's head hung low as he was consoled by his team mates. The Dutch first-choice keeper has never saved a penalty in his professional career, which may have been behind coach Louis van Gaal's decision to replace him with Tim Krul for the quarter-final shootout against Costa Rica. But after Van Gaal used up his substitutions on outfield players during the 120 minutes of regulation and extra time, he had no choice but to go with Cillessen for the shootout.
“If I had had the opportunity to substitute Jasper I would have done that, but I had already used three substitutes so I couldn’t do that,” the Dutch coach said. SHOOTOUT LOTTERY
With Brazil's harrowing defeat still fresh in the mind, caution was the watchword of a tactical first half as both sides felt each other out and battled for possession across the pitch in a defense-dominated encounter short on entertainment. Nigel de Jong, best known for his chest-high kick on Spain's Xabi Alonso in the 2010 final which the Dutch lost, completed a remarkable recovery from a groin injury to play in midfield and clearly had orders to shadow Argentine playmaker Lionel Messi. Argentina had equalled their longest winning streak at a World Cup with their 1-0 victory over Belgium in the quarter-finals, but all five of those wins were by one-goal margins and they were even less creative without the injured Angel di Maria. Four-time World Player of the Year Messi, who was kept quiet by his standards, did test Cillessen with a free kick early on while Ezequiel Garay stooped to head a corner over the bar under pressure from Vlaar but chances were few in a dire first half. The second period was equally cautious as the Dutch failed to record a shot on target for the entire 90 minutes before Arjen Robben burst into the box in the dying moments, only to be denied by Javier Mascherano's well-timed block. — Reuters |
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Shoot-out demons return to haunt the Dutch
RIO DE JANEIRO, July 10 Coach Louis van Gaal was forced to use defender Ron Vlaar as his first penalty taker and he was also left to regret being unable to send on his expert spot-kick saver Tim Krul for the shootout. “I asked two players to take the first kick before deciding on Vlaar because I thought Vlaar was the best player on the field and I thought he had a great deal of confidence,” Van Gaal told reporters. “But it goes to show, when push comes to shove it is not easy to score a penalty kick. Everybody knows that.” Van Gaal did not name the other player he had asked to take the first kick, a task handed in the quarter-final win over Costa Rica to striker Robin van Persie who was substituted in extra time against Argentina. Arjen Robben and Dirk Kuyt scored their penalties but midfielder Wesley Sneijder also missed while the Argentines converted four out of four to reach Sunday's final against Germany. The Dutch have now lost two out of three penalty shootouts at World Cups as well as three out of four in European Championships. “When you take one you have to score and that didn't happen, so it wasn't good enough,” Vlaar said. “I would never walk away from my responsibility. I wasn't nervous, I was focused. But it must go in and it didn't. It's tough, but that's what sport is about,” he added. Van Gaal also rued the fact he could not use substitute Krul in the shootout as he did so successfully against Costa Rica. First-choice Jasper Cillessen had failed to stop any of the 13 penalties he has faced in his professional career and that number increased to 17 on Wednesday. “If I had had the opportunity to substitute Jasper I would have done that but I had already used three substitutes so I couldn’t do that,” the Dutch coach told reporters. — Reuters Dutch fate undeserved, says shattered Sneijder The Netherlands' penalty shootout loss to Argentina in the World Cup semifinals on Wednesday was an unjust way for them to exit the tournament, according to playmaker Wesley Sneijder. “We deserve much better,” said the Galatasaray midfielder, one of two Dutch players to see a penalty saved by Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero at Sao Paulo's Corinthians Arena. “Argentina were playing for penalties, which wasn't the case with us. We tried to play. “I missed my penalty. It's a shame. But it's particularly frustrating not to have capitalised on the chances we created over the 120 minutes.”
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Argentina in final adds insult to Brazil’s injury RIO DE JANEIRO, July 10 “Seeing Argentina in the final in our home hurts, especially after our worst ever defeat,” said Marcio Carneiro da Silva, 36, a mailman. His friend Cesar Augusto, 37, already picked a new team for Sunday. “Now I'm German,” he said. The Brazilian noted that the final will be in the same stadium where Brazil lost the decisive game of the 1950 tournament to Uruguay, a defeat that traumatized the country. “The nightmare continues,” wrote O Dia newspaper in its online edition. “In addition to not being able to dream about a sixth title, Brazilians will have to live with the real possibility of one of its main rivals triumphing in the ultimate football temple,” it said. The sports daily 'Lance' used a Twitter-like hashtag for its title, #SomosTodosAlemanha! (We Are Alll Germany). Brazil and Argentina have battled for football supremacy in South America for decades. Throughout World Cup history, fans on both sides taunted each other. Argentine fans chanted in stadiums that football legend Diego Maradona was better than Brazilian great Pele. But the competition goes beyond the pitch. Argentina was a leading emerging nation in the early 20th century but it was eclipsed by Brazil in economic and political might in recent decades. Now they have to cope with the possibility of President Dilma Rousseff handing the trophy to Lionel Messi. “This can't happen,” said Marcos Raimondi, a 44-year-old economist wearing the official Dutch team jersey. “It's worse than what happened yesterday. It's a nightmare. Unbearable.” —Agencies They say ...I'm really happy with everything.(Penalties) are a question of luck, that's the reality ... I had confidence in myself and, fortunately, everything turned out well. Sergio Romero, Argentina goalkeeper We deserve much better. Argentina were playing for penalties, which wasn't the case with us. We tried to play. I missed my penalty. It's a shame. But it's particularly frustrating not to have capitalised on the chances we created over the 120 minutes. Wesley Sneijder I'm proud to be a part of this group. They are all phenomenons, what a match they played. What madness. We are in the final. Let's enjoy it, it is just a little step more. Lionel Messi It really hurts, a dream which gets put out. In the penalty I wasn't nervous, I concentrated. When you take one you have to score, and that didn't happen, so it wasn't good enough. Ron Vlaar, Dutch defender Vlaar should not have taken it (first penalty). But that's my only criticism, we can be very proud of the Orange 11. Frank de Boer, former Dutch international The third-place match? Honestly, it's only the title that interested me. Losing drives me mad. It hurts. Arjen RobbenCongratulations Argentina for their victory! I am looking forward to being at Maracana on Sunday to watch the final between two great nations of football! Pele If I had had the opportunity to substitute Jasper (Cillessen) I would have done that but I had already used three substitutes so I couldn't. I thought it was necessary to get Robin van Persie off because he was on his last legs. My feeling was that Huntelaar would make the goal. Louis van Gaal, Netherlands coach
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Argentina not scared of Germany, says Higuain
Suarez loses appeal against biting ban
Uruguay forward Luis Suarez, banned from all soccer activity for four months and nine competitive internationals for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini during a World Cup match, has lost his appeal, FIFA said on Thursday. FIFA's appeals committee rejected the appeal filed by the Uruguayan Football Association (AUF), although it can still take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), a FIFA spokeswoman said. FIFA's disciplinary committee ruled that he acted intentionally and handed him the longest ban ever imposed on a player at the World Cup, prompting fury in his South American homeland, where he was given a hero's welcome on his return. South Korea coach resigns for poor show South Korea coach Hong Myung-bo apologized to the nation and announced his resignation on Thursday, shouldering the blame for his team's early exit from the World. The announcement came just a week after Huh Jung-moo, vice- president of the Korea Football Association (KFA), said that the ruling body had rejected Hong's resignation and persuaded him to lead the country to next year's Asian Cup in Australia. — Agencies
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India go from strength to strength on Day 2
Nottingham, July 10 Bhuvneshwar (58) and Shami (51 not out) turned out to be the unlikely batting heroes for India as they pulled the team out of trouble with a 111-run partnership to frustrate the hosts, who had the visitors reeling at 346/9 at one stage with fours wickets falling for just two runs in a span of 20 balls.
Sam Robson (20* off 48 balls, 2 fours) and Gary Ballance (15* off 46 balls, 1 four) were at the crease when stumps were drawn. The duo added 34 unbeaten runs for the second wicket. But the day belonged to India’s tailenders — Bhuvneshwar and Shami — who struck their maiden Test fifties respectively en route their century partnership, which incidentally is India’s second highest stand for the last wicket. Earlier, opener Murali Vijay struck a fine 146-run knock while skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni made 82 to take India forward. India captain Dhoni deployed all his five primary bowlers: Bhuvneshwar (0/12), Shami, Ishant Sharma (0/12), Ravindra Jadeja (0/3) and Stuart Binny (0/1) — in short bursts in the 17 overs they managed in the day. — Agencies Anderson frustrated with placid pitch
England fast bowler James Anderson expressed unhappiness at the placid nature of the pitch, saying that the wicket assisted the visitors more than the home side on the first day. “We are fantastic hosts,” said Anderson jokingly at the press conference after the day's play. “It is a little frustrating because you want it to be an even contest between the bat and ball, and it does not seem to be at the moment,” he said. “But we have been aware as a bowling unit that the Test pitches will be more batsmen friendly. So I think our bowling was fantastic today. We could have moaned about it and worried about it, but we just gave our best,” he added. It is the third such pitch in succession for a Test this summer and considering that England lost to Sri Lanka prior to this series, it will not have pleased the home side. Anderson said that his side will be looking to restrict India's first innings score to 400. “It is a good batting pitch, but we will be looking to restrict them to something around 400,” he said. “Ideally we would like to bowl them out for much lower than that but given the pitch I think we will take 400.” — Agencies Scoreboard India Vijay lbw b Anderson 146 Dhawan c Prior b Anderson 12 Pujara c Bell b Anderson 38 Kohli c Bell b Broad 1 Rahane c Cook b Plunkett 32 Dhoni run out (Anderson) 82 Jadeja c Prior b Stokes 25 Binny c Root b Stokes 1 Bhuvneshwar c Root b Ali 58 Ishant b Broad 1 Shami not out 51 Extras: (b 1, lb 8, w 1) 10 Total: (all out; 161 ov) 457 Fall of wickets: 1-33 2-106 3-107 4-178 5-304 6-344 7-345 8-345 Bowling Anderson 38-10-123-3 Broad 33-13-53-2 Stokes 34-6-81-2 Plunkett 37-8-88-1 Ali 18-0-97-1 Root 1-0-6-0 England Cook b Mohammed Shami 5 Robson not out 20 Ballance not out 15 Extras: (w 1, nb 2) 3 Total: (1 wicket; 17 ov) 43 Fall of wickets: 1-9 Bowling Bhuvneshwar 4-0-12-0 Shami 5-1-15-1 Ishant 5-1-12-0 Jadeja 2-1-3-0 Binny 1-0-1-0
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Captain Cook shows lack of imagination
nottingham, july 10 India capitalised on each occasion to move into a position that is impregnable. Mahendra Singh Dhoni was offered a life as Prior failed to grasp a chance when he had not added to his overnight score. It was a telling blow on a lifeless pitch, as the Indian captain started to capitalise against England’s second tier bowlers, Ben Stokes, Liam Plunkett and Moeen Ali. At the other end, Vijay had moved fluently to 146, and the pair looked inseparable. The only way a wicket seemed likely was through an unforgivable umpire decision; unfortunately, that is exactly what happened to Vijay. He was judged LBW to a ball that was going over the stumps. That was the chance for England to hack into the longish Indian tail but instead of bringing back Broad or Stokes, Cook persisted with the part time spinner, Ali. And he paid for it. After lunch, India played some expansive and unnecessary shots losing four wickets for two runs. But once again, some clueless captaincy by Cook resulted in the Indian No. 10 and 11 adding a large partnership.
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Rs 100 cr to Sports Ministry for CWG, Asian Games
New Delhi, July 10 Sports Ministry had been demanding an additional Rs 100 crore to meet the Glasgow CWG expenditure and prepare the teams and fund their training programme for the Incheon Asian Games. The additional amount of Rs 100 crore is over and above the Rs 185 crore earmarked for the NSFs under the Annual Calendar for Training and Competition (ACTC) 2014-15. Jaitley also allocated Rs 300 crore for the upgradation of sports infrastructure in J&K and setting up a sports university in Manipur. The government will be investing Rs 200 crore to upgrade indoor and outdoor stadiums to international standards in Kashmir valley which will help in creation of facilities for winter sports. “J&K has a lot of sporting talent which is not finding expression due to inadequate sports facilities. I propose to provide a sum of Rs 200 crore for upgrading the indoor and outdoor stadiums to international standards in Jammu and Kashmir,” Jaitley said. The Finance Minister also proposed to set-up a sports university in Manipur with a provision of Rs. 100 crore in the current financial year. Over the past decade, Manipur has served as a nursery for boxing and archery. The total budget set aside for sports this financial year is Rs 981.19 crore — Rs 196 crore more than previous allocation. The allocation to SAI has been increased by Rs 85 crore. Budget 2014 Rs 100 crore for the training of athletes in CWG, Asian Games The additional amount is over and above the Rs 185 crore earmarked for the NSFs under the Annual Calendar Rs 300 crore for the upgradation of sports infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir and setting up a sports university in Manipur The total budget set aside for sports and games this financial year is Rs 981.19 crore — Rs 196 crore more than previous allocation
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Boxing India saga gets murkier
New Delhi, July 10 It has now emerged that Boxing India, which is being promoted by the owner of India's World Series of Boxing franchise Udit Sheth, had floated two new associations — Dadra and Nagar Haveli Boxing Association and Daman and Diu Boxing Association — without even informing the other affiliated state units and filled key posts of president and secretary general with his own favourites. Sheth even went on to name Nitin Beri, a senior employee in his company Transstadia, as the president of the Gujarat State Amateur Boxing Association. The development did not go down well with the Gujarat Olympic Association's secretary general ID Nanavati, who shot off a letter to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) suggesting a parallel boxing body from amongst the members of the IABF. The 26 state associations, which had supported the Boxing India in its endeavour to take the sport forward after AIBA approved it as the provisional National federation, have become disillusioned. “There are state associations in Boxing India, which were part of the suspended IABF, so there's nothing new on offer. It's better to revive IABF. What's the need of Boxing India then?” asked a state representative, who has decided not to support Boxing India after the postponement of the elections. “Sheth created two new associations, named his Transstadia employees, Hiren Pandit and Nitin Beri, as its president and secretary general. The other state associations trusted the people chosen by AIBA, but for personal benefits and interest, Sheth hijacked the entire election process. When affiliated units called his bluff, he postponed the elections,” the official told The Tribune. Madhya Pradesh Boxing Association has also withdrawn its support to Boxing India and its secretary general Virendra Singh Thakur has already apprised the Mumbai-based body of the decision. Majority of associations want the IOA to intervene in the matter and facilitate the election process. It has been learnt that IOA president N Ramachandran is likely to intervene in the matter and apprise AIBA chief.
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Tour de France: Greipel wins sixth stage
ARRAS (France), July 10 Norway's Alexander Kristoff was second and Frenchman Samuel Dumoulin took third place as Italian Vincenzo Nibali retained the overall leader's yellow jersey. Lotto-Belisol rider Greipel, who had a mediocre start to the Tour, struck some 200 metres from the line as the peloton looked disorganised after Kittel, winner of three stages this year, suffered a mechanical problem in the final kilometre. (It was a) really nervous stage, the team was great. I'm Really happy to get the stage win. The confidence was always there," said Greipel. Australian Richie Porte, the new Team Sky leader after defending champion Chris Froome crashed out on Wednesday, and Alberto Contador lost key team mates as Spaniards Xabier Zandio and Jesus Hernandez both abandoned after falling. As French president Francois Hollande joined Tour boss Christian Prudhomme in his car, crosswinds on the Chemin des Dames ridge split the peloton. French champion Arnaud Demare and green jersey holder Peter Sagan were trapped behind but eventually made it back into the peloton. — Agencies
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Argentina's goalie Sergio Romero launched himself left and right to save two penalties in a 4-2 shootout win over the Netherlands on Wednesday that sealed the South Americans' first World Cup final appearance in 24 years.
It will be a repeat of the 1986 and 1990 finals and the first time the same two teams will have faced each other three times in the title decider.
Van Gaal, whose brave decision to bring in Krul against Costa Rica proved a masterstroke, said he would have called upon his big stopper Krul once again if he had had the choice.
Argentina are not intimidated by facing Germany in the World Cup final despite seeing them tear hosts Brazil to shreds in the semis, striker Gonzalo Higuain said on Wednesday. “There's no intimidation, not at all. There is respect. They will also be worried that Argentina is in the final,” Higuain told reporters after his side beat the Netherlands 4-2 in a penalty shootout to book a place in the final. Germany thrashed Brazil 7-1 on Tuesday in one of the most shocking results in soccer history, but Higuain said Argentina had no reason to fear anyone. “We're in the final and the other stuff doesn't matter. Everyone who plays struggles and fights to the death.”
At stumps, England were 43/1 with Shami (1/15) removing an out-of-form skipper Alastair Cook for five. The hosts still trail India by 414 runs with three full days play left in the match.