Italy1 Paraguay 1 Match commentary
The All Whites' group at the World Cup is wide open after a 1-1 draw between their rivals Italy and Paraguay.
Both teams were widely predicted to be the two countries to advance to the second round, but their draw might just open up the door for a third country to get into the mix.
If New Zealald would be able to shock the footballing world and beat Slovakia in Rustenburg tonight it would take the lead in Group F.
Italy did most of the running in the rain-drenched Green Point stadium in Cape Town, but Paraguay took a surprising 1-0 lead when defender Antolin Alcaraz headed home a beautiful Aureliano Torres free kick.
Italy piled on the pressure after the break, but needed a goalkeeping error to get back on level terms.
Experienced goalkeeper Justo Villar underestimated a corner by Simone Pepe and Daniel de Rossi was on the spot to stab home the equaliser at the far post.
Both had chances to take the win, but the draw leaves Group F in an interesting state if either New Zealand or Slovakia managed to upset the form book.
If either team managed to get all three points tomorrow, the pressure on Italy will be huge to get a win against New Zealand, which would play into the hands of Ricki Herbert's men.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Honda drives Japan to win
Japan 1 Cameroon 0 Match commentary
Keisuke Honda carried Japan to their first World Cup finals victory on foreign soil when he scored the goal which beat Cameroon 1-0 in a Group E match this morning.
Paul Le Guen's Cameroon had been expected to ease to victory against an out-of-form Japan in what on paper appeared their easiest group fixture.
Takeshi Okada's Japan had other ideas and bustled their way to a deserved win to join the Netherlands as the day's Group E winners after the Dutch beat Denmark 2-0 in the early match.
""Recently our team has not been delivering very good results and to be honest the mood was not the best but ... our team delivered our best and this very good result today," man of the match Honda said.
A dour first half was briefly illuminated by Honda's 39th minute goal. Daisuke Matsui was allowed time and space on the right wing to float in a cross that evaded everyone but Honda at the far post, who finished neatly.
Cameroon had registered the game's first shot on goal shortly before Honda's strike but the Indomitable Lions failed on too many occasions to feed the ball to their front three.
They improved after the break with captain Samuel Eto'o beating four players down the right wing before setting up Eric Choupo Moting, who curled his shot wide of the far post.
Cameroon's Stephane Mbia hit the bar late on with a rasping 30-metre drive but the African side, who left normal first-choice midfielder Alexandre Song on the bench, did not threaten enough as Japan left Honda up front while the rest defended their lead.
Japan will again be underdogs in their next match against group favourites the Netherlands in Durban on Sunday.
"The next game we will be up against the Netherlands so we have to go further. This is the first win for us on foreign soil, but this is not an achievement for us at all, what is coming next is the point," Japan coach Okada said.
"Today our players have done a good job but what we have to do against the Netherlands was the immediate thought that I had after the game," he added.
Keisuke Honda carried Japan to their first World Cup finals victory on foreign soil when he scored the goal which beat Cameroon 1-0 in a Group E match this morning.
Paul Le Guen's Cameroon had been expected to ease to victory against an out-of-form Japan in what on paper appeared their easiest group fixture.
Takeshi Okada's Japan had other ideas and bustled their way to a deserved win to join the Netherlands as the day's Group E winners after the Dutch beat Denmark 2-0 in the early match.
""Recently our team has not been delivering very good results and to be honest the mood was not the best but ... our team delivered our best and this very good result today," man of the match Honda said.
A dour first half was briefly illuminated by Honda's 39th minute goal. Daisuke Matsui was allowed time and space on the right wing to float in a cross that evaded everyone but Honda at the far post, who finished neatly.
Cameroon had registered the game's first shot on goal shortly before Honda's strike but the Indomitable Lions failed on too many occasions to feed the ball to their front three.
They improved after the break with captain Samuel Eto'o beating four players down the right wing before setting up Eric Choupo Moting, who curled his shot wide of the far post.
Cameroon's Stephane Mbia hit the bar late on with a rasping 30-metre drive but the African side, who left normal first-choice midfielder Alexandre Song on the bench, did not threaten enough as Japan left Honda up front while the rest defended their lead.
Japan will again be underdogs in their next match against group favourites the Netherlands in Durban on Sunday.
"The next game we will be up against the Netherlands so we have to go further. This is the first win for us on foreign soil, but this is not an achievement for us at all, what is coming next is the point," Japan coach Okada said.
"Today our players have done a good job but what we have to do against the Netherlands was the immediate thought that I had after the game," he added.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Soccer: Nelsen tips new ball will worry cup keepers
All Whites skipper Ryan Nelsen predicts a rough ride for the World Cup goalkeepers because of the new football to be used in the tournament which starts next week.
But he and fellow veteran Simon Elliott have refused to join the controversy over the adidas Jabulani, which has been given a decent kicking by a host of players from other countries.
"It floats a bit differently and has its own unique trajectory. There could be some really interesting goals - the keepers are worried men. When you hit it right, it moves a mile," said Nelsen last night from Austria.
"In baseball you have what is called the knuckle ball and this ball can wobble like that. The keepers can't get set properly - they have to wait until the last moment.
"But you can control it. It just takes a while to get used to, although you feel it travels quicker sometimes compared to others, even though you hit it the same."We don't think of it as a problem though - just different. We were all talking about the ball the first day of training, not so much the second day, and now nobody brings it up."
Goalkeepers, including England's David James, would love to hurl the ball away because of its erratic behaviour and outfield players have also complained that it is hard to control, particularly at higher altitudes where many games in South Africa will be played.
Elliott, an international for 15 years, reckoned the fuss would die down come World Cup kick-off time.
"Before every World Cup someone says the ball is doing this and that. When the tournament hits, everyone forgets about it.
"If the ball flies a bit differently and there are more goals scored, that's good. We've got good strikers so it won't worry us."
Meanwhile Nelsen will reassess his All Whites role after the World Cup.
He said a World Cup appearance had always been his goal. "I'll sit down and have a little reflect afterwards," he said. "While I'm playing I'll always be open to New Zealand football although maybe not in the same role."
All Blacks World Cup pool tickets sell out
The strong demand for All Blacks matches and seats at Eden Park has seen them oversubscribed as more than 600,000 ticket applications poured in during the first phase of sales for next year’s Rugby World Cup.
They were the hottest items as tournament officials looked at the washup to applications for venue and team pool packs which closed on May 21.
There were 125,000 applications for packs. In addition, 40,000 applications were received for the quarterfinal weekend packs in Wellington and Christchurch and the Bronze Final.
That meant a total demand for more than 600,000 seats which has delighted organisers.
"This is a great start and is clear evidence that both New Zealand and overseas fans will strongly support this tournament," Martin Snedden, CEO for Rugby New Zealand 2011 (RNZ 2011), said.
But there will be disappointment for some fans.
"There has been oversubscription for the Eden Park venue packs and also the New Zealand team pack. As well, there has been some specific seating category oversubscription within some other venue and team packs," Snedden said.
"It will not be possible to satisfy demand from all fans who applied in Phase 1. Unfortunately some people will be unsuccessful and, no doubt, will be disappointed. Where possible we will be going back to unsuccessful applicants with second chance pack offers."
In cases where demand exceeds availability, a randomisation process will determine success.
Successful applicants will have credit card payments deducted over the next month. All applicants - successful or otherwise - will receive written advice on the outcome of their applications by early July.
Overseas demand has been strong with the most popular team pool packs (aside from New Zealand), being England, Ireland, France, South Africa and Australia.
"Fans are realising how special this tournament will be in New Zealand and this bodes well for future ticketing phases and for the event itself," Snedden said.
"There has also been strong demand for quarter-final weekends packs in both Wellington and Christchurch. Demand for tickets at venues aside from Eden Park, has been solid and in line with expectations."
The second phase of RWC 2011 ticketing, involving the sale of individual match tickets (excluding semifinals and the final) will most likely begin in September. Details of this phase will to be confirmed in July.
Ad Feedback The third phase - a ballot for tickets to the semifinals and the final – will take place in early 2011.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Cycling: Lance Armstrong a drugs cheat, friend alleges
Lance Armstrong has been accused of being a drugs cheat by his former teammate Floyd Landis, who this morning broke his silence about his own doping offences.
Disgraced US cyclist Landis revealed the new cheating allegations in a series of messages to sponsors and officials.
In them he alleges that former teammate Lance Armstrong not only joined him in doping but taught others how to beat the system and paid an official to keep a failed test quiet.
Landis admitted for the first time what had long been suspected - that he was guilty of doping for several years before being stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title.
His fresh accusations, contained in emails sent last month, prompted Armstrong to hold an impromptu press conference before he began the fifth stage of the Tour of California in Visalia.
"If you said, `Give me one word to sum this all up,' credibility," the seven-time Tour de France winner said. "Floyd lost his credibility a long time ago.
"We have nothing to hide. We have nothing to run from."
Though Landis lost his title, he denied cheating until now, and his recent emails detail his blood doping.
"I want to clear my conscience," Landis told ESPN.com. "I don't want to be part of the problem any more."
He claims that Armstrong and longtime coach Johan Bruyneel paid an International Cycling Union official to cover-up a test in 2002 after Armstrong purportedly tested positive for the blood-boosting drug EPO. The UCI, however, denied changing or concealing a positive test result.
In an email Landis sent to USA Cycling chief Steve Johnson, he said Armstrong's positive EPO test was in 2002, around the time he won the Tour de Suisse. Armstrong won the Tour de Suisse in 2001 and did not compete in 2002.
"We're a little confused, maybe just as confused as you guys," Armstrong said, with Bruyneel by his side. "The timeline is off, year by year."
Landis also implicated other cyclists, including longtime Armstrong confidant George Hincapie and Olympic medalist Levi Leipheimer - both Americans - and acknowledged using human growth hormone starting in 2003. The Wall Street Journal reported another email from Landis also linked another top American racer, Dave Zabriskie, to doping.
"Look forward to much more detail as soon as you can demonstrate that you can be trusted to do the right thing," Landis wrote in the email to Johnson.
Landis said he was asked at one point to stay in an apartment where Armstrong was living and check the temperature in a refrigerator where blood was being stored for future transfusions. "Mr Armstrong was planning on being gone for a few weeks to train he asked me to stay in his place and make sure the electricity didn't turn off or something go wrong with the refrigerator," Landis wrote.
Hincapie said he was "really disappointed" by the allegations. Jim Ochowicz, a former top USA Cycling official - who was also implicated by Landis - defended himself and Hincapie.
"These allegations are not true, absolutely unfounded and unproven," said Ochowicz, now the president of BMC Racing, Hincapie's current team. "This is disappointing to anyone who works in the sport or is a fan of the sport."
Johnson said USA Cycling would not comment about Landis' series of emails, citing its policy on not discussing "doping allegations, investigations or any aspect of an adjudication process."
The US Anti-Doping Agency also declined comment for similar reasons, and Landis did not respond to messages left by The AP.
More accusations from Landis could be coming, however. In his email to Johnson, Landis indicated he has several diaries detailing other experiences.
"I've always known Floyd as an angry person ... somebody who's basically angry with the world," Bruyneel said. "To me it sounds like he just wants to drag down people who are still there and enjoying this."
Until about 2005, Armstrong worked extensively with Michele Ferrari, an Italian doctor who was linked to numerous doping issues, but was cleared by an appeals court in 2006. Landis claimed Ferrari extracted "half a litre of blood" from him in 2002, so he could have it transfused during the Tour de France.
"Mr Armstrong was not witness to the extraction but he and I had lengthy discussions about it on our training rides during which time he also explained to me the evolution of EPO testing and how transfusions were now necessary due to the inconvenience of the new test," Landis wrote.
Andy Rihs, the owner of the Phonak team for which Landis rode when he won the Tour, issued a statement saying Landis' claims were "lies" and a "last, tragic attempt" to get publicity. In the April 30 email, Landis alleges that Rihs was aware of his doping and helped fund it.
Like Armstrong, UCI president Pat McQuaid questioned Landis' credibility.
"He already made those accusations in the past," McQuaid said. "Armstrong has been accused many times in the past but nothing has been proved against him. And in this case, I have to question the guy's credibility. There is no proof of what he says. We are speaking about a guy who has been condemned for doping before a court."
Armstrong said Landis started threatening him and other top riders such as Leipheimer and Zabriskie to make allegations like these long ago.
"I'd remind everybody that this is a man that's been under oath several times and had a very different version," Armstrong said. "This is a man that wrote a book for profit that had a completely different version. This is somebody that took, some would say, close to US$1 million from innocent people for his defence under a different premise. Now when it's all run out the story changes."
- AP
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Indy could have record five women in starting field
Janet Guthrie can see progress moving at full throttle.
The pioneering racer is now watching five women try to duplicate her milestone achievement by qualifying for this year's Indianapolis 500. There are women climbing over the wall for pit stops and female engineers dissecting data at Indy, giving a male-dominated sport the kind of female touch Guthrie always envisioned.
"I thought it would take two generations," she told The Associated Press. "But it's only taken a little more than one."
It's been 33 years since Guthrie became the first woman to start a race at the famed Brickyard, and for most of that time, Guthrie stood virtually alone.
From her breakthrough moment in 1977 until 1999 only one other woman, Lyn St James, qualified for Indy's 33-car starting grid. No more than two women were entered in any 500 from 2000-06.
Now the numbers - and perceptions - are rapidly changing.
This year's potential female starters at Indy consist of the glamorous Danica Patrick, the first woman to win an IndyCar race; the personable Sarah Fisher, the first woman to win an IndyCar pole; fan favourite Milka Duno and two relatively unknown but promising rookies, Brazil's Ana Beatriz and Switzerland's Simona de Silvestro.
If each makes the May 30 field, it would mark the first time any has been part of a race featuring five women.
"I think it would be neat," Fisher said. "But what's really cool is they're all qualified (drivers)."
While fans and officials welcome the influx of women, the times haven't always been so cordial.
When Guthrie started her quest to qualify at Indy, she became the target of a letter-writing campaign to keep her out. Companies insisted they feared sponsoring a woman because of racing's dangers, a refrain that included an airline company telling Guthrie it didn't want "anything to do with a sport that involved crashes." Guthrie even remembers her team owner explaining why NASCAR put three women on the 1977 Firecracker 400 starting grid - to prove they didn't belong.
Guthrie's calm, eloquent demeanor helped stop those arguments, even though it wasn't until 2001 that Fisher noticed a different clientele at the track.
"You'd see fathers bringing their daughters to the autograph line," Fisher said as she pointed toward a photo of a girl driving a go-kart. "Now I sign a lot of pictures like this."
Four years later, Patrick joined the circuit and her emergence changed the sport again.
A fourth-place finish at Indy in 2005 kicked off Danicamania and instantly turned her into the series covergirl. Suddenly, the questions were no longer about whether Patrick belonged in IndyCars at the age of 23. Everyone wanted to know how long it would take her to win.
"I remember coming into the first year and thinking, 'Well, you know, there's no guarantee that I would stay if I don't do well my first year. Who knows what's going to happen,'" she said. "You know, kind of after the first part of the season, which included through Indy and stuff, I went, 'I think maybe I'll get another job next year.'"
Patrick has been one of the series most popular drivers since that race, and her success had a huge impact for future generations of women.
Sponsors that once backed away from Guthrie saw the obvious marketability of having Patrick pitch their products and started lining up to get on Patrick's team.
"I think that would be hard to question," said Terry Angstadt, president of the IRL's commercial division.
The pace of change cranked up again in 2008 after Patrick's victory at Japan put the IndyCar women's movement back on center stage.
A month later, Fisher came to Indianapolis as the first woman with full ownership of her own team since Guthrie in 1978. Last May, Anna Chatten, went over the wall as Duno's air jack operator, a job she has again this year with KV Racing's Mario Moraes.
Why has the IndyCar Series become a world full of women?
"I think it's more open because Danica has been here a couple of years now," said de Silvestro, who led four laps in her IndyCar debut in March. "I'm sure it will change everywhere else if girls can be competitive."
Winning races, of course, is what matters most - even to the guys.
"I think it would cheapen the experience for the fans, for the stakeholders, for the competitors if it was just a circus-act sideshow," driver Townsend Bell said. "But the fact there are some women who can run at the front of this race here authenticates what they can do."
The 72-year-old Guthrie never doubted this day would come. She just wasn't sure she'd be around long enough to see it.
What Guthrie likes most, though, is seeing a whole new generation of women drivers doing their thing, their way.
"I'm perfectly delighted, especially with Ana and Simona because they've both shown terrific talent in the lower levels and they deserve a chance at the top spot," Guthrie said. "Having five women start at Indy? That would be spectacular. I'd love it."
The pioneering racer is now watching five women try to duplicate her milestone achievement by qualifying for this year's Indianapolis 500. There are women climbing over the wall for pit stops and female engineers dissecting data at Indy, giving a male-dominated sport the kind of female touch Guthrie always envisioned.
"I thought it would take two generations," she told The Associated Press. "But it's only taken a little more than one."
It's been 33 years since Guthrie became the first woman to start a race at the famed Brickyard, and for most of that time, Guthrie stood virtually alone.
From her breakthrough moment in 1977 until 1999 only one other woman, Lyn St James, qualified for Indy's 33-car starting grid. No more than two women were entered in any 500 from 2000-06.
Now the numbers - and perceptions - are rapidly changing.
This year's potential female starters at Indy consist of the glamorous Danica Patrick, the first woman to win an IndyCar race; the personable Sarah Fisher, the first woman to win an IndyCar pole; fan favourite Milka Duno and two relatively unknown but promising rookies, Brazil's Ana Beatriz and Switzerland's Simona de Silvestro.
If each makes the May 30 field, it would mark the first time any has been part of a race featuring five women.
"I think it would be neat," Fisher said. "But what's really cool is they're all qualified (drivers)."
While fans and officials welcome the influx of women, the times haven't always been so cordial.
When Guthrie started her quest to qualify at Indy, she became the target of a letter-writing campaign to keep her out. Companies insisted they feared sponsoring a woman because of racing's dangers, a refrain that included an airline company telling Guthrie it didn't want "anything to do with a sport that involved crashes." Guthrie even remembers her team owner explaining why NASCAR put three women on the 1977 Firecracker 400 starting grid - to prove they didn't belong.
Guthrie's calm, eloquent demeanor helped stop those arguments, even though it wasn't until 2001 that Fisher noticed a different clientele at the track.
"You'd see fathers bringing their daughters to the autograph line," Fisher said as she pointed toward a photo of a girl driving a go-kart. "Now I sign a lot of pictures like this."
Four years later, Patrick joined the circuit and her emergence changed the sport again.
A fourth-place finish at Indy in 2005 kicked off Danicamania and instantly turned her into the series covergirl. Suddenly, the questions were no longer about whether Patrick belonged in IndyCars at the age of 23. Everyone wanted to know how long it would take her to win.
"I remember coming into the first year and thinking, 'Well, you know, there's no guarantee that I would stay if I don't do well my first year. Who knows what's going to happen,'" she said. "You know, kind of after the first part of the season, which included through Indy and stuff, I went, 'I think maybe I'll get another job next year.'"
Patrick has been one of the series most popular drivers since that race, and her success had a huge impact for future generations of women.
Sponsors that once backed away from Guthrie saw the obvious marketability of having Patrick pitch their products and started lining up to get on Patrick's team.
"I think that would be hard to question," said Terry Angstadt, president of the IRL's commercial division.
The pace of change cranked up again in 2008 after Patrick's victory at Japan put the IndyCar women's movement back on center stage.
A month later, Fisher came to Indianapolis as the first woman with full ownership of her own team since Guthrie in 1978. Last May, Anna Chatten, went over the wall as Duno's air jack operator, a job she has again this year with KV Racing's Mario Moraes.
Why has the IndyCar Series become a world full of women?
"I think it's more open because Danica has been here a couple of years now," said de Silvestro, who led four laps in her IndyCar debut in March. "I'm sure it will change everywhere else if girls can be competitive."
Winning races, of course, is what matters most - even to the guys.
"I think it would cheapen the experience for the fans, for the stakeholders, for the competitors if it was just a circus-act sideshow," driver Townsend Bell said. "But the fact there are some women who can run at the front of this race here authenticates what they can do."
The 72-year-old Guthrie never doubted this day would come. She just wasn't sure she'd be around long enough to see it.
What Guthrie likes most, though, is seeing a whole new generation of women drivers doing their thing, their way.
"I'm perfectly delighted, especially with Ana and Simona because they've both shown terrific talent in the lower levels and they deserve a chance at the top spot," Guthrie said. "Having five women start at Indy? That would be spectacular. I'd love it."
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Cricket: Three last over 6s lift Aussie
GROS ISLET, St Lucia - Michael Clarke was so nervous he couldn't even watch Mike Hussey's final-over heroics in the World Twenty20 semi-final in St Lucia.
Needing 18 off the last over to pass Pakistan's 6-191, Hussey hit 6-6-4-6 from consecutive balls to deliver Australia a spot in the final against England in Barbados.
Clarke could be seen on TV biting his fingernails as the game see-sawed to its exciting climax, but in the last few balls he was out of view.
"I enjoy biting my nails when I'm nervous I guess," the skipper said.
"I couldn't watch the last over. I watched the first ball when Mitchell Johnson got a single.
"Then I've gone back into the change rooms. I heard loud cheers.
"I knew it was a six and then another six and I thought oh my God, what is going on out there?
"I was too nervous. I couldn't watch."
Hussey said he had a fairly simple game plan in the final over.
"Just try to slog every ball for six," he smiled.
"I knew he (spinner Saeed Ajmal) would probably try to spear a few fast yorkers in. If he got them right then I don't think there's too much I could have done.
"Thankfully he probably just missed his length a little bit.
"I don't know what I was saying to myself. It's all a bit of a blur.
"I was just saying please this last ball, please come out of the middle.
"I just wanted to feel what it felt like. I didn't know what it was going to feel like and it's an absolutely amazing feeling.
"It's the best feeling you can ever have, to hit the winning runs for your country, particularly in such a big game as a semi-final.
"I'm so happy and it was great to see the elation on all the other boys' faces. We're so excited to be in the final."
Pakistan coach Waqar Younis refused to blame his bowlers for letting the game get away from them.
"We didn't go wrong anywhere," he said.
"One should give credit to Australia the way they batted. They kept the momentum going all the way.
"Especially Cameron White's innings (of 43) and then Hussey who did the real damage.
"I still can't believe it."
- AAP
Needing 18 off the last over to pass Pakistan's 6-191, Hussey hit 6-6-4-6 from consecutive balls to deliver Australia a spot in the final against England in Barbados.
Clarke could be seen on TV biting his fingernails as the game see-sawed to its exciting climax, but in the last few balls he was out of view.
"I enjoy biting my nails when I'm nervous I guess," the skipper said.
"I couldn't watch the last over. I watched the first ball when Mitchell Johnson got a single.
"Then I've gone back into the change rooms. I heard loud cheers.
"I knew it was a six and then another six and I thought oh my God, what is going on out there?
"I was too nervous. I couldn't watch."
Hussey said he had a fairly simple game plan in the final over.
"Just try to slog every ball for six," he smiled.
"I knew he (spinner Saeed Ajmal) would probably try to spear a few fast yorkers in. If he got them right then I don't think there's too much I could have done.
"Thankfully he probably just missed his length a little bit.
"I don't know what I was saying to myself. It's all a bit of a blur.
"I was just saying please this last ball, please come out of the middle.
"I just wanted to feel what it felt like. I didn't know what it was going to feel like and it's an absolutely amazing feeling.
"It's the best feeling you can ever have, to hit the winning runs for your country, particularly in such a big game as a semi-final.
"I'm so happy and it was great to see the elation on all the other boys' faces. We're so excited to be in the final."
Pakistan coach Waqar Younis refused to blame his bowlers for letting the game get away from them.
"We didn't go wrong anywhere," he said.
"One should give credit to Australia the way they batted. They kept the momentum going all the way.
"Especially Cameron White's innings (of 43) and then Hussey who did the real damage.
"I still can't believe it."
- AAP
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