I give England 40pc chance June 24, 2010 A CLASH with old enemies Germany might be extra special for England supporters, but for the team it will just be plain difficult. This really is not the second round tie that Fabio Capello’s men would have wanted, and they will have to be at their very best to win on Sunday afternoon. I’m afraid [...]
Capello puts his five penalty takers through their paces June 24, 2010 FABIO CAPELLO has already named his designated five penalty-takers should history repeat itself against the Germans on Sunday. The England coach will turn to Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney, Ashley Cole and John Terry to decide England’s destiny if the scores are level after 120 minutes. Joe Cole will also be considered if he [...]
Schweinsteiger injury worry for Low but no signs of Rooney ankle trouble June 24, 2010 GERMANY are sweating on the fitness of key trio Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mesut Ozil and Jerome Boateng ahead of Sunday’s clash with England. Midfielders Schweinsteiger and Ozil and defender Boateng all suffered minor knocks in Wednesday’s final Group D match against Ghana, which Germany won 1-0. Assistant coach Hans-Dieter Flick admitted it would be a major [...]
World champions Italy sent crashing June 24, 2010 SLOVAKIA (3) VS ITALY(2) ITALY coach Marcello Lippi admitted his side had been struck by “terror” but accepted full responsibility after the holders were sent crashing out at the first hurdle. Defeat to Slovakia condemned Italy to last place in Group F, below rank outsiders New Zealand, and ensured an ignominious end to Lippi’s second [...]
In-form Hamilton eyes third time lucky June 24, 2010 BRITAIN’S Lewis Hamilton has vowed to finally nail the Valencia circuit as he seeks to extend his advantage at the top of the drivers’ championship. The 2008 champion has finished runner-up on the two previous occasions he has raced the port track, and is determined to go one better on Sunday. And should he need [...]
Birthday boy Broad brings down Aussies June 24, 2010 STUART BROAD took four wickets on his 24th birthday to inspire England to a seventh successive one-day victory and a 2-0 series lead over Australia. Broad’s 4-44 restricted Ricky Ponting’s tourists to a modest 239-7 in Cardiff, and also ensured he became the youngest England bowler ever to take 100 one-day wickets. Eoin Morgan and [...]
Now you must do it all again June 24, 2010 JOHN ISNER woke up to some good news and bad news from his hotel room in SW19 this morning. On the positive side, the 23rd seed kept his nerve to overcome Nicolas Mahut 70-68 in the longest tennis match ever yesterday, lasting 11 hours and five minutes, spanning over three days. But the bad news [...]
Murray puts on a royal show June 24, 2010 ANDY MURRAY put on a regal show in front of the Queen to cruise into the third round at Wimbledon yesterday. The British No1 delivered a well-rehearsed bow to Her Majesty, who was visiting the All England Club for the first time in 33 years. And he gave her a performance to remember as he [...]
Ruthless Williams waltzes into round three June 24, 2010 DEFENDING champion Serena Williams wasted no time in easing her way into the third round round of Wimbledon. The American top seed came close to completing a ‘double bagel’ over Anna Chakvetadze before the Russian finally won her only game, on serve, in game six of the second set. Williams is now on collision course [...]
Free-kick masters cane the Danes and fire Japanese June 24, 2010 DENMARK(1) VS JAPAN(3) TWO stunning first-half free-kicks helped Japan became the second Asian team to reach the last 16 of the World Cup at the expense of a disappointing Denmark in Rustenburg. Keisuke Honda smashed the first effort from all of 30 yards over the wall to give the Japanese a 17th minute lead before [...]