World Cup: Russia bow out of World Cup as Algeria return to haunt Capello June 26, 2014 RUSSIA 1 ALGERIA 1 ALGERIA reached the last 16 for the first time in their history last night, proving the scourge of a Fabio Capello team for the second World Cup in a row. Russia looked set to join Belgium in the knockout phase having taken a sixth-minute lead through Aleksandr Kokorin. But Islam Slimani’s [...]
World Cup: Vertonghen on target to keep Belgium winning record intact June 26, 2014 BELGIUM 1 SOUTH KOREA 0 TOTTENHAM defender Jan Vertonghen earned 10-man Belgium their third win in Brazil to end South Korea’s slim hopes of qualification. On the stroke of half-time Belgium’s Steven Defour was shown a straight red card for jumping into a tackle with Shin-Wook Kim. Needing a win to have any chance of [...]
World Cup: Downed by his countrymen, but Klinsmann guides USA through June 26, 2014 USA 0 GERMANY 1 USA coach Jurgen Klinsmann hailed a triumph against the odds after guiding his unfancied team into the knockout stage of the World Cup despite defeat to his native Germany last night. Portugal or Ghana could have overtaken the Americans in the final round of Group G fixtures, but the former’s 2-1 [...]
World Cup: Ronaldo finally gets off mark but Portugal and chaotic Ghana exit June 26, 2014 PORTUGAL 2 GHANA 1 GHANA coach Kwesi Appiah refused to blame in-fighting after his team missed out on a place in the last 16 and ended their World Cup campaign with another defeat. Appiah sent home star men Kevin-Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari just hours before last night’s clash, from which both sides could have [...]
World Cup in brief June 26, 2014 Del Bosque defends Spain squad SPAIN boss Vincent del Bosque insists he has no regrets regarding squad selection. Manchester City pair Alvaro Negredo and Jesus Navas were among the big-name absentees from the 23-man squad. But Del Bosque said: “I don’t think it would have changed the fundamentals very much. This ending was unthinkable.” Scapegoat [...]
Watson slams Brits who fail to fulfil potential June 26, 2014 BRITISH No1 Heather Watson last night blasted her compatriots who do not take their tennis seriously enough and are dragging down the reputation of the national game. Watson became the last British woman to bow out of the singles draw with a brave 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 defeat to world No7 Angelique Kerber on Centre Court. [...]
Murray out to trample Bautista green shoots June 26, 2014 WIMBLEDON champion Andy Murray earned almost an extra day off this week such was the efficient manner of his second-round victory, but the Scot can anticipate a far greater test against old friend Roberto Bautista Agut today. The pair became close when practicing together on the clay courts of Valencia – the favoured surface of [...]
Nadal dodges a bullet on crazy day for upsets June 26, 2014 WORLD No1 Rafael Nadal believes he is in a strong position to win his third Wimbledon crown – and first in four years – after overcoming an early wobble against Lukas Rosol on Centre Court yesterday. On a “crazy day” at Wimbledon, as No13 seed Eugenie Bouchard described it, three of the top men’s seeds [...]
India batsman in injury scare June 26, 2014 INDIA suffered an injury scare to batsman Shikhar Dhawan ahead of next month’s Test series with England after he was struck by a delivery during the first day’s play of their tour. Opener Dhawan left the crease immediately after being hit on the elbow by a ball from seamer Atif Sheikh, having scored 60 as [...]
Team performance spread betting June 26, 2014 Football may well be a team game, but there is no getting away from the fact that several sides have become hugely reliant on the performances of particular individuals at this World Cup. It can certainly be argued in the case of Argentina (Lionel Messi) and Brazil (Neymar) that they wouldn’t have enjoyed such easy [...]