Spanish Villa proves to be hot property June 29, 2010 SPAIN (1) vs PORTUGAL (0) BARCELONA hotshot David Villa struck again as Spain took a huge step towards adding the World Cup to their European Championship. Villa finally broke Portugal’s resistance just after the hour to set up a quarter-final with Paraguay on Saturday that they will be expected to win – and send their [...]
Venus sent crashing out by Pironkova June 29, 2010 GIANT-KILLER Tsvetana Pironkova told of her dream come true after sending five-time champion Venus Williams spinning out of Wimbledon. The unseeded Bulgarian put in the performance of her life, returning everything Williams had to throw at her, to come through 6-2, 6-3 in one of the biggest shocks in SW19 history. “It seems like a [...]
It’s the best England team for 20 years June 29, 2010 ALEC STEWART believes England are reaping the rewards of their best one-day side in nearly 20 years as they go in search of a 5-0 series whitewash over Australia. Andrew Strauss’s men will be looking to build on their unassailable 3-0 lead over their arch-rivals when they lock horns for the fourth one-day international at [...]
SPORT | IN BRIEF June 29, 2010 FXPro land Fulham deal FOOTBALL: Financial trading services firm FXPro have sealed a multi-million pound sponsorship deal with Premier League side Fulham. The club was unable to disclose a specific figure but said the deal was the biggest in the club’s history – more than the £3m spent by previous sponsors, consumer electronics company LG. [...]
COWARDLY LIONS June 29, 2010 ENGLAND’S World Cup flops shunned fans and the media on their return from South Africa yesterday morning. The squad, with WAGs in tow, were ushered through a private area of Heathrow Airport normally reserved for royalty and heads of state, allowing them to avoid supporters angry at Sunday’s 4-1 thrashing by Germany, which hammered the [...]
Murray beats wobble to sink Querrey June 28, 2010 PATRIOTIC football fans may have had little to cheer of late but British No1 Andy Murray helped lift the gloom yesterday by beating Sam Querrey to reach the last eight. The Scot, 23, showed guts to overcome first-set jitters and defeat the in-form American 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 on a blistering Centre Court. Victory secured Murray [...]
Shock as Lu knocks out ace Roddick June 28, 2010 STUNNED fifth seed Andy Roddick admitted he had played “horrendously” after crashing out to little-known Yen-Hsun Lu of Taiwan in the shock of the tournament. Roddick, last year’s runner-up and three times a Wimbledon finalist, fought tooth and nail to preserve his challenge but eventually lost a marathon last-16 match that featured three tie breaks. [...]
FOOTBALL TRADER BEN CLEMINSON TAKES A LOOK AT TONIGHT’S CLASH BETWEEN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL June 28, 2010 EUROPEAN champions Spain take on Iberian rivals Portugal in Cape Town tonight with the winners confident of beating either Paraguay or Japan in the quarter-final. Whoever succeeds will feel very confident of progressing to the semi-finals. Portugal may have struggled in qualifying, but it isn’t always a negative to struggle in the build-up to a [...]
Torres predicts Spanish surge June 28, 2010 LIVERPOOL striker Fernando Torres insists there is still more to come from Spain as they prepare for tonight’s last-16 showdown with neighbours Portugal. “We’ve all seen the level that this team has and we know we haven’t reached that yet,” Torres said. “We’re ready for whatever comes. We are where we wanted to be, living [...]
Serena powers through June 28, 2010 DEFENDING champion Serena Williams overcame a brave performance from 2004 champion Maria Sharapova to blast into another Wimbledon quarter-final. The top seed recovered from a marathon tie-break in the first set to come through 7-6 (11-9), 6-4 against the popular Russian on Centre Court. Williams now plays China’s Na Li in the last eight after [...]