Bopara vows to fire England out of their one-day doldrums September 10, 2009 UNDER-FIRE Ravi Bopara insists he can recover from his recent slump in form to fire an England comeback in the one-day series with Australia. The Essex batsman is yet to score a half-century for England in his 11 one-day internationals, but is determined to put things right ahead of tomorrow’s fourth one-dayer at Lord’s with [...]
ENGLAND’S EURO HEARTACHE September 10, 2009 ENGLAND’S women suffered heartbreak last night as Germany were crowned European champions for the fifth time running in Helsinki. Hope Powell’s side put up a valiant fight against the World Cup holders scoring twice through Karen Carney and Kelly Smith (looking dejected above, No10), but their German counterparts proved too strong as they ran out [...]
It’s the same old story for sorry England September 9, 2009 CAPTAIN Andrew Strauss bemoaned “Groundhog Day” at the Rose Bowl yesterday as England crashed to a third successive defeat in the one-day series with Australia. Strauss led the line from the front with a stylish 63 only to be let down by his batting line-up once again as England’s 228-9 was easily overturned by the [...]
SPORT IN BRIEF September 9, 2009 Durham close in on second titleCRICKET: Durham closed in on a second successive LV County Championship division one title yesterday after making a flying start in their crunch match with closest rivals Nottinghamshire. Durham need just 11 points to win the title with two matches to spare. Michael Di Venuto smashed a magnificent unbeaten 219 [...]
DJOKOVIC POWERS THROUGH September 9, 2009 NOVAK DJOKOVIC battled his way to a third straight US Open semi-final after overcoming a tough encounter with Fernando Verdasco, of Spain. Djokovic, seeded four, saved two set points in the first set before winning the opener on the tie-break. Verdasco stormed back to take the second set 6-1, but was eventually out-gunned out by [...]
Five-star England qualify in fine style September 9, 2009 ENGLAND (5) vs CROATIA (1) FABIO CAPELLO hailed the “best performance” of his reign as manager after his England side booked their ticket to the World Cup finals in South Africa next summer in emphatic style. Two goals apiece from midfield duo Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard and a fifth from Wayne Rooney put the [...]
Fabio’s walking on water after finding right formula September 9, 2009 FABIO CAPELLO can seemingly do no wrong. Suddenly, not even two years into the job, the Italian has at his disposal a strong 23-man squad who can all but book their flight to South Africa next summer, and probably nine members of his starting line-up who can claim shirt numbers one to eleven. His biggest [...]
Double dose of defeat leaves hopes in tatters for suffering Scots and Irish September 9, 2009 SCOTLAND’S World Cup dreams were left shattered last night, as they slipped to a 1-0 defeat against the Netherlands at Hampden Park. George Burley’s men needed a win to have any realistic hope of snatching a play-off place but Dutch substitute Eljero Elia stepped off the bench to hit a late winner and break Scottish [...]
‘Thank you Mr Bilic, that is my perfect team talk’ September 8, 2009 ENGLAND boss Fabio Capello yesterday laughed off Slaven Bilic’s attempt at playing mind games – instead thanking the Croatia boss for providing his with his team talk for tonight’s crunch World Cup qualifier. Victory at Wembley tonight will ensure Capello’s men will qualify for South Africa next summer, possibly even at the expense of a [...]
Powerless Murray is sent crashing by Cilic September 8, 2009 WORLD No1 Andy Murray admitted he was powerless to stop big-hitting Marin Cilic ending his US Open dreams at Flushing Meadows last night. The Croatian 16th seed proved just too strong for the British No1 as he blasted his way to a 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 victory in two hours, eight minutes. Cilic showed his dominance [...]