Gunmen kill 14 on sports field in Honduras

TEGUCIGALPA: Gunmen opened fire on a group of people on a neighborhood sports field in northern Honduras and killed at least 14, authorities said on Saturday.

“There are 14 dead. Ten were killed on the field and four more died on their way to the hospital,” Leonel Sauceda, a spokesman for Honduras’ Security Ministry, told Reuters.

The armed men arrived in two vehicles with large guns and started shooting at a group that was preparing for a soccer match in San Pedro Sula, a major hub for the country’s textile industry located about 100 miles (165 km) north of Tegucigalpa.

It was not immediately clear what triggered the attack, but the area is home to violent rival gangs often involved in drug trafficking.

Newspaper El Tiempo showed a picture of bloody bodies being piled in the back of a pick-up truck.

In September, 17 people were killed by

Gunmen kill 14 on sports field in Honduras

TEGUCIGALPA: Gunmen opened fire on a group of people on a neighborhood sports field in northern Honduras and killed at least 14, authorities said on Saturday.

“There are 14 dead. Ten were killed on the field and four more died on their way to the hospital,” Leonel Sauceda, a spokesman for Honduras’ Security Ministry, told Reuters.

The armed men arrived in two vehicles with large guns and started shooting at a group that was preparing for a soccer match in San Pedro Sula, a major hub for the country’s textile industry located about 100 miles (165 km) north of Tegucigalpa.

It was not immediately clear what triggered the attack, but the area is home to violent rival gangs often involved in drug trafficking.

Newspaper El Tiempo showed a picture of bloody bodies being piled in the back of a pick-up truck.

In September, 17 people were killed by

Tropical Storm Matthew hits Nicaragua, Honduras

TEGUCIGALPA: Tropical Storm Matthew hit Honduras and Nicaragua on Friday, forcing hundreds of residents and tourists to evacuate and threatening damage to Central America’s coffee and sugar crops.

Rains soaked Honduras’ isolated Mosquitia coast, only accessible by boat or plane, where poor indigenous groups live in precarious wood houses on riverbanks or near the sea. Many people left their homes to wait out the storm in temporary shelters.

“I’m stocking up on food because they say the storm will cause serious damage. Later on we won’t be able to leave the house, or there won’t be any goods in the stores,” Zoila Solorzano said at a shop in the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa.

Matthew, with winds of 45 mph (75 kph), moved inland over Nicaragua’s Atlantic coast near the border with Honduras and is set to bring six to 10 inches (15 to 25 cm) of rain over the

Toothless Swiss suffer World Cup agony

BLOEMFONTEIN: Goal-shy Switzerland suffered World Cup heartbreak on Friday when they crashed out of the tournament after a goalless stalemate against central American minnows Honduras.

The Swiss started the Group H clash knowing they needed to score twice to guarantee a berth in the knockout phase but they squandered a host of chances in chilly Bloemfontein.

“It took us a very long time to find our game and Honduras created chances before us,” said Switzerland”s German coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, after seeing Spain and Chile taking the two qualifying spots in Group H.

“We then had chances of our own, but we didn”t deserve to qualify because we didn”t score.

“The disappointment tonight is very deep, because after our opening victory against Spain we had great hopes. Now we”ll go home and all we can do is concentrate on the future, on the Euro 2012 qualifiers.”

Honduras coach Reinaldo Rueda said: “It was a very intense match. It opened up at the end. We lacked precision, we lacked maturity for the final pass and goalscoring.

“It was a dream to go to the next phase. We were unable to unleash that potential.”

Switzerland, who dropped record goalscorer Alexander Frei, choosing instead to pair Blaise Nkufo with Eren Derdiyok up front, dominated possession in the first half but could not find the net despite creating clear openings.

Gokhan Inler dragged a left-footed strike wide from the edge of the penalty box after 10 minutes in front of a crowd of just over 28,000 in the Free State Stadium.

And minutes later Derdiyok was presented with a clear scoring chance following a pinpoint cross from the right by Tranquillo Barnetta, but headed wide.

At the start of the second half Hitzfeld threw on midfielder Hakan Yakin for Gelson Fernandes.

Honduras came close to breaking the deadlock when David Suazo missed the target after a cross from the right from Edgar Alvarez as the Swiss failed to settle in the early stages of the second period.

Villa double seals Spain”s win over Honduras

JOHANNESBURG: Goals either side of half-time by Barcelona”s new signing David Villa saw Spain beat Honduras 2-0 in their Group H clash at Ellis Park on Monday to put their World Cup back on track.

After losing their opening game 1-0 to Switerzerland, the easy victory puts Spain on course to reach the last 16, providing Vicente Del Bosque”s side can beat Chile on Friday.

Honduras rarely threatened the Euro 2008 winners and after their second defeat are out of contention in the tournament, while Spain will need to produce a more convincing display if they are to progress far in the tournament.

The Central American minnows looked pedestrian while Spain attacked in waves as Villa”s brilliance shone for his goals on 17 and 51 minutes, but he wasted the chance to complete his hat-trick when he missed a second-half penalty.

The 28-year-old gave a glimpse of what was to come when he rattled the crossbar on seven minutes from 30 metres out.

Honduras midfielder Danilo Turcios earned the first yellow card on eight minutes for trying to interfere with a quickly taken free-kick.

Villa finally opened the scoring when he cut in from the left wing, beat the defence and then squeezed his shot past two defenders and into the top left-hand corner of the goal on 17 minutes.

Fernando Torres, one of two changes to the side which lost to the Swiss, wasted Sergio Ramos”s cross from the wing when he headed over with half an hour gone in what was a quiet performance from the Liverpool striker still edging back to form.

Emilio Izaguirre picked up the second booking for Honduras when he fouled Spanish winger Jesus Navas on 38 minutes, but Villa was later lucky not to get booked when he appeared to slap Izaguirre in the face in the penalty area.

Spain kept up the pressure after the break as the first-half finished 1-0 and Villa scored his second soon after when a Navas pass found him in space.

His shot from outside the penalty area gave Honduras goalkeeper Noel Valladares no chance on 52 minutes.

Villa should have completed his hat-trick on 62 minutes when Izaguirre brought down Jesus Navas on the edge of the area and referee Yuichi Nishmura awarded the penalty, but the Spaniard fired the spot-kick wide of the right post.

On a rare Honduran attack, David Suazo fired wide on 66 minutes, but the biggest cheer of the night from the 54,386-strong crowd came soon after for the introduction of Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas.

Torres made way for Valencia”s Juan Manuel Mata as the Spanish went off the boil in the final 20 minutes.

Spain must now beat Chile – who defeated Switzerland 1-0 earlier Monday – on Friday in Pretoria to be sure of making the knockout phase, while Honduras will play for pride against the Swiss in Bloemfontein.

Portugal rout North Korea 7-0 in 2nd round

CAPE TOWN: A merciless Portugal tore North Korea to shreds in a 7-0 rout on Monday, putting them within reach of the knockout rounds and eliminating the Asian nation from the World Cup.

With Brazil already qualified from Group G, Portugal now have four points to Ivory Coast”s one, leaving Didier Drogba”s team with only an outside chance of making the round of 16.

North Korea have lost both their games and will head home after their last match against the Africans.

A Raul Meireles strike put Portugal in front with the Porto midfielder pouncing in the 29th minute. But it wasn”t all one-way traffic, with North Korea creating their own chances as they powered forward on the
counter-attack.

The game changed though with three quick second-half goals from Simao, Hugo Almeida and Tiago that left North Korea shellshocked before substitute Liedson banged in the fifth.

Captain Cristiano Ronaldo got the sixth, ending his two-year international goal drought, before Tiago made it seven.

North Korean coach Kim Jong Hun took responsibility for their collapse.

Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz made four changes to the team that drew 0-0 with Ivory Coast, with Tiago replacing the injured Deco and Simao, Almeida and Miguel in for Danny, Liedson and Paulo Ferreira.

The revamped team started brightly on a slippery pitch after persistent rain.

Ronaldo signalled his intentions by unleashing a long-range strike on two minutes that goalkeeper Ri Myong-Guk did well to collect.

Ricardo Carvalho also had an early chance, rattling the post with a header, as Portugal set about their task with vigour.

The opportunities were coming thick and fast as Portugal used wingers Simao on the right and Ronaldo on the left effectively

North Korea finally got a shot at goal on 10 minutes with defender Cha Jong-Hyok whipping a 30 yard piledriver just past the upright.

As the rain returned, the Koreans were starting to look handy and far more aggressive than when they lost 2-1 to Brazil, surging forward to threaten the Portgual goal.

The Cholima were certainly not intimidated and could have taken a shock lead when captain Hong Yong-Jo”s shot was parried by Eduardo, only for Mun In-Guk to head the rebound over the bar.

The Portuguese came out after the break pushing hard for the second goal which inevitably came on 53 minutes with Meireles slicing open the Korean defence with a pass to Athletic Madrid”s Simao who slotted the ball past Ri.

North Korea were in disarray and let their guard down again three minutes later when Fabio Coentrao beat his man on the left and sent a lovely cross to Hugo Almeida who made no mistake with a powerful header.

Portugal were rampant and the fourth goal came soon after when Ronaldo picked out Tiago in the box and he clinically side-footed home before Liedson volleyed in the fifth with nine minutes left.

Ronaldo made the most of a lucky bobble to get the sixth in the 87th minute before Tiago rubbed salt in the Korean wounds with a late deft header.

Chile beat 10-man Switzerland to close in on last 16

PORT ELIZABETH: Chile continued their dream World Cup run with a 1-0 defeat of 10-man Switzerland here on Monday to move within touching distance of the last 16.

The South Americans climbed to the top of Group H after second half substitute Mark Gonzalez finally broke down a steely Swiss defence in the 75th minute.

Chile, who had beaten Honduras 1-0 last week, will be assured qualification if Monday”s late game between Spain and Honduras ends in a draw.

Switzerland, stunning 1-0 winners over favourites Spain in their first match, were up against it after going a man down on 30 minutes when Valon Behrami was sent off.

The West Ham midfielder was given his marching orders by Saudi Arabian referee Khalil Al Ghamdi for a tangle with Arturo Vidal after he appeared to elbow the Bayer Leverkusen player in the face.

Hitzfeld, who is only one of three coaches to have won the Champions League with two different clubs, was scathing about the referee.

Chile, who had impressed with their attacking passion in their opening 1-0 win over Honduras, had the first shot on target when Italy-based Carlos Carmona fired in from 20m, the ball safely scooped up by Swiss keeper Diego Benaglio.

Carmona then ensured he would miss Chile”s closing Group H match with Spain on Friday by picking up a yellow card for a challenge on Behrami in the 21st minute to add to the one he received last week.

Four minutes before the interval Hitzfeld made a tactical switch, pulling off striker Alexander Frei and replacing the team captain with Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Tranquillo Barnetta.

After the break Chile”s Argentinian coach Marcelo Bielsa replaced midfielder Vidal with Gonzalez.

Alexis Sanchez thought he had scored in the 49th minute, celebrating ecstatically only to then see out of the corner of his eye the linesman”s flag raised for offside.

It was all Chile now as the ball rarely left the Swiss side of the Nelson Mandela Bay pitch.

On 55 minutes the Europeans were let off when Gonzalez jumped over the white wall only to head a corner high.

Trigger happy Al Ghamdi then dished out three yellow cards in the space of one minute to Swiss defender Reto Ziegler and Chilean duo Gary Medel and Matias Fernandez to take the tally to eight with one red and still 20 minutes on the clock.

Chile finally made the breakthrough they had been threatening for so long when Esteban Paredes, who had only entered the fray 10 minutes earlier as a replacement for Matias Fernandez, raced around Benaglio and found Gonzalez who headed into an empty goal.

Switzerland almost grabbed an unlikely last minute equaliser when substitute Eren Derdiyok shot just wide of Bravo”s left post.

Small consolation but the Swiss set a new World Cup record of 559 minutes played without scoring a goal, to overtake Italy”s mark of 550 minutes.

Three matches in FIFA world cup today

JOHANNESBURG: Three matches will be played in FIFA World Cup today (Monday).

In the first match, two teams of Group G Portugal and North Korea will play against each other in Johannesburg. The match will begin at 4:30 pm Pakistan Time.

In Group H, Chile to face Switzerland in Port Elizabeth at 7: 00 pm Pakistan whereas last match of the day will be played between European champion Spain and Honduras at 11:30 PST. Spain should win today’s match to stay in the tournament.

Afghan president seeks support on Japan visit

TOKYO: Afghan President Hamid Karzai is seeking financial and political support from Japan, already one of his country’s biggest donors, during a visit that began Wednesday.

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Afghan president seeks support on Japan visit

Chile beat Honduras 1-0 to end winless run

NELSPRUIT, South Africa: Chile secured a first World Cup win in 48 years by edging Honduras 1-0 on Wednesday through a late first-half goal from striker Jean Beausejour.

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Chile beat Honduras 1-0 to end winless run

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