Tickets of WC semis, final on sale from Monday

MUMBAI: Cricket fans can finally get their chance to buy World Cup semi-finals and final tickets from Monday when they go on sale for the first time, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said.

“A certain amount of tickets will go on sale online with our official ticket agents Kyazoonga,” the ICC spokesman said.

Although the knockout stages do not begin until March 23, there is likely to be a scramble for the semi-final (March 29 and 30) and the final (April 2) tickets after favourites India began their 2011 campaign with a resounding 87-run win over co-hosts Bangladesh. AGENCIES

Nadal overpowers Monfils to win Japan Open

TOKYO: World number one Rafa Nadal overpowered Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-1 7-5 to win the Japan Open on Sunday to cap a week of “Nadal Fever” in Tokyo.

The Spaniard bounced onto the court like a prizefighter before the final and quickly had fifth seed Monfils on the ropes with some brutal hitting from the baseline.

Nadal clinched the first set with a ferocious forehand down the line but Monfils, who survived a fright when he took an early tumble and turned his ankle, raised his game in the second.

Luck deserted him in the 11th game, however, a net cord giving Nadal break point and he nosed ahead 6-5 when a sliced return floated past Monfils and landed flush on the line.

Nadal delivered the knockout punch in the next game, a big serve to the body ending the match and giving this year’s triple grand slam champion his seventh title of the year. AGENCIES

Germany-Spain clash in semi-final today

DURBAN: Aggressive Germany is going to meet a team – lucky so far – Spain in the semi-final clash of the biggest sporting event of all time, football World Cup today.

The reigning European champion vs. the runner-up. One of the top scorers at this World Cup vs. No. 2 on the all-time list. The most dynamic team at this tournament vs. a squad that”s yet to show its full brilliance. A three-time champion vs. a team craving its first title.

Sounds like a great World Cup final.

Too bad it”ll be the semifinals when Germany and Spain face off Wednesday night at Moses Mabhida Stadium, with many expecting the winner to go on and be crowned world champion four days later. The Spain-Germany winner will play the Netherlands in the final.

“This would have been a great final, actually,” Germany”s Lukas Podolski said Tuesday night. “We want revenge for 2008. When you are in a final you want to win. We still think about that defeat, and it still hurts. We want to reach the final and we”ll do all we can to achieve that.”

There”s a game in every World Cup that comes a round or two too soon, and Germany-Spain definitely qualifies.

Spain has lost all of two games since November 2006, and it ended a 44-year major title drought when it beat Germany to win the European Championship in 2008. David Villa shares the scoring lead at this World Cup with Wesley Sneijder (five goals), and the Spanish defense hasn”t allowed a goal in the knockout stage.

Germany, meanwhile, made old rivals England and Argentina look downright silly in their knockout round games, routing them by a combined score of 8-1 to reach a third straight World Cup semifinal. Miroslav Klose has regained his old form and, with two goals against Argentina, moved into a tie with Gerd Mueller for second place on the all-time scoring list.

But it”s not just the stats that make this such a tantalizing matchup. Few teams can keep up when Germany and Spain are at their best, but each is the other”s equal.

“I don”t think there are favorites at this stage,” Spain”s Andres Iniesta said. “What they say about us, we can also say the same thing about them. You can say they are a great team, a team that has players of a very, very high level. For that, it will be a well-deserved semifinal.”

Germany coach Joachim Loew has remade his team since that Euro 2008 loss, bringing in young players such as Mesut Oezil, Sami Khedira and Thomas Mueller who have given Germany the speed and sharpness it lacked. Despite their youth — with an average age under 25, this is the second-youngest team Germany has ever sent to a World Cup — the Germans are playing with discipline and a seamless chemistry that makes their plays unfold like a symphony.

Their spacing in the midfield is awe-inspiring, their passing so exquisite it almost looks as if the ball is on an invisible wire from one player”s foot to another”s. As for the defense, it”s simply scary. Whenever Lionel Messi or Carlos Tevez appeared on the verge of doing something in the quarterfinal, German defenders swarmed around to force a turnover or a bad shot.

And when Germany is on the counterattack, look out.

Germany will have a somewhat different look without Mueller, who has scored four goals like Klose but is suspended after picking up his second yellow card against Argentina. Then again, the Germans did OK when Klose was suspended, beating Ghana in the group stage.

“It”s probably the most complete team in the World Cup. A team that has changed since the 2008 final, with young and fresh faces,” backup Spain goalkeeper Pepe Reina said. “It”s the most dangerous rival at the moment.”

While Spain”s team has changed little in the last two years, it hasn”t had the same flair in South Africa that it did at Euro 2008. The Spanish were stunned by Switzerland in the group stage, and needed a late goal from Villa to beat Paraguay 1-0 in the quarters after both teams had penalty kicks saved.

Make no mistake, though, Spain is still plenty dangerous.

“I said before that Spain is the team with the most (best) organization, with the best attacking power, with the best firepower,” Loew said. “They”ve been together for a very long time, also. They know each other inside out. As far as Spain”s play is concerned, it hardly makes any mistakes ever.”

Spain also caught a break Tuesday, when Cesc Fabregas was able to work out with the rest of the team. Fabregas had taken a ball off the exact spot where his leg was broken in March during practice Monday night, but tests ruled out any bone injuries and coach Vicente del Bosque said he”s available for the game.

The Spanish acknowledge they have not been at their best in South Africa. But part of that has been because of their defensive-minded opponents, Villa said, and facing Germany should allow Spain get back to its free-flowing, fast-paced offense.

“The Germans have played a brilliant World Cup so far,” Iniesta said. “We”re also at the top of our game, I think. It will be a game between two rivals who enjoy having the ball and I think it will be a beautiful battle.”

Even if it”s not in the final.

Ivory Coast score three but not enough for last 16

NELSPRUIT, South Africa: Ivory Coast fell short of their goal chase to make the last 16 at the World Cup as they beat North Korea 3-0 in their Group G match to continue the exodus of African teams here on Friday.

Chasing down a seemingly impossible nine goals to nudge Portugal out of the last 16 – though it wouldn”t have made a difference in the end as the Portuguese drew with Brazil to finish a point ahead of the ”Elephants” – the Ivorians” goals dried up in the second half against a massed North Korean red wall of defenders.

Ivory Coast joined hosts South Africa, Cameroon, Nigeria and Algeria as first-round casualties with only Ghana carrying on the African cause in the knockout round.

The Ivorians scored twice in the opening half, raising some hopes that they might set sail after the imposing target, but as the smoke drifted in from fires on the surrounding low veld, so did Sven-Goran Eriksson”s team lose their way.

Only Chelsea”s Salomon Kalou, a second half substitute, found the net in the 82nd minute, tucking away a high ball from defender Arthur Boka.

The Elephants made a good fist of a vibrant opening half with strikes by Yaya Toure and Romaric among 10 Ivorian shots on target.

Ivory Coast were looking for a mammoth win over the North Koreans, like Portugal”s last start 7-0 rout, and relying on group leaders Brazil to beat the Portuguese in Durban for them to have an outside prospect of reaching the knockout round.

Barcelona playmaker Yaya Toure struck first in the 14th minute, drilling home from outside the area off a cut-back from Kader Keita.

The Elephants went two-up on 20 minutes after Chelsea superstar Didier Drogba rattled the crossbar with a fierce volley and left midfielder Romaric with an easy header into an unguarded net.

Drogba, in imperious form, headed the ball into the net in the 12th minute but was ruled offside as Ivory Coast bombarded the North Korean goal.

The Ivorians” play fell away in the second half as the North Koreans tightened their five-man defence screened by three midfielders.

Eriksson made a double substitution in the 64th minute bringing on Kalou for Keita and Aruna Dindane for Gervinho as he juggled his attack to prise more goals and Kalou dutifully answered the Swedish coach”s call.

North Korea”s Japanese-based striker Jong Tae-Se didn”t look out of place with the skilful Ivorians and he tested their defence with speed and close control several times.

Jong had a great chance in the 81st minute and only a diving block from Manchester City defender Kolo Toure – brother of Yaya – stopped him from scoring.

The match was played in clean spirits with Spanish referee Alberto Undiano not once brandishing the yellow card.

Pakistan knock Proteas out of World T20

GROS ISLET, Saint Lucia: Defending champions Pakistan knocked South Africa out of the World Twenty20 with an 11-run Super Eights win at the Beausejour Stadium here on Monday.

The victory kept Pakistan’s own qualification hopes alive. The result meant England, who have won both opening Super Eight games, would qualify for the semi-finals regardless of the outcome of their final match against New Zealand later here on
Monday.

But, in order for Pakistan to progress to the last four, they have to hope England beat New Zealand by a sufficiently wide margin to go through on net run-rate.

New Zealand, also on two points, will go through with a win over England. Their victory would send them into the knockout stages.

Pakistan and South Africa both have two points from three matches but Pakistan have a superior run-rate.

Umar Akmal struck 51 from 33 balls as Pakistan recovered from a poor start to make 148 for seven.

In reply, South Africa were only 56 for three after 10 overs but a spirited 53 off 41 balls from AB de Villiers gave them a fighting chance which they were unable to make the most of as Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal took four wickets.

Brief scores:
Pakistan 148-7, 20 overs (U Akmal 51; C Langeveldt 4-19)
South Africa 137-7, 20 overs (AB de Villiers 53; S Ajmal 4-26)

Result: Pakistan won by 11 runs.

Manchester United Aston Villa

TrendPK.com Manchester United Aston Villa : Wayne Rooney and the Carling Cup final was a child’s head and Manchester United came from behind to keep the knockout competition for the first time with a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa.
• O’Neill bemoans Ibid Vidic refused to send off
After the start of an [...]

Tsunami In Japan

TrendPK.com Tsunami In Japan : Tsunami warnings were canceled for all countries Sunday, a day after the deadly earthquake 8.8 on the Richter scale and Chile, said meteorological experts.
However, the Warning Center Pacific Tsunami alert cancellation is not only providing advice to governments, and “the only national and local government agencies have [...]

Olympics Hockey Finals

TrendPK.com Olympics Hockey Finals : Reporting from Vancouver, Canada – When Team Canada faltered in the first round of the Olympic hockey tournament, the nation that prides itself on having invented the game held its collective breath. Not to worry: A romp over Germany in a qualifying game and a rout of [...]

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE REVIEW

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE REVIEW updates :- Barcelona and Inter Milan both qualified for the knockout stage of the Champions League on Wednesday night but were taken to the final round of matches by their Group F rivals.

• Jon Carter: Arsenal kids lack edge

Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi scored the winner for Barcelona as the defending European champions won 2-1 at Dynamo Kiev and secured top spot in the group.

Dynamo took an early lead when Barca goalkeeper Victor Valdes spilled a header from Artem Milevskiy after just two minutes but Xavi levelled for the La Liga side.

Goals from Internazionale strikers Samuel Eto’o and Mario Balotelli gave the Italian champions a 2-0 win over Rubin Kazan at the San Siro.

Balotelli provided strike partner Eto’o with the opening goal in the 31st minute and then smashed in a 35-yard freekick after the break to secure a comfortable victory.

Three goals within the first 11 minutes helped Stuttgart beat Unirea Urziceni 3-1 in Group G to leapfrog the Romanian champions into the knockout phase.

Stuttgart took the lead on five minutes when Ciprian Marica headed in from close range. Christian Traesch doubled the lead before Russian international Pavel Pogrebnyak killed the game off after just 11 minutes. Antonio Semedo pulled a goal back for Unirea.

Sevilla won the Group G after beating Rangers 1-0 at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. The Spaniards dominated the game but only Frederic Kanouté’s eighth minute penalty seperated the sides in the end.

Liverpool’s Champions League campaign ended with a whimper rather than a bang as they lost 2-1 at home to Group E winners Fiorentina. more

---

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE REVIEW was first posted on December 10, 2009 at 12:04 pm.