New York Jets overcame the Houston Texans in a stunning 30-27 win after looking like they were going to go down throughout the match in the National Football League on Sunday. Santonio Holmes was the star of the game as he caught a touchdown pass with moments to go for the game to end.

Jets had led by 16 points but in the fourth quarter they lost all of it and were 23-27 down with ten seconds remaining. It was here that the game turned around as quarterback Mark Sanchez pulled off two passes to LaDainian Tomlinson and followed it up with a 42-yard pass to Braylon Edwards.

Sanchez then had Holmes sneaking into the left corner of the end zone to slam home the winner and go 30-27 up at the final whistle.

In another game of the night, New England Patriots won a close encounter against Indianapolis 31-28 thanks to a good showing by Tom Brady.

The Patriots who had gone into this game with a 7-2 record played well to get them a 31-14 lead. However, Manning helped his rally from that score to reduce the lead to three points only. Unfortunately for him and the Indianapolis team, they were not able to close the gap.

This win means that New England is at the top of the AFC East, and despite the loss, Indianapolis are at 6-4 and lead the AFC South.

Philadelphia Eagles beat the New York Giants 27-17 in another game in the night as LeSean McCoy ran 50 yards for the go-ahead score. This win meant that Eagles went to the top of the NFC East spot, with a 7-3 record.

In some of the other matches in Sunday, Buffalo overcame the Bengals 49-31 while Dallas crushed Detroit 35-19. Carolina had no respite as they went down to Baltimore 37-13 while Jacksonville beat Cleveland 24-20.

Two of the archest rivals in the world of hockey, India and Pakistan will take on each other in an important Asian Games 2010 match in China on Saturday, November 20. Both India and Pakistan will go into the game after having pumped in a barrage of goals in their first two games.

The India v Pakistan hockey game in the Asian Games 2010 will be shown live on Ten Sports on November 20. You can also watch the India v Pakistan Asian Games 2010 hockey highlights on the same channel on the next day.

India has scored seven goals against Hong Kong and nine goals against Bangladesh while Pakistan have drilled in 20 goals in the two games that they have played in. These four results so far mean that it is almost definite that both, India and Pakistan will qualify for the semi-finals from their group B, but the winner of the India-Pakistan hockey match will play the second-placed team from the other group.

India v Pakistan Asian Games 2010 Hockey Live Streaming Highlights Scorecard

It is difficult to pick favourites when the two sides are usually so evenly matched. However, there cannot be too much doubt that the Indian side has been playing much better hockey in recent times than their Pakistani rivals. This can also be seen from the fact that in the two games that the two sides have played against each other this year, India has crushed Pakistan on both occasions.

Where the Pakistani side has been found wanting in recent times is their defence and that will be the one aspect of the game that they need to tighten up if they want to go on and win the gold medal. How they go about their game against India will go a long way in getting them closer to that yellow medal.

Watch all the Asian Games 2010 hockey action here.

NFL Carolina Panthers Season Continues to get Worse

Carolina Panthers’ bad season continues to become worse as they will not have the services of running back DeAngelo Williams due to injury. The Panthers who are currently 1-8 have placed him on the injured-reserve after he suffered from a mid-foot sprain. This follows close on the heels of quarterback Jimmy Clausen suffering from a concussion and missing practice.

According to the Panthers’ coach, John Fox, Williams would have needed at least two to three weeks to make a comeback and the side needed the roster spot.

According to Fox, rookie Tony Pike or Brian St. Pierre, will start off as the quarterback on Sunday against Baltimore, in place of Clausen. Clausen hurt himself in the Panthers’ loss to Tampa Bay on Sunday.

In the other injury news, New York Jets’ quarterback Mark Sanchez hurt his right calf and he missed out on practice as well. However, it was said that he may still make it to the starting line-up against Houston despite the injury.

Houston Texans quarter-back Matt Schaub was hospitalised after he injured his knee. The injury was a bursa sac injury in his right knee which meant that he had to stay in the hospital for the night. However, the coach Gary Kubiak said the injury may not require an operation and Schaub should be back to practice by Thursday. He also added that the quarter-back should feature in the game against the New York Jets on Sunday.

According to Fox Sports, the number of players on the season-ending injured reserve has increased by 12.2% after Week 10 as compared to the same point in the previous season. 311 players had hit the injured reserve as compared to 277 in the previous year after the Week 10.

The muscles from Brussels has released a video on YouTube detailing how he will fight Thailand’s Somrak Khamsing next year. Jean Claude Van Damme the action star, famous for playing the tough martial arts fighter in a string of movies, speaks of his wish to return to fighting for real.

“…first time in history were an action star will meet a real champion for real in the ring,” said Jean Claude Van Damme.

Famous for many films including Bloodsport, Kickboxer, Universal Soldier and Double Impact to name a few plans to make a series of episodes as he trains and prepares for the fight that he says could happen in July or August 2011 in Vegas. This is his way of trying to dispel the sceptics who will undoubtedly say the fight was fixed if he wins.

Before Jean Claude began his movie career he was a very successful Karate and Kickboxing competitor winning 20 of 22 ( for full contact ) fights before he left for the silver screen.

His movie career almost didn’t start but for a chance encounter with a cannon studio producer and an invite to appear in Bloodsport, itself on very shaky ground as it was shelved for a few years. When Bloodsport was finally released the audiences lapped it up worldwide and ended up as a $30 million dollar earner. More importantly it put Jean Claude on the map and more starring roles were offered.

Washington Redskins quarter-back Donovan McNabb, who had reportedly signed a deal worth $40 million with the franchise, will actually get only $3.5 million.

According to McNabb’s agent, Fletcher Smith, the contract was written in such a way that if the player got cut away from the Redskins at the end of the current season, he would be entitled to $3.5 million only. Smith added that the contract had $40 million in guarantees but the actual available amount to the player at the end of the season was only a fraction of that.

McNabb has already got the $3.5 million bonus this year while the rest of the $78 million agreement could be worth nothing if the team did not continue with him for the remaining four years. It is this clause in the contract that does allow the Redskins another seven games this season to decide whether McNabb is the right quarter-back for the side. This, despite the fact that coach Mike Shanahan had ended up benching the player in the Detroit games two weeks ago.

Earlier, the player had defended the contract saying that it was necessary given that there was a chance of a lock-out in 2011. He added, “That doesn’t mean I won’t be a Redskin. I will be here next year. … Not just next year, but after that as well.”

In other NFL news, the players’ union has said that they will agree to the change in the number of games from 16 to 18 only if there were two bye weeks and bigger rosters. The plan is to change from 16 regular seasons and four pre-season matches to 18 and two respectively.

NFL Buffalo Bills Beat Detroit Lions 14-12 on Super Sunday

Buffalo Bills finally won a game in the National Football League by overcoming the Detroit Lions 14-12 on Sunday at the Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park in New York. However, that meant that Lions continued its losing streak in the championship and are now at 2-7.

The player of the game for the Bills was Fred Jackson who got a couple of touchdowns and that in a game played under inclement weather conditions. This was Buffalo’s worst start to the season for 26 years when they had lost the first 11 games in a row. However, on the other hand, the Lions had lost their 25th successive away game in three years to continue a streak that has now broken all records.

A visibly excited Bills defensive tackle, Kyle Williams said, “Our fans deserve it. The guys in the locker room deserve it. To go out there and win a football game, it means a lot.”

It was a closely fought game and the Lions scored a touchdown in the final minute of the game. However, they failed in their two-point conversion attempt that could have sent the game to overtime and that allowed the Bills to win their first game this season.

Earlier, the Bills had fought hard in the previous three games but had gone down to their opposition in all of them in close encounters.

Calvin Johnson lamented the loss and said, “It was really frustrating, especially coming here and feeling we were the better team. We weren’t thinking about the streak. That should have ended it. But it didn’t.”

In some of the other games this weekend, Falcons beat the Ravens, Dolphins won against the Titans and the New York Jets overcame Cleveland Browns 26-20.

India begin their Asian Games 2010 hockey campaign with the game against Hong Kong on Monday, November 15. India will look to overcome their poor performance of the previous Asian Games hockey where they had failed to qualify for semi-finals and lost out on a medal.

India’s performance in the Commonwealth Games was, on the other hand, commendable as they went on to win a silver medal.

The India v Hong Kong Asian Games 2010 hockey match will be shown live on Ten Sports on November 15. You can also watch the India v Hong Kong Asian Games 2010 hockey highlights on the same channel on the next day.

India v Hong Kong Asian Games 2010 Hockey Live Streaming Highlights Scorecard

India has won two gold medals in the Asian Games and will love to add more. The confidence will be there as captain Rajpal Singh will hope that the side replicates the form that the side had exhibited in the CWG 2010 – beating Pakistan and England en route to the final.

Hong Kong, on the other hand, will look to ensure that the Indians do not shoot a barrage of goals. They have been the whipping boys of hockey and will be lucky if they can get away with a point as well in their first Asian Games 2010 hockey match.

Everton play hosts to Arsenal at Goodison Park in their 13th English Premier League game of the season on Sunday, November 14 at 1400 GMT. The Everton v Arsenal EPL game live can be seen on ESPN while the Everton v Arsenal highlights will be shown on the same channel on the next day.

Click here for Everton v Arsenal Score Results Highlights

Everton had a narrow escape in their previous match-up against Bolton scoring a 90th minute goal to earn one point. Jermaine Beckford was the goal-scorer for them that ensured that the side now has 15 points from 12 games. Interestingly, despite being in the 12th position in the points table, they are probably a win away from walking into the top five or six.

However, it will be tough for the side given that they take on the third-placed Arsenal and will be without Marouane Fellaini for this match. Louis Saha could just be the player to watch out for Everton.

Arsenal won their previous game thanks to the Chamakh brace and will look to continue with their winning streak. The side are just a point behind Manchester United in the second position and if they can win this game and hope that United lose, they will go to the number two spot.

Cese Fabregas and Robin Van Persie will be the two players to watch out for the Gunners.

NFL Super Sunday Can Cowboys Overcome Giants ?

With the recent departure of coach Wade Phillips and the appointment of Jason Garrett to head coach, previously offensive co-ordinator, the Cowboys have yet more trouble in the ranks. Defensive end Marcus Spears will be sidelined for four to six weeks because of a calf injury.

The  Cowboys face the New York Giants on Sunday, whilst they have no hope of making the play offs now it still remains to be seen what effect all the recent changes and injuries will have on the NFL Spread.

The full extent of Spears injury was revealed on Monday after an MRI scan confirmed he will not be able to rejoin the defensive line any time soon.

This adds another blow to a defensive line which has already lost Jason Hatcher, with a groin injury, and Sean Lissemore, with an ankle injury,which he picked up in Sundays game. Hatcher could miss the next two weeks and Lissemore status has not been determined.

Spears was injured during the 45-7 defeat of the Cowboys against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night. Jay Ratliff also took the place of Josh Brent suffered cramps and had dual role in that game.

The Cowboys now do not have enough defensive linemen to properly fill their practice squads, and a source said the team may sign one or two to offset the deficit.

With a new head coach in Jason Garrett time will tell if any major changes take place and whether this will provide the much needed boost the Cowboys need if they are to look to the future and the 2011 season.

Manchester United will travel to Aston Villa to play their 13th game of the English Premier League this season on Saturday, November 13 t 1245 GMT. The match will be played at Villa Park and will see the visitors bid to close down the lead that Chelsea have in the competition at the top of the points table.

The Aston Villa v Manchester United game live will be broadcast on ESPN in India while the Aston Villa v Manchester United highlights can also be seen on the same channel on the next day.

Aston Villa v Manchester United Score Results Highlights

Aston Villa’s previous couple of games had resulted in a draw and a win and they now 16 points. A win against the second-placed side in the competition will require, nothing short of an upset but if it does happen for the side, they will look to leapfrog over many teams to get to the top six or seven.

An for that to happen, Aston Villa will need the likes of Stewart Downing, Nathan Delfouneso and James Collins to continue being on the scoring sheet.

Manchester United will continue to suffer from the same problems that they had before their Manchester derby. Wayne Rooney and Owen Hargreaves continue to remain injured and hence, are out of the side, while Paul Scholes’ bookings have left the side without his service as well.

With Nani playing in the previous important game against the Manchester City side, he could be afforded some rest given his injury issues and that will make the United side a tad susceptible to an upset.

Despite the evident one-sided nature of the contest, it does look like it could go right down to the wire.

Inter Milan take on AC Milan in what is Italy’s largest derby game of the season.

The match will be played at the Stadio Giuseppe on Sunday, November 14 at 1945 GMT and you can watch the Inter Milan v AC Milan match live on TEN Sports if you are from India. Of course, if you miss it live, you can also watch the Inter Milan v AC Milan highlights on the same channel the next day.

Inter Milan v AC Milan Score Results and Highlights

Now, quite clearly, this is a game that not too many football fans would want to miss. Especially not those from Italy. Inter Milan are the current champions and they will look to continue playing the brand of soccer that had made them ones.

Not for AC Milan to give up on their top position where they site pretty with 23 points, but only three more than Inter Milan. A win for Inter Milan will put them at par with AC Milan, while the converse will only increase the gap between the two teams.

Inter Milan will rely on the likes of Samuel Eto’o and Deigo Milito to ensure that they get onto the scoring charts even as Snidjer will look to take control of the mid-field. The defence of Julio Cesar will probably be the key for the side.

For AC Milan, Ronaldhino, Zlatan Ibrahamovhic and Robhino will be the players to watch out for.

There cannot be too much doubt that the two teams will look to give it all for this game and given the points table, it will augur well if both went all out for a win.

Houston Rockets centre Yao Ming was injured again and will be out of the NBA for a period of at least one week. According to the tests that were conducted on Thursday, it was revealed that the injury was only a mild sprain in his ankle.

The Houston Rockets had lost their previous game to the Washington Wizards 91-98 when the injury happened. Ming was out of the game and did not return back to play but it was later revealed that the injury wasn’t the same one that had kept Ming away through the entire previous season.

The injury and the break from the game means that the Rockets will replace him with Jordan Hill (5.8 points, 4.4 rebounds in 18 minutes a game) or Brad Miller (4.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, 14 minutes).

Apart from the Ming injury, the Rockets’ 1-6 record is one of the worst in the competition this season and will be playing away games in the next four out of the five games. Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Clippers are the only two other teams which have only one win.

Houston’s problem has been their defense which has already yielded 110.8 points on an average. This is the highest in the competition so far, followed by the conceding of second-most number of rebounds and ninth-most fouls. The offense has been good enough, with the average of 109 points positioning them at the second spot.

A disappointed coach Rick Adelman said, “Every game we’ve had this year — except for the one we won — right down to the fourth quarter, we have a chance to win, and we don’t get it done.”

The Utah Jazz came back from near-dead to beat Orlando Magic 104-94 in the NBA. This was the second successive game in which they had made a comeback from being down by double-digit scores to notch up their second win in as many matches.

The Jazz were helped by Deron Williams’s 30 points and the 23 scored by Paul Millsap on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the Utah Jazz had made a 22-point comeback to win their game against Miami Heat and they repeated that on Wednesday. The Jazz fell behind by 18 points first before winning by the 104-94 margin.

Later, Millsap said in jest that getting down was probably the key to their success.

At the other end, the Magic coach Stan Van Gundy was a disappointed man and termed it a disturbing loss. They had earlier almost lost to Charlotte after leading by 18 points but managed to scrape through.

Talking to the media at the end of the game, Van Gundy called it “Ridiculous professional basketball,”

The Jazz’s furious rally was highlighted with a 24-2 run between the third and fourth quarters. Andrei Kirilenko and Williams each hit a pair of 3-pointers during the spurt to give them an 80-76 lead.

The Jazz had earlier won a game against Los Angeles Clippers after being down by 18 points last week as well. They now have five wins from eight games this season while Orlando have five from seven.

In some of the other games, Milwaukee Bucks beat Atlanta Hawks 108-91, Charlotte Bobcats overpowered Toronto Raptors 101-96 while Houston Rockets lost their game against the Washington Wizards 91-98.

The American Supreme Court has rejected the National Football League’s plea to suspend the duo of Pat Williams and Kevin Williams after they had tested positive for drugs in 2008.

The NFL had asked the Supreme Court for a hearing to decide on whether the the NFL drug-testing program is protected by federal labor law.

The case is a long-going one after the two players had decided to take the NFL to court after being banned by the body. They had tested positive for banned substance bumetanide – a diuretic and a masking agent found in the StarCaps weight-loss supplement the both players had had. Suspended for four games, they had gone on to sue the NFL for violating Minnesota state workplace laws.

The Supreme Court decided not to change the verdict that was given out to file a suit in Hennepin County, Minn. This means that the NFL will now need to reconsider whether the sport’s collective bargaining agreement made too much sense in the wake of this ruling.

With this ruling if a suspended player challenged the collective bargaining agreement against the state workplace rules, the NFL could have huge difficulties in laying down the rules for the drug cheats.

The one option that NFL could look at is to have an independent agency conduct drug testing. This idea is supported by the NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

Even Dr. Gary Wadler of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) seems to agree. He said, “Turning the testing over to an independent agency would result in a much more transparent process.”

Both players are now a part of the Minnesota Vikings side and did not serve the four game suspension.

Chelsea will take on Fulham in a home game on Wednesday, November 10 at 1945 GMT at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea may be at the top of the points table but the loss to Liverpool would have shake the side, especially given that the difference between them and Manchester United is only two points.

You can watch the Chelsea v Fulham game live on ESPN in India while the Chelsea v Fulham highlights can be seen on the same channel next day.

Chelsea v Fulham Score Results and Highlights

Chelsea had an excellent start to their season but over the last few games they have shown a downward trend. Fernando Torres had had a great time against them in the Liverpool match but at home, Chelsea could be a different proposition altogether. They have won everything at home so far.

Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba have not had the best of times and it was said that the Ivory Coast player will feature in this game despite suffering from malaria. He sure should inspire the side with his guts, into a much better performance today to keep their lead over Manchester United.

Fulham are currently at the 13th spot and expecting them to win this will be expecting too much. However, they can take heart from the fact that Blackburn Rovers, another much lower ranked side had taken Chelsea the distance before losing in the closing stages of the game.

Follow all the English Premier League action here

Manchester United will play the Manchester City in the Manchester derby in The City of Manchester Stadium on Wednesday, November 10 at 2000 GMT. Manchester United are currently gunning for the top spot in the English Premier League season but Manchester City’s performances mean that the game will go down to the wire.

Watch the Manchester City v Manchester United game live on ESPN in India and the Manchester City v Manchester United highlights on ESPN on the next day.

Manchester City v Manchester United Score Results and Highlights

Manchester United had managed to cut Chelsea’s lead at the top of the table to two points but this could be a difficult proposition. First of all, Manchester United will realise that they will be going into the game without some of their most important players – out, either to injuries or suspensions. Wayne Rooney, Nani and Owen Hargreaves all miss out.

To make matters worse for them, the side will also be without some of the others due to a virus that has swept across the team, making Sir Alex Feguson a grumpy man.

It will be left to Ji-Sung Park to weave his magic in the same manner as he had in the previous game.

Manchester City were also dealt a big blow when Maio Balotelli was red-carded and suspended for three matches in their 2-0 win over West Bromwich. However, the hosts will be very upbeat about their chances in the game and with the United manager trying to fuel the fire by asking them to first win the silverware before talking, things could get very interesting in the game.

A win for Manchester United will mean that Chelsea will need to win against Fulham or run the risk of losing the top spot. If Manchester City win, they would have caught up with Manchester United in the points table.

Follow all the English Premier League action here

The National Football League has penalised Green Bay’s Nick Collins $50,000 for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Dallas receiver Roy Williams. The announcement came about on Monday and follows the strict stance that the NFL has taken over such violations.

The NFL released a statement and said that Collins had “violently and unnecessarily struck a defenseless receiver” in his neck and head and that had resulted in a total violation of the safety rules that the NFL had introduced a few weeks ago.

NFL executive vice president of football operations Ray Anderson, one of the most vociferous voices against such violations informed Collins that any further such plays will result in an increase in the amount of fines and could also lead to the player being suspended.

The NFL has said that no penalty will handed out to Eagles safety Quintin Mikell despite the hit to Indianapolis receiver Austin Collie that sent him into a concussion on Sunday.

Collie was first hit by Eagles safety Quintin Mikell before taking another blow on his helmet from safety Kurt Coleman’s helmet. Collie became unconscious and had to be taken off the field for treatment.

This had resulted in Coleman being fined for unnecessary roughness but the NFL said the helmet-to-helmet contact was thanks to Collie being driven toward Coleman by Mikell’s legal hit.

In other off-field NFL news, Randy Moss reached the practice sessions for his new side, the Titans and the coach Jeff Fisher said the receiver had passed the physical examination. It was also reported that he had his gym training and then went on to meet the coaches to get used to defense that he was to stat learning.

Tottenham Hotspurs take on Sunderland on Tuesday, November 9 at 2000 GMT at White Hart Lane. The game could be one of the more evenly fought matches in this mid-week given that both sides have 15 points each.

Watch Tottenham Hotspurs v Sunderland live on ESPN apart from the Tottenham Hotspurs v Sunderland highlights game on the same channel on the next day. The Tottenham Hotspurs v Sunderland will start at 2000 hours GMT.

Tottenham Hotspurs v Sunderland Live Score Highlights

Tottenham did not have a great last game as they crashed out to Bolton Wanderers, losing 2-4. However, the good news from their perspective is that even if they win this against Sunderland, there is a good chance that they could leapfrog to the number five position.

For that to happen, players like Gareth Bale may need to go all out in ensuring that  Peter Crouch and Roman Pavlyuchenko get more opportunities to score in the game.

Sunderland had won their previous game in the English Premier League against Stoke City thanks to a brace by Asamoah Gyan and will look to ensure that the winning streak continues. Defender Phil Bardsley’s new deal with Sunderland would augur well for the side and will understand that a win in this game will go a long way in assisting the side go to the top five position.

It will be difficult to predict who the winner would be, but given the incentive to move up from the mid-position clutter in the points table, it should be an exciting game.

Cleveland Browns relied on quarterback Colt McCoy for a touchdown and Peyton Hillis’ career-high 184-yard run to rout the New England Patriots, 34-14 in the National Football League in Sunday.

The last game that the Browns had played had resulted in a win over New Orleans Saints and after the one week break they came back strongly to overcome the more fancied Patriots. Not only had the Patriots gone into the game with a six-game winning streak but they were thoroughly outplayed through the duration of 60 minutes.

In another game, Oakland Raiders edged out Kansas City Chiefs 23-20 at home to go 5-4 this season. Jason Campbell was the man responsible for a 47-yard pass to rookie Jacoby Ford as the game went into overtime. This meant that the Raiders had won their third successive game while the Chiefs are now 5-3.

San Diego also won their game against the Houston Texans 29-23 thanks to Philip Rivers’ four touchdown passes. The Chargers had thus won their first ever away win.

The first quarter saw the Chargers take a 14-10 lead before the opposition came back strongly to earn ten points in the second to nothing. This gave Houston a six point lead which was reduced to two at the end of the third quarter. In the final quarter, Chargers drilled in eight points without return and won the game.

The Carolina Panthers were afforded a 34-3 drubbing at the hands of New Orleans Saints. This meant that the Panthers had lost their seventh game this season and will look to overcome this in the rest of the season.

The UFC 122 will be held on November 13, 2010 in König Pilsener Arena in Oberhausen in Germany. This is only the second instance of a UFC being held in Germany and will happen despite all the criticism that was meted out by the German critics. Their rationale is that the sport is too violent for it to be showed on television.

You can watch the live streaming of UFC 122 on various channels around the world while the deferred live UFC 122, Nate Marquardt v Yushin Okami deferred live and highlights can be seen on Spike TV on November 13.

The fight that will be worth watching in UFC 122 will be the number 1 contender fight between Nate Marquardt and Yushin Okami, two of the best in their category. Earlier, it was Vitor Belfort who was to feature in the fight but he withdrew from it – allegedly to take on Anderson Silva. This left Okami to take on Marquardt instead.

Now, the winner of this fight will go on to play the UFC 126 fight between Silva and Belfort, making it an interesting battle for later.

For now though, Okami has said that Marquardt was always a complete and a technical fighter and bereft of any weaknesses making it difficult for him to have a good shot at winning this one and having a shot at the title.

Okami was also categorical about the fight. He said that this could possibly be his last chance to winning the crown. He added, “My ultimate goal in the UFC is to become the first Japanese champion. This fight will lead me to that goal. So this is the most important fight of my career.”

On the other hand, Marquardt said that it did not matter who he was fighting. That the man is confident can be seen from this line, “I feel like I can fight someone on steroids and still have them at a disadvantage.”

For all the other sports action you can visit here

Chelsea take on Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, November 7 in the English Premier League. Under normal circumstances, this would have been a game between the two top teams of the season but Liverpool’s disastrous start to the season has left them tottering outside the top ten. Chelsea are the table-toppers currently.

You can watch the Chelsea v Liverpool EPL game live on Star Sports in the Asian region. You can also watch the Chelsea v Liverpool EPL game highlights on Star Sports as well.

Follow the Chelsea v Liverpool result here

Despite the bad start, Liverpool seem to have recovered a tad by winning back to back games in the tournament. Earlier, they were in the danger of being sent packing out of the EPL Division One, but the previous results ave propped them up to the number 13 position in the points table.

If Liverpool win again, and some of the other results go in their favour, they may even enter the top five. Having said that, though, they are up against a side which has been pretty ruthless against most of their opposition and have taken a five-point lead at the top of the table.

Chelsea’s attack has been at its peak and this can be seen from the 27 goals that they have scored in ten games. In turn, they have conceded only three and the goal difference of 24 is twice that of their nearest rivals, Arsenal.

Chelsea did struggle against the Blackburn Rovers through most part of the game before bagging full points in the last few minutes of the game. That could be something that Chelsea will look to improve upon but given the high-profile nature of the contest, it will be a difficult call to predict the winner.

Arsenal play Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, November 7 in the English Premier League. Arsenal are current at the second in the points table with 20 points, tied at the same slot with Manchester United and five behind Chelsea.

You can watch the Arsenal v Newcastle United EPL game live on Star Sports in the Asian region. You can also watch the Arsenal v Newcastle United highlights on Star Sports as well.

Follow the Arsenal v Newcastle United results here

With Newcastle United winning their previous game against Sunderland by a whopping 5-1 margin, it does look like Arsenal will be tested in this game.

Newcastle United are currently at the number seven in the points table and only three behind Manchester City, who are at fourth position. As difficult as it sounds against a more fancied team like Arsenal, Newcastle United will be eying a win that will take them forward in the points table.

As compared to that, Arsenal did not have a great last game against West Ham United and won only after scoring a goal in the dying minutes of the game. However, Arsenal did beat Newcastle United in their previous game they had met and will look to repeat the dose against Newcastle.

Alex Song would be the man to look out for Arsenal while Newcastle will look to Nolan – the hat-trick scorer in their last game – and Ameobi to assist the goal-scoring.

Manchester United host Wolverhampton Wanderers in the English Premier League game this weekend at Old Trafford. The Manchester United v Wolverhampton Wanderers game will be played on November 6 from 1500 hours GMT.

You can watch theManchester United v Wolverhampton Wanderers EPL game live on Star Sports in the Asian region. You can also watch the Manchester United v Wolverhampton Wanderers highlights on Star Sports as well.

Follow the Manchester United v Wolverhampton Wanderers results here

Manchester United are clearly favourites to win this game, as they start at the joint-second position in the table. As compared to that, and despite their previous game victory over Manchester City, Wolverhampton Wanderers are currently placed 19th in the points table and staring down the relegation barrel.

The advantage that the Wolves have is that they are only a win or two short of changing things around – such is the close competition this time around. Unfortunately for them, Manchester United are the form team of the tournament and will look to gain full points out of the game to chisel off that five point lead that Chelsea have over them.

Manchester United go into this game with a 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspurs, a match dominated by the Nani-goal controversy. United later routed Turkish club Bursaspor in the Champions League 3-0 to move within a point of qualifying for the knock-out round of that tournament as well.

Manchester United will be hardcore favourites to win this game, after having beaten the Wolves in the League Cup. However, as Darren Fletcher pointed out, they will do well to not take the opposition for granted.

Tottenham will play hosts to Inter Milan in the fourth round match in the Group A on November 2. The game will begin at 1945 GMT and will played at White Hart Lane.

You can watch the Tottenham v Inter Milan live on Ten Sports in the Asian region. You can also watch the Champions League Live and the Tottenham v Inter Milan highlights on Ten Sports as well.

Follow the Tottenham v Inter Milan Champions League results here.

This is the second game between these two sides in their group. Inter Milan had defeated Tottenham Hotspurs 4-3 in the previous game and will look to repeat the same dose. The Hotspurs, who are already reeling from the previous defeat at the hands of Manchester United in a controversial manner will look to shrug it off to return the favour to Inter Milan.

Rafa Benitez will play in this game for Inter Milan but the team hasn’t had the best of times in England. They have won only four off their 12 games and will need to make the most of this game to prove their detractors wrong.

Esteban Cambiasso may have fitness concerns and could be left out, while Gareth Bale could be the man to look out for in this game. Heurelho Gomes, who was red-carded in the previous match will miss the match as well.

The Minnesota Vikings have decided to axe the six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver, Randy Moss after the side lost three games out of four in the National Football League this season. Moss had rejoined the Vikings on October 10 this year in a trade from the New England Patriots.

It was confirmed by the Vikings players that the coach Brad Childress had informed them of the sacking. However, Childress and the rest of the management have yet to confirm this development.

Moss had earlier been fined $25,000 in the previous week after he did not co-operate with the media and refused to make himself available for the media questioning and interviews. He had then criticised the Vikings side for not being receptive to his ideas and praised former coach, Bill Belichick.

Moss’ record in the four games for the Vikings was only one catch for eight yards. Apart from that he had 13 receptions for 174 yards and two touchdowns.

Moss’ contract was for a $6.4-million base salary this season, which allowed the Minnesota side left with at least $1.5million.

The buzz now is that Tennessee Titans may look to hire his services for the remainder of the season. Kenny Britt was expected not to feature in the NFL for most part of the remainder of the season and coach Jeff Fisher said that Moss would form a part of their discussion.

Fisher said, “We are always interested in upgrading the football team. I am sure there will be certain discussions here this evening.”

Another Titans receiver Justin Gage will return back to action for them as well, after injury had laid him low.

The San Francisco 49ers beat the Denver Broncos 24-16 on Sunday in the National Football League game played at Wembley in London. This was the fourth regular-season game to be played at Wembley but it is yet to be ascertained whether more games will be played there in the future.

According to NFL UK managing director, Alistair Kirkwood, the decision to return to London will only be taken after the collective bargaining agreement was signed. After that, gates could open for a potential International Series.

At half-time in the 49ers-Broncos game, the San Francisco side led by a small 3-0 margin before the Broncos came back strongly to score ten points without reply.

Then, Troy Smith changed things around for his San Francisco side with an excellent run of play that saw him finish a 38-yard pass to Chris Bailey. This moved San Francisco one yard from the endzone.

Given that there was a lot of risk involved in the throw, things could have gone either way, but it worked in the team’s favour and put them back into the game.

Smith ran in the touchdown and then sent down another pass to Michael Crabtree to put the 49ers in front. Frank Gore then drilled home the advantage with a third touchdown to get the side 24-10 and it was only a late Denver effort that got them closer to the 49ers.

This gave the 49ers only their second win in the season in the eight games that they have played.

New England Patriots are the only team in the competition to have six wins so far, which they have managed to achieve from seven matches. Seven other teams have a 5-2 record in the season so far.

Blackburn Rovers take on Chelsea at Ewood Park on Saturday, October 30 at 1500 hrs BST. This could very well be called the game of the extremes; Chelsea is at the top of the table whereas the Rovers are at the other end of the spectrum on the 17th position.

You can watch the Blackburn Rovers v Chelsea EPL game live on STAR Sports in India. The Blackburn Rovers v Chelsea EPL highlights can also be watched on the same channel the next day.

Chelsea, with their five point lead over the second-placed Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal, will look to ensure that they get full points out of this. With the lead up to eight, they can then hope that one or more of the other three drop points and fall back further in the race for the top spot.

Chelsea have been in amazing form as well, having scored the points and the goals.

As compared to that, despite the news that Blackburn will be bought over by the Venky’s group in India, they have failed to ignite in the tournament. They are currently just one spot away from relegation and that will put them in a bit of a tough spot.

Where the Rovers could have a chance is that Chelsea rest a few good players and get a tad complacent but even that happening is difficult to imagine.

Chelsea v Blackburn Rovers Live Streaming, Highlights and Preview here

Manchester United take on Tottenham Hotspurs at Old Trafford on Saturday, October 30 at 1730 hrs BST. This is an important game for the home team Manchester United given that they trail the table-toppers Chelsea by five points and dropping any points here is bound to increase the gap.

Watch the Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspurs English Premier League game live on ESPN in India and other parts of Asia.You can also watch Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspurs highlights on the same channel on the next day.

Thankfully for Manchester United, this game has resulted in points for Manchester United usually and they would be more than happy to go into the match with the confidence of knowing that. However, they will do well to not feel too confident given that neither can Manchester United get too complacent nor does a win guarantee a closing of the gap.

As compared to that, the Hotspurs are currently in the fifth position below Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City and a win for them could send the points table in a frenzy. They go into the game with a 1-1 draw against Everton last weekend. However, with a bad record at the Old Trafford, the Hotspurs will need to play out of their skins to do well.

Javier Hernandez and Van Der Wart will be the two players that the teams will look to do the scoring for the side.

Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspurs Live Streaming and Highlights here

National Football League player Vince Young returned back to practice after he seemed to have recovered from his knee and ankle injury. Young had sprained himself on October 18 and had neither played a game nor practiced since then.

However, it is yet to be seen whether Young will make it to the starting line-up for the Titans in their game against San Diego (2-5). The Titans have won five out of the seven games that they have played so far.

Titans coach Jeff Fisher allowed his side some rest on Thursday and said that Young had made good recovery from his injury. He added that Young would be able to last one period so far.

In other news, the St. Louis Rams have contracted safety Michael Lewis who was cut from his contract with the San Francisco 49ers. Lewis was given the axe by the 49ers after he had missed a practice session after losing his starting slot in the side to Taylor Mays. It is yet to be seen whether Lewis will play against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

In another signing, the Kansas City Chiefs have got free-agent linebacker Mark Simoneau for this season. He had earlier played for Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia Eagles and New Orleans Saints before this. To get in Simoneau, the Chiefs have got rid of defensive lineman Atiyyah Ellison.

However, what will be interesting to see is how Simoneau shapes up after having not played since 2007.

San Francisco had their own issues with injuries as quarterback Alex Smith will miss their game against Denver Broncos because of a left shoulder dislocation. He will be out of action for around three weeks.

The National Football League has fined Brad Childress for condemning the match officials and speaking on confidential matters in the post-match press conference. Childress was angry with the match officials and their referral decisions in the game between Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers.

The NFL fined Childress $35,000 for his comments on Sunday in his team’s 24-28 loss. Childress had also called the game a badly officiated one, emanating from a change of decision that cost his team the game. A touchdown by tight end by Visanthe Shiancoe was overturned in the second quarter.

Brad Childress said that it was “the worst officiated game I’ve seen,” and panned the officials by calling them “50 drunks in a bar”. He had also revealed that the NFL’s director of officiating, Carl Johnson, had informed him that it should have been a touchdown.

“I was told this morning that that was a touchdown by Carl Johnson,” Childress said. “He was disappointed to see that reversed.”

It was this transgression that earned him the fine.

With that loss, Vikings are at 2-4, are in third place in the NFC North, and have the fifth-to-last record in the NFC. Minnesota Vikings will now take on New England Patriots in the eighth game of NFL regular season 2010. The Patriots have lost only one of their four games and will look to make it 5-1.

It remains to be seen whether Brett Favre, convinced to play for the Vikings this season will start in the game given that the coach had slammed his performance in the previous game too. Favre suffered from injuries and had to limp off and is in danger of missing his first game in the NFL after 291 straight appearances.

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo suffered from a collarbone injury in the National Football League game against the New York Giants. The Cowboys lost 35-41 to the Giants and Romo could now be out of action for some weeks due to the fracture.

The injury occurred in the second quarter of the game when Romo hit by blitzing Giants linebacker Michael Boley. Romo then left the field for X-rays and later returned to confirm that it had been a fracture.

In the post-match conference, Romo wore a sling and said that he did not know how long would he be out of the game. Romo also said that he had not realised that he had had a fracture until after the X-rays. He said, “It felt like a sprain. I was upset, disappointed and I was frustrated. You work hard to be in these games and be in these positions.”

Romo’s untimely injury meant that 38-year-old Jon Kitna got a chance to be a part of the game. He looked rusty having not featured in a game these last two seasons. However, he recovered later to complete 16-of-33 passes, and threw for 187 yards along with having a couple of touchdowns.

Speaking of his replacement, Romo said, “He will step in, and do a really good job for this team, he has had some really good seasons in this league… we will rally around him. He is a good player and he will show that.”

It was later revealed that the injury could keep Romo out for a couple of months.

After his recent controversy involving his sexually-charged text messages to a female reporter, Brett Favre season at the National Football League seems to have gotten worse when Minnesota coach Brad Childress blamed him for their 28-24 loss to Green Bay.

Things seemed to have come to head when Vikings head coach Childress, said publicly that Favre was responsible for the defeat. This could result in Favre missing out on a starting place in Vikings’ next game against New England after 291 successive starts.

Favre’s injured leg meant that he was limping throughout the second half of the game and needed support to walk down the podium steps.

And it was not as if Favre was confident of starting out next week. Replying to a question on whether he would start out next week, Favre said, “Who knows? I hope I do. … If I can play but not be effective, it’s not worth playing. I hope I use good judgment. We’ll see. I’m no spring chicken any more. I don’t heal as quickly.”

Childress, on the other hand, did not make things easier for Favre and blamed him for the defeat. He also said that he had thought of benching Favre but allowed him one more series to rebound. Favre completed a 4-yard touchdown pass to Randy Moss which allowed the score to reduce to 24-28.

Earlier, it was reported that Favre admitted to NFL security it was he who had left voicemails for New York Jets reporter Jenn Sterger in 2008. Both had then been employed by the team. However, he also said that he had not sent any lurid pictures to Sterger as had been claimed earlier.

Stoke City take on Manchester United at the Britannia Stadium on Sunday, October 24. The Stoke City v Manchester United game will start at 1330 hrs BST and one can watch the Stoke City v Manchester United match live on ESPN. Watch the Stoke City v Manchester United English Premier League highlights the next day.

Stoke City v Manchester United Score and Highlights

Manchester United will be a relieved team after the Wayne Rooney saga seemed to have ended yesterday with the star footballer signing a five-year long contract with the team. However, that relief cannot assuage the fact that Manchester United have yet to win an away game this season and will look to do that against Stoke City.

What will make Manchester United’s job tough will be the absence of Rooney himself after being ruled out of football for three weeks with an injury.

Stoke City, which are currently positioned ninth in the points table will rely on the fact that they are playing at home. Usually known for a more rough brand of soccer, Stoke City are not expected to change that around for this game and will look to overcome Manchester United with those tactics.

Interestingly, Sir Alex Ferguson had rested many of the players for the mid-week games and this will ensure that the Manchester United players are fresh enough to take on the Stoke City side.

Manchester United should be favourites to win this and go one step closer to the top spot, which is five points beyond their grasp currently.

You can follow all the English Premier League action here

Ray Anderson Issues Video to Explain Fine Worthy Violations

National Football League’s executive vice-president Ray Anderson has sent a video tape to all the 32 teams explaining the violations that could end up fining the players for excessive rough play. Anderson has said that the players were on notice and will be fined heavily or even suspended if they continue to hit other players beyond a certain point.

Right from the past couple of weeks when the NFL began doling out heavy fines for illegal hits, the biggest topic of discussion has been what constitutes a legal hit and what is not. The video shows a couple of hits by the Kansas City Chiefs as the kinds to avoid and one that is legal.

There was a play involving Chiefs safety Kendrick Lewis who hit Browns TE Evan Moore in “helmet to helmet contact with a defenseless receiver,” as described by the NFL.

Anderson also said in the video that the players must play under control. He also added, “If a player launching into an opponent misses his aiming point he will nevertheless be held responsible for what he hits.”

That’s what the league felt Lewis did on the hit to Moore. It wasn’t a blatant violation but replays do show he makes contact with Moore’s helmet.

Then, there is a play showing former Chiefs safety Jarrad Page lowering his shoulder and driving into the chest of Giants WR Ramses Barden Steve Smith, who is shown to be running across the middle of the field.

The teams have been trying to understand this new disciplinary violation with Steelers coach Mike Tomlin still making an issue out of the league’s fining of James Harrison for his hit against Browns receiver Mohamed Massaquoi.

A very unhappy James Harrison decided not to practice on Wednesday after the National Football League fined him $75,000 for an allegedly rough tackle on a Browns player.

According to reports, the Steelers linebacker was allowed to go without practice after he met up with the coach, Mike Tomlin and expressed his feelings about being fined by the NFL. According to Tomlin, Harrison needed his day off apart from requiring cooling off before he returned back to the game.

It was reported that Harrison was upset enough to contemplate quitting the game but according to coach Tomlin, he should be ready to make a comeback to practice in a day or so.

According to Tomlin, “I thought it was beneficial for him and for us if I gave him a little time to cool off and give him the day off. I excused him at that time and we went on and had a productive day,”

Harrison had earlier said that he had been taught to play the game in a certain manner and it would be difficult for him to play his natural game given the manner in which the NFL was penalising the errant players.

While Harrison skipped practice, Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed got down practicing after giving up on his role as a cheerleader and coach. Reed, who had given up playing six months ago practiced for the first time this season after he had been laid low with a hip surgery. What remains to be seen is how he carries about his business in practice before the coach John Harbaugh could take a decision on his selection.

Harbaugh said, “I think we’ll be prudent, certainly, but there’s definitely a possibility he can play. It’s going to be based on how he responds to practicing football at a fast pace.”

The English Premier League will see Manchester City take on Arsenal at the City of Manchester Stadium on Sunday, October 24. The Arsenal v Manchester City match will start at 1630 hrs BST and the Manchester City v Arsenal match live can be seen on ESPN in Asia. The highlights of Manchester City v Arsenal game can be watched on the same channel next day.

Rather surprisingly for some, Manchester City are currently placed second on the points table after they had a few exciting results going their way. Currently, they are behind Chelsea by two points but if Chelsea win their game against Wolverhampton Wanderers, the distance will become five.

On the other hand, Arsenal and Manchester United are both at 14 points and a win for Arsenal will tie them with City. Last week, Arsenal overcame Birmingham City at the EPL and then beat Shakhtar Donetsk 5-1 in the UEFA Champions League.

The Manchester City starting line up for this game will elicit interest. Roberto Mancini is known to be a defensive manager which will mean that he could play with two defensive midfielders. Arsenal will need Fabregas to get into his groove as quickly as possible on his return to football and try and create the opportunities required.

Follow all the English Premier League and the Manchester City v Arsenal game here.

The first-ever Korean Grand Prix will be held at the Korea International Circuit from October 22-24 this year. It took a long-time coming but the FIA has finally approved the circuit and the action will start with the practice on Friday followed by the qualifiers on Saturday and the race on Sunday.

Follow the Korean Grand Prix Formula One here.

In the drivers’ championship, it is  Renault’s Mark Webber who is currently at the top of points with 220 to his name, and is closely followed by the second-placed Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel. Both, Alonso an Vettel are currently on 206 points and can hope to overtake Webber.

The practice session of the Korean Grand Prix will be shown live on Star Sports from 0100 hours GMT on Friday. The third session of practice will continue on Saturday that will be followed by the qualifiers on the same day. You can watch the Korean Grand Prix race live on Sunday at 0600 hours on Sunday, October 24.

With the existence of the unknown element in this race, the things could get interesting and the drivers will need to get used to track as soon as they possibly can. They layout is a tad different and according to some like the principal engineer of McLaren, Philip Prew, ”there’s aspects of it which will favour every one of the top teams.”

The battle for the constructors’ championship is fast becoming a two-way shootout between Renault and McLaren-Mercedes, with 45 points separating the two.

Roger Federer will play at the Stockholm Open for the first time since 2000 and will begin his campaign in the tournament against American player Taylor Dent. The Federer v Dent match at the Stockholm Open will begin at 1630 hours GMT.

You can follow the preview, live and highlights Federer v Dent game here

Federer has been given the top billing in the tournament. However, he will know that he needs to play much better than what he has throughout the year to justify it – having won only the Australian Open and the Cincinnati ATP Masters 1000. In the duo’s previous meeting, Federer had beaten Dent in straight sets.

Federer will go into the Stockholm Open after having lost in the final of the Shanghai Rolex Masters to Andy Murray.

Some of the other games will see the home favourite and second seed Robin Soderling take on Benjamin Becker and 4th seed Ivan Ljubicic plays Arnaud Clement.

Follow all the results of the Stockholm Open here.

Pittsburgh Steelers play Cleveland Browns in this weekend’s game at the National Football League. The match will see Ben Roethlisberger try and make a successful comeback after the string of controversies had laid him low, while the Browns will have rookie Colt McCoy in with a chance to debut.

The Steelers have had a good start to the NFL this season, having won three out of their first four games. The only loss came to Baltimore Ravens when a late touchdown meant that they went down 17-14. No team in this season’s NFL has had a 4-0 start.

Injuries have set the Browns back a tad in this season. Jake Delhomme had an ankle sprain and has missed three games already and twisted his ankle as well their loss to Atlanta. It did not get any better when Delhomme worsened an existing injury when coming on in relief.

In another game, the Washington Redskins will play Indianapolis Colts at FedEx Field for an interconference clash. Washington’s previous season’s 4-12 record had meant that Shanahan had been hired as head coach and quarterback Donovan McNabb was also inducted into the side and that has given them a much better start. They go into the game with a 3-2 record.

The Colts have had a same 3-2 scoreline so far and their defense has been a bit of an issue for the side in the five games. It did show some improvement in the previous match against the unbeaten Kansas City and played its part in relegating them to their first defeat. But against Washington, it will be an interesting match-up and one that could decide the winner.

India will take on the mighty Australians in the final of the Commonwealth Games 2010 hockey tournament in New Delhi. You can watch the India v Australia hockey final on Doordarshan or on Doordarshan Sports if you are from India from 11.30 am IST (or 0600 hours GMT). You can also watch the India v Australia hockey final highlights on the same channel on the next day.

India’s path to the final has been rocky to say the least. They struggled to beat Malaysia, they were routed by the Aussies in the league game and then had to beat Pakistan in a virtual quarter-final to get to the semi-finals. As it turned out, India crushed their arch-rivals Pakistan to win themselves a semi-finals berth.

The semi-final against England was another humdinger as they were 1-3 down with only 15 minutes to go. However, Sarvanjit and Vikram scored a goal each to bring parity back into the game and then they beat England through the penalties.

Australia’s road to the final could not be more contrasting. In the league stages, they won all their four games and shot 15 goals while having only two against them (both by India). In the semi-finals against New Zealand, they slammed six more to storm into the final.

Without doubt, the Aussies will be the favourites to go through to winning the gold medal. What remains to be seen is whether the Indians can stop their juggernaut and win another gold for the country.

You can follow all the action from the India v Australia hockey game here

Vikings’ quarter-back Brett Favre has said sorry to his fellow National Football League players from the Minnesota side for the controversy surrounding him related to the text messages that he sent to a New York Jets game hostess two seasons ago.

According to the Associated Press, Favre apologised to his Minnesota Vikings teammates on Monday before their game against the Jets at New Meadowlands Stadium. The Jets beat the Vikings 29-20 and Favre refused to answer any questions related to the issue. Speaking to the reporters at the end of the game, Favre said, “I said what I had to say. I am disappointed that we lost this football game. If you want to talk about football, I can’t say I’d love to talk about football. … But, once again, it is disappointing that we lost,”

According to the NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, the NFL will look to get down to the issue and try and find all the facts around it. The league needs to decide, based on its investigation whether Favre had violated its personal conduct policy. If found guilty, he could either be fined or suspended.

The controversy broke out when a website put up a series of voicemails which were alleged to be sent by Favre to Jenn Sterger. Sterger had worked with the Jets in 2008. The voicemails had a man asking her to meet him. There were also some pictures posted which were allegedly sent by Favre to Sterger’s cell phone.

Favre had no comment to offer publicly and he said, “I’m not getting into that. I’ve got my hands full with the Jets and am trying to get some timing down with our guys, so that’s all I’m going to discuss,”

Favre is a 41-year old quarterback who has also played for the Green Bay Packers from 1992 to 2007 apart from one season for Atlanta Falcons in 1991 and New York Jets in 2008, before joining the Minnesota Vikings.

Kansas City Chiefs were handed their first defeat of the National Football League 2010 season as they lost to Indianapolis Colts 19-9 which meant that there were no teams in the tournament left without a loss. This also meant that for the first time since 1970, no side in the NFL had got to a 4-0 record at the start of the competition.

The Colts had gone into the game with a 2-2 record and won through Mike Hart’s touchdown – the only one of the game.

In another match, Tampa Bay overcame a stern challenge from the more fancied Cincinnati Bengals 24-21. It was a close game and in the end, Carson Palmer’s interception allowed Tampa Bay a chance to win it. Connor Barth kicked a 31-yard field goal with almost no time left to clinch the game.

This meant that Tampa Bay now have a 3-1 record in the tournament.

Arizona also beat New Orleans 30-20 in another game, as debutant Max Hall intercepted three passes by Drew Brees and assisted the side in winning the game. Hall threw an interception which meant that the Saints were up early thanks to the field goal. This led to Arizona’s third win of the tournament.

In some of the other games, Oakland won against San Diego 35-27 thanks to Michael Bush’s three yard run and Tyvon Branch’s return to a fumble. This meant that the side had finally to manage to beat San Diego after 13 successive losses to them. The last time Oakland had beaten San Diego was in September 2003.

Tennessee beat Dallas 34-27, while Detroit routed St. Louis 44-6.

Super Sunday NFL: Cheifs Play Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium

Kansas City Chiefs will play the Indianapolis Colts at the Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday in the National Football League. The Chiefs have played three games this season and have yet to lose one, whereas the Colts have won three and lost only one.

Despite the all-win record, Kansas City may not go into the game as favourites. The Colts, with the presence of Peyton Manning, could go in as a difficult side to overcome and with Colts having beaten the Chiefs twice earlier, it would be difficult to bet against them. The Colts had almost gone unbeaten through the entire previous season and they would look to overcome the Chiefs in this game.

In the previous games, the Chiefs had beaten the San Francisco 49ers 31-10, while the Colts had been halted from their winning streak by the Jaguars, 28-31.

The Chiefs look much better on their offensive side than they have ever looked in the last dozen years and the pair of Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles have had a say in that. What needs to be seen is whether the Chiefs’ defense will be able to hold out against the rather incisive attack of the Colts.

In another game on Sunday, Dallas Cowboys will play the Tennessee Titans. Dallas had a bye week last time and in the game before that they had beaten the Houston Texans. The Titans are 2-2 going into the game but Chris Johnson is clearly struggling and will need to start producing the goods if the Titans have to win this one.

Bonamego Shown the Door After Miami Lose 14-41

National Football League’s Miami Dolphins sacked their special teams coordinator John Bonamego after the team was brushed aside by New England Patriots 14-41 in a game on Monday. 21 of those conceded points came thanks to the poor show by the special teams and that led to the axing.

There were two blocked kicks which led to touchdowns for the Patriots and this was followed by a kickoff 103 yards to get another score.

And this was not the first game where the special teams had had been the cause of issues. In their previous match-up against the New York Jets, they had had a punt blocked. The side is now 2-2 in this season of NFL.

The sacking will mean that the assistant special teams coach Darren Rizzi will come in place of Bonamego. Bonamego has already been a part of the NFL for 11 seasons and was the specials coach for Dolphins since 2008. Even earlier, Bonamego has been the special teams coach for the different sides since 1999 when he first became a part of the NFL.

The Dolphins do not play in the fifth week of the season and their next game is against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.

The Dolphins have let go of many of the special teams guys in the last couple of seasons including cornerback Nathan Jones and linebackers Reggie Torbor, Erik Walden and Charlie Anderson. According to some of the experts, Bonamego was just the fall guy after the one-sided rout of the Dolphins.

New special teams coach Rizzi has not played in the NFL but started as an assistant coach at Colgate in 1993.

Europe won the Ryder Cup this year by a narrow margin of 14.5-13.5 on Monday at Celtic Manor Resort, Twenty Ten Course in Wales. USA had won the previous edition of the Ryder Cup in 2008, but were thwarted in their attempt to win their first since 1993 away from home.

The American side had gone into the last day of the tournament trailing by 6.5-9.5 but came back strongly to ensure that the tournament did not end without a thrilling finale.

Rickie Fowler brought the American team back into the tournament by winning the last three holes, which meant that Graeme McDowell had to beat Hunter Mahan to seal the win for Europe. McDowell then birdied the 16th before ensuring that the Ryder Cup was Europe’s on the 17th hole of the game.

Europe’s captain Colin Montgomerie said that it was a part of the strategy to send McDowell at the end of the order given that he was the US Open champion and knew how to handle the situation.

In the end, it would be fair to say that it was the third session on Saturday that proved to be US’s problem when they lost 0.5-5.0.

On Monday, Ian Poulter, Luke Donald and Miguel Angel Jimenez won their games for Europe, while Steve Stricker, Dustin Johnson, Jeff Overton, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson notched up wins for the USA, that meant that the McDowell-Mahan match-up was going to be the deciding factor.

This was Europe’s fourth Ryder Cup win out of the last five tournaments, and six of the last eight, which shows how dominating the Europeans have become as a team as compared to the brilliance of the American individuals.

The New York Giants crushed Chicago Bears in the fourth game of the National Football League season by a 17-3 margin to record their second win in the tournament. The Bears, who had gone into this game with an all-win record, lost their first game in four matches. This also meant that the Giants had broken their two-match losing streak.

This leaves Kansas City Chiefs as being the only side to yet to lose a single game in the competition so far.

In another game last night, the Washington Redskins overcame the Philadelphia Eagles 17-13. The Eagles had been dealt a mighty blow when Michael Vick was ruled out of the game with chest and rib injuries and while his replacement Kevin Kolb did reduce the Eagles’ deficit to 17-12, that was as close as they could get.

The New York Jets recorded their third win as well, as they trounced the hapless Buffalo Bills 38-14. This leaves the Bills without a win off four games, one of the only four teams with such a record in the competition.

The Green Bay Packers also won their third match when they edged the Detroit Lions 28-26. Lions came close to recording their first win of the competition but were left to join the Bills, San Francisco 49ers and Carolina Panthers with no win from four games.

The Panthers were beaten by the New Orleans Saints 16-14, who now have a 3-1 win-loss record in the NFL this year.

John Carney hit three field goals at the age of 46 for the New Orleans to not allow the Panthers get their first win this seasons.

Shaun Smith, Kansas City Chiefs’ linebacker has been fined $10,000 by the National Football League for allegedly grabbing the groin area of San Francisco offensive lineman Anthony Davis. The Chiefs had gone on to win the game 31-10, but Smith’s pockets were that much lighter after the NFL ruled against him.

This is the second time that Smith has been involved in this kind of an infiltration. Earlier, in their game against the Cleveland Browns, Alex Mack had also made similar accusations. Smith had refuted the same and said, “I don’t recall doing anything like that. I’m not known for being a dirty player or anything like that, so I don’t know what that was all about.”

There were other fines handed out as well. Minnesota’s Ray Edwards was penalised $10,000 on two counts, for hitting Detroit player Shaun Hill and for rough play on a Lions player.

Buffalo’s Steve Johnson was also fined $10,000 for celebrating inappropriately when he showed like he was shooting a shotgun after scoring a touchdown. This happened in the Buffalo Bills v New England Patriots game that the latter had won 38-30.

The most number of fines came up in the New York Giants-Tennessee Titans game, with six penalties being handed to the players. A total of $27,500 worth of fines were given to Ahmad Bradshaw, David Diehl, Kareem McKenzie, Adam Koets, Cortland Finnegan and Jason Babin.

The Titans had gone on to win the game 29-10 against the Giants. Currently, Titans have two wins and a loss whereas the Giants have lost two and won only one so far in the tournament.

The president of the AFL-CIO, Richard Trumka has said that he will be more than happy to try and resolve National Football League’s labor dispute. In a letter to both, the NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith, Trumka invited both of them to discuss with him how truce could be achieved.

Trumka said that he believed that this meeting could be the start of a process that saves the tournament for the next season. He also added that it would also reduce job losses “if owners lock out the players and cancel games.”

According to NFLPA chief, once the collective bargaining agreement ends in March, the owners will look to lock out the players before the start of the 2011 season.

What remains to be seen is whether the two parties will end up meeting Trumka and getting the dispute resolved. Both have yet to reply to the missive.

The AFL-CIO had earlier warned all the teams that locking the players out would many American citizens their jobs. This could also end up with the cities losing out on more than $140 million in revenue according to Trumka.

Even in this letter, Trumka has requested Goodell to send across the profit and loss statement and operating expenses of all the teams that could help in justifying the need behind the lockout. He also added that this information was necessary to have a fair and productive meeting.

Trumka said, “I believe that a productive meeting and a production of the relevant financial information will be useful in helping to avoid a work stoppage that would impact thousands of jobs nationwide.”

The president of the Atlanta Falcons Rich McKay, who is also the co-chairman of the National Football League’s competition committee has said that the committee is a long way off from the decision to increase the number of regular season games to 18. McKay’s comments come in the wake of Indianapolis Colts’ Bill Polian’s assertion that the 18-game season was a foregone conclusion.

McKay said on Wednesday that there was some time before they took the decision on the increase in the games. He also added that the committee was studying the proposals and the pros and the cons associated with it, and would take a decision only after the ongoing discussions were completed.

McKay did admit that the 18-game season makes for a lot of sense and would be good for the fans as well. However, he added that it would be good to allow the process to be completed. He said, “But I think the process is ongoing, and I think Bill knows that because Bill’s been part of that process.”

Even the NFLPA president Kevin Mawae said that he was surprised by the statement and did not know whether Polian had the authority to go public with any of such announcement.

Earlier on Wednesday, Polian had himself backtracked on what he had said only two days ago. He said that that he had managed to get into headlines by not answering the question put forth to the best of his abilities. He added that he had said something that was “180 degrees from what was right.”

Polian had said on Monday that the owners of the NFL teams and the commissioner had agreed with the suggestion to increase the number of games and that the debate over it had been over.

Ryder Cup Practice will not Scupper Original Plans: Pavin

American Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin has said that the practice sessions will not have any effect on his team composition when the three day event begins from October 1. The Ryder Cup, which will be played at Celtic Manor Resort in the city of Newport, South Wales will see golfers from USA and Europe fight it out for the golf’s top crown.

Pavin admitted that he had had a talk with Tom Watson, who had won the last Ryder Cup captain for America in 1993 and added that he was advised to overlook the practice performances. The current American captain said, “A good piece of advice that Tom gave me was to just let them go out and play in practice. You can’t let the team be concerned about how they are playing. They are getting over jet-lag, and their bodies are out of whack.”

The Welsh weather will also be much to worry about as the forecast for the weekend isn’t too great. After a cloudy couple of days at the venue, there are rains expected over the weekend along with fog which could add to the woes. The shorter days of October could mean that the tournament will not be able to take delays due to the inclement weather.

The Americans practiced hard despite the weather, and one saw Tiger Woods partner Steven Stricker, something that should happen even during the tournament. World No 2 Phil Mickelson also practiced with the youngsters Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson, while Stewart Cink and Matt Kuchar teamed up together and practiced with Zach Johnson and Hunter Mahan. Rickie Fowler and Jim Furyk played along with Woods and Stricker.

America are the defending champions at the Ryder Cup but the last time they won the trophy in Europe was in 1993.

NFL set to Increase Game Schedule to 18 According to Bill Polian

According to the Indianapolis Colts chief, Bill Polian, the National Football League will increase the number of games from the 16 to 18 from the next season and this announcement could be made soon.

Speaking to ESPN on a radio show, Polian said that it was a foregone conclusion that the number of games will see an increase and that there was no more debate around the same. He used the phrase “fait accompli” on two separate occasions to describe the situation.

According to the Colts owner, the owners and the commissioner of the NFL have agreed in principle that the best way to move forward was to increase the regular season by a couple of games. He also added, “I’ve heard recently, and I’m sorry that this didn’t get more coverage earlier, some really, really interesting commentary on it…I wish some of that dialogue had taken place earlier.”

The NFL has yet to announce any change in the number of games and refused to comment on Polian’s statements.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and some of the NFL franchise owners have been supportive of the move to increase the number of games by two after doing away with two pre-season matches. However, there has been no vote on the same and with concerns over injuries being an issue with player agents, there could still be some time before the same gets approved.

The other issue that may hinder this proposal is that shortened pre-season would reduce the evaluation time for the fringe players vying for roster spots, and make it difficult for them to make it to the side.

Earlier, in August, the team owners had met up in Atlanta to push for the addition of the two extra games to the regular season. New England Patriots’ Bob Kraft had said, “I think it’s a win-win all around.”

NFL-Kansas City get Third win this Season, Saints Stunned by Falcons

Atlanta Falcons stunned the defending champions New Orleans Saints while Kansas City Chiefs recorded their third successive win at the National Football League this season.

The Saints had gone into their game against the Falcons having won both their first couple of games this season. The Saints had also beaten the Falcons in seven out of the last eight encounters, and were expectedly favourites to clinch this one. As it turned out, the game between the Saints and Falcons went on to be a thriller and ended with the latter winning 27-24.

The Saints missed the presence of Reggie Bush, who was out with an injury, while the Falcons were helped by an overtime field goal by Matt Bryant.

Garrett Hartley missed a routine chip shot and that was one of the chief reasons for their defeat. Hartley accepted his mistake in as many words, “I missed basically an extra point. It was clearly my mistake. It’s the highs and lows of being a kicker.”

Kansas City had come into the season without too man expectations, but three weeks into the season, they have won everything that has come their way. They beat the San Francisco 49ers 31-10 which pushed the 49ers to their third defeat this season. Kansas City now have a break for a week before facing Indianapolis Colts in their next game.

Linebacker Derrick Johnson said, “It was a great day for the Chiefs. Each win, we’re getting more and more confident.”

Pittsburgh Steelers also recorded their third win with a 38-13 scoreline over Tampa Bay Buccaneers, while Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions all joined the 49ers in a third successive loss.

Eagles Staring at Sacks Record as they take on Jaguars

The Philadelphia Eagles may be standing on a record 12 sacks in the National Football League, but their offensive co-ordinator, Marty Mornhinweg is not going to pull the plug on it.

According to Mornhinweg, the blitzes were an opportunity to make a play before the quarterback was hit in his face. He said, “Make a play, get hit in the face. That’s how you score in the National Football League.”

In the two games played so far, the Eagles’ quarterback Kevin Kolb and Michael Vick have had to endure many hits to their face while being sacked and while scrambling. In fact, this is also the first time since 1982 that the side has allowed at least six sacks in both their opening games. None of the other sides have allowed six blitzes in even one of their game.

This hasn’t stopped the Eagles from being ranked fourth in the tournament and eighth when it came to the yards covered – 366. Mornhinweg explained the strategy by saying that the team’s mentality is to score when blitzed.

Of course, there are other issues as well which lead to the sacks. Two chief ones amongst them are the missed assignments and quarterbacks turning the wrong way and running into trouble.

Team’s left-guard Todd Herremans said, “Somebody is going to come through free, so you have that quick window to get it out, and he’s got to get rid of it or eat it,”

Eagles’ next game is against the Jaguars on Sunday and they will go into the match knowing that no other team in the NFL has ever allowed six or more sacks in the first three games.

Braylon Edwards said sorry to the New York Jets teammates and the fans for driving after having had one drink too many. Edwards was arrested by the police for the drunk driving charges.

Speaking to the media after practicing with the team, Edwards said that it was sad that the entire episode petered out the way it did. The breath-analyser test showed that he two times the permissible level of alcohol in his system when he was asked to stop his vehicle on Manhattan’s West Side.

Edwards said, “Being in this situation, being around an environment like this, you truly are appreciative. For the event to happen the way it did yesterday, it was sad for me in that situation.”

Edwards is a wide receiver for the New York Jets. He had been traded to the Jets in 2009 for Chansi Stuckey, linebacker Jason Trusnik and a third and fifth round draft pick.

This controversy comes close on the heels of the previous one involving the Jets, in which there were allegations of mistreatment of a female journalist by the Jets. Rex Ryan, the coach of the Jets had also been involved in another controversy when he had been fined $50,000 for an obscene gesture at a mixed martial arts event.

Ryan also spoke with the media and expressed his concern about the manner in which the team was getting involved in all the negative publicity. Ryan said, “I’m tired of the embarrassment to our owner and this organization. Let’s just end it. Let’s stop it.”

The Jets do not have too many options in giving out the punishment to the player under the collective bargaining agreement. This means that the team cannot suspend Edwards until the NFL decides to punish the erring player.

John Harbaugh, the coach of Baltimore Ravens has been slapped with a $15,000 fine by the NFL for impermissible verbal and physical contact with the line judge.

Harbaugh touched the judge Ron Marinucci in the chest in the weekend’s game between the Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals while trying to tell him where Terrell Suggs hit Bengals’ Carson Palmer in a dubious roughing-the-passer penalty. Bengals went on to win the game 15-10.

Harbaugh expressed his disappointment at the incident and accepted that he had crossed the line. He also accepted the punishment that was given to him. Talking on a radio chat show, he said that he had been working in the NFL with the line judge Ron for over a decade and respected the professional relationship between the two.

He added, “I felt a little more comfortable with him in expressing myself. No doubt about it, you can’t touch an official. I respect the rules, and I agree with them and I have no problem with it.”

Harbaugh had support from the former NFL vice president of officiating Mike Pereira, who said that he thought that the referees had made a mistake.

Even Harbaugh reiterated his earlier stance and said that middle linebacker Ray Lewis and Suggs shouldn’t have been penalized. As a result of the penalties, the Bengals scored six points, which was more than the difference between the two sides.

The Ravens also intend on submitting the films to the league understand what exactly led to the players being flagged.

Baltimore Ravens play Cleveland Browns in their next game. Ravens have now won one and lost one game, while the Browns have lost both their encounters.

USA has regained its place in the World Group of the Davis Cup 2011 season by beating Colombia in the play-offs. USA took a 3-1 lead over Colombia at the end of the first reverse singles match between Mardy Fish and Santiago Giraldo.

Fish was the man instrumental in USA’s win, as he won both his singles matches in five sets apart from the doubles win. On the first day of the tie, Fish overcame Alejandro Falla, with a 6-4 margin in the final set before winning a marathon against Giraldo, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 4-6, 8-6.

Sam Querry had lost his first singles match, while Fish and John Isner won their doubles encounter in four sets.

In the World Group 2010 semi-finals, Serbia beat Czech Republic 3-2, while France whitewashed Argentina 5-0 in the other match.

Serbian Novak Djokovic did not play in the singles match on the first day of the semi-finals which saw the teams share the two matches. Czech Republic then beat Serbia in the doubles encounter, before Djokovic and Tipsarevic won their respective singles matches to take Serbia into the finals.

Argentina were no match for France, as Michael Llodra beat Juan Monaco and Gael Monfils overcame David Nalbandian to take a 2-0 lead on the first day. The tie was all over on the second day when the French pair of Llodra and Arnaud Clement won their doubles encounter.

In some of the other play-offs, a Roger Federer-less Switzerland were knocked out 5-0, while Sweden returned back to the World Group. India came back from a 0-2 scoreline to win three successive games to qualify for the World Group.

NFL Highlights, NY Jets Face Patriots

The second weekend of the National Football League will see the New York Jets take on the New England Patriots at New Meadowlands Stadium in one of the biggest games this week.

The New York Jets will go into the game with a loss under their belt, when they crashed 9-10 to Baltimore Ravens in the first game of the season. However, that will not be the only thing on their mind given their latest off-field shenanigans that involve a female reporter from Mexico.

New England Patriots had won their first game of the season against Cincinnati Bengals 38-24, and will look to continue their winning streak. They have a strong offense, which could be tested by the equally defense that the Jets possess, which makes it one of the games to look out for.

In another game, Baltimore Ravens will play the Cincinnati Bengals at the Paul Brown Stadium. The Bengals had lost their first game to the New England side, while the Ravens beat Jets. Even in the pre-season, the Ravens had won three of their four games against Carolina Panthers, Washington Redskins and New York Giants.

The two sides have a good defense, and there is not much to choose from between them.

In another game for the weekend, the Chicago Bears will play the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys may be favourites in this one despite their first game loss to the Redskins 7-13. Experts do expect them to win the game, but their opponents, the Bears had won their first match-up against the Detriot Lions, 19-14.

With players like Jay Cutler, Devin Hester and Matt Forte, things could interesting for the Bears.

The National Football League has sent a notice to all the 32 participating teams in the tournament, reminding them of the rights of the women reporters covering the tournament. This followed complaints from Ines Sainz of Mexico’s TV Azteca of being sexually harassed by the New York Jets players.

Sainz was reporting from the practice session last Saturday, while doing a story on quarterback Mark Sanchez. It has been reported that it was at this stage that some of the players threw the ball at her, while passing comments and catcalls.

The NFL sent a notice to all the teams saying, “By law, women must be granted the same rights to perform their jobs as men. Please remember that women reporters are professionals and should be treated as such.”

Earlier, the New York Jets had released a statement which said that the team management was looking into the matter seriously and gathering “the facts and take any appropriate steps necessary to maintain a respectful environment for the media.”

The Jets brass, an Association of Women in Sports Media has also decided to have an “educational session” with the team to brief them about the dos and do-nots. They also said that if the players or the coaches were to found guilty of acting in a manner which was either unprofessional or harassing towards the reporter, they would expect punishment for the players from the NFL and the Jets.

Earlier, Sainz had said that the on-field issue was not a big deal, and she thought of it as a joke. However, she said that she felt offended by the “locker-room catcalls” and that made her very uncomfortable.

Sainz had once proclaimed that she was the hottest sports reporter in Mexico.

NFL 2010: Saints, Giants, Houston Begin With Wins

New Orleans Saints beat Minnesota Vikings 14-9 in the opening game of the National Football League, 2010. In some of the other games, New York Giants crushed the Carolina Panthers 31-18 after a slow start while Houston beat Indianapolis 34-24.

In the press conference, Vikings’ Brett Favre did acknowledge that he missed a few passes, but did not put it down to missing most of the pre-season training. While it was not the best of performances from the Saints, it was enough to give them a win. Drew Brees finished 27 out of the 36 passes and was instrumental in the win.

After the game, Brees, who is also the defending Super Bowl MVP, said, “We’re not used to 14-9 victories, but we’re used to winning,”

On the other hand, it looked like the Houston side had prepared well for their game against the Colts. They played well on both sides of the ball, and in the end, won only their second game against Indianapolis in the history of NFL. Arian Foster had a record 231 yard run and ended with three touchdowns, resulting in the win for the Houston side.

Clint Session, who plays as a linebacker for the Colts said that the side failed to rise to the occasion and that was a surprise given that they play much better than this.

The Giants overcame their sluggish start and the errors made to ensure that their season-opener would go their way. Hakeem Nicks, who caught three of the touchdown passes from Eli Manning said that they decided to play it differently in the second half and “all the errors we made were out the window.”

Second seeded Kim Clijsters won the US Open crown as she beat Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 6-1 in a thoroughly lop-sided finals encounter. With this win, Clijsters had not only won her third US Open tournament, but also extended her unbeaten run at the tournament to 21.

Such was the one-sided nature of the contest that it went on to create a new record for the quickest ever final at the tournament since 1980. Clijsters had taken only 59 minutes to dispose Zvonareva off in the final.

Zvonareva, who has had a good recent record against Clijsters this year, having won twice in a row, found it difficult to regain the accuracy off the ground and the consistency with her serve. The semi-final win over Caroline Wozniacki was a distant memory for Zvonareva.

The first set started with the two players holding a couple of serves each, before Clijsters reeled off four in a row to capture the set. The second set started with Clijsters holding serve a couple of times and breaking her opponent once, before Zvonareva could win a game. That was the last game that she won in the match as Clijsters won the next three in a row to seal the tournament.

This means that Clijsters is only the second woman in the history of US Open to win three tournaments in three successive appearances. Chris Evert had four in a row between 1975 and 1978. Clijsters said, “Obviously when I started my U.S. summer, the US Open was my main goal. I wasn’t playing my best tennis when I wanted to in the beginning. But I was able to lift my game in the last two matches when I needed it to.”

The men’s final match between Rafael Nadak and Novak Djokovic was rained off on Sunday and will now be played on Monday.

Belgian second seeded Kim Clijsters will play Vera Zvonareva in the final of the US Open tournament. Clijsters beat Venus Williams in a see-sawing battle that saw the American win the first set, before losing the next two. Zvonareva, on the other hand, disposed the top-seeded, Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets to enter the final.

Clijsters was broken early in the match, and failed to break back in the first set to lose it 4-6. The Belgian came back strongly in the second set to win three games in a row, before being broken back. Clijsters broke Williams’ serve again to serve for the set at 5-3, but failed to covert it, and the set went into a tie-breaker.

Two double-faults by Williams ensured a 4-0 lead for Clijsters in the tie-breaker, before she managed to win it 7-2.

The third set looked to be going in a similar manner to the second, when Clijsters first broke Williams and led 4-3. However, a couple of double-faults from the second-seeded player gave Williams the game. The trading of breaks did not stop here, as Clijsters stormed past the Williams serve before serving out the match 6-4. This is Clijsters’ 20th successive win in US Open.

Earlier, in the first semi-final Zvonareva stunned the top-seeded Wozniacki, winning 6-4, 6-3. Wozniacki, who has had a good US Open till then and had not dropped a set, committed 31 errors in the match, but had only 13 winners in the process. Admittedly, she was not at her best, and after the match, she said, “I made some mistakes today that I usually don’t do. It was a tough day for me in the office. That’s the way tennis is sometimes”

Today, the men’s US Open semi-finals will see Rafael Nadal play Mikhail Youzhny, while Novak Djokovic takes on Roger Federer.

Rafael Nadal joined Roger Federer in the semi-final of the US Open this year as he strolled to a straight-set win over Fernando Verdasco in the quarter-finals. Nadal won 7-5, 6-3, 6-4, to get to within two matches of winning his first ever US Open.

The US Open has been played in windy conditions this year and it was no different when Nadal and Verdasco took to court. The number of unforced errors increased due to these conditions and that was also the difference between the two players. While Nadal had only 16 to his name, Verdasco ended with 41.

Verdasco had never beaten Nadal before, and after a strong showing in the first set, lost momentum and became increasingly frustrated. In the end, he went down rather tamely.

Nadal will now play Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny in the semi-final. Youzhny won a five-setter in the quarter-finals, to prevent a second Swiss player from entering the semi-finals. He beat Stanislas Wawrinka 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in four hours to book his place in the last four.

This will be Youzhny’s second US Open semi-final. He had got to the previous one in 2006 when he had beaten Nadal in the quarter-finals.

There were two championship winners that got decided on Thursday as well. American mixed doubles pair of Liezel Huber and Bob Bryan won their finals against Kveta Peschke and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 6-4, 6-4. Bryan will meet Qureshi in the men’s doubles later today.

The women’s doubles title was won by Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova. They won in a tough three-setter 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 against the ninth seeds Cara Black and Anastasia Rodionova. King and Shvedova had entered the final of the Wimbledon earlier this year as well.

Top-seeded women’s player, Caroline Wozniacki kept her appointment in the semi-finals of the US Open as she sent Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia packing, 6-2, 7-5. Wozniacki will now play Vera Zvonareva in the semi-final of the tournament, who beat No. 32 seed Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, 6-3, 7-5.

As has been the case in the previous days of the tournament as well, the gusty winds played a huge part in the match. Wozniacki struggled to control her strokes, while the play had to be stopped on many occasions because of the flying of player towels into the playing area.

Wozniacki broke her opponent’s serve early in both the sets. She was broken back in the second set, but came back to break Cibulkova at 5-5 in the second set before serving out the match and make it to the semi-final.

In the other quarter-final match, Zvonareva was assisted by the 60 unforced errors that her opponent, Kanepi made in the game. There were 10 breaks of serve in the match, thanks to the blustery weather, and getting into a rhythm became a problem for both the ladies.

Zvonareva was the runner-up at the Wimbledon this year and will look to get into her second Grand Slam final of the year.

In the men’s section of the draw, Roger Federer will face Novak Djokovic in the semi-final after both the players advanced with straight set wins. Federer avenged his loss at the French Open to Robin Soderling with an easy 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 win over his Swedish opponent, whereas Djokovic overcame a slow start to win against Gael Monfils, 7-6, 6-1, 6-2.

In the other two quarter-finals, top-seeded Rafael Nadal will face Fernando Verdasco, while Stanislas Wawrinka takes on Mikhail Youzhny.

Kim Clijsters huffed and puffed to an error-ridden quarter-final win over Australian Samantha Stosur to book a place in the semi-final of the US Open. Clijsters won the quarter-final 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 and will now play Venus Williams in the semis on Friday.

Clijsters, who has won the US Open twice before this, took the first set 6-4 after being broken once early in the set. In the second set, Stosur got a chance to serve it out at 5-4, but lost her serve. Clijsters was broken again at 5-5, before the Australian closed out the second set 7-5.

The third set began with six successive breaks of serve. Clijsters held on for the first time in the third set, only in the seventh game, before Stosur was broken for the fourth time and went down 3-5. Clijsters then served out the match to win her quarter-finals. Clijsters later said of Stosur, “She doesn’t give you a lot of rhythm and she doesn’t give you the usual kind of shots that you kind of expect.”

She will face the American Williams, who entered her first semi-final at the US Open since 2007. Williams overcame nine double faults and 33 unforced errors to beat sixth seeded Francesca Schiavone, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.

The men’s quarter-final draw was completed as well, as Rafael Nadal and three others joined entered the last eight stage on Tuesday night. Nadal beat compatriot Feliciano Lopez in straight sets, losing only 11 games in the process. He will now play another Spaniard, Fernando Verdasco, in the quarters. Verdasco required a fifth set tie-breaker against David Ferrer to win the quarter-finals.

Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka beat Sam Querrey of USA, while Mikhail Youzhny brushed Tommy Robredo aside to enter the quarter-finals.

Federer to clash with Soderling in quarter-final of US Open

Second seeded Roger Federer booked his place in the quarter-finals of the US Open as he took out Jurgen Melzer (13) on Monday. Federer continued his spree of not having dropped a set in the tournament, by winning 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 against his hapless opponent from Austria.

This will be Federer’s 25th consecutive quarter-final berth in Grand Slam tennis, and he will take on Sweden’s Robin Soderling. Soderling had beaten Federer in the French Open earlier this year.

Soderling did not have a great start in the fourth round against Albert Montanes as he lost the first set to the veteran Spanish player. However, he recovered well to win the next three, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 to get to the quarter-finals. Montanes had only one break-point in the whole match and he had converted it in the first set, but the Swede’s solid tennis in the rest of the match sealed his fate.

Third seeded Novak Djokovic also wasted no time in sending Mardy Fish off in straight sets and booked his quarter-final berth against Frenchman Gael Monfils. Monfils won against his countryman Richard Gasquet, in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5, 7-5.

There are four other fourth round matches to be played in the men’s singles draw. Top-seeded Rafael Nada takes on Feliciano Lopez, David Ferrer plays Fernando Verdasco, Stanislas Wawrinka bids to end the American challenge in the tournament against Sam Querrey, while Russian Mikhail Youzhny takes on the fifth remaining Spaniard in the draw, Tommy Robredo.

In the women section, top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki had an easy time against Maria Sharapova as she won 6-3, 6-4 in the fourth round. Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters also advanced to the quarter-finals of the tournament.

Clijsters wins 18th successive match, to play Stosur in US Open quarter-finals

Kim Clijsters reached the quarter-finals of the US Open by beating Ana Ivanovic rather easily in a fourth round match, 6-2, 6-1 on Sunday. This win means that Clijsters has now won 18 successive games at the US Open, including a tournament win in 2009 and 2005. She hadn’t participated in the tournament from 2006 to 2008.

Speaking about the streak, Clijsters did say that she tried not to think about it and focus on the game on hand. She also said that she always loved playing in US and her records were ample proofs of the same.

After the win, Clijsters said, “I really tried to use the chances that I had, and that’s what I did really well. And then once I was up 3-1, I went to 4-2, and I felt like I was dictating really well during the points and kind of using the two sides of the court well.”

Clijsters will now play Samantha Stosur in the quarter-finals of the US Open. Stosur won a record-breaking encounter against Elena Dementieva, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (2). The match was the latest any women’s game at the US Open has ever ended, at 1.37 am, and looked like it was going in Dementieva’s favour when she served for the match at 5-3 in the third set. However, Stosur broke back and went on to clinch the tie-breaker.

In the two other fourth round games, Venus Williams kept the American flag flying with a 7-6, 6-3 win over Shahar Peer. She will now take on Francesca Schiavone of Italy, who beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in another fourth round game, 6-3, 6-0.

Soderling on course to play Federer, Sharapova to meet top-seeded Wozniacki

Swede Robin Soderling wasted no time in disposing of Thiemo de Bakker in the third round of the US Open 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 at the Louis Armstrong Stadium.

In a game that was marred by some really strong winds, Soderling raced off to a 3-0 lead in the first set and there was no looking back from there. He went on to claim the first set in 27 minutes, before winning the second and the third sets in a total of one hour, 42 minutes.

De Bakker spoke about the gusty wind conditions, “It wasn’t a pretty match, there were tough conditions. It was a lot of wind on court. I think we were both struggling a little bit, actually.”

With this win, Soderling has now entered the fourth round of the US Open and will face No. 21 seed Albert Montanes. Montanes made it to the fourth round after opponent Kei Nishikori retired due to injury.

However, women’s fourth seeded Jelena Jankovic was not so lucky in her third round match against Kaia Kanepi, as she lost 2-6, 6-7. The first set was a cakewalk for Kanepi, as she took advantage of the windy conditions to upset Jankovic’s rhythm, and then served for the match at 5-3 in the second set.

However, Jankovic won three games in a row to force the set into a tie-breaker. Unfortunately for the Serbian, she failed to maintain the momentum and garnered only one point in the tie-breaker to go down.

Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki made an easy entry into the last 16 as she overcame the gusty conditions and Chan Yung-Jan to enter the fourth round with a 6-1, 6-0 win. She will now take on the 14-seeded Maria Sharapova, who routed America’s Beatrice Capra 6-0, 6-0, in a near flawless game. Sharapova has won one US Open title that came in 2006, apart from having won one Australian Open and one Wimbledon title.

Federer, Soderling Advance to Third Round of US Open

Roger Federer needed only 101 minutes to dispose off the 104-ranked Andreas Beck in the second round of the US Open tennis tournament. Federer lost his serve only once in the entire match and won 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the third round of the competition.

Federer’s first serve percentage was marginally lower than his opponent’s, but with almost double the winners and half the unforced errors, Federer was way superior than Beck.

Federer said that despite been broken once, he felt good about himself on court. He added, “It’s the perfect start, sure. I played Monday, had two days off. I had another easy one physically today, and here I am in the third round feeling like I’m completely in the tournament”

Federer will now play Paul-Henri Mathieu in the third round, who won his match against Guillaume Rufin, 7-6, 6-4, 6-3.

In another match at the US Open, number five seed Robin Soderling continued his good run with an easy 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 win over American Taylor Dent. Soderling, who is known for his clay court tennis, will play Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands in the next round. If Soderling wins both his third and the fourth round matches, he may face Federer in the quarter-finals.

Novak Djokovic beat German Philipp Petzschner in a straight-set win, and will play American James Blake in the third round. No. 6 seed Nikolay Davydenko was not so lucky though. He was beaten by a former number seven, Richard Gasquet in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.

In the ladies singles, Maria Sharapova wasted no time in winning 6-1, 6-2 over Iveta Benesova, while Svetlana Kuznetsova won her second round encounter against Anastasija Sevastova, dropping only five games in the game.

Andy Roddick Dumped Out of US Open, Murray Advances

The American hopes took a beating on the third day at the US Open when Andy Roddick was stunned by Janko Tipsarevic in a four-setter. The game was marred by a foot-fault call against Roddick, in a similar manner to the previous year when Serena Williams had lost her cool and a pay-cheque after swearing at a lines-judge.

Tipsarevic won the match in four sets, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 to advance to the third round of the US Open, whereas Roddick lost in the second round of the tournament for the first time in his career. Roddick had won the US Open in 2003, and was the finalist in 2006.

Roddick kept the unforced errors down to 23, but it was Tipsarevic’s winners that saw him through. In his assessment of the game, Roddick acknowledged that Tipsarevic’s game was a high-risk one but came off well. Roddick said, “He played very high risk and executed for four sets. I kept telling myself, ‘This has to have an expiration date on it.’ Unfortunately, I needed another set for that.”

In another second round match at the US Open, Gael Monfils beat Russian Igor Andreev in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 on his 24th birthday. It was Andreev’s 20 unforced errors to his eight winners that sealed the match in the favour of his opponent.

Andy Murray also kept alive the British hopes when he overcame Slovakia’s 71st-ranked Lukas Lacko in another straight set match. The British star won 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the second round of the US Open.

Roger Federer plays his second round match against Andreas Beck. Both, Federer and Beck had won their first round matches in straight sets.

Nadal, Djokovic, Sharapova win tough first round matches

Top-ranked Rafael Nadal began his campaign on Tuesday in the US Open with a straight-set win over Russia’s Teymuraz Gabashvili.

Nadal was stretched to two tie-breakers in the first and the second sets, but won the third rather easily, to clinch the game, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4) 6-3. The match lasted 177 minutes and Nadal looked to be stretched in the first couple of sets. Nadal admitted that it was a tough match, and that he needed to work on his serve. Nadal also said, “It’s not my best shot, but I always work hard at improving it. If I am to have chances to win here one day, I need to serve well”

Nadal is an eight-time Grand Slam champions, but has never won the US Open before. His best standing in this tournament is a semi-finals berth that he had achieved in both, 2008 and 2009.

In another match, Novak Djokovic overcame Viktor Troicki, also from Serbia in a tough five-setter. Djokovic won the match 6-3 3-6 2-6 7-5 6-3 and will play Philipp Petzschner in the second round.

Djokovic, like Nadal has been the losing semi-finalists in both the previous appearances in the US Open, and has yet to win the tournament. Speaking of the conditions, Djokovic said, “I have played in such conditions earlier as well. Such long matches always make you feel exhausted in the end. It is absolutely not easy at all. One has to stay really strong to eventually succeed in such situations”.

In other games, Marcos Baghdatis was sent packing by Arnaud Clement, in a five-set match, 6-3 2-6 1-6 6-4 7-5 at the Louis Armstrong Stadium, while Maria Sharapova and Jelena Jankovic also went through to the second round. Both the ladies were stretched to three sets but fought well to win their opening games.

Williams and Federer Advance to Second Round of US Open

Venus Williams and Roger Federer had an easy first round in the US Open 2010 as they breezed past their oppositions in easy time to make it to the second round.

American player Williams brushed aside Roberta Vinci in straight sets at the Arthur Ashe stadium. Williams won 6-4, 6-1 against her 27-year old opponent from Italy. On the other hand, Federer won 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 against the 96th ranked Argentine, Brian Dabul. This was Dabul’s first match at the US Open. Federer will now meet Andreas Beck in the second round of the competition.

Williams, who has won the US Open twice, had not played in any of the hard-court tournaments since the start of the season leading up to the US Open. But she did not show any ill-effects of the knee injury that had caused her the issues.

In another match on the first day of the tournament, two-time French Open runner-up, Robin Soderling needed five sets and four hours to overcome Andreas Haider-Maurer in the first round. Soderling went up by two sets before Haider-Maurer fought back to level the score. In the final set, Haider-Maurer lost the momentum and the match, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7, 5-7, 6-4.

Soderling will face Taylor Dent in the second round who beat Alejandro Falla, 6-4, 7-5, 6-1 in another first round game. Soderling is ranked fifth in the world.

American Andy Roddick made an easy entry into the second round as well after he beat Stéphane Robert in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Former world number one, Dinara Safina was beaten in the first round by Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova, while American teenager Melanie Oudin lost only three games to Olga Savchuk before advancing.

UFC 118 Results Edgar, Couture Win Image via Wikipedia

Frankie Edgar retained his title at the UFC 118 by beating BJ Penn in the August 28 battle in Boston, while Randy Couture lived up to expectations by mauling James Toney in another fight.

Edgar won the lightweight title by overpowering Penn in a one-sided battle. This was very unlike the close match-up that he had had in the UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi earlier this year. Edgar slammed Penn around the cage in a manner that made one wonder whether he was a first-timer.

UFC president Dana White was all praise for Edgar, as he said, “He absolutely dominated B.J. Penn everywhere in the Octagon tonight,” White also added that he could not believe his eyes when he saw Edgar take Penn down on the first two occasions. Edgar had a 12-1 MMA record and a 7-1 UFC record before the fight but has rarely got his due from the experts. It is said that this result may change a lot of that.

Penn hadn’t much to say after the loss but he accepted that Penn fought much better than him on the day. He said, “He’s the man. I have nothing bad to say.”

Edgar will play Gray Maynard in his next fight, which is a rematch of the only loss for him so far. However, much water has passed since that defeat and Edgar will be a different fighter altogether in the match – a fact that Maynard accepted. Maynard said, “Our fight was what, two and a half, three years ago. He has changed a great deal. He’s not the same fighter”

Toney, on the other hand, is a professional boxer and trying his hand at MMA, was one-dimensional in his approach and paid heavy price for it. He was taken down and mounted and the lack of clinch and ground phases meant that he had no answer to the much better Couture.

UFC 118 Toney Wants to Prove Boxing is Better by Fighting Couture Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr

James Toney will face Randy Randy Couture in the UFC 118 on Saturday and the signs are that it is going to be one interesting fight. Toney’s background is boxing, but he claims that he was challenged into the fight by UFC President Dana White, when he called the MMA fighters much better than the boxers.

Toney’s record speaks for itself. He has won 72 fights in about 20 years, and five titles in five different weight classes and has beaten ex-heavyweight champions like Evander Holyfield. However, he has never fought in the MMA and that will be a test of his resolve.

Speaking about his decision to enter into UFC, Toney said that he wanted to prove that boxing was the better sport than MMA. He also added, “I’m not a hater of MMA. I love watching it, but I want everyone to know boxing’s still on top.”

Toney also added that it was a claim made by White that boxers were not good as MMA fighters that had made him try and prove otherwise. He also added that he wanted to fight the best that MMA had to offer, and it was then that Couture had challenged him to a fight.

While acknowledging the obvious differences between boxing and MMA, Toney said that Couture would have never fought anyone like him before. He added, “I guarantee when he goes to sleep every night, he sees (me) in his sleep. He knows what I can do. I’m 22 years deep in the game. He’s 13 years deep in MMA? Come on, man.”

Toney has won 72 of his 83 professional boxing fights, while losing only six. In his amateur years, he had won 31 of his 33 fights.

India v Sri Lanka, Final, Micromax Cup at Dambulla, Highlights Image via Wikipedia

India take on Sri Lanka in the final of the Micromax Cup tri-series on Saturday, August 28. India had entered the final of the tournament by beating New Zealand in the last game of the league stage on Wednesday, thanks to a belligerent century by Virender Sehwag.

Sri Lanka had earlier booked their place in the final of the Micromax Cup after their game against New Zealand was washed off and they thrashed the India with almost 35 overs to spare.

All teams in the tournament, including both the finalists, India and Sri Lanka have struggled to get a decent bat. India have twice been bundled out for 88 and 103, while Sri Lanka have not yet set the stands on fire either. Such has been Sehwag’s one man showing in the tournament so far, that he has 240 runs to his names, while the second-place T Dilshan is on 129. Amongst Indians, skipper MS Dhoni is a distant second best with 73 runs.

Both sides will realise that the toss will be crucial. Despite the team batting second winning three out of the five games, the side winning the toss will want to bat first, put up at least 225 on the board and then unleash the fast bowlers. 250 should be the winning total in the Micromax Cup final between India and Sri Lanka.

Highlights of the India v Sri Lanka game here.

BJ Penn will try to regain back the UFC lightweight title when he takes on Frankie Edgar on August 28 this year in the UFC 118. The fight will take place at Boston in Massachusetts. Edgar had overcome Penn in their previous match-up that was held in April this year at Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Speaking to the media, Edgar said that he is taking the UFC 118 as another fight, and another challenge to retain the title. However, that is not what the bookies think as Penn has been tipped to win the fight, as he had been even before the fight in April.

Edgar was modest about being pegged as the underdog, as he said, “I think the last three or four fights, I have been the underdog. So, I seem to perform pretty good in this position.” Edgar had overcome the likes of Hermes Franca, Sean Sherk, Matt Veach and Penn despite being the underdog.

Of course, Edgar had surprised everyone with his strategy in the previous fight with Penn, when he did not go for the jugular, instead trying to out-point his opponent. It was a strategy that had worked for him then.

That is not to say that it will work again for Edgar. Penn has been often called the best lightweight in UFC’s history and this was a fact that was endorsed by Edgar himself. He said, “I still hold BJ in high regard, and he is a legend in this sport and still is the greatest lightweight of all time.”

What will be interesting to watch is the strategy that Penn comes up with for the UFC 118 to counter a repeat of what happened in the previous fight.

India plays New Zealand in the last round-robin league game of the Micromax Cup at Dambulla on August 25th. This is a must-win game for both sides, and the winner of the match will go on to play Sri Lanka in the final of the tri-series. Sri Lanka had already qualified for the final by winning two games and losing one.

You can watch the highlights of India v New Zealand game at Dambulla live on Ten Sports if you are from India, Pakistan or Bangladesh, while in South Africa, you can watch it on Super Sports. You can also follow the live commentary and scorecard of the India v New Zealand match at Dambulla on August 25th here.

India’s problems on this tour of Sri Lankan had begun with their inexperienced bowling line-up, but as the tour has progressed, the batting has clearly floundered. In two of the three ODIs of the series so far, they have been bowled out for 88 and 103 respectively, while in the third, the Indians struggled to get to 170.

As compared to that, the inexperienced New Zealand batting has also struggled, but where they have scored over the Indians is their bowling. The likes of Darryl Tuffey and Kyle Mills have continued to exploit the bounce on the track, while Andy McKay’s pace has been difficult to face as well. Unless the likes of Virender Sehwag and MS Dhoni can come to the party with the bat, it looks like the Indian side could be taking an early trip back home.

Highlights of the India-New Zealand game at Dambulla here.

Image via Wikipedia

Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren announced the dissolution of there marriage today some nine months after revelations of Tiger’s infidelity. The announcement was made on Tiger’s official website by McGuireWoods LLP, counsel for Elin Nordegren and Sasser, Cestero and Sasser P.A., counsel for Tiger Woods.

Mr. Woods and Ms. Nordegren also issued a joint statement on the number one golfers website www.tigerwoods.com.

“We are sad that our marriage is over and we wish each other the very best for the future. While we are no longer married, we are the parents of two wonderful children and their happiness has been, and will always be, of paramount importance to both of us.”

” Once we came to the decision that our marriage was at an end, the primary focus of our amicable discussions has been to ensure their future well-being. The weeks and months ahead will not be easy for them as we adjust to a new family situation, which is why our privacy must be a principal concern.”

The Judgement was heard in Bay County Circuit Court and provides for shared parenting of their children.

Speculation over the past few months has reported settlement figures as High as $750 million and as low as $100 million these details have as yet not been confirmed.

Roger Federer Wins Cincinnati 2010

Roger Federer served up a warning to his opponents at the US Open by winning the Cincinnati Masters championship by beating Mardy Fish of the USA, in the final on Sunday, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (1), 6-4. This was his fourth championship win at the Cincinnati Masters.

However, Fish can be proud of the way he played. He lost only one service, and had won the first set 7-6. Even Federer acknowledged that the only difference between the two players seemed to be the fitness. The game lasted for two hours and 40 minutes, which was only 37 minutes more than the time Federer had spent on court to get to the final.

Federer had won the first game in the tournament when Denis Istomin retired out of his second round game. This was followed by a bye in the next round, when Philipp Kohlschreiber injured his shoulder and did not play the match. This was followed by two successive straight-setters in the quarter-finals and the semi-finals.

Fish has had fitness issues in the past. He was operated upon on his left knee, and since then, has been recuperating. Changed diet plans and the subsequent loss of weight ensured that he was agile enough through the entire duration of the game. This was his second Masters final, and he has lost both now.

Speaking to the media after the match, Federer said that he thought that he was playing good tennis in the last two weeks. Federer had won five US Open titles leading up to the tournament in 2009, where he lost to Juan Martin del Potro.

This was Federer’s first Masters’ title since the last Cincinnati Masters, and the 63rd career ATP win.

Photo by Emmett Anderson Melborne Open 2010

Top ranked women’s tennis player and 13-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, has withdrawn from this year’s US Open tournament, that begins at Flushing Meadows from August 30th. The younger of the Williams sisters is a three-time US Open singles champion and has won the doubles twice.

Williams is recovering from her surgery on the right foot, which was done to overcome the cut she had earlier sustained. She had sustained those cuts by a broken glass in a restaurant. She underwent the surgery on the July 15th and has been out of action ever since.

Williams released a press statement which expressed ‘frustration and sadness’ at having to pull out of the tournament. She also said that she had taken her doctors’ advice, who had asked her to skip the tournament to allow the foot more time to heal. She added that it was one of the most devastating moments of her career.

Williams will also miss the doubles championship at the US Open, which she competes in, with her sister Venus Williams.

In the previous US Open, Williams had been knocked out of the semi-finals of the tournament, after she had sworn at the lines judge. Unhappy with a call, she had threatened the lines judge and in turn, had invited a record penalty of almost $83,000.

Andy Roddick and Roger Federer were unanimous in expressing their regret over Williams’ absence given that she was going to be the top-seeded player in the tournament.

The US Open has already seen the withdrawal of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Tommy Haas.

The U.S.A. men’s soccer team will feature in a game against Poland on October 9, 2010. The match will be played at the Soldier Field in Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois. This is the second game that USA will play at the international level after their not-so-successful campaign in the World Cup.

USA has played Poland in 16 internationals, out of which the American side has won seven games. The last match between the two sides was played six years ago, and had ended in a 1-1 draw. However, in the three games before that match, the USA had triumphed over their Polish opposition.

And given that this is a FIFA-approved fixture, it will mean that the clubs will need to allow their players to play for the national side.

USA’s coach, Bob Bradley said that they would look forward to a challenging game of soccer against a side which has always supported the game and USA soccer. He also acknowledged that the match will assist Poland in their preparation for the 2012 Euro Cup.

Poland and Ukraine will co-host the 2012 edition of the Euro Cup. This means that Poland does not have to go through the qualification procedure. However, this also puts some pressure on them in terms of going into the tournament without too much practice and hence, it has warm-up games planned against Australia and Ukraine.

In the previous game that USA had played after the 2010 World Cup, they lost 0-2 to a new-look Brazilian side.

The 2010 edition of the World Cup had seen USA qualify for the second round of the tournament with their unbeaten first round show, but they went on to lose to Ghana in the second round.

LeBron James has said that while he will not say no to playing for his former NBA side, Cleveland at a later day, he was motivated by the letter that Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert wrote to the fans. Gilbert had not only echoed the disappointment in the letter that the fans had also done but also called the basketball player as “narcissistic,” and had slammed the decision as a “cowardly betrayal.”

James said in an interview that if there existed an opportunity for him to play for Cleveland again, and if the fans welcomed the player back, then there was a possibility for him to get back.

However, James expressed his disappointment at the Gilbert-letter. He said that the owner rarely cared about him and Gilbert had revealed his true colours through that letter. James also said that it only made him feel more comfortable with the decision to quit his former side.

Gilbert, who had proclaimed in his letter that he guaranteed that Cleveland would win a title before “the self-titled former ‘king’ won one”, was fined $100,000 by the NBA because his comments were perceived to be “a little extreme.”

James said that he did understand the public sentiment against the decision, but wouldn’t have done anything different. He also expressed that he never enjoyed being at Cleveland while he was growing up because of the manner in which the “bigger-city kids looked down on us”

James also said that he had issues with being called a quitter. He added that he had given it all on the court and had never shirked any responsibility.

Tiger Woods may have finished the PGA Championships at two under par, but he continued to remain the number one player in the world according to the freshly released rankings. Woods has already gone without winning a single out of the eight majors that he has competed in this year, and failed to qualify for the Ryder Cup this year for the first time since 1997.

It will now depend on the U.S. captain Corey Pavin to decide on whether he gets selected for the Ryder Cup team. Pavin has to decide on four wild-cards for the tournament. Phil Mickelson, Hunter Mahan, Bubba Watson, Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker, Dustin Johnson, Jeff Overton and Matt Kuchar are the eight who have got direct entry into the tournament.

Pavin kept his cards close to his chest, but he did say that Woods would be one of those who will have a good chance of making it to the Ryder Cup. The 12-member team will be announced on September 7.

Pavin revealed that he will need to look at how Woods was playing before he took the decision whether to play him or not. He also added that if someone could turn his fortunes around as quickly as needed, it had to be Woods.

Speaking about the rest of the team, Pavin said that he was excited about what he saw of the team. Four out of the eight players were experienced guys, while the remaining four were rookies, which makes it a fine blend of youth with experience.

The 38th Ryder Cup will be played between October 1 and 3, at the Celtic Manor Resort in the city of Newport, South Wales.

Germany’s Martin Kaymer won his first ever major title as he overcame USA’s Bubba Watson at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin. Kaymer won a three hole play-off against Watson after the two golfers were tied at 11-under par after 72 holes. With this, Kaymer is only the second German to win a major, emulating countryman, Bernhard Langer.

Zach Johnson finished at the third position, tied with Rory Mcllroy, at 10-under par, while Tiger Woods was a distant two under par.

Earlier, Louis Oosthuizen had won the Open Championships in 2010 and Graeme McDowell pocketed the US Open which makes it six first-time winners in seven major tournaments.

The play-off began with Kaymer and Watson exchanging birdies on the first two holes. It was only after that Watson had issues on the 18^th hole. Watson tried to cover the distance of 206 yards but found the creek and from there, his play went downhill.

Kaymer said that he was more nervous in the regular rounds than in the play-off. He added that he only thought of not making silly errors in the play-off. Though disappointed, Watson said that he was happy with his performance and the fact that he had qualified for the Ryder Cup.

Apart from Kaymer’s win, the story of the day was the controversy related to Dustin Johnson. Johnson led by one going into the final but grounded his club on a bunker – something that the PGA of USA had warned the players against doing.

Johnson seemed to have won the title but was penalised later for this mistake, which pushed him back. Johnson said that he did not know that it was a sand-trap and paid for the mistake with a two stroke penalty.

The Match

Netherlands – Spain, Soccer City, Johannesburg, 20:30 Local Time

Tonight the final of FIFA World Cup 2010 takes place at soccer city in Johannesburg where Netherlands and Spain meet in what is set to be an exciting final match. Many eyes from around the world will be watching this event some choosing live streaming online coverage but the vast majority will watch it on local live coverage on the likes of The BBC and ESPN.

Neither team has ever won this prestigious title with the Netherlands being denied the chance in the final on 2 previous occasions having been beaten in 1974 by Germany and 1978 by Argentina. Spain meanwhile have never reached this stage in FIFA World Cup history and it is fitting that in a year when they have also won the European Championship and will be looking to consolidate their success.

The two teams have met on 9 previous occassions and of those meetings they have an equal number of wins at 4 each with the 9th being a draw. This leaves the match as a close call for anyone to try and predict.

“I don’t see David Villa as Spain’s most dangerous player. The ones you really have to watch are Xavi [Hernandez] and [Andres] Iniesta. They’re the players who set the tempo and make sure the ball gets to Villa. We have to stop them from playing and getting free. We need to mark them very tightly because if we give them the slightest space we’ll have problems,” Arjen Robben, Netherlands forward.

“I don’t think they’ll sit back and defend. They’ve got some quick players who are in terrific form right now. They’ll do what we do and stick to their style. I know Robben. He’s quick powerful and strong, and his shooting from outside the area is a concern for me. What we need to do is cut him off, although there’s more to the Netherlands than just Robben. They are powerful in defence and midfield, and [Wesley] Sneijder and [Dirk] Kuyt are just as dangerous,” Iker Casillas, Spain goalkeeper and captain.

Lebron James, ending months of speculation said Thursday evening ”In this fall, I’m going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat.” James joins Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade to form a “big three” that has the potential to dominate in the coming seasons.

To James, the decision was all about winning championships. Citing the major factor in his decison for making the move as “the best opportunity for me to win now and to the future also.” And who can argue with that?  Lebron James said he came to the decision only that morning after a call to his mother who is a major influence in his life.

He leaves his home state and a Cleveland city that has embraced him since joining them seven years ago. Needless to say, fans in Cleveland were not happy. News video showed them burning his jersey in protest of his decision.

Since coming straight out of high school and joining the hapless Cleveland Caveliers, he has gone to the NBA finals once, and led the team to the best record in the league the last two seasons. But the coveted NBA Championship has eluded him. So his decision to join his friends Bosh and Wade to him made real sense.

The other teams that James talked to in recent days were the New York Nicks, the Chicago Bulls, and the New Jersey Nets.

The only thing left to be seen now is if the three stars will be able to meld together and share the spotlight where previously they were the sole focal point of their team’s success.

The Result

Germany 0-1 Spain

Germany’s run ends as Spain increase a run of 43 match’s where they have always won when they had a 1-0 lead. Spain move on to try and add a FIFA World Cup Trophy to their European Trophy. Germany now face Uruguay to battle out 3rd and 4th place.

The first half began with Spain pushing deep into the German defence and almost took the lead early on followed soon after with another breach in the German defence but denied at the net. Germany then settled into a defensive game waiting for the break. They had a few opportunities but failed to convert them whilst Spain enjoyed the lions share of possession in the first half which ended as a goalless draw.

Spain pushed hard again in the second half denying Germany room to move and counter their attacks. After several changes in players Germany still couldn’t break the deadlock then in the 73rd minute Carles Puyol headed in a corner from Xavi to win the game for Spain.

This will be a first for Spain having never made it to the Final of a FIFA World Cup as indeed there opponents The Netherlands debut as well.

The Match

Germany-Spain, Semi-Final, Durban

Tonight at 20:30 local time we will find out which team will face the Netherlands in the final of FIFA World Cup 2010. The statistics from the match’s so far tell us that Germany lead the goal scoring in the tournament with 13 goals thus far. We also know that Spain lead the stakes in attacking play and this will surely lead to an explosive semi final match tonight.

Germany comes to the semi final having convincingly, barr a small hiccup against Serbia, topped group D with 6 points with wins against Australia 4-0, Ghana 1-0 and less fortunately a loss against Serbia 1-0. In the knockout round they met England where they decisively dispatched them home with the highest margin loss for England of 4-1. Equally in their last match the quarter final they showed a young Argentina squad, coached by Maradona, that they have much to learn yet by dispatching them in no small way with a 4-0 win. A German team on form and with their eyes set firmly on the goal of winning FIFA World Cup 2010 will be a match for Spain this evening.

Spain arrive in this semi final match having topped Group H on only goal difference where they were matched for points, at 6, by Chile who would succombe to Brazil in the knockout round of 16. Spain opened their campaign with a disappointing and somewhat shock loss to Switzerland in their first match of FIFA World Cup 2010. Rallying they then went on to beat both Honduras and Chile 2-0 and 2-1 respectively. With the European champions back to the form enjoyed in the European championship they met Portugal in the round of 16 and dispatched their ations neighbours 1-0. The quarter final saw a hard fought match against a Paraguay team that gave no quarter and pushed hard for their own campaign the Europeans held through and produced another 1-0 win to advance to the semi final match this evening against Germany and will no doubt be looking for the same form that helped them win their current European Champion Status.

“Spain are the favourites to my mind and their team play is just amazing. They don’t have one Messi, they have several, and they don’t make many mistakes either, unlike England and Argentina. We need to force them to make errors,” Joachim Low, Germany coach.

“We haven’t come this far to finish fourth. We are going to fight hard against Germany to reach the Final, which is our one and only objective. We’ve reached a landmark for Spanish football by getting past the quarter-finals, but we know the Germany match is the most important in our history, even more so than the EURO 2008 final in Austria,” Iker Casillas, Spain goalkeeper and captain.

The Result

Uruguay 2-3 Netherlands

In a match where Uruguay came in as the underdogs they made Netherlands work for their win. Netherlands extend their winning run by one and look forward to meeting either Spain or Germany in the final and adding another win.

With Netherlands probing early to find the holes in the Uruguay defence the match settled and they held the Netherlands at bay until the 18th minute when Giovanni Van Bronckhorst unleashed a 30 yard shot out of the blue catching the keeper off guard and despite getting a hand to the ball it only diverted the ball into the net.

The south americans were not phased and infact proved that they too can create something from seemingly nothing when Diego Forlan, the Uruguay Captain, suckered the Netherlands keeper into expecting him to pass and instead curled the ball into the net with the help of a slight deflection bring the score even just before the break.

With Uruguay bouyed in confidence after their first half performance they began to probe the Netherlands defence without reward. The Netherlands held fast and patiently waited for the opportunities to come as they did in the 70th minute when Wesley Sneijder turn a deflection in a 20 yard blast into the net doubling their score and taking the lead. Barely 3 minutes later Arjen Robben doubled their lead when he snuck in and met a cross fro Kuyt and headed into the net. A late goal for Uruguay was not enough to save them and the match ended with a win for the Netherlands.

The Match

Uruguay-Netherlands, semi-final, Cape Town

Tonight a scarcely talked of semi final match in the FIFA World Cup 2010 run up will take place in Cape Town Uruguay take on the Netherlands to see who will go on to meet either Germany or Spain in the final.

Uruguay find themselves here on a run of 9 match’s so far this year without loss winning 7 of them and drawing. They topped the table in group A with 7 points and wins against Mexico and South Africa and a hard fought draw against France. In the round of 16 they met and beat Korea in regular time with a convincing 2-1 scoreline. In the quarter final they had a hard battle against Ghana running into extra time and then penalties decided the match in Uruguay’s favour.

The Netherlands are on a run of 24 match’s unbeaten and 9 of them in 2010 they won all their group E match’s topping the table with 9 points with convincing wins over Denmark, Japan and Cameroon in the round of 16 they knocked out Slovakia in regular time with a 2-1 scoreline. IN a clash of the titans match they dispatched Brazil in 90 minutes in the quarter final coming back from 1 down to win 2-1.

These two teams have met only once before in the group stage of the 1974 FIFA World Cup tournament where the Netherlands triumphed 2-0. For Uruguay this is the first time since 1970 that they have made it to the semi final.

“It will be a very dangerous match. The euphoria at home is massive at the moment and maybe it’s good that we’re so far away and can’t witness it. We really need to concentrate on Uruguay and that won’t be easy. They didn’t reach the semi final for nothing, so we have to really focus again and not think that we’re already there,” Bert Van Marwijk, Netherlands coach.

“Holland are tough opponents. They’ve not lost for almost two years. This generation is a little different to the traditional Holland – they are a very balanced side. At the back they give nothing away, they link well in midfield, and up front, they have hard-running, technically capable players like Van Bommel, Sneijder and Robben. They’re always on the front foot, looking to attack. It’ll be very difficult – but not impossible,” Oscar Tabarez, Uruguay coach.

The Result

Spain 1-0 Paraguay

This evening Spain ended Paraguays quest to win the FIFA World Cup 2010 in a match that was hard fought by both teams with little to separate in skill and tenacity between the teams.

Spain retained much of the same team as their previous match whilst the coach of paraguay made 6 changes to the team for this match. With both teams looking to reach new hieghts in their FIFA World Cup achievements with Spain’s last appearance in the top 4 being 60 years ago and Paraguay, having already reached a new high looking to stretch it further.

During the first half Parguay managed to lock Spain down and disturb their normal flow of game and even providing some early wake up calls that this was not going to be a walkover. With a disallowed goal, for an offside infraction,Paraguay ended the first half with aspring in their step and a glimmer of hope to win the match.

The second half started in a similar fashion with a virtual deadlock until 15 minutes in when 2 successive penalty’s awarded at either end of the field failed to produce any goals. It wasn’t until the 84th minute that David Villa converted a rebounded shot from Pedro and put Spain in the lead and this is where they remained providing the 4 team for the semi final.

The Line Up For FIFA World Cup 2010 Semi Finals Will Be :-

Uraguay – Netherlands on 6th July

Germany – Spain on 7th July

The Result

Argentina 0-4 Germany

Germany today gave the Argentinian team a lesson in world class football both having had a stable progression to the quarter finals it was evident that today Germany are the team on form to potentially go on and win the tournament.

Thomas Mueller opened their case in the first 3 minutes and from there it was no going back as the German team systematically denied Argentina any room to move and create any chances for themselves to regain postion in the match.

Miroslav Klose provided goals in the 68th and 89th minute and Arne Friedrich in the 74th minute. Leaving the Argentines nmo alternative but to pack their bags and rethink their next campaign in FIFA World Cup tournaments.

We now wait the outcome of tonights match to see who faces the Germans in the semi finals.

For many the opportunity to watch the FIFA World Cup live will be a pipe dream so the next best thing is to watch it Live on TV or a computer screen via satelite or live streaming online video.

Since the emergence of the internet we have seen many information industry’s turn to the online medium to provide information and entertainment for mass audiences. Sports and in particular at the moment World Cup football is no different whilst these can be watched, for the most part, freely on channels around the world such as the BBC and ITV in the UK, ABC and ESPN in the USA.

For many this requires a monthly subscription providing a whole plethera of other channels that they don’t necessarily need or want. Enter the ability to watch only the event’s, games or match’s that you prefer be it every 4 years such as the FIFA World Cup or once a week when your favourite team are playing. There are so many sports events going on at the same time that the advent of live streaming football and other sports event’s can not often all be covered by the mainstream sports channels.

There is also an extra virtual social aspect that online streaming provides with most live streaming providers also having the ability to communicate with others during the event.

The Match

Paraguay-Spain, Johannesburg (Ellis Park), 3 July

Todays second, and the last, quarter final match will see Paraguay try and Topple Spain, the current European champions. The two teams have starkly contrasting styles, will the staunch defensive style of Paraguay stand up to the possessive attacking style that helped Spain conquer European football.

The two sides meet for the fourth time on the international stage with Spain winning their encounter at the 2002 FIFA World Cup tournament and the other two ending in goalless draws. Both teams have had a rocky road to this stage and the winner here will face the winner of this afternoons Argentina – Germany match.

Neither team have significant injury problems or any suspension’s to affect the team selections, Paraguays coach is marginally concerned about his teams possible fatigue after a marathon match against Japan to even be here to play against Spain.

“They have players who can make all the difference, especially in midfield where we can’t afford to even let them turn round. We are really up for this game and that’s going to make up for any tiredness we might feel. The team can’t wait for this game to get started. We’re doing a great job but we still have more to give, and our best performances so far have been against the big sides,” Nelson Valdez, Paraguay striker.

“Paraguay are not unlike Chile. As we all know they gave us a lot of problems, and it would be silly of us to underestimate them. I’m not worried about overconfidence because there’s none of that in the squad. We have an awful lot of respect for Paraguay and they’ve been brilliant in getting this far, beating a strong Japan side the other day,” Vicente del Bosque, Spain coach.

The Match

Argentina-Germany, Cape Town, 3 July, 16.00

The first match of the day see’s to consistent teams meet in a quarter final again, they met in the quarter finals in 2006, Argentina and Germany between them hold 5 FIFA World Cup titles.

Argentina have so far put in a flawless performance winning all of their group match’s and dispatching Mexico in the knockout round. Maradona has a found his dream team for this tournament and seems to be sticking with a winning formula.

Germany have, apart from a small hiccup against Serbia, put in a similarly clinical performance thus far in the tournament and dispatch England in the last round with a stunning 4-1 performance.

Thes two teams have met 5 times previously in the tournament over the years with Germany seemingly hold the upper hand by winning 3 against 1 win for Argentina in the 1986 finals, the other a goalless draw in 1966. In the battle of psychology Argentina may have a margin over the Germans having beaten them in a friendly match back in March of this year. Another being the number of yellow card’s issued and counting going into this match with the Germans carrying 5 and the Argentines carrying 3 yellow carded players into this match.

“I’d love to be out on the pitch this time and pull on a shirt and play. It’s a game we can’t afford to lose but I wouldn’t compare it to the 1986 Final. Germany are a very tough side for sure. They’re more powerful than Mexico but we have the resources to beat them,” Diego Maradona, Argentina coach.

“Look at the names on paper and Argentina are stronger than us. But it was the same with England. They had more experience and bigger names but that didn’t show on the pitch. We have a great team and we can definitely go out and do what we did in our last game,” Miroslav Klose, Germany

The Result

Uraguay 1-1 Ghana

1-1 after extra time

4-2 Penalty Shoot Out

Uraguay send Ghana, the last African Nation team left in the tournament, home after a tense match lasting the full 120 minutes of playing time allowed and decided on a penalty shoot out in Uraguay’s favour.

The first half started with Uraguay taking command of the pace and narrowly missing a few early chances to take the first goal. Richard Kingson was well tested in the first 20 minutes. Then Ghana settled to the pace of the match and developed some opportunity’s of their own and indeed took the lead on the stroke of half time when Sulley Muntari powered in a curling 35 yard shot that fooled the Uraguay keeper and left Ghana 1-0 up at the end of 45 minutes.

The second half didn’t see Ghana capitalize on the high of leading into the break when Diego Forlan netted a swerving free kick from the edge of the box to even the score and revive Uraguay’s chance. As the match progressed with both teams looking for the winner to take them through to meet the Netherlands.

The score remained at 1-1 when 90 minutes where finished and ushered in an extra period of play during which several opportunities were missed by both sides but most notable Ghana’s chance to end it with a win when Gyan missed a last minute penalty.

Gyan redeemed himself in the penalty shoot out by converting the first penalty unfortunately it would not be enough when the Uraguay keeper saved two shots in a row leaving Abreu to put the final ball in the net and seal Ghana’s fate in this tournament.

Uraguay now face The Netherlands on 6th July in the semi final.

Uraguay - Ghana

The Match

Uraguay – Ghana

The second FIFA World Cup 2010 quarter final match takes place today at 20:30 local time at Johannesburg (Soccer City), this will be a new experience for Ghana who failed to advance this far on their FIFA World Cup debut 4 years ago. It has been 40 years since Uraguay reached the final 4 and they will surely be looking to do the same this year.

Uraguay struggled to qualify but have shown great form after a moderate start in their opening goaless draw with France winning the next 3 match’s in a row and will be looking to increase that to 4 and meet either Brazil or the Netherlands in the semi finals. Ghana are the only remaining African nation in the tournament and will be relying on the crowds to lift them and help them through to unknown teritory this evening.

“They are fast, strong, and they have done well in other games, even against Germany,” Diego Forlan, Uruguay forward.

“They have a great team, especially in attack. This is what we have to watch out for because they have players like Forlan and Suarez,” Asamoah Gyan, Ghana striker.

Brazil V Netherlands

The Match

Brazil – Netherlands

The first of the FIFA World Cup 2010 quarter finals start’s this afternooon at 16:00 Local time at Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth and it is set to be a great game with 2 of the tournament favourite’s meeting and one will go home today.

The Netherlands come on the wave of a 23 match unbeaten streak whilst a reformed Brazil are now 10 match’s unbeaten. Both teams also came through top of their respective groups and whilst Brazil breezed through a knockout round 3-0 against Chile, Netherlands had a bit more of a tough time against a competant Slovakia but came through 2-1.

So the stage is set to decide who goes on to face either Uraguay or Ghana depending on who wins in that other match of the day this evening.

“Taking on Brazil is a tremendous challenge for us, but we’re staying focused on achieving our objective, which is the world title. The Brazilians have a mature and solid team, who give off a positive type of arrogance: an air of invincibility. For the first time, the Netherlands are going into a game as underdogs,” Bert van Marwijk, Netherlands coach.

“It’s hard for Brazil or the Netherlands to sit back. They play a similar game to us: they like to take the initiative. Quarter-final games are always very cagey and sometimes get bogged down. We’ll be trying to score a goal in the first half so we can play with a bit more freedom,” Juan, Brazil defender.

The Results

Paraguay 0-0 Japan FT
Paraguay 0-0 Japan ET
Paraguay 5-3 Japan Penalties

Spain 1-0 Portugal

This afternoons match became the first to run to a penalty shoot out between Paraguay and Japan. With both teams fighting for a first time place in a FIFA World Cup quarter finals which is perhaps why much of the first 90 minutes lacked the passion and inspiration we have seen from both teams in previous match’s. With a few brief moments from each side to test the keepers no goals materialized and full time came with no score on the card.

There was a little more action in the extra period of play but still no goals despite several attempts by both teams. This left the match to be decided by penalty’s of which only 1 of nine taken was missed in Paraguay’s favour.

“It was a very tight game, though I think we had a slight edge on our opponents. We showed more heart than football and, in a game like this, that’s enough. Other teams need to play more football to win. That said, we’re not going to understate the value of being among the top eight teams in the world. Why did I shout? I was just blowing off steam. There’s a lot of tension and anxiety and you suffer because the players are putting in so much effort. The Japanese also worked really hard but luck was on our side. We’ve taken another step forward, but we’ve not achieved our goals yet. Let’s hope we can recover quickly and keep making history.” Gerardo Martino, Paraguay coach

The second match of the day saw Spain overcome their neighbours Portugal in a test of European football giants. Both defending record match runs Spain with 29 wins from 31 and Portugal without a defeat for 19 match’s. The match started with a flurry of action from end to end. After 20 minute’s it calmed down to a more controlled pace. In the 63rd minute of the match the only goal of the game was given by David Villa when he hooked a rebound in the 6 yard box into the net. This is how the match ended and now Spain go on to face Paraguay in the quarter finals.

The Quarter Final Line Up

July 2

Uraguay – Ghana
Netherlands – Brazil

July 3

Argentina – Germany
Paraguay – Spain

The Match’s

Paraguay-Japan, Tshwane/Pretoria, 16.00 (local time)
Spain-Portugal, Cape Town, 20.30 (local time)

Today see’s the last 4 teams playing for a place in the quarter final’s and a mixed bag it is but none that don’t deserve to be here.

The first match see’s Paraguay and Japan meet and this match will provide a first occasion which ever nation wins since neither team have ever made it to the quarter finals of a FIFA World Cup in the past. Paraguay were instrumental in usurping Italy from the copmpetition in their group and Japan performed well in an equally tough group.

“With their pace and agility, Japan are a team hard to play against. They have players who can change the direction of a game so we have to come out very focused and keep running throughout the game,” Roque Santa Cruz, Paraguay forward.

‘Paraguay’s defence is compactly organised. They have physical strength but are also good on the ball. I think they will be difficult opponents,” Yuki Abe, Japan midfielder.

The second match of the day see’s neighbour nations Spain and Portugal fight it out for a place in the quarter finals. With both teams sporting near fully fit squads and holding 2nd and 3rd place FIFA/Coca Cola world ranking status between them this looks set to be an explosive match.

After an initial glitch against the Swiss Spain prevailed and topped their group to be here thus avoiding meeting Brazil one of the other favorites to win the tournament. Portugal battled through a tough group surviving a meeting with Brazil and pulling of an impressive 7-0 defeat against Korea.
With 33 previous international and european meeting’s Spain hold the lead in winning match’s with 15 to Portugals 5, this will be the first time the teams have met in a FIFA World Cup tournament.

“Portugal are a great team and they’re about more than just Cristiano Ronaldo. Yes it’s true that Cristiano is one of their best players, but we mustn’t forget that the Portuguese are the only team that still haven’t conceded a goal at this World Cup. That proves that they’re a solid unit and not just a collection of individuals. Their game is based around defensive solidity, pace and counter-attacking, as well as having very skilful players. I foresee a very difficult game, like they all will be for the rest of the competition. Only the best teams are left in it now,” Vicente del Bosque, Spain coach.

“We’re ready to take on anybody. We’ve already played in critical games during qualifying and now we have another all-or-nothing match at a World Cup. That’s why we’re ready to give everything we’ve got on the pitch with only one aim in mind: staying in the World Cup. Portugal’s best is still to come,” Carlos Queiroz, Portugal coach.

The Results

Netherlands 2-1 Slovakia
Brazil 3-0 Chile

Todays two matchs give us a Netherlands v Brazil quarter final which will be another great match.

This afternoons meeting of Netherlands and Slovakia ended the mid europeans tournament but not without a battle for Netherlands. Slovakia have provided the most convincing opposition to the Netherlands so far in this tournament. Netherlands opened their goal account in the 18th minute when Arjen Robben scored after a long chasing run beating the Slovakian defence and firing a low shot into the net.

Netherlands had to wait until the 84th minute when Wesley Sneijder provided the next goal for the Netherlands converted a pass from Dirk Kuyt to consolidate their lead. Slovakia claimed back a consolation goal in the 94th minute when Vittek scored from the penalty spot after Stekelenburg brought him down.

The Netherlands move on now to face Brazil in the quarter finals.

In the second match of the day Brazil beat Chile 3-0 making this the third time in the match’s that they have played in the qualifying process and knockout round. There was never much doubt that Brazil would win this match from the moment it started. Chile had the most of the initial possession but never threatened the Brazilian goal then in the last ten minutes of the first half Brazil scored 2 goals in quick succession followed by a third in the 59th minute.

Brazil and Netherlands will meet in a quarter final match you won’t want to miss.