Final round of Asian qualifying for FIFA world cup 2010
June 29, 2008
The 10 teams that qualified for the final stage of Asian zone qualifying now know their opponents in what will decide the four teams to qualify for the 2010 FIFA word cup in South Africa. A fifth team could also qualify if they defeat the Oceania playoff team.
The teams were drawn into two groups of 5 teams. Australia and Korea Republic were seeded in the different groups and could not be drawn together. The groups are below.
Group 1: Australia, Japan, Bahrain, Uzbekistan, Qatar
Group 2: Korea Republic, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Korea DPR, United Arab Emirates
Match schedule (TBC):
(The ten teams, divided into two groups of five, will play home-and-away. Home teams given first:)
Matchday 1: 6 September 2008 - 3 v 2, 5 v 4 (1 bye)
MD 2: 10 September 2008 - 4 v 1; 5 v 3 (2 bye)
MD 3: 15 October 2008 - 1 v 5; 2 v 4 (3 bye)
MD 4: 19 November 2008 - 5 v 2; 3 v 1 (4 bye)
MD 5: 11 February 2009 - 4 v 3; 2 v 1 (5 bye)
MD 6: 28 March 2009 - 2 v 3, 4 v 5 (1 bye)
MD 7: 1 April 2009 - 1 v 4; 3 v 5 (2 bye)
MD 8: 6 June 2009 - 5 v 1; 4 v 2 (3 bye)
MD 9: 10 June 2009 - 2 v 5; 1 v 3 (4 bye)
MD 10: 17 June 2009 - 3 v 4; 1 v 2 (5 bye)
Australia and Japan will continue their World Cup rivalry after facing each other in the group stage in the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany. On that occasion Australia got the points.
Australia and Qatar opponents in the previous group stage are paired up once again. Australia will be hoping to have repeat of the impressive wins against Qatar.
The two Korean teams are together again for this stage of qualifying after coming through from the same group.
There will be no easy matches in the race for a spot at the 2010 World Cup.
Who are your picks to advance from the Asian zone? Leave you comment below. Also if you want to share this article you can use the ShareThis link below.
St George end Gold Coast perfect home record
June 28, 2008
The St George Illawarra Dragons have continued with their recent good form and have done what no other NRL team has done in season 2008. They have defeated the Titans on home turf.
In a close match the Dragons scored a try in the 68th minute to take the match.
The Titans had Ben Jeffery (4th minute), Brett Delaney (34m), Luke O’Dwyer (47m) and Mat Rogers (60m) score tries. Rogers converted two tries.
The Dragons also scored four tries however the accurate goal kicking from Jamie Soward gave St George the advantage. Ben Hornby (30th minute), Brett Morris (38m), Chase Stanley (51m) and Michael Lett (68m) were the try scores.
The win sees the Dragons in fifth spot on the NRL ladder four points from top spot.
Another Friday night thriller in NRL
June 28, 2008
There have been plenty of tight matches in the NRL over recent times. On friday night in the match between Brisbane and Penrith we got more of the same. Well almost.
Instead of the match being decided at the last minute, or in golden point extra time both teams were locked on 12 a piece after 90 minutes. That’s right, teams level after 80 minutes and still level after an additional 5 minutes each way extra time for the first draw of the season.
Both teams came into the match with understrength teams. Brisbane had four players sitting out on State of Origin duty and also a few more out injured. Most notably Darren Lockyer. The Penrith team were without Petero Civoniceva who lines up for Queensland in the State of Origin decider and many other top players who were out injured. When you add them all up each team was without nine regular first graders.
The match did not see many points as it was 6-6 at halftime and then 12-12 at fulltime. Luke Jennings got the first try of the match in the 24th minute. The Broncos scored the next two with Dave Taylor crossing in the 33rd minute and Corey Parker in the 48th minute.
With time winding down Michael Jennings scored a good try for the Panthers in the 73rd minute. 18 year old Lachlan Coote who was making his debut at fullback had the chance to win the match with the conversion. He also had several more opportunities to be the hero in his first ever first grade match in the NRL. A penalty shot just missed after two minutes of extra time and Coote also missed a well struck long range field goal attempt. As time wound down he missed a second field goal however that one was a dud shot.
Brisbane had a chance to steal the match at the end of regular time however Greg Eastwood’s field goal attempt was charged down.
In the end both teams walked away with a point. A good result considering.
In the other match on Friday night the Roosters pulled off a good win without 6 players who were on State of Origin duty. After falling behind 10-0 the Roosters worked their way back into the match before running out 24-14 winners.
One players misfortune is another players opportunity.
First Maria now Ana out at Wimbledon
June 28, 2008
In the second round at Wimbledon we saw Maria Sharapova take an early exit after losing to countrywoman Alla Kudryavtseva. Now in another shock result, or was it? world no. 1 Ana Ivanovic has been bundled out of Wimbledon.
Ivanovic was up against Chinese wildcard Zheng Jie who is currently ranked 133 in the world. This is not a true indication of her ability as she missed most of 2007 through injury and was up to no. 27 in August 2006.
My wife, who is Chinese, said to me that it is unfair that Zheng should play the world no. 1. I said to her that after Ivanovic previous round’s match that Zheng was in with a chance against the no. 1 seed.
I must admit I was not expecting such a one sided first set. It ended up going to the hard hitting Chinese player 6-1. Ivanovic admitted after the match that she had trouble adjusting to the hitting style of Zheng. The Chinese girl is relatively short and hits the ball flat and hard. On grass this is hard to handle. A string of unforced errors from Ivanovic also made it easier for Zheng.
In the second set Ivanovic worked hard to get back into the match. She would have felt she could repeat the comeback win she completed in the second round. Ivanovic did play better however she was not solid enough against Zheng. Perhaps a change of tactics was called for.
Zheng did not let Ivanovic back into the match and the result was that we farewell the no. 1 player in the women’s world of tennis from Wimbledon.
Zheng is a past doubles champion having won the title in 2006. Her win in the third round surpasses her best ever Wimbledon singles result which was a third round appearance in 2006.
The Williams sisters probably now would come to mind when thinking of who might claim the 2008 Wimbledon title. Jelana Jankovic or Svetlana Kuznetsova should also be considered.
Zheng will face 15th seeded Agnes Szavay from Hungary in the next round. The winner will book a quarterfinal place against either Russia’s 8th seed Anna Chakvetadze or Czech Republic’s 18th seeded Nicole Vaidisova.
Derrick Rose goes no.1 in NBA Draft
June 27, 2008
The Chicago Bulls have used their number one draft pick to select Derrick Rose out of Memphis. Rose was widely tipped to go number one in the mock draft boards around the basketball world.
Rose is a 6′3″ guard who helped Memphis go all the way to the 2008 NCAA final where his team went down to Kansas. Rose’s speed and athleticism should see him score plenty of driving baskets in the NBA.
Miami Heat picked Michael Beasley at no. 2. Beasley who came out of Kansas State.
For all the info about the NBA draft day picks head over to the NBA site.
Now that the draft picks have been made it will be interesting to see if they all sign up and end up playing next season. As a bulls fan I am looking forward to seeing what impact Derrick Rose can make. It would be nice to see them in the playoffs again.
Thunder and lightning nor Russia can stop Spain
June 27, 2008
Spain proved too good for Russia in the second semifinal at the Euro 2008 football tournament. Lightning was seen during the match as well as steady rain. This did not slow down Spain
Spain was in control for most of the match and scored goals through Xavi Hernández in the 50th minute, Daniel Güiza after 73 minutes and David Silva in the 82nd minute to wrap up the match 3-0.
Russian coach Guus Hiddink said it was Spain’s one touch style of play that wore down his Russian team. Russia could stay with Spain for an hour but it was too much to go the distance.
The final will now take place to two of the favourites at the beginning of the tournament as Spain faces Germany. For Spain it is the first major final that they will play since they lost the 1984 final to France. Spain won the European crown way back in 1964.
The first goal for Spain was setup on the left side by Andres Iniesta who evaded two defenders before firing a cross that was deflected in by Hernández.
Goal two came after a clever little chip pass put Güiza into the clear. He in turn chipped his shot into the back of the net.
The final goal was setup by man of the match Iniesta who delivered a nice pass to Cesc Fabregas who advanced the ball down the left side of the field before a centering cross to Silva who controlled the ball with one touch and then threaded the shot just past the goalkeeper and inside the left post.
The only bad thing to come out of the match for Spain is the news that David Villa was injured and will miss the final.
Sharapova bounced out of Wimbledon in second round
June 27, 2008
2004 women’s Wimbledon champion and no. 3 seed Maria Sharapova has been knocked out of Wimbledon by fellow Russian Alla Kudryavtseva who is ranked 154 in the world. The final score was rather embarrassing for a former champion and past world no. 1. 6-2, 6-4.
No. 2 seed Jelena Jankovic had no trouble advancing to the third round with a win over Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1, 6-3.
French Open finalist Dinara Safina defeated Su-Wei Hsieh 6-3, 6-2.
With Sharapova out of the tournament the bottom half of the draw has opened up. The no. 5 seed Elena Dementieva is now the highest seed left in Sharapova’s quarter of the draw. Jankovic, if she can go all the the semi’s will also now not have to worry about Sharapova.
The no. 10 seed Daniela Hantuchova also was knocked out of Wimbledon on day 4. She lost to Alisa Kleybanova from Russia 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.
Russia is well represented in the women’s singles with 17 players that started in the main draw
Germany knock the stuffing out of Turkey at Euro 2008
June 26, 2008
Turkey found themselves on the wrong end of the scoreline in yet another exciting Euro 2008 match. I cannot remember a tournament that has had so many last minute goals to decide a match.
In the Euro 2008 semifinal between Germany and Turkey it looked as though the match was heading into extra time before a late goal to Germany’s Philipp Lahm settled the affair in the 90th minute. This time there was no amazing comeback from Turkey.
The fact that Turkey had levelled the match with an 86th-minute strike from Semih ?entürk was dramatic enough.
You would have been a supreme optimist to think the Turkish side would be able to summon one last dramatic equaliser. You can only do this so many times. Just like the run of Dinara Safina in the French Open where twice she came back from seemingly lost positions it is tough to do it four times running.
In this match it was Turkey who were first to score. It was through U?ur Boral’s in the 22nd-minute of the match. The lead was short lived as Germany hit back within minutes. This time it was Bastian Schweinsteiger who scored just four minutes later.
With 11 minutes left in the match extra time was looking likely before Miroslav Klose got on the end of a long cross and headed Germany into the lead. Turkish goalkeeper Rü?tü Reçber tried to reach the cross however Klose beat him to it.
Surely Turkey could not come back yet again, but comeback they did. It was Sabri who setup Semih with his cross being turned in for the goal that levelled the match.
Turkey would now feel the heartbreak of having the match snatched away from them in the dying moments as a one-two between Hitzlsperger and Lahm that saw the latter knock in the winner.
It was the end for a brave Turkish team that had thrilled so many football fans. They had pulled off the impossible against Switzerland, Czech Republic and Croatia with last-gasp goals however they could not do it this time around.
Germany deservedly advances to the final of Euro 2008 where they await the winner of the Spain-Russia match.
Will Spain and Russia be able to live up to the excitement of the first semifinal? If they can football fans are in for a treat.
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Ivanovic faces match point then…
June 26, 2008
Ana Ivanovic has come into Wimbledon with the expectations of the tennis world on her shoulders. She is the new world no. 1 and the top seed.
In the first round Ivanovic strolled into the next stage with a comfortable 6-1, 6-2 win against Rossana De los rios. In the second round she found herself facing a seasoned campaigner in the form of French women Natalie Dechy.
Back in early 2006 Dechy was ranked as high as no. 11 in the world. Since then she has slipped down to her current singles ranking of 97. Her past shows that she is capable of playing some quality tennis. Dechy reached the semi finals at the 2005 Australian Open but I have to say after looking through the past few years of playing history she has not done much since her best year of 2005.
Today the Frenchwoman showed she can handle the power game of Ivanovic. She kept the pressure on the top seed with good all round play. In the first set Dechy surprised all by taking it in a tie break.
In the second set Ivanovic faced two match points before coming back to win the second in another tie break. She was inches away from being out after the net kept her in the match.
The third set was a battle with both girls dropping serve in the middle of the set. The pressure was on as Ivanovic tried to close out the match. She failed when serving at 5-4 up. This match was going the distance.
Ivanovic edged ahead 6-5 and was looking likely to take the match. Dechy had other ideas and saved two match points herself. She then won the game to make it 6-6.
Games went with serve until Dechy found herself serving to stay in the match at 8-9. Two winners and a forced error gave Ivanovic three match points. Dechy saved one. Finally at 40-15 up Ivanovic converted the match point with a winner hit close to the line to take the match. A squeal of delight came from Ivanovic as she knew she had finally won after 3 hours and 24 minutes.
The final score was 6-7(2), 7-6(3), 10-8
A great match from Dechy and a true test of Ivanovic’s fighting spirit. The no. 1 seed will face China’s Jie Zheng in the third round.
Ivanovic has to thank the net cord for keeping her in the Wimbledon tournament after it went her way on a second match point for Dechy in the second set.
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Djokovic out of Wimbledon
June 26, 2008
Marat Safin has pulled off the biggest upset so far at the 2008 Wimbledon. He has defeated Novak Djokovic in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-2.
Safin was playing at the top of his game in contrast to Djokovic who did not look at ease against the big Russian. Safin is of course a former world no. 1 and has won at the US Open and the Australian Open. Currently he is ranked 75 in the world.
So far this season Safin has not set the world on fire. He went out in the second round of the Australian Open and his best result to date was a quarterfinal in Munich.
Based on recent form you had to favor Djokovic going into the match. Nonetheless Safin is someone you would want to avoid in the second round of any tournament. Djokovic found out that Marat is back.
It now remains to be seen if this was a one off hot streak for Safin or can he play at a level to take him all the way to a Wimbledon title. Probably a bit soon to get too excited.
Let me know what you think. Who is your pick for the men’s title?
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