Spain won the World Cup for the first time when they beat Netherlands 1-0 after extra time thanks to a goal by midfielder Andres Iniesta.
Iniesta fired home the winner when he was put through in the area by Cesc Fabregas. Keeper Maarten Stekelenburg dived to his right and got a hand to the ball he could not keep it out.
The defeat was heartbreaking for the Dutch, who were down to 10 men after John Heitinga was sent off in extra time. It was their third World Cup final loss after 1974 and 1978.
European champions Spain had looked the more assured early on in the clash at Soccer City as a nervous-looking Dutch side ceded territory to their slick opponents.
Stekelenburg was forced into a save after five minutes when Sergio Ramos headed a Xavi cross goalwards while Spain forward David Villa crashed a volley into the side netting with the goal looming.
But a series of freekicks and bookings, including two strong challenges by Dutch midfielders Nigel de Jong and Mark van Bommel, shook Spain out of their rhythm and stopped them from producing the swift-passing game that got them to the final.
| Name: | Maria Yuryevna Sharapova | |
| Nickname(s) | Masha | |
| Date of Birth: | April 19, 1987 | |
| Birthplace: | Nyagan, Russia (Siberian Region) | |
| Residence: | Bradenton, Florida, USA | |
| Nationality: | Russian | |
| Height: | 6'2 | |
| Weight: | 130 lbs. (59 kg) | |
| Plays: | Right-handed; two-handed backhand | |
| Clothing: | Nike | |
| Racquet: | Prince | |
| Career prize money | US$12,169,281 |
Maria Sharapova (Masha) has lived in the United States since poignant there at the age of seven but retains her Russian social responsibility. She has a home in Manhattan Beach, California and in early 2008, a penthouse flat in Netanya, Israel.
On February 14, 2007, Maria Sharapova was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and donated US$100,000 to UNDP Chernobyl-recovery projects. She is arrangement on settled Synonyms back to the area later Wimbledon in 2008.
Maria Sharapova has been labeled a sway baseliner by tennis observers, with brilliant energy, intensity, and angles on her, which are particularly effectual on hard and grass courts. She is not a traditional volleyer, instead preferring to use a powerful hail for net approaches. This also occurs when it comes to attacking a lob as she frequently uses a powerful cascade instead of an above your head slam-dunk Synonyms. And critics also demand that, for her pinnacle, Sharapova has good on-yard slowness. At the 2008 Australian Open, prominent that Sharapova to have settled Antonym her game, presentation improved pressure group and maneuvering and added the drop shot and the sliced to her repertoire of shots.
Maria Sharapova's game is not as well-fit to clay as it is to fresh surfaces. This is predominantly because she confidence in her gift to move on clay, largely because she appears uncomfortable sliding, and she herself once described as like a "cow on ice" on clay. Her limitations on the inner are reflected in her career results, as she did not win a WTA tour title on clay until April 2008 (despite having won 18 titles on new ) and because the French Open is the only Grand Slam singles title she has not yet won.
Maria Sharapova's first and another serve is generally considered powerful. This means the serve seldom produces an ace or a assistance champion or results in a weak reply from her ally, which Sharapova to take restraint of the assembly immediately. However, a stern assume injury during early 2007 cut-price the effectiveness of Maria Sharapova's serve for quite a few months, as she routinely produced to ten double faults in many of her during this period. She after Antonym new Antonym her facility wave to a more compacted backswing (as conflicting to her traditional stretched out) in an attempt to put less hassle on her take on, but she nevertheless from time to time experienced problems with her serve throughout the rest of the year, most notably 12 double faults in her third-round loss at the 2007 U.S. Open. Her serve appeared to be more inoperative at the 2008 Australian Open, as she just 17 double faults throughout her full title run at the game. However, her plateful problems during the spring of 2008, as she 43 double faults in just four matches at the 2008 French Open and eight double faults in her subsequent round loss at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships. Observers, including Tracy Austin, trust that when Sharapova experiences problems with her serve, she repeatedly loses confidence in the rest of her game, and as findings, produces many voluntary errors and plays generally more timidly Antonym.
Beware of the talented Pakistan attack!
That is the message emanating out of the Australian camp ahead of the start of the three Test series at the MCG on Boxing Day as Pakistan prepares for only its second Test tour of Australia this decade.
And expect this series to be far closer than their last visit back in 2004/05 when Australia won the three Tests in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney by 491 runs, nine wickets and nine wickets respectively.
But that was at a time when Australia's team and in particular its attack was at its peak with Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath in destructive form whereas in contrast now five years later the home side has very much an inexperienced pace attack led by Mitchell Johnson, Doug Bollinger and Peter Siddle with Ben Hilfenhaus still sidelined by injury.
And Australia has still yet to find another leg spinner to fill the shoes of the irreplaceable Warne with off-spinner Nathan Hauritz now the country's incumbent spinner.
In contrast to the home side, the visitors appear to have a much more balanced attack featuring not only both right and left arm quicks in Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Asif, Umar Gul and left armer Mohammad Aamir but also the world's best leg spinner at present in Danish Kaneria plus a dangerous off spinner in Saaed Ajmal, who possesses a dangerous 'doosra.'
It all adds up to a far more testing assignment for the Aussies than the recent 2-0 series win over West Indies.
Certainly Australian vice-captain Michael Clarke believes the Pakistan attack will be a handful over the three match series.
"They have got some good young quicks and they have got the young left armer Aamir who has got some pace and they have got a couple of good spinners in their squad as well," he said.
Clarke also believes Pakistan will be suited by the first two Tests being played in Melbourne and Sydney.
"I think the conditions here (in Melbourne) and in Sydney will help Pakistan," he said.
"The wicket at the MCG is generally a bit slower than the WACA or the Gabba and they have got good spinners in their squad and obviously Sydney will spin so that will play a part as well."
"So as an attack they have got good variation with right and left arm fast bowlers - a leg spinner and an off spinner so it’s a pretty good squad of bowlers."
Veteran batsman Mike Hussey agreed with Clarke that it is Pakistan's bowlers that pose the biggest danger in the series.
"They have got a lot of matchwinners and they have got a lot of very dangerous players, particularly their bowlers," Hussey said.
"So I think we are in for a very tough Test series and we are all going to have to be playing at our best to come out on top."
Australia has won nine of its past ten Boxing Day Tests but lost against South Africa in Melbourne last year as South Africa went on to inflict Australia's first Test series defeat on home soil since 1992/93.
While it is a big call to suggest Australia could lose Test series at home in successive seasons after going unbeaten at home for 16 years, the Australian batsmen will be under plenty of pressure in the Boxing Day Test - particularly if skipper Ricky Ponting is ruled out with the elbow injury he sustained in Perth against the Windies.
Hussey said the Australian batsmen are all too aware that not one of them managed a century in the recent three Test series against the Windies, whose attack is nowhere near the level of Pakistan's.
"I know all our batsmen are very, very determined," Hussey said.
"We didn't get a hundred (between us) in the last series but all the guys have been batting very well and putting together good starts but we are very determined to try and push on with these starts and get some big hundreds as well."
Pakistan also served notice of its intentions with a dominant performance against Tasmania in its only tour match before the first Test and unlike other recent touring sides to Australia it arrives match-hardened having only just completed a three Test series against New Zealand in New Zealand.
That series finished 1-1 although rain saved the Pakistanis in the third Test in Napier when the Kiwis appeared headed for a series clinching victory.
But while Pakistan will fancy its chances against an Australian team in transition and which is no longer feared around the world, the tourists will not be heartened by their dismal record in Australia.
LAHORE: The Governing Board members forced Chairman, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Ijaz Butt to play on the back foot in a crucial meeting held at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) on Monday.
Well-informed sources told Dawn that the chairman wanted approval for the 2007-08 season’s budget but the members turned it down, asking him (the chairman) to produce all records of income and expenditures before taking the approval.
Ijaz will now produce the record in the next meeting on Nov 7.
Meanwhile, the PCB changed its audit company as the previous one had refused to audit PCB’s accounts for the 2007-08 season due to their incomplete financial records.
The members did not allow acting NCA and Game Development Director Haroon Rasheed to make his presentation over domestic structure when Javed Miandad, who was one of the members, raised an objection against it.
Miandad was of the view that as director general of the PCB, domestic cricket was his not Haroon’s domain. Most of the members supported Miandad’s objection.
According to sources, the members showed their annoyance with the chairman for having his close relative Mohammad Naeem as chief financial adviser.
They were unhappy with Naeem’s way of dealing and his abundant foreign tours. However, they extended his tenure till Nov 30 for the last time.
Sources also said that Ijaz would also try to include Naeem in the next Governing Board, which will be formed after the existing one will be dissolved on Nov 9.
It may be mentioned here that Ijaz had already recommended Naeem’s name as a Governing Board member some eight months ago to PCB’s Patron-in-Chief President Asif Ali Zardari.
Moreover, the members also grilled the PCB on having appointed umpires from local associations just to save money in the ongoing Quaid-i-Azam Trophy.
The PCB has to pay allowance to umpires, referees and scorers when they are called in from other cities. They were of the view that neutral umpires were being placed to supervise matches all over the world but the PCB had decided to appoint local umpires, who may take biased decisions.
The decision will be implemented in the ongoing matches of the Trophy.
Earlier, the PCB had dropped a point in the agenda of the meeting to discuss controversial statements made by some members of the Governing Board over Pakistan’s defeat in the semi-final of the Champions Trophy against New Zealand.
Sources also added that Dr Mohammad Ali Shah severely criticised ICC umpires for giving controversial decisions against Pakistan.
They were of the view that Ijaz, to some extent, had also violated the ICC rules by saying before the National Assembly Standing Committee on Sports that some of the umpires’ decisions were controversial.
The manager and associate manager of the national team had also spoken against the planning of the match with Shahid Afridi saying that Pakistan could not properly utilise the power-play.
Similarly, Shoaib Malik had also issued a statement that he would neither open the innings nor bat at number three.
The chairman finally decided to form a three-member committee comprising Javed Miandad, Shakil Sheikh (Islamabad) and Dr Mohammad Ali Shah (Karachi) to prepare a plan to be presented in the next meeting.
LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ijaz Butt on Wednesday expressed optimism for a series against arch-rivals India at a neutral venue in 2010, asserting the International Cricket Council (ICC) has shown interest in resumption of the high-profile contests in the US.
‘Insha Allah a series between Pakistan and India will be held at a neutral venue next year as my meetings with the Indian cricket officials as well as government officials will bring good results,’ Ijaz said while talking to reporters after reaching Lahore from New Delhi following an eight-day visit to India.
‘The United States is a good place [for the series]. But since there is just one stadium in Florida where only one One-day International or two Twenty20 matches could be held, it is not suitable for a high-profile series,’ he stated.
Ijaz further said that the International Cricket Council (ICC) was also interested in resumption of the competitions between Pakistan and India in the US to promote the game in that region.
The PCB chief asserted that during his visit he also asked the BCCI to invite Pakistani players for the next edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
No Pakistani player featured in this year’s IPL event due to strained political ties between the two countries after the Mumbai attack last November.
Though the BCCI had invited many Pakistani cricketers for IPL’s first edition held in 2008, for the second they refused to include any player from across the border after the government of Pakistan decided not to allow any player to visit India due to the tense situation arising out of the Mumbai incident.
It may be mentioned here that the BCCI has linked the revival of cricket ties between the two countries with the permission of their government.
An Indian board official had said soon after Ijaz met his Indian counterpart, Shashank Manohar, in Mohali this week that resumption of bilateral matches with Pakistan was not possible in the near future, adding it (BCCI) would consider this matter late next year.
Manohar had told Ijaz that even after the government’s clearance, the schedule for the series (with Pakistan) could not be finalised before the next seven months or so as the Indian team would be too busy in other international assignments during that period.
Shashi Tharoor, India’s Minister of State for External Affairs, had reportedly floated the idea for a bilateral series with Pakistan in the US, a notion the BCCI termed as premature.
The PCB impatiently wants its national team to play against India to improve its financial state, since it could earn 65 per cent of the media rights through a series against India.
By holding the home series at neutral venues against Australia and New Zealand due to security issues in Pakistan, the PCB could not earn enough profits to meet its expenditure.
Meanwhile, asked why the PCB had permitted Misbah-ul-Haq to play in the Bangladesh domestic league while Quaid-i-Azam Trophy, Pakistan’s premier domestic first-class tournament, is in progress, Ijaz said the board has a clear policy to allow all players to earn money by playing abroad, and they are only bound to be available for the national team.
‘If they [players] have no national duty, all of them are allowed to play abroad to earn money,’ Ijaz said.
The PCB chief said the next Asia Cup could be held either in China, Malaysia or Sri Lanka as all three countries were quite interested in hosting the event.
So well done to Rory McLeod for winning the Masters qualifying event.
His career seems to have blossomed much later than you would expect. Rory's 38 now but in the last year made three successive centuries against Ronnie O'Sullivan at the UK Championship, qualified for the Crucible for the first time and is now Wembley bound.
A Wellingborough boy of Jamaican parents, McLeod now lives in Qatar.
During the Masters qualifiers he spent time between matches listening to verses from the Koran in an attempt to relax himself. It obviously worked and he now waits to see whether he will play Mark Williams or Mark King.
This will depend on who the other wildcard is. Liang Wenbo is hot favourite and will surely only miss out if there is a shock winner of the UK Championship.
You will recall McLeod and King played out a long, often tedious match at the World Championship last season that went into an extra session, so if they are paired together again I fear for the sanity of whoever is making the decision.
Better to pair McLeod with Williams and King with Liang.
Not that Rory will care who he plays. Snooker professionals at all levels are well used to the setbacks and disappointments that inevitably come as part and parcel of a sporting career.
This, though, is a moment to relish.
The Masters is the game's most prestigious invitation tournament and to many players second only to the World Championship in terms of prestige.
Stephen Hendry won it a record six times and has appeared in a record nine finals.
He likes a record, does Stephen, just as he likes a trophy.
On Sunday he won his 74th in defeating Ken Doherty 5-3 to win the first 110sport Legends event in Glenrothes.
I can report it was a fun weekend, although the action was serious as the old warhorses locked horns once again.
I was alarmed by the sight of a frail Alex Higgins unable to produce any sort of form but cheered by Cliff Thorburn's warmth towards him and the Canadian's general charisma.
Hendry was a fitting winner, given that his legendary status cannot be questioned.
He remains snooker's greatest ever player. Tony Drago, with whom I did some commentary, also pointed out that he has profoundly changed snooker.
"Stephen is the most attacking player I have ever played. All the players who have come since have copied him," he said.
While we were enjoying ourselves in Scotland, Ricky Walden was out pounding the streets as he completed the New York marathon in a time of four hours, 17 minutes.
That sounds pretty good to me and Ricky raised around £1,500 for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Meanwhile, the WPBSA board member, Jim McMahon, made an attempt to broker peace in the civil war afflicting Scottish amateur snooker and came very close, but the old order - having agreed on a way forward with the rival group - reneged on it at the last minute.
The WPBSA understandably withdrew from the mediation process and have now taken away the main tour place for Scotland.
While I was in Scotland I heard nothing but bad things about those who have been running Scottish Snooker for the last few years.
Their actions have now resulted in the young Scottish players they are supposed to be representing suffering the ignominy of not having a place on the circuit to play for.
If this doesn't galvanise action north of the border, surely nothing will.
Next up in November is Pro Challenge Series event three in Leicester, followed by the UK Championship qualifiers.
Also, the IBSF world amateur championship takes place in India, starting on the 15th.
Imran Abdullah’s goal in the 25th minute was followed by first Shakir strike four minutes later.
Shakir fired home two minutes before the halftime whistle for his second before completing his treble in style in the 88th minute.
Two strikes each by Zahid Ahmad and Shahid Saleem helped Karachi Port Trust (KPT) give Afghan Club a football lesson with a 6-2 defeat at KPT Stadium.
The winners got to off to a confident start when Zahid grabbed his first in the 14th minute and got his double in the 55th minute.
Ismail Baba extended the lead for KPT three minutes later before Afghan Club reduced the margin through Abdul Hadi in the 62nd minute.
The losers seemed to be resilient as they made it 3-2 when Amanullah came into action in the 73rd minute.
But three more goals from KPT in the space of ten minutes sealed the fate of the match as they took an unassailable lead.
Shahid, who was on target in the 78th minute, hammered in again in 82nd minute for his second, while Mohammad Khan wrapped up the proceedings in the 88th minute.
KESC face Afghan Club, HBL meet Baloch Club, while NBP will play against KPT on Friday.
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