The final four qualifiers for the European Championships will be decided today with the playing of the second legs of the runner-up play-offs. Some of the ties look all wrapped up, and most interest will be on Portugal's clash with Bosnia-Herzgovina in Lisbon. The home side were lucky to escape with a 0-0 draw on Friday, and they will be under plenty of pressure to get the job done today back home. Montenegro are still in with a chance, but will need a great performance at home to turn around their 2-0 deficit against the Czech Republic.
In the other two games, the home sides' fans will be in party mode after strong away wins on Friday. Ireland have a four goal cushion after their thumping of Estonia in Tallinn, while Croatia won 3-0 in Turkey and should be untroubled in completing their passage to Poland and Ukraine next summer.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Cricket: Former Australian coach interviewed
Cricinfo have posted an excellent interview with outgoing coach Tim Nielsen. He gives a lot of insight into the crucial moments in Australia's recent cricketing history. It's interesting to consider the point he makes about tight results going against a team, and the impact it can have on future results. Too much is made of wins and losses when the margin is especially narrow. St Kilda's loss to Collingwood in 2010 and the Texas Rangers loss to the St Louis Cardinals last week are two obvious recent examples. Players being able to execute well under the higher pressure deserve all the credit they get, but frequently, too much credit, and more importantly, blame are passed onto coaches when the result could so easily have been different.
Anyway, here's the interview, in two parts.
Part 1.
Part 2
All comments welcome below.
Anyway, here's the interview, in two parts.
Part 1.
Part 2
All comments welcome below.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Euro 2012: Qualifying groups completed
The qualifying groups for the Euro 2012 Championships wrapped up
today, and here's the group by group run down on who made it through.
With the exception of Sweden, the other eight second-placed finishers
will play off for the last four spots next month. The draw for those
games will be made on Thursday.
Group A: Germany had long since clinched top spot in the group, but there was no let up as they finished with a perfect record - and a 3-1 defeat of Belgium, matching their win over Turkey on Friday. And just as they had opened the door for Belgium with that defeat of Turkey, they emphatically closed it on the Belgians today and Turkey took advantage with a 1-0 win over Azerbaijan that clinched second place.
Group B: Russia thumped Andorra 6-0 to claim top spot in the group, while second place went to Ireland after a 2-1 win over Armenia, in a match that saw both teams lose a player to red cards.
Group C: Italy had already ensured top spot, but a 3-0 win over Northern Ireland kept them undefeated, while Serbia were stunned after failing to get the point they needed at Slovenia. Dare Vrsic's late first half goal was decisive after Nemanja Vidic missed a second half penalty. Estonia's late comeback win over Northern Ireland on Friday proved to be decisive in taking second place.
Group D: France needed a 78th minute penalty from Samir Nasri to escape with a 1-1 draw against Bosnia-Herzegovina and top spot in the group after the visitors had threatened a major upset.
Group E: Sweden finished with a morale boosting win over top placed Netherlands after coming from behind to win 3-2, following on from their Friday win in Finland that earned them second spot ahead of Hungary. As the best placed second finisher, Sweden progress directly to the Championships.
Group F: Greece nearly undid their vital Friday win over Croatia, but were able to rally late to win 2-1 at Georgia, rendering Croatia's 2-0 win over Latvia irrelevant.
Group G: With top spot already clinched on Friday, England had the bye in their group, and Montenegro played as though they did, although there 2-0 defeat by Switzerland didn't impact their position either.
Group H: Denmark took top spot in the group at Portugal's expense, as they won 2-1, with Nicklas Bendtner's second half goal proving decisive as Portugal's Ronaldo scored in injury time to keep the finish interesting. However, the Portuguese ran out of time to find a second and now face a play-off.
Group I: Spain ended Scotland's hopes with a 3-1 win with two from David Silva and a third from David Villa. The Czech Republic were reduced to ten men in the second half, but led Lithuania 3-0 by that stage and went on to win 4-1 to take second spot behind the Spanish who finished with a perfect record.
Group A: Germany had long since clinched top spot in the group, but there was no let up as they finished with a perfect record - and a 3-1 defeat of Belgium, matching their win over Turkey on Friday. And just as they had opened the door for Belgium with that defeat of Turkey, they emphatically closed it on the Belgians today and Turkey took advantage with a 1-0 win over Azerbaijan that clinched second place.
Group B: Russia thumped Andorra 6-0 to claim top spot in the group, while second place went to Ireland after a 2-1 win over Armenia, in a match that saw both teams lose a player to red cards.
Group C: Italy had already ensured top spot, but a 3-0 win over Northern Ireland kept them undefeated, while Serbia were stunned after failing to get the point they needed at Slovenia. Dare Vrsic's late first half goal was decisive after Nemanja Vidic missed a second half penalty. Estonia's late comeback win over Northern Ireland on Friday proved to be decisive in taking second place.
Group D: France needed a 78th minute penalty from Samir Nasri to escape with a 1-1 draw against Bosnia-Herzegovina and top spot in the group after the visitors had threatened a major upset.
Group E: Sweden finished with a morale boosting win over top placed Netherlands after coming from behind to win 3-2, following on from their Friday win in Finland that earned them second spot ahead of Hungary. As the best placed second finisher, Sweden progress directly to the Championships.
Group F: Greece nearly undid their vital Friday win over Croatia, but were able to rally late to win 2-1 at Georgia, rendering Croatia's 2-0 win over Latvia irrelevant.
Group G: With top spot already clinched on Friday, England had the bye in their group, and Montenegro played as though they did, although there 2-0 defeat by Switzerland didn't impact their position either.
Group H: Denmark took top spot in the group at Portugal's expense, as they won 2-1, with Nicklas Bendtner's second half goal proving decisive as Portugal's Ronaldo scored in injury time to keep the finish interesting. However, the Portuguese ran out of time to find a second and now face a play-off.
Group I: Spain ended Scotland's hopes with a 3-1 win with two from David Silva and a third from David Villa. The Czech Republic were reduced to ten men in the second half, but led Lithuania 3-0 by that stage and went on to win 4-1 to take second spot behind the Spanish who finished with a perfect record.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
MLB: Wild-cards decided in wild night
If you only watched baseball once all season, tonight needed to be the night as two amazing wild-card races were decided in scenes that would have seemed outlandishly surreal in a Hollywood movie. Early in September, the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves enjoyed commanding leads in the wild-card standings, but both endured terrible Septembers that only got worse tonight. Much worse.
Of the four games that mattered tonight, only one went quietly into the night. In the National League, the St Louis Cardinals, chasing the Braves all month, enjoyed an easy night out, as they scored five in the first on their way to an 8-0 drubbing of the Houston Astros. Locked 89-72 with the Cardinals coming in, the Braves needed to dig deep against the Phillies looking for their 102nd season win. After six innings, they seemed likely to force a play-off for the wild-card when they led 3-1, but the Phillies toughed it out, drawing level in the 9th at 3-3. Through extra innings the game continued with Atlanta unable to get a man on third home in the 12th, ultimately paying the price as the Phillies squeezed home the decisive run in the next innings to take the game 4-3. Atlanta had blown an 8.5 game lead in September.
For much of the night, the American League went down a similar route, although this time the chaser was on the end of a hiding as the Yankees stormed to a 7-0 lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in the 5th innings, and still led by that score heading into he bottom of the 8th. Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox, seeking to avoid slumping out in a collapse similar to the Braves, held a slim 3-2 lead over the Baltimore Orioles as the game was delayed by rain in the bottom of the 7th. If the Sox were smart, they wouldn't have had the TV on during that break, as they might have seen the Rays storm back in the 8th innings with six runs, with help from the Yankees pitching (three walks, including two hit batters) and a three-run homer from Evan Longoria. Then in the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees looked like they would close out the game 7-6 before Dan Johnson, pinch hitting, smacked a two-out homer to send the game to extra innings.
Boston returned to the park and tried to close out their game, while hoping the Yankees could pull out of their nose dive to take the game. The Sox left runners on base in the 8th and 9th, but still held a 3-2 lead heading to the bottom of the ninth. The Yankees at that stage had runners on first and third with none out in the 12th, and it looked like the Sox would escape, as they struck out the first two batters. But not tonight. Not this September. The Yankees didn't manage to score, and the Orioles, doubled and doubled to tie the scores, before a nearly caught single gave them an astonishing 4-3 win in the bottom of the ninth. Even then the Red Sox might have escaped with a play-off tomorrow for the wild card spot, but Longoria returned to the plate in Florida seconds later and again sent the ball over the fence to give the Rays an astonishing comeback win, and the Red Sox a humiliating September collapse.
Of the four games that mattered tonight, only one went quietly into the night. In the National League, the St Louis Cardinals, chasing the Braves all month, enjoyed an easy night out, as they scored five in the first on their way to an 8-0 drubbing of the Houston Astros. Locked 89-72 with the Cardinals coming in, the Braves needed to dig deep against the Phillies looking for their 102nd season win. After six innings, they seemed likely to force a play-off for the wild-card when they led 3-1, but the Phillies toughed it out, drawing level in the 9th at 3-3. Through extra innings the game continued with Atlanta unable to get a man on third home in the 12th, ultimately paying the price as the Phillies squeezed home the decisive run in the next innings to take the game 4-3. Atlanta had blown an 8.5 game lead in September.
For much of the night, the American League went down a similar route, although this time the chaser was on the end of a hiding as the Yankees stormed to a 7-0 lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in the 5th innings, and still led by that score heading into he bottom of the 8th. Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox, seeking to avoid slumping out in a collapse similar to the Braves, held a slim 3-2 lead over the Baltimore Orioles as the game was delayed by rain in the bottom of the 7th. If the Sox were smart, they wouldn't have had the TV on during that break, as they might have seen the Rays storm back in the 8th innings with six runs, with help from the Yankees pitching (three walks, including two hit batters) and a three-run homer from Evan Longoria. Then in the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees looked like they would close out the game 7-6 before Dan Johnson, pinch hitting, smacked a two-out homer to send the game to extra innings.
Boston returned to the park and tried to close out their game, while hoping the Yankees could pull out of their nose dive to take the game. The Sox left runners on base in the 8th and 9th, but still held a 3-2 lead heading to the bottom of the ninth. The Yankees at that stage had runners on first and third with none out in the 12th, and it looked like the Sox would escape, as they struck out the first two batters. But not tonight. Not this September. The Yankees didn't manage to score, and the Orioles, doubled and doubled to tie the scores, before a nearly caught single gave them an astonishing 4-3 win in the bottom of the ninth. Even then the Red Sox might have escaped with a play-off tomorrow for the wild card spot, but Longoria returned to the plate in Florida seconds later and again sent the ball over the fence to give the Rays an astonishing comeback win, and the Red Sox a humiliating September collapse.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Rearview Mirror
If you slept through the weekend, here's what you missed:
US Open Tennis - Novak Djokovic kept his amazing year going with a convincing four set victory over Rafael Nadal. Although Nadal managed to avoid going down in straight sets after rallying in the third to take it a tiebreaker, Djokovic always seemed to have the edge, breaking Nadal almost at will. The number one seed had an astonishing 26 break points, of which he converted eleven (Nadal broke on six of fourteen). The match featured some stunning tennis, with some brilliant court coverage from both men extending rallies almost beyond the crowd's endurance. In the end, Djokovic took his first US Open title and his third Slam of the year 6-2 6-4 6-7 6-1.
Australian Sam Stosur played the match of her life to overcome Serena Williams for her first Grand Slam singles title. It was only Stosur's third career singles title, but she has won 23 doubles titles, including two Grand Slam titles (US '05 and French '06). Perhaps fortunately for Stosur, she went out in the first round of the doubles in New York (whereas at Wimbledon she lost her first round singles and finished runner-up in the doubles), as she had a tough passage. On her way to the final she played two record setting longests (women's US Open match and women's Grand Slam tiebreaker), but it was Stosur who looked the freshest, and she swept aside Williams for a surprisingly comfortable 6-2 6-3 win. Apart from a brief period early in the second set following a disputed call that energized Williams and momentarily unsettled Stosur, the Australian matched Williams for power, and made the American look slow by comparison.
EPL - the two teams from Manchester continued to sweep all before them as Sergio Aguero's hat-trick gave City a 3-0 win despite a penalty miss from back-again Carlos Tevez, while another Wayne Rooney hat-trick (yawn) led united to a 5-0 win at Bolton. Amongst their competition, Chelsea stayed two points behind with a 2-1 win at Sunderland, Liverpool lost 1-0 at Stoke, and Arsenal had their first league win with a 1-0 defeat of Swansea.
AFL Finals - top sides Collingwood and Geelong progressed straight through to week 3 after wins over West Coast and Hawthorn respectively. Collingwood were made to work all day to shake off the inform West Coast after the visitors got within seven points in the last quarter, while Geelong's win was comfortable enough in the end after they got away from the Hawks late in the third. In the elimination finals, Sydney surprised Saint Kilda to book a meeting with hawthorn, while Carlton were again too good for Essendon and will travel west to face the Eagles in week 2.
Rugby World Cup - the long awaited World Cup got underway in New Zealand, with games going as expected, with the one tense game going the way of South Africa 17-16 over Wales. New Zealand and England fans can be happy with wins, if not the manner of their teams play, while the Australians will be happier with their result against Italy.
Cricket - the second Test between Sri Lanka and Australia faded into a weather affected draw as Australia's bowlers failed to show the penetration that had put them well on top in the series. Unable to turn three days of superiority into a win over the last two, Australia will have to be on their guard to avoid letting Sri Lanka escape with a series draw with a win in the third test, although another drawn Test is the favoured outcome.
India again failed to beat England, tieing the last ODI in a surreal ending, and will leave England after a disappointing tour. The Indians will need to regroup and regain some confidence ahead of their tour to Australia later in the year.
US Open Tennis - Novak Djokovic kept his amazing year going with a convincing four set victory over Rafael Nadal. Although Nadal managed to avoid going down in straight sets after rallying in the third to take it a tiebreaker, Djokovic always seemed to have the edge, breaking Nadal almost at will. The number one seed had an astonishing 26 break points, of which he converted eleven (Nadal broke on six of fourteen). The match featured some stunning tennis, with some brilliant court coverage from both men extending rallies almost beyond the crowd's endurance. In the end, Djokovic took his first US Open title and his third Slam of the year 6-2 6-4 6-7 6-1.
Australian Sam Stosur played the match of her life to overcome Serena Williams for her first Grand Slam singles title. It was only Stosur's third career singles title, but she has won 23 doubles titles, including two Grand Slam titles (US '05 and French '06). Perhaps fortunately for Stosur, she went out in the first round of the doubles in New York (whereas at Wimbledon she lost her first round singles and finished runner-up in the doubles), as she had a tough passage. On her way to the final she played two record setting longests (women's US Open match and women's Grand Slam tiebreaker), but it was Stosur who looked the freshest, and she swept aside Williams for a surprisingly comfortable 6-2 6-3 win. Apart from a brief period early in the second set following a disputed call that energized Williams and momentarily unsettled Stosur, the Australian matched Williams for power, and made the American look slow by comparison.
EPL - the two teams from Manchester continued to sweep all before them as Sergio Aguero's hat-trick gave City a 3-0 win despite a penalty miss from back-again Carlos Tevez, while another Wayne Rooney hat-trick (yawn) led united to a 5-0 win at Bolton. Amongst their competition, Chelsea stayed two points behind with a 2-1 win at Sunderland, Liverpool lost 1-0 at Stoke, and Arsenal had their first league win with a 1-0 defeat of Swansea.
AFL Finals - top sides Collingwood and Geelong progressed straight through to week 3 after wins over West Coast and Hawthorn respectively. Collingwood were made to work all day to shake off the inform West Coast after the visitors got within seven points in the last quarter, while Geelong's win was comfortable enough in the end after they got away from the Hawks late in the third. In the elimination finals, Sydney surprised Saint Kilda to book a meeting with hawthorn, while Carlton were again too good for Essendon and will travel west to face the Eagles in week 2.
Rugby World Cup - the long awaited World Cup got underway in New Zealand, with games going as expected, with the one tense game going the way of South Africa 17-16 over Wales. New Zealand and England fans can be happy with wins, if not the manner of their teams play, while the Australians will be happier with their result against Italy.
Cricket - the second Test between Sri Lanka and Australia faded into a weather affected draw as Australia's bowlers failed to show the penetration that had put them well on top in the series. Unable to turn three days of superiority into a win over the last two, Australia will have to be on their guard to avoid letting Sri Lanka escape with a series draw with a win in the third test, although another drawn Test is the favoured outcome.
India again failed to beat England, tieing the last ODI in a surreal ending, and will leave England after a disappointing tour. The Indians will need to regroup and regain some confidence ahead of their tour to Australia later in the year.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Cricket: Australia dominate opening day
Michael Clarke may well have thought it was April 2nd by the time play concluded on the opening day of the second Test, although a day full of birthday wishes may still not have gone so well. Even the disappointment of losing the toss may have turned out to be a blessing in disguise as his opening bowlers took full advantage of the early movement to take three wickets inside eight overs. Before the toss things were already moving in Australia's direction with the hosts forced to replace the injured Herath (finger) who took eight wickets in the first Test, but not with Ajantha Mendis, who awoke with back problems and wasn't risked. After Tillakaratne Dilshan won the toss and batted on a pitch that looked several shades friendlier than the Galle wicket, Clarke admitted that we would also have batted. As it was, his openers did get to bat on the first day.
Once again, Ryan Harris showed himself to be right at home in leading the inexperienced Australian attack, and soon had Paranavitana edging to Haddin, before Trent Copeland removed Dilshan with an off-cutter that the opener mistakenly chose to let hit the top of off stump. Michael Hussey then took a blinder off Jayawardene's edge to leave Sri Lanka tottering at 3/14. Sangakkara struggled to build a response and at 5/128 was just starting to lift them out of the gloom, along with Angelo Matthews, when Clarke surprisingly turned to Mike Hussey for a bowl. Mark Taylor couldn't have done it better, and the Australians were jubilant when Sangakkara hit the third ball of the over to Phil Hughes. Matthews hit out to finish top score on 58, but the Sri Lankan's 174 was well short of par on a good batting wicket. The Australian front line bowlers all had happy days, with Harris finishing with three, while Copeland, Johnson and Lyon all finished with two.
The Australian openers made good use of the wicket in the time left to them before bad light stopped play. Both played some lovely shots, and took the score to 0/60 at the early close. Shane Watson (36*) and Hughes (23*) will resume looking to extract full value from the pitch and the situation. Shaun Marsh may walk out to bat in his first Test in an almost perfect situation, and Ricky Ponting might be able to rest up at home with his new baby for the third Test.
Scorecard here.
Once again, Ryan Harris showed himself to be right at home in leading the inexperienced Australian attack, and soon had Paranavitana edging to Haddin, before Trent Copeland removed Dilshan with an off-cutter that the opener mistakenly chose to let hit the top of off stump. Michael Hussey then took a blinder off Jayawardene's edge to leave Sri Lanka tottering at 3/14. Sangakkara struggled to build a response and at 5/128 was just starting to lift them out of the gloom, along with Angelo Matthews, when Clarke surprisingly turned to Mike Hussey for a bowl. Mark Taylor couldn't have done it better, and the Australians were jubilant when Sangakkara hit the third ball of the over to Phil Hughes. Matthews hit out to finish top score on 58, but the Sri Lankan's 174 was well short of par on a good batting wicket. The Australian front line bowlers all had happy days, with Harris finishing with three, while Copeland, Johnson and Lyon all finished with two.
The Australian openers made good use of the wicket in the time left to them before bad light stopped play. Both played some lovely shots, and took the score to 0/60 at the early close. Shane Watson (36*) and Hughes (23*) will resume looking to extract full value from the pitch and the situation. Shaun Marsh may walk out to bat in his first Test in an almost perfect situation, and Ricky Ponting might be able to rest up at home with his new baby for the third Test.
Scorecard here.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Cricket: Australia v Sri Lanka 2nd test teams
The second Test is just getting underway. As expected, Australia replaced Ricky Ponting with Shaun Marsh, as the ex-captain flew home for the birth of his second child. marsh, the son of former opener Geoff, will bat at three, despite Usman Khawaja being in the side. For the hosts, Sri Lanka have been forced to replace the injured Herath who took eight wickets in the first Test, although not with Ajantha Mendis, who supposedly has back problems. An unexpected debut instead for the spinner Seekkugge Prasanna. Sri Lanka have woin the toss and will bat.
Sri Lanka - NT Paranavitana, TM Dilshan (c), KC Sangakkara, DPMD Jayawardene, TT Samaraweera, HAPW Jayawardene (wk), AD Mathews, RAS Lakmal, S Randiv, UWMBCA Welegedara, S Prasanna
Australia - SR Watson, PJ Hughes, SE Marsh, MJ Clarke (c), MEK Hussey, UT Khawaja, BJ Haddin (wk), MG Johnson, RJ Harris, TA Copeland, NM Lyon
Sri Lanka - NT Paranavitana, TM Dilshan (c), KC Sangakkara, DPMD Jayawardene, TT Samaraweera, HAPW Jayawardene (wk), AD Mathews, RAS Lakmal, S Randiv, UWMBCA Welegedara, S Prasanna
Australia - SR Watson, PJ Hughes, SE Marsh, MJ Clarke (c), MEK Hussey, UT Khawaja, BJ Haddin (wk), MG Johnson, RJ Harris, TA Copeland, NM Lyon
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)