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It’s true miracle, says Greece coach
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Portugal favourite
to win title Lisbon, July 2 Portugal is odds-on favourite to beat upstart Greece in the Euro 2004 final on Sunday even though the Greeks beat the host nation in the opening game. Bookmakers William Hill make Portugal a strong 4-11 favourite to win a major title for the first time with the Greeks, who started out 100-1, now 2-1 to win the championship.
England thrash Windies ICC ultimatum to rebels, ZCU Dravid will continue to keep wickets: Ganguly Chopra right choice for opener: Waqar
Munaf needs to improve: Kapil BCCI panel to meet on July 18 Bhupathi, Rastogi shown the door
Golfers from Pak reach Shimla Sponsor for jr
Golf Tour
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It’s true miracle, says Greece coach
We had nothing to lose, we could risk everything. We could play for all or nothing.
“We worked hard for this for three years, step by step. The team has won tremendous confidence. We’ve made some fortunate decisions and they’ve worked out.” Greece, 80-1 outsiders to win the title before the tournament, play hosts Portugal in Sunday’s final. They had not won a match at a major tournament before coming to Portugal. “Now we’ll have the fairytale final,” said Rehhagel.
“We’re the underdogs, but we have nothing to lose.” Asked if Greece could beat the hosts he said: “In football everything is possible, we don’t have anything to lose. “We’re the winners of this tournament.”
“Today we did an unrepeatable thing. We deserve to be in the final, we proved we have an organised and good team. At the end God gave us the win.” Midfielder Stelios Giannakopoulos said the team was living a dream. “That’s the beauty of football,” said Giannakopoulos after the Czechs dominated the game. “It was a very good, a brilliant day for us and a black day for the Czechs. We live in a dream, it’s wonderful, and we don’t want to wake up.” Captain Theodoros Zagorakis said Greece had achieved something unique by reaching the final of Euro 2004 by beating the Czech Republic 1-0 with a silver goal yesterday. This has never happened before in Greek football. We came to just do our best and we suddenly find ourselves in the final. “If we had said at the beginning that we would be finalists, everyone would have said we were crazy,” Zagorakis. We have one more match and that will be THE match. After the group matches and the quarter-final win over France we believed we could go on improving but even I didn’t really imagine we would get to the final. “In this game we played worse than in any of our previous matches but even so we didn’t give in for even a minute.” Midfielder Stelios Giannakopoulos said: “I hope that God will help my son to live the moments that I have just lived because you cannot buy these moments with all the gold of the world.” “We have lived a dream and we don’t want to ever wake up. But although we are in the clouds now we have to stay on the ground because our bodies need to recover by Sunday.” Angelos Haristeas said: “It’s just unbelievable. I’m totally happy. It’s the best moment in Greek football history.”
— Reuters
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Sydney, July 2 In Melbourne, reputed to have more Greeks than any other city outside Greece, revellers closed roads with their wild celebrations when the winning goal was scored. Emmanuel Macredes, 23, said it was the greatest sporting achievement in half a century. He predicted an even bigger celebration if Greece beat Portugal in the final. “I think you can probably close the whole city if we win, because there will be absolute mania and I will be here for sure,” Macrides said. It was the same story in Sydney, where fans had hired a theatre to watch the semifinal together. Traffic was brought to a halt and thousands of commuters delayed as elated patriots ignored pleas from the police and danced in the streets. In Brisbane, where fans gathered to watch the shock win at the Greek Club, preparations were already under way to celebrate if Greece win the final. Club manager Chris Zavros told Australia’s ABC Radio that even getting to the semifinal was a miracle. — DPA
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Portugal
favourite to win title Lisbon, July 2 Bookmakers William Hill make Portugal a strong 4-11 favourite to win a major title for the first time with the Greeks, who started out 100-1, now 2-1 to win the championship. Greece entered Euro 2004 without a single win in either a World Cup or European Championship but followed its 2-1 victory over Portugal in Porto by beating defending champion France 1-0 in the quarters and than heavily favoured Czech Republic 1-0 in the semifinal. The
odds of a Portugal-Greece final were 250-1 at the start of the
three-week tournament but one Hills customer, from Athens, has won
1,875 another English customer has made two big bets on the Greeks to
win the title even though the odds have fallen during the competition.
He bet 6,000 at odds of 50-1 on June 23 before the quarterfinal and
then another 12,000 at 10-1 before the semifinal. He now stands to win
438,000 if Otto Rehhagel's men win the trophy at the Stadium of Light.
— AP |
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Darwin, July 2 Gilchrist’s disciplined 80 and a second half-century from Darren Lehmann hoisted Australia to a 311-run lead over the Sri Lankans in a Test where the ball has dominated the bat on a seaming drop-in pitch. In the context of this wicket-littered match, the lead represents a mountainous task for the Sri Lankans to get the runs, even with three days left after a total of 30 wickets have fallen for 505 runs in just two days. Scoreboard Australia (first innings) 207 Sri Lanka (first innings) (overnight
43-3) Atapattu b McGrath 4 Jayasuriya lbw McGrath 8 Sangakkara lbw Gillespie
2 Jayawardene c Langer
Zoysa c Gilchrist b McGrath
12 Samaraweera c Gilchrist
Dilshan not out 17 Arnold c Elliott b McGrath
6 Chandana c Gilchrist
Vaas c Hayden b Warne 5 Malinga c Gillespie b Warne 0 Extras:
(lb-7 nb-7) 14 Total: (all out, 41.5 overs) 97 Fall of wickets:
1-10 2-20 3-33 4-47 5-50 6-51 7-59 8-85 9-91 Bowling: McGrath 15-4-37-5 (nb-5), Gillespie 13-4-18-2, Kasprowicz 7-1-15-0 (nb-2), Warne 6.5-1-20-3 Australia (second innings) Langer c Sangakkara b Vaas 10 Hayden c Sangakkara b Zoysa 2 Elliott c Dilshan b Vaas
0 Martyn c Sangakkara
Lehmann c Sangakkara
Katich c Dilshan
Gilchrist run out 80 Warne lbw b Malinga 1 Gillespie c
Samaraweera
Kasprowicz c & b Malinga 15 McGrath not out 0 Extras:
(lb-3 nb-1) 4 Total: (all out, 63.1 overs)
201 FoW: 1-12 2-12 3-14 4-64 5-77 6-114 7-127 8-154 9-201 Bowling:
Vaas 14-4-51-2, Zoysa 16-3-57-1, Malinga 15.1-3-42-4 (nb-1), Jayasuriya 6-3-9-0, Chandana 11-1-30-2, Arnold 1-0-9-0.
— Reuters |
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England
thrash Windies
Leeds, July 2 England, chasing just 160 for victory, won with 28 overs to spare. Andrew Strauss was 44 not out and the recalled Andrew Flintoff 21 not out after opener Marcus Trescothick had made 55. Pace bowlers Stephen Harmison and James Anderson took three wickets apiece as England bowled out the West Indies. Harmison, for the second time in successive matches, took career-best one-day figures, finishing with three for 31 while Anderson took three for 37. — AFP
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ICC ultimatum to rebels, ZCU London, July 2 The game’s governing body endorsed the recommendation of the earlier sub-committee meeting in Dubai and barred Zimbabwe from playing Test matches this year even though the African nation was allowed to go ahead with its one-day commitments. ICC President Ehsan Mani said,’’
The ICC’s focus is, and will continue to be, the international implications of this issue.’’ Defending the decision, he said,’’
The board has acted to protect the integrity of Test cricket and Zimbabwe will not play this version of the game for the remainder of 2004. Regarding the Zimbabwe dispute, he said,’’The ICC has now provided the ZCU and the players with 14 days within which to agree a process to resolve their dispute. “We recognise that this is a Zimbabwean dispute and our clear preference is to have it resolved in Zimbabwe by Zimbabweans.
— UNI |
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Dravid will continue to keep wickets: Ganguly
New Delhi, July 2 “It’s going on well. I don’t think we need to change anything which is doing the job. Dravid is wonderful behind the stumps and as a batsman.... At the present moment, it is going to be Dravid,” Ganguly told NDTV’s Newsnight programme. Ganguly said it may be hard for Dravid to perform the dual role but it was important to realise that the team comes first. “I understand its hard on him but we have to realise that the team comes first. It’s the same reason why I stepped down from opening the batting and am now batting at number three or four for the country,” he said. Ganguly’s categorical statement puts an end to speculation on whether Dravid would don the wicketkeeping gloves after having expressed his reluctance to perform the dual role saying it was high time a specialist keeper was given the job. The vice-captain had, however, said that he would abide by the team management’s decision. Asked whether the team would go in for a full-time wicketkeeper in one-dayers, Ganguly said: “We have been trying to do that for quite some time now, find a regular wicketkeeper who will contribute with the bat. Top sides in one-dayers around the world have keepers who are contributing with the bat. “It is for that reason Dravid was made to keep wickets during the NatWest Trophy in England and if you have a look at our one-day performances since then, the number of games won, it has been won by batsmen batting at number seven.” Ganguly said the team would consider relieving Dravid of the dual job only if it found somebody who could deliver the job as good as the vice-captain. — PTI
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Chopra right choice for opener: Waqar Chandigarh, July 2 Waqar Younis, along with former Indian spinner and now cricket commentator Maninder Singh, were in Chandigarh in connection with the promotional campaign for ESPN-Star Sports, which has bagged the worldwide telecast rights of the Asia
Cup. Waqar Younis, who was declared Wisden cricketer in 1992, lauded the performance of the Indian team under the leadership of Saurav Ganguly in Australia and Pakistan. His assessment of India starting as strong title contenders in the Asia Cup is based on the performance of the team in the last two series the Indian cricketers had played against these
countries. Waqar said India needed to work harder to groom its young players in order to have a strong bench strength, a determining factor for any quality sides in modern-day cricket. Drawing parallels with world champions Australia, Waqar said the Aussie bench strength as stronger than the playing eleven. “India is working hard on their under-17 players, but they need to work harder,” Waqar told a
questioner. Waqar admitted “the batting line-up of India is very strong and deep. Their bowling in the revived Indo-Pak series was very disciplined and the credit goes to Saurav Ganguly for professionally manning the boys.” Regarding Pakistan’s chances in Sri Lanka,
Waqar, who made his maiden appearance against India in Karachi in 1989, said: “We have a young side under a new foreign trainer Bob
Woolmer. The Pakistanis have struggled in the past. With a cricket academy coming up in Pakistan and the senior team been trained under a renowned foreign coach, Pakistan cricket will soon come up to the high expectations. The focus in Pakistan is on the under-17 and under-18 players in the cricket academy.” Asked about his preference between Test cricket and the shorter version of the game,
Waqar, who still looks athletic and raring to go, said “I do not play cricket now,” with a deadpan face. When pressed for his choice, the former Pakistan’s speed merchant, who had claimed 373 wicket in 87 Tests with an impressive average of 23.56 in a 13-year Test career, said: “Test cricket is the real and testing cricket. The short version is result-oriented and finishes quickly.” Comparing the fast bowlers of the past with the present generation of new ball bowlers, Waqar said: “The problem with the current fast bowlers is that they are prone to more injury.” About himself, he said: “I also suffered injuries during my career but I always bounced back into the game as I was hunger for cricket which kept egging me on.” He advised the fast bowlers to maintain perfect line and length instead of concentrating on generating only speed. Regarding his new role as a commentator, pointing out toward Maninder Singh sitting on his left on the dais,
Waqar, who had featured in 262 one-day internationals and captured 416 wickets at an average of 23.84, said: “We have played a lot of cricket together. I am hopeful to do well. It will be a healthy competition. I look forward to working with a channel and joining former cricketers turned commentators like Sunil
Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, Maninder Singh and fellow paceman Wasim
Akram.” Waqar ended his question-answer session by saying: “I retired after playing for 15 years. There were two reasons for quitting. I had played for a long time and the selectors did not do justice to me. Both reasons forced me to call it a day.” Answering a question as who should open the Indian innings with Virender Sehwag, Maninder Singh said: “I have been maintaining that the opener’s job is a specialised one. I think Aakash Chopra is the right choice to face the new ball operators.” |
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Munaf needs to improve: Kapil New Delhi, July 2 Reacting to a question about the wisdom of making the dashing Yuvraj Singh the opening partner of Virender Sehwag in the Test team, Kapil said such decisions should be left to the discretion of the team management. “They know best what are the requirements of the team”, he pointed out. Kapil, who conducted a coaching session for the Indian probables for the Asia Cup at the conditioning camp in Bangalore recently, said the present lot of young bowlers were good, and were doing a commendable job. Referring to young speed bowler Munaf Patel, Kapil said though Munaf had pace, he should perform and deliver at the international level to merit selection to the Indian team. “Speed alone would not do”, Kapil added. The former captain explained that there was no impropriety in some of the senior players leaving the Bangalore camp to do endorsement campaigns. |
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BCCI panel to meet on July 18 MUMBAI: The all-powerful working committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is to meet in Delhi on July 18 and 19.
The technical committee, headed by Sunil Gavaskar, had asked the captains and coaches to send in their feedbacks over a few points raised at the one-day conclave of Ranji trophy captains and coaches held here last month like on “doing away with the toss” and making it an even playing field for the host as well as the visiting team in domestic matches.
— PTI
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Bhupathi, Rastogi shown the door London, July 2 The Indo-Russian pair lost 2-6 4-6 in the quarterfinals played at the Centre Court yesterday. Bhupathi-Likhovtseva had defeated 15th seeded Daniel Nestor of Canada and Lina Krasnoroutskaya of Russia 6-3 7-6 (7-3) in their third round match. Meanwhile, Leander Paes and Martina Navratilova were waiting to complete their third round match which has been suspended twice since Wednesday. Paes-Navratilova, seeded ninth and playing against sixth seeds Wayne Black and Cara Black of Zimbabwe, were stranded at 6-7 (7-9), 7-6 (7-5), 10-10. The winner of this match will meet Rainer Schuttler of Germany and Barbara Schett of Austria in the quarterfinals. In the boy’s doubles, India’s Karan Rastogi and Chu-Huan Yi of Chinese Taipel were sent packing by second seeded American duo of Brenden Evans and Scott Oudesema in the quarterfinals.
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Golfers
from Pak reach Shimla Shimla, July 2 The golfers, most of whom were accompanied by their wives, were accorded a traditional welcome first at the Kalka railway station and then at the state capital. They were presented Himachali caps. A local band played folk tunes as school children performed "aarti". The "friends" from across the border were overwhelmed by the warm reception they were accorded right from the moment they arrived at the Delhi airport. "We are really thrilled to be here. The warmth of the people has been unimaginable," Gen Tariq remarked. The other golfers also expressed similar feelings. The visitors will have a practice session at the lush green glade tomorrow to have a feel of the golf course. The individual event will be held on July 4 in which golfers from the local Naldehra Club will also participate. The team event will be held on July 5. The visiting team will have an encounter with the army team at the mini golf course in the historic Annandale ground on July 6. The prize distribution function will be held on the same day.
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Sponsor for jr
Golf Tour New Delhi, July 2 Former Indian cricket captain Kapil Dev, who is trying hard to break into the Indian amateur golf team, said it was a good augury that a major company like Shaw Wallace had come forward to sponsor the amateur tour. Some of the young players like Manav Das, Vikrant Chopra, Harinder Gupta, Jaskirat Dullet and Simarjeet Singh have done well in the amateur circuit. Under the sponsorship, Shaw Wallace comes in as an umbrella sponsor of the four regionals, the inter-zonals, one event at Chandigarh and Pune, and the All-India Amateur Championship. “For any sport to flourish, money has to be pumped in, and it is fantastic news that Shaw Wallace has come forward to sponsor the junior circuit, which will produce the Atwals, Jeevs and Randhawas of the future”, said Brandon de Souza, president of
TSM.
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Porto, July 2
