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World Cup: Brazil seal semi-final spot, Neymar carried off BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News » Sports - New 2 Borneo

World Cup: Brazil seal semi-final spot, Neymar carried off

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 03:37 PM PDT

Posted on July 5, 2014, Saturday

FORTALEZA, Brazil: David Silva's screaming free kick gave Brazil a 2-1 win over Colombia on Friday to seal a World Cup semi-final place but the favourites saw Neymar stretchered off and captain Thiago Silva suspended for the next clash.

Silva bundled over a Neymar corner kick in the seventh minute to put his country ahead.

But he earned his second yellow card of the tournament in the second half for barging into Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina and will miss the semi-final against Germany next Tuesday.

Luiz stepped up to smash an unstoppable 30-metre free kick past Ospina in the 78th minute. But Neymar was carried off in agony late in the game after a rough challenge from Colombia defender Juan Camillo Zuniga. - AFP

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Klose runs himself into ground for German cause

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 01:22 PM PDT

Miroslav Klose may not have secured himself the mantle of the World Cup's all-time record goalscorer but his selfless running played its part in Germany's 1-0 World Cup quarter-final victory against France on Friday.

The 36-year-old, appearing in his 22nd World Cup finals match, did not threaten to score but his presence gave Germany a focal point in attack, and provided France's centre-backs with something else to think about besides the dangerous runs into the box from Thomas Mueller.

If anyone is ready to take on Klose's mantle it is the 24-year-old Bayern Munich star, who arguably best represents the future of this German team and already has nine World Cup goals to his name.

His threat on the counter-attack, allied to the fresh legs of substitutes Andre Schuerrle and Mario Goetze, meant Germany remained the more likely side to score in the closing minutes as they inflicted more World Cup pain on the French, who they beat in the 1982 and 1986 semi-finals.

Klose, who scored a crucial goal just after coming on as a substitute in the 2-2 draw with Ghana in the group stage, never got a sniff of goal this time but saw his appeals for a penalty midway through the first half waved away after he appeared to be pulled back by Mathieu Debuchy.

That moment summed up a frustrating 135th international appearance for the Poland-born striker.

His involvement amounted to just eight passes and he failed to muster a single shot on goal, leaving him level with retired Brazil great Ronaldo on 15 goals in the World Cup finals.

Klose could yet get another chance to notch that record-breaking goal, with Germany assured of another two matches at this tournament, regardless of the result in the semi-final

- Loew's changes pay dividends -

He was one of three changes to the starting line-up made by coach Joachim Loew — who also brought in Sami Khedira and Mats Hummels — and that played a crucial part in Germany's victory.

Centre-back Hummels had missed the 2-1 win over Algeria because of flu but he produced a man-of-the-match display on his return to the side, heading in the game's only goal in the 13th minute.

His presence, along with that of Klose and the decision to switch captain Philipp Lahm from central midfield back to his traditional full-back slot was part of a tactical plan that paid off handsomely for Loew.

"I wanted Klose up front so Mueller could play wide and keep the French full-backs busy," explained Loew.

"France are very strong in the middle, with (Yohan) Cabaye and (Paul) Pogba, so that is why I wanted to have Lahm on the right and Mueller supporting him kept their wide men busy.

"I used Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels (in central defence) because I thought they could cope better with the great speed going forward of players like Mathieu Valbuena and Antoine Griezmann." -AFP

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Turkey’s Erdogan rebukes footballer over ‘foreign’ tattoo

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 01:01 PM PDT

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan chided a promising young footballer on Friday for having a tattoo on his wrist, warning such foreign-inspired body art could give him skin cancer.

The incident occurred when Erdogan visited the Turkish national team's training facilities in Istanbul, where he chatted and shook hands with young players.

In a video circulated on social media websites, a smiling Erdogan is heard telling the 18-year old Galatasaray player Berk Yildiz: "What are these tattoos? Why do you harm your body?"

"Don't be fooled by foreigners. God forbid, it could even give you skin cancer in the future," Erdogan said as Yildiz's teammates giggled uneasily.

Erdogan beckoned over the besuited Turkish national coach Fatih Terim and the Turkish football federation president Yildirim Demiroren to further make his point.

Following Erdogan's rebuke, Yildiz promised him that he would remove his tattoo. The young player has already represented his country at junior level.

The Islamic-rooted government of Erdogan, in power for over a decade, has long been under fire for what critics say are creeping efforts to force Islamic values on the predominantly Muslim but officially secular country.

Although majority of Muslims consider permanent tattoos to be haram, or forbidden by Islam, they are quite popular in Turkey, especially among the young, urban population.

Erdogan, a practising Muslim whose wife and daughters wear the Islamic headscarf, has angered secularists for pushing through legislation curbing the late-night sale of alcohol.

He has also sparked outrage for declaring that every woman in Turkey should have three children and with proposals to limit abortion rights and the morning-after pill. -AFP

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World Cup: Hummel sinks France, takes Germany into semi-finals

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 11:34 AM PDT

RIO DE JANEIRO: Mats Hummels headed the winner as Germany beat old rivals France 1-0 to advance to the World Cup semi-finals for a record fourth straight time on Friday.

Borussia Dortmund defender Hummels rose to head home Toni Kroos's free-kick on 13 minutes to settle a cagey encounter at Rio de Janeiro's Maracana Stadium.

Joachim Loew's side will now play the winner of Friday's second quarter-final between Brazil or Colombia in next Tuesday's semi-final in Belo Horizonte.

France had entered the match quietly confident of avenging semi-final defeats against Germany in 1982 and 1986.

But they were left to rue a lacklustre first half performance which saw Germany dominate in sweltering conditions.

France rallied in the second half and Hummels saved Germany with a desperate late block of a Karim Benzema shot shortly before Manuel Neuer parried a firm strike from Blaise Matuidi.

Andre Schuerrle should have sealed victory in the closing minutes, but with the goal gaping, struck his shot from Mesut Ozil's low cross directly at Hugo Lloris in the French goal.

There was still time for Neuer to save Germany at the death, pulling off a brilliant block from Benzema just seconds from the final whistle.

In Friday's other quarter-final, Brazil will aim to banish their jittery second round performance against Chile when they face Colombia in Fortaleza.

To ensure his men were in the right state of mind for the battle ahead coach Luiz Felipe Scolari ordered an extra session with the team psychologist this week.

"I had never done anything like it before and I am quite enjoying it," reported Neymar, fully fit despite thigh and knee injuries against Chile.

Captain Thiago Silva insisted the squad were capable of coping with the pressure.

"I think we are good psychologically. We are doing what we love to do," the Paris Saint-Germain defender said.

Scolari, mastermind of Brazil's fifth title in 2002, cut a confident figure at the eve of match press conference.

"Does Brazil continue to have one hand on the trophy? Yes," he said.

"We are going on to the fifth step and there are seven steps."

The fourth step caused 200 million Brazilian hearts to flutter as Chile gave the hosts the fright of their lives in a bruising encounter, only succumbing in the spotkick lottery.

Four eyecatching wins have propelled Colombia to uncharted territory at the World Cup to face a rival they have only beaten twice in 25 meetings.

"We need to play our own game as we have done up to now and try to impose our play on them," Argentine coach Jose Pekerman reflected.

"The key is not to believe there is a favourite."

Friday's games go ahead in the shadow of an overpass collapse in semi-final venue Belo Horizonte which killed two, and an illegal multi-million pound ticketing scandal involving a FIFA individual.

The quarter-final drama continues Saturday when the Netherlands play Costa Rica and Belgium take on Argentina. - AFP

Jonathan, Nerosha going for World Youth meet

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 09:58 AM PDT

KUCHING: National youth kegler Jonathan Ding Sagan and state kegler Nerosha Keligit Thiagarajan will don the national colours for the 13th World Youth Bowling Championships in Hong Kong, China from Aug 6-15.

The two Sarawakians were selected to the national youth team based on their good showing at the recent Sukma XVII in Kangar, Perlis, the Interstate Bowling Championship and the Malaysian Open.

They are part of the four-boy and four-girl team from Malaysia who will challenge for top honours at the South China Athletic Association Bowling Centre.

In fact, another state bowler Daniel Tan Han Yan was also included in the selection list but the selectors opted for Jimmy Tan of Kuala Lumpur and Muaz of Kedah.

At Sukma XVII in Perlis, Daniel Tan won the gold medals in men's singles, men's trios and men's team and a bronze in the all-events while Jonathan was a double gold medallist, winning in the men's masters and men's team.

Nerosha won the gold in the women's doubles, silvers in women's all-events, women's trios and women's team.

"We are pleased to have Jonathan and Nerosha playing for the country at the world championship and I am very sure that they can give a good fight in Hong Kong," said Amateur Tenpin Bowling Association of Sarawak (Abas) deputy president Robert Lu yesterday.

The national team are now training at Sunway Pyramid Mega Lanes under Halloway Cheah.

"We believe they can do well and we would like to see another Sarawakian becoming a world champion after Jacqueline Jenelee Sijore won the World Women's singles gold also in Hong Kong in 2012," said Lu.

Meanwhile, Lu said he was impressed by the performance of the six state bowlers in the recent 8th Singapore Sports School-Opulent International Bowling Championships at SSP Bowling Centre.

"Although defending champion Jocelyna Judith Jonathan did not retain the title, she still made it to the top six in the stepladder final qualifying for the U18. Also in the top six of the stepladder finals for the U14 section was Mohd Zuhayr Redza Noorazrul," he said.

Jocelyna was sixth while Mohd Zuhayr finished in fifth spot.

Jocelyna advanced to the stepladders final as the sixth ranked bowler with 1,268 pins and could only manage a 206 pins in the play-off against teammate Ahmad Aidil Abd Halim (203) and Kuek Qi En (202) of Singapore.

Ahmad Aidil (205) went on to beat second seed Charmaine Chang (196) of Singapore and Nur Amirah Auni Azman (186) of Malaysia in the semi-final only to lose 207-214 to the top seed Marcus Kiew Jiawei from Hong Kong in the final.

Mohd Zuhayr, who made it to the stepladders final as the fourth best finisher on 1,189 pins, could only knock down 169 pins in the play-off for the semi-finals berth against compatriot Wan Muhamad Naquib (174) and Singapore's Oh Han Qin (164).

Wan Muhamad, the sixth seed, then emerged the winner in the semi-final with 222 pins over second seed Cheah Ray Han (204) and third seed Jarred Lim Jia Le (209) also from Singapore.

In the all-Malaysian final, Wan Muhamad managed to beat the top seed Hazim Ali Hanafiah 198-183 in the first game but Hazim rebounded strongly with 214 pins against his challenger's 193 pins to lift the U14 title.

Other members of the Sarawak team were Mohd Uzair Redza Noorazrul, Nur Syafiqah Sajeli, Nur Aina Kamalia Abd Ayub and Anthony Luang Cheng, all part of the state's back-up team for Sukma 2016 and 2018.

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Liverpool complete move for midfielder Can

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 09:57 AM PDT

Posted on July 5, 2014, Saturday

LONDON: Liverpool have officially completed the signing of midfielder Emre Can from Bayer Leverkusen, the Premier League side confirmed Thursday.

Liverpool had agreed a £10 million (US$17 million ) deal for the Germany Under-21 international last month but had to wait until the transfer window opened on July 1 to finalise the move. — AFP

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