spain vs portugal

Defending champion Serena Williams put on a serving clinic Saturday, hitting 20 aces in a straight-sets win over Dominika Cibulkova that sets up a possible fourth-round matchup with former champion Maria Sharapova.
LONDON: Rafael Nadal is scared that his debilitating knee problems could flare up again as he tries to reclaim the Wimbledon title from Roger Federer.

The world number one said he was heading for treatment once his Wimbledon campaign is over in a bid to be in good shape for the US Open, the one Grand Slam he has yet to win, and will skip Spain's Davis Cup quarter-final against France.

The Mallorcan was sidelined for two months with knee tendinitis last season and was unable to defend the Wimbledon crown he had sensationally taken from Federer in 2008 in an epic Centre Court battle.

"I have a little bit of a problem on the right knee," Nadal said. "I am a little bit scared.

"I tried to play the clay season perfectly because the right knee was better than the left. But at the same time I know the knees are not 100 percent recovered."
Sania Mirza
LONDON: On a disappointing day for India, Sania Mirza crashed out of the women's doubles competition, while Mahesh Bhupathi exited the mixed doubles event with second-round defeats at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships.

Already out of contention in the singles event, Sania and her Dane partner Caroline Wozniacki lost 6-7 (0) 3-6 to the 11th seeded Zimbabwean-Slovak pairing of Cara Black and Daniela Hantuchova.

There was more disappointment for India as Bhupathi and his American partner Liezel Huber went down 2-6, 6-3, 3-6 to Russians Dmitry Tursunov and Vera Dushevina in the mixed doubles event.

It was a stunning result as the third-seeded Bhupathi and Huber were expected to have it easy against their unseeded rivals.

Bhupathi, however, remains in contention in men's doubles, having advanced to the third round with Max Mirnyi of Belarus.

Andy Murray blew a reduced but dangerous incarnation of French prodigy Gilles Simon off Centre Court with such force and certainty last night that he surely stands not far behind Robin Soderling as favourite to win this 133rd Wimbledon.

If evidence of that assertion were needed, it was laid out on the same turf not long before Murray completed his 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 win. Nadal, struggling with a sore right knee and niggles to his left elbow, outlasted an exhausted Philipp Petzschner in five desperate sets, his second ordinary match in a row. When Murray came out just before 7pm, though, there was brightness and lightness in his step, a renewed air of confidence. He did not disappoint.

The football fever is ripping every nook and corner in South Africa.Though the hosts impressed with their extraodinary ball play they could'nt reach the last sixteen due to low goal difference.With the former runner up already out of the this tournament seems to have a lot to offer.

WC23/6/2010:Defoe was the man of action yesterday for the English as his goal made sure that his team sails to the knock out stage of the tournament .While Fabio Capello, England coach had a lot to say
"This was the team that I know. We played together with spirit; we fought together and I am really, really happy with the result. I’m also happy that I re-found the team that I knew from the qualifiers,"

Frank Lampard praised the England fans after the 1-0 victory over Slovenia that sent the Three Lions through to the Round of 16.


                                                                                   A  lone goal from Jermain Defoe proved enough for England to edge past Slovenia in a tough contest and advance to the Round of 16, while the result left the Slovenians heartbroken.        



USA also made it  in to the knock out stages and they also topped their their table with a goal difference of four.They ended the campaign of the brave Algerians.Donovan  was the lone striker for USA.At the final whistle the USA team jumped  in joy while ball made its way in to the strands after kissing the boot of Landon Donovan.   

	Team	MP	GF	GA	Pts
	USA	3	4	3	5
	ENG	3	2	1	5
	SVN	3	3	3	4
	ALG	3	0	2	1

KING OF CLAY

* Born: 3 June 1986
* Birthplace: Manacor, Mallorca, Spain

* Best Known As: The winner of four straight French Opens (2005-08)

Name at birth: Rafael Nadal-Parera

Rafael Nadal was 19 years and two days old when he won the 2005 French Open in his very first appearance at the event. A left-hander with a booming forehand, Nadal had been known as a clay-court specialist since playing his first pro tournaments in 2001. His aggressive style, flowing hair and muscular build have made him a consistent favorite with female fans as well. He won his first singles title in 2004, and had a breakout season in 2005, winning at Monte Carlo, Rome, Barcelona and Stuttgart as well as at Roland Garros. He won the French Open again in 2006, 2007 and 2008, defeating Roger Federer in the final each time. In 2008 he broke through at Wimbledon, beating Federer to win the men's singles title there. No longer just a master of clay, he beat Federer at the hard-court Australian Open in 2009, confirming his #1 ranking in the world.

Though his full name is Rafael Nadal-Parera, he is generally known simply as Rafael Nadal... According to the ATP Tour site, his name is pronounced "ra-FAY-el nay-DAHL." The ATP also says he is nicknamed "Rafa"... Nadal beat Mariano Puerta in the 2005 French Open finals; he beat Federer in the semifinals that year... Mallorca is one of the Balearic Islands, which stand in the Mediterranean Ocean off the coast of Spain.
Family and early life

Rafael Nadal was born in Manacor, Majorca to Sebastián Nadal and Ana María Parera. He has a younger sister named María Isabel. His uncle, Miguel Ángel Nadal, is a retired professional football (soccer) player, having played for RCD Mallorca, FC Barcelona, and the Spanish national team.[7] Nadal supports football clubs Real Madrid and RCD Mallorca.[8] Recognizing that Rafael had a natural talent for tennis, his other uncle, Toni Nadal, a former professional tennis player, introduced him to tennis when he was three years old. Toni Nadal has been coaching him ever since.[9]

At age eight, Nadal won an under-12 year regional tennis championship at a time when he was also a promising football player.[10] This made Toni Nadal intensify training, and at that time he encouraged Nadal to play left-handed—for a natural advantage on the tennis court, as he noticed Nadal played forehand shots with two hands.[10] When Nadal was 12, he won the Spanish and European tennis titles in his age group and was playing tennis and football all the time.[10] Nadal's father made him choose between football and tennis so that his school work would not deteriorate entirely. Nadal said: "I chose tennis. Football had to stop straight away."[10]

When he was 14, the Spanish tennis federation requested that he leave Mallorca and move to Barcelona to continue his tennis progression and training. Nadal's family turned down this request, partly because they feared it would hurt his education,[10] but also because Toni Nadal said that "I don't want to believe that you have to go to America, or other places to be a good athlete. You can do it from your home."[9] The decision to stay home meant that Nadal received less financial support from the federation; instead Nadal's father covered the costs. In May 2001, he defeated former Grand Slam champion Pat Cash in a clay-court exhibition match.[7]

Nadal participated in two events on the ITF junior circuit. In 2002, at the age of 16, Nadal reached the semifinals of the Boy's Singles tournament at Wimbledon, in his first ITF junior event.[11] Later that year, Nadal won all of his matches en-route to a winning campaign with Spain, over the US, in the junior Davis Cup in his second, and final, appearance on the ITF junior circuit.

By the age of 17, Nadal was ranked in the world's top 50 players. In 2003, Rafael had won the ATP Newcomer of the Year Award.

USA Tim Howard; Steve Cherundolo, Jay DeMerit, Jonathan Bornstein, Carlos Bocanegra; Landon Donovan, Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Clint Dempsey; Jozy Altidore, Hercules Gomez.

Algeria Rais Ouheb Mbouli; Majid Bougherra, Rafik Halliche, Antar Yahia, Nader Belhadj, Fouad Kadir, Hassan Yebda, Medhi Lacen, Karim Ziani, Rafik Djebbour, Karim Matmour.

Referee Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)
Algeria have scored only goal in their last seven matches and that was a penalty against the United Arab Emirates. The Americans, however, refrained from using that stat to mock their opponents ahead of today's game and that was wise – because if there is one thing that World Cup history has taught us it is that you shouldn't taunt Algerians.

Fabio Capello has made three changes from Friday’s dismal draw against Algeria, with Jermain Defoe, James Milner and Matthew Upson coming into the starting line-up in the place Emile Heskey, Aaron Lennon and the suspended Jamie Carragher.
the English team line up looks like this after these changes:
1-David James; 2-Glen Johnson, 15-Matthew Upson, 6-John Terry, 3-Ashley Cole; 16-James Milner, 4-Steven Gerrard, 8-Frank Lampard, 14-Gareth Barry; 19-Jermain Defoe, 10-Wayne Rooney.
Slovanias team line up:
1-Samir Handanovic; 2-Miso Brecko, 4-Marko Suler, 5-Bostjan Cesar, 13-Bojan Jokic; 10-Valter Birsa, 8-Robert Koren, 18-Aleksandar Radosavljevic, 17-Andraz Kirm; 9-Zlatan Ljubijankic, 11-Milivoje Novakovic.
Man with red cards in his pocket, ready to go: Wolfgang Stark

sports daily: the wimbledon 22/6/2010

sports daily: the wimbledon 22/6/2010: "LONDON:The Wimbledon seemed to lack much except for one disappointment.Nadal playing his second tournament after he claimed his fifth fren..."

the wimbledon 22/6/2010

LONDON:The Wimbledon seemed to lack much except for one disappointment.Nadal playing his second tournament after he claimed his fifth french open crown had a pretty easy outing as he defeated his 17 year old rival in less than 1.05 hours 6-2 6-4 6-4.his succession to the title of world no 1 seemed to have boosted his confidence as he showed some extraordinary power hitting.
Andy Roddick who is back in his favorite turf defeated Ranjeev Ram.He is seeded 5th in this years Wimbledon while the 10th seeded Tsonga successfully had beaten his first round opponent Robert Rendrick a wild card entry made the former French runner up sweat,even making him drop a set.7th seed Davydenko,9th seed David Ferrer, 11th Seed Martin Cilic have had successful outing while big hitting Wawrinka had to pack his bags in the first round.
In the woman's side Serina Williams confortably defeated portugal teenager in straight sets.the 4th seeded Jelena Jankovic packet off he opponent wild card opponent Leira Robson in straight sets
Big tournaments are usually full of surprises and this time the surprises came in the form of Kania Kanepi who defeated six seeded Samantha Stosur, she was the finalist in Roland Garros.

This June is kind of buzzing with energy,there is a lot of action for almost every sports fan out there. Asia cup(cricket),wc football which as we all know is gonna reveal its might for the first on an African soil,and there is always tennis with the wimbledon starting this week with Federer still wearing the favorite badge, there is a lot to look out for.
CRICKET:India which seemed to have shrugged off its big tournament fever for now had to bow down to a Lankan team of gifted youngsters.India's 209 which was completely built up by the trio of D.Karthik(40),Rohit Sharma(69) and their skipper M.S.Dhoni(41),Rohit Sharma seems to be in fine nic of form lately was sent back to the pavilion by some good work in the field.Maharoof had an extraordinary outing, captured 5 wickets which also consists of an hat-rick.the Lankans easily chased 209 runs in 37 overs due to an excellent partnership between K.Sangakkara and M.Jayawardene who made 73 and 53 runs respectively.