Argentina national team coach Diego Maradona has named his final 23-man roster for the World Cup.

 

http://worldcuptwitt

May 19, 2010 - Argentina national team coach Diego Maradona has named his final 23-man roster for the World Cup.
Argentina Football Association's announced the squad earlier today.
The seven players who were named to the provisional team who did not make the final squad are Fabricio Coloccini, Juan Manual Insaurralde, Sebastian Blanco, Jesus Datolo, Jose Sosa, Juan Mercier and Ezequiel Lavezzi.
Amongst the borderline players who made the Albiceleste team:  Colón's Ariel Garcé, Estudiantes' and Palermo's Javier Pastore.
In goal, Sergio Romero from Dutch club AZ is the likely starter, with Mariano Andujar and Diego Pozo in reserve.
Along the back Argentina likely features four central defenders:  Nicolas Otamendi, Martin Demichelis, Walter Samuel and Gabriel Heinze.  Nicolas Burdisso will deputize along with Garcé and Estudiantes' Clemente Rodríguez.
The most prominent figure in midfield is two-time reigning South American Footballer of the Year Juan Sebastián Verón.  Benfica's Ángel di Maria will play an attacking role.  Captain Javier Mascherano will play in front of the back line, with Jonas Gutierrez likely to be the fourth starter.  Veteran Maxi Rodriguez's play at Liverpool won back a place in the squad.  Mario Bolatti won a place at the end of qualifying, while Palermo's Javier Pastore's strong play in Serie A won the uncapped player a spot.
Lionel Messi is the most prominent player amongst the most talented attack in the tournament.  Diego Maradona's other forward options are Sergio Agüero, Gonzalo Higuaín, Diego Milito, Martin Palermo and Carlos Tévez.
Argentina plays their first match in South Africa on June 12 against Nigeria.

Final Roster

Goalkeepers
Player	Age*	Caps	Goals	Club (Country)
Andújar, Mariano	26	4	0	Catania (Italy)
Pozo, Diego	32	3	0	Colón (Argentina)
Romero, Sergio	23	5	0	AZ (Netherlands)
Defenders
Player	Age*	Caps	Goals	Club (Country)
Burdisso, Nicolás	29	28	2	Roma (Italy)
Demichelis, Martín	29	25	1	Bayern Munich (Germany)
Garcé, Ariel	30	3	0	Colón (Argentina)
Heinze, Gabriel	32	63	2	Marseille (France)
Otamendi, Nicolás	22	6	0	Vélez Sársfield (Argentina)
Rodríguez, Clemente	28	11	1	Estudiantes (Argentina)
Samuel, Walter	32	54	4	Internazionale (Italy)
Midfielders
Player	Age*	Caps	Goals	Club (Country)
Bolatti, Mario	25	4	1	Fiorentina (Italy)
Di María, Ángel	22	7	0	Benfica (Portugal)
Gutiérrez, Jonas	26	15	1	Newcastle (England)
Mascherano, Javier	26	56	2	Liverpool (England)
Pastore, Javier	20	0	0	Palermo (Italy)
Rodríguez, Maxi	29	35	10	Liverpool (England)
Verón, Juan Sebastián	35	69	9	Estudiantes (Argentina)
Forwards
Player	Age*	Caps	Goals	Club (Country)
Agüero, Sergio	22	20	7	Atlético Madrid (Spain)
Higuaín, Gonzalo	22	4	2	Real Madrid (Spain)
Messi, Lionel	22	44	13	Barcelona (Spain)
Milito, Diego	30	20	4	Internazionale (Italy)
Palermo, Martín	36	13	8	Boca Juniors (Argentina)
Tévez, Carlos	26	51	8	Manchester City (England)

* - age as of June 11 
*http://www.sbnation.com

Argentina national team coach Diego Maradona has named his final 23-man roster for the World Cup.

Read more

Thomas Cup 2010 Malaysia Vs China Semi final

Thomas Cup 2010 Malaysia Vs China Semi final

Read more

Servis S - Misbun Sidek Malaysia

Servis S - Misbun Sidek Malaysia

Read more

Thomas Cup: Battle Against Malaysia Will Be Tough For China, Says Li Yongbo

KUALA LUMPUR, May 13 (Bernama) -- China's head coach Li Yongbo said the clash with Malaysia in tomorrow's semi-finals would be tough for the "Great Wall" team.

He said his assessment was based on the powerful performance by the hosts in their 3-2 quarter-final win over Denmark yesterday.

"Skipper Lee Chong Wei and all the shuttlers were in high spirits to win yesterday. I think they might perform well in the semi-finals," he said Thursday.

Li said although the standard of the Malaysian shuttlers' play was lower compared to his charges, the hosts held the advantage of playing on home ground and set to get strong support from the local fans that could spur them further.

The former doubles ace said he had earlier expected Denmark to enter the semi-finals after Malaysia's unexpected loss to Japan in the Group B stage.

"However, I am sure my charges, especially our singles ace Lin Dan will win the game tomorrow as he is better than Chong Wei," he added.

-- BERNAMA

Thomas Cup: Battle Against Malaysia Will Be Tough For China, Says Li Yongbo

Read more

Uber Cup: Korea To Face China In Final For Sixth Time

KUALA LUMPUR, May 13 (Bernama) -- Saturday's Uber Cup final at the Putra Stadium, Bukit Jalil here will see South Korea facing China for the sixth time.

Previously, it met China in the final in 1988, 1990, 1992, 2002 and 2004, but had never once won the cup in all the matches with the Great Wall team.

Although Korea is eager to break China's hold and take the cup home this time, team manager Kim Jong Soo was realistic when he admitted that China was a hard nut to crack.

"If our singles can play better than their usual performances this Saturday, we might stand a chance," he told reporters after the semifinal match against Japan here Thursday. The Koreans won 3-1.

Korea are going to the finals with setbacks.

Their first singles, Bae Seung Hee, was down with fever since arriving in Malaysia last week, while their second singles Bae Youn Joo suffered a shoulder injury.

Meanwhile in another semifinal match tonight, China easily beat Indonesia 3-0, making its way to its 13 finals of the championship.

China coach Li Yongbo said Korea was an old nemesis who certainly would give them a tough fight. However, he is confident that the Chinese would score a win over the Koreans again.

China has won the cup 11 times.

-- BERNAMA

Uber Cup: Korea To Face China In Final For Sixth Time

Read more

Thomas Cup: Who Will Deliver The Third Point For Malaysia & China ?

KUALA LUMPUR, May 13 (Bernama) -- Malaysia are expected to face an uphill battle when they meet defending champion, China in the Thomas Cup semifinals at the Putra Stadium, Bukit Jalil at 7.30pm tomorrow.

Based on their rankings and match records of the two countries, China clearly are in a better position to win.

In the Malaysian camp, however, much hope is placed on Datuk Lee Chong Wei in the first singles and the first doubles pair of Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong to deliver Malaysia's first two points tomorrow.

Although it is a tall order, they have no choice but to win their respective matches to pave the way for Malaysia to proceed to the final.

If the Malaysian first singles and first doubles pair were to succeed in producing the two crucial points, the big question mark will then be who are we banking on to deliver the deciding point.

The subsequent player in the Malaysian line-up is the second singles, Wong Choong Hann, followed by the second doubles pair and the third singles, Mohd Hafiz Hashim.

Is Choong Hann, who is now 33, capable of achieving this feat or will it be up to the second doubles or Mohd Hafiz to continue his outstanding performance when he beat Denmark's Joachim Persson, last night to take Malaysia to the semifinals.

National singles chief coach Rashid Sidek said Malaysia actually has no choice but to ensure that world number one singles shuttler Chong Wei beat Beijing Olympic gold medallist Lin Dan, and Koo/Tan beat Chen Xu/Guo Zhendong.

"Malaysia must collect two points from the first singles and first doubles and hope that either one of the other singles player or the other doubles pair will deliver the third point," he told reporters, here Thursday.

Malaysia last won the prestigious Thomas Cup in 1992 here.

He said that on paper, Chong Wei has a 50-50 chance of winning when facing Lin Dan, who is one rung below him in the world ranking, but they had not met each other for quite some time.

The last time Chong Wei played Lin Dan was in the semifinals of the China Masters Championship in September last year where the Malaysian lost in three sets, 20-22, 21-15, 7-21.

The match record between Chong Wei and Lin Dan previously was 6:13 in favour of the latter.

Meanwhile, Koo/Tan, the world number one doubles pair, has a match record of 3:4 against the China top pair of Chen Xu/Guo Zhendong, ranked fifth in the world.

However, if China decides to rest Chen Xu/Guo Zhendong and field Cai Yun/Fi Haifeng instead, the Malaysian pair has a match record of 2:0 against the China pair.

Meanwhile Choong Hann, who lost 17-21, 18-21 to Sho Sasaki from Japan in the Group B match and was again defeated by Danish player, Jan O Jorgensen in three sets, 20-22, 21-16, 18-21 in the quarterfinals yesterday, said he has regained his touch.

"My match momentum is improving although I lost in the two previous matches," said the player who had competed in six editions of the Thomas Cup previously.

Based on the match record, if China were to field their second singles Chen Jin, who is also ranked third in the world, the Malaysian shuttler trails 2:6.

While Malaysia's third singles Mohd Hafiz, ranked 22nd in the world, is tied at 2:2 with China's third singles, Bao Chunlai, who is the world number eight.

-- BERNAMA

Thomas Cup: Who Will Deliver The Third Point For Malaysia & China ?

Read more

buat penyokonh kedah - hijau kuning 2010

buat penyokonh kedah - hijau kuning 2010

Read more

Chelsea FC Champions EPL 2010

Chelsea FC Champions EPL 2010

Read more

Football: Chelsea win EPL title in style

-->

Sports News

Posted: 10 May 2010 0125 hrs      Photos 1 of 1 Chelsea's Ivorian striker Didier Drogba (L / up) celebrates scoring the fifth goal against Wigan       LONDON: Chelsea reclaimed the English Premier League title in style on Sunday, a 8-0 win over Wigan ensuring they pipped Manchester United by a single point after racking up a record haul of 103 goals. As well as denying United what would have been an unprecedented fourth consecutive title, the stunning display ensured Carlo Ancelotti's first season in charge ends with the league trophy back in west London for the first time since Jose Mourinho masterminded back-to-back triumphs in 2004-05 and 2005-06. The defending champions did their job by beating Stoke 4-0 at Old Trafford but there was never any prospect of Chelsea falling at the final hurdle. Against injury-depleted opponents, it took Nicolas Anelka only five minutes to calm the Chelsea supporters' nerves with the opener and any doubt over the destiny of the trophy disappeared just after the half hour mark when Gary Caldwell wrestled Frank Lampard to the ground inside the box. The Scotland defender was given his marching orders and Lampard got up to fire in a textbook penalty for his 22nd league goal of the season. Didier Drogba got involved in an unseemly spat with Lampard over who was taking that penalty but still finished the afternoon with a hat-trick, which ensures he takes the EPL's golden boot with a total of 29 league goals. Anelka ended up with a double and Salomon Kalou and Ashley Cole also got in on the act as Chelsea ran up their biggest ever victory in the top flight. The only other outstanding issue was resolved in Arsenal's favour. A 4-0 win over Fulham ensured Arsene Wenger's men clinched third place, ensuring another money-spinning season of Champions League football at the Emirates. The Gunners enter directly at the group stage while Tottenham's fourth place means they must come through a final qualifier to fully benefit from their elevation to a place among Europe's elite. Andrey Arshavin, Robin van Persie and Carlos Vela were on target for Arsenal, who also benefited from an own goal by Chris Baird against opponents who clearly had one eye on Wednesday's Europa League final against Atletico Madrid. The atmosphere at Old Trafford was distinctly subdued as news from west London filtered through but United still performed effectively, with goals from Darren Fletcher, Ryan Giggs and Park Ji-Sung and an own goal by Danny Higginbotham delivering a convincing win. A memorable season for Spurs ended with a weary wimper, Harry Redknapp's side conceding a two-goal lead to lose 4-2 at relegated Burnley. Gareth Bale and Luka Modric had put them in the driving seat but Wade Elliot, Jack Cork, Martin Paterson and Steven Thompson turned the match around in unlikely fashion. A deeply frustrating season for Liverpool ended with a goalless draw at Hull that ensured Rafael Benitez's side could finish no better than seventh in the table. Above them, in fifth place, are Manchester City, who were held to a 1-1 draw at West Ham, and Aston Villa, who held on to sixth place despite a late Richard Dunne own goal resulting in a 1-0 defeat at home to Blackburn. Those results mean Liverpool will have to come through a final qualifier as well as the play-off round to get into the group stages of next season's Europa League. Everton finished their campaign with a 1-0 win over FA Cup finalists Portsmouth that was secured by Dinyar Bilyaletdinov's 90th-minute strike. Birmingham went down to a 2-1 defeat at Bolton but Alex McLeish's side - tipped as favourites for relegation at the start of the season - still ended the campaign in a creditable ninth place, while Wolves edged their meeting with Sunderland 2-1. - AFP/fa www.channelnewsasia.com

Football: Chelsea win EPL title in style

Read more