Pride salvaged for Ireland - O'Driscoll - The Press in York
Pride salvaged for Ireland - O'Driscoll
6:06pm Saturday 16th June 2012 in National Sport News © Press Association 2011
Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll claimed his side restored a large measure of pride, despite suffering a last-minute defeat to New Zealand in Christchurch.
With the scores locked at 19-19 after 79 enthralling minutes, Dan Carter's drop goal had just enough behind it to scrape over Ireland's bar and give the world champions - playing with 14 men at that stage - a 22-19 win.
Ireland's performance was much improved from their 42-10 loss in the first Test, though, and O'Driscoll took heart from that. He said: "We set standards of ourselves and we're trying to be a consistent team. We dipped below those standards last week, individually and collectively."
He added: "The jersey deserved a little bit more from us and we talked about that this week. Trying to restore a bit of that (pride) in the jersey and I think we did manage to do that. We fell at the final hurdle still."
But O'Driscoll admitted it was hard to take solace from running the All Blacks so close.
He added: "It is difficult when you have fought your way back into the game and got level on the board. They were a man down for the last seven or eight minutes.
"It is difficult to take any positives from the performance but I'm sure, when we look back, there will be plenty of them.
"We have another goal for next week and we don't have to finish our season on that (result). We have an opportunity to go to Hamilton and do what, essentially, we failed to do today."
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said: "We probably shouldn't have won but the composure we showed allowed us to do that. That is the sign of a good team.
"The big thing is that we have beaten an Irish side that has, probably, played as good as they could have. We didn't play great."
Blanc pleased as France impress - Football
Published: 16 Jun 2012 - 06:47:25
France coach Laurent Blanc was delighted after his side ended their record-breaking winless run at major tournaments as their 2-0 victory over Ukraine took them top of Group D.
After missing a number of chances Jeremy Menez and Yohan Cabaye, with his first international goal, scored to leave the French requiring a point from their final match against already-eliminated Sweden to reach the quarter-finals. It also halted a run of eight matches at finals without a win, an unwanted record set in their opening draw against England.
"We'll enjoy this one. As the French know very well, it's been a long time since we won a game at a major tournament," said Blanc.
"We're very happy to have won. Six years in major competitions and to not win a game is a long time. I hope our next win isn't in six years. If it is, then I want be here to talk about it because I'll have been fired long before."
A severe thunderstorm five minutes into the match forced the players off the pitch for almost an hour before the game could be restarted. It did not appear to affect France, however, as they came back out and dominated throughout.
"When the game was suspended our fear was that we wouldn't get to play it. We really wanted to play; we'd prepared for it," Blanc added. "After our slow first 30 minutes against England this time the weather stopped us making a proper start to a game.
"The stadium staff responded well and everything went how it should. We were worried the condition of the pitch would make it difficult to play our game - and we had some plans in place in case it did - but we quickly saw that the pitch was in good condition."
Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin felt a number of his players became complacent after their opening win had put them top of the group after the first round of matches. Now they have to beat England to progress to the knockout stage.
"As I said, the win against Sweden didn't mean anything, so if we thought we were through, we were wrong," he said.
"I think some players thought that and we'll have a serious conversation with them."
Related France News
Pakistan stunned by Perera hat-trick against Sri Lanka - ESPN.co.uk
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Pakistan have been abysmal chasers in recent years in ODI cricket. Three hours of accumulation offered hope that Saturday would not end in another failed pursuit. And then, as if all the accumulation had stretched their patience too taut, the dam broke. From 166 for 2 chasing 244, Pakistan disintegrated to 179 for 9. In less than four overs. Thisara Perera followed up his 6 for 44 in the second ODI with a hat-trick. Pakistan registered six ducks, and their 15th defeat in 18 chases of 240-plus in the last three years.
In the end, the match was decided in the two batting Powerplays, with Sri Lanka surging in both. A cramping Azhar Ali, who became the first player to carry his bat in ODIs in more than a decade, and Misbah-ul-Haq had put on 113 for the third wicket, leaving Pakistan with 78 to get from 76 deliveries. In the 37th over, the second of the batting Powerplays, Misbah refused a tight single with Ali having run more than half way up the pitch. The effort required to get back worsened Ali's cramp, making it harder for him to accelerate, like Kumar Sangakkara had earlier after a similar slow fifty.
Three balls later, Misbah departed for an efficient 57, with Nuwan Kulasekara taking a sharp low catch at mid-off off Lasith Malinga's bowling. Umar Gul had put down a much easier chance at long-on off Sangakkara, who went on to add 62 off 48. Malinga stepped it up after Misbah's departure, pegging Umar Akmal back with three successive sharp bouncers. Akmal drove at and edged his fourth, off Kulasekara, to the wicketkeeper.
The fight had gone out of Pakistan. Younis Khan, held back till No. 6, edged a rising Perera delivery to the keeper. Shahid Afridi either explodes or implodes. He did the latter, punching his first ball to extra cover. Sarfraz Ahmed obliged Perera with the hat-trick, guiding him to slip. The persevering Ali was reduced to a spectator, all his hard work undone in minutes of chaos.
Like Sri Lanka, Pakistan hadn't found run-scoring easy in the first half of their chase, but Ali and Misbah kept the visitors going, taking their team to 100 four overs earlier than Sri Lanka had.
Pakistan's top order continued its wobbly ways when Mohammad Hafeez collected his fifth duck in his last 12 international innings, pulling his fifth delivery from Malinga to long leg. Kulasekara kept Ali and Asad Shafiq under pressure with a probing opening spell of five overs for just 16 runs.
Still, like Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan had for Sri Lanka, Ali and Shafiq ensured Pakistan weren't bogged down completely. It was the left-arm spinner Sajeewa Weerakoon, bowling for the first time in international cricket in his second ODI, who got the breakthrough with his 10th delivery, trapping Shafiq in front on 25 with a slider. The combination of Ali and Misbah was never going to blaze away, but it made sure the asking-rate stayed below six, and under control, finding the boundary just when required. Little did they know of the pandemonium that was to ensue.
Not remotely on the same scale, but Pakistan had fallen apart in the field too after being disciplined for more than three-fifths of Sri Lanka's innings. Gul dropped Sangakkara off Afridi, when on 35 off 82 deliveries. Then came the batting Powerplay. Sangakkara carted 62 off his last 48 deliveries, and Sri Lanka reached the kind of total Pakistan have struggled to chase in recent years.
Till Sangakkara was put down in the 31st over, Sri Lanka had been tied down, first by Pakistan's fast bowlers, and then by their spinners. Sangakkara and Dilshan did add 55 for the second wicket, but they were hard-earned runs, and Dilshan's departure immediately after the first drinks break meant Sri Lanka had to continue with their cautious approach. The absence of scoring opportunities consumed Dinesh Chandimal as well, after which the expected rain came down to force a 70-minute break.
Pakistan's spinners continued with the run-squeeze after the rain interruption. The next few overs were quiet, but Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene took complete charge in the batting Powerplay, which went for 49. Gul, who was feeling some pain in his right index finger, was to suffer the most. He had given just 16 off his first five overs; he disappeared for 26 in two overs in the batting Powerplay. Sangakkara stepped out to launch the first ball of Gul's second spell for a straight six. When Gul overdid the bouncer in the next over, Sangakkara pulled him for six more over fine leg.
Sangakkara dominated the 110-run fourth-wicket partnership with Jayawardene, who played some innovative strokes. He was quick to lap-sweep and sweep the spinners, and even reverse-pulled Saeed Ajmal for four over point. Pakistan managed to dismiss the duo in the 44th and 45th overs to limit the damage, but most of it had already been inflicted. Pakistan's self-destruction later sealed the issue.
Abhishek Purohit is an editorial assistant at ESPNcricinfo
© ESPN EMEA Ltd
Czechs knock Poland out with 1-0 win - Reuters
WROCLAW |
WROCLAW (Reuters) - Poland slumped out of Euro 2012 on Saturday after losing 1-0 to the Czech Republic who reached the quarter-finals as Group A winners after a game in which the co-hosts will rue a host of missed chances.
The Czechs, without injured captain Tomas Rosicky, took the lead in the 72nd minute when Petr Jiracek collected a pass from Milan Baros and cut inside a defender before slotting past keeper Przemyslaw Tyton for his second goal of the tournament.
The Czechs advance with Greece, who upset Russia 1-0 in Warsaw, and will play the runners-up of Group B.
"We did what we could do. I don't know how to explain the fact that in one game boys played like they were fired up while in the second game they didn't. It is the end of this great adventure," said Poland coach Franciszek Smuda.
Captain Jakub Blaszczykowski added: "All in all we had great moments during this tournament and all we can say is 'thanks'. This is the kind of a moment, when one needs to say we need to move on, rethink everything, but this experience is essential."
MISSED CHANCES
The co-hosts, roared on by the crowd and needing a win to go through, started the game at a furious pace and will regret their profligacy after missing several chances to go ahead.
The Czechs were fortunate when a sloppy back pass left striker Robert Lewandowski with a chance but he skewed his effort off target under pressure from Theodor Gebre Selassie.
Clearly missing their playmaker Rosicky, the Czechs eventually settled down after a nervy opening 15 minutes and began putting the Polish defense under pressure with Vaclav Pilar providing a threat down the wing most of the night.
The Czechs started the second half strongly knowing they needed a goal to book a quarter-final ticket with Pilar causing all sorts of headaches with his runs at the Polish backline.
The pressure finally paid off with midfielder Jiracek's neat finish into the bottom corner of the net following a swift counter-attack after a pass from much-criticized forward Baros who played his best game of the tournament so far.
Poland frantically poured forward in search of an equalizer to keep their hopes alive but the Czechs defended in waves and held on to advance to the last eight.
(Reporting by Michael Kahn, Additional reporting by Dagmara Leszkowicz; Editing by Ken Ferris)
FCC may take up issue of cell phone radiation - CNBC
CHICAGO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the Federal Communications Commission is asking for a review of the agency's stance on radiofrequency energy emitted from cell phones amid lingering concerns that the devices may cause brain tumors.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski on Friday circulated a proposal to his fellow commissioners calling for a formal inquiry into the mobile phone emissions standards set in 1996.
The proposal would need to be approved by a majority of the FCC's five commissioners before the agency could release it for public comment. If it is approved, the agency would consider changing its testing procedures and seek input on the need to either strengthen or ease the current standards.
The agency would also look into whether emission standards should be different for devices used by children, an FCC spokesman said on Saturday.
The spokesman stressed that the agency continues to believe there is no evidence tying cancer, headaches, dizziness, memory loss or other health problems to mobile phones.
But the inquiry would seek any scientific evidence that could warrant changes to the emissions standards.
The number of mobile phones has risen sharply since the early 1980s, with nearly 5 billion handsets in use today, prompting lengthy debate about their potential link to the main types of brain tumor, glioma and meningioma.
In May 2011 the World Health Organization added cell phone radiation to a list of possible carcinogens, putting it in the same category as lead, chloroform and coffee, and said more study is needed.
Unlike ionizing radiation such as that from gamma rays, radon and X-rays, which can break chemical bonds in the body and are known to cause cancer, radiofrequency devices such as cell phones and microwaves emit radiofrequency energy, a form of non-ionizing radiation.
According to the National Cancer Institute, there is no consistent evidence that non-ionizing radiation increases the risk of cancer.
STUDIES POINT AWAY FROM LINK
What these devices do produce is energy in the form of heat, and the concern is that frequent use of cell phones held up to the ear can change brain cell activity, as some studies have suggested.
What is not yet clear is whether this causes harm, which is why the WHO and other health bodies have called for further study.
But since the WHO's announcement, scientific evidence has increasingly pointed away from a link between mobile phone use and brain tumors, according to a panel of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection.
Last October a study by Danish researchers involving more than 350,000 people concluded that mobile phones do not increase the risk of cancer, concurring with other studies that have reached similar conclusions.
And a study last July looking at children and adolescents aged 7 to 19 concluded that those who used mobile phones were at no greater risk of developing brain cancer than those who did not use the devices.
The FCC in 1996 established a limit on emissions and a safe level of human exposure. Mobile phones are tested and must be within this limit before they are granted FCC approval to be marketed in the United States.
FCC spokeswoman Tammy Sun said that the existing guidelines do not pose any harm or risk to cell phone users, adding that the United States "has the most conservative emissions standards in the world."
"Our action today is a routine review of our standards," Sun said in a statement.
The FCC does not set health policy, relying instead on input from the Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health and Human Services and other agencies.
"We hope and expect that other federal agencies and organizations with whom we work on this issue will participate in the process," Sun said.
Demand for wireless devices like Apple Inc's iPhone and Google Inc's suite of Android-powered smartphones has surged in recent years, with some consumers opting to forgo landline service altogether.
According to a study by Cisco Systems Inc, the number of mobile devices connected to the Internet is expected to exceed the number of people on Earth in four years' time.
For people who are concerned about the effects of radiofrequency energy from cell phones, the FDA and FCC suggest they have shorter conversations on them and use a hands-free device, which places more distance between the phone and the user's head.
(Reporting By Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago and Jasmin Melvin in Washington; Editing by Xavier Briand)
Greece V Russia : UEFA Euro 2012 Match Report - Football
Published: 16 Jun 2012 - 22:01:24
Greece in Euro 2012 quarters after foiling Russia
Veteran Greece captain Giorgos Karagounis halted Russia's Euro 2012 campaign in its tracks here on Saturday, as the underdogs unexpectedly beat the Group A early pacesetters 1-0 to reach the last eight instead.
Seconds before the end of stoppage time in the first half, the 35-year-old midfielder latched onto a throw-in that Russian defender Sergei Ignashevich failed to deal with.
Dodging between the Russian rearguard, he fired a powerful low cross shot past goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev.
The 4,000 Greek fans in Warsaw's stadium, who up to then had largely been outsung by 20,000 Russians, went wild as Karagounis hit home to put his side through on the head to head rule - both sides ending on four points behind group winners the Czech Republic.
Karagounis, who was in Greece's Euro 2004 winning squad, and his team-mates had gone into the Russia game gung-ho, knowing that only a win would keep them in the tournament.
They had also said they aimed to bring some cheer to their crisis-ravaged homeland.
Six minutes in, Karagounis fired a corner to Kostas Katsouranis, and Dimitris Salpingidis bundled goalwards, only for Malafeev to save.
Salpingidis had been Greece's hero of the night when, after coming on as a half-time substitute, he equalised against Poland for his side, earlier reduced to 10 men.
Three minutes later, Russian captain Andrey Arshavin crossed to rising star Alan Dzagoev but he was beaten by Greek goalkeeper Michalis Sifakis - brought in to replace Kostas Chalkias, injured in their defeat by the Czechs.
Dzagoev tried again a minute later, but fired over the bar, before Aleksandr Kerzhakov shot wide.
Russia continued to show their strength as the half progressed, underlining the Greeks' vulnerability to counter-attacks.
But while not ironclad, Greece's defence remained solid at the end.
Five minutes from half-time, Yuri Zhirkov took a superb short corner, only to shoot over the bar.
With two minutes added on, Karagounis's strike came just seconds before Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson's half-time whistle.
Returning from the dressing room, both sides continued to display fighting spirit.
Russia came within a whisker of equalising in the 56th minute, but Igor Denisov was off-target.
There was gloom for Karagounis when he received a yellow card for being harshly adjudged to have dived in the box, meaning he will miss their quarter-final as he was also booked against the Czechs.
Greece's Giorgos Tzavellas came close to putting them further ahead in the 69th minute, but hit the post.
Five minutes later, Sifakis saved a shot from Igor Denisov, while Russia were again foiled in the 83rd minute when Dzagoev latched onto an Arshavin cross but fired wide.
With Eriksson adding four minutes' stoppage time, a desperate Russia battled to save face, but Sifakis denied Denisov again on his line.
Related Greece News
Calderon: G20 could contribute more than $430 billion to IMF - Reuters
LOS CABOS, Mexico |
LOS CABOS, Mexico (Reuters) - The world's biggest economies must commit to a strong Europe and open their wallets to boost the International Monetary Fund's ability to contain fallout from Europe's debt crisis, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said on Saturday.
Calderon will host the Group of 20 leaders at a summit starting on Monday in Mexico's Pacific resort of Los Cabos, with the meeting overshadowed by crucial elections in Greece and mounting worries about Spain and Italy.
"Even though we don't expect to reach specific agreements on Europe ... I want to see language and promises which are much more oriented to a new, stronger Europe, a Europe of the 21st century," Calderon told international news agencies.
Greece's elections on Sunday could help decide whether the country will remain in the euro zone, battling a debt crisis that has dragged on for 2 1/2 years. Calderon said it was important to be prepared for any scenario in terms of the result.
But Mexico's first priority for the summit was to finalize G20 members' pledges to give the IMF more crisis-fighting resources, he said.
In April, G20 countries pledged at least $430 billion in new loans to the IMF so it could help countries hit hardest by the debt crisis. But emerging market powers such as Brazil, China, Russia and Mexico itself have not yet said what specific amount they will contribute.
"I estimate that it could be a bigger capitalization," Calderon said, referring to the sum agreed to in April and adding it was "a pity" that Canada and the United States were not chipping in.
Calderon would not be drawn on specifics of Mexico's contribution, which should be at least $8 billion given the country's share in the IMF's capital.
He said it would be more than $1 billion, but would not comment on whether it would exceed $10 billion, the amount Brazil has named as a yardstick for its contribution.
(Reporting by Krista Hughes; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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