Vietnam bags two medals in Asian Athletics Championships

Vietnam bags two medals in Asian Athletics Championships

QĐND – Thursday, November 12, 2009, 8:27 (GMT+7)

Vietnam won one silver and one bronze medal on the first day of the 18 th Asian Athletics Championships which are taking place in Guangzhou, China from November 11-14.

Vu Thi Huong from Vietnam’s northern province of Thai Nguyen pocketed a silver medal on November 11 in the women’s 100 metres final clocking 11”50, while her Japanese rival Chisa Fukushima claimed the title within 11”27.

In the women’s 1,500 metres category, Truong Thanh Hang from Ho Chi Minh City, who clocked 4’33”46, won the bronze, taking the third place. The host country claimed the first and second places.

Two days into the event, China temporary took the first place with 19 medals, following by Japan, 9 and India, 5, respectively. With two medals, Vietnam ranked 11 th .

Source: VNA

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Diamanti sparkles as Hammers frustrate Arsenal

West Ham United’s Alessandro Diamanti celebrates scoring his late penalty during the English Premier league football match between West ham United and Arsenal at Upton Park in east London. (AFP photo)

LONDON (AFP) – Alessandro Diamanti stepped off the bench to inspire a superb second-half comeback by West Ham United, who recovered from a two-goal deficit to draw 2-2 against Arsenal here at Upton Park on Sunday.

Gianfranco Zola’s side appeared dead and buried when Robin van Persie and William Gallas fired the visitors into a commanding half-time lead.

But Diamanti transformed the game after his introduction in the 56th minute, setting up Carlton Cole’s 74th minute effort before ensuring the Hammers claimed only their sixth point of the season with an 80th minute penalty.

And Zola’s side, who still sit second bottom in the Premier League, held on for a draw despite the late sending off of midfielder Scott Parker for a second bookable offence.

The news of Liverpool’s 2-0 victory over champions Manchester United at Anfield would have filtered through to the visitors’ dressing room shortly before kick-off and Arsenal started the game knowing victory would put them hard on the heels of the second-placed title-holders.

Zola had made attempt to disguise the importance of this fixture in and the West Ham manager’s message appeared to have got through to players.

As early as the third minute cracks appeared in the Arsenal defence when Valon Behrami won a header that fell temptingly for Cole.

For a brief moment, the England striker looked as though he had a clear sight on Vito Mannone?s goal but centre-back Thomas Vermaelen moved swiftly to block the effort and the ball deflected tamely wide.

Yet while Arsenal appeared more incisive, they too made only a limited impression on the West Ham goal until Robert Green and James Tomkins combined to gift van Persie his fifth goal of the league campaign in the 16th minute.

Bacary Sagna worked a nice one-two with Abou Diaby but there shouldn’t have been any danger for West Ham when the Arsenal right-back floated a cross into Green’s area.

But the Hammers keeper failed to communicate with team-mate Tomkins and the pair collided with each other, allowing the ball to fall to van Persie who side-footed into an empty net.

West Ham were guilty of more sloppy defending in the 37th minute when Gallas headed the Gunners into a two-goal lead.

The chance came from a van Persie corner but the Hammers should have done better, with Cole in particular guilty of allowing the Arsenal centre-back to out-jump him.

Arsenal began to stretch West Ham with typically neat passing moves, most notably to set up Emmanuel Eboue who saw a low shot saved by Green just before the interval.

The start of the second period reinforced the view that West Ham had run out of ideas, prompting Zola to make an early change and introduce Diamanti.

The Italian midfielder had an immediate impact, firing in a couple of hopeful long range shots that seemed to shake West Ham out of their shell and revive hopes they could get something out of the game.

Cole followed suit with a shot on the turn that arrowed over and the pair combined to drag West Ham back into the match when the striker headed home after Mannone parried Diamanti’s free-kick.

West Ham were transformed and had a strong appeal for a penalty turned down two minutes later when Parker went down under Gallas’s challenge.

But there was no doubt about the validity of their second claim when Cole was felled by a clumsy tackle from behind by Alex Song and Diamanti stepped up to level from the penalty spot.

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Liverpool sink United to ease the pressure on Benitez

LIVERPOOL (AFP) – Fernando Torres eased the pressure on Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez as his sublime strike inspired a 2-0 win over arch rivals Manchester United on Sunday.

Manchester United’s English forward Wayne Rooney (R) vies with Liverpool’s English defender Glen Johnson (L) during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Manchester United at Anfield in Liverpool.(AFP photo)

Benitez had endured a miserable week as Liverpool’s losing run extended to four matches, their worst spell for 22 years, but Spanish striker Torres gave his compatriot a much-needed boost with a lethal second half finish before David Ngog’s stoppage time goal secured a third successive win against United.

A chaotic closing period also saw both sides finish with 10 men as Nemanja Vidic was sent off for hauling down Dirk Kuyt – the United defender’s third red card in his last three matches against Liverpool – and then Javier Mascherano was dismissed for a clumsy foul on Edwin van der Sar.

After being widely written off as also-rans ahead of the Anfield showdown, Liverpool have closed the gap on Premier League leaders Chelsea to six points and stopped United regaining top spot, as well as condemning the champions to their first defeat in 12 matches.

It was no more than Liverpool deserved for the kind of intelligent and passionate display that has been missing too often this season.

With Steven Gerrard’s failure to recover from a groin injury in time to feature forced Benitez to gamble on Torres’s fitness as he tried to avoid presiding over a fifth successive defeat and Liverpool’s worst run for 56 years.

With so much at stake, it was hardly surprising that the pre-match fans’ protest march against Liverpool owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, who sat together in the directors’ box, didn’t carry on in the stadium.

But the fierce rivalry between the clubs means that no slip is too small to be gloated over.

United’s travelling fans threw beach balls onto the Anfield pitch before kick-off in celebration of Darren Bent’s infamous goal for Sunderland last weekend. although they had their thunder stolen by the Kop, who unleashed their own barrage of inflatable balls moments later.

Benitez would have appreciated Liverpool managing director Christian Purslow’s declaration that the Spaniard’s job was safe, but those words would count for nothing if United effectively killed off their title challenge.

Fabio Aurelio had van der Sar at full stretch to keep out a free-kick that was curling towards the top corner and the Dutch goalkeeper had to recover quickly to block Kuyt’s follow-up.

Kuyt shoud have forced van der Sar into action soon after but shot wide after Lucas’s pass picked out the Dutch forward in yards of space.

It took United 20 minutes to piece together their first really incisive attack as Rooney met Antonio Valencia’s cross with a header that Jose Reina clutched low to his right.

Liverpool were showing the greater urgency and Aurelio tested van der Sar again, this time with a far-post header from Yossi Benayoun’s cross, but his effort was too close to the United keeper.

Several United players, infuriated by Andre Marriner’s failure to agree with two half-hearted penalty appeals, surrounded the referee at half-time.

United were content to maintain their surprisingly cautious approach again after the break, while centre backs Vidic and Rio Ferdinand singled out Torres for some crunching challenges.

Torres, who had tormented Vidic in Liverpool’s 4-1 win at Old Trafford last season, had been relatively subdued. But he sprang to life in ruthless fashion in the 65th minute.

Yossi Benayoun slipped a perceptive pass to Torres in the United penalty area and he burst clear of Ferdinand, ignoring the defender’s attempt to tug his shirt, before lashing a rising shot past van der Sar.

That prompted Sir Alex Ferguson to send on former Liverpool striker Michael Owen and he was greeted with a torrent of abuse from all four sides of Anfield.

Valencia was within a whisker of equalising in the 84th minute when he crashed a fierce strike against the crossbar.

United must have realised it wasn’t to be their day when Jamie Carragher escaped with a booking after hauling down Owen as he burst through on goal in the closing moments.

Their misery was complete when Vidic was sent off in the last minute for a grabbing Kuyt and hauling him to the turf as he threatened to break clear.

After Mascherano’s foolish second booking, Ngog, on for Torres, put the result beyond down when he surged through and slotted past van der Sar.

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VFF Cup, a tough test for Vietnam before SEA Games

The four U-23 teams of China, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam will compete in the friendship Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) Cup in Hanoi from November 5 to 9.

Speaking at a press conference in Hanoi Oct. 22, VFF general secretary Tran Quoc Tuan said that three guest teams had agreed to field their best players at the My Dinh National Stadium, the venue of the round-robin competition.

As it is a round-robin tournament, U-23 Vietnam will play all the other teams, which was described by Mr. Tuan as a good test for the Vietnamese squad before the 25th Southeast Asian Games in Laos in December.

U-23 Vietnam are on training in Hanoi to prepare for the VFF Cup and this December’s SEA Games (Photo: SGGP)

Like Vietnam, both U-23 Singapore and U-23 Thailand are preparing for their SEA Games campaigns.

The VFF Cup champions will receive US$25,000, the runners-up $10,000 and the third-placed teams $5,000. Vietnam will play Thailand in the opener on Nov. 5.

Reportedly, Vietnam’ coach Henrique Calisto expects the event to be a chance to know assess the strength of both Singapore and Thailand, the key rivals of Vietnam at the SEA Games.

Both Singapore and Thailand are deemed to be stronger than other teams in the region.

Singapore’s national squad won the Ho Chi Minh City International Cup on Oct. 24. The selection team of Korean students came second, Vietnam’s national squad third and Turkmenistan came fourth in the four-team tournament.
 
Meanwhile, U-23 Vietnam were defeated 1-2 by South Korea’s Chunnam Dragons on Oct. 21.

The Vietnamese team are on their training camp in Hanoi for the VFF Cup, and this December’s SEA Games.

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Raul the star as Real host clash of the giants

PARIS (AFP) – Real Madrid fans would be forgiven for focusing all their attention on club icon Raul on Wednesday as the club host a mouth-watering clash between the nine-times European champions and AC Milan.

With his 65 goals still leading the way in Europe’s premier club competition, Raul made a little piece of history on Saturday when his 711th game for Real made him the club’s all-time leading appearance holder.

To top beating legendary Real defender Manolo Sanchis’s record of 710 games, Raul also scored twice in the 4-2 defeat of Valladolid.

And no-one would bet against him stretching his European record on Wednesday when Real Leonardo’s Milan side – seven-times winners of the trophy – visit the Santiago Bernabeu.

Milan will arrive in the Spanish capital with a desire to return in May 2010, when Real’s stadium hosts the final.

And the Italian giants should be in buoyant mood having claimed a valuable come-from-behind 2-1 win at home to Roma on Saturday – only the third time this season in 10 matches Milan had scored more than a single goal.

“This win is worth a lot more than three points,” said Leonardo, who hailed the “incredible spirit” of his team on Sunday.

Real, with six points from two games and well within sight of gaining early qualification to the knockout round, will be giving nothing away for free.

And defender Sergio Ramos has called for his side to step up against what he called an impressive opponent.

“It is time to see Real Madrid’s true colours against an opponent that has won a lot of European Cups and who we really respect,” he said.

Raul, typically, played down his personal achievements as he looked forward to his 712th appearance for the club.

“I am thinking about Wednesday as we have another important European game (against AC Milan) and we have to prepare for it,” said Raul.

Elsewhere in Group C Marseille have no choice but to beat FC Zurich at the Velodrome if they are to salvage a winless, and point-less, campaign so far.

After defeats to Milan (1-2) and Real (0-3) Didier Deschamps’ side are propping up the table, with even Zurich – minnows in comparative terms – sitting second on three points.

Bordeaux have a far better chance of finishing among the top two and joining the first knockout round.

Bayern Munich’s Philipp Lahm (right) and Juventus’ Claudio Marchisio vie for the ball during their UEFA Champions League group A football match in Munich, on September 30. Bayern Munich play Bordeaux on Wednesday while Juventus face Maccabi Haifa (AFP file)

But despite a positive start to Group A with four points from two games, Bordeaux host Bayern Munich in something of an identity crisis.

Amid their search for the goals that strike duo Yoann Gourcuff and Marouane Chamakh were knocking in regularly in August, Bordeaux suffered their first defeat of the league campaign, against Auxerre, on Saturday.

Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal has opted not to risk Dutch winger Arjen Robben, who injured his knee in the scoreless draw at home to Juventus on October 1.

Juventus will be looking forward to claiming their first win of Group A when they host basement side Maccabi Haifa in Turin.

Like Real, Manchester United and Chelsea are looking to make it three wins out of three when they face CSKA Moscow and Atletico Madrid respectively.

CSKA have three points from two games having been beaten at Wolfsburg and then beating Besiktas 2-1 at home.

United would normally be confident of winning in Moscow but they will be missing five key players in midfielders Ryan Giggs, Darren Fletcher and Park Ji-Sung, defender Patrice Evra and striker Wayne Rooney.

Giggs and Evra picked up injuries olaying against Bolton.

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Champions League stunner as Barca beaten by Russian champs Rubin

MADRID (AFP) – Holders Barcelona suffered their first European defeat in 10 months falling to a shock 2-1 home loss at the hands of Rubin Kazan in the Champions League group F match on Tuesday.

Russian champions Rubin produced the biggest win in their history to defeat the reigning European champions with Turkish midfielder Gokdeniz Karadeniz netting a 73rd winner to stun the Camp Nou.

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi (R) fights for the ball with Rubin Kazan’s Russian defender Roman Sharonov (L) during the Champions League football match between Barcelona and Rubin Kazan at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona (AFP photo)

It was Barcelona’s first Champions League defeat since December 9 when Pep Guardiola’s side lost 3-2 at home to Shakhtar Donetsk at the group stage – although they had already qualified – and the result blows the group wide open with all four teams capable of reaching the last 16.

Barca, Rubin and Dynamo Kiev all have four points with Inter Milan on three points after a 2-2 draw with Kiev on Tuesday.

“Any team can beat another one in football,” said Guardiola. “It is a strong group with four league champions and we have to fight until the end to progress.”

Aleksandr Ryazantsev shot Russian champions Rubin into a shock lead after just 70 seconds with a fine long-range strike.

Swede Zlatan Ibrahimovic equalised for Barca showing good chest control before volleying into the corner three minutes after the break.

It was expected to be the platform for Barca to win the game but Kazan were clinical using one of their rare goalscoring chances to win the game.

“If we want to progress we have to win the next game in Russia (against Rubin Kazan),” said Ibrahimovic. “We had some good chances and hit the woodwork but didn’t have much luck.”

Rubin now have a great chance of progressing and coach Kurban Berdeyev admitted he was still getting to grips with the historic win.

“I thanked God for giving our fans a party they fully deserve,” said Berdeyev. “We didn’t think that we could win here.”

With Thierry Henry out injured Guardiola rushed back Ibrahimovic, who sat out the Valencia match at the weekend, with Lionel Messi and Pedro Rodriguez on the flanks.

Rubin fielded third choice goalkeeper Sergei Ryzhikov, with his number 77 shirt hardly inspiring confidence, but he did well to thwart Andres Iniesta in the opening minute.

With 70 seconds gone Rubin stunned the partisan Camp Nou crowd, with some fans just coming into the stadium after being stuck in traffic, when Ryazantsev rifled in an unstoppable 30 yard drive.

A sloppy pass from Rafael Marquez gifted Rubin possession and Ryazantsev surprised Victor Valdes arrowing a thumping right-footed shot into the corner.

It was the first time Barcelona had gone behind in their nine games this season and provided them with a challenge.

It was a dream start for Rubin who built a barrier in front of their penalty area to try and defend their surprise lead.

The expected Barca onslaught came with Ibrahimovic squirming a tough volley wide after a great dribble and cross from Messi.

Dani Alves then drilled a shot just wide of the post and Pedro’s header was pushed clear by Ryzhikov right next to the post.

Guardiola did not make any changes at the interval and the leveller came three minutes into the second half with Ibrahimovic controlling on his chest before volleying a first time shot into the bottom corner.

The goal threw Rubin’s game-plan out of the window but Barca struggled to score a second and threw on teenage striker Bojan Krkic for Pedro in the 66th minute.

However, it was the Russians who struck again with a lightning counter attack finished off by Karadeniz in the 73nd minute.

Ibrahimovic smashed a shot against the crossbar five minutes later and Yaya Toure hit the post in stoppage time as Rubin clung on.

Barca have some tough away fixtures in freezing temperatures coming up with the return leg against Rubin in Russia on November 4 before going to Ukraine to take on Dynamo Kiev in December.

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South Africa fire coach Joel Santana

JOHANNESBURG, Oct 19, 2009 (AFP) – World Cup hosts South Africa fired coach Joel Santana on Monday after eight losses in nine matches, a national football association spokesman said here.

The 60-year-old Brazilian tasked with building a team capable of holding its own at the 2010 tournament paid the price for a string of poor results and consistent refusal to accept criticism of his hyper-cautious underperformers.

A file photo of coach Joel Santana (AFP file)

After 1-0 defeats at European middleweights Norway and Iceland last week, the man appointed in mid-2008 said he had not been hired to win friendly fixtures.

Many South African Football Association (SAFA) officials considered this comment an insult to the nation and it became an issue of when rather than if he would be axed.

A SAFA statement said: “It was unanimously agreed on Monday between the South African Football Association and senior national coach Joel Santana that he would vacate his position with immediate effect.

“In the interim the SAFA management committee resolved that (assistant coaches) Jairo Leal and Pitso Mosimane would assume the role of caretakers, pending a decision by the national executive at an October 23 meeeting.

“The president of the association, Kirsten Nematandani, thanked Santana for his efforts to date and wished him success in all future ventures,” the statement added.

“Similarly, Santana took the opportunity to thank the association, his technical staff, his players and the country for their support, and wished Bafana Bafana (team nickname) every success at the 2010 World Cup.”

Santana, who had no previous national team experience, was under pressure from his debut, a 2-0 away loss to Nigeria in a 2010 World Cup-African Nations Cup qualifier.

He later managed a run of five consecutive friendly victories, mainly against second-string African opposition, and received a surprisingly friendly media reception for finishing fourth as 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup hosts.

South Africa won just one of five games in the mini-World Cup, against minnows New Zealand, but holding eventual champions Brazil for 88 minutes in the semi-finals endeared Santana to success-starved local supporters.

Predecessor Carlos Alberto Parreira of Brazil and Dutchman Leon Beenhakker are among foreigners linked with the post, but South Africa may opt for a local coach like Gavin Hunt from premier league champions SuperSport United.

Hunt and former national coaches Jomo Sono and Clive Barker were asked by SAFA to compile a report on the Oslo and Reykjavik friendlies, but it has not been made public.

Firing the national football coach ahead of a World Cup is a South African tradition with Barker and Portuguese Carlos Queiroz being ousted just months before the 1998 and 2002 tournaments.

Barker made way for fiery Frenchman Philippe Troussier and Sono, one of the greatest footballers produced by South Africa, replaced Queiroz and led South Africa to its first World Cup finals victory, over Slovenia in South Korea.

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Argentina scrape into World Cup finals

MONTEVIDEO (AFP) – Argentina scraped into the World Cup with a 1-0 win over Uruguay as Diego Maradona finally celebrated mission accomplished after a stumbling, lacklustre qualifying campaign.

The two-time champions needed a goal by substitute Mario Bolatti on Wednesday six minutes from time to earn the three points and secure the fourth and final qualifying spot from South America.

Argentina’s Sebastian Dominguez (L), Lionel Messi (C) and Javier Mascherano celebrate at the end of their FIFA World Cup South Africa-2010 qualifier match against Uruguay. (AFP photo)

Brazil, Chile and Paraguay had already made sure of their places in the finals.

Uruguay finished in fifth and now face a play-off against Costa Rica, who finished fourth in the CONCACAF region behind USA, Mexico and Honduras, to decide their World Cup fate.

In a poor match with few opportunities, the crucial moment came when Uruguay were reduced to 10 men when Martin Caceras was red-carded for a foul on Jonas Gutierrez.

From the ensuing free-kick, Juan Sebastian Veron had a shot charged down, but Bolatti, on the field for just four minutes after replacing Gonzalo Higuain, reacted quickest to the loose ball to beat Nestor Muslera in the Uruguayan goal.

Maradona, who had used over 70 players since taking over a year ago, opted to leave Carlos Tevez on the bench alongside Martin Palermo, who grabbed the last-minute goal which saw off Peru on Saturday.

“I thank the team and the fans, who crossed the River Plate, for the privilege of taking Argentina to the World Cup,” said Maradona, who was in combative mood at his post-match news conference.

“But there were people who did not believe in us and who treated me like rubbish.”

Uruguay, needing a win to make sure of automatic qualification, were on top early with Argentina unsurprisingly nervous and defender Gabriel Heinze picking up a booking after just nine minutes.

Andres Scotti almost gave the home side the lead at the famous Estadio Monumental, but his header slipped by Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero’s post.

Lionel Messi, who has yet to shine under Maradona despite his scene-stealing performances for Barcelona, attempted to catch out Muslera with a long distance free-kick.

The goalless half-time stalemate suited Argentina as Ecuador, the only other rivals for the last qualifying spot, were also being held 0-0 at the interval by Chile in Santiago.

The low-quality affair continued after the break with the first opening not coming until the 73rd minute when Diego Lugano headed wide from a pinpoint Diego Forlan free-kick.

Uruguay continued to press against an Argentine team happy to pack seven defenders behind the ball as the clock ticked down before Bolatti, in just his third international, put his country into the finals.

In Santiago, Chile took the lead against Ecuador thanks to a 51st-minute strike from Humberto Suazo. Ecuador, who had Segundo Castilla sent-off, needed to win to keep their qualifying hopes alive.

Five-time champions, and group winners, Brazil were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Venezuela and they too finished with 10 men after Sao Paulo defender Miranda was red-carded.

Paraguay also ended on a low note, losing 2-0 at home to Colombia.

Rock-bottom Peru completed their programme with a 1-0 win over Bolivia, who had defeated Brazil at the weekend, thanks to a second-half strike from Johan Fano.

It was Bolivia’s 38th qualifier away from their high-altitude fortress of La Paz without a win.

Fano, meanwhile, was later sent-off.

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Germany, Italy en route to South Africa

PARIS (AFP) – Italy scraped a draw against the Republic of Ireland to join Germany, Denmark and Serbia as the latest teams to secure 2010 World Cup places on a drama-laden penultimate batch of qualifiers.

This quartet join already-qualified England, Spain and the Netherlands, leaving two automatic berths from the continent still up for grabs heading into Wednesday’s last throw of the South Africa dice.

Russia, beaten 1-0 by ten-man Germany in Moscow, and the Republic of Ireland, are among the teams assured of places in November’s two-leg play-offs.

France, beaten on penalties in the 2006 final by Italy, are also in the play-offs after routing part-timers the Faroe Islands 5-0 to book second place in Group Seven behind Serbia, who trounced Romania by the same scoreline.

The Irish came desperately close to pulling off a major upset in Dublin as Sean St Ledger headed them into a 2-1 lead with only three minutes to go, only for Alberto Gilardino to level on the whistle.

Aiden McGeady (L) of Italy vies for the ball with Keith Doyle of the Republic of Ireland during their World Cup Quailifer at Croke Park in Dublin (AFP photo)

That put the world champions into an unassailable lead in Group Eight with Ireland as runners-up.

Italy coach Marcello Lippi praised the Azzurri’s “great performance”.

He added: “If we had lost it would have been a big injustice because we played with passion, character and enthusiasm.”

Gilardino predicted Italy could go all the way again in 2010.

“We struggled but the result is even better for that. At the end we deserved the draw,” the Fiorentina striker said.

“We can hope to go all the way, the basis of this squad is the same as the one that won in 2006 but we’ve added some young players and some good players.

“Now we’ll go to South Africa in good spirits and with hope to win it again.”

Earlier, three-time world champions Germany ensured their participation in next year’s World Cup with a game to spare after a gritty defeat of Guus Hiddink’s Russia.

Miroslav Klose’s first-half goal booked Germany’s ticket with Joachim Loew’s team reduced to ten men when Jerome Boateng was sent packing after receiving a second yellow card with 20 minutes remaining.

The win gave secured top spot for Germany in Group Four ahead of their final qualifier against Finland in Hamburg.

Loew reflected: “The team did well. We needed a bit of luck, but we have made sure of qualifying for the World Cup and you can’t ask for more.”

Goal-hero Klose added: “We dealt well with the pressure here – it was not an easy place to play.”

Hiddink said: “We cannot be happy with the result of course, but the team showed character in the second half.

“We were not good enough at finishing our chances or on the counter-attack.

“But we still have a chance to qualify for the finals in November’s play-off.”

Denmark got the better of neighbours Sweden 1-0 to book their ticket as winners of Group One while Portugal moved into second and a shot at making the play-offs with a 3-0 win over Hungary.

Already-qualified England’s run of eight straight qualifying wins came to a sticky end in Dnipropetrovsk with Serhiy Nazarenko earning Ukraine a 1-0 win.

Fabio Capello’s Group Six winners were reduced to ten men in the first quarter of an hour when goalkeeper Robert Green was sent off for a professional foul following a mistake by Rio Ferdinand.

Aaron Lennon made way for replacement shot-stopper David James whose first job was to prevent Andriy Shevchenko converting the spotkick – but he didn’t have to work too hard as Shevchenko fluffed his lines, hitting the post.

Spain, who had already guaranteed their place in South Africa as winners of Group Five, came through their trip to Armenia with a 2-1 win to extend their unbeaten run to nine from nine qualifiers.

Bosnia-Herzegovina secured a play-off berth with a 2-0 win in Estonia to make sure of their position as runners-up to the Euro 2008 champions.

In other action, Switzerland boosted their prospects of making it to the finals with a 3-0 defeat of Luxembourg.

Ottmar Hitzfeld’s side are in pole position to qualify as Group Two winners, going into Wednesday three points clear of former European champions Greece.

Group Three is too close to call with Slovakia on 19 points, two ahead of Slovenia, with the same gap back to the Czech Republic.

Source: SGGP

Rooney out of England’s final qualifier

England striker Wayne Rooney pictured on October 10 (AFP photo)

LONDON (AFP) – England striker Wayne Rooney will miss Wednesday’s final 2010 World Cup qualifier against Belarus after the Manchester United forward picked up a calf strain in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat away to Ukraine.

The news is a surprise as Rooney got through the entire game, turning in a decent performance for an England side that was reduced to 10 men after 15 minutes following the dismissal of Robert Green.

Rooney, however, must now undergo treatment in the hope of being fit for United’s Premier League encounter with Bolton.

He will also be making the reverse journey to Ben Foster, who was named as Green’s replacement given the West Ham keeper is now suspended for the Belarus encounter, one of only three remaining before manager Fabio Capello has to name his squad for next summer’s World Cup.

Unless injury hits one of his other four strikers, Capello is unlikely to call in a replacement.

The Italian has the option of pushing Steven Gerrard into a more advanced position, which he plays in so successfully for Liverpool.

Alternatively, he could pair Carlton Cole with Emile Heskey, or possibly Aston Villa’s Gabriel Agbonlahor, who was an unused substitute on Saturday.

England, with wins in their first eight matches, had already ensured automatic qualification to the world Cup before the defeat to Ukraine as Group 6 leaders.

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