LONDON: England internationals Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney avoided a potential public relations disaster after an organiser said the duo had withdrawn from a soccer skills event. The pair were set to compete in a series of challenges against the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Cristiano

LONDON: Serbia`s Novak Djokovic stormed through to the Wimbledon semi-finals with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win over Taiwan`s Lu Hsun-Yen on Wednesday. World number three Djokovic played almost faultless tennis to wrap up victory in an hour and 51 minutes on Court One as Lu, the conqueror of

ABUJA: Nigeria president Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday banned the country`s football team from international competition for two years following their dismal showing at the World Cup, his office said. "President Goodluck Jonathan has directed that Nigeria withdraws from international

PORT ELIZABETH: Kaka is one of a cluster of players treading a yellow card tightrope in Friday`s World Cup quarter-final between The Netherlands and Brazil. The Real Madrid playmaker is joined by Luis Fabiano, Juan and Felipe Melo in the group of Brazilians who will miss a potential

JOHANNESBURG: Diego Lugano may lead a rugged Uruguayan defence, but his male model-like good looks has his female fans swooning in front of the giant video screens set up back home in Montevideo. The 29-year-old may not be the quickest of defenders but he uses his 6ft 1inch (1.86 metres)

CAPE TOWN: Portuguese captain Cristiano Ronaldo confessed to being a broken man on Wednesday after his side`s crushing 1-0 World Cup defeat to Iberian rivals Spain. The 25-year-old Real Madrid star said he felt a deep sadness at their exit at the hands of the European champions, who

TEHRAN: Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has said the United States, England and France deserved to be eliminated in the World Cup for imposing nuclear sanctions on Tehran, newspapers reported on Wednesday. "In this World Cup you see a meaningful correlation between politics

JOHANNESBURG: Superstars have failed to deliver goals at the World Cup with Kaka, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney managing just one between them. And that came softly to Ronaldo three minutes from full-time in Cape Town as Portugal tore hapless North Korea to shreds in

BANGKOK: More than 1,000 punters in the Thai capital have been arrested in a crackdown on illegal gambling during the World Cup, police said Wednesday. Bangkok`s force has arrested 56 bookmakers or their associates and 1,156 gamblers who have made bets totalling 3.4 million baht (105,000

CAPE TOWN, June 30, 2010 (AFP) - Asia`s World Cup may be over with Japan`s agonising elimination in a penalty shoot-out, but the Asian Football Confederation teams did enough to reaffirm the region`s growing stature. Two out of four made the last 16, compared to just one out of five from

LONDON: Tsvetana Pironkova had never played on a grass court until five years ago but now the Bulgarian giant-killer is just one match away from reaching the Wimbledon final. Pironkova has defied her lowly position in the world rankings to make it to the last four at the All England Club

CAPE TOWN: Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque insists his team will not be underestimating Paraguay after beating Portugal 1-0 to set up a quarter-final clash with the South Americans.The European champions had a second-half David Villa strike to thank for their victory on Tuesday and Del

CAPE TOWN: Red-hot David Villa scored his fourth goal of the World Cup to fire European champions Spain past Iberian arch-rivals Portugal 1-0 on Tuesday and into quarter-final clash against Paraguay. The Barcelona striker pounced in the 63rd minute of an absorbing encounter that saw

LONDON: Defending champion Serena Williams moved into the semi-finals at Wimbledon with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Chinese ninth seed Li Na on Tuesday. Williams claimed a last four place at the All England Club for the seventh time in her career and helped heal Williams` family pride after

PRETORIA: Paraguay striker Roque Santa Cruz saw his third and final World Cup finals extended by at least one match on Tuesday after the South American side edged Japan 5-3 on penalties to reach the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time after the match ended 0-0. The Manchester

LONDON: Five-time champion Venus Williams suffered a shock 6-2, 6-3 defeat against unseeded Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon on Tuesday. Not since Jelena Jankovic defeated Williams in the third round in 2006 had Venus failed to reach the women`s singles

LONDON: Russia`s Vera Zvonareva is through to the semi-finals at Wimbledon for the first time after recording a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over eighth seed Kim Clijsters here on Tuesday. Zvonareva, seeded 21st, came back from a set down to beat Clijsters for the first time in six attempts and

LONDON: Venus Williams crashed out of the Wimbledon quarter-finals Tuesday to the lowest-ranked player left in the draw as her sister Serena and Kim Clijsters went in search of semi-final spots. Venus, a five-time Wimbledon champion and the world number two, was knocked out 6-2, 6-3 by

BRIDGETOWN: West Indies left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul still believes his side can pull off a shock win in the the third and final Test against South Africa. Despite another inexplicable batting collapse that left them on the brink of defeat, Chanderpaul believes "anything" can

CINCINNATI: Top-seeded Jelena Jankovic and second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki were knocked out of the third-round Thursday at the Cincinnati Women`s Open.Qualifier Akgul Amanmuradova used a strong service game to topple world number two Jankovic 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, shortly after 16th-seeded