Barcelona striker David Villa suffers fractured leg injury

The 30-year-old top player fractured his left tibia shortly before half-time in Thursday's Fifa Club World Cup semi-final against Al Sadd in Yokohama.

"Bad news for David Villa and Barca; the striker's left tibia is fractured," Barcelona said on it'sTwitter feed.

"The player has been taken to the Yokohama Rosa hospital for further tests."

Villa, a £34m signing from Valencia in 2010, was carried off on a stretcher after appearing to land awkwardly 39 minutes into a game Barcelona were winning 1-0.

Although they completed a 4-0 victory over the Qatari club to book their place in the final, Barcelona can expect to be without Villa for some time.

His injury may also put in doubt his participation at the Euro 2012, when Spain will attempt to defend their title.

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Michael Watson wants to light the Olympic flame

Former super-middleweight boxer Michael Watson wants to take another inspirational step in his recovery by lighting the Olympic flame at next year's London Olympic Games.


Two decades have passed since the night a 26-year-old Watson was paralysed after his infamous second fight against Chris Eubank at White Hart Lane on 21 September 1991.

"Everywhere I go I want to inspire people and young teenagers," says Watson, now 46 and still partially paralysed. I want to play a role in the 2012 Olympics."

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"I still go the boxing gym - that's my home, working on the punching pads - and do some training. I love to keep active and training will always be part of my life"

"A lot of people still think that I'm in a wheelchair. They think I'm bed-ridden, they don't even believe it's me. I looked death in the face. People said Michael Watson would not survive, they said I would become a cabbage, but I can think for myself, I can walk and talk."

"If the public see Michael Watson light the Olympic torch, they'll be astounded, because I should really be nothing, I should be bed-bound."

"I think that my involvement in the Olympics will inspire everyone as they will see that, if you are positive, you will succeed against all the odds. I want them to look at me and see how I overcame difficulties and remained positive."

read the whole interview: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/boxing/16073787.stm

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Continue reading the main stor

Official song of EuroBasket 2011

Marijonas, Mantas, Mia - "Celebrate Basketball"

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US Open 2011: Novak Djokovic beats Rafael Nadal

Novak Djokovic confirmed his status as the world's best player with a stunning victory over defending champion Rafael Nadal to lift his first US Open title.

The top seed from Serbia gave a display of breathtaking quality to triumph 6-2 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 6-1 in four hours and 10 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

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to see the highlight of the final: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHF9z0v9Y0Y&feature=player_detailpage
official website of the US open 2011:
http://www.usopen.org/en_US/index.html

EuroBasket 2011 in Lithuania!

Lithuania, which is considered as Europe's basketball heartland, once again hosts a EuroBasket competition. It has been 72 years since Lithuania hosted the 1939 European Championship in Kaunas for the first and only time so far.  

The group matches were played in four arenas, namely Alytus Arena, Šiauliai Arena, Cido Arena in Panevėžys and an arena in Klaipėda. The qualifying matches are to be played at the Siemens Arena in the capital Vilnius and the playoffs at the new Žalgiris Arena in Kaunas.  

As you might know basketball enjoys extraordinary popularity in Lithuania. As such, many events were organized to mark the championship. On August 29, 2011, Lithuania set a new record for simultaneous dribbling, previously held by Poland. 60,000 Lithuanians from Vilnius, Kaunas, Panevėžys, Klaipėda, Šiauliai and Alytus dribbled Molten balls simultaneously, beating Poland's record of 30,000 people.

Additionally, starting with the Spring of 2011, many of the TV and newspaper advertisements became basketball-oriented. Each of the cities where Eurobasket 2011 would take place received many minor details marking the championship: for example, the trash bins in Panevėžys were repainted to look like basketballs, an abandoned building in Vilnius had its windows covered by flags of the participant nations while balls were drawn on street pavement in some places.

Šiauliai is also involved in EuroBasket commotion. Many ordinary Lithuanians decorated their cars with small Lithuanian flags flying above side windows. Flags covering the opposite side of the car mirrors are also popular.

You can find more information about EuroBasket 2011 Lithuania here: http://www.lithuaniabasketball.com/news-697-lithuania-book-ticket-to-kaunas-with-win-over-germany.html

Olympic champion Wanjiru dies after fall

Kenyan Olympic marathon champion Samuel Wanjiru plunged to his death from the first-floor balcony of his home after the athlete’s wife found him in bed with another woman, police told Reuters.

Regional police chief Jaspher Ombati said that Wanjiru’s wife, Triza Njeri, surprised the couple when she came home late on Sunday, locked them in the bedroom and ran outside.

Belgian rider Weylandt dies in Giro crash

RAPALLO, Italy  – Cycling was in a state of shock Monday after Belgian rider Wouter Weylandt died following a crash during the third stage of the Giro d’Italia.

“Despite immediate treatment there was nothing we could do,” Giro doctor Giovanni Tredici told Rai Television.

“Today, our team mate and friend Wouter Weylandt passed away after a crash on the 3rd stage of the Giro d’Italia,” Leopard-Trek manager Bryan Nygaard said in a statement. “The team is left in a state of shock and sadness and we send all our thoughts and deepest condolences to the family and friends of Wouter. “This is a difficult day for cycling and for our team, and we should all seek support and strength in the people close to us.”

Leopard-Trek rider Weylandt, 26, fell off his bike in the descent from the Passo del Bocco.

Carlo Ancelotti waits to hear about future at Chelsea

Carlo Ancelotti is hopeful of seeing out the final year of his contract as Chelsea coach but has conceded the decision is out of his hands.

Ancelotti guided the Blues to a Premier League and FA Cup double last year.

However, the Italian is set to end this campaign trophyless following Sunday's 2-1 league defeat at Manchester United.

"I have another year on my contract and I would like to stay but it is the decision of the club," he said. "We have two more games, we wait and see."

Chelsea went to Old Trafford needing to win to keep alive any realistic hopes of retaining the title.

AC Milan win first Serie A since 2004 with draw at Roma

AC Milan players and management celebrate their Scudetto triumph

AC Milan clinched their first Serie A title since 2004 with a 0-0 draw at Roma on Saturday.

With two games to go, AC Milan have 78 points, nine more than city rivals Inter, who have three remaining games. But head-to-head results decide the destination of the Scudetto in the event of a tie, and the Rossoneri won both league matches between the sides.

AC Milan's triumph brings to an end a run of five successive league titles for Inter Milan.

Cycling: Petacchi wins Giro second stage, Cavendish takes lead

Alessandro Petacchi

Cavendish

Alessandro Petacchi of Italy took a narrow victory in stage two of the Giro d’Italia cycling race Sunday, ahead of new race leader Mark Cavendish of Britain and Italian Manuel Belletti.Petacchi claimed his 22nd stage win in the Giro in a hotly disputed bunch sprint.

FORMULA 1: GP TURKEY, RED BULL VICTORY, FERRARI SECOND

Fernando Alonso reckons his Ferrari team can start having fun again after proving in the Turkish Grand Prix that their upgraded car is quick enough to give Red Bull a few frights. Prior to Istanbul, Ferrari had not even finished on the podium in 2011, but Alonso got as high as second in Turkey after hunting down and passing Mark Webber's Red Bull.

He ultimately lost out to the Australian again in the final stint, when the Red Bull had fresher tyres, but was still able to hang on to a breakthrough third.

"I think we had a good weekend overall," said Alonso. "The car performed a bit better than what we did in the first three races of the championship, so finally we're enjoying racing again and we enjoyed a race fighting for the podium positions, and changing second and third position through the race. "Finally we can enjoy racing again."

ROME, INTERNAZIONALI DI TENNIS 2011

Every ATP player not named Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic headed for Rome Sunday for the start of the second straight Masters 1000 clay-court tournament.

Francesca Schiavone, Italy

A number of big names were in action in Sunday's first-round action, including Spain's Fernando Verdasco, who exacted a measure of revenge against Canda'sMIlos Raonic with a 6-4, 6-4 victory. Verdasco and Raonic have now split four matches this year, with Raonic winning twice on hard courts, Verdasco twice on clay.

With Djokovic conquering Nadal on Sunday in the Madrid final, the world's No. 1 player must start a new streak on clay, his previous 37-match streak broken.

Meanwhile, Djokovic will try to continue his remarakble win streak, now at 34 overall and 32 to start the season. Much like at Madrid, Nadal is the multiple-time defending champion, having won the event five times, including 2009 and 2010.

The luck of the draw doesn't appear to be much luck at all for Nadal. He faces a likely second-round matchup with Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci, the surprising semifinalist from Madrid.

NADAL BACK ON EARTH

A relentless Novak Djokovic dethroned clay king Rafa Nadal on the Spaniard’s home soil and maintained his extraordinary season when he stunned the world number one 7-5 6-4 to win the Madrid Masters title Sunday. The Serbian second seed ground down the local favourite and defending champion during a succession of ferocious rallies to record his 32nd consecutive win of a defeat-free 2011, the best season start since John McEnroe’s 42-match streak in 1984.

The defeat marked Nadal’s first reverse on his beloved clay in 38 matches since he fell to Robin Soderling in the fourth round of the 2009 French Open and denied him a third title on the red dirt in under a month after he won back-to-back at the Monte Carlo Masters and Barcelona Open in April. Djokovic, who had never beaten Nadal on clay in nine previous attempts, now has six titles this year, including the Australian Open and the Masters in Indian Wells and Miami.

“First of all to Rafa bad luck today,” Djokovic said after collecting his winners trophy and 590,000 euros $824,200 (503,236.05 pounds) first prize. “It’s always a big challenge to play you, you are a great champion. Hopefully we can have many more matches.”

Vettel crashes in wet Turkish GP practice

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel gave his mechanics plenty of extra work after crashing heavily in a wet first free practice for the Turkish Grand Prix Friday. The 23-year-old German, who has been on pole position at all three races so far this season, spun on a slippery track at the exit of the challenging triple apex turn eight and smashed front first into the barriers. The session was red flagged with 27 minutes remaining, with marshals clearing mud off the track while the battered Red Bull was hoisted onto a flatbed truck and brought back to the pitlane.

“There was some water on the exit. There was nothing I could do,” the championship leader, whose Australian team mate Mark Webber ended the morning 11th quickest, said over the team radio after his car skidded down the barriers to a halt. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was fastest in a session full of spins and spray with a best lap of one minute 38.670 seconds, although the times were almost meaningless at a cold and gusty Istanbul Park circuit. Spain’s double world champion was followed on the timesheets by the Mercedes pairing of Nico Rosberg, 1.402 slower, and Michael Schumacher ahead of Renault’s Nick Heidfeld and Russian Vitaly Petrov.

Ferrari’s Brazilian Felipe Massa, a three times winner in Turkey, was seventh.

McLaren propped up the rear, with last year’s Turkish GP winner Lewis Hamilton 24th and failing to set a timed lap while team mate Jenson Button did just four as the team opted to concentrate on practising their starts. When 2008 world champion Hamilton did go out late in the session, the Briton then suffered a sticking clutch and ground to a halt with mechanics sprinting to help.

A little piece of history was made at the slower end of the Istanbul pitlane, with India having two Formula One drivers setting a timed lap together for the first time at a grand prix weekend. Karun Chandhok, the Team Lotus reserve, was given time in the car instead of Finland’s Heikki Kovalainen while HRT’s regular racer Narain Karthikeyan was also out on track. Chandhok, who made his race debut with HRT last year before Karthikeyan made his comeback this season, had taken part only briefly in the first practice in Australia in March when he was first out of the pitlane and promptly crashed.

Karthikeyan did not take part in that practice session due to problems with his car.

(Editing by Patrick Johnston)

Euronews.net

Zalgiris takes dramatic victory to start finals

Marcus Brown proved his real value when it really mattered, as the veteran’s clutch performance decided the outcome of the first game of the Lithuanian League (LKL) finals series, which began with Zalgiris taking an 83-81 (23-23, 16-18, 22-22, 22-18) victory over major rivals Lietuvos Rytas at home in Kaunas.
Brown spun past his defender scoring for the second time in consecutive possessions to negate Milko Bjelica’s long-range triple and gave Zalgiris a two point cushion with just over four seconds on the clock. Lietuvos Ryas failed to execute a proper inbound play and the ball ended up in Bjelica’s hands near the half-court line. The Montenegrin managed to launch a desperation triple towards the basket, but it fell far of the mark.
“The players showed character and demonstrated that we’re a mature team. We played really bad, but still managed to win,” Ilias Zouros, the coach of Zalgiris said, adding: “I would like to see the tape of the game, but it is really difficult to believe how our players got into such foul troubles. We played good defense and referees should be equal to both sides.”

UEFA: Who will win? Who will be the successor of Inter Milan in the final between Manchester and Barcelona?

The UEFA Champions League final to be contested by Manchester United and Barcelona at Wembley Stadium on May 28 2011, will be a sentimental affair for both teams. Both clubs won their first Champions League trophy in this venue.

The very first Champions League final to be held at Wembley was in 1968 which Manchester United won 4-1 in extra time against Benfica. That Bobby Charlton inspired win against Eusebio’s Benfica made Manchester United to be the first time English team to win the Champion’s League or European Cup as it was called then.

Barcelona, after living under the shadow of Real Madrid in Spain for many years, won the tournament in 1992 for the first time in their history at the same venue. Who can forget that wonderful free kick by Ronald Koeman against Sampdoria to give Johan Cruyff's dream team their first European Cup? Pep Guardiola, the current Barcelona coach, was the Xavi version of that dream team and Roberto Mancini the current Manchester City coach, was the captain of Sampdoria.

This was the last time the tournament was called European Cup before it’s re-branding to the current Champions League format.

London 2012 Olympic Games schedule released

The schedule of events for the London 2012 Olympic Games has been released.

The first action will be women's football in Cardiff, Glasgow and Coventry on 25 July, two days before the official opening of the Games.

The middle weekend promises to be unmissable, with British trio Jessica Ennis, Christine 

Ohuruogu and Paula Radcliffe set to be going for gold.

The men's 100m final, with Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt likely to be centre stage, takes place on Sunday, 5 August.

 

Download the full London 2012 schedule (PDF format; 5MB)

Sport news

MADRID (Euroleague) - Losing a big center on the eve of the Euroleague Top 16 isn't an ideal scenario for any team but such is the case for Zalgiris Kaunas.

The Lithuania giants have waved good-bye to 25-year-old Slovenian Mirza Begic, who has joined Real Madrid.

Begic, 25, scored nearly 10 points and five rebounds per game in the Regular Season in Europe for Zalgiris.

The club, which appointed Greek Elias Zouros as coach at the end of last week, take on Power Electronics Valencia on Wednesday night in Spain.

Begic has signed a deal that will keep him with Madrid through the 2012-13 campaign.

The Slovenian will still get a chance to play in the Euroleague this season as Madrid have also reached the Top 16. They host Partizan Belgrade on Wednesday.

Tour de France cheat Floyd Landis calls for legalisation of doping. Disgraced Tour de France winner Floyd Landis has called on cycling authorities to legalise doping because he believes testers will always struggle to uncover the cheats.

Australian Open 2011: Rafael Nadal remains on course after brushing aside Ryan Sweeting in straight sets. Rafael Nadal has continued his smooth progress at the Australian Open to set up a third-round meeting with home favourite Bernard Tomic.

From: http://www.fiba.com/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/

Radwanska loses her raquet

Agnieszka Radwanska literally loses her racquet at Australian Open 2011.

Roberto Carlos scores direct from a corner

South Americans call it an "Olympic goal". The more prosaic British term is "scoring direct from a corner". Roberto Carlos is a master of the art, as demonstrated by this opportunistic goal for Corinthians against Portuguesa.