German GP Win Puts Hamilton On Top

Hockenheim (Germany): Briton Lewis Hamilton delivered another massive endorsement of his great potential Sunday when he opened a clear lead in this year’s drivers’ championship by winning the German Grand Prix in thrilling style. The 23-year-old Englishman, in his McLaren Mercedes-Benz, dominated the early stages and then, after being upset by two Safety Car interventions and some cautious team strategy, proved he could overtake anyone with a dazzling display of passing moves in the final laps. In blistering style, Hamilton had to pass a clutch of drivers in the closing laps to make up for time lost in the pits when he made an out-of-synch late stop. But he showed his true speed and brilliance by overtaking both Brazilian Felipe Massa in a Ferrari and then his compatriot Nelson Piquet in a Renault to regain the lead. Hamilton took the chequered flag 5.5 seconds ahead of Piquet who claimed the first podium of his career while Massa was third. Hamilton now leads the standings with 58 points from Massa, on 54, whose Ferrari team-mate, defending drivers world champion Finn Kimi Raikkonen, is seven points adrift after finishing a disappointing sixth. Hamilton had dominated the first half of the race after powering away from the ninth pole position of his career. The Geneva-based driver had built-up a lead of around 12 seconds by lap 36 when German Timo Glock crashed out in his Toyota. Glock lost control of his car at the last corner when the right rear tyre suddenly deflated sending him spearing into the wall. The German, 26, slid backwards down the home straight before his wrecked car finally came to a stop. Glock was clearly dazed after he got out of the Toyota and was later taken to the medical centre and then a local hospital for a check-up, although his conditions was described as ‘fine’. Hamilton was kept out on the track as all his main rivals made their final pit-stops under the safety car. The Mercedes-powered driver dropped to fifth when he was forced to make his final pit-stop, but soon passed Kovalainen for third spot. Hamilton then hunted down Massa overtaking his rival on lap 57 as he forced him wide at the chicane to take second with Nick Heidfeld having pitted for BMW. Massa attempted to fight back a couple of corners later, but was again forced into the dirt. Hamilton made the same move on Piquet at the hairpin turn three laps later to regain a deserved lead.

Better show by Team India

Force India registered only its second double finish of the season as Ginacarlo Fisichella finished 14th and Adrian Sutil ended the race at 16th at German Grand Prix here on Sunday. Italian Fisichella was trailing his German teammate at one point of time but was benefited when the safety came to the circuit, which turned the order of the 67 lap race.

Nadal Ends Federer’s Reign in an epic thriller Wimbledon final

London: Rafael Nadal played the match of his life to overcome a miraculous comeback by top seed Roger Federer before ending his five-year reign in an epic Wimbledon final. In a match full of twists and turns, Nadal gave a final twist to the heartstopping drama sealing his first Wimbledon title on his fourth match point. The match, that lasted just under five hours, got over in near darkness at 9.15 pm local time with Nadal winning the nerve-wrecking battle 6-4 6-4 6-7 (5) 6-7 (8) 9-7. And when the golden moment came—-as Federer return hit the net on the final point—-the 22-year old Nadal fell to the ground even as tears of joy started rolling down his cheeks. Nadal then rushed towards the net to hug his graceful rival before running up into the stands to greet his overjoyed family and friends. Having lost the previous two finals to Roger Federer, Nadal had to endure two rain delays and a stunning comeback by his opponent before he could go ahead with his coronation ceremony as the new Wimbledon champion and also the only man after the legendary Bjorn Borg (in 1980) to win the French Open and Wimbledon. His victory also put an end to Federer’s 65-match winning-streak on grass and also his five-year reign as the King at the All England Club. The 26-year old Federer eventually suffered his first big defeat on the Centre Court at the hands of his nemesis, preventing him from becoming only the second man to win six consecutive Wimbledon titles, and surpass Borg to match Willie Renshaw, who played in the 1880s. In a match of fluctuating fortunes, Nadal gave the final twist to the tale when he broke Federer in the 15th game of the fifth and final set. And having endured the agony of missing out on two match points in the fourth set, Nadal couldn’t have believed his luck as Federer saved a third one in the 16th game. However, on this day and in this mood, Nadal was not to be denied his moment of reckoning. The Spainard produced a thundering serve and Federer’s forehand hit the net to signal a memorable victory for the No. 2 seed. Nadal became only the third player in the Open era to win both the French Open and Wimbledon back to back.

Lanka wins Asia Cup as India choke again in the final

Karachi: Sensational spinner Ajantha Mendis took six wickets for just nine runs to help Sri Lanka beat India by 100 runs in the final here on Sunday to successfully defend the Asia Cup title. As expected, the 23-yearold spinner mesmerised the Indian batsmen with career-best figures to cause a slump which saw India lose nine wickets for 97 runs and were bowled out for 173 in 39.3 overs. Sanath Jayasuriya hit a fighting 125 to help Sri Lanka post a decent 273 in their 50 overs on a flat National Stadium pitch. Mendis, playing for the first time against India since making his debut in April this year, bowled eight overs of beguiling spin to beat his previous best of 5-22 against United Arab Emirates in the first round last week. He also bettered the best bowling figures in Asia Cup history, erasing the 5-19 record set by Aaqib Javed for Pakistan against India at Sharjah in 1995. The spinner from Moratuwa finished with 17 wickets in the batsman-dominated tournament. India got off to a rapid start, reaching 36 by the fifth over when Gautum Gambhir (6) was caught in the covers of Chaminda Vaas. Mendis came into bowl the 10th over with Sehwag (60) dealing only in boundaries. Off his second ball, Mendis lured the Indian opener and had him stumped. Sehwag hit 12 boundaries during his 36-ball knock. Two balls later, Mendis beguiled Yuvraj Singh with a straighter delivery to bowl him without scoring and in his third over bowled Suresh Raina (16) with another peach to leave India at 93-4. In his fourth over, Mendis trapped Rohit Sharma with another one that skidded before spinning partner Muttiah Muralitharan ended a resolute 35-run stand between Dhoni and Robin Uthappa (20). Mendis returned to remove Irfan Pathan and Rudra Pratap Singh.

Hamilton wins British GP in Silverstone

Silverstone: Lewis Hamilton streaked to British Grand Prix victory on Sunday, delivering a masterful drive in wet conditions to delight a vociferous home crowd and reignite his world title challenge. Consistent rain saw nearly all the drivers spin at some stage of the race and though BMW’s Nick Heidfeld produced a good drive to finish second and Rubens Barrichello was third, no one could come close to Hamilton who won his home race by a staggering 68.5 seconds. The British McLaren driver produced an excellent start and a superbly aggressive opening stint to take the lead early on, before going on to close the race out maturely. The victory brings 23-year-old Hamilton his first points since winning at Monaco back in May and moves him up into a three-way tie at the top of the World Championship. Hamilton now shares top spot with the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen who finished fourth at Silverstone and Felipe Massa who took no points from a nightmare race. Heikki Kovalainen was fifth in the other McLaren, Fernando Alonso took sixth and Jarno Trulli and Kazuki Nakajima were the others to pick up points. Hamilton made the best start of all, shooting around the outside to squeeze into second from fourth on the grid and briefly touching wheels with pole-sitter Kovalainen. Mark Webber, his Red Bull starting from second, suffered an early spin and ended up right at the back of the field. Kovalainen led his teammate and Raikkonen after the first lap, but Hamilton immediately began to apply serious pressure on the leader, forcing him to defend desperately over the next four laps. Such a sustained attack proved impossible to repel and Hamilton slipped past Kovalainen to take the lead on lap five. As the home crowd cheered their hero another Brit, David Coulthard, collided with Sebastien Vettel’s Toro Rosso and both drivers ended up in the gravel and out of the race. It was an unfortunate way for Coulthard to finish his final British Grand Prix - the Red Bull veteran having announced his retirement earlier this week. Kovalainen slid into a spin on his tenth lap and allowed Raikkonen through into second where he would steadily cut the gap to Hamilton until the first round of pit stops. On lap 21 of the 60-lap race Hamilton and Raikkonen entered the pits together with the Briton emerging, by a whisker, with his lead intact. Raikkonen’s pit crew controversially decided not to change tyres, a decision that saw the World Champion lose significant time to the leader and also to those behind. As Raikkonen’s tyres continued to deteriorate, he fell further and further off the pace and after finally cutting his losses and taking new tyres he had fallen to 11th place. The rain began to fall solidly just after the halfway point of the race and Hamilton, Raikkonen and Renault’s Nelson Piquet each aquaplaned off the track - the first two temporarily and Piquet for good. As havoc reigned, BMW’s Robert Kubica span off and out of the race and was soon joined by Jenson Button. With 10 laps to go Hamilton had opened up a lead of over a minute and he went on to lap everyone behind third placed Barrichello in a supreme display of dominance.

Double retirement for Force India
There seems simply no end to Force India's misery, as the Formula One outfit finished its ‘home’ race at the British Grand Prix today with another double retirement against its name. Neither of the Force India cars could survive the tough, wet conditions at the rain-lashed Silverstone track and Adrian Sutil was the first to crash out after 10 laps. In comparison, his Italian teammate Giancarlo Fisichella did slightly better to complete 26 laps before he too went for an excursion in the gravel to join his team mates in the sidelines. Sutil, though not a dud of a driver in such wet conditions, had a promising start to his race but his campaign soon followed the same wretched script which has often seen him sizzling a while before eventually fizzling out. Sutil was quick off the block as he flew through the crowded midfield to rise to 13th before his campaign was prematurely cut short via a spectacular spin across the Abbey chicane. Much was expected from Fisichella, especially after his impressive showing in the qualifying session, but the Roman spun out at Becketts while winner Lewis Hamilton was lapping him and that was the end of his campaign. The new aerodynamic and mechanical updates could not pull off a miracle, leaving the pointless Force India languishing at the bottom of the Formula One pit.

Spain crowned European Champions

Spain 1(Torres 33') Germany 0

Vienna: Spain ended their 44-year wait for a major international title with a 1-0 victory over Germany at the Euro 2008 final here on Sunday.Fernando Torres scored the only goal of the game in the first half as football's perennial underachievers finally banished that unwanted tag to the history books.It was the first time Spain had won the European title since 1964 and their first final since 1984.They seemed to start tentatively and a mistake from Sergio Ramos gave Miroslav Klose a glorious opportunity after just four minutes, but after taking the ball past Carles Puyol his next touch was too strong and he ran the ball out of play.Spain gradually started to settle but three-time champions Germany still had the next chance, Thomas Hitzlsperger hitting a tame shot straight at Spain captain Iker Casillas.Just before the quarter-hour mark Jens Lehmann came to Germany's rescue as a cross from Andres Iniesta deflected off Christoph Metzelder's boot and only a stunning reaction save from the Arsenal stopper prevented a goal.Spain were starting to take control and Torres headed a Xavi free-kick over the bar.On 23 minutes Sergio Ramos cut in from the right and crossed to the back post where Torres climbed above the considerably taller Per Mertersacker; his downward header beat Lehmann but unfortunately for Spain not the base of the post.Up the other end Spain's slightly suspect defence was struggling to cope with the direct running of Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski but Germany created little despite captain Michael Ballack's volley being blocked by Sergio Ramos.Then on 33 minutes Torres put Spain ahead with a moment of sublime quality. He latched onto a piercing through ball from Xavi, outpaced Philipp Lahm and chipped the ball over the advancing Lehmann with a flicked shot that could have threaded the eye of a needle.Spain were suddenly rampant and Iniesta crossed to the back post where the unmarked David Silva had a rush of blood to the head and lashed a volley wildly over.Spain seemed brimming with confidence at the start of the second period and both Xavi and Silva went close with long range efforts before Torres again outpaced the German defence but couldn't quite reach the ball before Lehmann came out to smother.Germany coach Joachim Loew responded by sending on a second forward in Kevin Kuranyi to replace midfielder Hitzlsperger.That immediately shifted the momentum of the game and on the hour a mistake from Puyol was almost punished as Ballack fired just wide; moments later Casillas came storming out of goal to take a cross from Ballack off Kuranyi's head.Spain remained dangerous and Sergio Ramos forced Lehmann into a fine block with a powerful header from a Xavi free-kick before Torsten Frings cleared a shot from Iniesta off the line.Brazil-born Marcos Senna came within inches of settling the game in the final 10 minutes but he couldn't quite stretch his leg out far enough to meet substitute Daniel Guiza's downward header with the goal at his mercy.

Massa takes lead in driver's standing as he won French GP

Magny Cours: Ferrari’s Felipe Massa won Formula One’s French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours today to head the drivers’ championship standings for the first time this season. The Brazilian finished the 70-lap race 18 seconds clear of teammate Kimi Raikkonen, the world champion, who lost the race lead after his exhaust broke. Toyota’s Jarno Trulli was third after holding off the challenge of McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen. BMW’s Robert Kubica, who started as the leader in the standings, was fifth. Red Bull's Mark Webber, in sixth, and Renault duo Nelson Piquet and Fernando Alonso were today’s other points scorers. Massa, after his third win this season, tops the standings on 48 points, 2 ahead of Kubica. Raikkonen is third on 43, and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, who failed to score a point, drops to fourth on 38 after a second straight disappointing race. “That was fantastic, I didn’t expect that,” Massa told the post-race news conference. “Today I had a lot of luck with Kimi having his exhaust problem, but fortunately for the team he could finish, so this was a good present for me.” Hamilton was penalized 10 places on the grid after his pit-lane crash in Montreal two weeks ago and started in 13th. There was another setback for the Briton today when he incurred a drive-through penalty for cutting a corner in overtaking the Toro Rosso of Sebastian Vettel at a chicane early in the race. The punishment hit his chances of finishing in the points and he came 10th. Raikkonen and Massa filled the first two places on the grid after dominating in qualifying, and proceeded to take charge in the race. Raikkonen led in the early stages as the pair pulled clear of the field, and Massa took over in mid-race when Raikkonen — winner of the event last year — had the exhaust problem. Even so, he managed to get the car to the finish line.

Nadal and Ana are Mr. & Mrs of the Roland Garros

Paris: Rafael Nadal produced a flawless exhibition of claycourt tennis to demolish world No 1 Roger Federer 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 on Sunday and win his fourth straight French Open title. The Spaniard was at his relentless best as he tore Federer apart in one hour, 48 minutes to deny the Swiss a career Grand Slam. By doing so, the Spaniard equalled Bjorn Borg’s feat of four consecutive titles at Roland Garros. The Swiss raised himself in the second set and had a break point at 3-3, but Nadal slammed the door shut and crushed a hapless Federer in the third to clinch the title without losing a set. The shattering defeat for the Swiss star meant that he has now lost 11 times in 17 meetings with the 22-year-old Spaniard and nine times out of 10 on clay. The Spaniard also topped the winners tally, hitting 46 to Federer’s 31 leaving the Swiss to admit that his rival, who didn’t drop a set in the entire tournament, is getting better all the time.

Ana claimed her maiden grand slam

Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic won the French Open on Saturday, her first Grand Slam title,by ending Dinara Safina’s heroic run to the final and crowning her elevation to the world number one spot in style. Ivanovic won 6-4, 6-3 as Russian 13th seed Safina saw her hopes of joining big brother Marat as a Grand Slam champion dashed. For the second seeded pin-up, it was third time lucky after she had lost both her previous major finals - to Justine Henin here 12 months ago and Maria Sharapova at the Australian Open in January. The Russian, who had spent two more hours than Ivanovic getting to the title match, endured a nerve-wracking start to the final being broken twice to quickly slip 1-4 down before fighting back to 4-4 with two breaks of her own. A year ago, Ivanovic suffered numbing stagefright on her Grand Slam final debut winning just three games against fourtime winner Henin. With the recently-retired world number one now looking on from the VIP enclosure on Court Philippe Chatrier, Ivanovic stopped the rot to break back to lead 5-4. The 20-year-old wasted a first set point but wrapped up the opener after 45 minutes when Safina, pinned behind the baseline, slapped a backhand high and long. Ivanovic, finding depth and power with her confident, accurate groundstrokes, broke a lacklustre Safina again to take a 2-1 lead in the second set which became 3-1 thanks to a love service game. She held another shaky service to lead 4-2 while Safina overcame her fourth and fifth double faults of the match to hold in the seventh game. But the battling Russian finally ran out of steam in the ninth game when she handed her opponent three match points with the title gratefully gobbled up when an Ivanovic return died at her feet after 1hr 38mins on court.

Kubica of BMW claimed his maiden victory at canadian GP

Montreal: Robert Kubica claimed his maiden victory and took control of the world drivers’ championship as Lewis Hamilton’s Canadian Grand Prix ended in disaster here on Sunday. Pole Kubica survived a horrendous crash at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve 12 months ago and the BMW Sauber driver took full advantage of a pit-lane accident that took out McLaren’s world championship leader Hamilton and world champion Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari. Hamilton crashed into the back of Raikkonen as t h e y emerged from a pit stop on lap 18 with the Englishman failing to spot at the red light at the end of the lane as the Ferrari was waiting on the line. It was a BMW Sauber one-two as Nick Heidfeld claimed the runners-up spot for the second year in a row. The drama also cleared the way for Scotland’s David Coulthard to score his first points of the season with an invaluable third-place finish to ease the pressure on his seat at Red Bull Racing. Hamilton, the defending race winner, started on the pole for the second straight year at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and led until the safety car came out and the leaders pitted on lap 19 of the 70-lap race. That followed Adrian Sutil parking his Force India entry on the grass alongside the track. Raikkonen, who came into the race trailing Hamilton by three points in the world championship, was third before the stops, but came out ahead of the McLaren driver and Robert Kubica’s BMW Sauber on pit road. The Ferrari driver stopped at a red light at the end of pit road and Hamilton, picking up speed, rammed into the Raikkonen’s car, knocking off the rear wing. Nico Rosberg then hit the rear of Hamilton’s car. Both leaders got out of their damaged cars and Raikkonen tapped Hamilton on the helmet as he walked past, pointing toward the light. Hamilton, obviously angry at himself, pushed past several cameras in the McLaren garage.

Ivanovic to meet Safina in French Open final

Paris: Second seed Ana Ivanovic won the battle of the Serbs in a thrilling French Open semifinal on Thursday and will play Russia’s Dinara Safina for the title on Saturday. Ivanovic also clinched the World No. 1 ranking. The 20-year-old Ivanovic defeated 23-yearold Jelena Jankovic 6-4 3-6 6-4 to reach the final at Roland Garros for the second straight year having lost to Justine Henin in last year’s final. She also reached the Australian Open final in January but lost to Maria Sharapova. For third-seeded Jankovic it was the fourth time she had played in a Grand Slam semifinal and the fourth time she had failed to make it through. The 13th seeded Safina had earlier defeated compatriot and fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3 6-2 in the first of the semifinals. In stark contrast to the first few games, Ivanovic was looking comfortable on her serve while it was a struggle each time for her opponent on hers. But all that changed in the sixth game of the set when Ivanovic inexplicably let slip a 40-0 lead to allow Jankovic to draw level at 3-3. She was broken again two games later and Jankovic served out to level the scores although she needed four set points to do so. Ivanovic had nervily lost her way and against one of the grittiest players on the women’s circuit that was a fatal mistake. Jankovic won the first two games of the deciding set to make it seven games in a row, but Ivanovic stopped the rot and got back on level terms at 3-3 by breaking to love in the sixth game. Another exchange of service breaks took it to 4-4 and two games later Ivanovic played her best game of the semifinal opening up with her groundstrokes to clinch the win.

Final squads anounced for euro 2008

All 16 competing nations at UEFA EURO 2008 have submitted their finalised 23-man squad lists to UEFA.
Countdown begins
There are just three days to go until kick-off and the countdown begins in earnest now that all 368 competing players have been named. Co-hosts Switzerland get the tournament under way against the Czech Republic in Basel on 7 June, before fellow co-hosts Austria begin their Group B campaign the following day in Vienna. Comprehensive profiles of each player with all the latest statistics will be available on http://www.euro2008.com/

UEFA EURO 2008 squads

Austria: 1Alex Manninger 2 Joachim Standfest 3 Martin Stranzl 4 Emanuel Pogatetz 5 Christian Fuchs 6 René Aufhauser 7 Ivica Vastic8 Christoph Leitgeb 9 Roland Linz 10 Andreas Ivanschitz 11 Ümit Korkmaz12 Ronald Gercaliu 13 Markus Katzer 14 György Garics 15 Sebastian Prödl 16 Jürgen Patocka 17 Martin Hiden 18 Roman Kienast 19 Jürgen Säumel 20 Martin Harnik 21 Jürgen Macho 22 Erwin Hoffer23 Ramazan ÖzcanCoach: Josef Hickersberger

Croatia: 1 Stipe Pletikosa 2 Dario Šimić 3 Josip Šimunić 4 Robert Kovač 5 Vedran Ćorluka 6 Hrvoje Vejić 7 Ivan Rakitić 8 Ognjen Vukojević 9 Nikola Kalinić 10 Niko Kovač 11 Darijo Srna 12 Mario Galinović 13 Nikola Pokrivač14 Luka Modrić 15 Dario Knežević 16 Jerko Leko 17 Ivan Klasnić 18 Ivica Olić 19 Niko Kranjčar 20 Igor Budan 21 Mladen Petrić 22 Danijel Pranjić 23 Vedran RunjeCoach: Slaven Bilić

Czech Republic: 1 Petr Čech 2 Zdeněk Grygera 3 Jan Polák 4 Tomáš Galásek 5 Radoslav Kováč 6 Marek Jankulovski 7 Libor Sionko 8 Martin Fenin 9 Jan Koller 10 Václav Svěrkoš 11 Stanislav Vlček12 Zdeněk Pospěch 13 Michal Kadlec 14 David Jarolím 15 Milan Baroš 16 Jaromír Blažek17 Marek Matějovský 18 Tomáš Sivok 19 Rudolf Skácel20 Jaroslav Plašil 21 Tomáš Ujfaluši 22 David Rozehnal 23 Daniel ZítkaCoach: Karel Brückner

France: 1 Steve Mandanda2 Jean-Alain Boumsong 3 Eric Abidal 4 Patrick Vieira 5 William Gallas 6 Claude Makelele 7 Florent Malouda 8 Nicolas Anelka 9 Karim Benzema 10 Sidney Govou 11 Samir Nasri 12 Thierry Henry 13 Patrice Evra 14 François Clerc 15 Lilian Thuram 16 Sébastien Frey 17 Sébastien Squillaci 18 Bafétimbi Gomis19 Willy Sagnol 20 Jérémy Toulalan 21 Lassana Diarra 22 Franck Ribéry 23 Grégory Coupet Coach: Raymond Domenech

Germany: 1 Jens Lehmann 2 Marcell Jansen 3 Arne Friedrich 4 Clemens Fritz 5 Heiko Westermann6 Simon Rolfes 7 Bastian Schweinsteiger 8 Torsten Frings 9 Mario Gómez 10 Oliver Neuville 11 Miroslav Klose 12 Robert Enke 13 Michael Ballack 14 Piotr Trochowski 15 Thomas Hitzlsperger 16 Philipp Lahm 17 Per Mertesacker 18 Tim Borowski 19 David Odonkor 20 Lukas Podolski 21 Christoph Metzelder 22 Kevin Kuranyi 23 René AdlerCoach: Joachim Löw

Greece: 1 Antonios Nikopolidis 2 Giourkas Seitaridis 3 Christos Patsatzoglou 4 Nikolaos Spyropoulos5 Traianos Dellas 6 Angelos Basinas 7 Georgios Samaras 8 Stylianos Giannakopoulos9 Angelos Charisteas 10 Georgios Karagounis 11 Loukas Vintra12 Konstantinos Chalkias 13 Alexandros Tzorvas14 Dimitrios Salpingidis 15 Vassilios Torosidis 16 Sotirios Kyrgiakos 17 Theofanis Gekas 18 Ioannis Goumas 19 Paraskevas Antzas 20 Ioannis Amanatidis 21 Konstantinos Katsouranis 22 Alexandros Tziolis 23 Nikolaos Liberopoulos Coach: Otto Rehhagel

Italy:1 Gianluigi Buffon 2 Christian Panucci 3 Fabio Grosso 4 Giorgio Chiellini 5 Fabio Cannavaro 6 Andrea Barzagli 7 Alessandro Del Piero 8 Gennaro Gattuso 9 Luca Toni 10 Daniele De Rossi 11 Antonio Di Natale 12 Marco Borriello13 Massimo Ambrosini 14 Marco Amelia 15 Fabio Quagliarella 16 Mauro Camoranesi 17 Morgan De Sanctis18 Antonio Cassano 19 Gianluca Zambrotta 20 Simone Perrotta 21 Andrea Pirlo 22 Alberto Aquilani 23 Marco Materazzi Coach: Roberto Donadoni

Netherlands: 1 Edwin van der Sar 2 André Ooijer 3 John Heitinga 4 Joris Mathijsen 5 Giovanni van Bronckhorst 6 Demy de Zeeuw 7 Robin van Persie 8 Orlando Engelaar 9 Ruud van Nistelrooy 10 Wesley Sneijder 11 Arjen Robben 12 Mario Melchiot 13 Henk Timmer 14 Wilfred Bouma 15 Tim de Cler 16 Maarten Stekelenburg 17 Nigel de Jong 18 Dirk Kuyt 19 Klaas Jan Huntelaar 20 Ibrahim Afellay 21 Ryan Babel 22 Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink 23 Rafael van der VaartCoach: Marco van Basten

Poland: 1 Artur Boruc 2 Mariusz Jop 3 Jakub Wawrzyniak 4 Pawel Golański 5 Dariusz Dudka 6 Jacek Bąk 7 Euzebiusz Smolarek 8 Jacek Krzynówek 9 Maciej Żurawski 10 Łukasz Garguła11 Marek Saganowski 12 Tomasz Kuszczak 13 Marcin Wasilewski 14 Michał Żewłakow 15 Michał Pazdan16 Jakub Błaszczykowski 17 Wojciech Łobodziński 18 Mariusz Lewandowski 19 Rafał Murawski 20 Roger Guerreiro21 Tomasz Zahorski 22 Łukasz Fabiański 23 Adam Kokoszka Coach: Leo Beenhakker

Portugal: 1 Ricardo 2 Paulo Ferreira 3 Bruno Alves 4 Bosingwa 5 Fernando Meira 6 Raul Meireles 7 Cristiano Ronaldo 8 Petit 9 Hugo Almeida 10 João Moutinho 11 Simão 12 Quim 13 Miguel 14 Jorge Ribeiro 15 Pepe 16 Ricardo Carvalho 17 Ricardo Quaresma 18 Miguel Veloso 19 Nani 20 Deco 21 Nuno Gomes 22 Rui Patrício23 Hélder Postiga Coach: Luiz Felipe Scolari

Romania: 1 Bogdan Lobonţ 2 Cosmin Contra 3 Răzvan Raţ 4 Gabriel Tamaş 5 Cristian Chivu 6 Mirel Rădoi 7 Florentin Petre 8 Paul Codrea 9 Ciprian Marica 10 Adrian Mutu 11 Răzvan Cociş 12 Marius Cornel Popa 13 Cristian Sapunaru 14 Sorin Ghionea 15 Dorin Goian 16 Bănel Nicoliţă 17 Cosmin Moti 18 Marius Niculae19 Adrian Cristea 20 Nicolae Dică 21 Daniel Niculae 22 Ştefan Radu 23 Eduard StăncioiuCoach: Victor Piţurcă

Russia: 1 Igor Akinfeev 2 Vasili Berezutski 3 Renat Yanbaev4 Sergei Ignashevich 5 Aleksei Berezutski 6 Roman Adamov7 Dmitri Torbinskiy 8 Denis Kolodin 9 Ivan Saenko 10 Andrei Arshavin 11 Sergei Semak12 Vladimir Gabulov 13 Pavel Pogrebnyak 14 Roman Shirokov 15 Diniyar Bilyaletdinov 16 Vyacheslav Malafeev 17 Konstantin Zyrianov 18 Yuri Zhirkov 19 Roman Pavlyuchenko 20 Igor Semshov 21 Dmitri Sychev 22 Aleksandr Anyukov 23 Vladimir Bystrov Coach: Guus Hiddink

Spain: 1 Iker Casillas 2 Raúl Albiol 3 Fernando Navarro4 Carlos Marchena 5 Carles Puyol 6 Andrés Iniesta 7 David Villa 8 Xavi Hernández 9 Fernando Torres 10 Cesc Fábregas 11 Joan Capdevila 12 Santi Cazorla 13 Andrés Palop14 Xabi Alonso 15 Sergio Ramos 16 Sergio García 17 Daniel Güiza 18 Álvaro Arbeloa19 Marcos Senna 20 Juanito Gutiérrez 21 David Silva 22 Rubén De La Red23 Pepe Reina Coach: Luis Aragonés

Sweden: 1 Andreas Isaksson 2 Mikael Nilsson 3 Olof Mellberg 4 Petter Hansson 5 Fredrik Stoor6 Tobias Linderoth 7 Niclas Alexandersson 8 Anders Svensson 9 Fredrik Ljungberg 10 Zlatan Ibrahimović 11 Johan Elmander 12 Rami Shaaban 13 Johan Wiland14 Daniel Majstorovic 15 Andreas Granqvist 16 Kim Källström 17 Henrik Larsson18 Sebastian Larsson 19 Daniel Andersson 20 Marcus Allbäck 21 Christian Wilhelmsson 22 Markus Rosenberg 23 Mikael Dorsin Coach: Lars Lagerbäck

Switzerland: 1 Diego Benaglio 2 Johan Djourou 3 Ludovic Magnin 4 Philippe Senderos 5 Stephan Lichtsteiner 6 Benjamin Huggel 7 Ricardo Cabanas8 Gökhan Inler 9 Alexander Frei 10 Hakan Yakin 11 Marco Streller 12 Eren Derdiyok 13 Stéphane Grichting 14 Daniel Gygax 15 Gelson Fernandes 16 Tranquillo Barnetta 17 Christoph Spycher 18 Pascal Zuberbühler 19 Valon Behrami 20 Patrick Müller21 Eldin Jakupovic22 Johan Vonlanthen 23 Philipp Degen Coach: Jakob Kuhn

Turkey: 1 Rüştü Reçber 2 Servet Çetin 3 Hakan Balta 4 Gökhan Zan 5 Emre Belözoğlu 6 Mehmet Topal7 Mehmet Aurélio 8 Nihat Kahveci 9 Semih Şentürk 10 Gökdeniz Karadeniz 11 Tümer Metin 12 Tolga Zengin13 Emre Güngör14 Arda Turan 15 Emre Aşık 16 Uğur Boral17 Tuncay Şanlı 18 Kazım Kazım19 Ayhan Akman 20 Sabri Sarıoğlu 21 Mevlüt Erdinç22 Hamit Altıntop 23 Volkan Demirel Coach: Fatih Terim

RajasthanRoyals win the nailbiting final of IPL against ChennaiSuperKings at Mumbai

Yusuf Pathan's phenomenal all-round act helped Rajasthan Royals win the Indian Premier League 2008 in a thrilling last-ball finish against Chennai Super Kings. In what must be one of the finest all-round performances in recent times, Pathan turned the match on its head twice --- first with the ball, then with the bat. Chennai were off to an assuring start. Parthiv Patel and S. Vidyut added 39 for the first wicket when Pathan struck. In fact, he went on to take the first three wickets, bowling his stump-to-stump spin. Then, with Rajasthan under the burner at 42-3 Pathan struck a characteristically brutal 56 (39 balls, 3 fours, 4 sixes) to bring his team at the doorsteps of a famous win. When Yusuf was run out by a blinding direct hit from point by Suresh Raina, the Royals needed 21 from 14 balls. Chennai were not spectacular with the bat, but they worked hard to get 163-5 runs on the board. The going wasn't easy --- Chennai managed just nine fours, to go with seven sixes --- and relied heavily on good running to reach their score. After an enterprising start by their openers Patel (38) and Vidyut (16), Chennai lost their way a bit against the off-spin of Yusuf Pathan who took 3-22, his best figures in the IPL. Raina provided the pulp to the innings with his 43 from 30 balls and left the stage to his skipper to provide the finishing touches. Dhoni made 29 (17 balls).Chennai must rue their finish. They made just 46 runs in the last five overs when they had six wickets in the dugout. But Shane Watson and Sohail Tanvir were not easy to get away. The two mixed their full tosses, bouncers, slow balls and yorkers to keep Chennai's batsmen guessing. Pathan walked away with the man of the match in the final game while Watson is the man of the series. Tanvir, for his 22 wickets, won the purple cap. The orange cap for the highest scorer went to Shaun Marsh of Kings XI Punjab. Warne's side received a cheque of USD 1.2 million, while the runners-up Chennai got half that amount.

Rajasthan Royals take on Delhi Daredevils in the first SF of the IPL

A high-octane contest between two well-balanced sides is on the anvil when table toppers Rajasthan Royals take on the confident Delhi Daredevils in the first semifinals of the Indian Premier League on Friday.The two teams, which finished first and fourth in the preliminary 56-game phase of the Twenty20 league, look evenly matched .The Shane Warne-led Rajasthan, impregnable at home in Jaipur, had finished with only three losses from their 14 preliminary phase ties and have a 1-1 head-to-head record against the Daredevils, led by Virender Sehwag, who got into the last four with seven wins and 15 points to their credit.Both the teams have depended on their top-order to fire well and pile up a big total, and middle orders of both the sides looked a bit under-prepared when chips were down. The battle between McGrath, with support from Sri Lankan Farveez Maharoof and V Yo Mahesh, and Rajasthan's successful innings launchers Graeme Smith (416 runs) and Swapnil Asnodkar could be crucial to the game's outcome.The same applies to the Sohail Tanvir-Shane Watson-Munaf Patel combine who will be up against the marauding Delhi opening pair of Gautam Gambhir (523) and Sehwag (403), as well as another in-form batsman at number three, Shikhar Dhawan.Tanvir, with his extra quick bowling arm action similar to another Pakistani Wasim Akram, has been a real revelation in the IPL and has hardly been collared by any rival batting line-up, indicated by his superb haul of 21 wickets at just 10 runs per victim. Winning the toss and fielding first has become the order of the day for matches which commence at 8 pm and the trend is likely to continue on Friday.It has been largely rain-free so far in Mumbai, barring light drizzles, and the IPL authorities must be hoping that the weather remains clear over the next few days.

Teams

Delhi Daredevils: Virender Sehwag (c), Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan, Rajat Bhatia, A b de Villiers, Tillakratne Dilshan, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Brett Geeves, Glenn McGrath, Farveez Maharoof, V Yo Mahesh, Mithun Manhas, Amit Mishra, Pradeep Sangwan, Mayank Tehlan, Manoj Tiwary.

Rajasthan Royals: Shane Warne (c), Graeme Smith, Swapnil Asnodkar, Kamran Akmal, Yousuf Pathan, Mohd. Kaif, Shane Watson, Ravindra Jadeja, Niraj Patel, Sohail Tanvir, Siddharth Trivedi, Pankaj Singh, Munaf Patel, Mahesh Rawat, Dinesh Salunkhe, Morne Morkel, Taruwar Kohli.

Manchester United claimed Champions League Title in Mascow

Moscow: Goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar was Manchester United's hero as Sir Alex Ferguson's side claimed the club's third European Cup with a penalty shoot-out win over Chelsea on a night of almost unbearable drama in Moscow. As many had predicted, the competition's first all-English final ended in penalties and ultimately it was van der Sar's full-length save from Nicolas Anelka that ensured United won the shoot-out 6-5 after the match had ended 1-1 after extra-time. The triumph ensured ensured a season that has seen United mark the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster ended with both the Premier League and Champions League trophies back at Old Trafford. Chelsea had their chance to claim the trophy for the first time after Cristiano Ronaldo had had his effort saved by Petr Cech. But captain John Terry pushed his spot-kick - Chelsea's fifth - wide of the target. It was hard on the London club, who could justifiably claim to have come closest to winning the match in the two hours that preceded the dramatic finale. It was also debatable whether Terry would have taken a penalty had Didier Drogba not been sent off shortly before the end of extra-time for tapping Nemanja Vidic on the face as several players on either side squared up to each other. United's early domination had yielded a deserved opener in the form of Ronaldo's 26th-minute header, the Portuguese winger's 42nd goal of an extraordinary season. But after failing to take the chances that followed, Ferguson's men were pegged back by Frank Lampard's equaliser on the stroke of half-time. Chelsea went on to dominate after the break and almost claimed a winner when Drogba's 25-yard shot came back off the post with van der Sar beaten. Chelsea struck the woodwork again in the opening period of extra-time, Lampard's cute shot on the turn bouncing off the bar with United's goalkeeper once more struggling. Substitute Ryan Giggs then had a glorious chance to mark his record-breaking 759th appearance for United in style but the veteran winger never really connected with Patrice Evra's cutback and Terry was able to head the ball to safety. With the exception of Park Ji-Sung's exclusion from United's match-day squad, there were no surprises in the personnel on display, although Ferguson did tweak United's usual shape. Owen Hargreaves was deployed on the right side of midfield with Ronaldo in the left-sided role that Park had been tipped to fill. With Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez alongside each other in attack, Ferguson also departed from the lone-striker policy. Michael Essien's relative inexperience at right-back may have influenced United's thinking and it was the Ghanaian's poor positioning that enabled United to take the lead.

Hamilton won the 2nd race of the season at Monaco

Monaco: McLaren's Lewis Hamilton battled to a masterful Monaco Grand Prix victory on Sunday despite hitting the barriers on an afternoon of mayhem on the principality's slippery streets. First English winner of the showcase race since Graham Hill in 1969. The Briton’s sixth win in 23 starts, and second of the season, catapulted the 23-yearold to the top of the standings —three points clear of Ferrari’s world champion Kimi Raikkonen who took ninth place after a wet and crashstrewn race. Poland’s Robert Kubica was second for BMW Sauber, 3.0 seconds behind, with Ferrari's Brazilian Felipe Massa in third after starting on pole position. The race, glamour highlight of the Formula One season, was ended after the two hour mark was reached with 76 of the 78 scheduled laps completed. Hamilton made a great start, taking Raikkonen for second place into the first corner, but had to pit on lap seven with a deflated right rear tyre after a brush with the barriers at the harbour-side Tabac corner. The Briton rejoined in fifth but still with everything to play for on a circuit where the slightest mistake carries a heavy penalty. Ironically, the early pit stop played into Hamilton's hands as others literally slipped up, with Massa sliding off at the Ste Devote corner and handing the lead to Kubica for a long stretch before the pitstops. Hamilton’s victory made up for the disappointment of finishing runner-up in a McLaren one-two last year and allowed him to emulate his late boyhood hero and champion Ayrton Senna as a Monaco winner. In a race turned into a lottery by rain and crashes, with accompanying safety car interventions, Australian Mark Webber finished fourth for Red Bull with Germany’s Sebastian Vettel fifth for Toro Rosso. Brazilian Rubens Barrichello was sixth for Honda, his first points since 2006, with Japan’s Kazuki Nakajima seventh for Williams and Finland’s Heikki Kovalainen eighth for McLaren after starting last from the pit lane. Hamilton’s friend Adrian Sutil provided the heartbreak and tears, the German starting 18th for Force India but enjoying the race of his life in fourth place until Raikkonen misjudged his braking and shunted him out at the tunnel.

Felipe Massa won the Turkish GP third year in a row

Istanbul (Turkey): Ferrari’s Felipe Massa won the Turkish Grand Prix from pole position for the third year in a row on Sunday after tyre concerns slowed Lewis Hamilton’s challenge. The Brazilian took the chequered flag 3.7 seconds ahead of the 23-year-old McLaren driver, who ran most of the race on the harder tyres and had to make three pitstops compared to his rivals’ two. It was Massa’s seventh win in Formula One, at the anticlockwise track where he took his first in 2006, and his second in five races this season. Ferrari’s world champion Kimi Raikkonen saw his overall lead trimmed to seven points from nine after finishing a close third. The Finn, the only driver to score points in every race this season, now has 35 to Massa and Hamilton’s 28. Massa’s win was champions Ferrari’s fourth in a row and meant that the Turkish Grand Prix, which made its debut in 2005, has still only ever been won by the driver on pole position. Three of his wins have come in Turkey, prompting a suggestion that the Brazilian should change nationality: “I think I can get a passport here already,” he grinned. Poland’s Robert Kubica was fourth, ahead of BMW Sauber teammate Nick Heidfeld. Double world champion Fernando Alonso put Renault back in the points with sixth place while Australian Mark Webber was seventh to score for the fourth race in a row. Germany’s Nico Rosberg took the final point for Williams. Massa led from the start while Hamilton, winner of the season-opener in Australia, accelerated past his McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen from third on the grid with Kubica close behind. The safety car came out at the end of the opening lap when Italian Giancarlo Fisichella’s Force India slammed into the back of Kazuki Nakajima’s Williams at the first corner, leaving debris on the track. Kovalainen, coming back from a big accident two weeks ago and making his first start on the front row, went to the back of the field when he pitted at the end of the second lap with a puncture after banging wheels with Raikkonen. He finished 12th. Hamilton pitted after 16 laps and then brilliantly overtook Massa, who had come in three laps later, for the lead on lap 24. The Briton then pitted again at the end of lap 32, with Massa again taking over at the front until his second and final pitstop when Raikkonen took over for three laps before again leaving Hamilton ahead. But the youngster knew he had to pit again for the softer tyres, with drivers having to use both types during the race, and he made his third stop with 13 laps to go before coming back out in second place.

Ferrari Dominates at Spaninsh GP

Barcelona: Ferrari’s world champion Kimi Raikkonen stretched his Formula One lead to nine points with a dominant win from pole position in the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday. Brazilian Felipe Massa sealed Ferrari’s second successive one-two finish, and third win in a row, with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton taking third place to revive his title challenge after a disappointing last race in Bahrain. Raikkonen’s 17th grand prix win left the Finn with 29 points, nine clear of closest rival Hamilton, and catapulted Ferrari back in front of BMW Sauber in the constructors' standings. Spaniard Fernando Alonso, who started on the front row for Renault, retired on lap 35 with a blown engine but he had already fallen down the field after being the first driver to refuel. Massa, winner in Bahrain, had got past double world champion Alonso at the start while Hamilton slotted into fourth place after muscling past BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica from fifth. Poland’s Kubica finished fourth, moving him up to third in the championship with 19 points, ahead of Massa on 18, with Australian Mark Webber fifth in a Red Bull. Britain’s Jenson Button finished sixth for Honda’s first points of the year while Japan's Kazuki Nakajima was seventh for Williams and Italian Jarno Trulli eighth for Toyota. Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella finished the Spanish GP at 10th, the team’s first Top-10 finish in the 2008 season. Adrian Sutil was forced out of the race in the very first lap when he spun off the track.

rafael nadal wins Monte Carlo Masters

Monte Carlo: Rafael Nadal won an historic fourth successive Monte Carlo Masters title on Sunday as he defeated world number one Roger Federer 7-5 7-5 in the latest thrilling instalment of their epic rivalry. The 21-year-old triple French Open champion came back from 0-4 down in the second set to achieve his third successive final victory over Federer. It was also his ninth win in 15 career meetings with the world’s top player and his seventh in eight claycourt clashes. The last man to win four Monte Carlo titles in a row was New Zealand’s Anthony Wilding in 1914 but Nadal, who now has 24 career titles, is the first man to complete the feat in the Open era.

RajasthanRoyals tame the DeccanChargers in front of their home crowd

9th Match 24th April

Hyderabad: Symonds's heroic effort goes in vain when warne got required 19 runs in his last over as DeccanChargers once again fell short in their third successive IPL League match. RajasthanRoyals get their batting act together in tremendous way.Yusuf pathan shows his hitting power and made 61 from just 28 balls, smith was exceptional and kaif also hit some good shots.

Brief Score:

DC

Batting: 214/5, Symonds-117*(11-4s, 7-6s), R sharma-36

Bowling: Afridi-3/28, D Kalyankrishna-1/30, C Vaas-1/42, RP Singh-1/44

RR

Batting: 217/7, Smith-71(9-4s, 2-6s), Y Pathan-61(4-4s, 6-6s), M Kaif-34, S Warne-22*

Bowling: Y Pathan-2/20, S Warne-2/47, S Watson-1/32

Result: RR won by 3 wickets

Ronaldo missed penalty as Man Utd draw with Barca into the Champions League's first leg SF

Barcelona: Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo missed an early penalty as his side drew 0-0 with a dominant Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal at the Nou Camp on Wednesday. The Portugal international sent his spot kick high and wide after Barca centre-back Gabriel Milito handled the ball in the area with just over a minute on the clock. Barca, the only non-English side in the semis, have been poor in the league but gave a far more impressive performance against an out-of-sorts United and will feel short-changed by a result that leaves the tie delicately balanced before next week’s return at Old Trafford. United seemed to have got off to a dream start when Milito conceded a penalty in the second minute, handling the ball after Ronaldo had beaten him to a header in the area. But the normally super cool Portuguese completely missed the target, sending the ball past Victor Valdes’s left post after he tried to chip it into the top corner. The crowd exploded with delight at the winger’s error, while United seemed to be in shock at their team mate’s miss. Barca took advantage of the confusion in the United ranks to put the visitors under heavy pressure with Deco driving forward from midfield and providing some good service for Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Samuel Eto’o. United barely got a sniff off the ball as Deco and Yaya Toure bossed the midfield and when they did get possession they looked nervous and surrendered the ball almost immediately. Barcelona continued to dominate the middle of the park but did not seriously challenge Van der Sar until the United goalkeeper tipped a long-range shot from right back Gianluca Zambrotta over the bar.

Sehwag shows his brilliance against DC, IPL update till 23rd April

6th Match 21st April

Jaipur: Shane warne's tremendous bowling effort and Shane Watson's sensible batting earns first victory for RajasthanRoyals against PunjabKingsXI.

Brief Score

PKXI

Batting: 166/8, Yuvraj-57(6-4s, 3-6s), Goel-26, Chawla-24*, Sangakara-20

Bowling: I Pathan-1/21, J Hopes-1/33, B Lee-1/35, Sreesanth-1/38

RR

Batting: 168/4, Shane Watson-76*(5-4s, 5-6s), R Jadeja-36*(5-4s, 1-6s)

Result: RR won this match by 6 wickets

7th Match 22nd April

Hyderabad: Sehwag's blitzkrieg knocks demolish DeccanChargers in their first home ground match.

Brief Score

DC

Batting: 142/8, Rohit Sharma-66(6-4s, 4-6s)

Bowling: RP Singh-1/27

DD

Batting: 143/1, Sehwag-94*(10-4s, 6-6s), Shikhar Dhawan-25*

Result: Delhi Daredevils won by 9 wickets

8th Match 23th April

Chennai: Chennai SuperKings defeat MumbaiIndians in a thriller by 6 runs.

Brief Score:

CSK

Batting: 208/5, M Hayden-81(12-4s, 2-6s), S Raina-52(3-4s, 3-6s), MS Dhoni-30(4-4s, 1-6s)

Bowling: Jogendar Sharma-2/29, Muralidharan-2/40, M Gony-1/18, Amarnath-1/57

MI

Batting: 202/7, A Nayar-45*(6-4s, 1-6s), R Uthappa-43(6-4s, 1-6s)

Bowling: M Khote-2/29, D Kulkarni-1/25, A Nehra-1/35

Result: CSK won by 6 runs.