Italian cyclist Damiano Cunego has won the eighth stage of the Tour of Spain while Australian Cadel Evans has taken the overall lead.
Cunego made a powerful climb up the final ascent to Alto de Aitana Sunday to finish the 204.7-kilometer mountain stage from Alzira to Aitana in 06:04:54 – 33 seconds ahead of David Moncoutie and 36 seconds ahead of Robert Gesink.
The first mountain stage featured eight climbs including the final ascent to Aitana peak, a 21.7-kilometer climb with an average gradient of 5.7 percent.
Evans placed fourth in the stage to take the overall lead. He is two seconds ahead of Spaniard Alejandro Valverde. Samuel Sanchez of Spain is third, eight seconds back.
Monday’s stage is a 188.8-kilometer mountain stage from Alcoy to Xorret del Cati.
Coach Joachim Loew took another step toward fine-tuning the German national soccer squad with a well played 2-0 friendly match victory over South Africa in Leverkusen on Saturday.
After the match, Loew said he had a “good feeling” about his team’s performance and added that it was a “promising signal for the upcoming qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup.”
Loew stressed that “besides the result, the team played a good game. I saw a lot of good combinations; a lot of things worked well. There was much more flow and drive in the match.”
Loew can be happy about a number of things, not least of which with the young players he tested on the pitch.
Talented midfielder Mesut Ozil was impressive coming off the European U21 title he helped win for the German side, Loew said.
Germany shows speed and power
Against South Africa, Ozil set up Germany’s opener for striker Mario Gomez before scoring the second goal himself in only his third full international. The 20-year-old generated the kind of pace and creativity the national team has been lacking for a number of years.
Klose and Loew having a chatBildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Klose (l) at a practice session talking to Coach Loew
Ozil said he had gone into the game wanting “to step on the gas, and today everything went my way.” But he also had praise for striker Miroslav Klose, who gave him a “super pass,” which he just had to “push into the net” for his goal.
Ozil looked like a natural fit alongside Captain Michael Ballack in midfield and his performance could not come at a better time for Germany, which is on top of Group Four, a point ahead of Russia, in the World Cup qualifications. Germany plays Azerbaijan on Wednesday, before completing their matches against Russia and Finland in the coming weeks.
Loew called the victory a “good start into the next few weeks” and “a clear improvement in performance.
“If we are more forceful and dynamic, we will create more opportunities,” he added.
The U.S. men’s soccer team faces a crucial qualifying match against El Salvador Saturday night, as the Americans hold on to one of three guaranteed spots in next year’s World Cup in South Africa. The Americans need a win to solidify their place in the final round of qualifying.
The United States is in third place in the North Central America and Caribbean group, tied with Honduras on 10 points but behind on goal differential. Mexico is fourth, just one point back while Costa Rica leads the six-team final round with 12 points.
The last time the U.S. men played El Salvador, they had to come back to tie the match 2-2 in El Salvador. Saturday’s game is at Utah’s Rio Tinto Stadium and the U.S. is expecting a partisan home crowd. U.S. Coach Bob Bradley said after Friday’s practice that El Salvador is a tough opponent, both at home and on the road.
“It’s a group of players that’s been together, he said. “I think they are well coached and organized. We saw that even in a home game, you know that they had a real game plan of how they wanted to play us. And I think that’s one of their strengths in every game and we would expect all of that.”
U.S. forward Clint Dempsey says that he and his teammates can take nothing for granted – they want a win Saturday to solidify their chances of qualifying.
“It’s always different playing home and away,” he said. “It’s two totally different games. So we are just trying to make the most of the games we have left. You know it’s kind of our fate’s in our own hands. We are trying to qualify for the World Cup, you know that’s the main goal, so we are still in a good position and we know we need to get a result.”
In other matches Saturday, Trinidad and Tobago visits Honduras and Costa Rica hosts Mexico. The top three finishers after the final round earn a berth to the World Cup and the fourth place finisher faces a playoff against South America’s fifth place team.
The women’s national soccer team has taken another step towards a successful European title defense by beating Italy 2-1. The German women are to face either Sweden or Norway in the semifinals.
Although some observers thought Italy was the better team in Friday’s match played in the Finnish city of Lahti, Germany came out on top.
Grings with two goals
Striker Inka Grings, who plays her club soccer for the UEFA Cup champions, FCR Duisburg, scored Germany’s first goal, after taking a pass from Melanie Behringer and making a quick turn to open up space for a shot from inside the penalty area. Despite a knee injury that she suffered against Iceland, Grings, together with fellow striker Birgit Prinz, was solid throughout Friday’s match
After Germany took the 1-0 lead, the six-time European champion Italy controlled the ball for most of the first half, but was unable to get through the German defense. Grings increased Germany’s lead to 2-0 shortly after the break, with a tap-in following a cross by Simone Laudehr.
Germany looked set to cruise through the second half, until Patrizia Panico put Italy on the scoresheet in the 63rd minute.German striker Inka GringsBildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Inka Grings celebrates after her first goal on Friday
Germany’s goalkeeper, Nadine Angerer, was solid between the sticks in injury time, making a number of saves to preserve the victory for the German women, their 24th straight in European Championship play.
The semifinal match against either Norway or Sweden is scheduled for Monday evening in the Finnish capital, Helsinki.
The street outside the White House, home to the U.S. president, has long been the scene of political demonstrations and protests. But since the pavement in front of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue was closed to traffic for security reasons more than a decade ago, it has become a venue for other activities.
This is street hockey – an urban game played on in-line skates in many North American cities. Players need a smooth street surface to compete on.
Jim Burther (C) plays street hockey with others in front of the White House
Jim Burther (C) plays street hockey with others in front of the White House
And Jim Burther knows just the place. It happens to be right outside the White House in downtown Washington, DC.
“It’s certainly a convenient spot, it’s a little novelty playing in front of history, but it’s also the notion of having a wide open surface, that’s available to us, that’s very smooth, that’s conducive to the game,” he said.
This group of street hockey players gets together regularly on the street outside the U.S. President’s residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
This section of street has been closed to traffic since the 1995 terrorist bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal government building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma that killed more than 165 people and injured hundreds of others. But the avenue remains open to street hockey players and others on foot.
Street hockey players play in front of the White House
Street hockey players in front of the White House
White House historian, William Seale, says it has allowed pedestrians to get very close to the White House despite tight security.
“It’s the personal touch, it’s the personal connection to the White House. I think it’s been smashingly successful,” he noted. “The whole issue is the White House is a home and relates to the people.”
Street hockey has rules, but these players must also obey the rules of the Secret Service – the agency responsible for protecting the president.
At the same time, Jim Burther says officers have been known to return stray balls.
“They’ve been terrific for us, they’ve been very nice and we try very much to respect the rules and what they need to do for their jobs, so that if they need to block things off, we understand that’s their rules,” he said.
Street hockey player David Epstein says his sport contrasts sharply with the high stakes politics and diplomacy that plays out a few meters away inside the White House.
“It’s not so much about winning or losing, as about playing well and having a good time,” he explained.
Having a good time, even in the heat of the Washington summer, playing in front of one of America’s most famous addresses.
Celia Okoyino da Mbabi and Fatime Bajramaj, two daughters of immigrants, represent Gemany at the highest level of women’s soccer. Their paths to the national soccer team took many twists and turns.
Although they play on the same team on the soccer field their biographies could hardly be more different. Celia Okoyino da Mbabi, her father from Cameroon and her mother French, was born in the western German city of Bonn.
At that time the city was the capital of the former West Germany, and Mbabi says the place had an international feel to it. She went to a multicultural school, and said she never experienced discrimination because of her dark skin.
“Honestly, I’ve very rarely experienced any problems because of my multicultural background,” she says. “In elementary school once or twice maybe, but that’s it. Later, we moved to a small village where everyone knew everyone else, and I played soccer on a team with all the boys. Even there we were all friends.”
Meanwhile, Fatmire Bajramaj was only five when her family fled Kosovo and ended up in the western German city of Moenchengladbach. For the petite woman, who goes by the nickname Lira, those first few years were tough.
“The German children used to avoid my older brother and I,” she says. “We were never allowed to play with them, and they’d always just call us foreigners. I think our young lives were a bit more troublesome than Celia’s. It wasn’t until I started to play soccer that people started to give me a little more respect. Since then things have been fine.”
Lira went on to be selected for national team honors in 2005 and has since featured in the squad’s midfield. She has scored three goals for Germany and was one of the stars of the 2007 women’s World Cup in China.
Reaching out
Celia Okoyino Da Mbabi reacts after scoring during the women’s international soccer friendly between Germany and the NetherlandsBildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Da Mbabi has done well to keep a spot in the national team at such a young age
The 21-year-old Bajramaj says she tries to use her high public profile to help others. She says she regularly receives letters from German girls with immigrant backgrounds who are looking for help or advice.
“I get E-mails from girls with foreign backgrounds who experienced war, many of them worse than I did,” she says. “Some letters are from girls from Morocco or Turkey; some are from small girls who tell me that I’m their role model. Many ask me how I’ve got to where I am, and for me it’s great to be able to help.”
Recently, the parents of German national team players, both with and without immigrant backgrounds, gathered to honor their children’s achievements. Both Bajramaj and Mbabi note with pride that their parents were there to mix with the other parents. Mbabi added that mixing with others and working together to fix common problems is one of the best ways to find your place in a new community.
“If people work and play together and can see that they can succeed together, then respect and acceptance will follow. Once you reach that point, a person’s origin plays no role whatsoever,” she says.
