Sunday, June 11, 2006

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World Cup

Serbia Montenegro-Netherlands

JadranSport

Rafael van der Vaart is on his way into the starting line-up of The Netherlands against Serbia & Montenegro at the World Cup. 23-year old van der Vaart, who is playing for the German Bundesliga for Hamburger SV, seems to be fully recovered from a painful ankle injury. Several weeks ago he was operated on, and things were looking good for the World Cup until he injured his ankle once again, one day before the friendly against Mexico last week. The former Ajax Amsterdam player was forced to take some rest and he could only take part in a couple of practice sessions without a ball for the last 10 days. Two other midfielders, Phillip Cocu and Wesley Sneijder are not yet ready to participate in the training sessions. Both players were kicked out of the game against Australia, which was played last weekend in Holland. Cocu is still suffering a big bruise on his upper leg and can’t do anything more physical than walk. Sneijder is dealing with an ankle injury, at the moment he’s looking better then Cocu, as he has already spent some time with the ball and he had an individual training this morning. Nevertheless, both players are uncertain to be ready and fit for the match against Serbia & Montenegro.

Scotsman.com

THE son of Serbia and Montenegro coach Ilija Petkovic has been withdrawn from the country’s World Cup finals squad following a row over nepotism. Centre-half Dusan Petkovic returned home yesterday morning from the team’s training camp in Felden, Austria, and his father told Serbian media that they had made the decision to “put an end to an ordeal”. On arrival at the Muenster airport in Germany yesterday, captain Savo Milosevic said the team were in good spirits and hoping to reach the second round from a difficult group that features Argentina, the Netherlands and Ivory Coast. “The team spirit is outstanding and nothing can disrupt the atmosphere we have got,” said Milosevic.

Mexico-Iran

Vital Football

Mexico’s first-choice keeper Oswaldo Sanchez suffered a personal tragedy yesterday when he was informed at around midnight that his father had died suddenly of a suspected heat attack just days before he was due to fly over to Germany to watch his son play. Sanchez caught the first flight out of Germany to be re-united with his family and it is not yet clear whether he will return in time for this weekend’s opener against Iran. ‘He wants to come back and play but of course we will wait and see,’ a spokesman for the Mexican football association said.

NBA

Heat-Mavericks

Associated Press

Miami coach Pat Riley and Dallas’ Avery Johnson seemed confident they’ve got time to manage the mountain of mistakes and mangled game plans left from the opener.

For starters, both coaches are determined to get starring efforts from their star players — because Dirk Nowitzki, Shaquille O’Neal and Dwyane Wade all left ample room for improvement after Game 1. O’Neal was even worse than his usual erratic self, going 1-for-9 — actually 1-for-11, if you count the two misses called back by lane violations — and missing all of his eight tries before the final minute.

ATS Trends

·        Dallas is 24-9 to teams with a +3 or better ppg margin

·        Miami has gone under 18-4 to teams with a +3 or better ppg margin