Spain advances to Euro 2008 semifinals

Italian midfielder Mauro Camoranesi (left) fights for the ball with Spanish defender Sergio Ramos during their Euro 2008 quarterfinal Sunday in Vienna. Spain would advance on penalty kicks after a scoreless draw.

After 120 scoreless minutes against Italy in the European Championship, the Spanish win, 4-2, on penalty kicks.

World Cup holder Italy crashed out of soccer’s European Championship on Sunday, losing to Spain, 4-2 on penalty kicks, after the teams had played to a 0-0 tie after 120 minutes of regulation and overtime.

Spain dominated the quarterfinal match in Vienna but was unable to capitalize on the scoring chances it created. That, plus the goalkeeping of Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon and a bit of bad luck, kept the Spaniards off the scoreboard for two hours.

But when the outcome had to be decided by penalty kicks, Spanish nerves held, goalkeeper Iker Casillas came up big with two crucial saves, and Spain advanced to play Russia in a potentially fascinating semifinal in Vienna on Thursday.

In the other semifinal, tournament favorite Germany will play Turkey in Basel, Switzerland, on Wednesday.

Sunday’s match saw the Spanish carry the game to the Italians from the outset. Spain ended up outshooting Italy by a wide margin, but most of the shots were off target.

The bad luck for Spain — and good luck of Italy — came when Brazilian-born midfielder Marcos Senna sent a shot fizzing past Buffon only to see the ball ricochet back off the foot of the right post and into Buffon’s arms.

The Italians managed few shots, and striker Luca Toni, the top goal scorer in Germany last season, exited the tournament without a goal.

The closest Italy came to scoring was on a shot by Mauro Camoranesi that Casillas rejected with a stunning foot save.

When the match went to the penalty shootout, David Villa, Santi Cazorla, Senna and Cesc Fabregas scored for Spain, with Buffon saving Daniel Guiza’s shot.

For Italy, Fabio Grosso and Camoranesi scored, but Casillas saved shots from Daniele De Rossi and Antonio Di Natale.

Although the match goes into the record books as a tie, thus keeping intact Italy’s 88-year record of never having lost to Spain in a World Cup or European Championship, the Spanish were more interested in advancing.

“Penalties are always a lottery and it was about time we won one; we deserve it,” Casillas said.

Failing to reach the semifinals could cost Roberto Donadoni his job as Italy’s coach, even though he recently signed a new contract. More was expected at Euro 2008 from the reigning world champions, but Donadoni tried to put on a brave face.

“I think the players should leave here with their heads held high,” he said. “They gave everything they had. We have simply got to live with this. Tomorrow is the start of a new era.”

Jones reported from Los Angeles.

Source: http://www.latimes.com/

Spain beats Italy in Euro 2008 quarterfinal

VIENNA, Austria – When a team has gone so long without a big win, it doesn’t care how that victory comes.

For Spain, it came in the form of a penalty-kicks shootout over World Cup champion Italy, 4-2, after a lackluster 0-0 draw through 120 minutes last night in the European Championship quarterfinals.

“We finally had the luck that we have been missing,” goalkeeper Iker Casillas said after saving two penalty kicks.

It was much more than luck, though. Spain showed the kind of fortitude it often has lacked in big tournaments. And Casillas was brilliant in the shootout, guessing right on all four kicks, and stopping Daniele De Rossi and Antonio Di Natale.

“We deserved this,” Casillas added.

Cesc Fabregas scored the deciding penalty kick, setting up a semifinal against Russia on Thursday night in Vienna. Spain, the only group winner to make the semifinals, beat the Russians, 4-1, in their group opener.

“What happened before is not important now,” Casillas said. “We don’t feel like champions just because we beat Russia in the first round.”

The other semifinal has Turkey against Germany on Wednesday in Basel, Switzerland.

David Villa, Santi Cazorla and Marcos Senna beat Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon in the shootout. Fabio Grosso and Mauro Camoranesi connected for Italy, but Casillas was the difference.

“I was sure he was going to stop the penalties,” Spain coach Luis Aragones said. “I was sure.”

It was the first victory for Spain over Italy in a major competition in 88 years – since the 1920 Olympics. Aragones said Spain’s King Juan Carlos went into the locker room after the match and spoke to the players.

The last quarterfinal of the tournament often was sleep-inducing, played at a crawl, with neither side willing to open up the game. Instead, there were dozens of fouls, misplayed crosses and enough falling over to resemble an Olympic diving competition. Fans jeered both teams at halftime, and there were 51 fouls in the match.

“We didn’t play great football,” Aragones said, “but neither did Italy.”

U.S. beats Barbados. The United States advanced to the regional semifinals of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup with a listless 1-0 victory over host Barbados.

Eddie Lewis scored in the 21st minute off a through ball from 19-year-old Freddy Adu, who started his first World Cup qualifier. Lewis took the pass and put the ball through the legs of goalkeeper Alvin Rouse for his 10th goal in 80 international appearances.

The United States already was way ahead in the home-and-home, total-goals series after a rout in Carson, Calif., on June 15, and advanced on 9-0 aggregate. The United States has outscored Barbados 20-0 in four meetings, all World Cup qualifiers, including two matches in 2000.

The Americans are seeking their sixth straight World Cup berth.

Source: http://www.newsday.com/

Euro Cup 2008 draws audience of IU international students

Brian Meredith

Soccer fans all over campus are keeping a close eye on the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, or Euro 2008. IU students and faculty, especially those with European ties, congregate around television sets in the Indiana Memorial Union and Leo R. Dowling International Center each afternoon to watch the games.

The semi-finals begin Wednesday and will decide Europe’s champion of the sport that Brazilian legend Didi called “the beautiful game”. One of the four teams remaining in the tournament of European nations is Germany. Fritz Breithaupt, an associate professor of Germanic studies at IU, was born and raised in Germany and admits he can get pretty excited during matches.

“I can’t help it,” Breithaupt said. “Its funny, when I was living in Germany I did not watch soccer ever. I was not getting into it.”

The urge to support one’s national team while absent from that country is not exclusive to German fans.

“When it comes to national soccer, virtually everyone I know will fall back to their home team,” Breithaupt said.

According to Breithaupt, the most exciting teams thus far have been the Netherlands, who were eliminated yesterday by Russia, “…and obviously Turkey.” He was impressed with Turkey’s win against the Czech Republic June 15. “It is very rare that you can come back after being down two goals. The last few minutes of that game were fantastic.”

Mehmet Akif Demircioglu, a grad student in public affairs and president of the Turkish Student Association, was a huge soccer fan growing up in Turkey and has followed the tournament run closely.

“In Turkey, soccer is the most important sport event,” Demircioglu said.

Turkey earned their spot in the semi-finals by virtue of three thrilling comeback victories, the most recent of which was a penalty shootout win over Croatia in the quarterfinals. After a scoreless 90 minutes of regulation play, Ivan Klasnic gave Croatia what looked to be the winning goal in the 119th minute of play. In miraculous fashion, however, the Turkish goalkeeper booted the ball downfield and forward Semih Senturk trapped the ball in the penalty area and placed it in the back of the net. This tied the game and forced a shootout.

“Oh my god, I couldn’t believe it,” said Antony Miocic, a recent IU grad who was born in Croatia. “(Croatia) played like such an amateur team. They scored and then were celebrating like it was over and Turkey scored right back. They weren’t even trying by that point, unbelievable.”

Fortunately for Demircioglu, however, one fan’s despair is always another fan’s delight.

“This showed one more time again, never give up until the end, it really pays off. Three times in a row. Now everybody is talking about the secret of Turkish success,” said Demircioglu. “I didn’t give up. I lost my voice after the game.”

Breithaupt advises those who do not have European roots and are interested in watching the tournament to pick a team at the start and stick with it.

“If you watch a sport and don’t care about one or the other side then it gets boring,” he said. “But if you decide up front or during the game that you want this specific team to win, then, suddenly, you are emotionally involved. You see the game through the eyes of one side, and that’s when you really enjoy the game.”

The semi-finals will be played on June 25 between Germany and Turkey, and on June 26 between Russia and Spain, who beat Italy on penalty kicks 4-2 Sunday. The winners of those games will play in the championship final on June 29.

Source: http://www.idsnews.com/news/

UEFA Euro Cup 2008 not hot enough for India’s FM players

Robin Thomas

The UEFA Euro Cup 2008 has reached an exciting stage and has kept football lovers glued to TV screens throughout June. There have been detailed coverage in the print media as well – both English and vernacular dailies. The Internet, too, has been seeing a fair share of Euro Cup excitement. However, most FM players have mainly ignored the action on the field, unlike the high-decibel activities around the IPL T20 Tournament. Why have the FM players been so cool towards the UEFA Euro Cup 2008? exchange4media finds out.

Why are the FM stations silent?

Vehrnon Ibrahim, Nation Head Programming, Radio One, admits, “The simple truth is that Euro Cup is not relevant to the majority of Radio One listeners. But if there was any station that could do Euro, it would be us.”

Arjun Singgh Baran, Station Director, Big FM, explained, “The reason why radio is basically silent on the whole game is simply because of lack of interest among the listeners. There is no mass appeal for the game, unlike cricket. But once that starts to happen, we will give equal coverage to football.”

When asked what it was that the FM stations feared, Naval Toshniwal, CEO, Tomato FM, replied, “FM stations fear not the advertiser, but the listener. Unlike in the metros, C Category cities like Kolhapur and Sangli are not exposed to international football as much as they are to cricket. The content will not have a mass appeal.”

Amritendu Roy, Business Head, Friends FM, is blunt when he says, “We are not allowed to cover the Euro Cup 2008, and this is the plain truth as of now.”

Are there any exceptions?

While most FM players are shying away from football, My FM and Radio Mango are some exceptions in the FM industry.

My FM has been airing match updates of the previous day’s play every morning. My FM’s Harrish M Bhatia said, “Since matches happen late in the night, we have match updates on the Euro Cup during the morning drive time shows. Highlights and final scores are talked about by the RJs.”

When asked if the championship has had any takers in India, Bhatia said, “Sports tournaments provide us an opportunity to appease the fan following, and the Euro Cup definitely has many takers. We have many listeners who are happy about updates and we are definitely tapping into the hardcore football fans. Our listeners have appreciated our efforts and that means a lot to us. As long as the excitement over football keeps building, the station will definitely benefit in terms of listenership.”

Ravi Nair, Director-Programmes, Radio Mango, said, “Kerala is a football crazy state. We have several segments and contests running across all our stations. The main contest on right now is the prediction contest, called ‘Goal Friend’.”

He further said, “In Kerala, particularly in the northern parts, football is far more popular that cricket, so we have been getting a phenomenal response. The Euro Cup falling in the middle of monsoons will definitely get us more listeners, since people tend to be home bound a lot more. The Euro fever ensures us higher levels of listener participation in our contests and interactive segments.”

So, has India as a market come of age and is looking beyond cricket, keeping in mind the Commonwealth games in India in 2010? Said Vehrnon Ibrahim, “I think with IPL, cricket has come of age on a day-to-day basis, and I for one am very excited about it. As for other sports, obviously sports channels have brought them closer to us Indians, but it is going to be a long time before we are tuning in to American Football. Let’s face it.”

On whether India’s absence in the game is the reason for football not getting adequate coverage, Fever FM’s Neeraj Chaturvedi said, “Sure, India’s presence does add a different flavour to the sport. You tend to root for your team. Having said that, there is a developing franchise in India for football and tennis, and even newer sports like Formula One.”

When asked why the FM players were being partial to the game, Ibrahim said, “Radio One mainly covers cricket, it’s what our listeners want. If they wanted something else, we would provide it, but in terms of sport, cricket is it.”

Naval Toshniwal admitted, “Yes, we are being partial to the game. But we are here to play what the audience wants to hear and not to promote any game. So, we have to be partial towards the listener and not the game.”

So is there a solution?

Nisha Narayanan, Project Head, SFM, noted, “Along with globalisation, economic progress and greater media exposure, all international sports are gaining popularity in India, especially football. The advantage of FM is that being a local medium, we can focus greater attention on football crazy states like Kerala, West Bengal and the North Eastern states, while wooing audiences in other regions.”

Source: http://www.exchange4media.com/

Jordan to send seven athletes to Beijing Olympics

Special report: 2008 Olympic Games

AMMAN, June 23 (Xinhua) — Jordan will send seven athletes to compete at the Beijing Olympics from August 8 to 24, according to a statement from the Jordan Olympic Committee (JOC).

The athletes include Zeina Shaban (table tennis), Razan Fareed (swimming), Anas Hamoudeh (swimming), Khalil Hanahneh (athletics), Bara’ Marwan (athletics), Nadeen Dwani (taekwondo) and Ibrahim Bisharat (equestrian), said local daily Jordan Times.

Among the seven, Dwani, Shaban, Bisharat and sprinter Hanahneh had attended the Athens Games in 2004 while the rest will be making their debuts.

“The Olympic Games is the pinnacle of any sports man or woman’s career and I would like to wish our athletes all the best with their final preparations for Beijing,” HRH Prince Feisal, president of the JOC, said in the statement.

Prince Feisal also commended China on the preparations which have exceeded all expectations and records.

“The Olympic Games serve as a bridge of friendship among people from around the world and the Beijing Olympics will promote understanding among them and spread friendship among all participants,” the Prince said.

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/

Beijing Olympic media centre hotel offers cash for coverage

* Reuters, Monday June 23 2008

By Nick Mulvenney
BEIJING, June 23 (Reuters) – The hotel hosting the official non-accredited media centre for August’s Beijing Olympics is offering cash to reporters in return for positive media coverage.
The Gehua New Century Hotel, which describes itself as “China’s first five-star hotel with a media-cultural theme”, has promised journalists up to 1,000 yuan ($145) for articles about it.
It is common practice in China for local media to be paid “travel expenses” of 200 to 300 yuan for attending news conferences — in effect an incentive given that most taxi journeys in the city cost less than 50 yuan.
Hush money has also been paid to reporters by coal mine owners and, in some cases, colluding local officials to cover up fatal accidents.
The handout in Chinese on headed notepaper given by staff to the media after a Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) news conference at the hotel on Friday promised 100 yuan for a mention of the Gehua in reports.
Once verified by the public relations department, the document said, media can claim 500 yuan for a “positive” article on the hotel of 100 to 500 words in length and 1,000 yuan for an article of between 500 and 1,000 words.
“We want to extend our reputation through the opportunity of the Olympics, it is necessary to promote our brand,” PR manager Zhao Xiaoda told Reuters by telephone on Monday.
“I understand it is different from international practice. It was a decision of the PR department not the hotel.”
Formerly known as the Huabei Hotel, the 353-room facility was the home of the BOCOG media department before being extensively refurbished and reopened recently as the Beijing International Media Centre (BIMC).
It hosted its first BOCOG news conference last week and will be the workplace of up to 10,000 media who are expected to arrive in Beijing to cover the Aug. 8-24 Games without official International Olympic Committee (IOC) accreditation.
The IOC has accredited 21,500 media for the Games.
(Additional reporting by Beijing newsroom and Liu Zhen)
(For more stories visit our multimedia website “Road to Beijing” at http://www.reuters.com/news/sports/2008olympics; and see our blog at http://blogs.reuters.com/china)

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/

Spring-ing into Beijing Olympics

Former Illini and current coach makes Olympic team
By Meghan Montemurro

The announcement from the USA Gymnastics committee came as if the 13 athletes were competitors on a reality television show.

Huddled together and anxiously anticipating the selection committee’s decision, the gymnasts were awaiting their fate when they were thrown a curveball. The athletes were notified that deliberations would continue for another two hours.

Despite the high tensions and incessant pacing, the long wait was worth it in the end for Justin Spring when he was told he had made the 2008 U.S. Olympic Men’s Gymnastics Team.

“It’s unbelievable,” Spring said. “I may have counted myself out a few times, other people did as well, but I made it through it all. It’s still unbelievable. I was just in shock.”

On Sunday, Spring was named one of six gymnasts that will head to Beijing in August for the Olympics. Paul Hamm, Jonathon Horton, Morgan Hamm, Kevin Tan and Joe Hagerty were also selected to represent the U.S. Raj Bhavsar, Sasha Artemev and David Durante were named alternates by USA Gymnastics.

The former Illini and current Illinois men’s gymnastics assistant coach became the first University Olympian since gymnast Dominick Minicucci in 1992.

As the committee went alphabetically, gymnast by gymnast, Spring’s confidence in making the team faltered when he heard fellow U.S. Olympic Men’s Gymnastics team member Hagerty’s name. Spring believed one of the spots would come down to Hagerty and himself.

“‘H’ comes before ‘S,’ so when I heard his name called, I wasn’t sure since we have similar strengths,” Spring said Sunday. “My heart dropped, and I was bracing myself.”

Spring’s performance at the Olympic Trials elevated his bubble status, and he said he had “jumped back in the mix.” The Olympic team was selected by taking the four days of combined scores from the Visa Championships and Olympic Trials.

Spring was first on the parallel bars, second on the vault, third on high bar and seventh on rings with the combined scores. Although Spring did not compete on floor at the Visa Championships, he would have placed third after scoring a 15.200 average in his two performances at the Olympic Trials.

Source: http://media.www.dailyillini.com/

Olympic Sponsorship A Boon For Some Companies

Shu-Ching Jean Chen,

HONG KONG -

An association with Beijing Olympic Games may yet prove to be a big selling point.

Companies that shelled out millions to be official corporate sponsors for the Beijing Olympics, having endured harsh criticism from international human rights activists for tacitly endorsing to China’s human rights record, may feel vindicated by a new survey by China’s largest market research company. The survey affirms that 70% of Chinese consumers consider Olympic sponsorship a stamp of approval with respect to the quality of a company’s products. Further, 53.9% of a total of 2,000 polled in a phone survey in ten major cities in China expressed willingness to support the Beijing Olympics through their wallets: by making purchases of products from an Olympic sponsor.

The world’s largest beverage company, Coca-Cola (nyse: KO – news – people ), and China’s largest computer maker, Lenovo (other-otc: LNVGY – news – people ), stand to benefit in particular. Their brands are most associated in the minds of Chinese consumers with the Games, thanks to their sponsorship. About 31% of the respondents correctly identified Coca-Cola as an official sponsor and 19.5% for Lenovo, the highest in their respective industries, according to a survey released over the weekend by China’s largest market research company, CTR Market Research, a spinoff from the country’s largest broadcaster, China Central Television.

Their competitors that did not win sponsorship scored a low association with the Olympics logo, in the low single-digit rates, except for Pepsi (nyse: PEP – news – people ) which got a mention from 8.5% of respondents.

But equally gratified are those that have cleverly hitched their fortunes to the sports phenomenon of the season. Li Ning Co. (other-otc: LNNGF – news – people ), the Chinese sportswear manufacturer founded by an Olympic gold medal gymnast of the same name, was most commonly misidentified as an official sponsor; 37.4% of survey respondents made that association. Nike (nyse: NKE – news – people ) and its Chinese counterpart, ANTA Sports Products (other-otc: ANPDF – news – people ), also have successfully evoked an Olympic image, despite their absence from the sponsor list. The official sponsor among sportswear companies, Adidas (other-otc: ADDYY – news – people ), was recognized by 22.8%.

The company that fared worst from misidentification was the sole official sponsor from the insurance industry, PICC (other-otc: PPCCF – news – people ). Only 6.3% of those polled identified its Olympic sponsorship, compared with 18.1% that made an association with the country’s second-largest life insurer, Ping An Insurance (other-otc: PNGAY – news – people ), and 14.2% with China Life (nyse: LFC – news – people ), its largest life insurer.

The Olympics image association was most uneven in the beer industry, according to CTR. While China’s top brewer, Tsingtao (other-otc: TSGTY – news – people ), is most widely recognized for its official sponsorship among all the three official beer sponsors, at 24.1%, the other two beer sponsors, Anheuser-Busch (nyse: BUD – news – people )’s Budweiser and Beijing’s Yanjing Beer, did not appear to be much good at promoting their Olympic identity. They were correctly identified by only 9.6% and 3.3%, respectively.

An earlier survey, done in April, however, found official sponsorship leaving no lasting impression on the minds of Chinese consumers. (See: “Beijing Olympic Sponsorship’s A Waste”) The discrepancy might lie in the events of recent months that led to a sudden surge of patriotism in support of the Games. In any case, it may be too soon to say the game is over.

Source: http://www.forbes.com