Ashton Eaton breaks decathlon world record at US Olympic trials
Ashton Eaton set a new decathlon world record as he eased to victory at the United States Olympic trials.
With 9,039 points, Eaton beat the previous best -
set in 2001 by Roman Sebrle
- by 13 points and the defending world champion Trey Hardee by 656.
Allyson Felix's participation in the 100m at London
2012 hangs in the balance after she dead-heated with Jeneba Tarmoh for
third spot in Oregon.
Tyson Gay was second fastest behind Justin Gatlin in the men's 100m heats.
Previous five world records
Ashton Eaton
(US): 9,039 points, Eugene 2012
Roman Sebrle
(Cze): 9,026, Gotzis 2001
Tomas Dvorak
(Cze): 8,994, Prague 1999
Dan O'Brien
(US): 8,891, Talence 1992
Daley Thompson
(GB): 8,847, Los Angeles 1984
Gatlin, who missed the 2008 Olympics due to a doping ban, recorded a time of 9.90 seconds.
Gay, on the comeback trail following a hip injury that
has sidelined him for most of the previous year, clocked 10.00 secs at
Hayward Field, Eugene.
It was Eaton who stole the limelight, however, as he
laid down a marker ahead of the Games with a scintillating display to
eclipse the total set by the Czech Republic's Sebrle 11 years ago.
Eaton, 24, said: "It's like living an entire lifetime
in two days. It doesn't mean that much to the rest of the world, but to
me it's my whole world."
There was disappointment for Beijing gold medallist
Bryan Clay, though, who fell during the hurdles and eventually finished
12th after also struggling in the discus.
Felix, meanwhile, faces a nervous wait to discover whether she will be lining up in London in the individual 100m.
Tarmoh had initially been declared third by
one-thousandth of a second but officials consulted camera replays and
changed the result to a dead heat, leaving USA Track and Field unsure as
to how they are going to determine who should take the last spot.
The race was won by Carmelita Jeter, with Tianna Madison finishing second to also secure her Olympics place.
Reigning Olympic champion Dawn Harper and Lolo Jones,
who led at the Beijing final before stumbling over the penultimate
hurdle, qualified for London in the 100m hurdles, as did the fastest
American in the even this year, Kellie Wells.
France midfielder Samir Nasri became involved in a row with a French
journalist after his side's Euro 2012 quarter-final defeat by Spain.
The clash occurred in the Donbass Arena after the Manchester City player was asked for his reaction to the result.
Nasri reportedly called the journalist a "son of a bitch" and repeatedly complained about the media's behaviour.
The 24-year-old, a substitute in the game, added: "There, now you'll be able to say I've been badly brought up."
Two goals from Spain midfielder Xabi Alonso brought an end to France's campaign in Poland and Ukraine.
Manager Laurent Blanc bemoaned the early goal his side conceded against a team he believed "were there for the taking".
"The only thing I regret is that they scored off their first chance," the 46-year-old said.
"If we had gone in 0-0 at half-time, I think we would have had more room in the second half."
Blanc fielded two right-backs with Anthony Reveillere
in the defensive position and Mathieu Debuchy pushed up into midfield to
stem Spain's threat on their left flank, but his plan did not have the
desired effect.
First, Real Madrid midfielder Alonso headed the holders
into a 19th-minute lead following some excellent work down that side by
Valencia full-back Jordi Alba.
Then a clumsy challenge from Reveillere in injury time allowed Alonso to score his second goal from the penalty spot.
"We had analysed the Spanish line-up well because they
had two very strong players on the left but the most frustrating thing
is that we conceded the goal from that side," Blanc added.
The addition of Reveillere at the expense of midfielder
Nasri took much of the sting out of the French side's attack and their
only shot on target came in the 32nd minute when Newcastle United's
Yohan Cabaye saw his free-kick tipped over by Iker Casillas.
"I think the boys gave their all," Blanc told TF1. "Against Spain, it's hard.
"It is very difficult to create danger for them. They
are so tough to beat - you have to be very clinical when you only get
30-35% of the possession.
Fernando Alonso became the first man to win two races this year with a spectacular victory in the European GP.
The Spaniard won his home race at Valencia after a series of overtakes and Sebastian Vettel's retirement.
Lewis Hamilton was set to finish second after Romain Grosjean's retirement, but crashed out with three laps remaining.
The Mclaren driver was pitched into the barriers after a
tussle with Williams's Pastor Maldonado, handing second to Lotus's Kimi
Raikkonen.
Alonso started 11th
and fought his way up to fourth place before a safety car was deployed.
He gained third after a pit-stop problem for Lewis Hamilton,
passed Romain Grosjean on the restart and saw leader Vettel retire with
alternator failure on lap 35.
Battling fading tyres, Hamilton was passed by Raikkonen
before Maldonado crashed into the side of him having rejoined the race
track after running wide trying to pass the Briton around the outside.
Grosjean retired from second with 16 laps to go with alternator failure - the same problem that caused Vettel to retire.
The frantic action promoted Mercedes's Michael Schumacher to
third place - the first podium since his comeback in 2010 - and Red
Bull's Mark Webber to fourth from 19th on the grid.
It was by far the most exciting race the Valencia
street circuit has ever produced and it was won by a top-drawer
performance from Alonso.
BBC F1 co-commentator David Coulthard said: "A truly
world class drive - and bitter disappointment for Lewis Hamilton after a
tap by Maldonado, who T-boned him after running wide."
Few would have predicted the result in the early stages
as Vettel, who started from pole position, streaked away from the field
at the front and pulled out more than five seconds in the first three
laps.
Vettel controlled the race, building a
lead of 20 seconds over Grosjean, before the safety car was deployed on
lap 30, with 26 to go, because of debris on the track following a
collision between Caterham's Heikki Kovalainen and Toro Rosso's
Jean-Eric Vergne.
Meanwhile, Alonso was driving one of the best races of
his illustrious career, moving up to eighth on the first lap and taking
seventh from Force India's Nico Hulkenberg on lap 12.
Two quick laps before his own pitstop while the leaders
in front of him made theirs promoted him to a de facto fourth behind
Vettel, Grosjean and Hamilton.
All the leaders pitted for a second time when the
safety car came out, and Alonso - who had been closing on Hamilton at
approaching half a second a lap - gained another place following the
latest in a series of pit-stop problems for Hamilton after his front
jack failed.
He then passed Grosjean around the outside of Turn 1 on
the restart - a move he had used to pass Mark Webber's Red Bull earlier
in the race - and then took the lead when Vettel's engine stopped
further around the same lap.
"To be honest we don't know yet [what
happened]," Vettel said. "I lost drive on the straight down to Turn 17
and I had to give way to the other people. The engine stalled and
switched off."
Hamilton's engineers urged him on, believing Alonso's
tyres would wear out faster than theirs, but the double world champion
was always in control.
The 29th victory of Alonso's career and extraordinary
result moves the 30-year-old back into the championship lead, 20 points
ahead of Webber. Hamilton is third, 23 points adrift and Vettel fourth,
now 26 points - more than a win - behind Alonso.
It was a gripping battle as the combination of the
fast-wearing Pirelli tyres and a perfectly judged DRS overtaking zone
finally cracked the problem of overtaking at Valencia.
There were fights up and down the field, positions changing and collisions.
Paul di Resta went into the final four laps in sixth place, but
his valiant attempt to make only one pit stop left him vulnerable in the
closing laps and he lost places to Schumacher, Webber and Mercedes'
Nico Rosberg.
Di Resta finished seventh, ahead of Hamilton's McLaren
team-mate Jenson Button, Sauber's Sergio Perez and Maldonado, who may
well face a stewards' inquiry for the incident with Hamilton.
Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi has been given a five-place
penalty for the British Grand Prix following his collision with Felipe
Massa, while Vergne has been given a 10-place penalty and £20,000 fine
after crashing into Kovalainen.
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel took a stunning pole position at the European Grand Prix.
The world champion was 0.324 seconds clear of McLaren's
Lewis Hamilton in an otherwise closely fought qualifying session on the
Valencia street track.
Williams's Pastor Maldonado was third,
ahead of the Lotus drivers Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen, with
Jenson Button ninth.
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Red Bull's Mark Webber were 11th and 19th.
The Force Indias looked like they might challenge at
the front but Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta ended up eighth and
10th.
Di Resta admitted that a mistake in the final corner on his final lap cost him the chance to be much higher up.
"I think we wouldn't have been far away but I just locked a wheel," Di Resta said.
Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was sixth, ahead of Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi.
Vettel's pole was his third in a row at this track, and
the 33rd of his career, matching the great Jim Clark and Alain Prost.
Red Bull brought a major aerodynamic upgrade to Valencia
and Vettel has appeared to be the man to beat from the outset.
"A surprising gap," he said. "But the boys have been
working very hard this weekend to bring a couple of new parts to the
car. They seem to work."
Hamilton, who had struggled in practice, said he did not expect to be on the front row.
"To be honest I expected to be a lot further back," he said. "We have
been struggling all weekend, and we had to make some guesses as to what
kind of set-up we wanted and it seemed to work OK.
"The gap is quite big here and it's going to be a tough race here as always."
Webber was unable to take advantage of Red Bull's improved performance after suffering a series of problems on Saturday.
Webber failed to get out of the first session after his
DRS overtaking aid failed. He had earlier missed most of the final
practice session with brake problems.
"We had no DRS so that's 1.3 seconds," said Webber, who
is only nine points off the world championship lead. "Makes it very
difficult. The car has put up a good fight today, we only did four laps
today and three of these were in qualifying.
"We put on the soft tyres but we were in a desperate situation, we had to try and get through.
"The lap time wasn't too bad with the DRS
out. It's a big hit for us, here and Barcelona through no fault of my
own, but that's the way it can go in 20 races."
Alonso, who battled for victory in the previous three
races, found his car was simply not competitive on the twisty Valencia
street circuit.
The Spaniard, two points behind championship leader
Hamilton, was just over 0.2secs off the pace in the second part of
qualifying, but that was good enough only for 11th place on the grid.
Button was nearly 0.4secs slower than Hamilton and said
he struggled with locking his front brakes on his final run and was
pessimistic about being able to make any progress in the race.
"We're in Valencia, not a lot happens here in the race. You can't overtake around here.
"If you get it right on the strategy maybe, but the way
the tyres seem to hold on for most people it's not going to be the most
exciting race. The only person who's will maybe move up is the Lotus in
fourth [Grosjean]."
Michael Schumacher was 12th, failing to get into the
top 10 shoot-out after being 0.266secs slower than Rosberg in the second
session.
Heikki Kovalainen did an impressive job in the Caterham
to beat Toro Rosso driver Jean-Eric Vergne and make it through into the
second part of qualifying.
The Finn was not able to make any further progress, however, and will line up 17th.
HRT confirmed the steady progress they
have been making in recent races with both their drivers out-qualifying
the Marussia of Charles Pic.
The Frenchman's team-mate Timo Glock did not take part
in qualifying because he was feeling unwell - the German has been
battling a stomach upset.
Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba confirmed his switch to China's
Shanghai Shenhua on Wednesday, a move which will reunite him with former
Chelsea teammate Nicolas Anelka.
Drogba announced he would
leave Chelsea days after scoring the penalty which beat Bayern Munich
in last month's European Champions League final, and the 34-year-old has
signed a two-year deal to become the Chinese Super League's latest
high-profile star.
The two-time African
footballer of the year will reportedly be paid £200,000 ($315,000) a
week, which would make him China's highest-paid player.
"I have considered all
the offers I have received in the past few weeks, but feel that Shanghai
Shenhua FC is the right move for me at this time," said Drogba in a
statement released through his representatives.
"I am looking forward to a
new challenge, to experiencing a new culture, and I'm excited about the
new developments in the Chinese Super League.
"I hope to help promote Chinese football around the world and further improve the links between China and Africa."
Former France
international Anelka made the move from Stamford Bridge to Shanghai in
January and even had a brief spell as the team's coach following Jean
Tigana's exit in April.
Former Argentina coach
Sergio Batista is now in charge of the team, and he is looking forward
to working with former Marseille star Drogba.
"Drogba is a very good
soccer player, his outstanding skills and amazing experience will give
us motivation to improve our games," said Argentina's 1986 World Cup
winner.
"It is my honor to
invite him to join in our team. At last I have to say that the club
owner Zhu Jun did his utmost to bring Drogba to Shenhua."
Shanghai is currently
12th in the league, with only three wins all season. But Shenhua owner
Zhu is confident Drogba can have a positive impact on results as he
seeks his first title since taking over in 2007 -- and the club's first
since 2003.
Drogba scored 157 goals
for Chelsea in his eight seasons at the club, winning three English
Premier League titles, four FA Cups and two League Cups as well as the
London club's long-awaited first European crown.
"We have been wanting to sign Didier for a while, and are very happy that it has finally happened," said Zhu.
"He is an incredible
player, who has won so many trophies in his career, we feel that his
experience and ability will be a very valuable asset to our squad.
"Shanghai is one of the most influential cities in the world, and we are very excited to welcome Didier here."
Drogba and Anelka are two of a number of soccer stars to have joined China's premier football competition.
Italy's World
Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi is now in charge at Guangzhou
Evergrande, an ambitious club who in the last year have signed Argentine
Dario Conca and Paraguay's Lucas Barrios.
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton won the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday to
record his first victory of the Formula One season and move top of the
drivers' standings.
Frenchman Romain Grosjean in a Lotus produced an impressive drive to finish second, just ahead of Sauber's Sergio Perez.
Red Bull's Sebastian
Vettel finished fourth, with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso in fifth, which
kept the Spaniard just two points behind Hamilton in the title race.
"I never had a doubt in
my mind that there would not be a possibility to win," said Hamilton,
who is the seventh different winner in seven races this season.
It was Hamilton's third
Canadian Grand Prix victory in five attempts, and his 18th from 97 races
overall, while teammate Jenson Button was out of the points in 16th.
While Alonso and world
champion Vettel opted for a one-stop strategy, Hamilton made two stops
but was able to force his way past the Spanish and German drivers.
Hamilton had problems at
both pit stops -- almost stalling at the first and then had a difficulty
with one of his wheels at the second -- but the British driver
recovered to first overtake Vettel on lap 62 and then motor past Alonso
three laps later.
As Alonso's tires faded the Ferrari driver slipped down to fifth, but he did manage to hold off Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg.
"Fernando and I took the decision to stay out," said Vettel, explaining Red Bull's race strategy.
"I felt pretty
comfortable on the tires and obviously we were hoping to get the place
back, but as it turned out it was the right thing to go for the second
stop.
"We decided a few laps
from the end to do a pit stop -- a stop here is not so long, about 15
seconds -- and in the end it was the right decision.
"Before the stop we were three to four seconds behind Fernando, but we ended up six seconds ahead of him."
Grosjean also adopted a
one-stop strategy but with better success than Alonso as he secured the
second podium placing of his career, both coming this season.
"It's been a great day
for the team. It was an incredible race and the one stop strategy worked
perfectly for us. It wasn't an easy race, but we wanted to be
aggressive to achieve a good result," he said.
His teammate Kimi Raikkonen was eighth, behind Red Bull's Mark Webber.
Sauber had both cars in
the points as Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi was ninth, while Ferrari's
Felipe Massa was 10th after recovering from an early spin.
Germany inflicted a second-successive Euro 2012 on Netherlands in a renewal of one of football's great rivalries.
These two nations have a
fierce history, punctuated by on-field battles that the legendary German
captain Franz Beckenbaur claimed had cost him "years of my life".
This latest encounter was no classic, largely because Joachim Low's Germany dominated for the vast majority.
Two superb first-half goals from Mario Gomez took his tally for the tournament to three and put the Germans in complete control.
Robin Van Persie pulled a
goal back as Netherlands improved in the second half, but Germany
comfortably held on for a second successive victory at this tournament.
Portugal's earlier win
over Denmark means that nothing in Group B is yet decided, though
Germany need only a point against Denmark to reach the quarter finals,
while the Netherlands need something of a miracle to progress.
Mario Gomez scored two
stunning goals to earn Germany a deserved win and heighten expectation
that Joachim Low's side can win this European Championship.
The Germans took control
of a crucial game when Gomez brilliantly collected Bastian
Schweinsteiger's pass and spun to slide home a clinical finish.
It was 2-0 before the
break as Gomez scored an even better goal. Again Schweinsteiger was the
provider, his pass allowing Gomez to escape rookie defender Jetro
Willems and fire across Maarten Stekelenburg and into the far corner,
his 14th goal in his last 16 international games.
Netherlands were,
briefly, ranked the number one team in the world as recently as August
but they looked a poor imitation of the side that had reached the World
Cup final in South Africa two years ago.
But a game between the
two highest scoring teams in the qualifying campaign was always set to
see goals and Van Persie's brilliant strike 17 minutes from time
breathed life into an ailing game.
The Arsenal striker's
touch had previously deserted him at this tournament, but he suddenly
looked deadly as he spun away from Sami Khedira and smashed a superb
shot past Manuel Neuer with his weaker right foot.
Germany's young side suddenly looked vulnerable, but limited the Dutch to long-range efforts that failed to trouble Neuer again.
Maria Sharapova overpowered Sara Errani to win the French Open final
at Roland Garros for the first time and complete a career grand slam.
The 2012 tournament's
surprise package, Italian Errani never came up with an answer to
Sharapova's strategy of power and unerring ball placement as the Russian
produced 37 winner to secure a 6-3 6-3 victory.
As Sharapova motored into
a 4-0 lead in the opening set the final looked as it might be over in
the blink of an eye, but Errani got her toe in the match by breaking
Sharapova's serve to win the fifth game.
Errani, who is ranked
23rd in the world, showed plenty of grit to save two set points in the
eighth game, but when a third set point came up in the following game
Sharapova ruthlessly converted.
Italy's Errani refused to capitulate in the second set, but was never able to threaten the Russian's dominance.
As well as strength,
Sharapova's quickness of feet was a feature of an impressive
performance, notably when she sprinted to reach an Errani drop shot,
winning the point to take a 4-1 lead.
Errani saved two match
points in a game that the Italian produced a couple of the deftest drop
shots you could wish for, but the Italian's resistance was finally ended
when the Russian converted her third championship point.
It was the 25-year-old Russian's first grand slam title since she won the Australian Open in 2008.
Since then Sharapova's
career has been hampered by serious shoulder injuries that forced her
into a long rehab, but her winning form at Roland Garros will also see
the Russian move above Belorussian Victoria Azarenka to take the No. 1
ranking slot on Monday.
Saturday's victory
ensured Sharapova became just the 10th female player to complete a
career grand slam to emulate the the likes of greats such as Steffi
Graf, Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert and Serena
Williams.
The Russian won her
first grand slam title at Wimbledon eight years ago, before going on to
win the US Open in 2006 and then then Australian Open four years ago.
"It's the most
incredible feeling," said Sharapova after her win in Paris. "I'm so
happy. I've worked so hard for this -- it took a lot to get to this
stage and even more to win it. There are so many tough days where you
feel like giving up, but you don't. It's been such a journey to get to
this stage again."
If Errani's impressive
performances at Roland Garros -- featuring wins over two former
champions and two members of the top 10 -- might not have had a
fairytale ending, those rankings will provide some consolation for the
Italian as she enters the top 10 for the first time.
"I don't feel like top
10, but I will be top 10, and it's incredible for me," said Errani, who
made only only hit 11 unforced errors during the final. "I really can't
believe it. I'm so happy for everything right now."
Victor Sharapova made a point of praising Errani's achievement in reaching the final.
"What an amazing
tournament," said the Russian. "I've watched you play the last two weeks
and the way you've performed. And the way you played today was
extremely difficult for me. I know it was our first meeting, and I hope
we play many more times."
For the second time in as many years, LeBron James and his Miami Heat
teammates will get a shot at the NBA championship after beating the
Boston Celtics on Saturday night.
The Heat pulled away late to win the deciding game of the Eastern Conference finals' series by a 101-88 score.
The victory earned the
team the right to face the Oklahoma City Thunder, which won the Western
Conference title by beating the San Antonio Spurs.
Led by NBA scoring leader
Kevin Durant and point guard Russell Westbrook, the upstart Thunder
host the series' opener next Tuesday.
Miami entered the
conference finals' series as the clear favorites, thanks to the talents
of James and Dwayne Wade. The Heat had jumped to a 2-0 series lead, only
to see the Celtics storm back by winning the next three games behind
the exploits of point guards Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo.
Yet Boston failed to
finish off the series last Thursday on its home court, thanks in large
part to a 45-point performance by James, the league's Most Valuable
Player. That set up Saturday's deciding game in south Florida.
The Celtics led for much
of the first half, though the two teams were rarely separated by more
than a few points, entering the halftime break up by a 53-46 score.
The Heat chipped away
after halftime, going ahead 65-64 with just over 4 minutes remaining in
the third quarter. The fourth and final quarter began with the teams at
73 points apiece.
Miami steadily pulled
away over the game's final 12 minutes. Big defensive stops and a
three-point play with 2:53 left in the game put the Heat up by 12 points
and sent the American Airlines Arena crowd into a frenzy.
The Miami Heat entered
the league in 1988, finally breaking through with a championship to cap
the 2005-2006 season. After a few losses, it emerged as a title
contender with the free agent signings of James and Chris Bosh.
It lost last year in the
finals to the Dallas Mavericks, and many expected this could be the
year it will win its own title. But the team ran into a veteran Celtics
team that has its own version of "The Big Three" -- Garnett, Ray Allen
and the energetic Rondo.
Boston won the 2007-2008 NBA championship, the 17th in the history of the franchise.
Mario Gomez's second-half header ensured Germany made a winning start
to Euro 2012 after Portugal had threatened to frustrate Joachim Loew's
side.
Germany dominated possession but struggled to create
many chances until Gomez broke the deadlock from Sami Khedira's cross in
the 72nd minute.
Portugal were disappointing and only came to life after Germany scored.
Pepe hit the bar with a rare first-half chance while Nani was also denied by the woodwork late on.
Germany face
Netherlands, who lost 1-0 to Denmark in their opening game,
in their next game on 13 June while Portugal will attempt to bounce back against the Danes on the same day.
The match was billed as one of the most eagerly-awaited contests of the group stages.
However, three-time world champions
Germany and Euro 2004 runners-up Portugal struggled to entertain despite
the wealth of talent on display.
The Germans included seven Bayern Munich players in
their starting line-up and, judging by their first-half performance,
they appeared to be suffering a hangover from their Champions League
defeat to Chelsea last month.
Portugal were unadventurous and clearly determined not
to lose as they stifled Germany's attacking threat to such an extent
that Loew's side only once seriously tested keeper Rui Patricio in the
opening 45 minutes.
That came in the second minute when Gomez forced
Patricio into a diving save after connecting with a cross by former
Manchester City defender Jerome Boateng, playing despite Loew's threat
to start Lars Bender at right-back after
Boateng was pictured with a model
in the early hours of last weekend.
New
Arsenal recruit Lukas Podolski
spurned a rare chance in the 31st minute when he blazed over from
15 yards after good work by Khedira, but it was Portugal, despite their
defensive tactics, who went closest to breaking the deadlock before the
interval.
With his club manager Jose Mourinho
watching from the stand, Real Madrid's Pepe rattled the underside of the
bar, after the German defence failed to deal with a corner, the ball
bouncing on the line before being cleared.
Pepe thought he had scored but television replays showed the officials had made the right decision.
Nani struggled to make an impact, although his
former Manchester United team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo
produced flashes of the form which saw him end the season with 62 goals for Real Madrid and Portugal.
Ronaldo summed up Portugal's performance in the space of a minute early in the second half.
Having cut in off the left wing to force a save from
Manuel Neuer, he delivered a dangerous cross which was headed behind by
Mats Hummels. However, the resulting corner came to nothing.
With the game drifting towards a draw, Boateng produced
a goal-saving challenge to deny Ronaldo in the 64th minute before Gomez
struck eight minutes later.
Gomez was seconds away from being replaced by for
Miroslav Klose when he headed home his 23rd international goal after
Khedira's cross from the right.
Portugal produced a late rally - Nani hitting the
woodwork with a cross-shot before Neuer came to Germany's rescue with a
fine save to deny substitute Silvestre Varela - but it proved too little
too late.
Germany
: Neuer, Boateng, Hummels, Badstuber, Lahm, Khedira, Schweinsteiger,
Muller (Bender 90), Ozil (Kroos 87), Podolski, Gomez (Klose 80).
Subs Not Used
: Wiese, Gundogan, Schmelzer, Howedes, Schurrle, Mertesacker, Gotze, Reus, Zieler.
Booked
: Badstuber, Boateng.
Goals
: Gomez 72.
Portugal
: Rui Patricio, Joao Pereira, Bruno Alves, Pepe, Fabio Coentrao,
Meireles (Varela 80), Veloso, Joao Moutinho, Nani, Postiga (Nelson
Oliveira 70), Ronaldo.
Subs Not Used
: Eduardo, Custodio, Almeida, Quaresma, Ricardo Costa, Rolando, Ruben Micael, Miguel Lopes, Hugo Viana, Beto.
Booked
: Postiga, Fabio Coentrao.
Attendance
: 33,951
Referee
: Stephane Lannoy (France).
Denmark produced the first major surprise of Euro 2012 as Morten
Olsen's side secured a 1-0 win over World Cup finalists Netherlands in
Kharkiv.
Famed for their Total
Football approach, the Dutch were left totally frustrated by a Danish
side that was never fazed by the star-studded reputation of Bert van
Marwijk's team.
Billed as Group B's rank
outsiders, Denmark had to ride their luck against a Dutch team that
dominated possession for long periods of this game in Kharkiv's Metalist
Stadium.
Amid those lucky breaks
though Simon Kjaer and Daniel Agger in central defence showed plenty of
steel and when the Danes did get hold of the ball they produced some
intricate passing moves.
Danish goalkeeper Stephan
Andersen was also outstanding, notably when he thwarted Dutch
substitute Klaas-Jan Huntelaar after the Schalke forward was sent clear
by Wesley Sneijder's wonderful pass with the outside of his right foot.
That Huntelaar. who
scored 48 goals in all competitions last season for the German
Bundesliga club, was left on the bench by Van Marwijk was the first
surprise of Saturday's game.
And before he was introduced in the second half, Huntelaar could only watch as Robin van Persie's nose for a goal went missing.
A frustrating evening for
the Dutch striker, who has scored 30 goals in the English Premier
League for Arsenal this season, was encapsulated when he completely
miskicked the ball early in the second half.
Van Persie should have
scored early on in the game but put his shot wide and later on in the
first half the Arsenal striker was thwarted by Danish goalkeeper Stephan
Andersen.
Completely against the
run of play, Michael Krohn-Dehli gave Denmark a shock lead after he
gathered Simon Poulsen's deflected cross and drilled a shot through the
legs of Dutch goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg.
Arjen Robben then curled a left-footed shot against the post as Denmark's goal continued to lead a charmed life.
The second half mirrored
the first with the Dutch pinning the Danes in their own half, but the
Danes refused to be cowed and after surviving a late handball appeal
against Lars Jacobsen, Olsen's team secured a memorable victory.
Maria Sharapova booked a place in her first French Open final and
moved up to world number one by overcoming Petra Kvitova in straight
sets in Paris.
Second seed Sharapova produced the more assured play to steer herself to a 6-3 6-3 victory over the fourth seed.
The result also keeps the Russian on course to achieve
the career Grand Slam by winning the one major tournament which has
eluded her.
Match stats
Kvitova
Sharapova
0
Aces
3
62%
1st serves
79%
2
Double faults
3
10
Winners
15
20
Errors
17
56%
1st serve win %
75%
40%
2nd serve win %
33%
34%
Receiving pts won
50%
1/5
Break points
4/6
Sharapova will play Italian 21st seed Sara Errani in Saturday's final.
The new number one, who will displace Victoria Azarenka
on Monday, will be a huge favourite to beat surprise finalist Errani,
especially considering the manner of her victory against left hander
Kvitova.
Sharapova was contesting her third French Open
semi-final and had high hopes of victory at Roland Garros having come
into the tournament on the back of clay court wins in Stuttgart and
Rome.
The Russian had beaten Kvitova on the way to victory in
Stuttgart and, after saving break points in both her opening service
games, Sharapova grew in confidence and consistency to break her rival
in the fifth game.
Kvitova's power and precision had helped her beat her
opponent to claim the Wimbledon title last year but Sharapova had the
answer to anything the Czech could throw at her.
“It's the third time I've been in a semi-final here, I've dreamed of reaching the final and finally I have that opportunity"”
Maria SharapovaFrench finalist
The blustery conditions on court Philippe Chatrier were an issue but the Russian dealt with them better.
Some heavy blows were being traded and Sharapova regularly came out on top before going on to win the first set.
Kvitova exerted more pressure on Sharapova early in the
second set, although like the opener she failed to take a break point
and lost her own serve in the following game to go 3-1 down.
This time around, however, the number four seed broke
back to level, although any hopes of a comeback were quickly
extinguished.
Sharapova was controlled and concentrated and again broke her more wayward rival before a second serve ace secured victory.
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton headed Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg
in first practice at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Hamilton, searching for his first win of the season in
the seventh race, was 0.118 seconds quicker than Vettel, with Rosberg
only 0.1secs further adrift.
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, and the second Red Bull of Mark Webber was fifth.
McLaren's
Jenson Button
was only 10th after reliability problems.
Button had a trying session - he was out late, set his
time, and then was called back into the garage when the team noticed
some excessive clutch slip.
They took off the gearbox and discovered there an was
oil leak, leading to the 2009 world champion completing about half the
number of laps of his rivals.
That will not help him as he attempts to get on top of
the troubles that have seen him score only two points in the past three
races.
The top 11 cars were covered by a second, with Force
India's Nico Hulkenberg sixth on super-soft tyres, ahead of the Saubers
of Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez, and Michael Schumacher's Mercedes.
The second Force India of Scot Paul di Resta was 11th.
Hamilton, in contrast to his team-mate, had a largely
untroubled session, apart from a brief off-track moment at the first
corner, and looked impressive throughout, setting the pace whenever he
was out on the track.
The fastest times of Hamilton, Rosberg and
Alonso were set on the 'soft' tyre, the harder of the two options in
Montreal, while Vettel leapfrogged from fourth to second when he fitted
the softer 'super-soft' tyre at the end of the session.
Rosberg's pace confirmed the potential that most
expected of the Mercedes at this race, while Ferrari spent the session
comparing a new rear bodywork design with the previous one.
The team have introduced a design similar to McLaren's,
where the exhaust is channelled down towards the inside of the rear
tyre in an attempt to increase downforce.
Alonso started the session with the older bodywork and
team-mate Felipe Massa with the new design, with which the Brazilian
went 0.318secs faster than the Spaniard.
Alonso, the world championship leader, then leapt up to
third - before being demoted by Vettel - once his car had been fitted
with the newer design, and Massa's revered to the older one.
BBC F1 technical analyst Gary Anderson
said: "It's an A-B, B-A swap. It's good to do these comparisons
sometimes because it's hard to get a definitive answer from the drivers
when the time difference is only going to be in the region of
0.1-0.2secs.
"From what I've seen so far, the developments look good
- there are also some new front brake ducts on Massa's car that look
effective. It will be interesting to see what parts are on which car in
the second session."
The session was stopped after 40 minutes following a crash by Caterham's Heikki Kovalainen at the exit of Turn 9.
The Finn said: "I haven't had a shunt for a long time, it was bound to happen one day.
"I was carrying a bit too much speed into that corner. I
thought I'd got away with it, but the rear end snapped away and that
was it. It was just a small error but it happens sometimes.
"We have got good mechanics. I don't think the chassis
was damaged. It's just about replacing the two corners and we go again
in the second session."
An incident involving Vettel and Williams driver Bruno Senna is to be investigated by stewards after the session.
Senna was seen to be waving his arm at Vettel as the
two cars approached the final chicane, with Senna on the outside,
apparently accusing the world champion of holding him up.
There appeared to be a second, less significant, incident later on, when Senna may have held up Vettel in retaliation.
