Sports

By Y.C. Lim

“Krasic is hammered throughout every game. I don’t know if there was a foul or not, but certainly he is not the type of lad to do this on purpose. I do not expect a ban for him. Do Juve depend on the performances of Krasic? Absolutely not.” – Juventus boss Gigi del Neri.

“Milos was very down, he is a sensitive lad and he knows he made a mistake. But we missed so there’s no damage.” – Juve midfielder Alberto Aquilani.

With daily comparisons as the next Pavel Nedved ever since he arrived in Turin, the bar was always going to be high for Serb winger Milos Krasic at Juventus following his mega-money transfer from CSKA Moscow in summer. And until last weekend’s Serie A match Krasic appeared to be dealing with things admirably as week on week his glittering performances for the Bianconeri drew rave reviews.

But one incident has now undermined much of the good work. Krasic was guilty of cheating against Bologna with a terrible dive that earned the Old Lady a penalty.



Despite Del Neri’s attempts at defusing the situation, the video evidence gave a distinctively different picture. Ten minutes before halftime the Juventus winger dived to win a penalty in Sunday’s 0-0 draw with Bologna. His teammates have since accepted the crime was committed, and even if they hadn’t the replay evidence was pretty clear anyway. There was no contact at all from defender Daniele Portanova and no slip.

Justice was done for Bologna when Vincenzo Iaquinta fluffed the spot-kick. But if he had scored the goal would have stood and there is nothing in soccer’s rules to reverse it.

According to Italian reports, Krasic could face a ban from Serie A in the next couple of days because of Italian federation rules allowing video evidence to be used to review referees’ decisions.

By, C.H. Lim

Choosing a pair of good, and suitable running shoes, does not actually depends on the brand or the price of that particular shoes, it requires professional guides.

Here are some proper shoe fitting guide.

By, C.H. Lim

American Football is assumed as one of the most dangerous sport.

Sports are dangerous, everyone knows its consequence, but what kind of sports are identified as really dangerous?

Common sense tells us those with frequent body contact are dangerous, such as football, basketball, hockey, and so on, but it does not seems to be.

Forget the wimps wearing pads and helmets- the real danger is on the sidelines, where estrogen and adrenaline combine in one of the newest recognized sports, Cheerleading.

over 20,000 reported cheerleading injuries in U.S. within a year.

It has been estimated that there are over 20,000 reported cheerleading injuries a year, making cheerleading the most injury-prone sport in the world for women, many common injuries include broken legs and spinal injuries.

Think about it, it’s like diving on land, with easily distracted co-eds serving as the water.

For all the cute girls in skimpy outfits (especially those USC sweaters), but this sport has a lot of catching up to do, safety-wise.

By, C.H. Lim

BERLIN: Sea Life Aquarium says that Paul the Octopus who gained worldwide fame with his perfect World Cup predictions has died. He was two and a half years old.

Paul picks Spain over the Netherlands for the World Cup Final on July 9, 2010.

Aquarium spokeswoman Ariane Vieregge in Oberhausen said Tuesday, that Paul seemed fine during the check on late Monday night but was found dead in his tank the next day morning.

She says that it was normal for an octopus of his type to die at that age and that he had died of natural causes.

Paul is a common octopus that believed to hatched during January 2008, and was living in a tank at a Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen, Germany, despite originally being from Weymouth in England. Paul became internationally famous for correctly predicting the winner of Germany's seven matches at the 2010 World Cup, as well as the final.

Paul predicted the winners of each of the seven 2010 FIFA World Cup matches that the German team played, against Australia, Serbia, Ghana, England, Argentina, Spain, and Uruguay.

His prediction that Argentina would lose prompted Argentine chef Nicolas Bedorrou to post an octopus recipe on Facebook, meanwhile Paul's keeper, Oliver Walenciak, responded by saying "There are always people who want to eat our octopus but he is not shy and we are here to protect him as well. He will survive."

On July 12, 2010, Paul was retired from making predictions.

Paul's owners stated "He won't give any more oracle predictions, either in football, or in politics, lifestyle or economy, he will get back to his former job, namely making children laugh."

As a reward for his accurate predictions, aquarium staff presented him with his very own replica World Cup trophy garnished with his favourite food, mussels.

Iker Casillas playing for Real Madrid.

“I replaced Cesar in the team and I was able to play 25 minutes. I was 21, and was lucky that everything went well. Then, for the [2002] World Cup, Santi Canizares also suffered an injury and that allowed me to be a starter in South Korea and Japan. It was a turning point in my career, so what happened in Scotland and later in the national team, was fortunate for me. It is nice to come back here for another event.”

Iker Casillas has taken up a fair few column inches in the past couple of days as he returns to the scene of his first triumph in European football as Spain take on Scotland at Hampden Park tonight.

The 2002 Champions League final was the setting for Casillas to announce himself to the world with a man-of-the-match display after only coming into the fray for the final 25 minutes.

Saves from Basturk, Ballack and Berbatov ensured Zinedine Zidane’s goal was rewarded with “Big Ears” and Casillas has not looked back, establishing himself as Real Madrid and Spain’s number one and now counting the 2008 Euros and 2010 World Cup in his trophy cabinet.





With all the fuss over the Spanish custodian, Real Madrid TV have dipped into their archives and produced footage of when Casillas first started to dazzle the world, in 1996.

From the Under-15 Club World Cup in Bolivia, a baby-faced Iker produces a number of quality saves.

Iker Casillas in action, preventing a goal with another fine save.

By, C.H. Lim

There are some sports that may be unknown to majority of us, and some that are outside of professional leagues can actually be classified as weird.

The following sports go beyond the boundaries of unusual sports when it comes to rules and equipment.

Weird Sport No.1: Man vs Horse, The Ultimate Challenge of Man.

Man versus Horse Marathon at Welsh town of Llanwrtyd Wells.

husbands carrying their wives during the race.

 Weird Sport No.3: Going For A Different Kind Of Swim.

Weird Bog Snorkeling in Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales.

Weird Sport No.4: Putting Your Toe To Good Use.

Toe Wrestling, popular activity for young kids.

 

Perhaps it is not that unfamiliar, further than a popular activity for children, toe wrestling is now a competitive sport.

The World Toe Wrestling Competition first started at a pub in Derbyshire, UK in 1976.

Locals thought it would be a great idea to hold a competition where individuals lock toes together and force their opponent’s foot to the ground.

The organizers applied in 1997 to get the sport included in the Olympics, but unfortunately, it was not accepted.


Weird Sport No.5: Finding Out Who's Faster: You Or Cheese.

It is somehow dangerous to chase for a cheese.

By C.H. Lim

20% of the England and Australian swimming squad were affected.

Urgent tests have been being carried out on the Commonwealth Games swimming pools in Delhi after a number of athletes were struck down with a stomach virus.

About 20% of the England and Australian swimming squad are suffering from the bug

Up to 20 swimmers from the England and Australian teams have fallen ill and it is thought the quality of water at the aquatic centre could be to blame.

About 20% of the England swimming squad - about eight competitors, including Rebecca Adlington and Fran Halsall - were affected.

On Thursday, Halsall wrote on Twitter: "Tummy still not fab this am, very very hard to get out of bed.

"I hope the piece of bread I had for tea gets me through the heats," he said.

Moneghetti said Australian swimming coach Leigh Nugent was satisfied to train and compete in the pool and recent tests on it were "negative".

Yet the swim team are still dropping like flies.

Andrew Lauterstein, pulled out of 50m butterfly final and 100m heats, and backstroker Hayden Stoeckel were confirmed with gastroenteritis yesterday and quarantined from the team. Both were strong medal chances.

Ryan Napoleon, Robert Hurley, Marieke Guehrer have all fallen ill - as has Emily Seebohm's swim coach Matt Brown. Geoff Huegill's and Lauterstein's coach Grant Stoelwinder is also sick.

Australian breaststroker Brenton Rickard said many of his team mates had fallen ill since arriving in India.

"There are a fair few of us that have had some form of upset stomach," he said.

England team spokesman Caroline Searle indicated other members of their delegation have suffered a short sickness.

"We have 541 athletes and officials in Delhi and over the 28 days since the first ones arrived, 7-10% have suffered a mild stomach bug which has lasted for 24 hours," she said.

"[Those cases required] no treatment and has not prevented any athlete from missing training or competition.

"Separately we have asked for reassurances as to the water quality at the aquatics venue."

"We're not complacent and continue to reinforce the need to be vigilant in areas like hand hygiene."
Commonwealth game president Mike Fennell said the matter was being looked at and tests were being conducted on both the main pool and the training pool.

"If there is something that is unsafe, you can't swim in that water," he told reporters.

"We have to deal with it. It's a matter we have to deal with the greatest of urgency."

By M.K. Lim, K.M. Lew, Y.C. Lim & C.H. Lim

LONDON, England: Liverpool have not made any headway this season, and this weekend's loss to Blackpool with an embarrassing 2-1 home defeat.


In the other hand, Chealsea went four points clear at the top of the Premier League wiht a 2-0 over Arsenal, Didier Drogba has proven to be Arsenal's nemesis once again, glancing in from close range in the 39th minute for his 13th goal in his last 11 matches against the Gunners, before Alex's unstoppable late free kick clinched victory.


However, Liverpool couldn't be much further from the title race after another humiliating result for the 18-time champions.


The Reds stayed in the relegation zone, with only six points, piling the pressure on manager Roy Hodgson.


His team has not won in five matches, including a penalty-shootout defeat to fourth-tier Northampton in the League Cup and a dire goalless draw at Utrecht in the Europa League on Thursday.


"Their great result is our nightmare result. It is a very bad day and there is nothing I can say," Hodgson said.


"At the moment things look bleak and really bad and it is difficult for me to put a bright face upon it."


"There are 31 games left but when you are in the relegation zone you are in a relegation battle," he said.


Further than the poor performance on the field, the club's fans staged a pre-match protest march against American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr., who put the club up for sale in April and face a deadline to repay a debt which has grown to about 280 million pounds.


Liverpool began the day in its lowest position in the standings this season and saw star striker Fernando Torres withdrawn with a suspected groin strain after just 10 minutes.


It went from bad to worse when Blackpool took the lead through a penalty by Charlie Adam after Luke Varney was brought down by Glen Johnson in the 28th minute.


Varney put Blackpool 2-0 ahead in first-half stoppage time, running onto a flick by Gary Taylor-Fletcher and shooting past Jose Reina from just inside the area.