Daily Sports News

Zhirkov signs for Chelsea :

Chelsea are finally finding their feet in the transfer market, as they signed Yuri Zhirkov from CSKA Moscow. The ‘Russian Ronaldinho’ as he is called in his club, has played 139 games and has scored 15 goals.

Zhirtkov had also been short listed for the Baloon d’ Or last year and is considered as one of the most fearsome players down the left wing….

He was Andrey Arshavin’s partner in crime last year in the EURO 2008 where he shone brightly, but was sadly overshadowed by the brighter star, Andrey Arshavin.

It seems Chelsea have spent £18m for the winger. But being capable both in defence and in attack he will provide competition to both Malouda and Ashley Cole.

Lyon sign Lisandro Lopez :

Lyon has signed Porto’s prolific striker Lisandro Lopez, to fill the void left by Benzema’s departure to Real.

If reports are to be believed, the two clubs have agreed on a €24 million deal, which could raise further depending upon the player’s performance. He is expected in Lyon in a few days, to finalise d move and complete the medical formalities.

‘Licha’ as he is called by his fans, will find it difficult to fill the shoes of Karim Benzema. Moreover, Lyon have spent most of the €35m which they got for BEnzema….

Liverpool rebuke Barca :

Liverpool have snubbed Barca, by setting a fee closer to € 40m, for Javier Mascherano, which seems too high for  the player.

Moreover, with the departure of Xabi Alonso likely to happen, Mascherano’s departure would severely hamper Liverpool’s midfield which is already over-dependent on Captain Steven Gerrard.

In such a tight situation, no players seem to coming in for the Reds, as they are yet to establish a transfer during this transfer season, leaving them in a desperate situation which leaves them no option but to go for ‘top dollar’ for their defensive midfielders.

Venus was on track to win three successive women’s singles titles and meet the feet that was last achieved by Steffi Graf but was derailed by her younger sibling Serena Williams. Since third round in 2007 Venus had not lost a single set at Wimbledon and was on 34 sets consecutive winning spree. The younger Williams beat her elder sister in a straight set victory 7-6, 6-2. Serena had previously won the Wimbledon title in 2002 and 2003.

It was shear display of power shots and aggression that helped Serena overcome her sister. She displayed he power game hitting 12 aces and converting 94% of the 1st serve points. She won the trophy which partially shares the name with her sister, as it is called Venus Rosewater Dish. Though both the sisters are not at the WTA no.1 spot on the ranking but they reign supreme at the Wimbledon.

In another final the two sisters combined to demolish the Australian pair of Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs and won the women’s doubles title. They took the match 7-6, 6-4 to reach the fourth women’s doubles title at Wimbledon. In was clearly visible in the match that Serena was more aggressive with her serve and her returns making it really difficult for the Australian pair, especially in the second set.

Serena now has won eleven grand slam titles and is just behind her idol Billie Jean King. If Venus would have won the match she would have also leveled Billie Jean Kind’s record of six titles. Billie Jean Kind by the way was watching the match and complemented Serena Williams on her victory post the match. The elder sister Venus has seven grand slam titles making them the most successful siblings in the history of tennis.

Some thought that it was a revival of the golden era of German Tennis when Boris Becker, Steffi Graf and Michael Stich won Wimbildon Titles, but they were all put to rest by The Magician Roger Federer when he defeated Tommy Haas in straight sets 7-6, 7-5, 6-3. Federer won the semifinal match and now is just on win away from recording his 15th Grand Slam title.

Centre Court witnessed the shear brilliance of Federer and audiences were enthralled with the quality of his game. He pocketed the win with a majestic slam dunk smash and made his way to the finals. It took Federer just two hours to beat his German opponent. Federer also created history by becoming the first to reach seven consecutive Wimbledon finals. Federer currently shares the record of most grand slam wins with American Pete Sampras and thus this final would be really special as he count go past him with 15 tiles if he wins on Sunday.

Federer in a post match interview said that he has been under lot of pressure over the years and Sundays win would make sure that he creates history and enters into the record book. If Federer wins on Sunday then he would clear all the doubts amongst the pundits of the game and also bring an end to the long going debate – Who is the best player in the history of the game.

Federer is the sure favorite as he has beaten Roddick in all the three previous engagements at the Wimbledon. Also on the over all record he is miles ahead of the American beating him 18 times and having only lost twice.

The English dream came to an end on Friday when Roddick defeated Murray in the Wimbledon semifinals. Murray could have been the first man to reach the Wimbledon finals since 1938 but he lost to Roddick on a score 6-4, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6.

Roddick was seeded sixth and has been a grand slam winner himself (2003 US Open) showed all the aggression and temperament which took him to the World No.1 rank. Roddick took the first set easily by breaking Murray’s in the very first serving game and then followed it with his perfect serving.

Murry came back strongly in the second set and broke Roddick ‘s serve and leveled the score to one set each.  But his aggression did not last long as he could not convert the three break point of the first game in the third set. He also failed to convert the set point to his advantage in the tiebreak giving Roddick a 2-1 lead in the match. The last set also went into a tiebreak and was won by Roddick.

Roddick showed that he still had the powerful serve in his arsenal when he fired the fastest serve of the tournament at an astonishing 143 MPH. Roddick in a post match interview said that he played this best game and many people had ruled him out and had thus all the pressure was on his young opponent.

Roddick now faces the Five Times Wimbledon Champion, The Magician Federer. Roddick has a enormous task ahead of him as he has only won 2 matches against Federer and lost 18. In his last 3 encounter at Wimbledon, Roddic has lost to Federer thrice. But one this is there that this independence day for Roddick will surely be different.

Wimbledon on US Independence day will be the stage for the most enduring sibling rivalry in sports. Venus Williams butchered World No.1 Dinara Safina 6-0 6-1 in just 51 minutes in her semi-final match while Serena Williams had to sweat it out for 2 hrs and 49 minutes defeating Elena Dementieva. There was a sharp contrast in the fortunes of the two sisters, but in the end they both said to the fourth final together. This also got Venus to a 35th consecutive set win at Wimbledon. Venus is looking forward to a hat-trick at the greatest even on the tennis calendar and also looking for her sixth overall. Head to head the both sisters are locked at 10-10 and this looks out to be another great match on Saturday.

Serena survived a match point at 4-5, 30-40 down in the deciding set and came back strongly to win the match. The match was the longest semi-final clash in the women’s draw at Wimbledon. Serena in a post match interview said that it was one of her most dramatic career wins. Serena was equally matched by Elena as she neutralized the power game which been the weapon for Serena. Venus hit 20 aces during the match which also showed her game plan as she also capitalized by winning 80% on the point on her first serve.

The stage was set for the final… Ellis Park in Johannesburg played host to one of the greatest comeback in football as Brazil took on USA in the confed cup finals.

Brazil was the favorite and USA, the minnows of football. But as the match started it seemed to be the other way around. Just nine minutes into the game, a perfect cross, which had “put me in the net” written all over it, was nudged past Julio Cesar by Clint Dempsy. The provider was Jonathan Spector.

Before Brazil could find its feet, they were assaulted once more, this time by Charlie Davies and Landon Donovan. The Brazilians were always the masters of counter attack, but this time the US gave them a taste of their own medicine, as these to combined to make a mockery of the Brazilian defence, as Donovan, Beckham’s MLS partner, deftly found the back of net after 26 minutes.

The Brazilians tried and tried until they were utterly tired, as they failed to break the sheer guts of the US until the end of the first half. Then came the interval and only then did we see what the Brazilians were capable of….

The embarrassed Brazilians put their foot on the pedal as they began the 2nd half. The impact was immediate, as Luis Fabiano whipped up a wonderful swivel, to send the ball rocketing past Tim Howard. From then on the momentum was with the yellow jerseys.

The night surely belonged to Fabiano as he came up with the equalizer on the seventy third minute. And there was no stoping Brazil now.

Then Lucio finally put an end to USA’s misery as he finished the formality of scoring the winning goal, as he headed the ball in for the third goal. The American full back, Jonathan Bronstein was rageed as he was relentless put under immense pressure.

After, one had watched the 2nd half, it seemed almost as if it was only obvious that Brazil would win. The American dream had come crashing down in the second half and Brazil have once again proven that they are back in the stellar form they once were, after a major slump in between.

Luis Fabiano was the top scorer in the tournament as he whipped up 5 goals and Kaka, Real’s sugar baby, was named the most valuable player of the tournament.

Real sign Albiol:

Real have is set to sign the Valencia defender, Raul Albiol on a five year deal. This is the third signing by Madrid, which is another move to reconstruct the LOS GALACTICOS…..

The centre-back will be a key signing as Madrid displayed poor defense last season. He will now join Pepe, at the central defense. This was made official when Madrid announced the news on its website and Valencia followed suit with a similar announcement that a deal has been made.

Villarreal sign Xavi Oliva:

Villarreal have signed  veteran goalkeeper Xavi Oliva from Castellon on a two year contract. Oliva has been with Castellon for seven seasons but has broken his contract to join Villarreal. He will be presented as a Villarreal player on thrusday.

However, whether e will figure out in their starting line up is a question as it depends entirely on the future of Diego Lopez at the club. He has been rumored to be leaving the team, but these have died down in the recent time, which implies that he might stay.

However, the cost of the transfer is yet to be revealed by Villareal.

Derbyshire joins Olympiakos:

Matt Derbyshire, has joined Greek double winners, has confirmed signing a four year contract after a successful loan spell at Piraeus during the second half of the last season.

He established himself as a fan favorite at the team and he found the net 8 times in 11 games. He found the net two times in the Greek Cup final as he came off the bench.

The fee is reported by the Press Association as being around £3m.

The wonderful fact about football is that, the entire course of the game can change in a fraction of a few seconds, in a moment of a player’s indecision or brilliance. This can happen even in the final minutes of a game, where the losers, would have outshined the winners in all aspects, but still, lost because of the brilliance shown by an individual. Here, the losers were South Africa, who outshined Brazil, the winners, while the individual was none other than Daniel Alves and his free-kick was the cause for thousands of heartbreak across the host nation.

The South African team was without suspended midfielder Macbeth Sibaya who was replaced by Siphiwe Tshabalala while Luisao replaced Juan in central defence for Brazil. As expected, the game was an attack oriented one, as both the teams, aimed for the jugular from the very beginning. Khune, the keeper for South Africa, was forced to action to save a Ramires shot. Almost immediately, RSA replied with long range effort from Siboniso Gaxa, though Julio Cesar had it covered all the way.

But soon, spectators were left wondering whether Brazil was playing in green, as The South Africans dominated possession, though their efforts were either not on target or were fended off by Julio Cesar. Tshbalala’s freekick, on the 30th minute was struck with venom and Julio Cesar had to use both his hands to fend it off. While at the other end Khune had to deal with an Andre Santos volley.

Kaka produced his first piece of magic as he crept past the opponent’s defense, only to send his shot wide of the far post. On, the other end, Steve Pienaar’s shot had beaten Cesar, but alas had beaten the goal too, as it edged wide. Brazil must have thankful for this, otherwise they would have headed into the break, trailing. Brazil were not as active as South Africa, because the hosts scampered for the ball as if their very lives depended on it. On the hour mark, Teko Modise’s shot deflected off Luisao and forced Cesar to a make a magnificent save.

Brazil, have now found a goalkeeper, who is wonderful with his reflex saves, a quality of all Brazilian Goalkeepers, and also good with long range efforts, which is a true boon to the team which has struggled to find a good replacement for Dida.

With, eight minutes left, Dunga introduced Daniel Alves, who would then go on to break millions of hearts across the world with his free-kick. Just when everyone thought the underdogs would come out victorious, the goal, two minutes from time ensured Brazil a chance to defend their title against USA.