Soldado Scores 3, Valencia Beats Racing 4-3

Barcelona, Spain, Aug 28 : Roberto Soldado scored a hat trick—with two goals coming in the final minutes—to rally Valencia to a 4-3 comeback win over Racing Santander on Saturday, the opening day of the strike-delayed Spanish league. Soldado stepped up to draw Valencia even in the 88th minute and two minutes later fired in the winner at Mestalla Stadium.The Spanish striker opened the scoring for both teams, pushing in a rebound for his team in the first minute, and heading a corner into his own net in a failed clearance minutes later.Racing then fought back to go ahead 3-1 on goals by Lautaro Acosta and Adrian Gonzalez before Adil Rami brought Valencia to within 3-2 with his header in the 57th. “Soldado was excellent,” said Racing’s first-year coach Hector Cuper, who over a decade ago led Valencia to two Champions League finals.“Valencia played a good game and controlled the final 20 minutes. We couldn’t resist,” the veteran Argentine manager said. “Maybe we made some mistakes, but the win was the merit of Valencia.”Racing looked set to fall apart after Soldado was in position to punch in goalkeeper Antonio “Tono” Rodriguez’s early spill. Instead, a Racing full of youth players rallied after Soldado inadvertently leveled the score.Acosta—recently arrived to Racing on loan from Sevilla—capped a counterattack by slotting under Valencia ‘keeper Vicente Guaita as Valencia pushed forward, leaving its defense exposed. Soldado, who led Valencia with 25 goals last campaign in all competitions, appeared determined to make up for his mistake, and do his best to earn the captain’s armband he took from the departed Juanma Mata.The former Getafe striker came close with a header and blast over the top before halftime.Jeers were heard after Adrian spun around Valencia defender Ricardo Costa and shot by a helpless Guaita, but Rami quickly rose up above his marker to spark Valencia’s sluggish attack.“The second goal, the one that got them back into the game, was a psychological blow for us,” Cuper said.Soldado drew several good saves from Tono before substitute forward Jonas Goncalves hit the post in the 73rd.Racing settled down in defense as the upset drew closer, but Jonas slipped a ball through to Soldado to rifle into the net, and moments later Jordi Alba raced to the endline before finding Soldado alone in the six-yard box to seal the win. “Overall, we created many more scoring chances, but with very little they were very dangerous,” said Valencia coach Unai Emery. “Racing, with a lot of young players, caused us problems. This is a win, and a warning.”Earlier, Imanol Agirretxe headed two goals to give 10-man Real Sociedad a 2-1 win at Sporting Gijon.Agirretxe—starting for the injured Joseba Llorente—scored with a header in the 35th minute off a pass from defender Carlos Martinez, and added another in the 65th after Xabi Prieto knocked on a cross from Alberto de la Bella. Sporting’s Miguel de Las Cuevas scored with a penalty kick in the 68th after Martinez was ejected for pulling down Alberto Botia in the area. But Sociedad held its lead to give coach Philippe Montanier his debut win.Sporting defender Alberto Lola was sent off for a second yellow in extra time. Also, in its first first-division match in 35 years, Granada lost 1-0 to fellow promoted club Betis when striker Ruben Castro broke the deadlock in the 88th minute. Real Madrid visits Zaragoza on Sunday, while three-time defending league champion Barcelona hosts Villarreal on Monday. Also on Sunday, it’s: Atletico Madrid vs. Osasuna; Athletic Bilbao vs. Rayo Vallecano; Getafe vs. Levante; Mallorca vs. Espanyol; and Sevilla vs. Malaga. The first players’ strike in 27 years delayed the start of the Spanish league by a week. The players’ union and league struck a deal on Thursday that satisfied demands for the payment of ¤50 million ($72 million) owed in back wages to over 200 players. The games originally scheduled for the first round will be played from Jan. 20-22. AP

England Rest Pietersen For ODIs Against India

London, Aug 26: England left Kevin Pietersen out of its squad for five one-day internationals against India, giving the batsman a chance to rest after a grueling Test schedule. Pietersen was included in a 13-man squad announced on Friday for Wednesday's Twenty20 at Old Trafford but was effectively replaced in the 14-man one-day squad by Ben Stokes, who made his debut this week against Ireland. The Twenty20 squad features two new players in Jos Buttler and Alex Hales. "We've selected an exciting blend of experienced international performers along with some exciting young players with a great deal of talent," national selector Geoff Miller said. "The decision to omit Kevin Pietersen from the one-day squad is in line with our policy of sensibly managing player workloads and will give the opportunity to another batsmen to test himself batting at No. 4." England beat India 4-0 in the four-Test series that ended this week, and forced a memorable tie when the teams met in this year's World Cup, which India won as host. England Twenty20 Squad: Stuart Broad (captain), Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Jos Buttler, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Craig Kieswetter, Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Kevin Pietersen, Ben Stokes, Graeme Swann. England One-Day Squad: Alastair Cook (captain), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Craig Kieswetter, Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Ben Stokes, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott. AP

Sydney, Aug 25: Blackburn Rovers midfielder Brett Emerton has signed with A-League club Sydney FC and is set to leave his Premier League side with a year remaining on his contract, Australian media reported Thursday.
The 32-year-old Emerton signed a three-year deal after passing a medical test in Manchester on Tuesday after terminating his Blackburn contract by mutual consent, various media outlets reported.
Neither Blackburn nor Sydney FC have confirmed the move, but in a Twitter post the Australian club said it would soon make “a major announcement regarding an exciting addition to the Sydney FC squad for the 2011/12 season and beyond.”
Blackburn manager Steve Kean said after Wednesday’s League Cup win over Sheffield Wednesday the prospect of losing Emerton would be “very, very sad.”
“If Brett does move it will be a family decision, not a football decision,” Kean said. “If Brett decides it’s something he’d like to explore, you’ve got to give respect for the service he’s given the club.”
Emerton is expected to make his 248th and last appearance for Blackburn against Everton on Sunday.
His signing comes less than a week after rival A-League side Melbourne Victory signed fellow Socceroo and former Liverpool and Leeds star Harry Kewell. AP

Botham Says, England Will Win ODI Series Too

London, Aug 24: Legendary all-rounder Ian Botham predicts that after outplaying India 4-0 in the just-concluded Tests, England will also go on to win the ODI series starting with a one-off Twenty20 match on August 31.
"I think the England squad to be named on Friday will beat India in the five-match one-day series. India are world champions and England were knocked out in the quarterfinals, but don't forget India came to these shores as the world No.1 Test team and look what happened," Botham wrote in his column for 'The Daily Mirror'.
"England are the current World Twenty20 champions and on home soil they have been pretty successful. A series in Australia and the World Cup after the Ashes apart, England's one-day form has been good for a couple of years. I expect to see them target that form of the game over the next few months and beyond," he added.
Botham lavished praise on England for whitewashing India 4-0 with consistently good performances in the just-concluded Test series.
"It has been coming for a while and I've known for some time I was watching a special Test team, but it was still wonderful to see them deliver the way they did by finishing with a whitewash of the Indians," he said.
"They are the very best and they will continue to be the best for years to come I believe. Just how many years is up to them, but what I'm seeing is a work ethic and a hunger that will not be diminished while this group are together.
"And there is no way captain Andrew Strauss or coach Andy Flower will let them off the hook if they think they've made it," he added. PTI

Players Choose IPL Franchises For Champions League

New Delhi, August 23:

The IPL franchises have emerged as clear winners when it comes to players deciding between playing for them or their home sides in the upcoming Champions League Twenty20. Eight players were originally nominated for two squads and were given 48 hours to decide which team they would play for before the final squads were announced today, reports espncricinfo.

Brad Haddin, Doug Bollinger and Brett Lee have all chosen to play for their respective IPL franchise over New South Wales; Warriors have lost Jacques Kallis and Davy Jacobs to IPL teams; Trinidad & Tobago will be without the services of Dwayne Bravo, who will play for Chennai Super Kings, and Kieron Pollard, who is in the Mumbai Indians squad; and Aiden Blizzard has chosen Mumbai over the South Australia Redbacks.

Eleven of the thirteen teams have now announced their squads for the tournament, with the English counties who reach the Friends life t20 final to confirm their squads on August 27. The qualifying round for the Champions League begins on September 19, with the main tournament scheduled for September 23-October 9.

All the franchises have announced full-strength squads, which means there will be no rest for the India players, who only finish their tour of England on September 16.

Gautam Gambhir, who suffered a concussion during the ongoing Oval Test, is in the Kolkata Knight Riders' squad while MS Dhoni will lead Chennai Super Kings and Sachin Tendulkar will lead Mumbai Indians. Munaf Patel and Suresh Raina are the other players in the current India Test squad who will be involved in the Champions League.

Mumbai have also included Harbhajan Singh, who pulled out of the England tour after the second Test with an abdominal muscle strain.

One big-name player missing from the squads was Andrew Symonds who was not named in Mumbai's XV. New South Wales chose to leave out the upcoming Pakistan-born batsman Usman Khawaja, who was granted a visa to India after initially being denied it.

Cape Cobras: JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Justin Kemp, Rory Kleinveldt, Charl Langeveldt, Richard Levi, Johann Louw, Justin Ontong, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Andrew Puttick, Michael Rippon, Owais Shah, Dale Steyn, Dane Vilas

Warriors: Johan Botha, Nicky Boje, Mark Boucher, Andrew Birch, Colin Ingram, Justin Kreusch, Lyall Meyer, Makhaya Ntini, Wayne Parnell, Ashwell Prince, Jon-Jon Smuts, Kelly Smuts, Rusty Theron, Craig Thyssen, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

Mumbai Indians: Aiden Blizzard, Yuzvendra Chahal, James Franklin, Davy Jacobs, Dhawal Kulkarni, Suryakumar Yadav, Lasith Malinga, Ali Murtaza, Munaf Patel, Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, T Suman, Sachin Tendulkar

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Mayank Agarwal, S Aravind, Raju Bhatkal, AB de Villiers, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chris Gayle, Arun Karthik, Virat Kohli, Mohammad Kaif, Abhimanyu Mithun, J Syed Mohammed, Dirk Nannes, Asad Pathan, Saurabh Tiwary Daniel Vettori

Chennai Super Kings: R Ashwin, S Badrinath, Doug Bollinger, Dwayne Bravo, MS Dhoni, Michael Hussey, Shadab Jakati, Albie Morkel, Suresh Raina, Suraj Randiv, Wriddhiman Saha, S Anirudha, Tim Southee, Scott Styris, M Vijay

Kolkata Knight Riders: Iqbal Abdulla, Shakib Al Hasan, L Balaji, Rajat Bhatia, Manvinder Bisla, Gautam Gambhir, Brad Haddin, Jacques Kallis, Brett Lee, Eoin Morgan, Yusuf Pathan, Shami Ahmed, Ryan ten Doeschate, Manoj Tiwary, Jaidev Unadkat

New South Wales Blues: Stuart Clark, Patrick Cummins, Nathan Hauritz, Josh Hazelwood, Moises Henriques, Phillip Hughes, Simon Katich, Nic Maddinson, Steve O'Keefe, Ben Rohrer, Daniel Smith, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner, Shane Watson

South Australia Redbacks: Cameron Borgas, Daniel Christian, Tom Cooper, Callum Ferguson, Daniel Harris, Michael Klinger, Nathan Lyon, Tim Ludeman, Aaron O'Brien, Gary Putland, Adil Rashid, Kane Richardson, Chadd Sayers, James Smith, Shaun Tait

Auckland : Andre Adams, James Adams, Michael Bates, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Roneel Hira, Gareth Hopkins, Anaru Kitchen, Bruce Martin, Chris Martin, Kyle Mills, Colin Munro, Daryl Tuffey, Rob Quiney, Lou Vincent

Trinidad & Tobago: Samuel Badree, Adrian Barath, Darren Bravo, Kevon Cooper, Rayad Emrit, Daren Ganga, Sherwin Ganga, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Mohammed, Dave Mohammed, Sunil Narine, William Perkins, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Lendl Simmons

Ruhuna: Mahela Udawatte, Dinesh Chandimal, Sanath Jayasuriya, Janaka Gunaratne, Milinda Siriwardana, TM Sampath, Yashodha Lanka, Shihan Kamileen, Amal Athulathmudali, Arosh Janoda, Shalika Karunanayake, Omesh Wijesiriwardene, Alankara Asanka Silva, Chinthaka Perera, Bhanuka Rajapaksa

Barcelona's Pique Out For 3 Weeks, Misses Supercup

Barcelona, Spain, Aug 24

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique will be sidelined for three weeks after injuring a calf muscle in training Tuesday.
The centerback will miss Friday’s European Supercup when the Champions League winners play Europa League victor FC Porto in Monaco after tearing a muscle in his left leg, his Spanish club said.
The World Cup winner will miss Spain’s international friendly against Chile in Geneva on Sept. 2 and a European Championship qualifying match against Liechtenstein four days later.
The 24-year-old Pique has been a regular in Pep Guardiola’s squad since arriving from Manchester United in 2008, helping the Spanish champions to 11 major trophies including two European Cups.
Barcelona’s backline, which is already without Carles Puyol, will be tested. Eric Abidal and Javier Mascherano are likely to fill in. AP

Surya Nepal Gokarna Monthly Medal wins by Joseph Nathan

Kathmandu, August 20 –

Joseph Nathan, Captain of Gokarna Golf Club clinched the Surya Nepal Monthly Medal here at Gokarna Golf Club today. Nathan playing off 16 handicap scored one under par, 71 nett. His nearest rival was Kanchan Basnet, who was only one stroke adrift to finish runner-up. Michael Kollmair finished second runner-up in the tournament. Total of 20 participants took part in the tournament. President of Gokarna Golf Club, Suhrid Ghimire gave away the prizes to the winners.

8 medal rounds have already been played and three more event will be played until the month of September. Winners, Runner-ups and Second Runner -ups, who have taken part in minimum of six events will qualify to play for the Gold Medal event to be played in December.

Arsenal VS Liverpool

Arsenal 0 - 2 Liverpool

Arsenal's Ramsey (left) and Liverpool's Adam battle in midfield

Liverpool struck twice late on to secure their first league win at Arsenal for 11 years and increase Arsene Wenger's troubles.Arsenal - featuring Samir Nasri in the line-up with his proposed move to Manchester City on hold - held their own until impressive Emmanuel Frimpong was sent off with 20 minutes left.

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish reacted by introducing Luis Suarez and Raul Meireles in what proved to be the decisive move, as the pair were involved in both goals.

They combined before youngster Ignasi Miquel, on for early injury victim Laurent Koscielny, saw a clearance deflect off Aaron Ramsey into his own net after 78 minutes and Suarez applied a simple finish from Meireles's pass in the dying seconds to wrap up Liverpool's first win of the season.

Dalglish give top marks to Liverpool

Gunners boss Wenger cut a frustrated figure as luck deserted an Arsenal side depleted by injuries and suspension, and still recovering from Monday'sdeparture of captain Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona.Arsenal applied plenty of effort but look desperately thin on rescources, something Wenger must address urgently, while Dalglish was able to bide his time before bringing on Suarez to make an emphatic impact.Dalglish was ecstatic at the final whistle, whereas Wenger must now fear his defensive options will be reduced further by Koscielny's back problem ahead of Wednesday's Champions League qualifier against Udinese in Italy.Nasri received a mixed reception when his name was announced - but swiftly won over his detractors with an energetic and influential performance in the opening period, with 19-year-old Frimpong also impressive.Arsenal also had to regroup after the early loss of Koscielny with a back spasm. Young Spanish defender Miquel came on and Liverpool almost took advantage of the defensive readjustment as Andy Carroll rose to meet Stewart Downing's cross and produce an athletic save from Wojciech Szczesny.Szczesny had an easier task to save from Jordan Henderson's header before Arsenal grew in confidence and started to threaten in the latter stages of the half.

Wenger blames "scandalous luck" for defeat

Nasri demonstrated the verve that has made him such a coveted asset with a surging run from inside his own half that ended with him shooting just wide from 20 yards and Frimpong also forced a fine stop from Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina with a low drive.As a downpour soaked the Emirates, Arsenal almost made the breakthrough after 68 minutes when Andrey Arshavin found Robin van Persie in the area but Reina stuck out a leg to make a vital save.Wenger rubbed his hands through his rain-soaked hair in sheer frustration, and he was not feeling any better two minutes later when Frimpong marred what had been a performance of real promise with a wild challenge on Lucas that earned him a second yellow card and dismissal.Dalglish used Liverpool's numerical advantage to make a double substitution, sending on Suarez and Meireles for Carroll and Dirk Kuyt. Wenger's response was to replace Arshavin with Henri Lansbury.When the deadlock was broken, it came in cruel fashion for Arsenal with 12 minutes left. Miquel, with Suarez in close attendance, attempted to clear only to see his attempt strike Ramsey and loop over the stranded Szczesny.The energy visibly drained out of Arsenal and Suarez's late second only increased the pain for Wenger and Arsenal's increasingly frustrated fans.

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Valencia agree to sell Juan Mata to Chelsea

Mata has also been linked with Arsenal and Tottenham

Chelsea have agreed a fee with Spanish club Valencia to sign Juan Mata for a reported £23.5m.

The Stamford Bridge club said the deal was subject to the winger, 23, agreeing personal terms and passing a medical.

No fee has been officially disclosed but reports in Spain suggest the Blues are paying £23.5m.

"An agreement has been reached with Valencia CF for the transfer of midfielder Juan Manuel Mata," a statement on the Chelsea websitesaid.

"The move is now subject to the player passing a medical and agreeing personal terms."

Valencia had confirmed the deal themselves earlier on Sunday.

After Chelsea's 2-1 win over West Brom, boss Andre Villas-Boas said: "He can add to any squad in the world."

Mata has been at Valencia since 2007 and as captain helped Spain win the Under-21 European Championship in the summer. He was also part of Spain's 2010 World Cup winning squad.

Villas-Boas has previously spoken of the need to recruit more midfielders and the club have also made bids for Tottenham's Luka Modric.

On Saturday after Chelsea's 2-1 win against West Brom Villa-Boas was questioned about Mata.

He refused to be drawn on whether any deal was close, but he said: "He's a good player, a very good player.

"He's not our player but he's an interesting player.

"His curriculum speaks for itself. He's a player who scores and assists and he can add to any squad in the world."

Mata joined Valencia from Real Madrid's youth team. Last season, the 23-year-old midfielder, who is 5ft 7in tall, scored eight goals to help Valencia to a third-place finish in the Primera Liga.

He was also part of Spain's 2010 World Cup-winning squad and captain of the under-21 team that won the European Championship this year.

If Mata leaves, Valencia will have sold all four of their World Cup winners, with Mata following David Villa (Barcelona), David Silva (Manchester City) and Raul Albiol (Real Madrid) out of the club.