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Switzerland, Turkey meet in must-win match, three years after ugly brawl

AP, Feusisberg

The pressure will be on both Switzerland and Turkey when they meet Wednesday in the European Championship, their first match since an ugly brawl three years ago in Istanbul.

Both teams will be looking for a win after opening the tournament with losses, with another defeat ending almost any hope of advancing to the quarterfinals. It is also a grudge match of sorts for two sides - and groups of fans - that may still have a lot of bad blood.

“It’s going to be an intense atmosphere,” Switzerland defender Johan Djourou said. “Fighting shouldn’t happen in football. Hopefully it won’t happen in Switzerland.”

Switzerland met Turkey over two legs in November 2005 to determine which team would advance to the World Cup in Germany. They drew 4-4 on aggregate, but the Swiss advanced on away goals.

After the final whistle, the Swiss team raced from the field apparently to escape angry fans. A scuffle between players from both sides ensued in the tunnel on the way to the locker room, drawing in coaches and Turkish security guards into the fighting. Switzerland defender Stephane Grichting was hospitalized with a groin injury.

The fight led to a rash of suspensions, with FIFA president Sepp Blatter even threatening at one point to ban Turkey from the 2010 World Cup. Blatter, a Swiss native, backed down. Turkey also complained about its treatment in Switzerland, where it said the home fans whistled during the Turkish national anthem.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Turkey coach Fatih Terim said last month that he was sorry about what happened. He added that the episode was now history and should not affect how Turkey is treated in Basel.

“What happens in football, stays in football,” Terim said. He has since made friendly gestures to Switzerland coach Koebi Kuhn, whose wife is in the hospital, and captain Alexander Frei, who has been ruled out of the tournament with a ruptured left knee ligament.

Turkey’s players have largely avoided the subject and the reaction in Switzerland has been subdued.

“Obviously, we can’t forget what happened,” Switzerland midfielder Tranquillo Barnetta said. “But we are thinking about playing football and winning this match.”

Defender Philippe Senderos said he was not thinking about the past.

“It’s another match, another stadium, another competition,” he said Tuesday.

Swiss authorities said they expected thousands of Turkey supporters to come to Basel from other parts of Switzerland and neighboring Germany. But no extraordinary security measures are believed necessary.

“We are always vigilant,” Swiss police spokesman Guido Balmer said. “The network of security services we have from different countries is working very well.”

Switzerland will be without the 28-year-old Frei, but striker Marco Streller is expected to play despite re-aggravating a groin injury in the 1-0 loss to the Czech Republic. Should Streller fail to recover, Switzerland would be left with 19-year-old Eren Derdiyok and creative forward Hakan Yakin as the only attacking options.

That is not good news for a team that has failed to score in its last 223 minutes of competitive play, going back to the World Cup in 2006. As co-host, Switzerland qualified automatically for the European Championship and played only friendly matches in two years of preparation.

“We have to score more goals and give up less goals,” said Barnetta, who scored twice in Switzerland’s 2-1 upset of the Netherlands in August without Frei.

“That shows we can give a strong performance without Alex,” Barnetta said.

Turkey, meanwhile, is vulnerable in the back. Central defenders Gokhan Zan and Servet Cetin were injured for the team’s 2-0 loss to Portugal, and both are doubts for Wednesday. Midfielder Hamit Altintop is also below full fitness, and it’s unclear if he can last the full 90 minutes.

Terim will have to find a formula for success. “Our second game will be almost a final,” Terim said.

Quake won’t dampen Olympic Games

AFP, Beijing

The devastating earthquake that plunged China into mourning last month will not dampen the Beijing Olympics, China’s former table tennis star Deng Yaping said Tuesday.

“I think the Olympic Games is still going to be one big party of celebration in which countries from all over the world will take part,” said Deng, a sporting icon who dominated women’s table tennis during the 1990s.

She said the Chinese people had been waiting to stage the Games for 100 years and their enthusiasm had survived the May 12 earthquake that killed about 70,000 people and left more than 17,000 missing in southwestern China.

“To hold the Olympic Games has been the dream of the Chinese people for 100 years and we have been preparing for the last seven years,” said Deng, speaking at a briefing in Beijing.

“I believe that all of the Chinese people are looking forward to the Olympic Games and are not losing their enthusiasm despite the earthquake.”

Deng and half a dozen other former Olympic champions toured the earthquake zone last month to console victims of the disaster, especially children who had lost their parents.

“Our message was to give them a positive attitude to life, that is to say never give up,” said Deng, who recalled that she had been told as a child she would never succeed as a table tennis player because she was too small.

Hussain a fan of Twenty20 cash 'pressure’

AFP, London

Former England captain Nasser Hussain believes the fact finalists in this season’s Twenty20 Cup will qualify for the lucrative new Champions League will take the tournament to another level.

The ex-Essex batsman compared the semi- finals of the county competition, which starts on Wednesday, to the Championship play- off final in football which sees a team promoted to the money- spinning English Premier League.

“Sport is better when there is something big hanging on the outcome. The higher the stakes, the more intense the pressure and the more the character of the players is revealed,” Hussain wrote in his column for Britain’s Daily Mail.

“The winners of the cup, which starts tomorrow, get something like 40,000 pounds (80,000 dollars).

“But the two counties who reach the final will have the chance to earn 2.4 million pounds (5 million dollars) from the Champions League, so can you imagine the atmosphere if a team need four from the last ball in one of those semi- finals?

“What we will see is the cricketing equivalent of the football play-off final, with the winners going to the Premier League.”

Twenty20, which was pioneered as a professional sport in English county cricket, has quickly become popular around the world.

It led to the creation of a World Twenty20 and a cash-rich tournament in India as well as talk of matches between England and a Caribbean all- star side bankrolled by Texan billionaire Allen Stanford.

Into that mix has now been added the Champions League, leaving some to question whether five-day Test cricket, which outside of England and Australia, can struggle to draw in the crowds, has much of a future.

But Hussain said while he could not see the likes of Kevin Pietersen pulling out of Tests, Twenty20 might alter England players’ contractual arrangements.

“I can see people turning down (England) central contracts and, in effect, going freelance to play where the best money is on offer at any one time,” Hussain explained.

“Pietersen knows England would always want him to play for them so, in theory, he could make himself available on a match- by-match basis.”

Hussain added: “There are concerns about the first-class game but I remain convinced that Test cricket will continue to prosper, at least in this country, and be treated as the pinnacle.”

The inaugural Champions League will feature eight leading domestic sides from Australia, England, India and South Africa playing a series of 15 Twenty20 matches in either India or the Middle East sometime in late September and early October.

Western Australia and Victoria have already qualified to represent Australia.

They will be joined by South Africa’s Titans, from Pretoria, and KwaZulu Natal Dolphins as well as India’s Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals.

England’s representatives will be the finalists in the

Twenty20 Cup, which takes place at Hampshire’s Rose Bowl ground on July 20.

Standard Chartered Bank clinch Banker’s Cricket Tournament title

Sports Reporter

Standard Chartered Bank emerged champions of the first-ever Banker’s Cricket League beating Eastern Bank limited by three wickets in the final match held at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium recently.

The rain-interrupted final saw two days of action since play was suspended on Friday after EBL had batted first and were bowled out for 120 in 30.2 overs. Raisul Amin Bobby, Captain of SCB took 3 wickets for 12 runs. On Saturday, Standard Chartered reached the target in 31.5 overs, losing seven wickets. A responsible innings of 60 from Shazzadul Karim (Chayon), helped SCB to victory and secure the man-of-the-match award.

Mr. Osman Morad, CEO, Mr. Naser Ejaz Bijoy, Country Chief Risk Officer of Standard Chartered Bank, Mr. Ali Reza Iftekhar, Managing Director, Mr. Mokhlesur Rahman, Deputy Managing Director of EBL, and Mr. Arman Islam, Chairman of the Organizing Committee, were present at the prize-giving ceremony amongst others.

FIFA bans Australia’s Vukovic from Olympics

AFP, Sydney

World football governing body FIFA has stepped in to prevent goalkeeper Danny Vukovic from playing at the Olympics after he hit a referee, Football Federation Australia (FFA) said Tuesday.

Vukovic was initially suspended for nine months for striking the referee in the A-League grand final in February before an independent FFA panel reduced the ban in April, allowing him to play in Beijing in August.

But FIFA on Tuesday reinstated the original punishment, saying to do otherwise would be “contrary to the spirit” of its regulations, FFA said in a statement.

FFA said it would not appeal the decision, although the player can launch a personal appeal if he wants.

Vukovic, playing for Central Coast Mariners, was red-carded for hitting referee Mark Shield in a stormy A-League grand final against Newcastle. He played in all of Australia’s 14 Olympic qualifying matches before the suspension.

World champions facing fight for survival

AFP, Berne

Italy coach Roberto Donadoni insisted the world champions can win their battle for Euro 2008 survival despite a traumatic demolition by Holland in their opening match.

The Italians, who badly missed the steadying influence of injured captain Fabio Cannavaro, have been left with their backs to the wall in group C as a result of Monday night’s 3-0 defeat.

But the encounter was not without encouraging elements for Donadoni and, but for the brilliance of Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, the evening could easily have had a different complexion.

“Holland played as well as we expected them to,” Donadoni said. “We knew they were a team that could give us problems and they did.

“We made mistakes and we paid for them. Now we have to absorb the lessons and look forward.

“The next game, against Romania, is going to be crucial. We just have to forget about this defeat and move on. The game started badly for us and ended up worse but it is already history.”

Donadoni dismissed a suggestion that complacency could have contributed to his side’s downfall.

“I don’t think there was any complacency. Winning the World Cup is not a sufficient goal for us and we have been working very hard and professionally in preparing for this tournament for the last two years.

“The result was not good, obviously, and we are not happy about it but we are going to work to ensure we react to it and improve.

“I trust my boys and we carry on in the knowledge that the next game is even more important.”

The significance of Italy’s defeat was reduced by the fact that France and Romania drew their opening match 0-0. “In light of our result, we are quite happy that France and Romania drew,” Donadoni admitted. “It goes to our advantage. But it also shows Romania are a difficult team. It is going to be a tough game for us and getting a win is going to be really important.”