The New Nation - Internet Edition

Germany should fear Austria, insists Beckenbauer

AFP, Berlin

Germany football legend Franz Beckenbauer said Friday he was shocked by the Germans' 2-1 Euro 2008 defeat at the hands of Croatia and said Joachim Loew's side should now fear Austria on Monday.

Germany had been one of the pre-tournament favourites, but produced a lacklustre performance in Klagenfurt, Austria, on Thursday against classy Croatia, who now look certain to win Group B at the Germans' expense.

Beckenbauer, who won the World Cup as both a player (1974) and coach (1990), said he could not understand how Germany could beat Poland 2-0 so convincingly last Sunday only to stumble against the Croats.

"I had said after the victory against Poland we did not have to fear anybody, after this defeat I now say it's necessary to fear Austria," Beckenbauer told German tabloid Bild ahead of their final group match in Vienna.

"I find it hard to understand what happened against Croatia.

"How is it possible for the same team that produced such a great performance against Poland four days earlier to slip up so badly?

"Germany appeared lethargic, they made lots of errors and lacked an aggressive edge.

"I have rarely seen two different faces from the same team in just four days."

The Croats were well worth their victory - which came 10 years after the biggest result in their history when they beat the same opponents 3-0 in the World Cup quarter-finals.

And Beckenbauer conceded: "But it should also be noted the Croats made an excellent impression."

Beckenbauer says he sees little point in Germany coach Loew making any changes to his team as Germany now need at least a point against Austria in Vienna on Monday to book their place in the last eight.

BKSP shooter Tripti Dutta earns 2nd gold medal in 22nd National Shooting Championship

UNB, Dhaka

Promising BKSP shooter Tripti Dutta earned her 2nd gold medal in the 22nd National Shooting Championship clinching the top slot in the women's 50-meter three position at the BKSP shooting range on Friday.

Tripti Dutta won the first gold medal in the Women's 10-meter Air Rifles in junior Group on Thursday.

Olympian shooter Sabrina Sultan of Dhaka Rifles Club, who earned two gold medals in the ongoing meet in the Women's 10 meter Air Rifles and .22 Rifles Prone, today managed the event's silver medal.

Sharmin of Dhaka Rifles Club bagged the event's bronze.

In the Women's 10-meter Air Pistol, Anamika Haque Mukta of Ansar and VDP Club won the gold medal, Cynthia Nazneen Tumpa of Dhaka Rifles Club earned silver while Shahida of Narayanganj Rifles Club bagged the bronze.

In the men's 25-meter Standard Pistol, Hafizur Rahman Dollar of Kushtia Rifles Club clinched the gold, Asif Hossain Khan of Gulshan Shooting Club won the silver and Mahbubur Rahman of BKSP earned the bronze.

In the Skeet competition, Nuruddin of Chittagong Rifles Club earned the gold, Altamas Kabir of Dhaka Rifles Club won the silver and Iqbal Islam of Gulshan Shooting Club bagged the silver.

Satkhira champions in Inter-District Volleyball

Sports Reporter

Satkhira District team clinched the title of the Pepsi 13th Inter-District Volleyball Competition when they defeated the runners-up Rajshahi District team by 3-0 sets in the final at the Volleyball Stadium on Friday.

Monir of Satkhira and Rumman of Rajshahi were adjudged jointly the best players of the tournament.

After the final match Vice-President of Bangladesh Olympic Association Mizanur Rahman Manu distributed the prizes among the winners as the chief guest while General Manager of Transcom Beverages Limited Khurshid Irfan Chowdhury was present as the special guest.

Swadhinata KS beat Nawabpur KC 2-0

UNB, Dhaka

Swadhinata KS beat Nawabpur KC by 2-0 goals in the Central Zone match of the Metropolis Pioneer Football League at Basabo Tarun Sangha Club ground on Friday.

Sohag and Arid scored for the winners' in the 59th and 66th minutes respectively.

In a West Zone match at the Outer Stadium, Manik Smriti Sangsad edged past Lalbagh Tarun Sangha by a solitary goal scored by Debashish Kumar in the 62nd minute.

In the North Zone, Rampura KC got walkover against Rampura Football Training School & College at Mohakhali T&T ground.

Du Toit to make history at Games

BBC Online

Swimmer Natalie Du Toit will compete in the Olympic and Paralympic Games after being confirmed in South Africa's team.

No female amputee has competed in the Olympics before, although table tennis player Natalia Partyka, an arm amputee, could compete for Poland in Bejing.

Du Toit qualified for the Olympics by finishing fourth in the 10km open water world championships in Seville in May.

The 24-year-old will race in the open water race in Beijing before contesting six events at the Paralympics.

"We are immensely proud of Natalie," said Moss Mashishi, president of the South African Olympic Committee.

"Natalie is setting history and it is a phenomenal triumph. It is a tremendous achievement by any measure, even though I don't think she recognises yet what she has done in global terms.

"We have absolute confidence that she will do herself and South Africa justice in both events."

Du Toit, who had a left leg amputated after a road accident seven years ago, had said she was surprised to qualify for the Olympic open water event.

"It's been a dream for me since I was six years old to go to the Olympic Games and to finally have that dream realised is something massive for me," she said.

"When I get home it will all sink in, when I start preparing for the Olympics."

Du Toit, who competed in both the able-bodied and disability events at the Commonwealth Games in 2002 and 2006, finished just five minutes behind the leader in the two-hour able-bodied event in Seville.

The 10km swim - often described as "wrestling in water" because of its aggressive tactics - will be making its debut at the Games in August.

Britons Cassandra Patten and Keri-Anne Payne have also qualified for the open water events at the Olympics.

Hockey team leaves for Singapore

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh Hockey team, led by Maksud Alam Habul, left here for Singapore Friday morning to take part in the 3rd Men's AHF Cup Hockey on June 14-22 eyeing for the title of the nine-team meet.

Bangladesh Hockey Federation general secretary Sajed AA Adel informed UNB that the team reached Singapore in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, at the last moment, Hockey Federation announced the name of captain and vice captain for the Singapore-bound hockey team.

Federation President and Air Force Chief Air Marshall SM Ziaur Rahman named Maksud Alam Habul as the captain and Russell Mahmud Jimmy the vice-captain when the team made a courtesy call him on Thursday night.

Bangladesh will play Brunei Darussalam on June 14, Chinese Taipei on June 15, Sinapore on June 18 and Uzbekistan on June 18.

Of the nine teams taking part in the meet, four will qualify for the Asia Cup Hockey.

Bangladesh finished 7th in both the Asian Games Hockey in Doha in 2006 and also in the Asia Cup Hockey in Chennai in 2007 after six top seeded Asian teams -- India, Pakistan, Korea, China, Malaysia and Japan.

Dhaka Bank Limited, who signed a deal with Hockey Federation recently to be the "partner in progress" of Bangladesh Hockey for one year, sponsored the national team's trip to Singapore providing Tk 20 lakh of the estimated cost of Tk 24 lakh.

Bangladesh have been placed in Pool A of the Asia Cup Hockey with hosts Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Uzbekistan and Brunei Darussalam while Pool B team comprises Hong Kong, Sri Lankan, Oman and Thailand.

Bangladesh Squad: Maksud Alam Habul (captan), Russell Mahmud Jimmy (vice captain), Mahbub Ullah Shakil, Mehrab Hossain Kiron, Mamunur Rahman Chayan, Isa Mia, Asaduzzaman Chandan, Moshiur Rahman Biplob, Ferdous Goldar, Shahidullah Titu, Musa Mia, Kh. Hasan Ahmed, Sheikh Mohammad Nannu, Zahidul Islam Rajan, Rimon Kumar Ghosh and Krishna Kumar.

Team Officials: Kamrul Islam Kismat, (manager), Shahidullah Dolon (assist. Manager), Mahbub Harun (coach), Barkat Ullah Chapal (assist. Coach), Mirza Farad Ahmed (judge) and Mahbubul Haq Mitu (umpire).

Greece going from triumph towards tragedy?

AFP, Austria

Four years ago Otto Rehhagel, the German disciplinarian who turned Greece into officially the best team in Europe, could have snapped his fingers and reserved himself a table at the best restaurants in the country.

But the adulation has begun to fade with his team looking anything like title defending material in Tuesday's 2-0 loss to Sweden.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's fantastic strike and Petter Hansson's rather scruffier affair brought the Swedes a win which suggested that this year, Emperor Rehhagel has lost many of his coaching clothes.

The team qualified for this year's event in style - having between-times missed out on the World Cup finals in 2006 - but the lustre had gone altogether against the Swedes and the Greek media slammed Rehhagel's "mingy" and "timid" defensive tactics.

Only full atonement against Russia in Salzburg on Saturday will do for a country who worry that 2004 triumph will give way to tragedy in 2008 with qualification for the quarter-finals looking a big ask.

Both sides need the points with the Russians having slumped to a 4-1 mauling at Spanish hands and further failure will mean this summer's adventure will come to a premature end.

Although the Russians are perhaps even more shell-shocked at the manner of their opening loss the Greeks were trying to circle the wagons and display a resilient attitude in light of severe criticism in the press.

"We lost a match, not the war!" commented experienced defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos.

"It is not fobidden to criticise us, but we have heard some hard things," said another defender Vassilis Torosidis.

Rehhagel came out fighting to do what he does - and the Greeks used to do - best.

Defend their position.

"I did what I thought was best. If we had adopted different tactics we would have shipped five goals in the first half. We were 0-0 at the break," said the man elected Greek of the year in 2004 and was also rewarded with the offer of Greek citizenship.

Rehhagel, who turns 70 this summer, said his players on the night were "not up to the level I had hoped for."

But he added that he had to work with the material at his disposal and "statistically we don't score a lot - our wins are based on rigorous defensive organisation."

Before the Swedish loss he had urged Greece to "love" the team even when it lost, which before he took charge it had plenty experience of doing.

Now Rehhagel and fellow veteran coach Guus Hiddink must await a potential war of attrition as the winner will not necessarily find the three points sufficient to bag a place in the last eight and anything less will be worthless.

Hiddink's side are hampered by the suspension for another game of top star Andrei Arshavin, who will only finally return to face the Swedes on June 18.

Arshavin was banned after kicking out against a rival at the end of the qualifiers, a nervy 1-0 win over Andorra.

The Zenit St Petersburg star would have helped to stem the tide against the Spanish when Hiddink lambasted his side for "naive" defending and his speed and artistry were sorely missed.

"We were caught out on too much naivity and then got punished," was Hiddink's assessment.

Hiddink also has a problem over striker Roman Pavlyuchenko, who has a groin injury and is far from certain to make the line- up which added to the pre-tournament withdrawal of Pavel Pogrebnyak leaves Hiddink struggling for an effective frontline.

Nonetheless, the likelihood that Greece, with their siege mentality, will force the Russians to undergo anything like a second Spanish inquisition is none existent.

If anything, the Greeks are likely to approach their second test with even greater caution.

Polish Prime Minister wanted to kill English referee

AFP, Warsaw

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk admitted on Friday he wanted to kill English referee Howard Webbb after he awarded Austria an injury-time penalty in their Euro 2008 Group B match - though he said he was speaking as a fan and not in his political capacity.

"Today (Friday), I must speak as Prime Minister but last night my conversation was very different: I wanted to kill somebody tYou know very well who, like every other Pole," added Tusk.

Webb's decision - which was called totally unjustified by Poland coach Leo Beenhakker - saw the co-hosts Austria pull off a 1-1 draw which severely dented Polish hopes of making the last eight as they and the Austrians have just a point and both need to beat Croatia, who have already qualified, and Germany on Monday if they are to have any chance.

"Refereeing errors happen, of course, but this was especially galling. It was totally unjust. It wounded us all.

"It would have been better to have lost this match in the first-half, when the Austrians had several good chances.

"A heavy defeat after a normally refereed game is not as bad," added Tusk, who is a keen football supporter and plays it regularly.

West Indies v Australia scoreboard

AFP, Paris

Scoreboard at stumps on the opening day of the third and final Test between West Indies and Australia on Thursday at Kensington Oval:

Australia 1st Innings

P. Jaques c wkpr Ramdin b Taylor 31

S. Katich c Gayle b Edwards 36

R. Ponting lbw b Taylor 18

M. Hussey c Powell b Bravo 12

M. Clarke c wkpr Ramdin b Bravo 0

A. Symonds c Chattergoon b Bravo 52

B. Haddin lbw b Benn 32

B. Casson not out 6

B. Lee not out 7

Extras (lb5, w20, nb7) 32

Total (7 wkts) 226

To bat: M. Johnson, S. Clark

Fall of wickets: 1-46 (Jaques), 2-75 (Ponting), 3-96 (Hussey), 4-96 (Clarke), 5-111 (Katich), 6-198 (Haddin), 7-213 (Symonds)

Bowling: Powell 11-5-43-0; Edwards 11-1-47-1 (nb2, w10);

Taylor 9-1-44-2 (w10); Gayle 7-2-6-0; Bravo 12.4-4-48-3 (nb5); Benn 6-0-33-1

Overs: 56.4

Toss: West Indies.

Case of Pakistan's Asif to be heard June 22

AFP, Karachi

A top Dubai legal officer will begin an inquiry in the Gulf state next week into the drug case against Pakistan paceman Mohammad Asif, an official said Friday.

The attorney general of the emirate, where the 25-year-old paceman was detained June 1 as he was returning home from India after featuring in a cricket event, will conduct the inquiry.

"Our lawyer has confirmed that Asif's case will start on June 22 and no charges have yet been lodged against him," said Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi.

Asif has appeared before Dubai prosecutor, Mohammad Ali Rustan, who was quoted in Gulf media as saying opium was found in the cricketer's possession.

PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf last week said his board will initiate its own inquiry once Asif returns home.

"We have maintained that Asif is innocent until proven guilty and all speculations on the case are unwarranted," Naghmi said.

Asif was banned for one year after testing positive for the steroid nandrolone in October 2006. Fellow paceman Shoaib Akhtar was banned for two years on the same charge.

The bans were lifted on appeal two months later.

Akhtar is appealing a lifetime ban imposed on him in April for repeated disciplinary problems. His case resumes Saturday.

Nadal reaches Queen's semis

BBC Online

Top seed Rafael Nadal reached the semi-finals of the Artois Championships for the first time with a hard-fought win over big-serving Ivo Karlovic.

Neither player could break serve before Nadal took a final set tie-break to win 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-4).

He will go on to face defending champion Andy Roddick, who had a walkover after Andy Murray withdrew.

Novak Djokovic was superb in beating Lleyton Hewitt 6-2 6-2 and next faces Richard Gasquet or David Nalbandian.

Nadal did well to see off 6ft 10in Karlovic, who fired down 35 aces and faced just two break points in three sets.

Indeed, Nadal was even more dominant on serve and did not face a single break point in the entire match.

"It was an amazing match, especially on fast surfaces Karlovic is very, very tough," the Spaniard told BBC Sport.

"Today I think I played very well, especially in the second and third set. I'm very happy to be in my first semi-final at Queen's.

"This is my best result before Wimbledon, my first semi-final and this tournament is very, very important to me.

"Roddick is another big, big server so I will go on court and try my best."

Djokovic had been widely expected to face a serious examination from four-time champion Hewitt but the Serb was totally dominant, winning in one hour 12 minutes.

"It felt good," Djokovic told BBC Sport.

"I didn't play so well and wasn't happy with my first two matches but making the transition from clay to grass takes time and I feel better and better.

"The preparations are great, I'm really happy I came here. I'm getting used to the conditions, the surface, the balls, and hopefully I can continue the run at Wimbledon."