motorbike ending his title defence and sidelining him for four months following
shoulder surgery
he will be hard to beat on sunday rogers said we ll be very motivated for
the bunch sprint and he clearly moving much faster than anyone else in the
last metres of the race
armstrong is the biggest name in strong field including tour de france
winner oscar pereiro and evans who has twice finished second in cycling
biggest race
tour of spain champion valverde another major star is fighting two year
doping ban in italy as well as attempts to extend it worldwide
football ghana protest raises temperature ahead of angola clash
luanda jan afp
hosts angola and ghana meet here on sunday in what promises to be an electric
africa cup of nations quarter final played out in front of the competition
hosts fan base at the november stadium
the build up has been dominated by claims from the ghana football association of
intimidatory tactics by angolan security forces designed they say to
destabilise the team
ghana fan and journalist have both been subjected to assaults by angolan
police in luanda this week but gfa spokesman randy abbey insisted ghana would
not be distracted from sunday quarter final
psychologically this will not affect the team abbey said
that is why the leaders of the team have decided to take up this pressure and
stress and allow the players to relax and focus on the match itself
if it new form of tactics then they better think of breaking our legs as
well he added
world cup qualifiers ghana made it through to the last eight as group runners
up after loss to ivory coast and win over burkina faso
angola ensured their cup party continued with an opening draw to mali
win over malawi and contentious goalless draw with algeria to finish top of
group
ghana who are seeking to end tear title drought go into sunday game
buoyed by the return to fitness of rennes striker asamoah gyan and rosenborg
midfielder anthony annan
coach milovan rajevic has had to rely heavily on his squad younger members
after raft of injuries to key players the latest chelsea star michael
essien training setback in the run up to tuesday final group tie against
burkina faso
annan missed both first round games while gyan had to come off injured against
burkina faso
udinese midfielder kwadwo asamoah is hopeful ghana injury woes are behind
them
hopefully we will have some our colleagues back michael essien is not
returning but the return of others will be pivotal
asamoah said he was not concerned at playing angola in their luanda fortress
we played them before in friendly and know much about them it will
definitely be difficult match he said
when we played against them in the friendly it was the same atmosphere it had
no effect on our play and so will it be this time
in football supporters don count it is the pitch that determines the
winner
one of ghana absentees is influential captain stephen appiah who has urged
the young black stars side to aproach every game as though it were the final
itself
would like to congratulate the black stars for making the quarter finals
despite the immense pressure they were under appiah wrote on his personal
website
they showed character and determination in beating burkina faso and am really
pleased with their reaction after losing to ivory coast it takes lot of
mental strength and they did very well
from here on in it is going to be difficult because every game is final one
strike and you are out so they need to keep believing in themselves and
fighting to the end in every game
have faith in the team and am looking forward to watching them on sunday
angola coach manuel jose is also counting on the return to fitness of some key
personnel not least midfielder dede and joint top scorer with three goals
flavio
looking ahead to sunday defender dias caires commented we re motivated and
ready for ghana it not going to be easy ghana need to be respected but
we re training and thinking only about victory
the black antelopes go into one of the biggest games in their history with
divine backing
gaspar domingos bishop of the united methodist church of angola told angolan
news agency angop angola have to win the title and my prayer each day is that
our players find the force energy and fitness to succeed
the players must be in full physical and spiritual condition to win
tennis federer and serena move up gear
melbourne jan afp
top seeds roger federer and serena williams moved up gear saturday with
straight sets wins as they closed in on more silverware at the australian open
the world premier players have grand slam titles between them and both look
primed to add to their collections
the swiss great made short work of spanish st albert montanes
while williams completed demolition of carla suarez navarro as the
fourth round of the opening grand slam of the season took shape
also staying on track was men third seed novak djokovic sixth seed nikolay
davydenko and ninth seed fernando verdasco
joining williams on the women side of the draw was sister venus seventh seed
victoria azarenka ninth seeded vera zvonareva and th seeded samantha stosur
federer with grand slam titles now faces round of clash against either
lleyton hewitt or marcos baghdatis who play later while williams will take on
stosur
ve come through difficult draw feel physically fine and mentally fresh
but the opponents will get tougher from here said federer
so far it been great obviously you elevate your game gradually as the
opponents get harder so happy the way feel
the imposing and super fit stosur blessed with one of the biggest serves in
women tennis had breakthrough making the semi finals at the french
open and was in top form saturday
she outclassed italy alberta brianti on rod laver arena and is
gunning for another crack at williams who she beat when they last met in
stanford in july
we ve had couple of close matches the last two times we ve played and got
the last one so going to ride with that and go into the match feeling pretty
confident stosur said
williams was also looking forward to the rematch
think she playing great she beat me the last time we played so she has
lot of momentum ton of momentum she said
definitely expect the crowd to root for sam hopefully my mom will cheer for
me should be fine
sister venus set up fourth round clash with italian th seed francesca
schiavone by beating australian casey dellacqua
also pushing through were azarenka who destroyed italy tathiana garbin
and zvonareva winner over argentine gisela dulko
they will play each other for place in the quarters
think did very well today had good game plan and definitely played
to it very well said azarenka
was going for my shots and playing comfortably and confident
chinese hope li na also stayed in the tournament with battling three set win
over off court friend daniela hantuchova
like federer serbian third seed djokovic was also in imposing form as he
destroyed uzbekistan denis istomin
djokovic will next play unseeded pole lukasz kubot who was handed free ride
when russian th seed mikhail youzhny withdrew with wrist injury
russian sixth seed davydenko stayed on the boil with hammering
of argentina juan monaco and now faces tough match against ninth seeded
fernando verdasco
the spaniard booked his place in the last when austrian stefan koubek retired
with virus after losing the first set of their match
of course you never want guy to be sick and to feel like this but it also
good as have more rest for an important match in fourth round said verdasco
who made the semis here last year
football rusty ivory coast tackle angry algeria
cabinda angola jan afp
rusty ivory coast face angry algeria at chiazi stadium on sunday with an africa
cup of nations semi finals place at stake
an ivorian elephants squad boasting stars like didier drogba and brothers kolo
and yara toure are fancied to defeat the star less algerian desert foxes in
the second quarter final of the biennial african football showpiece
tradition also tilts toward the west africans who have won four of five matches
at this stage while algeria have lost all three ahead of game that sees two
of the five african qualifiers for the world cup square off
ivory coast also shade previous clashes between the countries winning two
losing one while the clash was drawn in morocco where ivory coast
suffered the agony of being ousted by draw of lots after the first round
but bosnian coach vahid halilhodzic has his concerns ahead of the fixture the
last of four to be staged at new seat stadium in this oil rich northern
enclave where fatal pre tournament ambush led to togo withdrawing
chief among them is rustiness brought about by an eight day gap between beating
ghana to ultimately finish top of group and facing algeria group
runners up to angola
only once before has this occurred and halilhodzic will not be cheered to know
liberia suffered defeat by democratic republic of congo in south africa
and were eliminated
the absence of togo created the schedule gap and halilhodzic admitted to
reporters this could upset plans to return the nations cup back to ivory coast
after an year absence
so many days without playing competitive match that is no good said the
man who took charge after fourth place nations cup finish in ghana
triggered the sacking of german uli stielike
refereeing and the state of the chiazi stadium pitch are other issues that
trouble halilhodzic who fears failure to capture the trophy will lead to his
dismissal before the world cup
really angry about the refereeing it too much he said after cynical
foul by arsenal defender emmanuel eboue brought red card and an automatic one
game ban that rules him out of the algeria fixture
the poor quality of the cabinda turf hampers attacking teams it is really
demanding to play in very hot temperatures and the state of the pitch does not
help my players
algeria coach rabah saadane is not particularly happier either despite achieving
his primary goal of qualifying for the last eight of tournament first staged
years ago in sudan
the five time foxes coach who cuts doleful figure with droopy eyes and
walrus moustache has been angered by negative domestic media coverage and
allegations of fixed draw with angola
feel unappreciated said the coach who sprang the shock of the world
cup qualifiers on the continent by taking algeria to south africa at the expense
of african champions and bitter rivals egypt
saadane admitted telling his players to take it easy as dour defensive duel
with the host nation petered out knowing draw would take them through at the
expense of mali on head to head record
but he angrily rejected the suggestion of malian journalist that the result
had been contrived as algeria reached the quarter finals after scoring just one
goal in minutes and that from defender
the winners face egypt chasing record third consecutive title and seventh
overall or four time champions cameroon in january semi final scheduled
for the central coastal city of benguela
football african nations cup factfile
luanda jan afp
factfile for african nations cup in angola ahead of quarter finals sunday
group
seeding angola mali algeria malawi
luanda unless noted
jan
angola mali
jan
malawi algeria
jan
algeria mali
angola malawi
jan
angola algeria
at cabinda
mali malawi
standings played won drawn lost goals for against points
angola qualified
algeria qualified
mali
malawi
note algeria finished ahead of mali on head to head record
group
seeding ivory coast ghana togo burkina faso
cabinda unless noted
jan
burkina faso ivory coast
jan
ivory coast ghana
jan
at luanda
ghana burkina faso
standings
ivory coast qualified
ghana qualified
burkina faso
note togo withdrew before first fixture after fatal ambush of team in cabinda
group
seeding egypt holders nigeria benin mozambique
benguela unless noted
jan
egypt nigeria
benin mozambique
jan
nigeria benin
egypt mozambique
jan
egypt benin
at lubango
nigeria mozambique
standings
egypt qualified
nigeria qualified
benin
mozambique
group
seeding cameroon tunisia zambia gabon
lubango unless noted
jan
gabon cameroon
tunisia zambia
jan
gabon tunisia
cameroon zambia
jan
cameroon tunisia
at benguela
zambia gabon
standings
zambia qualified
cameroon qualified
gabon
tunisia
note zambia four finished ahead of cameroon three and gabon two on goals
scored in separate mini league between three teams on four points that excluded
results against tunisia
fixtures
times gmt
quarter finals
jan
at luanda
angola ghana
at cabinda
ivory coast algeria
jan
at benguela
egypt cameroon
at lubango
zambia nigeria
note drawn matches go to minutes extra time followed by penalty shoot out if
necessary
semi finals
jan
at luanda
angola or ghana zambia or nigeria
at benguela
ivory coast or algeria egypt or cameroon
third place
jan
at benguela
losing semi finalists
final
jan
at luanda
winning semi finalists
previous champions
egypt
egypt
ethiopia
ghana
ghana
zaire now democratic republic of congo
sudan
congo
zaire
morocco
ghana
nigeria
ghana
cameroon
egypt
cameroon
algeria
ivory coast
nigeria
south africa
egypt
cameroon
cameroon
tunisia
egypt
egypt
football leading africa cup of nations scorers
luanda jan afp
leading africa cup of nations scorers ahead of quarter finals on sunday
flavio amado ang seydou keita mli
emad moteab and mohamed gedo nagy egy mateus manucho alberto ang
samuel eto cmr frederic kanoute mli jacob mulenga zam russell
mwafulirwa maw osaze odemwingie ngr
football africa cup of nations head to head records
luanda jan afp
africa cup of nations head to head records ahead of sunday quarter finals in
angola
at november stadium luanda
angola ghana gmt
first meeting
at chiazi stadium cabinda
algeria ivory coast gmt
ivory coast algeria
algeria ivory coast
algeria ivory coast
ivory coast algeria
tennis venus sees off tenacious dellacqua
melbourne jan afp
venus williams stayed on course for semi final against sister serena when she
beat tenacious australian casey dellacqua in the australian open
third round on saturday
football ghana african nations cup factfile
luanda jan afp
factfile for ghana ahead of african nations cup quarter final against hosts
angola here on sunday
results
group
at cabinda
jan
ivory coast
jan
at luanda
burkina faso
scorers
asamoah gyan andre dede ayew
squad
phelimon maccarthy hearts of oak gk
hans adu sarpei bayer leverkusen ger df
asamoah gyan rennes fra st
ransford osei twente ned st
jonathan mensah granada esp df
anthony annan rosenborg nor md
samuel inkoom basel sui df
michael essien chelsea eng md
opoku agyemang al saad qat md
kwadwo asamoah udinese ita md
moussa narry auxerre fra md
lee addy bechem chelsea df
andre ayew arles avignon fra md
mathew amoah breda ned st
isaac vorsah hoffenheim ger df
daniel adyei liberty professionals gk
ibrahim ayew zamalek egy md
eric addo roda ned df
emmanuel badu udinese ita md
dominic adiyiah ac milan ita st
harrison afful esperance tun df
richard kingson wigan eng gk
haminu draman kuban rus st
note injured essien not replaced when he quit squad after first round
captain
richard kingson
coach
milovan rajevac srb
nickname
black stars
fifa rankings
africa
world
previous appearances
hosts hosts
co hosts hosts
best showing
champions
tournament record
record win
democratic republic of congo
record loss
south africa
football ivory coast african nations cup factfile
cabinda angola jan afp
factfile for ivory coast ahead of african cup of nations quarter final against
algeria here on sunday
results
group
both cabinda
jan
burkina faso
jan
ghana
scorers
gervinho siaka tiene didier drogba
squad
boubacar barry lokeren bel gk
brou angoua kispest honved hun df
arthur boka stuttgart ger df
kolo toure manchester city eng df
didier zokora sevilla esp md
yaya toure barcelona esp md
emerse fae nice fra md
salomon kalou chelsea eng st
cheik tiote twente ned md
kouassi gervinho yao lille fra st
didier drogba chelsea eng st
abdoulaye meite west bromwich albion eng df
jean jacques gosso gosso monaco fra md
bakari kone marseille fra st
aruna dindane portsmouth eng st
aristide zogbo maccabi netanya isr gk
siaka tiene valenciennes fra df
abdulkader keita galatasaray tur st
kouamatien kone arges rom md
guy demel hamburg ger df
emmanuel eboue arsenal eng df
souleman bamba hibernian sco df
vincent de paul angban asec mimosas gk
captain
didier drogba
coach
vahid halilhodzic srb
nickname
elephants
fifa rankings
africa
world
previous appearances
hosts
best showing
champions
tournament record
record win
ethiopia
record losses
ghana egypt
football algeria african nations cup factfile
cabinda angola jan afp
factfile for algeria ahead of african cup of nations quarter final against ivory
coast here on sunday
results
group
all luanda
jan
malawi
jan
mali
jan
angola
scorer
rafik halliche
squad figure indicates shirt number
mohamed ouserir cr belouizdad gk
madjid bougherra rangers sco df
nadir belhadj portsmouth eng df
antar yahia bochum ger df
rafik halliche national madeira por df
yazid mansouri lorient fra md
yassine bezzaz strasbourg fra md
khaled lemmouchia setif md
abdelkader ghezzal sienne ita st
rafik saifi al khor qat md
slimane raho setif df
reda baabouche mouloudia df
karim matmour borussia moenchengladbach ger st
abdelkader laifaoui setif df
karim ziani wolfsburg ger md
faouzi chaouchi entente setif gk
samir zaoui chlef df
hamer bouazza blackpool eng st
hassan yebda portsmouth eng md
mourad meghni lazio ita st
abdelmalik ziaya setif st
djamel abdoun nantes fra md
mohamed zemmamouche mouloudia alger gk
captain
yazid mansouri
coach
