While Turkey have definitely defied the odds and done so with some skilful and creative football, their passage to the semi-finals of Euro 2008 on the other side of the draw cannot quite be compared to that of fellow underdogs Russia, particularly in light of their quarterfinal win over tournament favourites the Netherlands yesterday evening.
Marco van Basten’s men were without doubt the form team of the tournament, having obliterated world champions Italy 3-0 in their opening game and, as if to prove it wasn’t dumb luck, trounced France 4-1 a matter of days later. Even once the world was wise to their tactics and they fielded a second string against a disciplined Romania side fighting for qualification, they eventually broke them down to emerge 2-0 winners. Their defence has looked shaky - they will always give you a chance - but always looked like taking more of their own.
They were missing the presence of Arjen Robben yesterday, who was enjoying yet another routine injury, and Marco van Basten’s decision to remove one of his central midfielders did not bear the fruit of fortune it did against France, as it only succeeded in allowing Russia to dictate the game. No question, they could have done things better - last night served to underline van Basten’s flaws as a coach and the players’ flaws in certain areas but, above all, Russia’s prodigious dynamism and overall strength as a team.
Russia have been universally recognised as the better side on the night - but this wasn’t such a major shock - as tactically, they looked second only to the Dutch going into the game, and have now without doubt superceded them and look like the most dangerous collective left in the tournament. They may have capitulated on opening day against Spain, but that was without star man Andrei Arshavin, and they were caught by a Spanish side that hit its peak - possibly far too early - and were simply outclassed.

goal.com

Run Rate : 3.21
Last Wicket : Chris Martin c P Collingwood & b J Anderson 0(2) - 232/10, 72.3 Ovs
Previous Overs : . . . . 1 . | . 1 2 . 2 . | W . 4 . W . | 6 1 W
That’s all we’ve got for you. There’re still one T20 and 5 ODIs to go. Do join us for those starting on the 13th.
Michael Vaughan: We’ve got better as the series went on. Full credit to Pietersen and Ambrose. We always knew it was going to swing here. Some of the deliveries that the New Zealand batsmen were exceptional. We’ve still got a long way to go.
Daniel Vettori is New Zealand’s Man of the Series: “We were thoroughly outplayed. The partnership between Pietersen and Ambrose took the game away from u. Unfortunately, our batting didnt stand up to the task. They’ve(his young team) learnt how hard test match cricket is. That’s(ODI cricket) our speciality at the moment. We have to turnaround quickly. We’ve proved for a long time we’re a good one day side and now we have anothe chance.”
Andrew Strauss is England’s Man of the Series:”Its been a really nice three games. It’s(the pitches) done a little bit all the three games, but to be fair to our bowlers, they did very good work. Mainly mentally a bit better, the hundred I got in Napier freed me up a little bit.”

scores.sify.com

We left BBC Television Centre for the green leafy lanes of Norfolk on Saturday. Our destination was Thetford, a typical English market town with a strong Portuguese influence thanks to 50,000 of them that have settled in the area over the last decade.
This is where our problems started. We’ve got three methods of getting to air on Radio 5 Live - one involves a stand up telephone line, one involves logging onto a satellite, and one involves 3G mobile technology. Sadly, we couldn’t make any of them work.
With the start of the Portugal v Turkey game fast approaching, a local Portuguese language newspaper editor packed us on our way to East Dereham, 20 miles up the road. Eureka! We found a connection to the wider world.
The Black Spot Social Club is on an industrial estate and by kick-off was heaving with Portuguese workers from the local meat processing companies, including the beautiful Bernard Matthews.
It was quite a passionate but civilised gathering, too. Lots of children eating dinner with their families whilst watching the Group A game but with plenty of Mediterranean fervour on show as Portugal won 2-0.
Octavio’s karaoke before the game and some traditional dancing afterwards were my own personal highlights of day.
Then the fun and games really started. Our hotel, as we headed back towards London, was supposed to be an hour away, yet it took us two and half. Without Sat Nav we would never have made it down the windy country lanes of Essex.
The journey hit surreal proportions when, in the distance, we could see two light beams high in the night sky. As we were near the coast, I thought they must be from a lighthouse. My producer, Garth, thought air sea rescue. We soon discovered they were coming from an all-night rave!

bbc.co.uk

Florida Supercon (FSC) conjures up an impressive line-up of stars for the 2008 show including celebrities from Harry Potter, Avatar, Thundercats, Jem & the Holograms, Adult Swim, Marvel, DC & more! Florida Supercon is taking over the Hyatt Regency Bonaventure Resort, a location three times larger than last years and will fill every square foot with Supercon fun May 23-25, 2008! The show launches with the opening ceremonies Friday evening May 23 at 4:45pm and continues almost around the clock through Sunday, May 25 at 7:00pm.
Florida Supercon is thrilled to announce the latest guests to be added to the event.
* NATALIA TENA: Best known as “Tonks” in the Harry Potter film series, Florida Supercon will be Natalia’s very first U.S. convention appearance. Natalia made her professional debut in About a Boy (2002), and began acting full time in 2003. She last appeared in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as Nymphadora Tonks, a role she is reprising in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
* CLAYTON HENRY: Superstar Comic Book artist Clayton Henry is known mostly for his work for Marvel Comics. His first known works were providing the art on Nine Rings of Wu-Tang and Area 52, and has since worked on such series as Exiles, Alpha Flight, New X-Men: Helllions, Apocalypse vs. Dracula and currently Uncanny X-Men.
* FRANK brUNNER: Legendary Comic Book artist, animator and painter, Frank Brunner is best known for his work at Marvel Comics in the 70’s on Dr. Strange, Man-Thing, Howard the Duck, Marvel Premiere, Conan and Red Sonja. In addition, Mr. Brunner is an accomplished animator, and was the head of character design for the X-Men Animated Series. His other animation credits include: Johnny Quest, Pirates of Dark Water, Dino-Riders and Skeleton Warriors.
* PAT brODERICK: Legendary Comic Book artist and animator, Pat Broderick is an icon of the 70’s and 80’s comic book industry. Mr. Broderick has been the artist for Batman, Captain Marvel, Firestorm, Captain Atom, Detective Comics, Green Lantern, The Micronauts, Shazam, Alpha Flight and more! In addition to his comic book art, Mr. Broderick’s animation work includes concept design work for the Jimmy Neutron movie.

comicbookresources.com

There’s always been two schools of thought – those who say staying in an every other day kind of rhythm does a team best and those who believe that rest between rounds is the key to long term success. Me personally, I think it depends on the team. Today, the Lakers showed that they’re the kind of team that can not only dispatch a team quickly, but can benefit from it pretty dang well too.
I expected a bit of rough start in the 1st quarter but the Lakers did exactly the opposite, coming out with a focus that wasn’t too much unlike a team with a greater goal in mind. The biggest difference in the Laker game from the outset was the defense of Derek Fisher.
For a guy who’s had some serious trouble keeping up with the speedier guards in the League Derek did a fantastic job of staying in front of Williams. Of course being the guy who mentored Williams as he came into the league doesn’t hurt, but nonetheless, there were few times that Williams out and out beat Derek off the dribble. When Derek did have trouble keeping up with Williams (often on a lateral run) Derek did well in getting around traffic to at least have a presence or a hand in his face afterwards.
Offensively, Derek played like a point guard today. There were few times he settled for the jumper as a first resort which was beyond great to see. There were plenty of times Derek saw a small opening and got the ball moving further into the paint than he has in a long time. The best of these plays came when he worked a great screen and roll / a simple give and go game with Pau. Derek was in top form dishing and moving, bringing Williams with him off the ball allowing Pau quick and plenty of room to operate on Utah’s softening low post defense.

clublakers.com

After a great start from the South African openers, the Indians struck back by taking the wicket of captain Graeme Smith. South Africa’s world record opening pair Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie put on a 132 run partnership before captain Anil Kumble had Graeme Smith caught at short midwicket for 73. Smith brought up his 21st test fifty in just 97 balls. The Indian seamers RP Singh and Sreesanth did not make a very impressive start on a flat placid pitch.
India have gone in with four specialist bowlers in Anil Kumble Harbhajan Singh along with the two pacers. With spin likely to play a key role, Captain Kumble introduced himself as early as in the 11th over and he and Harbhajan came into the attack earlier than expected. It’s likely to be a run fest at Chennai as the pitch is not offering the bowlers much assistance. South Africa won the crucial toss and elect to bat first in the test against India.
Indian Summer African Challenge
It looks to be another battle today, as India look to cement its status as the number two team in the world test rankings, while their opponents South Africa threatens to challenge the domination. The two teams face each other at the Chepauk stadium in Chennai in the first test match in a three test match series in India.
Both teams enter the series high in confidence, after having comprehensive victories against competent teams. The Indian team will take the field against the Proteas after having beaten the world champion Australia in their own backyard. The teams also have a win against South Africa, England and Pakistan in 2006-07 season which would do the test team a whole good of confidence.
As for the Proteas, led by skipper Graeme Smith, the team has been on a roll. They convincingly defeated Pakistan, West Indies and Bangladesh in their recent tours. As they take on India today (March 26), after having dislodged the Aussies from their number 1 spot in the ODI world rankings, the Proteas will look to climb the test rankings as well.

timesnow.tv

Posted to the web 25 March 2008
Africa can learn a lot from Japan in terms of economic, human resource and skills development, says Foreign Affairs Deputy Director-General for Asia and the Middle East Ambassador Jerry Matjila, Tuesday.
Discussing the upcoming three-day Tokyo International Conference on Africa’s Development (TICAD) IV Summit, to be held in Yokohama from 28 May, he said there were many lessons Africa can learn from the Asian powerhouse.
Mr Matjila said during the conference, developed countries should interact with countries like Malaysia, South Korea and Indonesia and learn from them.
"Most of you recall that in the 1960s, a number of African counties were far more developed than many Asia countries.
"But if you look at developments now, they have galloped away from Africa so we need to see what we can learn from Asia - who has far less natural resources than we do - what lessons can we draw for our development models," said Mr Matjila.
The upcoming summit will take place under the theme, "Towards a Vibrant Africa" and will be attended by President Thabo Mbeki.
There will be a focus on three key areas, said the ambassador including the consolidation of peace, human-centred development and poverty reduction through economic growth.
These areas, he said, would also touch on issues including poverty eradication, foreign direct investment, oversee development aid, infrastructure development, the Millennium Development Goals and climate change.
A joint follow-up mechanism will also be created at the summit so progress and agreements can be monitored over the next five years.
India, has invited about 15 African countries including Algeria, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ghana, South Africa, and Uganda among others, to discuss many pertinent issues at the India-Africa Summit.
This five-day event is expected to take place in New Delhi from 4 April.
"All of us are looking at India and agreeing that by 2015, India will be the third or fourth largest economy in the world," said Mr Matjila, adding that it was therefore important to start interacting with this giant.

allafrica.com