The Czech Republic breathed a sigh of relief on Monday night after an injury sustained by striker Jan Koller in their 3-0 Group E win over the US did not prove as bad as first feared.
"I can confirm that after tests at the hospital, there is no deformity in the hamstring," a team spokesman said. "We will see [how he reacts] tomorrow. We thought at first it was a serious injury. We don't think that any more."
It had been originally thought that Koller, who scored the first goal, had badly injured his thigh.
PHOTO: AP
The 33-year-old was stretchered off in the 43rd minute after being hurt in a race for the ball with a US defender.
Koller, his country's all-time record scorer, has only recently returned after suffering a bad knee injury in September.
Francesco Totti said before Italy's opener that he would have to take a big hit on his surgically repaired left leg "sooner or later."
PHOTO: EPA
The blow came 55 minutes into Monday's 2-0 win over Ghana, when Totti stuck out his leg for a tackle on John Painstil.
Totti writhed in pain until team physician Enrico Castellacci helped him up and coach Marcello Lippi immediately replaced him.
Totti said his leg weathered the blow, though.
"I'm OK, it's only a bruise under the knee. I was scared because I was in a lot of pain," he said.
Totti broke his leg nearly four months ago and had played only one entire match since -- a 1-1 draw with Switzerland on May 31.
Serbia and Montenegro's defender Nemanja Vidic was injured in training on Monday, and is in doubt for the match against Argentina, team officials said.
Vidic, of Manchester United, injured his left knee when he slid on grass during a training session as he was reaching for a ball. His left knee was bandaged with ice as he left the pitch in pain.
Team doctors said they would have to make further checks to determine the extent of the injury.
Vidic was expected to play against Argentina on Friday after missing Serbia and Montenegro's 1-0 loss against the Netherlands on Sunday. He sat out that game because of a one-match ban.
Paraguay keeper Justo Villar is out of the rest of the World Cup, according to the team doctor Osvaldo Pangrazio.
The keeper suffered bad bruising against England and will need four weeks' rest, according to the South Americans' medical team.
Villar came off after just seven minutes of Paraguay's opening game with England and has a "10cm bruise on his leg," according to Pangrazio.
Paraguay will also be without defender Delio Toledo in the must-win clash with Sweden tomorrow. Toledo has not recovered from a muscle strain picked up against England that forced him off ten minutes before the end of their 1-0 defeat.
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Roger Federer on Wednesday said that staying involved with tennis in retirement helped him avoid feeling “like an alien” ahead of this week’s Laver Cup in Berlin. Federer, who helped create the tournament, retired at the Laver Cup in London two years ago and has since stayed involved with the competition as an ambassador. “I’m happy I went back right away to some tournaments,” the 43-year-old told reporters. “I feel I ripped the Band-Aid off quite quickly and when I walk around the tennis sites I still feel I belong there,” he said. “I don’t feel like an alien, which is a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two