Brazil knocked former champions Cameroon out of the men’s soccer tournament with a 2-0 extra time win in a rough-house quarter-final yesterday.
The Brazilians, yet to win an Olympics soccer gold medal, got the winner in the 101st minute when Betis Sevilla forward Rafael Sobis was sent clear and chipped the keeper to break the deadlock.
Real Madrid’s Marcelo made it safe with a second four minutes later after lead-up work by AC Milan’s Ronaldinho and substitute Thiago Neves.
Cameroon’s task was made more difficult when they were reduced to 10 men when Paris St Germain’s Albert Baning got a second yellow card seven minutes after halftime.
It was a niggly, spiteful quarter-final with a total of 13 yellow cards dished out by Slovenian referee Damir Skomina — eight against Cameroon and five to Brazil.
Brazil have now scored 11 goals in four matches and have yet to concede a goal.
The opening half had few scoring chances but plenty of niggly fouls, with referee Skomina handing out five yellow cards and whistling up 24 fouls.
The best scoring chance came in the 14th minute when Brazilian goalkeeper Renan finger-tipped a long-range drive from striker Gustave Bebbe over the bar.
Ronaldinho was at the heart of the Brazilian attacks and his corners were particularly dangerous.
Cameroon lost their Rennes midfielder Stephane Mbia after 17 minutes with a leg injury and he was replaced by German-based Alain Olle.
Then they went a man down when Baning was sent off in the 52nd minute for his second yellow and a foul on Lucas.
Brazil pressed against the under-manned Cameroonian defense for the remainder of the half, but could not breach them.
Yesterday’s other results:
• Nigeria 2, Ivory Coast 0
• Argentina vs Netherlands still in progress
‘DEVASTATED’: Argentina’s win was a reversal of their 28-24 defeat last week, with Australian forward Fraser McReight adding that ‘we did the same thing last week’ Argentina flyhalf Santiago Carreras punished an undisciplined Australia with 23 points off the tee as the Pumas held on grimly for a 28-26 win in Sydney yesterday to breathe new life into their Rugby Championship campaign. A try-fest beckoned in afternoon sunshine at Sydney Football Stadium, but Argentina needed only one through captain Julian Montoya, with Carreras doing the damage with seven penalties and a conversion in front of a sell-out crowd. A week after letting a 14-point lead slip in a 28-24 defeat to Australia in Townsville, Argentina saw most of a 21-point advantage erased in the final quarter as the
ELEVEN STRIKEOUTS: Blake Snell allowed two singles and two walks against the Rockies as he ended a personal three-game skid with his first win since Aug. 16 Blake Snell on Wednesday struck out a season-high 11 in six innings, while Mookie Betts hit a grand slam in the eighth as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Colorado Rockies 9-0 for their fourth straight win. Helped by their third series sweep of the Rockies this MLB season, the Dodgers increased their National League West lead to three games over the San Diego Padres, who lost 2-1 at home to the Cincinnati Reds. Betts went four for five with five RBIs, capped by his seventh career slam on a 3-0 pitch from reliever Anthony Molina to make it 8-0. Andy Pages and
Captain Vijay Kumar led the way yesterday as the Hsinchu Titans claimed the Taiwan Premier League title at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山), beating PCCT by 27 runs. The weather was a topic again, but not the rain that played a role in previous matches in the often-delayed tournament. Kumar, who made 80 not out from 63 deliveries, and teammate Vishwajit Kumar (58 from 43) rescued the Titans from a precarious state at the end of the power play in the T20 match. The visitors were put in to bat and struggled to 26-3 as PCCT
China’s state-run People’s Daily newspaper on Monday published an essay about Chinese basketball it said was written by LeBron James, but a representative for the NBA star said on Thursday that the article was based on a series of interviews. The paper, better known as the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, had said James authored the essay, “Basketball is a Bridge that Connects Us,” a tribute to Chinese players and fans of the sport written in the first person. “LeBron James Pens an Article in the People’s Daily,” read a post published on the newspaper’s official WeChat account. On Thursday, a representative
RSS