The English season climaxed when Manchester United lifted their 11th FA Cup last weekend but one last act remains with a premier league place up for grabs.
London clubs West Ham United and Crystal Palace play for a lucrative place among the elite in the first division promotion final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff today.
The Hammers, relegated a year ago, are favorites to bounce back into the top flight but defender Christian Dailly is well aware of the thin line between ecstasy and agony.
"It's probably the most exhilarating and satisfying way to get in the premier league, but it's certainly the most disappointing way to go out as well," Dailly said.
"We will do everything we can to make sure that no one connected with West Ham has any fear on Saturday [today]," the Scottish international told his club's official Web site.
Having missed out on the automatic promotion places secured by division one champions Norwich City and runners-up West Bromwich Albion, West Ham qualified for the playoff semifinals in fourth place while Palace scraped in last in sixth.
Palace then shocked third-placed favorites Sunderland with a 4-4 aggregate draw over two legs and victory on penalties, while manager Alan Pardew's West Ham overcame Ipswich Town 2-1 on aggregate.
Both are attacking sides with considerable skill up front but West Ham's defense, which has conceded only three goals in the last eight games, could make the difference.
"I think Steve Lomas coming back in the side has made a difference to us as well, because he does a great job in the middle of that park," Dailly said.
Lomas, who has played only eight games this season after injury problems, will be out to spoil the day for good friend Iain Dowie, his former team mate with both West Ham and Northern Ireland, who as a manager has been the architect of Palace's fine second half of the season since taking charge in December.
Palace went down 3-0 at West Ham in October.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
Former Formosa Dreamers player Ilkan Karaman was killed in a traffic accident in Datca, Turkey, Turkish media reported yesterday. He was 34. The former Turkish national team player was reportedly hit by a car, the driver of which was allegedly drunk, while he was standing on a sidewalk, Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported. Karaman and his friends were on their way to the beach town of Dalaman to go scuba diving when they stopped at a gas station to buy gasoline, it reported. Karaman was hit by the car while waiting on a sidewalk as his friends were buying gasoline, it
ANKLE PROBLEM: Taiwan’s Ye Hong-wei and Lee Chia-hsin had a disappointing end to their tournament after an injury forced them out of their mixed doubles semi-final Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying on Friday was knocked out in the women’s singles quarter-finals at her last Taipei Open. The world No. 3 lost 21-18, 16-21, 22-24 to Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia in a match that stretched 68 minutes at the Taipei Arena. Despite her higher ranking, Tai said she was not too sad about the loss, given her struggle with a lingering knee injury. “Wins and losses are just part of the game. Actually, I think I’m going to lose every single match considering my condition now,” said the five-time champion of the Super 300 event, who has announced plans
RSS