Andrea Pirlos sumptuous free kick earned Juventus a place in the Europa League quarterfinals, where the competition favourites were joined in an attractive lineup by Sevilla after its penalty-shootout win over fierce Spanish rival Real Betis on Thursday. Portuguese sides Benfica and Porto also advanced to the last eight while Basel overcame an early red card to win 2-1 at Salzburg and progress from a last-16 second leg that was briefly suspended because of crowd trouble. Lyon, Valencia and AZ Alkmaar will also be in Fridays draw in Nyon, Switzerland, where the team to avoid will be Juventus -- even though the Italian champions made heavy work of their all-Italian last-16 match against Fiorentina. Having drawn 1-1 at home in the first leg, Juve was staring at elimination on the away-goals rule until Fiorentina defender Gonzalo Rodriguez was dismissed in the 69th minute for a second booking. From the resulting free kick at the edge of the area, Pirlo stepped up and whipped a brilliant strike into the top corner to seal a 1-0 win. The classy Italy midfielder shows no sign of decline at the age of 34 -- he scored a similarly sublime free kick for his team in a last-gasp league win over Genoa on Sunday, which kept Juve 14 points clear in Serie A and on course to defend its title. Juventus will be hosting the Europa League final on May 14 and the runaway Italian league leader may yet be playing in the showpiece match in front of its own fans. Sevilla overturned a 2-0 first-leg deficit courtesy of goals by Jose Antonio Reyes and Carlos Bacca, earning a 2-0 win that sent the match to penalties. Sevillas first spot kick by Vitolo was saved but Alfred NDiaye and Nono failed to find the target with Betis last two attempts, putting the two-time winners through 4-3 on penalties. Benfica remained on course for a return to the final after surviving a late fightback by Tottenham to draw 2-2 in their second leg and advance 5-3 on aggregate. Two goals in less than two minutes by Nacer Chadli put Spurs 2-1 ahead on the night and gave them 11 minutes to score another, which would have forced extra time. The English team missed a number of chances before conceding a penalty deep into injury time, converted by Lima. There was no repeat of the touchline spat between rival coaches Jorge Jesus and Tim Sherwood form the first leg -- Sherwood opted to sit in the stands and stay out of trouble. Portos 1-0 lead from its first leg against Napoli was wiped out by Goran Pandevs deft finish in the 21st minute. The Italian side dominated but was picked off on counterattacks through goals by Nabil Ghilas in the 69th and Ricardo Quaresma in the 76th. Quaresma, the mercurial playmaker, finished off a flowing move by jinking between two defenders and slamming a shot high into the net for the goal of the evening. Duvan Zapatas consolation goal earned Napoli a 2-2 draw but it exited 3-2 on aggregate, denying coach Rafael Benitez the opportunity to retain the title he won when in interim charge of Chelsea last season. Players were taken off the pitch by the referee for about 10 minutes midway through the first half of Salzburg-Basel after missiles, including fireworks, were thrown onto the field of play by Basel fans. The score was 1-0 to Salzburg at the time after Jonatan Sorianos competition-high eighth goal in the Europa League, while Basel was down to 10 men after Marek Suchys straight red in the ninth minute. However, Marco Streller and Gaston Sauro scored headed goals in the second half for the Swiss team and Salzburg also ended the match with 10 men after Alan received a second yellow card for trying a bicycle kick and hitting Basel defender Philipp Degen in the face. Lyon lost 2-1 at Viktoria Plzen but advanced 5-3 on aggregate, Valencia beat Ludogorets Razgrad 1-0 thanks to Paco Alcacers 59th-minute goal and advanced 4-0 on aggregate. AZ Alkmaar drew 0-0 at Anzhi Makhachkala for a 1-0 aggregate victory. Adidas Neo Lite Racer Norge . MacLean clocked 8:24.91 seconds, eclipsing the previous mark of 8:27.59 set by Brittany Reimer of Victoria at the 2005 FINA World Championships in Montreal. MacLean and Tabitha Baumann of Ottawa -- second in 8:32.37 -- both went under the qualifying standard to be nominated to the Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific teams. Sko Nmd Norge . Sources tell TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun the international tournament will likely return in September 2016 rather than 2015. http://www.nmdnorgesalg.com/tubular-sko-norge.html . Marek Hamsik, who had earlier missed a penalty, headed Napoli in front in the 23rd minute and Pandev added a second goal five minutes from halftime. Alessandro Matri got Juventus back into the game just after the break but Pandev was on hand to score again in the 68th. Billig Nmd Sko . -- Kole Calhoun homered and drove in three runs, Albert Pujols also went deep and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Chicago White Sox 8-4 Friday night. Nmd Sko Udsalg .C. - Steve Clifford isnt exactly singing his teams praises after the Bobcats won for the sixth time in seven games.NEW YORK -- The latest high-priced addition to the New York Yankees stood on the dais in front of a large news conference, put on his pinstriped jersey with No. 19 and smiled. "Hello. My name is Masahiro Tanaka," he said slowly in English. "Im very happy to be a Yankee." After chartering a Boeing 787 Dreamliner for his trip from Tokyo to New York, the 25-year-old right-hander with the $155 million, seven-year contract was presented Tuesday not in the news conference room downstairs at Yankee Stadium, but in the Legends Suite Club, where the high rollers congregate on game days. Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo concluded the teams latest Pacific overture drew New Yorks most-attended news conference since Hideki Matsui was introduced in January 2003. Managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said obtaining Tanaka was worth the economic pain of exceeding the $189 million luxury tax threshold New York had hoped to stay under. "We needed another starter, and when we do things, we try to do them right," Steinbrenner said. "And this guy, hes tough. Hes got tremendous ability. We all know that. And hes going to be very exciting to watch. And hes going to be great for the team, a great teammate. And $189 (million) or not, we wanted a good quality starter, and we got it." Tanaka charted a Japan Airlines plane, which seats about 200, for the trans-Pacific trip to New York, reportedly costing about $200,000. There were just five passengers on the plane, including his pop star wife Mai Satoda, plus their poodle Haru. The flight, originally scheduled to depart at noon, was delayed many hours by a snowstorm. "There wasnt many choices of planes," he said through a translator when asked about the big jet. And a lengthy commercial trip could have been uncomfortable. "I thought about my conditioning, just wanted to get here in the best condition possible," he said. For his first meal in New York, he ventured outside his room at the Mandarin Oriental hotel overlooking Central Park. "I ate a sushi," he said, "which I bought at a grocery store nearby." New York, which also added Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran during the off-season, figures to have a big following in Japan this year. Tanaka joins pitcher Hiroki Kuroda and outfielder Ichiro Suzuki on the roster, and reliever Yoshinori Tateyama will be at spring training with a minor league contract. "This would make the Boss proud," general manager Brian Cashman said in a reference to late owner George Steinbrenner. "The YYankees obviously are about always trying to acquire the best talent and a collection of talent that can compete for a championship, but he also liked a lot of attention, and this certainly represents a lot of attention.dddddddddddd So this is Yankee big. This is Steinbrenner big." Tanaka was 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA last year, leading the Rakuten Golden Eagles to the Japan Series title. That left him with a 99-35 record and a 2.30 ERA in Japan, where he had 53 complete games in 172 starts. New York had one of the most successful Japanese players in the major leagues with outfielder Hideki Matsui, the 2009 World Series MVP. And the Yankees experienced costly flops with pitchers Hideki Irabu and Kei Igawa. Manager Joe Girardi was behind the plate for Irabus debut in 1997. "They feel a little bit more weight of representing their country than maybe players that are here on an everyday basis, because they kind of pave the way for the next guy and then the next guy," he said. Girardis advice: "Dont feel like you have to live up to the contract." On a tour of the U.S. with a Japanese high school all-star team in 2006, Tanaka met Matsui when one of the young pitchers games was rained out. During the off-season, he spoke briefly by telephone with Matsui about his pending decision. New York appealed to Tanakas desire to pitch on the biggest stage. "This is where you need to be. A great star. The biggest franchise. The biggest brand. The biggest city," Yankees President Randy Levine remembered saying during the teams pitch session with the player on Jan. 8 in Beverly Hills, Calif. "He said some other teams he had met with wanted him to transition in, and he didnt like that. He wanted to take the ball on Day One, and that told us a lot about him." Tanaka sounded prepared for the Yankees win-or-else mentality. "Ive heard that this place is -- it could be very harsh to you at times," he said. "Just wanted to put myself, though, in this environment and try to see where I can get to with my ability." Cashman is trying to lower expectations, saying Tanaka will slot in as No. 3 in the rotation behind CC Sabathia and Kuroda. "We could be getting more than a three. Maybe its a two. Maybe its even a one at some point," Cashman said. "I think that the adjustments are real, and as excited as we are to have and as much as we need a player of his capabilities, I want to make sure that people understand how difficult this game is over here and that there should be expectations of growing pains." ' ' '
Shoutbox
Legende: [Anführer] • [Stellvertreter] • [Heiler] • [Botschafter] • [Jäger] • [Krieger] • [Spion] • [Mitglied] • [Fremdling]
Besucher
0 Mitglieder und 180 Gäste sind Online Wir begrüßen unser neuestes Mitglied: lucioamu369409 |
Forum Statistiken
Das Forum hat 2597
Themen
und
3950
Beiträge.
Heute waren 0 Mitglieder Online: Besucherrekord: 345 Benutzer (30.11.2024 09:29). |
Einfach ein eigenes Xobor Forum erstellen |