Cesc Fabregas believes justice was done on Sunday when he converted the winning penalty that defeated Italy and put Spain into the Euro 2008 semi-finals.
The 21-year-old Arsenal midfield star stepped up to the spot to take the fifth penalty with Spain leading the shoot-out 3-2, after his teammate Daniel Guiza had missed.
Shutting out the pain of Spain’s 88-year stretch without a win over the Italians and their unfortunate knack of losing at the quarter-final stage, the youngster did not let his country down.
And minutes after burying the ball past Gianluigi Buffon to send Spain into ecstasy and on to Thursday’s last four clash with Russia, the 21-year-old said: “When I walked up to take the penalty the goal looked a lot smaller. It’s the first time I’ve taken one in a shoot-out. It was the winner, but you have to remember the penalties that went in before mine. To score was the main target, I wasn’t thinking about history.”
Fabregas believed the 4-2 win after the game had ended goalless after extra-time was the right result.
“In my opinion, justice has been done,” he said.
He had started on the bench, coming on for Xavi Hernandez in the 60th minute not realizing what a crucial part he was going to play.
The win laid to rest Spain’s reputation of folding when the going gets tough, as they had done when losing penalty shoot-outs in the quarter-final games against Belgium at the 1986 World Cup, against England at Euro 96 and against South Korea at the 2002 World Cup — all on June 22.
“This will give us huge confidence,” Fabregas said. “Now we’ve got Russia. We beat them in the group stages [4-1], but the semi-final will be a completely different game.”
He’s relishing the chance of coming up against Russian playmaker Andrei Arshavin, who was suspended for the Spanish rout.
“It’s going to be very tough and Andrei Arshavin looks a good player, I didn’t know him before these finals,” Fabregas said.
Fabregas, who has taken time to translate his Arsenal form to the international stage, said he had been heartened by the support he had received since he moved to the English Premier League with Arsenal.
“I must say people in England have been great for me, at clubs like Manchester [United] and Tottenham, well maybe not Tottenham [Arsenal’s bitter North London rivals],” he said.
As for whether Spain can at last make up for years of disappointment and finally get their hands on the European title for the first time since 1964, Fabregas said: “We’re one match away from the final, we’ll do our best.”
OFFENSE SHINES: First baseman Pan Chie-kai hit a solo homer in the fifth inning as all 10 batters Taiwan used contributed at least one hit toward their team total of 14 One day after their first shutout loss at the WBSC Premier12, Taiwan yesterday bounced back with a commanding 8-2 victory over the US, keeping their hopes for a spot in tomorrow’s final alive. The win in the Super Round marked Taiwan’s first triumph over the US at a top-tier international baseball tournament since 2003. Their previous win over the US was at the 2003 Baseball World Cup, with only one win in the previous 10 matchups since 1999. Yesterday’s game was tightly contested through the first six innings, with the margin never exceeding two runs. However, the tide turned in the top of
“Please love us. Please cheer us on. We have been working hard. Do not give up on us.” Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien’s heartfelt plea echoed across the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) Premier12 tournament after a historic victory. Rather than boasting, Chen was making an earnest appeal after leading Taiwan to a 4-0 victory over Japan to claim their first major international baseball title at the senior level. Chen’s decisive three-run homer in the fifth inning and his Premier12 leading .632 batting average secured him the Premier12’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) title. He was also named one of the tournament’s outstanding defensive players
WELL-AGED: Although the youngest team in the tournament, Taiwan featured several veteran stars, including Sunday’s home-run hero Chen Chieh-hsien “I will never forget today,” veteran Taiwanese pitcher Chen Kuan-yu said after Taiwan on Sunday night blanked Japan to secure their first ever gold in the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) Premier12 championship. Chen, who at 34 is the oldest member on the team, said Taiwan “made every difficult step to come to today’s victory. I will never forget today.” Taiwan made history when they won their first gold medal of the Premier12 tournament, beating Japan in a 4-0 shutout victory in the final at the Tokyo Dome. It was a jaw-dropping victory for many baseball commentators who went into the game with
Nikola Jokic on Saturday scored 34 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to spark the Denver Nuggets over the Los Angeles Lakers 127-102, continuing their dominance of the NBA rivalry, while Scotty Pippen Jr scored a career-best 30 points to lead the Memphis Grizzlies past the Chicago Bulls, 142-131. The Nuggets won for the 13th time in the past 14 contests against the Lakers, including ousting the Lakers in the playoffs the past two seasons. Serbian star Jokic failed to achieve his sixth consecutive triple-double, managing only eight assists, but his effort was plenty as Michael Porter Jr added 24 points and 11
RSS