European giants Italy crashed out of the Olympic men’s soccer tournament 3-2 against 10-man Belgium in a bad-tempered quarter-final upset yesterday.
Italian assistant coach Gianfranco Zola could not inspire his charges to overcome a dogged Belgian outfit, who will play in the semi-final on Tuesday.
Belgium played most of the match with 10 men, but both Italy’s goals came from penalties as their opponents scrapped their way through a match that featured two red cards and three yellow.
PHOTO: AP
As the Belgians harried a flat-footed Italian defense, Lille striker Kevin Mirallas had a chance in the 16th minute but shot wide when he cleared his marker in front of the Italian goal.
The good work almost came undone two minutes later when Belgian defender Thomas Vermaelen was red-carded for dragging Napoli striker Andrea Russotto down in the box as he was shaping to shoot.
Villareal forward Guiseppe Rossi converted the penalty to put the Italians 1-0 up, but they failed to take advantage of their numerical superiority and Belgium continued to attack.
PHOTO: EPA
Their enterprise paid off when they were awarded a controversial goal in the 24th minute when striker Moussa Dembele’s header from a Belgian corner appeared to have been cleared off the line by Atalanta midfielder Luca Cigarini.
Mirallas then gave the Belgians an unlikely lead seconds before halftime when he latched onto Sevilla forward Tom De Mul’s pass and turned to blast the ball past goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano.
Zola looked furious as the Italians trudged off the pitch and the players looked fired up in the second half.
Rossi thought he had Italy back on level terms seven minutes after the break, but was ruled offside.
He then appeared to have a legitimate penalty appeal turned down and was booked for diving when Belgian goalkeeper Logal Bailly’s hand tapped his ankle as the Italian tried to squeeze past and shoot from a tight angle.
Italy resorted to shooting from distance and became increasingly frustrated as the hard-tackling Belgians defended their lead.
Referee Baldassi awarded another penalty on 74 minutes for a foul on Juventus defender Paulo de Ceglie and Rossi slotted home his second spot kick.
Dembele scored the winner in the 79th minute, threading the ball through Genoa defender Salvatore Boncchetti’s legs for his second goal.
Italy laid seige to the Belgian goal for five minutes of injury time, but could not make the breakthrough.
The New Taipei Kings claimed the inaugural Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL) championship on Sunday, defeating the Kaohsiung FamilyMart Aquas 108-89 in the final. Playing at home, the Kings pulled ahead with Jeremy Lin’s (林書豪) clutch three-pointers, securing their victory over the Aquas in the TPBL final. The Kings came out strong in the first quarter, dominating to build a 35-18 lead. By halftime, they had stretched their advantage to 61-38. In the third quarter, the Aquas narrowed the deficit to 12 points, but Lin stepped up, sinking several tough three- pointers to extend the lead. In the final quarter, the Kings pushed the
In an unlikely Ethiopian outpost of one the most French of pastimes, four men are leaning over their petanque balls, arguing over who is winning. Petanque, the bowling game also known as boules, is more readily associated with French village squares where locals launch metal balls at a jack while enjoying an afternoon drink, but for decades, it has also been a beloved pastime for members of a club near the iconic Meskel Square in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. It was founded in the early 20th century to cater to French railway workers, who built a line connecting Addis Ababa
Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Australian teenager Maya Joint on Tuesday eased into the Eastbourne Open quarter-finals in England as Hsieh prepares for the Wimbledon Championships next week. Four-time Wimbledon women’s doubles champion Hsieh and 19-year-old Joint fired two aces and converted five of eight break points to defeat Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Poland’s Katarzyna Piter 6-3, 6-3 in 58 minutes on the grass court. Hsieh and Joint are today to face fourth seeds Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, who advanced on Monday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Quinn Gleason of the US and
BEAT THE HEAT: A brutal heat wave in the US has made cooling breaks standard. Dortmund’s coach said the weather could shape the destiny of the tournament Chelsea on Tuesday beat Esperance of Tunisia 3-0 to set up a FIFA Club World Cup last-16 tie against SL Benfica, who earlier defeated Bayern Munich 1-0, as furnace-link heat and the threat of thunder and lightning wreak havoc at the tournament. Elsewhere, minnows Auckland City claimed a memorable draw against Boca Juniors, while Los Angeles bowed out of the tournament with a stalemate against Flamengo. In Charlotte, Andreas Schjelderup scored the only goal for Benfica in their Group C clash with Bayern in front of 33,287 fans, finishing first-time from a cutback by his fellow Norwegian Fredrik Aursnes in the 13th
RSS