Sports in the news

Slowdown in blogging as vacations and work have intervened lately.. :) I have hardly blogged about the two major sporting events going on the last couple weeks that I have closely followed (atleast on the internet, if not on tv) - Wimbledon & the FIFA soccer World Cup... but here are a couple snippets from each of those two events.

The third major sporting event in June-July, the Tour de France, ofcourse started out with quite a stir...with the favorites (Jan Ulrich and Ivan Basso) being suspended by their teams for possible drug infringements. Follow the race here for updates.

First up.. Soccer.

I didn't realize that semi-finalist Portugal's coach is Scolari.. Brazil's erstwhile famous coach from the last world cup.

Luiz Felipe Scolari's Brazil not only managed to lift the first FIFA World Cup™ of the century, but also beat three records in doing so: the first tournament winner to notch up seven straight victories, a captain who played in his third consecutive Final and a striker who was the first to score more than six goals in the final stages since Germany 74.

... until I just now read this...

Golden Ball shortlist revealed
The final candidate comes from Wednesday night’s beaten semi-finalists, Portugal, and this player can lay claim to having scored a couple of the tournament’s most spectacular goals against Mexico and the Netherlands. Maniche’s contribution has extended far beyond those eye-catching strikes, however, with his biting tackles and forceful running in the midfield engine room a key factor in Luiz Felipe Scolari’s team's march to the semi-finals.


And secondly, Wimbledon... I ended up writing a separate long blogpost about tennis at the hallowed courts of Wimbledon.