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France have put their slow start to the World Cup on the backburner and have fixed their sights firmly on a second final after outclassing defending champions Brazil. Powered by tireless captain Zinedine Zidane, France recorded a 1-0 win over a lacklustre Brazilian team thanks to a sumptuous 57th-minute Thierry Henry volley.
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Ten-man England were sent crashing out of the World Cup on Saturday, losing a penalty shoot-out to Portugal after a controversy packed quarterfinal battle. Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo scored the decisive spot-kick to hand Portugal a 3-1 shoot-out victory and shatter England’s dream of a first World Cup for 40 years.
German prosecutors are investigating possible kickbacks in a sale of warships to South Africa by a German shipbuilding consortium, a prosecutor confirmed on Saturday. The German news magazine Der Spiegel was to appear on Monday with a report that the ”irregularities” were suspected of occurring in 1999.
As South Africa takes on the responsibility of organising the next World Cup, exuberance — and not necessarily efficiency — appears to be paramount. World soccer governing body Fifa kicks off the journey to the 2010 World Cup at a July 7 ceremony in Berlin. Dubbed Africa’s Calling, it will be attended by South African President Thabo Mbeki. But will South Africa be ready?
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Argentina coach Jose Pekerman announced he was standing down from the post shortly after the penalties loss to Germany in the World Cup quarterfinals on Friday. The 56-year-old former youth-team coach was promoted to the senior national side two years ago, replacing Marcelo Bielsa, who was in charge of Argentina at the last World Cup.
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Luca Toni repaid the faith shown in him by coach Marcello Lippi by scoring twice in Italy’s 3-0 win over Ukraine in the World Cup quarterfinals on Friday. The victory sealed a place in the last four of the tournament, where they will meet hosts Germany, a repeat of the 1982 final. Italy won that match 3-1 and were crowned world champions for a third time.
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Goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was the toast of Germany as the hosts progressed into the semifinals of the World Cup with a sensational 4-2 penalty shootout win over Argentina on Friday. With the game unsettled at 1-1 after extra-time, Arsenal goalkeeper Lehmann stepped up to save spot-kicks from Roberto Ayala and Esteban Cambiasso to ensure celebration parties across Germany.
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Football legend Diego Maradona has hailed Wayne ”Roonino” Rooney as one of the best players in the world, comparing the England star to himself. The former Barcelona and Napoli star, who captained Argentina to World Cup victory in 1986, said Rooney was ”phenomenal” and one of the hottest talents around.
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Classic match-ups steeped in history and involving teams that have won 15 out of the 17 World Cups contested feature in Friday and Saturday’s spectacular World Cup quarterfinals. It’s a long way from four years ago in East Asia when South Korea, Turkey, the United States and Senegal all gave the last eight line-up an unconventional look.
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It does not come much bigger than Germany vs Argentina — a match-up steeped in World Cup history that will bring the host country to a standstill on Friday. The quarterfinal clash in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium will evoke memories of 1986 and 1990, when West Germany and Argentina faced each other in successive World Cup finals.
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Ghana’s World Cup dreams were shattered by reigning champions Brazil, but the Black Stars played well against some top football teams and served notice of what might happen on African soil in 2010. A three-week Cinderella run ended on Tuesday in a 3-0 second-round loss to Brazil.
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Traditional soccer powers from Europe and South America are back on top and the rest of the world has fallen short. Four years ago, half of the quarterfinalists at the World Cup were from nations with no history of major soccer success. Turkey, South Korea, Senegal and the United States gave the tournament a truly global look and two of them made it to the semifinals.
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Brazil striker Ronaldo became the all-time World Cup scoring leader with 15 career goals, helping the defending champions defeat Ghana 3-0 on Tuesday to capture a berth in the World Cup quarterfinals. Ronaldo scored the historic goal with a spectacular solo effort in the fifth minute.
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World Cup organiser Franz Beckenbauer on Tuesday added his voice to the criticism of refereeing at the tournament, saying match officials were failing to keep a grip on matches. ”They haven’t got the situation 100% under control,” said Beckenbauer, who won the World Cup as a player and a coach.
<a href="http://www.mg.co.za/specialreport.aspx?area=soccer_world_cup_2006"><img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/272488/icon_focuson_wc3.gif" align=left border=0></a>Who is going to be the man in the middle when the eyes of the globe are on the World Cup final on July 9? A handful of the leading candidates appear to have ruled themselves out with blunders, blowing the field open. The referees’ committee is due to meet on Wednesday to decide who will officiate during the quarterfinals.
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Luis Figo is no saint, as he proved against The Netherlands, and he plans to make David Beckham’s life hell when Portugal tackle England in Saturday’s quarterfinals. Figo was given the all-clear to play after Fifa ruled out further action for a headbutt on Holland’s Mark van Bommel in the second round match which saw 16 players booked and two from each side sent off.
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Francesco Totti scored from the penalty spot in injury time to lead Italy to a 1-0 win over Australia and into the quarterfinals of the World Cup. Italy striker Luca Toni nearly scored four times before the Italians were reduced to 10 men in the 51st minute when Marco Materazzi was sent off for bringing down Marco Bresciano just outside the area.
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Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari shrugged off the chaos that marred Portugal’s 1-0 win over The Netherlands, officially the dirtiest match in World Cup history with an accumulated 20 yellow and red cards. The Brazilian said while Deco should not have been one of the four players sent off, similar scenes were relatively common in South America.
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David Beckham hit back at his critics with a trademark freekick against Ecuador that took England into the World Cup quarterfinals, and he was revelling in his moment of glory. The England captain curled his shot past Cristian Mora in the 60th minute to hand his side a 1-0 win and a showdown with Portugal.
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British and German police were aided by heavy rain that had most fans running for cover after a weekend that saw hundreds of arrests. Fears that the fan violence that gripped Stuttgart on Saturday would be repeated on Sunday were erased by England’s 1-0 win against Ecuador and the driving rain.
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African rivals have shown their support for Ghana’s World Cup squad, with visits from star players and letters of support encouraging the Black Stars ahead of a second-round match with mighty Brazil. ”The other African teams were eliminated. Now we represent Ghana and Africa,” said captain Stephen Appiah.
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David Beckham scored with a free kick in the 60th minute on Sunday to lead England to a 1-0 win over Ecuador and a spot in the quarterfinals of the World Cup. Beckham sent in a curling free kick from about 25m that beat diving goalkeeper Christian Mora.
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. That’s doubly true when it comes to protecting computers that are connected to the internet. Anyone who thinks that a virtual firewall is enough to protect a PC from the dangers of the internet — such as hacker attacks and unwanted contact with damaging programs — is making a mistake.
Computers sometimes need a little tender loving care, particularly in summer. Warm weather can make processors sweat, especially if the inside of your computer case has become a habitat for dust bunnies. If a desktop PC runs all day long and the casing sits on a dusty corner of the carpet, it’s likely to quickly become a dust trap.
Laptops aren’t great for note-taking. But who wants to write everything down and then decipher their scribbles before typing it all into their computer? Enter Tablet PCs, possibly the perfect solution to this problem. Users can input handwritten notes directly and many models even have a record audio option.
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A superb goal eight minutes into extra time by Maxi Rodriguez sealed Argentina’s 2-1 win over Mexico in Leipzig, Germany, on Saturday and a mouthwatering clash with Germany in the World Cup quarterfinals next Friday. Regulation time had finished 1-1 after two goals in an action-packed first quarter of the game.
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Germany are starting to get that championship look. It took the hosts a mere 12 minutes to break down Sweden 2-0 on Saturday, becoming the first team to reach the World Cup quarterfinals. It was a one-sided win over what was billed as one of the top European teams heading into the tournament.
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For a team nicknamed the Black Stars, Ghana have certainly produced the brightest note for Africa at the World Cup finals. The debutants have finally confirmed the talent that has been seen in many of their youth teams down the years but never been replicated on the world stage.
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Switzerland and France rounded off the last 16 in the World Cup finals in Germany on Friday as they recorded 2-0 victories over South Korea and Togo respectively. The Swiss will play Ukraine, while the French face a tough battle with in-form Spain for a place in the last eight.
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A dubious penalty won and taken by Andriy Shevchenko was enough to see Ukraine through to the next round of the World Cup at their first attempt as they beat 10-man Tunisia 1-0 on Friday. In Group H’s other match, Spain, who also go through to the next round, defeated Saudi Arabia 1-0.
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Stephen Appiah scored a penalty kick in the second minute of first-half injury time on Thursday to give Ghana a 2-1 World Cup victory over the United States, advancing the Africans to the second round. Ghana, World Cup debutantes, also eliminated the Americans, who needed a victory and an Italy triumph over the Czech Republic in the other Group E match.
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Italy moved into the last 16 of the World Cup and sent the Czech Republic home after defeating their Group E rivals 2-0 on Thursday. Marco Materazzi put Italy in front with a towering first-half header before fellow substitute Filippo Inzaghi finished a breakaway attack in the 87th minute to ensure the Azzurri finished top of the group.