Buenos Aires: AS Roma midfielder Erik Lamela has earned a first call-up to Argentina's World Cup qualifying squad with Lionel Messi also picked but in doubt with a hamstring problem. Lamela, named in coach Alejandro Sabella's squad on Thursday, could step in for Messi if he does not recover in time from his injury to face Colombia at home on June 7 and Ecuador away four days later.
The 21-year-old has one cap from a 2011 friendly playing for an Argentina team picked solely from the domestic league when he was still at River Plate. He was also in the full squad for a friendly in Switzerland 15 months ago but did not play. Midfielder Lucas Biglia was recalled to the squad after helping Anderlecht win the Belgian league title, with Velez Sarsfield's Fernando Gago out through injury.
Wigan Athletic striker Franco Di Santo was dropped from the squad that beat Venezuela and drew away to Bolivia, when he was a substitute, in March. Argentina could secure their berth at the 2014 finals in Brazil in these two clashes with the teams directly below them in the South American group. They lead the nine-nation group with 24 points from 12 matches. Ecuador are second with 20 points and Colombia third on 19, both with a game in hand.
The top four at the end of the group phase in October automatically qualify for the finals with the fifth-placed team qualifying for a playoff against an Asian side
08:51 AM, May 24, 2013
Hyderabad: Kris Srikkanth, mentor of the Sunrisers Hyderabad, has termed the franchise's qualifying for the play-off stage of IPL 6 as similar to when India made it to the knock-outs of the 1983 World Cup after entering the tournament as rank underdogs. Hyderabad entered the last match of the league stage needing a win to secure a spot in the final four and did so through a solid fielding performance...
02:48 PM, May 20, 2013
Kolkata: Promising Deepika Kumari was done in by some sheer class of more experienced opponents as she settled for two silver medals, including one with Jayanta Talukdar, to help India finish fourth in the Archery World Cup Stage 1 that concluded in Shanghai Sunday. Pitted against Ok-Hee Yun, a team Olympic champion and individual bronze medallist in Beijing 2008, Deepika took a 4-2 lead but the Korean showed amazing resilience...
05:55 PM, May 19, 2013
Rio de Janeiro: Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff officially opened Brasilia's Mane Garrincha World Cup stadium. Despite controversy surrounding delays and cost overruns, Rousseff said the 71,000-seat venue was now the source of pride among Brazilians, reports Xinhua. "A year ago they said that we wouldn't build our stadiums, that they wouldn't be ready. But now we are seeing that the stadiums have been built and are being opened. I am...
03:00 PM, May 19, 2013
Sao Paulo's World Cup stadium will be ready on time, FIFA said on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after warning the city it could lose the right to stage matches because of delays in building the new arena. Soccer's governing body said it had reached a settlement with stadium owners Corinthians the day after the two parties were involved in a public disagreement. Corinthians president Andres Sanchez said there had...
12:29 PM, May 16, 2013
Australia's Royal Melbourne Golf Club will host this year's edition of the World Cup of Golf, which has been played in China since 2007, the tournament's promoters said on Saturday. Mission Hills Group, which has hosted the tournament five times in China, said the 57th edition would be held in Melbourne in November to ensure it maintained its global status. "Mission Hills recognises the need to maintain the tournament's prestigious...
01:58 PM, May 11, 2013
London: Lionel Messi's life story is set to hit the movie screens in time for the 2014 World Cup. Epic Pictures Group says it is financing and developing a Rocky-style film after buying the rights to dramatize a biography about the Barcelona soccer star. The Beverly Hills-based company says the biopic will chart Messi's rise from a modest background in Argentina and how he "overcame his physical shortcomings to become...
06:48 PM, May 10, 2013
Uruguay forward Luis Suarez has escaped a sanction for allegedly punching an opponent during the World Cup qualifier against Chile, the country's football federation (AUF) said in a statement. Soccer's governing body FIFA opened an investigation after Argentine referee Nestor Pitana missed the incident which happened as Suarez tussled with Gonzalo Jara as they lined up for a corner during Chile's 2-0 win in Santiago. "The matter in question does...
03:40 PM, May 09, 2013
New Delhi: Indian shooters' disappointing show in the ISSF World Cup in Fort Benning, USA continued as all the participants in the 10-metre Air Pistol men's event crashed out in the qualifying round, with Jitu Rai narrowly missing the final cut. Rai finished 11th with a total score of 579 while Amanpreet Singh finished 17th after shooting 576 over six series. Prakash Nanjappa, who had emerged as India's latest success...
11:59 PM, May 07, 2013
New Delhi: World football governing body's vice-president Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein on Monday backed India's bid to host the 2017 FIFA Under-17 World Cup, saying that the country was crucial for the overall development of the game in the continent. "I support India's bid to host the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup. India is an important country in Asia and a crucial one for growth of the game," Al Hussein,...
05:56 PM, May 06, 2013
New Delhi: India's pistol shooters competing in the ISSF World Cup in Fort Benning, USA, will be without the services of coach Sayed Wajid Ali as he has been denied visa to travel for the May 4-13 tournament. The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) said the US embassy is yet to give a reason for denying the government core-group coach visa. "He has been denied visa, though we don't...
03:48 PM, May 06, 2013
Madrid: Spain coach Vicente del Bosque confirmed on Friday that his incredibly successful reign as leader of his country's national side will conclude at the end of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Former Real Madrid coach, Del Bosque is one of the most successful coaches in history, leading Spain to their first ever World Cup in 2010 and then masterminding the defence of the European Championship in 2012, making Spain...
07:28 PM, Apr 26, 2013
Lahore: Pakistan's cricket chief said on Thursday he had offered to host qualifiers for the 2019 World Cup despite a four-year suspension of international cricket in the country over security fears. Pakistan has not staged any top-level cricket since militants attacked the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in March 2009, killing eight people and wounding seven visiting players. Foreign teams have shunned tours to the troubled country over security fears,...
07:51 AM, Apr 19, 2013
Al Ain (UAE): Indian shooters failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the men's trap event in the ISSF Shotgun World Cup after all of them figured outside the top-6, with Mansher Singh finishing 10th in the qualifiers, here on Thursday. After his impressive display on Wednesday, Mansher could manage 24, 24, 23 to add to his first day's scores of 25 25, which gave him a total of 121....
07:42 PM, Apr 18, 2013
Moscow: Standard & Poor's is warning that many of the Russian cities hosting the 2018 World Cup will have trouble finding the money to build soccer stadiums and improve transportation and other infrastructure. Seven of the 11 Russian host cities will have to borrow money or receive much more support from the federal government than is now planned, the US ratings agency said. Unless the Russian government steps up its...
11:46 PM, Apr 17, 2013
Al Ain, UAE: Veteran Mansher Singh led Indian trap shooters' impressive display as he jointly held the top spot after two rounds in the men's trap qualifying event on the first day of the ISSF Shotgun World Cup here on Wednesday. Mansher shot a perfect 25 each in the two rounds with the remaining three to be held on Thursday. He was sharing the top spot with Slovakia's Marian Kovacocy...
07:38 PM, Apr 17, 2013
Brasilia: The stadium where the Confederations Cup is due to kick off in two months will not be officially opened until May 18 because rain has delayed the laying of the pitch, officials in Brazil's capital said on Monday. The Confederations Cup is a dress-rehearsal for the 2014 World Cup. "Without the grass it would be like opening a theatre with no stage," Brasilia's World Cup secretary Claudio Monteiro said....
10:06 AM, Apr 16, 2013
New Delhi: With India in the reckoning for hosting the Under-17 World Cup in 2017, FIFA is learnt to be keen on educating the AIFF officials on the nitty gritty associated with organising big international football events. The United Arab Emirates FA, host of 2013 junior World Cup, recently told the All India Football Federation that it was open to the idea of having some AIFF officials in its organising...
06:44 PM, Apr 15, 2013
Karachi: Veteran allrounder Shahid Afridi said Thursday he is targeting the 2015 World Cup after returning to the Pakistan side, but vowed to quit if he became a burden on the team. The 33-year-old was left out of the squad for the one-day series against India in December before staging a comeback for the tour of South Africa, but his woeful run of form has continued. Afridi's 88 in the...
06:18 PM, Apr 14, 2013
Wellington: Local opposition and the ever ticking clock are conspiring against him but former New Zealand captain Lee Germon remains determined to bring international cricket back to earthquake-ravaged Christchurch in time for the 2015 World Cup. New Zealand's second city has played host to Test cricket since 1930 and one-dayers since 1973 but that proud record was brought to a shuddering halt on February 22, 2011 when the earthquake devastated...
02:43 PM, Apr 11, 2013
