'Nappy factor' will help England win World Cup: Gerrard

Published>Thu, Jun 17 10 12:27 PM

London, Jun 17 (ANI): England skipper Steven Gerrard has said so many of his colleagues have become fathers, and this has forced them to "grow up" and stop partying, giving them a better chance to win the 2010 World Cup.

Gerrard further said that Fabio Capello's team stands a better chance of lifting the trophy because of the "nappy factor".

"Lots of us are dads now, more than four years ago. You could say the lads have been busy. But that's what happens when you are mature as people, you settle down and have children. Congratulations to them lads!

"We are much more mature as a squad and that will help us. Hopefully everyone is happy and that means the team can do well," The Sun quoted Gerrard, as saying.

Ace striker Wayne Rooney, who became a first-time dad in November when son Kai was born, said: "I'm more mature on and off the pitch. I'm settled now and it's good. I spend a lot of time at home with them and that has obviously benefited me."

"When you're home, you get your rest and it is definitely benefiting me," he added.

Several England players have become dads for the first time since the last World Cup in 2006, while some have had second children. John Terry, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Frank Lampard have also had kids.

Team-mates Gareth Barry, Emile Heskey and Jamie Carragher are all dads too. (ANI)

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Capello tells Beckenbauer to respect England team

Published>Thu, Jun 17 10 12:23 PM

London, Jun 17 (ANI): England coach Fabio Capello wants German football legend Franz Beckenbauer to show his team some respect, and also criticized the Jabulani ball as the worst he has ever come across.

Ahead of a possible last-16 meeting between England and Germany, Beckenbauer increased the pressure on The Three Lions by saying that their coach Capello, had taken the team backwards and England had reverted to "kick and rush" tactics during their opening game against the United States.

Unhappy with Beckenbauer's comments, Capello said: "I am surprised by his comments. When you speak about another team you should always respect them. It is easy to speak about a team when you sit in the stand. But you have to see the game live," he told BBC Radio Five Live.

"We didn't play the long ball. We played a lot of passes and had chances to score. For this reason, I don't understand what Beckenbauer said," he said.

Capello is equally unhappy with the controversial Jabulani ball produced by manufacturers specifically for this tournament.

"This is the worst ball that I have seen in my life. It is terrible for the players. It is terrible for the keepers because it is impossible to follow the trajectory. When you try to switch the ball with long passes it is really difficult to understand where it is going to go.

"But the really big problem is that sometimes this ball is impossible to control," The Telegraph quoted him, as saying. (ANI)

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Would be nice to knock Germans out of World Cup: Rooney

Published>Thu, Jun 17 10 12:21 PM

London, Jun 17 (ANI): The war of words between arch-rivals England and Germany intensified ahead of their possible last-16 encounter in the World Cup, with ace striker Wayne Rooney being saying he would love to face Joachim Low's side and knock them out of the World Cup.

Rooney reacted defiantly as the war of words between the two rivals heated up in South Africa.

Asked if he would like to meet the Germans in the last 16, Rooney replied: "Of course. It would be nice to beat them."

Rooney also took a dig at German football legend Franz Beckenbauer, who has accused Fabio Capello's men of being a "kick and rush team".

"We don't listen to him. We know how we play and it's not kick and run," The Sun quoted him, as saying.

Rooney slammed the Germans for being arrogant after beating Australia 4-0. "It's how you finish a tournament and not how you start," he said.

He added: "We'll win our group." (ANI)

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Tiger Woods gets Jr trouble

Published>Thu, Jun 17 10 11:47 AM

Controversy doesn't seem to leave Tiger Woods as a porn star claims that the ace golfer is the father of her son.

The 29-year-old, Devon James today said that Woods, 34, is the father of her son, Austin T James, whose middle name is allegedly after Tiger.

"She was 19 and was attending a Christian school programme where they met. Soon, they started a relationship and she became pregnant. But, she decided not to tell Tiger," a source close to James told the NY Daily News.

James never had a DNA test to prove her claim, the source admitted and further said that "she knows he is the father of her son because he is the only African-American man she dated at that time."

However, James' mother, Sandra Brinling, who has custody of the child described her daughter as a "pathological liar" who knows Austin's real dad, according to Daily News.

"(My daughter is) only out to lie, steal and cheat.

All she is looking for is to get money from (Woods)," said Brinling.

Woods has been in trouble since his extra-marital affairs with dozens of women became public last year. Shocking details of his private life received worldwide attention with several of the golfer's mistresses coming forward to provide information about his infidelity.

The cover-up was busted after his wife Elin found out about his extra-marital affair with, Rachel Uchitel, a New York party planner, which led to an argument and accident on November 27 when Woods crashed his SUV outside his Florida mansion sustaining minor injuries.

The golfer had apologised for his behaviour, spent 45 days in rehab for sex-addiction and has spoken of continuing his treatment.

After the sex scandal broke, Woods took a five month break and then entered the Masters in April.

This is the second time since Woods was busted that a woman has claimed him as dad of her kid. The first one was Theresa Rogers in December who said that she had Woods' baby in 2004 but kept quiet after getting a multi million-dollar deal for her silence.

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Suspended IPL boss Modi to sue ECB chief Giles Clarke

Published>Thu, Jun 17 10 11:23 AM

London, June 17 (ANI): Suspended Indian Premier League chairman Lalit Modi has said that he will sue England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke for libel.

In an e-mail, Clarke had accused Modi of indulging in activities which were "detrimental to Indian cricket, English cricket and world cricket at large."

Clarke also alleged Modi was plotting to form a rebel Twenty20 competition in England and had held talks with some counties.

When contacted by the BBC the ECB declined to comment.

A statement issued on Modi's behalf on Wednesday read: "Lalit Modi has issued proceedings for libel today in the High Court in London against Giles Clarke, the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board.

"Mr Modi complains of defamatory allegations made in an e-mail sent by Mr Clarke on 2 May 2010 to Shashank Manohar, the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and others."

"Mr Modi utterly refutes Giles Clarke's claims and has made this clear in detailed submissions made to the BCCI on 31 May 2010." (ANI)

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Football scores with women, middle-aged, masses

Published>Thu, Jun 17 10 10:53 AM

Those doubting the popularity of football in India, figure this: a total of around 20 million watched the action in the first two days of the FIFA World Cup - 35% more than the number tuning in on these days of the last edition of the championship in 2006.

And while Indian politicians continue to debate 33% reservation for women in parliament, Indian women have already taken a third of the seats in front of the TV - around 7 million watched the matches on June 11 and 12.

The not-so-young are watching: viewership analysis by television audience research company TAM Media Research shows people above the age of 35 made up the largest chunk - 46% - of viewers; those between the ages of 15 and 24 contributed half that: 23%.

Some 3.2 million Indians watched the opening ceremony. As the song and dance gave way to the real thing, cumulative viewership rose to 10.8 million for the first match (South Africa v Mexico); then to 12.5 million for the late night game between Uruguay and France. By the fifth match - England v USA, beginning 11.50 pm IST on June 12 - 20 million had tuned in.

While these figures are still small compared to those for cricket - 17.6 million watched the opening ceremony of IPL 3 in March, and the 59 matches had a cumulative viewership of around 150 million - they are impressive for a country that has never played the World Cup.

There are more surprises. The tournament in South Africa has been the most popular not in football-crazy Kerala or West Bengal, but in Assam. The state recorded a TVR of 5.6, followed by Kerala (4.2), Bengal (4.1), and then, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi and Tamil Nadu. TVRs Football scores with women, middle-aged, masses

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Bangladesh start off well against India

Published Thu, Jun 17 10 09:09 AM

Dambulla, June 16 -- In the 2nd ODI of the Asia Cup being played in Dambulla, Bangladesh, after winning the toss and electing to bat first, have started off quite well, garnering 59 runs for te loss of one wicket in the first 10 overs. Openers Tamim Iqbal and Imranul Kayes gave their team a brilliant start with 35 runs being scored within the first 3 overs, before Tamim was dismissed off the bowling of Praveen Kumar in the 3rd over, after scoring a quickfire 22 from just 12 balls. Earlier in the day, Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and opted to bat at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium. India's big guns have returned to the team following a month-long break and after an embarrassing tri-series in Zimbabwe where the second-string side lost three out of four matches. Teams: India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (C), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar.

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