AAO KHELEIN

The opening round of games at the World Cup is almost over and the universal feeling is one of shock and awe. Fans have been served up a marvellous first few days of excitement, controversy and, most amazing of all, goals galore. None of the first 11 matches ended in draws, five were come from behind wins and the number of goals per game has averaged 3.36. Coming four years after the second-lowest scoring World Cup in history, with 2.27, fans can hardly believe it. "I think this has been the best start since at least Italy in 1990," said England fan Ross Letham who watched Argentina-Bosnia at the Fan Fest in Sao Paulo. "The World Cup has been dour and too tactical for years and this has been wide open." The tone was set in the opening match, when the tournament returned to football's spiritual home for the first time since 1950. Brazil recovered to beat Croatia 3-1 in a game that featured an early own goal and a controversial penalty. Le...

Since Friday's shock 5-1 World Cup reverse to Group B rivals Netherlands, Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has been bombarded with advice about personnel changes he needs to make before Wednesday's Chile clash. It remains to be seen whether the genial 63-year-old will make any adjustments following the holders' woeful second-half performance in their opening match in Salvador but he certainly has plenty of talent to call on if he decides tweaks are needed. Although the scale of Friday's thrashing was truly shocking, Del Bosque reacted with much the same calm as when Spain slipped to a 1-0 defeat in their opening game in South Africa four years ago before they went on a six-match winning run that secured their first world title. "We may make two or three changes," Del Bosque said in an interview with Spanish television broadcaster Cuatro on Monday. "If I make changes we are not pointing the finger at anyone," he added. "Non...

The disappointment on the faces of the players themselves even with a 1-0 lead was obvious in the first half after all the pre-tournament talk of Argentina taking the World Cup by storm with their Fab Four attack. Argentina took the lead almost from the off thanks to an own goal provoked by a curling Lionel Messi free kick but far from presaging a rout, it brought Bosnia quickly out of their shell to trouble coach Alejandro Sabella???s five-man defence. Sabella recalled at halftime, however, that despite his 5-3-2 convictions, he had given Argentina their wings in an early qualifier away to Colombia with a more attacking formation that helped his side win the South American group. "The coach changed the system in the second half, it???s more than just a couple of tweaks, 4-3-3 is the way we play, the one we???re used to,??? said midfielder Javier Mascherano. ???I don???t think we played badly in the first half but with one player less up front and one more at t...

Since Friday's shock 5-1 World Cup reverse to Group B rivals Netherlands, Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has been bombarded with advice about personnel changes he needs to make before Wednesday's Chile clash. It remains to be seen whether the genial 63-year-old will make any adjustments following the holders' woeful second-half performance in their opening match in Salvador but he certainly has plenty of talent to call on if he decides tweaks are needed. Although the scale of Friday's thrashing was truly shocking, Del Bosque reacted with much the same calm as when Spain slipped to a 1-0 defeat in their opening game in South Africa four years ago before they went on a six-match winning run that secured their first world title. "We may make two or three changes," Del Bosque said in an interview with Spanish television broadcaster Cuatro on Monday. "If I make changes we are not pointing the finger at anyone," he added. "Non...

Germany lead 1-0 after Thomas Muller scores from the penalty kick. Germany Germany: Neuer, Boateng, Mertesacker, Hummels, Howedes, Lahm, Khedira, Kroos, Ozil, Muller, Gotze. Subs: Zieler, Grosskreutz, Ginter, Schweinsteiger, Schurrle, Podolski, Klose, Draxler, Durm, Mustafi, Kramer, Weidenfeller. Portugal team Portugal: Rui Patricio, Joao Pereira, Pepe, Bruno Alves, Fabio Coentrao, Veloso, Joao Moutinho, Meireles, Nani, Almeida, Ronaldo. Subs: Eduardo, William Carvalho, Vieirinha, Eder, Ricardo Costa, Luis Neto, Rafa, Varela, Andre Almeida, Ruben Amorim, Postiga, Beto. Referee: Milorad Mazic (Serbia) via Sify.com http://ift.tt/1n4EKS4

Germany lead 1-0 after Thomas Muller scores from the penalty kick. Germany Germany: Neuer, Boateng, Mertesacker, Hummels, Howedes, Lahm, Khedira, Kroos, Ozil, Muller, Gotze. Subs: Zieler, Grosskreutz, Ginter, Schweinsteiger, Schurrle, Podolski, Klose, Draxler, Durm, Mustafi, Kramer, Weidenfeller. Portugal team Portugal: Rui Patricio, Joao Pereira, Pepe, Bruno Alves, Fabio Coentrao, Veloso, Joao Moutinho, Meireles, Nani, Almeida, Ronaldo. Subs: Eduardo, William Carvalho, Vieirinha, Eder, Ricardo Costa, Luis Neto, Rafa, Varela, Andre Almeida, Ruben Amorim, Postiga, Beto. Referee: Milorad Mazic (Serbia) via Sify.com http://ift.tt/1n4EKS4

Stirling will become the home of Scottish cricket after an agreement between Cricket Scotland and Stirling council via Cricket news from ESPN Cricinfo.com