Psych makes history in World Cup slalom-Los Angeles Times

Mikaela Shiffrin completes a race without errors during a World Cup slalom in Austria on Thursday. (Christophe Highly/Getty Images/December 29, 2011)

Mikaela Shiffrin Psych used two strikers and error free for became the youngest female on a podium in slalom World Cup Tamara McKinney from in 1978.

The 16-year-old Shiffrin third final Thursday in Lienz, Austria, behind Marlies Schild winner of Austria Tina Maze and of Slovenia. Schild, one of the idols of Shiffrin, won his fourth straight slalom race this season.

"I learned something from so many runners," said Shiffrin. "By Marlies, getting his 31 victory here. Lindsey from [Vonn], with so many victories in all disciplines. From the whole of the United States team, with all their energy and positive attitude. "

Shiffrin started his eighth World Cup event at no. 40. Ended the opening run in the 12th before posting the fastest time in the final. He finished by 1.30 seconds behind Schild, who lost in the final to 0.24 Shiffrin.

Schild had two flawless runs to finish in a combined 1 minute, 51.42 seconds and beat the maze by 0.79 seconds. Vonn finished 18TH and retained the lead in overall World Cup.

Shiffrin, who became the youngest national champion U.S. slalom last spring, impressed with a second run that included turns extremely near the gates.

Shiffrin made his debut on the World Cup just before his birthday, March 16 starting at two World Cup races in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic. For now, she's just concentrating on slalom and giant, leaving speed events for the road.

Is accompanied by Eileenmother, who also helps high school students with its tasks. Shiffrin lives in an apartment near Soelden, Austria, which is the U.S. team training base in Europe.

Etc.

Former FIFA Vice-President That Jack Warner said that he was awarded World Cup television rights for as little as $ 1 in exchange for Sepp Blatter help to win election to the Presidency of world football's governing body.

Warner, who resigned from FIFA in June amid allegations of corruption, said in a statement that the Organization has awarded the rights to World Cup 1998 in his native Trinidad & Tobago for $ 1 after helped Blatter win a "brutal" campaign to become FIFA President.

A former President of CONCACAF regional body and Caribbean Football Union, Warner also said it was sold the rights for the 2002 World Cup and 2006, having helped Blatter to be re-elected in 2002 and later bought rights to 2010 and 2014.

The allegations are the latest twist to allegations of corruption and infighting that have plagued FIFA in the course of 2011.

Question about claims of Warner, FIFA said in a statement that "we are currently examining the issue."

Once an ally of Blatter, Warner switched his allegiance to the Qatar Mohammed bin Hammam during this year's FIFA presidential election. After being suspended by FIFA in may, Warner had threatened to unleash a "tsunami" of allegations of corruption against the organization.

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The Internal Revenue Service has sued New York Yankees , managing partner Hal Steinbrenner General over what defines an "erroneous" tax refund of more than $ 670,000. The suit was filed Tuesday in Federal Court in Tampa, Florida

The dispute dates back to the year 2001 and involves a tax refund from the IRS paid in 2009. The IRS says that the claim was filed too late and has sued Steinbrenner and his Christina, wife, to recover $ 670, 493.78.

Spokesman Alice McGillion Yankees says representatives of Steinbrenner had not received any previous communications regarding the question from the IRS.

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John Danks Mancini has agreed to a five-year, 65 million dollar contract to stay with the Chicago White Sox. Danks was 8-12, with an average of 4.33-earned last season. He won 15 games in 2010.

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Luke Donald was the overwhelming choice as male player of the year by Assn. Golf Writers of America. Donald, who has won four times worldwide and became the first player to win the money title PGA Tour on the European Tour in the same season, he won 88% of the vote to beat Keegan Bradleyeasily, Webb Simpson Rory McIlroyand.

Yani Tseng received 94% of the vote, as the female player of the year after winning the world 12 times, including two majors.

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Rafael Nadal plans to take off several weeks after Australian Open him to recover from a nagging shoulder injury.

Dreams and history made in Oceania - Fifa.com

For four Polynesian nations, the four-year wait to attempt to turn FIFA World Cup™ dreams into reality played out over just five days at the J.S. Blatter Stadium in Apia, Samoa last week. Ultimately it was Samoa, arguably the pre-tournament favourites, who claimed the only ticket on offer to Round Two of Oceania qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™, although the tournament will also long be remembered for the achievements of American Samoa.

Appropriately enough, the competition was fierce and tightly contested, with a single-goal the biggest margin across any of the six matches, and the other two participants, Cook Islands and Tonga, also highly competitive.

Awaiting Samoa in Round Two next June, which doubles as the OFC Nations Cup, will be Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Tahiti. The other group comprises Fiji, Solomon Islands, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, with the top four advancing to the third and final stage of Oceania qualifying.

Tight margins
None of the quartet had enjoyed significant preparation with each playing only a handful of internationals since South Africa 2010 qualifiers concluded in September 2007. Opening-day results proved crucial in the final wash-up. The tournament opened with American Samoa defeating Tonga 2-1, while the hosts edged out Cook Islands 3-2 with a stoppage time winner. Many observers felt Albert Bell’s late goal on the opening day would go a long way towards deciding the group winner, but American Samoa and Tonga were not about to let their hard work evaporate easily.

Under international coaching debutant Chris Williams, Tonga had prepared almost daily for the last eight months and their famous warrior spirit was on display in the second outing as they held rivals Samoa to a 1-1 draw. However, American Samoa drew with the Cook Islands by the same scoreline earlier in the day, which, combined with the fact that the two Samoan nations were drawn against each other in the final round, meant the end of the road for Tonga.

Samoa went into the final match needing just a draw to qualify by virtue of goals scored. As it turned out, the Samoans dominated goalscoring opportunities, although the best chance of the match fell the way of the underdogs only for Diamond Ott’s late close-range effort to strike the upright and bounce away, taking with it American Samoa’s hopes of a stunning upset. With the visiting side pushing forward for a winner, Silao Malo finished off a counter-attack to confirm Samoa’s passage to Fiji alongside Oceania’s seven highest-ranked nations. The final match of the tournament went the way of Tonga, with their 2-1 victory enough to tip American Samoa out of second on goals scored.

New ground ploughed
A decade is a long time in football, but in the Pacific Islands, where the opportunity for exposure to international football is limited, ground-breaking improvement as achieved by American Samoa last week is noteworthy, if not extraordinary. The fact that American Samoa were in the hunt until virtually the last kick of the final match is testament to not only their coach Thomas Rongen, but also the will to improve no matter how intimidating the odds.

While Samoa came up trumps, it was neighbours American Samoa who will surely look back on these five days in Apia as a turning point in their game. Just over a decade ago, the tiny South Pacific nation of less than 60,000 inhabitants commenced their FIFA World Cup journey in the most ignominious fashion imaginable.

In the unlikely setting of the Australian tourist destination Coffs Harbour, American Samoa kicked off with a 13-0 opening loss against Fiji. Their tournament concluded a week later with four defeats, 57 goals conceded and an unimaginable 31-0 defeat against Australia; a record international scoreline unlikely to be surpassed.

A week ago, American Samoa’s FIFA World Cup history detailed 12 defeats, two goals scored and 129 goals conceded. They had also never won an international match, but that unwanted record was to be turned around in spectacular fashion.

An opening encounter against Tonga saw Ramin Ott, scorer of one of the nation’s two previous FIFA World Cup goals, put his side ahead before the interval. The name, however, that will go down in the history books will be 17-year-old Shalom Luani, whose second-half strike proved to be the winner as Unaloto Feao pulled a goal back. Luani was at it again two days later against Cook Islands, scoring in a 1-1 draw.

After little more than a month in the role, highly experienced former MLS and USA U-20 coach Thomas Rongen has proved himself capable of unlocking American Samoa’s natural potential. "It's actually been very refreshing because it's such a pure form of football," said the Dutch-born Florida resident. "It's amateur football at its best. The game at the highest level can be very cynical but this is just about 23 guys making sacrifices. They’re not getting anything to be here and some are spending time away from their jobs and are losing money because of that.”

American Samoa’s agile goalkeeper Salapu was at the wrong end of that infamous world record scoreline a decade ago and he, more than anyone had demons to exorcise in Apia. “This man changed in 90 minutes from a guy with some serious problems, mental problems, because he is carrying this 31 to nothing with him,” said Rongen of Salapu following the win over Tonga. “The first thing after the game, he looked to me. He was crying, and said ‘I can now tell my children that I'm a winner’ and that is bigger than the game itself, quite frankly.”

Four-goal Suarez makes more history - Fifa.com

 

By scoring once with his left foot and once with his right, with two headed goals sandwiched in between, Luis Suarez used all the weapons in his armoury to crush Chile and dominate the sporting headlines across South America. In inspirational and unstoppable form, the Liverpool striker became the first Uruguayan to score four goals in a single FIFA World Cup™ qualifier and earned a rousing standing ovation from the fans in Montevideo’s Estadio Centenario.

“It makes you want to cry, it fills you with joy when you receive an ovation like the one I got today. Especially for someone like me, who’s felt so much love for Uruguay since I was a child,” said the man of the hour after the match. “The game went like a dream and I tried to enjoy every minute I was on the pitch,” continued the Salto-born star. “My goals? It doesn’t matter who scores them, what matters is the team winning at home and moving up the table.”

Voted the most valuable player at the 2011 Copa America, which Uruguay won, in electric form for his club and included in the shortlist for the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2011, Suarez’s performance on Friday night lived up to every possible expectation. Even shorn of the guile of injured strike-partner Diego Forlan - the adidas Golden Ball winner at South Africa 2010 - Suarez proved more than capable of sinking Chile and giving La Roja goalkeeper Claudio Bravo nightmares.

As well as taking charge of all his side’s set-pieces using his wand-like right foot, Suarez found the net with his left from distance and with a close-range header before the first half was out. Another header and a pinpoint first-time right-foot strike followed in the second period to complete the rout and carve his name into Uruguayan football history.

Staggering statistics
Still only 24 years of age, this product of Nacional de Montevideo’s youth system has already racked up five years' experience in the European game – having shone for Dutch outfits Groningen and Ajax prior to signing for Liverpool in January this year. At senior international level he has now struck 26 times in 52 matches, averaging a goal every other game, and taking him level with the tally of Sebastian ‘El Loco’ Abreu and just six behind Forlan, La Celeste’s all-time top scorer.

“I’d scored four goals in a game once or twice for Ajax, but never for the national team. I’m obviously really proud,” said Suarez, who now leads the South American Zone scorers’ charts in Brazil 2014 qualifying. “This was just the game we wanted, picking up the win that our fans deserved against direct rivals for a World Cup qualifying spot.”

Beaming from ear to ear and with the matchball tucked under his arm, Suarez signed off by saying that “Uruguay showed what they’re all about”, before dedicating his stellar showing “to my wife, who celebrated her birthday yesterday, and to my daughter, who couldn’t come to the game tonight”.

Next up for Uruguay and their on-fire front-runner is 15 November’s friendly away to Italy and, after this display, the 2006 world champions are sure to be very wary indeed.

The History of the World Cup 2010

This lively history of the world's greatest sporting event outside the Olympics is told by veteran soccer journalist and historian Brian Glanville and read by the former Arsenal goalkeeper Bob Wilson. There is a full account of each of the Finals since the first event in 1922 - the goals, the controversies, the rivalries - with the national anthems of each host country setting the scene all the way to the 2006 event in Germany. A spectacular addition is the personal view of one of the great heroes of the game, Sir Bobby Charlton, who speaks eloquently of his passion for the event and the game itself.