Javad Nekounam

PAMPLONA, Spain, Jan. 26--Javad Nekounam, Osasuna’s injured Iranian star, has hailed Spaniard Javier Clemente’s appointment as Iran’s new coach and believes he is the right man for the job.
According to Goal.com, the former Spain boss has been confirmed as the man to lead the National Team through qualifying for the 2010 World Cup--starting against Syria on February 6.
“I am very happy that we have finally appointed a coach, and I hope we can do well with Clemente in the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers“, Nekounam told Iran Sports Press.
“Clemente is a great coach and he has managed teams like Spain and Serbia, and brings a lot of knowledge and experience with him to Iran,“ he added.
The Osasuna star did warn that qualification would not be easy. “Bearing in mind all the events that have taken place recently in Iran, qualification to the final round of World Cup Qualifiers is mixed with doubt and uncertainty, as we have lost valuable time to prepare ourselves. Our recent state of football was catastrophic and I hope we can now move forward once again and achieve the deserving results that everyone expects in the World Cup Qualifiers.
“Our football has nothing but talented players. We never had good facilities for teams’ preparations, we never had long term plans and we never had a top coach guiding our National team in recent memory. In my opinion, any glory we have achieved so far has been achieved thanks to our players,“ said Nekounam.
Iran have been drawn in Group E of qualifiers with Syria, UAE and Kuwait. Some have labeled the group as easy but the former Pas player warned against complacency.
“One cannot predict Iran’s qualification to the next round as of now, since down the road teams such as UAE can challenge us in the first round of World Cup Qualification games. In the first round, we are grouped with three Arab teams and history proves that majority of these teams can cause challenges for Iran.
“UAE does not have spectacular players, but in terms of best facilities and big coaches, they are in a very good shape. On the other hand, we have Iranian players who perform well in European, Asian and Iranian league but due to the lack of facilities and long term planning, our football still lags behind the glories it deserves.“

OMAHA, USA,
Jan. 26-- US swim star Michael Phelps’ quest to capture a record eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics has become a record-smashing attraction five months before he dives in the water here.
According to AFP, USA Swimming announced Friday that a record 106,000 tickets have been sold for the US Olympic Swim Trials on June 29-July 6, eclipsing the total sales from the 2004 Olympic trials with thousands more available.
Phelps, who turns 23 on the second day of the Olympic qualifying meet, won six gold medals and eight medals overall at the 2004 Athens Olympics and hopes to match the record seven gold medals won by Mark Spitz at the 1972 Olympics.
Phelps must qualify for events at Beijing during the eight-day US trials that are being staged inside a temporary pool in a sports arena for the first time.
Phelps will be the main attraction among more than 1,000 US men and women racing for no more than 52 US swim berths at Beijing.

LONDON, Jan. 26--Juventus and Tottenham seemed to have agreed a transfer fee for the transfer of the Portuguese, and the player himself was close to striking an accord, but it has all gone haywire.
Sky Sports News have announced that Tiago will not be making the move to White Hart Lane after the deal fell through at the final minute. It is unclear what the exact problem was, but the Portuguese international may still be able to leave Turin before the end of the transfer window.
Bolton Wanderers and big-spending Manchester City are monitoring the situation, with the Citizens said to be considering an approach for the ex-Lyon man.
Tiago, 27, only arrived in Turin in June, but has failed to establish himself as a regular under Claudio Ranieri. Previously, he served Braga, Benfica, Chelsea and Lyon.
Some media reports claim that Spurs could yet make an improved offer, but with the transfer deadline fast approaching, will have to do so soon. As of now, the player is anyone’s for the taking. All we know for certain is that Juventus are desperate to offload him to generate some funds.

TEHRAN, Jan. 26--Iran’s Naft Freestyle Wrestling Team will participate in Asian Clubs Freestyle Wrestling Championships.
“Naft is to take part in the tournament if Mohammad Reza Yazdani-Khorram, the head of the federation, approves it,“ IRNA quoted Aref Rabti, the federation’s secretary, as saying.
The team will participate in the event as Iran’s wrestling champions. The Asian Clubs Freestyle Wrestling Championship is slated for February 4-7, 2008 in Amman, Jordan.

TEHRAN, Jan. 26--Iranian men’s and women’s national table tennis teams will compete in Group F and L of the 2008 World Team Table Tennis Championships in China.
According to Mehr News Agency, the Men’s team has been drawn against Brazil, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Luxembourg and Ukraine.
The women’s team will play in Group L against Colombia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Norway and Peru.
Noushad Alamian, Afshin Norouzi, Mohammad Reza Akhlaq-Pasand, Neda Shahsavari, Elena Titarenco and Parisa Samadi, are Iran’s representatives in the championships.
The 2008 World Team Table Tennis Championships will be held from February 24 to March 2.
108 men’s and 83 women’s teams have announced their readiness to take part in the tourney.

KAHUKU, USA, January 26--Gil Morgan had two eagles in a four-hole stretch on his way to a 7-under 65 and the first-round lead Friday in the Turtle Bay Championship.
According to AP, Morris Hatalsky capped the round with consecutive birdies and was two strokes behind Morgan in the Champions Tour’s first full-field event of the year.
Four rookies were among the group at 68, including John Cook, seeking his second victory in his fourth start on the 50-and-over circuit. He was joined by fellow rookies Fulton Allem, Bernhard Langer and Phil Blackmar.
Tom Kite, Jim Thorpe and Donnie Hammond also were at 68.
The 61-year-old Morgan, who struggled at last week’s MasterCard Championship, quickly moved up the leaderboard during the middle holes. Starting on No. 8, Morgan went birdie-eagle-par-birdie-eagle to reach 8 under.
Both eagles came on par 5s. He chipped in from 35 feet near the front of the green for the first eagle and sank a 35-foot putt on the other.
Morgan looked at the leaderboard on 16th and noticed he had built a nice cushion and had thoughts of a possible third eagle and reaching 10 under.
He lost a stroke when he was caught between clubs and three-putted the par-4 17th from 30 feet.
The group at 69 included Ben Crenshaw, Dana Quigley, Scott Simpson, John Jacobs, Bobby Wadkins, Mike Reid and Thailand’s Boonchu Ruangkit.
Defending champion Fred Funk, who ran away with a record 11-stroke victory a year ago, opened with a 70, five strokes off the pace.
Funk, who had been dealing with a sinus infection, bogeyed No. 13, his first bogey in 67 holes at Turtle Bay.

Mahamadou Diarra (r), of "the Eagles", Malian national football team fights for the ball with Nigeria Martins Obafemi (l) January 25 in Sekondi during their 2008 African Cup of Nations match.

SEKONDI, Ghana, Jan 26--The future of German coach Berti Vogts will be discussed by the board of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) here Saturday after the Super Eagles failed to beat Mali in a decisive Group B match and now risk a first round elimination from the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations.
“Everyone is disappointed with the performance of the team. Only something of a miracle will now see us qualify for the quarter-finals after we could not beat Mali on Friday,“ a top official told AFP.
Nigeria are third in Group B with a single point from two matches after their goalless draw with fellow west Africans Mali, who need only a draw with a depleted Ivory Coast team Tuesday in Accra to now reach the last eight.
The last time the Super Eagles failed to go past the first round of the Nations Cup was in 1982 after losses to Algeria and Zambia.
Another official disclosed that Vogts, who took charge of the team in March 2007, may have lost favour with two of his most powerful backers and could well be asked to go even though his contract runs till 2010.
Nigeria begin their qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup with a home game against tournament hosts South Africa in May and officials said they had planned to use the Nations Cup to prepare for this quest.

MELBOURNE, Jan. 26--Maria Sharapova’s acceptance speech was as polished as her game at the Australian Open. A year after being on the wrong end of one of the most-lopsided losses in a Grand Slam final, Sharapova wrapped up her third major title with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over fourth-seeded Ana Ivanovic on Saturday.
According to AP, the 20-year-old Russian didn’t drop a set in seven matches at Melbourne Park, including wins over three of the top four ranked players, erasing 12 months worth of painful memories in the wake of her 6-1, 6-2 loss to Serena Williams last year.
After Ivanovic sprayed a forehand wide on match point, Sharapova dropped to her knees and appeared to be fighting back tears as she waved and blew kisses to the crowd.
Then she dropped her racket in her chair before heading to shake hands and exchange high-fives with her father and supporters. She clasped her hands and swayed as she stood, waiting to receive the Daphne Akhurst Trophy, then told the Rod Laver Arena crowd that she’d received a text message from tennis great Billie Jean King telling her that ’Champions take chances and pressure is a privilege.’
“I took mine,“ Sharapova said.
Sharapova, seeded fifth, struggled with a shoulder injury last year and slipped from No. 1 to outside the Top 5.
She rallied to make the final of the season-ending championship, losing in three long sets to top-ranked Justine Henin.
The Russian star said when her coach and hitting partner Michael Joyce’s mother died, it helped her put her cope with the hard times.
Ivanovic is projected to rise to No. 2 in the rankings despite the loss, while Sharapova will remain at No. 5 when the new list is released next week. Sharapova leads their head-to-heads 3-2, avenging a straight-sets loss to the Serbian player in the French Open semifinals last year.
Ivanovic, also 20, is 0-2 in Grand Slam finals after losing the French Open championship match to Henin.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Jan. 26--AFC President Mohamed bin Hammam has reiterated his support for the use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans in proving the age of players in youth group tournaments.
Speaking at the launch of the Sports Radiology course at AFC House bin Hammam recalled past tournaments where overage players were fielded and stated his belief that the appliance of science will play its part in ensuring “honor“ remains at age group level, AFC wrote.
He said, “Some years back teams fielded overage players in the AFC U16 and U17 competitions. Those member associations did not care about the preparation of the team as they only wanted to bring in players that would help them win or at least not lose too badly.
“In sport we have to compete with honor and we must respect ourselves and we will try, with the support of FIFA, to introduce the MRI test to prove the age of players.“
The Sports Radiology course is held as part of the AFC Elite Education Seminar 2008, and got underway on Saturday along with courses for coaching instructors, referee assessors, and futsal referees.

NEW ORLEANS, USA, January 26--Peja Stojakovic hit six 3-pointers and scored 26 points and the New Orleans Hornets won their seventh straight game, 111-92 over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night.
Stojakovic hit five of his 3-pointers during a four-minute span in the third quarter as New Orleans turned a single-point deficit into a 19-point lead, AP reported.
Jannero Pargo, who led the Hornets with 24 points in a victory over Portland two nights earlier, hit a pair of 3s and finished with 14 points. Rasual Butler hit four 3-pointers for all of his 12 points.
David West had 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Tyson Chandler had 11 points and 13 rebounds. Chris Paul added 14 assists for New Orleans (30-12), which had won 15 of 17.
Corey Maggette led Los Angeles with 24 points, while Cuttino Mobley added 20 and Sam Cassell 16. Chris Kaman had 14 rebounds for the Clippers (13-26), who have lost two of three.
The Clippers appeared primed to stage an upset when Maggette opened the second half with a 3-pointer and a three-point play on a lay up as he was fouled. Maggette later added a fast-break lay up during a 16-2 run that gave Los Angeles a 53-52 lead.
Butler’s 3-pointer, New Orleans’ 10th, made it 93-75 with a little over six minutes remaining and the Clippers couldn’t recover as New Orleans cruised to its 19th double-digit victory.
Stojakovic scored 11 in the first half, and his basket on West’s feed gave New Orleans a 42-28 lead midway through the second quarter.
Cassell and Kaman combined to lead the Clippers on a 9-2 run, capped by Mobley’s jumper, that got Los Angeles as close as 42-35 before Peterson snapped the run with a driving lay up high off the glass.