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Weekly News 20 6 11
Weekly Soccer News, June 20, 2011
Mata hails complete performance
Juan Mata hailed Spain’s 3-0 victory over Ukraine in the European under-21s championships as the “complete performance” as the tournament favourites continued their relentless march to another trophy.
Two goals either side of half-time from Mata and another from attacker Adrian ensured that Spain topped Group B ahead of England, the Czech Republic and Ukraine to set up a semi-final meeting on Wednesday with surprise semi-finalists Belarus, who lost two of their three group matches.
“We did a good job," said the 23-year-old Valencia striker after brushing aside Ukraine in Herning. "We needed to win to finish top of the group and we played well again – it was a complete performance."
We are peaking: Dempsey
USA striker Clint Dempsey has claimed that the Americans are peaking at just the right time after he scored the second of two second-half goals to see Bob Bradley’s side past Jamaica in their CONCACAF Gold Cup quarter-final at RFK Stadium.
The US now face Panama, who eventually wore down the brave challenge of El Salvador after extra time and penalties, on Wednesday with a place in the final against either Mexico or Honduras up for grabs.
Dempsey said: “They were confident - they didn’t have any setbacks in the group stage when we were having to fight to get through. I think as it has gone on we have progressed as a team and we are getting better. I think we are going to peak at the right time.”
River running dry?
A combination of Argentina’s complex relegation rules and a dramatic slide from grace in recent seasons could condemn River Plate to the humiliation of relegation from the Clausura for the first time in their history.
The record-breaking 33-time domestic champions lost 2-1 to Lanus over the weekend after Leandro Diaz stole all the points for the hosts in the closing moments.
The narrow defeat means that even though River remain well away from the relegation zone in this year’s campaign, their poor displays over the past three seasons have dropped them into a playoff to remain in the top division.
The Buenos Aires giants have never before played outside the top flight in Argentina, but could fall foul of the domestic competition’s complicated process for relegating sides.
River finished this Clausura in ninth position with 26 points. However, they have endured a terrible run of form over the past two seasons since winning the league title in 2008.
Under-17s Kiwi Carmichael makes history
New Zealand striker Stephen Carmichael became the first male Kiwi to score a hat-trick in FIFA tournaments as the Young All Whites defeated Uzbekistan 4-1 in the Under-17s World Cup in Mexico.
The Central United 17-year-old was a late call-up for the squad after missing out on the Oceania qualifying matches and a tour to Qatar - and only made his debut a week ago en route to Mexico – but left a lasting impression after scoring three goals inside 53 minutes at the Estadio Torreon in Torreon.
"He's been doing really well on tour, “ said Young All Whites coach Aaron McFarland after the match. “He's proven himself in the heat and he's one of the lads that are capable of getting hold of the ball and doing something and if we are going to win this game we needed characters like that to step up.”
Compiled by Marc Fox
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