NELSPRUIT: New Zealand produced one of the great shocks of the World Cup on Sunday by holding Italy to a 1-1 draw, leaving the defending champions with a fight on their hands to make it through to the knock-out stages.   The All Whites took the lead in the seventh minute though Shane

RUSTENBURG, South Africa: England players and management will have a no-holds barred crisis meeting later on Sunday to put their World Cup campaign back on track, central defender John Terry said. England, one of the pre-tournament favourites, need to beat Slovenia in their final Group C

BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa: Paraguay beat a lacklustre Slovakia 2-0 to move top of Group F on Sunday and close in on a World Cup second round place. Enrique Vera put the South Americans ahead after 27 minutes and Cristian Riveros grabbed a second four minutes from time in a game of few

PRETORIA: Cameroon, Africa`s modern World Cup trailblazers, became the first African side eliminated from the continent`s inaugural tournament when they somehow lost 2-1 to Denmark on Saturday. The Indomitable Lions, the country that first alerted the world to the improvement in African

DHAKA: Bangladesh closed its leading engineering university in the capital Dhaka for an indefinite period on Saturday after students who wanted a break to watch World Cup matches went on a protest rampage in the campus. "Male students have already left their dormitories while the females

LONDON: Captain Andrew Strauss hit 61 from 43 balls as England warmed up for next week`s limited-overs series against Australia with a seven-wicket win over Scotland in a one-day international in Edinburgh on Saturday. Strauss and Craig Kieswetter, who struck 69 in 65 deliveries, put on

RUSTENBURG, South Africa: Ghana edged clear at the top of World Cup Group D after an exciting 1-1 draw with ten-man Australia at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium on Saturday. The Ghanaians moved a point above Germany and Serbia after fighting off a determined bid by the Australians, who lost

COLOMBO: India pulled off a thrilling three-wicket win over Pakistan with a ball to spare at the four-nation Asia Cup in Dambulla on Saturday. The victory means India will now meet hosts Sri Lanka in Thursday`s final. Chasing Pakistan`s 267 all out, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni`s team

LONDON: Kevin Pietersen feared his career might be over when he developed an infection after undergoing Achilles surgery 11 months ago, England`s premier batsman said on Sunday. "It was a pretty dark time," the 29-year-old told the Mail on Sunday newspaper. "The infection was really bad.

CAPE TOWN: Portugal need to switch to attack mode against North Korea on Monday to get the big win they may need to open the door to the World Cup second round. With Portugal having drawn their Group G opener against Ivory Coast, and with Brazil still to come, second place in the group

POTCHEFSTROOM, South Africa: Spain are optimistic that a shock 1-0 defeat by Switzerland in their Group H opener will stun the European champions into action for their second match against Honduras on Monday. "The loss helps to show you that there are no easy matches, that every team at

BASSETERRE: West Indies raced to 86 for one by the end of day two of the second test at Warner Park in St Kitts on Saturday after South Africa had declared on 543 for 6. The home side were 457 runs behind with nine wickets in hand when bad light stopped play for the day. Captain Chris

JOHANNESBURG: England`s short-tempered striker Wayne Rooney apologised on Saturday for his outburst at fans who booed the team`s abject 0-0 draw with Algeria. Fresh from a fantastic season for Manchester United, the 24-year-old was England`s main hope for World Cup goals but has failed

LONDON: Russia`s former world number one Dinara Safina has withdrawn from Wimbledon because of injury, tournament organisers said on Saturday. Safina, who was seeded 20th for the grand-slam event which starts on Monday, has a lower back injury. Her position in the draw will now be taken

LONDON: She turned professional in 1994, has just celebrated her 30th birthday and is about to embark on her 50th grand slam tournament, yet Venus Williams says she is still addicted to tennis. "It`s awesome," Williams told reporters after a session on one of Wimbledon`s pristine

DURBAN, South Africa: Wesley Sneijder fired the Netherlands to a comfortable 1-0 win over Japan and pole position in World Cup Group E here on Saturday. After seeing off Denmark 2-0 in their opening match, the Dutch now sit atop their group on a maximum six points from two games, with

JOHANNESBURG: Brazil and Paraguay hope to extend Latin America`s great start to the World Cup on Sunday while holders Italy would love to restore some European pride. There was sadness across Africa, though, after Cameroon`s Indomitable Lions lost again -- 2-1 to Denmark on Saturday

NELSPRUIT: Italy’s confidence is so brittle that the holders are talking about the threat posed by New Zealand in Sunday’s Group F World Cup clash rather than boldly predicting how they will destroy the 78th-ranked team. The Azzurri’s 1-1 draw with Paraguay in Monday’s group

BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa: Paraguay aim to extend the South American dominance gripping the World Cup when they face Slovakia on Sunday (1130 GMT) looking for goals but are wary of being caught out on the counter-attack. South American teams, led by the impressive Argentina, have so far

CAPE TOWN: England delivered one of their worst tournament performances for years when they were held to a goalless draw by Algeria on Friday to leave their World Cup qualification hanging on the final matches. However, any repeat of their ragged, disorganised error-strewn display in