City looking to heap more misery on Real

LONDON — Struggling in the Spanish League and with its star player and coach publicly unhappy, the last thing beleaguered Real Madrid needs is a Champions League opener against a Manchester City side desperate to muscle in on Europe's elite this season.

A trip to the Santiago Bernabeu looked to have consigned City to the harshest of starts to the continent's premier club competition but the English champions will be relishing the chance to pile more misery on Madrid on Tuesday.

The Spanish giants have dropped eight points from a possible 12 in the defense of their La Liga title, leaving the team in the unusual position of mid-table and prompting heavy criticism from coach Jose Mourinho about the players' lack of commitment and spirit.

Add in Cristiano Ronaldo's comments at the start of the month about feeling "sad" for "professional reasons" and Madrid appears to be in disarray ahead of the standout match of the first round of group fixtures.

"We are having a bad run, but we have to think of Tuesday's game as a chance to boost our morale," Brazilian defender Marcelo said. "Today we are all sad, but we have to move forward."

Chelsea welcomes Italian champion Juventus to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday to begin the defense of a title won in a penalty shootout four months ago in Munich, while Barcelona is at home to Spartak Moscow as it goes in search of a fourth Champions League trophy in seven years.

The highlight of this week's games, however, is undoubtedly Madrid-Man City, which pitches the competition's most successful team with a cash-rich upstart hungry for European success after climbing to the top of English soccer last season.

"To play the first game away will be very tough but at the same time I think it will be a fantastic game for everyone," City manager Roberto Mancini said.

Madrid, bidding for its 10th European Cup title, is coming into the game off a 1-0 loss at Sevilla that appears to have triggered a state of alarm in the Spanish capital.

"My players' heads are not focused, for many of them football is not a priority," Mourinho said. "But I am the coach and if there are heads that are not focused, it is my fault."

Madrid and City were placed in the hardest of the eight pools along with Borussia Dortmund and Ajax, who meet in Germany on Tuesday in Group D.

Also that night, AC Milan will look to join Madrid in putting its domestic problems aside when the Italian team hosts Belgian side Anderlecht at the San Siro in Group C.

A 1-0 loss to Atalanta on Saturday marked the first time Milan has lost its opening two Serie A home matches in 82 years.

READING, England — Jermain Defoe capped a superb individual display with two well-taken goals in Tottenham's 3-1 win over Reading on Sunday, earning manager Andre Villas-Boas a relieving first Premier League victory at the club.

The England striker was again preferred up front to Emmanuel Adebayor and justified the faith shown in him by Villas-Boas by opening the scoring in the 18th minute and completing a convincing win with a fine solo effort in the 74th.

Left winger Gareth Bale scored Spurs' other goal, a scuffed finish in the 71st following good work by Kyle Walker down the right, but it was Defoe who will take all the plaudits after destroying Reading's defense.

"Jermain is showing his abilities, the amount of shots he has on target is amazing," Villas-Boas said. "As the lone striker up front, he is linking well with the colleagues."

View the original article here

Kings looking for sweep after defeating Coyotes in Game 3

On the brink: Kings center Anze Kopitar (11) scores past Coyotes goalie Mike Smith in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals on Thursday in Los Angeles. The Kings won 2-1. AP

LOS ANGELES — When Daymond Langkow beat Jonathan Quick on a breakaway and celebrated Phoenix's first lead in the Western Conference finals, captain Dustin Brown was almost curious how his Los Angeles Kings would respond to the first serious adversity they've faced in weeks.

Their answer told Brown that this unbelievable bunch of Kings is almost ready to play for the Stanley Cup.

Anze Kopitar scored the tying breakaway goal just 2:07 later, Dwight King added the winner early in the third period and Los Angeles rolled to the brink of its first Stanley Cup final in 19 years with a 2-1 victory in Game 3 on Thursday night, taking a 3-0 lead in the West finals.

Quick made 18 saves, and the eighth-seeded Kings improved to 11-1 in an undeniably charmed run through the NHL postseason by a franchise with 44 seasons of frustrating, Cup-free history.

For the third straight series, the West's final playoff team will play for a sweep in Game 4.

"Phoenix was a lot better tonight, but we found a way to win," Brown said. "That's what it takes this time of year. It's exciting. There's a lot of guys in here that haven't experienced this . . . but the thing that's made this work is how we're handling all this. We're up 3-0 again."

Although the Kings trailed for the first time in nearly 18 periods since April 28, they bounced back swiftly before largely controlling the third period. King scored his fourth goal in three games against the Coyotes, who face a deficit only three teams have overcome in NHL playoff history.

King connected 1:47 into the third, beating Mike Smith high to the glove side. The massive rookie scored two goals in the series opener and added the winner in Game 2.

"Everybody is answering the challenge and being better," said King, who has outscored Phoenix all by himself in the series. "We're playing good, playing consistent. With the way we're going, we're tough to beat right now."

Smith stopped 26 shots in a standout performance for the third-seeded Coyotes, who must win four straight to reach their first Stanley Cup final.

"None of us planned on being in (a 3-0 hole)," Phoenix's Shane Doan said. "I don't think it's disbelief, but I think it's (disappointment)."

In front of a long-suffering crowd gratefully enjoying its unexpected good fortune after decades of disappointment, the Kings dominated the third period in front of Quick. They forechecked relentlessly in the final minutes, forcing Smith to play a long stretch without his goal stick because Phoenix couldn't clear the zone so he could retrieve it.

The crowd soaked in another memorable performance during the best playoff run by this Second Six franchise since Wayne Gretzky and Luc Robitaille led Los Angeles to its only conference title in 1993, while the Coyotes wondered if their own remarkable postseason run has any chance of continuing beyond Sunday.

"We want to play with a lead, but we didn't even have a chance," Phoenix's Mikkel Boedker said. "They got a breakaway and came right back. . . . They're a good team, and we know that, but the series isn't over. We still have time to win it."

Los Angeles largely dominated the first two games of the series in Glendale, outshooting the Coyotes 88-51 while winning by a combined 8-2. Phoenix had no more luck than Vancouver or St. Louis against the surprising No. 8 seeds, who finished two points behind the Pacific Division champion Coyotes in the regular season before steamrolling the West's top two teams in a combined nine games.

"We'll take a couple of days here and rest up, and what have we got to lose?" Phoenix coach Dave Tippett asked. "We'll come here and play as hard as we can. We'll give a real honest evaluation of who we are and how we got here."

View the original article here

Strikers looking to blaze new goal trail in European leagues

Ryoichi Maeda will be disappointed that his proposed move to West Ham United broke down last weekend, but the growing overseas interest in Japanese strikers is nevertheless an encouraging sign for the national team.

Jubilo Iwata forward Maeda failed to win a deal with West Ham after spending three days training with the London club, but fellow national team strikers Tadanari Lee and Mike Havenaar have both left the J. League for European teams this winter. Lee joined English Championship side Southampton while Havenaar signed with Dutch first-division outfit Vitesse Arnhem, and although both clubs are hardly among the continent's elite, the transfers are far from insignificant given Japan's dismal record in producing strikers capable of making their mark abroad.

From Akinori Nishizawa's brief stint at Bolton Wanderers to Masashi Oguro's struggles in Italy with Torino, the list of failures is extensive. Naohiro Takahara could be considered the exception after his goals earned him the nickname "Sushi Bomber" during five years in Germany with Hamburg and Eintracht Frankfurt, but even he did not enjoy the same level of success as midfielders like Hidetoshi Nakata and Shunsuke Nakamura.

That distinction between provider and finisher highlights the traditional strengths and weaknesses of the Japanese game. Skillful midfielders with the technical ability to set up chances have never been hard to come by, but strikers who can be relied on to put the ball in the back of the net have always been in shorter supply.

In demand: Tadanari Lee (right) has left Sanfrecce Hiroshima to join English Championship side Southampton in what has been a busy winter for Japanese strikers. KYODO

The national team has had to shoulder the burden over the years, with former manager Takeshi Okada so unwilling to place his trust in a recognized forward at the 2010 World Cup that he fielded an attacking midfielder, Keisuke Honda, as the focal point of the attack. Maeda, Lee and Havenaar have all been given a chance in current manager Alberto Zaccheroni's team, but as yet no one has been able to make the position his own.

All three, however, certainly have the talent to do so. Lee has improved immensely since leaving Kashiwa Reysol for Sanfrecce Hiroshima in 2009, while Havenaar also impressed last year by scoring 17 goals and making his international debut while playing for a Ventforet Kofu side headed for relegation.

West Ham fans will miss out on the chance to enjoy Maeda's refined touch and intelligent movement, but he remains an outstanding player and it is no surprise that he showed up on the Londoners' radar in the first place.

Of course it is not only the individual qualities of the strikers in question that has made them such an attractive proposition for European clubs. The J. League still remains a rich hunting ground for cheap talent, and when 26-year-olds with international experience like Lee are among the bargains on offer, who can blame them?

But a change in perception has also aided the prospects of Japanese strikers abroad. Where once Asian forwards were considered too small physically to hold their own, a succession of players from Takahara to Sunderland's 187-cm South Korean Ji Dong Won have helped to explode that myth.

After years of doubt, Japanese strikers have earned the chance to prove themselves overseas. Now it is up to Lee and Havenaar to make the most of that opportunity.

View the original article here

Clippers looking like the real deal

NEW YORK — In Kobe Bryant's initial meeting with Mike Brown, he cautioned the Lakers' newly hired coach "not to pull back," to coach him "like everyone else; otherwise the players will turn on you," he told me during dinner in Los Angeles just before Christmas.

Kobe said he had heard Brown didn't yell at LeBron and acknowledged Phil Jackson didn't yell at him.

"Phil coached everyone different because he's Phil," he added. "His rings gave him license to do that. Pat (Riley) and Pop (Gregg Popovich) also have earned that right; nobody else."

Entering Monday, Brown had coached Kobe, floppy (right) disc aside, to four straight efficient 40-point (31, 31, 31 and 28 attempts) and eight-of-nine 30-plus, out-of-wedlock productions.

In his 16th season, the 33-year-old Kobe leads the NBA (31.2) in scoring. He is the oldest in league history to do what he's in the midst of doing. What's more, his weapons of construction have amassed 111 40-point-or-more monuments.

Only fellow Philly native Wilt Chamberlain, who averaged an unthinkable 50.4 in the 1961-62 season, and Michael Jordan compiled more.

Alas, they look "a lot better when you win," pithily reasoned esteemed telecaster Ralph Lawler moments before my Hedge Clippers — and his, I suppose—splintered L.A. Lore's victory march at five, 102-94, on Saturday.

Win or lose, the Paul-y Pavilion hallway throwdown was as rasping and riveting as it gets without the consequent fear of fines and suspensions. There were four individual technical fouls whistled and plenty of provocation for more. Only conscientious objectors left the court not pockmarked with powder burns and blood on their risers.

Chris Paul left with his left hamstring hurting, mentally anguished and 33 points, six assists and one turnover to his credit. Counting Wednesday's contribution to Miami's demise, that makes 50, 17, 10 rebounds and 6 steals in his last two outings

Unfortunately, the likelihood Paul will be available for duty any time soon is remote. He pulled up lame with 4:01 remaining after burying a 4-meter fallaway jumper over Andrew Bynum and Darius Morris. However, I saw him grab the back of his leg on the previous possession following a slick feed to Blake Griffin.

For the time being, the injury is being described as a "strained hamstring" by team trainer Jasen Powell. Perhaps Paul could have returned had the verdict been in doubt. He told the coaching staff he was ready. Powell wisely talked him down, saying it was in his best interests not to play.

Nobody could believe the Clippers actually manufactured enough good luck to out-maneuver the Lakers for Paul, yet everybody was confident the team's curse eventually would re-establish its dominance, sooner than later in all probability.

Predicting such doom and gloom was the logical next step. The thought of printing who would go down first, Paul or Griffin, made me squeamish. It was not something I wanted on my resume when the Clippers' bad luck returned, as it did in that victory.

Until then, until Paul was forced to sit, I had filled page after page with staggering occurrences and observations:

Griffin's liftoff over two luxury-sized Lakers, ensuing acrobatic layup and leisurely landing will be the highlight of Matt Barnes' career. His Airness, Dominique Wilkins and Vince Carter would have been proud to pilot that hang glider.

The more Clippers that converged on Kobe in the second half, the more determined he was to disentangle and devastate. His third-quarter hoist from the great divide with Paul on him like plaque was preposterous.

"Nobody else would have made that shot," analyst Michael Smith gushed.

"Nobody else would have taken it," Lawler added.

"Nobody else would have been allowed to take it," Smith countered.

After the Lakers had closed to within 79-74 with 11:18 left on the game clock, Paul downed an 11-meter shot a tick before the shot clock expired as if it was business as usual.

Earlier, the dipsy-doodling, airborne Morris swished a 16-meter heave to beat the first-quarter buzzer.

During preseason, Kobe said he wasn't concerned about the Clippers, branding them "tiny." But that was before they signed extremist rebounder Reggie Evans. In 17 minutes, the 203-cm, 115-kg forward muscled for eight boards, six of them offensive. The Lakers don't pay Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol enough to go through the grief of boxing out Evans.

More amazing than anything, I submit, was Bynum (6-for-13 FG, 0-for-3 FT) not so much as sniffing leather in the final 9:22 unless he managed to retrieve missed shots, which he did 16 times, overall.

As Lawler mentioned, those 40-point presentations look a lot better when you win.

Think the Clippers' home game vs. the Lakers was a hot ticket?

Jack Nicholson offered to beat any price, plus throw in some light gardening.

You might want to start dating, befriend or adopt an L.A. scalper at least a few days before the Jan. 25 rematch.

* * *

Column contributor Tom Davis has kindly pointed out, "the Heat are playing as if they are in the Finals."

Still, say this much for the Beach Ballers, at least they didn't wait until the waning moments of their latest lapse to assume the fetal position.

Not naming any names, but the ball-hog-less 8-5 Nuggets convincingly outplayed them, shooting a staggering 55 percent while being a step, a thought and a pass quicker all evening. At one jagged juncture, the unpacking Heat trailed by 19, their largest crater of the season.

Peter Vecsey covers the NBA for the New York Post.

View the original article here

India looking to end Australian test series drought

MELBOURNE, Australia — With an Australian cricket team in upheaval, India might have its best chance in decades to end an unwelcome streak Down Under — it has never won a test series since it began touring here 64 years ago.

Christmas feast: Australia's Ed Cowan hits a ball in training on Friday ahead of the first test against India on Monday. AP PHOTO

When the four-test series begins Monday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, star batsmen Sachin Tendulkar might have an opportunity to give India a solid start towards ending that streak, and create a historic milestone for himself: becoming the first cricketer to score 100 centuries in tests or limited-overs internationals.

Tendulkar warmed up for an attempt at the mark when he hit a stylish 92 in India's drawn tour match against a Cricket Australia Chairman's XI a week ago.

Tendulkar's last international century came in March against South Africa. Fellow batsman Rahul Dravid has also been in strong form, scoring 1,067 runs in 2011 with five centuries.

But Dravid said he'd trade all the personal achievements for a test series win in Australia.

"I wouldn't have minded scoring five hundreds (fewer) or 1,000 runs less if we could win a series in Australia," Dravid said. "The greatest memory for me now is not necessarily statistical . . . it's those magical moments. The series wins in tests stay with you.

"I think that's what you play for at this stage. I don't have anything in terms of my own numbers or statistics that I want to achieve in Australia, but I want to win a test series (here) and help the team win in Australia."

Former India captain Kapil Dev believes his side has edged closer to an elusive Australia series win. And he claims former captain Ricky Ponting, who is in a batting slump, is the biggest threat.

The 37-year-old Ponting has not scored a century in nearly two years, has averaged 50 just once in his past seven series and has made 323 runs at an average of 24 in seven tests over the past 12 months.

The 158-test veteran will play in his 15th Boxing Day test after being named to the team Saturday. Shaun Marsh, who is returning from a back injury and scored an unbeaten 99 in a Twenty20 match this week, was thought to be a strong chance to replace Ponting, but both were named in the starting side.

"I am more concerned about Ricky Ponting than anybody else because he is experienced," Dev said. "If we can control him, we can control the entire Australian team. Experience always comes in handy in the long run, and he has not scored enough runs in the last year, so he is due."

The Australian team is in tatters after losing eight wickets for 74 in a seven-run loss to No. 8-ranked New Zealand in Hobart two weeks ago. It was New Zealand's first test win in Australia since 1985.

The collapse against New Zealand extended concerns over a batting order which reached its nadir in South Africa last month when dismissed for a record low of 47 at Cape Town.

"This time India has a better chance to win the test series in Australia, there is no doubt about that," Dev said. "Australia were on top of world cricket for 15 years. But now it is not the same team without (Glenn) McGrath, and Shane Warne, (Adam) Gilchrist and (Matt) Hayden. They are not as strong as they used to be."

Dev points to the veterans India still has in its team.

"We still have Sachin, Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman and Virender Sehwag," he said. "Then they are combined with the young talented fast bowlers and spinners. It looks like our team are getting strong everyday."

Melbourne Cricket Ground curator Cameron Hodgkins said there would not be too much life in a pitch that traditionally plays low. He advised both sides that they might need some variation in their attacks to take the 20 wickets needed.

"After the new ball has worn and the pitch has flattened out, you tend to need a fair bit of variety to conjure up wickets," Hodgkins said. "It hasn't traditionally turned much on the last day but can become a better batting strip, which means it needs a variety of bowlers to get wickets."

View the original article here