NST Online: Sports

Posted: 10 Jun 2011 09:23 AM PDT

2011/06/10
By Devinder Singh

Fans from Kelantan and Terengganu who lined up from 7am with the Cup final tickets. — Picture by Osman Adnan

BATTLE lines were drawn yesterday ahead of an historic FA Cup final today with an irate Terengganu coach Irfan Bakti Abu Salim taking aim at "unethical" Kelantan players watching his side's training session yesterday.

Irfan was seen in a heated discussion with FA of Malaysia officials as the Kelantan players sat in the stands while Terengganu were training at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

It was only after about 20 minutes did the Kelantan players leave, forcing Irfan to cancel a penalty shootout practice in case the final stretched that far today.

"They should not be sitting here because their session is much later. I'm very upset because it is unethical to watch another team training. I know I would not do that," said Irfan, who missed the official press conference as the preceding pre-match meeting ran late.

"They were just hanging around there, doing nothing. Why not just wait to meet tomorrow (today)?"

Kelantan team manager Azman Ibrahim, however, did not understand what all the fuss was about.

"Last year, there was no problem against Negri Sembilan. We arrived early so that we could not get caught in traffic.

"There is no ruling to say we can't sit in the stands, they can do the same when we train. Maybe, they don't realise this as they've never been in a final," said Azman, in reference to Terengganu's last appearance in a Cup final in 2004.

Victory today, Kelantan's fifth major Cup final appearance in three years, could lead to a double in a space of week should the results go their way in the Super League next weekend.

Both teams have a full and fit squad available with Irfan insisting Tuesday's 3-0 league defeat in Kuala Terengganu is nothing but a memory.

"It has no effect on us. Our national players were tired then after just only returning from Hong Kong. We're mentally and physically ready," declared Irfan.

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Mexico march on amid drugs drama

Posted: 10 Jun 2011 08:28 AM PDT

CHARLOTTE (North Carolina): Javier Hernandez and Giovani Dos Santos scored two goals each on Thursday as Mexico shrugged off a potential doping drama to beat Cuba 5-0 in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The victory came hours after the Mexican football federation provisionally suspended five players, including defender Francisco Rodriguez and goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, for testing positive for the banned muscle-building drug clenbuterol.

Although Mexican officials said they believed the five ingested the drug accidentally through tainted chicken or meat at a pre-tournament training camp, they pulled them from the regional championship from which the winners advance to the Fifa Confederations Cup in Brazil in 2013.

Mexico got off to a slow start, but seized control with three goals in a five-minute span in the second half.

Dos Santos had two goals in the flurry, in the 62nd and 67th, with Aldo De Nigris adding another in the 64th. Hernandez opened the scoring in the 35th capped it with his 75th-minute strike as Mexico moved atop Group A with six points from two matches.

"We knew that game was gong to be complicated," coach Jose Manuel De La Torre said. "They were going to clog our spaces and counter-attack. But we needed to take care of the important opportunities.

"You could see in the first half we weren't effective. In the second half we took advantage of opportunities and you see the result." Mexico are assured of reaching the quarter-finals.

In the first of the evening's two Group A matches, Costa Rica snatched a 1-1 draw with El Salvador.

Randall Brenes, who came on in the 80th minute, fired a low shot from inside the penalty area that beat Miguel Montes to keep Costa Rica unbeaten in group play.

"We are improving. I think we played 50 or 60 percent better than we played against Cuba," said Costa Rica coach Ruben Israel, whose team won their opener 5-0. "We handled the ball a lot. We were able to shoot the ball a lot of times. But when you are not scoring, you're not scoring."

El Salvador coach Ricardo La Volpe was angry at the injury time awarded by American referee Jair Marrufo.

"We are very upset about the last-minute goal," La Volpe said. "The referee added four minutes and it was a huge exaggeration. And aside of those four minutes he even added another minute.

"I'm really, really upset about this. I don't judge the result of this game, but it's an uncomfortable situation."

Rodolfo Zelaya had given El Salvador the lead when his free kick found the net in the 44th minute.

Group A round-robin action concludes tomorrow in Chicago, where El Salvador will face Cuba and Costa Rica will take on Mexico.

With CONCACAF announcing that Mexico's 5-0 victory over El Salvador in their tournament opener will stand, El Salvador now must beat Cuba tomorrow to reach the knockout stage.

La Volpe declined to comment on that, and on Mexico's brewing doping scandal in general.

"When we got to the locker room they told us that information," La Volpe said. "I'm going to wait for the official CONCACAF release before I tell the press what's my opinion."

The suspensions left Mexico with just 17 eligible players. CONCACAF officials said they would meet to discuss whether Mexico could call up replacement players for the remaining matches. -- AFP

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Jumaat, 10 Jun 2011

NST Online: Sports

NST Online: Sports

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