Updated: Friday, 06 Dec 2013 08:45 | Comments Mandela presenting South Africa captain Francois Pienaar with the World Cup in 1995 Nelson Mandela, who created one of rugby union's iconic images at the 1995 World Cup, has been hailed for his ability to use sport to unite and inspire. Mandela's death aged 95 at his home on Thursday sparked a wave of emotional tributes from sportsmen from South Africa and across the world. Mandela unforgettably presented South Africa's rugby union captain Francois Pienaar with the World Cup in 1995 at Ellis Park, Johannesburg. It was the first major sporting event to be staged in South Africa after the 1994 democratic elections. The image of Mandela, dressed in a Springbok rugby shirt and cap, handing
Tag: world
FIFA confirms pots for World Cup
FIFA confirmed the pots for Friday's World Cup draw on Tuesday, putting the seeded teams in Pot 1, the African and South American teams in Pot 2, the CONCACAF and Asian teams in Pot 3 and the remaining nine European teams in Pot 4. • Johnson: The Pot X Factor• Duarte: Brazil's big problems• Delaney: Groups of death To make the number in each pot equal, at the start of the draw one of the nine European teams will be drawn into Pot 2, and will definitely face one of the seeded South American sides. Eight teams were seeded -- host Brazil and the top seven in FIFA’s October rankings -- and the other 24 teams were placed in pots based on "geographic
Cardinals draw level with Red Sox in World Series
Updated: Friday, 25 Oct 2013 10:31 | Comments The series is now all square after two games The St Louis Cardinals turned the tables on Boston by taking full advantage of some sloppy Red Sox fielding to level the World Series at 1-1 on the back of a 4-2 victory at Fenway Park. The Cardinals, who committed three errors in losing Game One of the best-of-seven series 8-1 a day earlier, latched on to a pair of miscues in the seventh inning to score three runs and overhaul the hosts. "We kind of contributed to the three runs allowed," said Boston manager John Farrell, echoing the post-mortem delivered on Wednesday by his St Louis counterpart, Mike Matheny.
Sweden face Portugal in World Cup play-off
Updated: Monday, 21 Oct 2013 15:18 | Comments Sweden must get past Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo if they are to make the party in Brazil next summer One of football's superstars is certain to miss out on the World Cup next year after Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal side were drawn against Zlatan Ibrahimovic's Sweden in the European play-offs for next year's finals. Portugal v Sweden is the pick of the four ties, which will be played over two legs, while unseeded France will face a tough battle against Ukraine. Portugal will go into the play-offs as favourites with stars such as Real Madrid's Ronaldo and Manchester United's Nani, but they struggled in what had looked a straightforward qualifying group, finishing runners-up to Russia. Sweden recorded
Germany beat Ireland to qualify for World Cup
Updated: Friday, 11 Oct 2013 22:11 | Comments Andre Schurrle celebrates Germany's second goal in their 3-0 victory over Ireland Germany have qualified for the World Cup after a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Ireland in Cologne. Sami Khedira set the ball rolling with a deflected 12th-minute effort from distance, but it was not until Chelsea forward Andre Schurrle converted Toni Kroos' pass from close range 13 minutes after the restart that the points were assured. Mesut Ozil put the seal on Germany's passage to Brazil as the Arsenal midfielder struck in stoppage time at the end of the game to round off a 3-0 win which ensured that Joachim Low's Group C leaders cannot be caught with a game to spare after taking
Conlon eager for World Championships
Updated: Thursday, 29 Aug 2013 07:39 | Comments Michael Conlan (L) against Andrew Selby during January's 50-56kg bout in the World Series of Boxing Michael Conlan might be forgiven for wishing he had seen the back of his flyweight rival Andrew Selby. In each of his three previous meetings with the Welshman, Ireland's Olympic bronze medallist has come up agonisingly short, but he cannot help keeping his fingers crossed for a fourth bout at the World Championships in Kazakhstan in October. The Falls Road 21-year-old has become a big name in Belfast after returning from last year's London Olympics with a bronze medal in the bag - ironically, an event in which world number one Selby fell out at the quarter-final stage. Conlan said:
“Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli” unveiled
The bureaucratic procedure, which started last November when the Board of Directors of Santa Monica Spa, owners of the circuit, unanimously decided to accept the proposal to link the name of the circuit to the late Italian champion has now been completed. This task has been carried out in full agreement with the Simoncelli family. The circuit now becomes the ‘Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli’. Paolo Simoncelli, accompanied by his wife Rossella and by the family adviser Arnaldo Cappellini, said: "I‘m deeply touched in seeing the circuit of Misano named after Marco. We've received affection from all over the world in the recent months, but today is a very special day. I’m grateful to Santa Monica Spa, owners of the circuit, and