60 / SPORT / Daily Nation / Wednesday, June 14, 2006 Plenty of life left in Czech old timers GELSENKIRCHEN international retirement to help his side with no signs of struggling in the heat Italy to top Group E a likely second packing his bags just yet. past Norway in the playoffs but after a and humidity that appeared to take its round meeting with Croatia, Australia “Definitely his start in further matches is re-match headlines like relatively low-key season in Serie A his toll on an American side which came or Japan should hold no fears. not ruled out,” team doctor Petr Krejci “Czech old timers past their first appearance in a World Cup seemed into the tournament lauded as one of the Koller, 33, was his usual goalscoring said on the Czech Republic Football sell-by date” have been left to many to have come too late. fittest in Germany. handful before suffering a bad thigh Association’s Web site www.fotball.cz. looking somewhat prema- On Monday, though, in draining condi- Rosicky is only 25 but as someone who injury the Czech coaching team and fans Koller said he might only have to miss ture after the Euro 2004 tions, he was at the heart of most of his played in the 2000 and 2004 European will monitor closely, so important is the one game. “I will have four days’ rest P side’s attacking ideas, of which there championships he combines experience striker to the team’s chances. now and I am confident I will be back semi-finalists turned on the style to beat United States 3-0 on Monday. were plenty, and there was no shortage with a youthful talent. The question over Koller’s return to his for our third group game,” he said on Tomas Rosicky was predictably named of running in his legs. Plucked from Borussia Dortmund by team’s bid yesterday became ’when’ the Fifa World Cup Web site. man of the match for scoring two goals, Fellow 33-year-old, captain Tomas Arsenal before the World Cup, he seems rather than ’if’, relief for the side whose Koller’s absence in the near future, the first a stunning 25-metre strike, after Galasek, and 34-year-old Karel Pobor- to have taken an extra step up in quality perfect start was soured by worries over though, puts pressure on strike partner Jan Koller’s early header. sky, also midfield veterans of the team and helps make the Czech midfield a him. Milan Baros to recover quickly from a But more important to the team’s hopes that reached the final of Euro 1996, truly formidable force. Koller was initially said by coach Karel foot injury sustained in a friendly on of going a long way in the tournament matched their younger U.S. opponents Two years ago, with Nedved suffering an Brueckner to have sustained a “serious” June 3. Baros, top scorer in Euro 2004 was the performance of Pavel Nedved, for fitness and towered above them in early injury, the Czechs lost a Euro 2004 injury but a team spokesman later said it when the Czech Republic reached the for so long their midfield inspiration and class in a sparkling all-round display. semi-final to Greece they should have was not as bad as they had thought. semi-finals, has hardly trained in the now giving it one final effort in his 34th Two more men in their 30s, Vratislav won having produced scintillating form Although unlikely to be fit for Satur- past week and coach Karel Brueckner year. Lokvenc and, briefly, Jiri Stajner, joined to get there. day’s Group E match against Ghana, the said it was difficult to know when he The Juventus midfielder came out of the fray from the bench to contribute If they can somehow find a way past 2.04-metre (6ft 7in) striker will not be would be back on the pitch. (Reuters) ▼ Maasai at Hamburg match WRAP-UP Brilliant Togo anthem on Australia hold as Korea’s rattle the gets big encore Togo’s national anthem was mis- taken for South Korea’s ahead of their World Cup clash in Frankfurt Japanese yesterday. South Korea’s anthem was repeated — to the embarrass- ment of Fifa and the joy of Korean KAISERSLAUTERN fans — before organisers realised their mistake and belatedly played idfielder Tim Cahill will the Togolese anthem. Togo, mak- take the plaudits but it was a ing their first appearance in the towering long-haired striker World Cup finals, have already had Mmore suited to a surfboard problems in the run-up to their than a soccer pitch who changed the opening Group G match after course of Australia’s World Cup cam- coach Otto Pfister quit late last paign on Monday. week. The German changed his Josh Kennedy, who stands 1.94 mind on Monday and was on the metres tall, went for the jugular. The 23- bench for their opening game. year-old frightened the life out of Japan’s defenders to such an extent that the Asian champions wilted in the Kai- serslautern heat, conceding three goals in the final seven minutes to lose their Two England opening Group F clash 3-1. Photos/Benjamin Ouma Australia are more used to running up fans arrested cricket-score victories against the likes of Vanuatu and Fiji than savouring Journalist makes Two England fans who were World Cup victories. arrested for allegedly wearing Nazi insignia to Saturday’s opening Brilliance of keeper heads turn at game World Cup Group B game with Paraguay have been arrested on A first finals win appeared remote until returning to Britain, a police Kennedy threw his burly frame into a itizen TV sports presenter Torome Tirike, in full maasai spokeswoman said yesterday. The game in which the Socceroos, trailing to two supporters, aged 21 and 24, Shunsuke Nakamura’s disputed opener, C apparel together with his Kenya Broadcasting Corporation counterpart were detained when they landed at had been frustrated by the brilliance of Leeds airport on Monday evening, Japan keeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi. Joseph Onyango (bottom right of pic- ture), at the AOL Arena in Hamburg, a spokeswoman for the Associa- Captain Mark Viduka caused Japan tion of Chief Police Officers said in problems but, with a clearly unfit Harry home of German Bundesliga club Ham- burg SV, during the Argentina vs Cote Germany. They will appear at Kewell providing ineffective support, Leeds Magistrates Court later yes- had been an isolated figure against their d’ Ivoire Group C match. Tens of fans scrambled to take photographs with terday and be subject to an appli- Asian Confederation rivals. cation for a banning order. Kennedy, a journeyman player with the Kenyan journalist who was among the lesser lights of Germany since he a group of Kenyan sports writers and was a teenager and a surprise inclusion editors who attended the opening in the squad, changed that. Group C match. The trip was organised by Emirates Airline, an official partner Crowds catch of world soccer governing body, Fifa, Master tactician and co-sponsors of the World Cup. Coach Guus Hiddink, who took South low-budget porn Korea to the 2002 semi-finals, enjoys a reputation as a master tactician but Hundreds of World Cup fans saw Kennedy’s introduction on the hour, more then just soccer when shortly after Cahill, appeared to be a Argentina keep their pin-up star Messi waiting upstart pornographers filmed part last throw of the dice. of their low-budget production in Kennedy, uncapped when Dutchman HERZOGENAURACH that he was the only player who did not day on June 24, the day of or day after the middle of Berlin’s Fan Mile, a Hiddink named his World Cup squad, go on to the AOL Arena pitch at the Argentina’s second round match if they newspaper reported yesterday. was soon doing what Kewell could not, he teenage features of prodigy final whistle to celebrate the victory with get through, is desperate to play, accord- The two men, identified by the providing the perfect foil for Viduka Lionel Messi stare down from the 14 players who had taken part in the ing to some media, although he recog- B.Z. newspaper as a 20-year-old and allowing Cahill to find much- T giant posters in Germany but match and the rest of the squad. nises that decision rests with Pekerman. pizza deliveryman named Sebas- needed space behind the front pair. Argentina fans and the man himself are Messi headed straight for the dressing Media speculation has the sportswear tian and a 25-year-old bartender Australia’s luck turned. Their furious anxious to know when he will make his room where 1986 World Cup-winning giant adidas, who kit out the Argentina named Moe, filmed a topless protests at Japan’s goal forgotten, they World Cup debut. captain Diego Maradona had surprised squad and put up the giant Messi post- woman right in the middle of the enjoyed their own good fortune when Messi remained on the bench when the team with an unscheduled appear- ers, possibly pushing for Messi’s inclu- downtown street, which has been after some penalty area pinball the ball coach Jose Pekerman’s Argentina beat ance just before kickoff to give them a sion in the team. True or not, Pekerman closed off to traffic for the month- landed at Cahill’s feet. Cote d’ Ivoire 2-1 in their opening pep talk and promise to pay for a lunch is waiting for what he deems the right long soccer tournament and fea- The midfielder found the net with the Group C match in Hamburg at the together if they won.