On the pitch

14 Jun 2006

Tunisia and Saudi Arabia finish 2-2

Rahdi Jaidi salvaged a crucial point for Tunisia in a thrilling 2-2 draw against Saudi Arabia as both teams threw away the lead in the second half.

Sami Al Jaber came off the bench for his 161st cap to tuck away the go-ahead goal for the Saudis on 84 minutes as he broke clear when the Tunisian defence went missing in action.

However as Tunisia piled men forward with the clock ticking down, Jaidi rose powerfully to meet a cross from the right and planted a firm header past the Saudi keeper to make Tunisia the first African team to pick up a point at this tournament.

Tunisia went ahead in the 23rd minute when Ziad Jaziri smashed home a loose ball after a free-kick.

The Saudi team came out with more ambtion after the break and forced an equaliser on 57 minutes when Yaser Al Kahtani sneaked between two Tunisian defenders and smashed home his 33rd international goal.

It appeared that Al Jaber had stolen the points for the Saudi's until Jaidi came to the rescue and kept Tunisia's campaign ticking.

Germany leave it late with injury-time winner

Oliver Neuville ended a night of frustration for Germany when he banged home a 91st minute winner to end the brave challenge of ten-man Poland in Group A action on Wednesday.

Neuville slid in to meet a low cross from the right and handed the hosts a priceless 1-0 win.

Polish-born striker Miroslav Klose somehow missed a free header in the first-half from point blank range that should have given Germany the lead.

Lukas Podolsi also squandered a glorious chance on the stroke of half-time but dragged his shot wide with just the keeper to beat.

Poland suffered a cruel blow on 75 minutes when Radoslaw Sobelewski picked up a yellow card for an innocent challenge and was sent-off.

Ecuador can book their ticket to the next round if they can get past Costa Rica in the second Group A match on Thursday.

England against Trinidad and Tobago and Sweden versus Paraguay are also on the menu.

Neville doubtful for T&T clash: Eriksson

Gary Neville looks certain to miss England's second World Cup match against Trinidad & Tobago, manager Sven-Goran Eriksson said on Wednesday.

The experienced Manchester United defender was nursing a sore calf and is now rated as 'very doubtful' for Thursday's Group B game against the Caribbean islanders in Nuremberg.

"Gary Neville has a calf problem and is doubtful, very doubtful for tomorrow," Eriksson told a press conference.

"(Jamie) Carragher is one choice, the other choice is (Owen) Hargreaves. One of the two will take his place if Gary can't play tomorrow," Eriksson said.

England will qualify for the second round if they defeat Trinidad & Tobago on Thursday.

Ronaldo doubts re-surface

Ronaldo's subdued display for Brazil against Croatia in the champions' World Cup opener has rekindled the debate about whether he is fit enough to keep his place in the lineup.

"It was very easy. I've played against him before and it was very difficult," said Croatian defender Robert Kovac after Tuesday's encounter.

"He must be tired, he hardly touched the ball."

"Ronaldo says he's yet to reach his ideal level of fitness," said goalscoring teammate Kaka, while pointedly adding it was the defensive shape of the side which left a lot to be desired.

"He has not been playing for the past two months and has had only two friendlies so it was natural he felt a bit heavy as it was very hot," added coach Carlos Alberto Parreira.

Saudia Arabia's al-Anbar out of World Cup

Saudi Arabia striker Mohammed al-Anbar is out of the World Cup after picking up an injury on the eve of their first match, officials said on Wednesday.

Anbar, 21, twisted his right ankle during Saudi Arabia's last official training session ahead of their Group H opener against Tunisia later on Wednesday.

Saudi officials said FIFA had given verbal permission to replace Anbar in the squad, although the injury occurred slightly after the deadline of 24 hours before their first game.

Defender Mohammad al-Bishi, 19, is expected take his place in the squad.

Anbar was regarded as the main back-up to first-choice front pairing of Yassir al-Qahtani and the veteran Sami al-Jaber.

Spain crush Ukraine in style

David Villa bagged a pair, Fernando Torres was also on the scoresheet while Xabi Alonso got the ball rolling with the opener as Spain crushed ten-man Ukraine 4-0 to open their campaign with panache and take the early lead at the top of Group H on Wednesday.

Tunisia take on Saudi Arabia in the second match of the group later in the day but the afternoon belonged to Luis Aragones' men as they had little trouble controlling the match and running up the highest score of the tournament.

After Alonso had headed home in the 13th minute and Villa had his free-kick deflected past Ukraine keeper Oleg Shovkoskiy by the wall four minutes later, the result was never in doubt.

Any chance of a Ukraine second-half comeback vanished just after the break when the referee awarded a dubious penalty that Villa coolly converted while Vladislav Vachuk was sent-off in the process.

Fernando Torres then piled on the misery for the Ukraine who were making their World Cup debut when he smashed home the fourth after some fine build-up play with 10 minutes left.

Brazil beat Croatia 1-0

Champions Brazil began their defence of the World Cup in Berlin Tuesday with a 1-0 win over Croatia.

The victory came thanks to a sublime Kaka strike just before the break, the AC Milan midfielder finding the target with a curling 20m drive into the top corner.

Costa Rica turn to Porras

Costa Rica will turn to their number two keeper Jose Porras in place of the injured Alvaro Mesen for Thursday's Group A all-Latin American match against Ecuador as they bid to emulate the vintage of 1990, who reached the last 16.

Coach and 1990 veteran Alexandre Guimaraes must field Jose Porras in place of Heredeniano shot-stopper Mesen as the Ticos bid to recover from their 4-2 opening loss to Germany.

Third choice Wardy Alvaro will be on the bench.

Ecuador have won two of eight previous meetings and lost just one and, having seen off Poland, will be in the box seat if they can secure a second win.

Guimaraes did not let slip if he would field Jervis Drummond or Alajuelense's Harold Wallace on the left side of defence for the injured Gilberto Martinez.

Eriksson mulling Rooney comeback

England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson is still considering whether to play Wayne Rooney in Thursday's World Cup encounter with Trinidad & Tobago.

"For me Rooney is match-fit, but about that story, let me sleep on it," Eriksson told a press conference when asked if he would play Rooney. "I will decide tomorrow morning."

Eriksson said if Rooney featured in the match it would most likely be as a substitute. "Almost for sure not starting the match, because I don't think he has 90 minutes in his legs yet," he said.

FIFA promises more water to combat heat

Football's governing body FIFA have promised to give the 32 teams at the World Cup more opportunity to take in fluids to combat the searing heat sweeping through Germany.

"We will make more water available to the teams," FIFA media director Markus Siegler said in Wednesday's edition of Die Welt.

England were furious at the regulations that prevented their players drinking water during breaks in their 1-0 group win over Paraguay and complained to FIFA.

FIFA regulations refused to allow the intake of fluids when the ball went out of play or when a player was injured, fearing the game would be disrupted on purpose to ensure regular water breaks.

Borgetti out of Angola clash

Mexico's all-time leading scorer Jared Borgetti was ruled out on Tuesday of their second group match at the World Cup finals against Angola.

The 32-year-old Bolton Wanderers striker is also in doubt for the final group clash against Euro 2004 finalists Portugal on June 21 because of a left calf injury which saw him leave the pitch in the 51st minute of the 3-1 victory over Iran on Sunday.

However scans on Tuesday also revealed a problem with his left thigh.

"He (Borgetti) has pulled a muscle in his left thigh which will require rest for between a week to 10 days," said team doctor Joseé Luis Serrano.

This is Borgetti's second World Cup, he played in all four of their matches at the 2002 edition where they went out to bitter rivals the United States in the second round.

France and Swiss finish 0-0

France and Switzerland battled to a 0-0 deadlock in baking condtions in Stuttgart as maximum points eluded both teams in their opening match of the tournament.

The 1998 champions failed to score for the fourth straight World Cup match as memories of their doomed campaign in 2002 again surfaced.

South Korea sit comfortably atop the group after their earlier 2-1 win over Togo with the pressure now on France who play the South Korean semi-finalists on Sunday while Switzerland also have work to do to make the knockout phase.

The result was the second 0-0 draw of the tournament following the stalemate between Sweden and Trinidad and Tobago.

Ahn the hero again as Korea edge Togo

South Korea struck twice after the break to pick up maximum points and overturn a first-half deficit with a 2-1 win over ten-man Togo on Tuesday in Frankfurt.

Ahn Jung-Hwan who struck the golden goal winner in 2002 to sink Italy in the last-16 was again the hero smashing home a 72 minute winner to lift Dick Advocaat's side top of Group G ahead of the second match later between France and Switzerland.

Mohamed Kader had fired Togo into a 1-0 first-half lead as the unfancied African side threatened to upset the form book but a red card shown to captain Jean-Paul Abalo on 53 minutes proved to be the turning point.

Lee Chun-Soo curled home the resulting free-kick to ignite the Asian side before Ahn sent their fans into hysterics with the go-ahead goal 18 minutes from time.

Santos may miss entire World Cup

Tunisia's top striker Santos may miss the entire World Cup with a shin injury, his coach said on Tuesday.

The Brazilian-born Santos, who has scored 18 goals since switching nationality two years ago, is "sure" to miss Wednesday's opening game with Saudi Arabia, said coach Roger Lemerre.

"We hope to get him back but nothing is certain," said Lemerre. "There's some hope he'll recover."

Tunisia, who also face Spain and Ukraine in a tough Group H, have already lost striker Issam Jemmaa to injury.

The North Africans are confident of claiming their first finals victory since 1978 after taking the 2004 African Cup of Nations title on home soil.

Raul out Shevchenko in

Spain captain Raul was on the subs bench for their Wednesday Group F clash (1300GMT) against Ukraine, whose captain and star striker Andriy Shevchenko did make the starting 11 despite missing training this week with a niggling knee injury.

Raul took a knock in training this week and coach Luis Aragones will make up for the loss by fielding a three-man forward line of Liverpool's Luis Garcia, Valencia's 2005-2006 season sensation David Villa and Atletico Madrid's Fernando Torres.

Goalkeeper Iker Casillas takes the Spanish armband.