The clinical, efficient and unshakeable Germany were fragile
This is Germany. Solid, steady Germany. The team who was set to end the reign of Spain as they built...
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Goal-line technology gets green light - Belfast Telegraph
Thursday, 5 July 2012
The Premier League will enter into talks with Hawk-Eye and GoalRef, the two manufacturers of the systems, about bringing the technology in as soon as midway through the season and it could also be used for the coming season's FA Cup semi-finals and final. It follows a unanimous decision by the International FA Board in Zurich.
FA general secretary Alex Horne said the Hawk-Eye system installed at Wembley for a trial last month is still there - and could be switched on, tested and licensed for FA Cup and perhaps England matches at Wembley.
Horne told the Press Association: "It is perfectly possible to introduce it halfway through the season. We have already got Hawk-Eye at Wembley, it needs to be calibrated and make sure it's working properly and licensed so we are nearly there and we could turn Hawk-Eye on quite quickly.
"The FA Cup would be our decision and we could say for the semi-finals and finals of the FA Cup we could turn it on, I don't think that is a very controversial decision. England is harder because we are part of someone else's competition so we would need FIFA to agree that we could use that in that qualification campaign.
"We need to go back and talk to the Premier League, everything I hear is that they want it. We might as well agree which one we want to buy and then nail a deal together."
The Premier League wasted no time in hailing the decision, and said in a statement: "The Premier League has been a long term advocate of goal-line technology. We welcome today's decision by IFAB and will engage in discussions with both Hawkeye and GoalRef in the near future with a view to introducing goal-line technology as soon as is practically possible."
FIFA president Sepp Blatter admitted he had changed his mind about goal-line technology after Frank Lampard's disallowed goal for England v Germany in the 2010 World Cup, and highlighted again after Ukraine were denied a goal against England in Euro 2012 despite the ball having crossed the line.
Blatter insisted however that there would be no move to introduce any video replays or other technology to rule on other decisions such as offsides, fouls or diving. He said: "Other than the goal-line technology, football must preserve its human face."
FA chairman David Bernstein also hailed the decision, saying: "I think it is a momentous day and I'm proud to have been part of this decision-making."
Source: www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
London Shard looms over the capital - Reuters UK
LONDON |
LONDON (Reuters) - Rising like a gleaming splinter of glass into a grey sky, London's tallest building is designed to mirror a dynamic city living ahead of its time.
But for Londoners dwelling in its shadow, the futuristic new skyscraper known as the Shard is more a reflection of their own unease at the city's fast-changing and confusing identity.
Still an empty shell and yet to secure any office tenants, the giant Qatari-funded spire, the highest in western Europe, also stands as a powerful symbol of tough and unpredictable economic times.
Towering 310 metres (1,016 feet) over the south bank of the River Thames, the Shard already dominates London like no other building, its spire sometimes obscured by cloud in the British capital's often overcast skies.
The 95-storey Shard, so called because of its resemblance to a gigantic glass splinter, has yet to be finished but this week marks the completion of its physical exterior. A delegation of Qatar royals has flown in to oversee the coming of age of their 1.5 billion pound creation.
London's skyscrapers are modest compared with those of other financial centres in the Americas, Middle East and Asia. Even the Shard remains lower than New York's Empire State Building, completed more than 80 years ago, and it falls well short of half the height of the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai.
Moscow's Federation Tower, like the Shard not yet finished, will be the highest in Europe at 360 metres.
But once completed next year, the Shard will boast some of Europe's highest and most expensive flats, their bedrooms and kitchens offering views over a skyline where facades of bygone eras sit alongside the steel and chrome of a new London.
The squalor and extreme poverty of Victorian London, described by novelist Charles Dickens 150 years ago, are long gone. Yet the Shard stands close to some of the city's most deprived areas where unemployment and crime remain rife as Britain endures its second recession of the financial crisis.
For some Londoners, its hulking mass next to London Bridge railway station is intimidating, with many scoffing at its flashiness as an example of wasteful spending at a time of economic and social uncertainty.
"There is nothing for local people in it. Some of the apartments at the top are going to sell for millions of pounds in an area where there is a lot of poverty," said Lee, an office worker in her fifties who lives near the Shard.
"I can see it from everywhere. The best time is when it's raining and the mist goes right all the way up and covers it, and you can't see it. That's the best time."
Rouhman Choudhury, who helps to run local council housing estates, agreed. "It's just monstrous," he said, pointing at the Shard's silhouette looming over a collection of rundown buildings.
"There are similar situations in other parts of London too where you have council estates with poverty and high unemployment. This doesn't seem to help the community in any way. We don't even know what's inside."
British media have given it a chilly welcome, with some calling it an example of the new "oligarchitecture" dominating London. Others see it simply an as eyesore, saying it has ruined views over the mediaeval Tower of London and Baroque St Paul's Cathedral which once dominated the skyline.
"The skyscraper both encapsulates and extends the ways in which London is becoming more unequal and dangerously dependent on hot money," the left-leaning Guardian daily wrote on June 25.
"So, the Shard: it's expensive. It's off-limits. It's largely owned by people who don't live here. And it is the perfect metaphor for what our capital is becoming."
EMPTY SHELL
Designed by Italian Renzo Piano, the Shard is expected to draw rich customers from all over the world but so far it has signed only one pre-let deal with the five-star Shangri-La Hotel and spa.
Insiders shrug off concerns about finding tenants during the recession. " They are in talks. But nothing has been signed yet," said a person with knowledge of negotiations. "On tenants you will start hearing any time now, onwards."
Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said the political and economic uncertainty arising from the Arab Spring and the euro zone crisis had driven up foreign interest in investing in prime London property.
"Everybody with money to spend wants to be in London ... If you're a sovereign wealth fund with lots of gas money, you can afford not to require a return next year or the year after," she said. "People either love it or hate it, but I don't see why you shouldn't have iconic skyscrapers in London just because we have lots of lower-rise historic buildings."
Curiously, a January report by Barclays Capital pointed to a correlation between new skyscrapers and hard financial times, saying construction of the Empire State Building and some other landmarks coincided with economic crises.
But some people are more positive. Ken Shuttleworth, an architect and mastermind behind another striking London skyscraper known as the Gherkin, said that the British capital, like any other city, had to evolve. "It's not a museum, it's basically a living, working organism," he said.
Shuttleworth drew comparisons between London and the French capital where almost all skyscrapers stand outside the historic centre, including the Defense financial district.
"You can't say it's got to be like it used be in mediaeval times because that's not feasible. Otherwise you end up with Paris, where nothing really happens in middle of Paris and everyone has to go and work out in La Defense," he said.
But what would Dickens say? "I think he would be astonished. Absolutely astonished," said Shuttleworth. "I'm sure if he was here, he'd write a book about the Shard."
(Additional reporting by Alessandra Prentice; writing by Maria Golovnina; editing by David Stamp and Ralph Boulton)
Source: uk.reuters.com
Wimbledon 2012: Andy Murray v Jo-Wilfried Tsonga analysis - BBC News
Andy Murray is into the Wimbledon semi-finals for a fourth straight year, but on this occasion it will not be Rafael Nadal standing in his way.
Andy Murray column
"Moments like these are what you live for as a professional sportsman and while the pressure and expectation are now huge, I wouldn't want it any other way. I'm incredibly excited."
Nadal's shock elimination opened the door for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and the Frenchman has capitalised to seal a last-four meeting with Murray.
The Scot leads their head-to-head 5-1, including wins in the 2010 Wimbledon quarters and the 2011 final at Queen's club.
But the spectacular Tsonga was runner-up at the 2008 Australian Open and stunned Roger Federer here last year.
BBC Sport analyses whether Murray can become the first British man since Bunny Austin in 1938 to reach the Wimbledon final.
Andy Murray, fourth seed
Tsonga relishing 'huge' Murray match
"Jo's a tough opponent. He's served very well so far this tournament. It's a very different match to playing against Rafa, but he's one of the best grass-court players in the world.
"Having played Jo quite a lot of times in the seven years I've been on the tour, I know him well and I'll draw from that experience.
"Rather than focusing on it being the semi-finals of Wimbledon, I need to focus on it being a match against Jo, what I do well against him and what's worked against him in the past."
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, fifth seed
"It is going to be a big fight and I have to be ready. Almost all the crowd will be with him - it will be madness.
"But I have nothing to lose and the pressure will be on him. We're at a new stage of the tournament and I'll try to play it with a light heart."
Boris Becker, three-time Wimbledon champion
"Tsonga will try to rattle Murray with his big serve and power game. He is the more dangerous player, but Murray is more consistent, better from the baseline and has a very good return of serve.
Murray’s returns are his major strength. He has faced some big servers so far and likes to give himself time behind the baseline to gain every chance of getting the ball back in play. He takes a huge stride inside the baseline when facing second serves, and leads the tournament in second-serve return points won.
"Meet Tsonga on a good day, when his big first serve is working well, and he can hit you off the court. The question is, will it be working well?
"Murray has started quite slowly in every match so far and it could be dangerous for him to give Tsonga a head start. David Ferrer served for a two-set lead against him, and if Tsonga has chance he will take that.
"It all depends on when the Murray return kicks in and when his groundstrokes start to find their target - the sooner the better.
"He's under a lot of pressure here but mentally he has impressed me. He's had some ups and downs on the court, especially against Marcos Baghdatis, but we haven't seen him getting emotional.
"When Murray has really needed to turn it on, he's found a way to do it. The stars are looking good and you'd rather play Tsonga than Nadal in the semis, but the truth lays on the court.
"Be brave. You don't get many chances to reach the Wimbledon final. If you play with belief and courage, you have a great chance."
John Lloyd, former British number one
Performing better on the big points is an area in which Tsonga has excelled. This graphic shows where he has been serving in such situations. The Frenchman has won 25 of 29 break points faced by varying his serve to both the advantage and deuce courts.
"At the start of the fortnight, you'd have said Tsonga was the only player outside the big four realistically capable of of winning the event.
"He's dangerous - the sort of player who's going to be very explosive at the beginning and take the match to Murray.
"But as long as Andy stays with him, he's got the sort of game that will manoeuvre Tsonga around enough and always make him play one more ball.
"While Tsonga is a great talent, he's tended to falter because over five sets he makes a few too many errors on crucial points.
"Murray likes playing people who have a high error rate and, mentally, he's just not as strong as the other leading players.
"It's vital Murray serves well, which he's been doing throughout, and stays patient because there could be periods where he's being dictated to, when Tsonga goes on a winning barrage.
"At that stage, he must try to force Tsonga to go for winners from places where he doesn't want to go for them - keep him pegged back in corners until he gets frustrated and starts missing.
"If it was the best of three sets then it would tough to call. But in the best of five, Murray will be too good for him."
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
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