SPORTS 100625

Football first and in Day 14 – Group F action saw Champions Italy crashing out of the World Cup as they lost 3-2 to Slovakia.

Robert Vittek starred for Slovakia to put them through and a late double from Fabio Quagliarella and Antonio Di Natale was not enough for Italy.

In another Group F tie – Paraguay and New Zealand played out to a goalless draw.

The result means Paraguay top the group with Slovakia in second-place.

Paraguay will now play Group E’s Japan in the next stage next Tuesday in Pretoria.

The Japanese stunned Denmark with two outstanding free-kicks – beating them 3-1 in the process to advance.

Topping Group E however was Holland who managed to defeat Cameroon 2-1, and will now meet Slovakia in the Round-of-16 in Durban next Monday.
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The final four games in the Group stage of South Africa 2010 will take place later this evening.

At 10pm – Portugal will play against Brazil in Durban; and North Korea will take on The Ivory Coast at Nelspruit.

Later at 2:30am – Chile will face Spain in Pretoria; and Hondurus play Switzerland in Bloemfontein.
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In Tennis and at Wimbledon – Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had to dig deep to overcome rising star Alexandr Dolgopolov in a gruelling second-round clash.

The Ukrainian fought back after slipping two sets behind only for 10th seed Tsonga to edge the decider and complete a 6-4 6-4 6-7 5-7 10-8 victory.

Also stretched at the tournament was Rafael Nadal who survived a major scare against Robin Haase to progress into the third round with a 5-7 6-2 3-6 6-0 6-3 victory.
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Finally in Formula One – with the European Grand Prix practice sessions underway in Valencia – Mark Webber is anticipating another tricky weekend as Red Bull Racing look to end their points drought.

Following their one-two victories around Monaco last month, the past two grands prix since have hardly gone to plan for Webber and team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

After eight races – Lewis Hamilton leads the Driver’s standings with 109 points, followed closely by McLaren team-mate Jenson Button at 106, and Mark Webber sits in third with 103 points.
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