Football: India ready to take on B’desh
Margao: National football coach Wim Koevermans said, on Monday, that the Indian team will give a tough fight to Bangladesh in a friendly match scheduled to be played here on Wednesday. “The boys are in good shape and there is no injury problem. Bangladesh are tough opponents and we respect them and expect a close fight,” Koevermans said. “We played against them (Bangladesh) in SAFF Cup Championship last year in Nepal and drew against them. They scored the first goal and we found the equaliser in the dying minutes. Now they will come hard on us to take revenge but we will try our best to win the match to lift the morale of the team,” he added. Koevermans joined the team in an ongoing practise session here, while key players like Sunil Chhetri and Robin Singh, who arrived last evening from Shillong, joined the session on the second day on Monday. (PTI)
Loew issues warning on Germany
BERLIN: Germany have a formidable-looking team on paper but the reality is different with injuries and poor form plaguing the team, coach Joachim Loew said on Monday. “It looks on paper that we have a top team with individuals. But the reality at the moment does not look so good,” Loew told reporters in Stuttgart. “Some players have been injured for months, others lack match fitness and there are some players who are battling to find their form. It’s fundamental that we have completely fit players,” added Loew, whose side host Chile in a friendly on Wednesday as their preparations for this year’s World Cup finals continue. “The clock is ticking. The players must do everything to get into top form. They must prime themselves individually, their training and their way of life.” Forwards Mario Gomez and Miroslav Klose, midfielders Sami Khedira, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Ilkay Gundogan and defenders Mats Hummels and Holger Badstuber have been hit by injuries over the last few months. Others such as Andre Schuerrle, Mesut Ozil and Benedikt Hoewedes are not in the best form for their clubs. (Reuters)
Hamilton on top on final day of F1 testing
SAKHIR: Formula One teams wrapped up pre-season testing in Bahrain on Sunday with Lewis Hamilton on top of the timesheets and his Mercedes team looking clear favourites for the opener in Australia on March 16. The 2008 world champion completed 70 laps of the Sakhir circuit and ended the final day with a time just 0.02 off the best lap of the week set by Brazilian Felipe Massa for Williams on Saturday. “This has definitely been the most challenging winter I’ve experienced and the car is still very much a work in progress,” said Hamilton, whose team did more laps than any other over the 12 days of testing in Spain and Bahrain. While Hamilton can head for Australia with his confidence high, champions Red Bull have plenty of catching up to do. Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel recorded his highest single day mileage of the pre-season period with 77 laps completed but was 4.190 seconds slower than Hamilton’s best time of one minute 33.278 seconds. (Reuters)