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in Gästbuch 19.12.2019 08:56von sakura698 • 690 Beiträge
MANAUS, Brazil -- With Cristiano Ronaldo on the field, a one-goal lead is never safe. Steve Cishek Jersey . The world player of the year rarely sparkled on a hot and humid night in the jungle, but his inch-perfect stoppage-time cross set up Varela for the equalizing goal Sunday in Portugals 2-2 draw against the United States at the World Cup. The Real Madrid winger, who has been playing despite a left knee injury, showed flashes of his best, but his impact was minimal until the final seconds of the match. He curled the ball in to a diving Varela, who headed past Tim Howard to give the Portuguese team a slim hope of advancing to the second round and deny the Americans instant advancement. "He made a great cross," said Howard, Ronaldos former teammate from their days at Manchester United. "Footballs cruel sometimes." The United States now has four points in Group G, the same as Germany. Both Portugal and Ghana have one point. The Americans will face Germany on Thursday in Recife, while Portugal takes on Ghana at the same time in Brasilia. "Obviously were disappointed, but at the end of the day youve got to look at the positives, we got a point," said United States captain Clint Dempsey, who scored to give the Americans a 2-1 lead in the 81st. "Its going down to the last game and hopefully we get the job done." Nani scored first for Portugal, shooting past a sprawling Howard in the fifth minute. But the Americans responded in the second half as Portugal seemed to wilt in the stifling heat. Jermaine Jones made it 1-1 with a curling shot in the 64th after a cross from Graham Zusi made its way through the Portugal defence. And Dempsey, playing with a broken nose, then put the Americans ahead, using his stomach to direct the ball into the net from a cross by Zusi. "Now we have to go out and beat Germany, thats what we have to do," U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. "We have to play Germany, we have one less day to recover, we played in the Amazon, they played on a place with less travel. We have to do it the tough way." Dempseys goal was his fourth at a World Cup and second at this years tournament. Jones scored his third goal for the United States national team and first in almost two years. It was all Portugal for much of the first half, with Ronaldo in the starting lineup but getting less involved as the match progressed. The Americans, however, started to get more and more chances and even had a shot from Michael Bradley cleared off the line by Ricardo Costa in the 55th. "There didnt seem to be any problem with Cristiano Ronaldo," Portugal coach Paulo Bento said. "What happened during the game has something to do with our other players." The heat in the Amazon rainforest, however, seemed to slow the Portuguese as the match wore on. In the 39th minute, referee Nestor Pitana of Argentina called for a cooling break, the first such decision to be taken at this World Cup. At the start of the match, FIFA listed the temperature at 30 degrees C (86 degrees F) with 66 per cent humidity. FIFA uses the "Wet Bulb Globe Temperature" to determine when official cooling breaks should be added, and says the WGBT must be above 32 degrees C (90 degrees F) for them to be considered. The breaks are supposed to occur in the 30th and 75th minutes. There was no break in the second half, but that didnt stop Ronaldo from creating the final goal. "It was a thriller," Klinsmann said. "Everybody who had a chance to be today in Manaus will talk about this game for a long time." ------ Lineups United States: Tim Howard; Fabian Johnson, Geoff Cameron, Matt Besler, DaMarcus Beasley; Kyle Beckerman, Jermaine Jones, Alejandro Bedoya (DeAndre Yedlin, 72), Michael Bradley, Graham Zusi (Omar Gonzalez, 90); Clint Dempsey (Chris Wondolowski, 87). Portugal: Beto; Andre Almeida (William Carvalho, 46), Ricardo Costa, Bruno Alves, Joao Pereira; Miguel Veloso, Joao Moutinho, Raul Meireles (Varela, 69th), Nani, Cristiano Ronaldo; Helder Postiga (Eder, 16th). Willson Contreras Jersey . Watching them over the past year - and in some cases, two years - has given us a starting point for this seasons Craigs List. Rowan Wick Jersey .Y. - Lou Williams scored 21 points and the Toronto Raptors beat New York 81-76 on Monday night in the Knicks preseason home opener. http://www.customcubsjersey.com/custom-joe-pepitone-jersey-large-770n.html . In sunny and almost windless conditions, the Swede shot four consecutive birdies on the front nine on his way to a 68 and went 9 under for a one-shot lead over Englands Lee Slattery and two over Paraguays Farbrizio Zanotti (68).DALLAS – Standing behind the visitors bench at the American Airlines Center as his team was being pummeled, Randy Carlyle muttered under his breath some of the frustration and disappointment that goes hand in hand with such a thoroughly one-sided defeat. "It gets passed a point of mad and frustration," said Carlyle, bearing the look of a baffled head coach. "It just gets to a point of disappointment and what the heck is going on out there. Those are the things that bring you back to Earth in a hurry. "This is the thud." Toronto hadnt won seven straight in more than 10 years. Thumped 7-1 by Jamie Benn and the Stars in Big D on Thursday night, theyll have to wait at least a little longer to do it once more. The Stars exploded for four goals in an imbalanced middle frame – Benn with a pair of assists – wrestling complete control of a tilt that featured on a whole lot of ills from the visiting hockey club, including a host of turnovers and slew of lost battles. "We didnt really have anything going for a good part of the hockey game," said Carlyle. "We turned the puck over. We didnt make strong plays. We looked like we were a step behind the Dallas hockey club tonight. They skated and we didnt." Considering their recent string of success – the longest win streak by the club in more than seven years – the lacklustre effort seemed to come out of nowhere and was more in line with much of the disappointment and inconsistency that plagued the seasons first half. "It might help put us back down to even-keel here," said Tyler Bozak afterward. "We were pretty confident and maybe a little overconfident after that win streak we had." "Its the management of success as well as well as management when youre not having success of how to remain on an even-keel," Carlyle said. "Obviously we didnt do a very good job of that in our performance tonight." All the elements that flourished so prominently during the six-game win streak disappeared in a hurry. The goaltending had a rare off-night. The previously scorching top line was silent and burned often on the other end. And the power-play, so prominent in the past week and really all season, was a large negative, empty in three attempts with a shorthanded goal against. Blown out in Carolina two weeks ago to the day, the Leafs responded with some of their best hockey, eventually rallying with this most recent win streak. Theyll be looking for more of the same when they visit the suddenly resurgent Jets to conclude the road trip on Saturday. "Weve got to find a way to pick ourselves back up because we cant let this linger with our group," Carlyle concluded. Five Points 1. Rare Off-Night in Goal Between Jonathan Bernier and James Reimer, goaltending has been a strong point for the Leafs all season and more recently during the six-game win streak. But on this night that elite level of performance was nowhere to be found (though they lacked much help). Bernier was bounced for just the second time all season following the third Dallas goal – 13 shots – a redirected Benn point blast that snuck through the five-hole of the 25-year-old. He was replaced by Reimer, who fared no better, yielding four more goals on just 15 shots. "I think they fit in with the rest of our team," said Carlyle of the goaltenders. "Im not going to throw those guys [under the bus] any more than the rest of the group. We just didnt have anything going. We just didnt have it." Leaf goaltenders owned an impressive .932 save percentage during the six-game run, but were hammered for seven goals on 28 shots against the Stars. 2. Top Line Finally Silenced The trio of Phil Kessel, James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak combined for 12 goals and 25 points during the win streak, but they were completely silenced in Dallas. The line failed to generate much of anything against the Stars – combining for just four shots – while also being burned for four goals against on the other end. "We werent skating. We werent winning battles. We were getting outsmarted pretty much all over the ice," said Bozak. "Especially our line – we were terrible. They outplayed us in eevery facet of the game. Adbert Alzolay Jersey. Its just one that weve got to put behind us." Prior to the game, Carlyle described their recent success as more expectation than surprise. "Check the size of their pay cheque," said Carlyle with good humour. "Arent they supposed to do that? Thats what theyre paid to do. Thats the bottom line. The reality of it is they are paid to provide offence and I guess theyre doing their job." Kessels potent seven-game point streak was snapped in the loss. He had six goals and 14 points in that span, but was held to two shots on Thursday. 3. Lupul at LW After residing on the right wing for the better part of a month – mostly due to injuries – Joffrey Lupul has, in recent days, returned to his more comfortable left wing. Lupul spent the past three seasons on the left side, moved there at the request of former Leafs head coach Ron Wilson. Randy Carlyle noted Thursday morning that Lupul "seems to be much more comfortable on the left side than the right side". The reasons why, as explained by Lupul himself, start in the defensive zone. "Im better in my own zone for sure," he told the Leaf Report on Thursday morning. "I find it easier to get the puck out on the wall – which a lot of guys dont. I dont why necessarily I do, [but] I find it easier to protect the puck and play better in my own end." Additionally, the 29-year-old believes he is a more dynamic threat offensively streaking down his off-wing. "I think Im a much better passer off the left side," said Lupul. "[Playing there] just gives me a chance to use my body again to protect the puck whereas on the right wing I feel like Im kind of skating with the puck exposed and it can get knocked off a lot. And it just gives me a chance to buy myself that extra second, whether it be to shoot or to pass." 4. Wrong Direction Hes unquestionably been felled by some particularly rough outings from his teammates, but Reimers season has gradually turned in the wrong direction just as Bernier has clutched hold of the crease. The 25-year-old burst out of the gate with a .949 save percentage in October, but has trended downward ever since. Reimer has started three games in January, while stepping in for Bernier in two others, owning an unflattering .875 save mark in the opening month of 2014. Month Save Percentage October .949 November .916 December .909 January .875 5. Clarkson & Other Injury Updates Missing his fourth consecutive game with an elbow injury, David Clarkson isnt due to return to the Toronto lineup until next week. Clarkson had been playing with an infection in his elbow since December and required minor surgery last week to alleviate the issue. Frazer McLaren meanwhile, out the past five games with a bruised shoulder, was due to meet the team in Winnipeg on Friday. Trevor Smith, sidelined since the middle of December with a broken right hand, is expected to start skating with his teammates next week. Stats-Pack 4 – Goals scored against the Leafs top line on Thursday. 2 – Number of times in 32 starts that Jonathan Bernier has been pulled this season. 7-14-2 – Leafs record when failing to score the first goal. 2 – Number of games this season in which the Leafs have allowed seven goals. .750 – Save percentage for the goaltending duo of Bernier and Reimer against the Stars. 11-8-1 – Leafs record versus the Western Conference this season. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-3Season: 22.5% (4th) PK: 1-2Season: 77.5% (28th) Quote of the Night "This is the thud." -Randy Carlyle, on being brought back to Earth in Dallas. Up Next The Leafs conclude their four-game road trip in Winnipeg on Saturday night. ' ' '
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