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Sports Shorts: Winning trumps style for pragmatic Brazilians
Winning the World Cup for a sixth time matters more to Brazil than putting on a display of the "beautiful game", Brazil technical director Carlos Alberto Parreira said on Friday.
Parreira, who coached Brazil to the World Cup in 1994, said Brazilians loved what he called "fancy football" and dribbling but it was not always possible to turn on the style.
"We want to play good football," he said.
"In the end, what really counts is to win the World Cup. The way you do it doesn't matter really," he added.
Parreira's Brazil team ultimately had to grind their way to victory in that 1994 tournament, winning the final on penalties after a 0-0 draw with Italy.
Midfielder Paulinho echoed his thoughts.
"If we need to play ugly to win a match, we are going to do that," said Paulinho, who was speaking at an event in southern England.
Parreira played down fears that the World Cup in Brazil could be marred by anti-government protests or poor organisation that could pose problems for travelling fans.
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Heena wins silver
World No 2 air pistol shooter Heena Sidhu continued her impressive form as she clinched a silver medal at the ISSF World Cup in Fort Benning, USA, the feat taking her closer to the numero uno spot in her event.
The 24-year-old shooter from Ludhiana shot an impressive 386 with rounds of 98, 96, 96, 96. Heena shot a good 200.8 in the finals to clinch the silver. She now has the maximum medals in a World Cup by any Indian pistol shooter.
This was Heena's third successive medal at the international stage, the first having come in the ISSF World Cup Final at Munich last November when she made the final world record followed by the Asian Airgun Championships in Kuwait last month. Heena shot 203.8 in Munich.
London Olympics bronze medallist Gagan Narang missed the finals by 1.5 points in men's air rifle, which brought him to sixth. His qualification score was 622.4.
Bhullar, Lahiri win; Asia fightback to tie with Europe
Gaganjeet Bhullar and Anirban Lahiri played inspirational golf and won their respective matches as Team Asia produced a dramatic 10-10 tie against Europe in the inaugural EurAsia Cup, in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.
Bhullar outplayed Europe's upcoming star and World No. 66 Thorbjorn Olesen 4 and 3 while Lahiri won his second point of the event, edging aside World No 23 Victor Dubuisson the second highest world ranked player in the rival team 2 and 1.
The Asians came back from 0-5 on the first day and 3-7 on the second day, winning six of the 10 singles, losing just two and halving the other two for a 7-3 verdict in singles. That led to a 10-10 result, bringing in memories of Europe's own comeback from four points against United States at the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah.
Lahiri, draped in an Indian tricolour on the 18th while waiting for the final pair to come, won two points for Asia.
Mourinho hits out again at referee Foy
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has again criticised referee Chris Foy, despite facing a charge of improper conduct by the FA following his comments about the official after the 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa earlier this month.
The Portuguese, who will contest the charge, was sent to the stands for encroaching on the turf and approaching the match referee at the end of the match on March 15.
Mourinho had been angered after Foy showed Chelsea's Brazilian midfielder Ramires a straight red card for a stamp on Villa's Moroccan international Karim El Ahmadi.
The manager said after the match that Foy, who also sent off Brazilian Willian, should not be allowed to take charge of any more Chelsea matches.
On Friday, Mourinho fanned the flames by stating he could "never accept" Foy's performance.
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Rejuvenated Schalke move up to second spot
Schalke 04's Chinedu Obasi scored and set up a goal for Klaas-Jan Huntelaar in a 2-0 win over Hertha Berlin that took them up a place to second in the Bundesliga after the eighth win in their last nine home games.
Nigerian Obasi, replacing the injured Jefferson Farfan on the right wing, made the most of a rare start this season to lift Schalke to 54 points, two ahead of Borussia Dortmund who travel to relegation-threatened VfB Stuttgart on Saturday.
"I'm so happy for the team to have gone on such a good run," Schalke coach Jens Keller told reporters. "It's impressive. What we have achieved is outstanding and if we manage to get third place then we will have played a superb season."
Schalke, who have lost once - against Bayern Munich - in their last 13 league games as they chase a Champions League qualifying place, went in front after 16 minutes when Obasi shook off two markers and rounded the keeper to score.
Schalke, who also hit the woodwork in the first half, looked the livelier side despite missing 10 players through injury.
Netherlands striker Huntelaar notched his 11th goal in 13 league matches this term seconds after the restart by drilling in a low shot having been sent through by Nigeria forward Obasi.
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Eat, rest, travel, play: Atletico's season-end focus
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone is thinking about nothing else apart from four basic tasks as the La Liga leaders prepare for their remaining eight matches of the campaign, the Argentine said on Friday.
"I am focused only on what we have to do, which is eat, rest, travel and play," Simeone told a news conference ahead of Atletico's match at fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.
"We are approaching each game as if it is a final because it's the only way we will get close to close to the goal we set ourselves at the start of the season," added the 43-year-old, who was an Atletico player the last time they won La Liga in 1996.
Simeone has transformed the team since taking over at the end of 2011 and they are tantalisingly close to causing a huge upset in a league that has been increasingly dominated by Real Madrid and Barcelona over the past decade.
Atletico, who have about a fifth of the resources of their wealthier rivals, have 73 points, with champions Barca, chasing a fifth title in six years, in second on 72 and Real third on 70 after two successive defeats.
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