In front of a sell-out crowd at Giants Stadium, the United States and Argentina played one of the most thrilling 0-0 draws one could ever witness. And only the heroics of goalkeeper Tim Howard kept the U.S. in the game, while the crossbar saved the Argentines.

First Half

As thundershowers sporadically cooled off the 78,682 fans sweating on a blistering hot day in New Jersey, both teams came out looking for a result. Julio Cruz and Sergio Aguero nearly created a goal in the 5th minute. Aguero loosed Cruz in behind the defense on the left side, and Howard had to be sharp to save his fiery shot. The rebound fell back to the Inter striker, but Howard swatted away his second attempt, as well.

Clint Dempsey (USA), Lionel Messi (Arg), USA v. Argentina, June 2008 (ISI)

Cruz again came close in the 28th minute, running on to a Lionel Messi throughball. Alone on goal, Cruz was again stymied by Howard, who slid to make the save.

Just before the break, the U.S. had its best chance of the first 45. Clint Dempsey swung a cross in from the right side, and Eddie Johnson rose to meet it with his head. His shot had some pepper, but it went straight into Roberto Abbondanzieri's hands.

A minute later, still before the whistle, Messi played Cruz in alone again, and Howard stuffed him one more time. Something had to chance in the second half, or eventually Howard would break.

Second Half

That something came soon after the restart. The U.S. had a new urgency about them. And almost immediately, took the initiative. Landon Donovan's corner kick from the left side was met by Oguchi Onyewu's head, but the powerful shot caromed tantalizingly off the cross bar.

U.S. keeper Tim Howard is catch of the day with Argentines buzzing around his goal all night at Giants Stadium as Americans earn draw with world's top-ranked team.

Being outplayed now, the Argentines resorted to fouling, and the Americans gave it right back. In the 60th minute, U.S. midfielder Pablo Mastroeni, most famous for his red card against Italy in the 2006 World Cup, was shown a second yellow for unsporting behavior and sent early to the showers.

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By Mike Costello

This is a lad that in Jamaica has been talked about as a freak and as a one-off.

I went to see him in 2004 in the build-up to the Athens Olympics and Jamaican athletics followers were already very giddy about him.

In the run-up to those games he had broken the world junior record and two years before that in Kingston, Jamaica he sent the stadium into a frenzy by winning the world junior title over 200m aged just 15.

When I spoke to him in 2004 he was one of the young up-and-coming stars. He was incredibly shy at that stage and I remember talking to coaches and journalists and the general feeling was that he was a Bambi-like figure who was struggling to come terms with his own body.

He was 6ft 5ins tall and gangly. He ran with an ungainly style at that stage but still managed to break the world junior record.

In Athens he was already touted as one of the best junior athletes the world had ever seen. Yet, I remember vividly when he was sitting on his lane marker and waiting for his name to be announced - it was almost as if his eyeballs were about to pop out of their sockets and his legs were trembling.

Clearly, the whole Olympic aura had got to him and he was eliminated in the first round.

I remember one coach saying to me "wait until this lad really learns how to race", and it appears as though that time has come.

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By Adam Lake

A campaign is being launched to help stamp out homophobia in British football.

Justin is a campaign against homophobia in football that aims to, "vindicate the memory of Justin Fashanu, the world’s first openly gay professional footballer."

Justin will be launched on 4 May 2008, two days after the tenth anniversary of Justin Fashanu’s death.

It will take place at in Brighton at 5pm after the Stonewall Equality Walk.

Speakers include gay rights activist Peter Tatchell and Justin co-founder Jason Hall.

A spokesperson for the campaign said:

"The FA, in conjunction with Stonewall and the GFSN, are fighting anti-gay prejudice on the terraces, looking to stamp out the kind of chants that haunted Justin,

"But ten years after his death, which the football world refused to mark, there are still no openly gay professional players or managers."

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Documentary leaves some in and out of focus

by Harold Bell

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- ESPN’s airing of “Black Magic” chronicling the rich history of black basketball in America was a buzzer-beating jump shot to win and a controversial foul call at the end the game to lose.

The four-hour, two-part television show carried black basketball from the playgrounds, high schools, colleges and on to its final destination -- the NBA. This brought full circle the hopes and dreams of most black athletes, a life in the fast lane of professional sports.

For some it was their only way out.

The show’s title, “Black Magic” was the footprints in the sand of the man who revolutionized offensive guard play in basketball -- Earl Monroe. He is also a part-time magician. I found the show to be enlightening and educational even though I lived most of it.

I was a student/athlete and played football and basketball for the legendary Clarence “Bighouse” Gaines at Winston-Salem State. During my era (59-63) I was the only athlete under 6-foot-5 he permitted to play two sports.

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Black Magic:Basketball: ESPN  
The ESPN documentary chronicles great players in a tough game of race and basketball.

 

Former athlete Colin Jackson has denied he is gay and has spoken out about the constant speculation over his sexuality.

Colin Jackson, with Strictly Come Dancing partner Erica Boag, denies he's gay

The Welsh ex-hurdler, who is an ambassador for the London 2012 Olympics, admitted knowing there are rumours about whether he is homosexual, but said it “doesn't make any difference to me”.

He said his ideal woman was Hollywood actress Halle Berry, but confirmed he is happily single and will remain so for the foreseeable future.

Asked by the Voice newspaper how he feels about people thinking he is gay, he said: “I don't mind having people say what they like in that circumstance.

"I know that I am not but I don't think it's for me to be going round screaming it from the rooftops.

“I think it's just rubbish. It makes no real sense to me. It's quite strange and bizarre but people say what they say.”

He added: “How does the speculation make me feel? It doesn't make any difference to me. Why should it make a difference to me?

"It's only people who don't know you who say things like that — not people who do know you. They are not in my life at all, so it makes no difference to me.”

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By Tony Grew

One of the UK's leading gay rugby union teams are celebrating after it was announced that they will host next year's European tournament.

London's Kings Cross Steelers will be defending their title as 2007 European Champions, which they won in Copenhagen last year.

The 2009 tournament's host venue will be West Ham FC's home ground.

Rugby teams from across Europe will compete for the biennial championship title between May 22nd and 23rd next year.

Steelers Events Manager Neil Pyper said:

"We are absolutely delighted that London will be hosting the next Union Cup.

"As the world's first gay rugby team, now in our 13th year, we are eager to encourage new and experienced teams alike, and look forward to inviting more than seventeen European gay rugby teams to come to our great city next year."

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone supported the Kings Cross Steelers bid and sent the following statement of support:

"I congratulate the Kings Cross Steelers on bringing the Union Cup 2009 to London.

"The tournament will provide a significant platform to introduce rugby and lesbian and gay sport to new audiences and boost London's sporting and cultural profile across the UK and Europe."

The first gay rugby Union Cup took place in 2005 in Montpellier, France.

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England rugby union player Ben Cohen has spoken out about the absence of any openly gay players in the sport.

Cohen, 29, who has a following in the gay community and has appeared at events in gay venues, last year moved to French club Brive after 11 years at Northampton Saints.

Rugby star - Ben Cohen

Speaking to OutSports.com the winger said that in his opinion it "would be fine" for a rugby player to come out as gay.

"Most rugby players are cool about it and think that people should be allowed to live their lives how they want to, but I can't speak for everyone," he said.

"The key thing is the individual needs to be able to take the pressure of top-level rugby and the knowledge that his team mates know he is gay.

"I don't know for sure, but my feelings are that if he were completely open about it, after the first bit of banter, things would calm down."

Cohen, who is married, told the website that he is planning a night for gay fans in London in March and to his knowledge he has never played with anyone who is gay.

Despite Cohen's positive comments, there are no openly gay men in professional rugby or football in the UK.

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Warne and sundry Australian players were caught out last Sunday night at Melbourne's appropriately named Love Machine in Prahran.

Baggy-greeners Brett Lee, Michael Clarke, Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds were among the players who hit the regular patrons for a six when they strolled to the crease shortly after midnight.

Several "maidens" were reportedly bowled over by the sporting superstars' presence in the club's VIP lounge.

"I didn't realise it was a gay night," Warne was heard joking, according to the Herald Sun newspaper.

However, the players seemed unfazed playing on unfamiliar grounds, with Lee, Clarke and Symonds all chalking up innings of around five hours each.

They were joined for the duration by Warne's "best friend", former St Kilda and Carlton footballer Aaron Hamill.

While the players seemed to enjoy their time out, they declined to be photographed.

The Herald Sun reported the gathering was a "reunion" for Warne, who went to school with Love Machine club ambassador Warwick Joseph.

"It was great to catch up after all these years," Joseph said.

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Melbourne: Hours after the five-wicket loss to India in the ongoing tri-series, some of Australia's top cricketers let their hair down in a reunion party thrown by spin legend Shane Warne at a "gay-friendly" nightclub here.

The bash was held on Sunday night after the world champions were outplayed by India in the fourth one-dayer of the tri-series, also involving Sri Lanka.

According to a report in the Daily Telegraph, those who attended the party included pace spearhead Brett Lee, retiring stumper Adam Gilchrist, Michael Clarke and Andrew Symonds.

The group reportedly left only in the wee hours of Monday. "I didn't realise it was a gay night," Warne reportedly told the cricketers when they arrived at the "gay-friendly" Love Machine here.

Playing a protective host, Warne did not allow any photographs of the party. The star cricketers were also joined by Warne's childhood friend Warwick Joseph, who is the pub's ambassador.

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ACCRA (AFP) — Egypt retained their African Nations Cup crown here Sunday when Mohamed Aboutraika scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Cameroon which also delivered a record sixth title.

The defending champions ensured they held on to the trophy when, after a slick passing movement, Aboutraika struck in the 77th minute for a deserved success.

"We are delighted to win. It's a great achievement," said the Al Ahly star who recalled that it was he who had converted the winning penalty that beat Ivory Coast two years ago in Cairo.

"Don't forget in 2006 I got the last penalty that won us our first title, and now today I score again to win the second one.

"Now we have to make sure that we keep this form going into the World Cup qualifiers.

"It's one of the greatest days of my life. It's up there with winning the African Champions League."

Egypt's assistant coach Shawki Gharib, who first won the title as a player in 1986, added: "I'm thrilled to make history twice for my country, first as a player, second as coach, and to make all our people happy."

Cameroon's Geremi, whose long range freekicks troubled the Egyptians, said: "Like any player I don't like to lose, especially in the final, but the positive thing is we made it to the final, many people weren't giving us much of a chance."

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By Ralph Vacchiano GLENDALE, Ariz.

The imperfect Giants pulled off the perfect upset Sunday night.

In what will go down as one of the biggest shockers in the history of the NFL, the surprising Giants ended one of their wildest seasons ever by stopping the New England Patriots' quest to make history of their own. They beat the previously undefeated Pats, 17-14, in Super Bowl XLII, to win their first NFL championship in 17 years and third overall.

The Giants backed up a week of tough talk and guarantees with a dominating defense that spent much of the night pounding NFL MVP Tom Brady into the University of Phoenix Stadium turf. That gave just enough room to Eli Manning to punctuate his breakout season with a Super Bowl MVP performace that featured his sixth fourth-quarter comeback of his remarkable year.

In fact, he had to come back twice. And the finale was a heart-stopping drive that was the perfect ending to this heart-stopping season. In what will go down as one of the greatest Super Bowl highlights ever, Manning escaped a seeming sack and completed a 32-yard pass to little-used receiver David Tyree - who outfought Rodney Harrison for the ball and balanced it on his helmet and kept it from hitting the ground at the Patriots' 24. Then, on another third down, there was a big 12-yard catch at the sideline from rookie Steve Smith at the 13.

And the finale was a 13-yard pass to Plaxico Burress, who had been the center of a firestorm all week long after he guaranteed the Giants' would win. He backed up his words by backing off Patriots cornerback Ellis Hobbs and catching the touchdown pass that finally put the Patriots' dynasty to rest.

"It's the greatest feeling in professional sports," said Burress. "For us to come out and win the world championship, nobody gave us a shot . . . we never got down on ourselves. We had to make plays, and we made it.

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By Tony Moss, NFL Editor & Scott Garbarini, Associate NFL Editor

(Sports Network) - The New England Patriots stand 60 minutes from the first 19-0 season in NFL history, with the New York Giants, their Super Bowl XLII counterpart, seeking to ruin that run at perfection with a monumental upset on Sunday.

University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ will be the site of the conflict, which takes place roughly five weeks after the Patriots and Giants engaged in a memorable affair at the Meadowlands in Week 17 of the regular season.

New York took New England to the wire in that contest, building a double-digit second-half lead before falling, 38-35. The result made the Patriots the first team to finish 16-0 since the NFL schedule was expanded in 1978, and Bill Belichick's squad also became the first to achieve perfection in a regular campaign since the 1972 Miami Dolphins went 14-0 en route to a Super Bowl title.

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By Vinnie Iyer

PHOENIX -- After seeing the hype slowly build for Super Bowl 42 since my arrival on Monday, it seems things have reached a bit of a lull before the New England Patriots and New York Giants finally kick things off in an actual football game tomorrow.

I've seen many corporate logos -- from minor to major -- and sports/entertainment celebrities -- from minor to major -- but I haven't forgotten that this week should be about two great teams playing in a great American game.

Through all the Super madness, there are 12 excellent reasons why the 42nd edition of the greatest American sports event will be the best ever:

1. The Patriots' potential place in history. Forget the 1972 Dolphins. We're talking Secretariat. Or Rocky Marciano. There's a chance to watch the most impressive single-season team in modern American sports complete a perfect run in an era and in a league known for parity. If you're still watching "just for the commercials," what the heck are you thinking?

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By Ross Forman

John Amaechi was walking through Orlando International Airport last February, within days after announcing to the world that he was gay. An African-American airport employee spotted Amaechi and started staring. He was about 20 years old and started walking toward Amaechi, who admittedly was nervous about the pending confrontation.

The youngster reached out to shake hands with Amaechi. He then simply said, “I respect what you did,” and walked away.

“There have been so many, many more lovely and surprising interactions like that,” since coming out and becoming the first current or former National Basketball Association ( NBA ) player to reveal publicly that he is gay, Amaechi said.

Amaechi's coming-out not only was the biggest LGBT sports stories of 2007, but one of the biggest LGBT stories overall.

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Superstar Didier Drogba scored the opening goal as Ivory Coast overwhelmed Benin 4-1 Friday in a 2008 African Nations Cup Group B match.

Yaya Toure, Abdelkader Keita and Aruna Dindane were also on target as the Ivorian 'Elephants' justified media predictions of a mismatch by putting the Beninois 'Squirrels' to flight after leading 2-0 at half-time.

Sweden-based Razack Omotoyossi scored a stoppage-time consolation goal at Essipong Stadium in this south-western town.

Victory maintained the 100-percent record of the Ivorians after a 1-0 win over Nigeria last Monday and they will become the first qualifiers for the quarter-finals if the 'Super Eagles' fail to defeat Mali later.

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By Aliou Goloko
Accra

Cameroon's Indomitable Lions on Saturday displayed their conquering spirit with a 5-1 win against Zambia

It was a win that came at no small price, as coach Otto Pfitser brought back only half the team that lost 2-4 in Group C's opening day against defending champions Egypt. In the other Group C match on Saturday, Egypt pocketed their second straight win with a 3-0 victory over Sudan.

 

The Pharaohs are now guaranteed to move to the quarterfinals, while Cameroon's chances will depend on the outcome of their next game, against Sudan.

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TAMALE, Ghana - Angola and Tunisia improved their chances of qualifying for the quarter-finals of the African Cup of Nations when each earned 3-1 wins on Sunday.

Angola rallied to beat Senegal, while 2004 champion Tunisia easily beat South Africa.

"We had no concentration, they deserved their victory," South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said. "There is a mathematical possibility (for us) to get through but we know a draw between Tunisia and Angola will qualify (them)."

Abdoulaye Faye gave Senegal a 20th-minute lead on a powerful header after Souleymane Diawara extended El Hadji Diouf's free kick toward goal.

Manucho, who is awaiting a work permit before joining English Premier League champion Manchester United, equalized for Angola in the 50th off Nsimba Baptista's cross.

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The NHL's African American star

Jarome Iginla is a professional ice hockey player in the National Hockey League (NHL) and currently captain of the Calgary Flames. He was born July 1, 1977 in Edmonton, Alberta.

His surname Iginla means "Big Tree" in Yorùbá, his father's native language. His parents separated when he was a baby, and he was raised by his mother and grandparents in the Edmonton suburb of St. Albert. Jarome has a half-sister, Theresa who is a standout forward for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. The youngster's first love was baseball (he was the catcher on the Canadian National Junior team), but also starred in the St. Albert Minor Hockey Association before graduating to juniors.

He played goaltender in his first two years of organized hockey, then switched to the right wing, and developed a knack for scoring. Iginla played his entire minor hockey career in St. Albert, which included stints with the Bantam AAA Sabres and the Midget AAA Raiders. It was during the 1992-93 season with the Raiders that Iginla, then an under-age midget player, scored 87 points to lead the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey league (AMHL) in scoring. Following this season Iginla joined the Kamloops Blazers as a 16 year old.

Iginla played 3 seasons in the Western Hockey League and won two Memorial Cups with the Kamloops Blazers. He was picked in the first round (11th overall) by the Dallas Stars in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, then traded with Corey Millen to the Flames for Joe Nieuwendyk. Iginla's best season was 2001-02 when he had 96 points and 52 goals, becoming the first player of African descent in history to win the regular season goal and point scoring titles. He also won the Lester B. Pearson Award as the league's best player as voted by his peers, and was a nominee for both the Hart Trophy (narrowly beaten by then-Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jose Theodore) and the King Clancy Memorial Trophy. Iginla was also a key member of Canada's Olympic gold medal-winning hockey team in 2002. This season elevated him to superstar status and he became a fan favourite. Jarome is widely regarded as one of the best players in the league today.

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By Mark Spector

This has always been the great black city. The population is more than 60% African American, and even today, the seeds sewn by Atlanta native Martin Luther King are seen everywhere.

So it was the perfect place Friday for a luncheon commemorating the 50th anniversary of Willie O'Ree's arrival as the first black man to play in the National Hockey League.

Whoopi Goldberg sent a video tribute. Giant posters of Jarome Iginla, Mike Grier, Georges Laraque, Tony McKegney, Grant Fuhr, Ray Emery and Kevin Weekes served as a backdrop for National Hockey League's very public wooing of its largest, untapped demographic in the United States. Here yesterday, they celebrated the Colored Hockey League of Nova Scotia, where families who escaped slavery in the south on the Underground Railroad played hockey, one of Canadian history's more poorly recorded facts.

"It's kind of ironic this year that we are in Atlanta, the whole slavery connection and everything," mused McKegney, a Sarnia native whose skills were so superior, people were forced to forget the colour of his skin. "It would have been interesting to know what it would have been like if you were average."

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The first match of the African cup was on the 10th of February 1957 in Khartoum Stadium in Sudan. The first match was between Egypt and Sudan and Egypt won 2-1 to meet Ethiopia in the final. The very first goal in the cup was scored by Raafat the Egyptian player after 21 minutes of the start of the game.

However the idea of the cup goes back to 1956 when Abdel Aziz Abdallah Salem and Mohamed Latif from Egypt, Abdel Halim Shaddaad, Badawy Mohamed and Abdelhalim Mohamed from Sudan, and Fred Will from South Africa met in Avenida hotel in Portugal, to discuss the idea of construction of an African union for football and a championship in which all countries of the continent would compete. The first tournament was supposed to include four teams only: Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and South Africa which was eliminated because of the discrimination they practiced against blacks. The tournament didn’t have any qualifying matches to advance and play in the finals.
 
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