By Inas Mazhar

Egypt striker Mohamed Zidan thinks his team's 4-2 win over Cameroon is proof they can successfully defend their Africa Cup of Nations title.

The Pharoahs struggled at times in qualification but their opening Group C win has given the squad a new belief.

"It's a game that we've been waiting a long time for, we are a strong team and we're coming here to defend our title," Zidan told BBC World Service.

"We want to show we are strong enough to win it a second time in a row."

The 26-year-old striker added: "We're giving everything we have, for our fans for our country, and I'm sure that we are going to reach the final."

Zidan scored two superb goals as Egypt outplayed Cameroon to take a firm grip on Group C.

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By Pauk Mbuga

Senegal 2 Tunisia 2

MEJDI Traoui produced a moment of emphatic genius to rescue Tunisia a point –– and put himself in the reckoning for Goal of the Tournament –– as the Carthage Eagles drew 2-2 with Senegal in Tamale last night.

Tunisia had been on the ropes for much of the second half, and looked done and dusted when Diomansy Kamara pounced in the 66th minute to give the marauding Lions of Teranga a 2-1 lead.

Issam Jomaa had given the Carthage Eagles a deserved ninth-minute lead as Senegal started the match in leaden-footed style, exposed for pace by the more intuitive Tunisians.

But the 2004 champions had not banked on an act of charity from their captain: on the stroke of halftume, Raidhi Jaidi committed himself to a sliding clearance but failed to inject the necessary momentum into the ball, and it fell onto the path of Moustapha Bayal, who finished with aplomb.

It was a weighty setback, and Senegal came back in the second-half much the stronger, wasting two gilt-edged chances after Kamara and Mamadou Niang saw their decision-making fail them when it was most crucial.

Kamara eventually scored, reacting sharply after a goalmouth melee to stab home, but Traoui still had one devastating swing of his boot stocked in reserve.

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By Ted Rybka

Each year at the NCAA Convention, coaches, athletic directors, students and faculty members gather to share information, address problems and figure out the best way to integrate academics and sports. Some of the housekeeping and logistical stuff can be incredibly boring (it probably takes at least four carafes of coffee per person to get through a bylaws committee meeting). But interesting topical issues of the day are tackled as well.

This year’s convention was held in Nashville, Jan. 10 to 14. Throughout the weekend there were symposiums on women of color in college athletics, hazing prevention, and scholarly approaches to intercollegiate sports.

On Saturday morning in Presidential Ballroom B, a gay-themed panel titled “Time Out! A conversation about including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) student-athletes” took place.

The panel is the brain child of Pat Griffin, an advocate with the Women’s Sports Foundation. Griffin originally connected with Charlotte Westerhaus, the NCAA’s Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion. At Westerhaus’ urging, Griffin encouraged the creation of the panel and suggested the annual convention as the time and place to do it.

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Defending champions Egypt got off to a superb start at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations Tuesday with a convincing 4-2 victory over Cameroon here.

This Group C encounter pitched two countries who between them have won the Africa Cup of Nations nine times and in the end Egypt triumphed despite missing several key stars.

The Egyptians went ahead as early in the 14th minute via a penalty scored by Hosni Abd Rabou and increased their advantage two minutes later through Mohamed Zidan, who would further wreck havoc in first-half stoppage time with a left-footed cracker from outside the box for Egypt's third goal.

Cameroon pulled a goal back six minutes into the second half when Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o nodded home off a right cross by Geremi Njitap before Abd Rabou hit a fourth goal for Egypt with an 81st minute belter.

Eto'o gave the scoreline some respectability in the dying moments of the game when he netted from the penalty spot after an Egyptian defender was penalised for an infringement inside the box.

That took the Barcelona star's goal tally in the competition to 13, one short of the record set by the Ivory Coast's Laurent Pokou,

For Egypt the result was a clear signal that they hadn't come to Ghana to relinquish their title without a fight.

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By Luis Bueno

Although the European Championship is easily the top confederation tournament in the world, the African Cup of Nations may be a close second.

The African Cup of Nations, which kicked off last Sunday in Ghana, does not have world powers like South America's Copa America, but in terms of sheer talent, drama and unpredictability, Africa's regional competition has it all.

But to American soccer fans, the African Cup of Nations may as well be played in a shroud of darkness.

It might be the world's third-best soccer tournament but is an afterthought in the United States. Unlike the World Cup and the European Championship, the African Cup of Nations cannot be easily seen in this country. Thus, following the tournament means tracking information down online and hoping fans from other nations post highlights on sites such as YouTube.com.

Casual soccer fans might be interested in following a tournament that features the likes of Cameroon and Nigeria, a pair of traditional African powers, as well as Ghana and Ivory Coast, emerging nations in the soccer world. Die-hard fans may want to follow the exploits of such players as Didier Drogba and Kolo Toure, of Ivory Coast, El Hadji Diouf and Papa Bouba Diop, of Senegal, or Samuel Eto'o and Rigobert Song, of Cameroon.

But unless you have Dish Network and subscribe to the international programming package that includes Telesud, a French-language network that broadcasts the tournament, the African Cup of Nations may as well not exist.

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Events: Sprints Height:  5-11 Weight:  165 PRs: 100m – 9.84 (2007); 200m - 19.62 (2007) Born: Aug. 9, 1982, in Lexington, Ky. Current Residence: Fayetteville, Ark. High School: Lafayette (Lexington, Ky.) ‘01 College: Barton CC ’03, Arkansas ‘05 Coach:  Lance Brauman Agent: Mark Wetmore Club: adidas

 

Career Highlights: 2007 World Outdoor 100m AND 200m champion; 2007 Visa Outdoor champion; 2007 USA Outdoor 100m and 200m champion; 2006 USA Outdoor 100m champion; 2005 World Athletics Final 200m champion; 2005 USA Outdoor Champs 200m runner-up; 2004 NCAA 100m champion; 2002 JUCO 100m champion; 2004 SEC 100m, 200m, 4x100m champion

In 2007 Gay has established himself as the world’s dominant sprinter in notching victories at the AT&T Outdoor Championships in the 100m (9.84 meet record) and by running the second fastest time in history in the 200m (19.62, 0.3 meters-per-second headwind). Gay's 200m performance at the Championships in Indianapolis bettered Michael Johnson's 1996 meet record, and then world record time of 19.66 seconds. Gay's 100m performance in Indy (into a headwind of .5 mps) is the second-fastest ever run into a headwind, trailing only 2000 Olympic gold medalist Maurice Greene, who ran 9.82 into a -0.2 headwind at the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton.

Even when he was little, Tyson Gay was fast (“I could steal a few bases,” he says of his childhood baseball days), but he was 14 or so before he could beat his sister, Tiffany, who’s a year older. “She had a quick start,” he explains. “She inspired me.”

Tiffany did a fine job, because her little brother went on to become a three-time Class 3A 100m state champ out of Lafayette High School, with his 10.46 state-meet record as a senior in 2001 still standing.

Now, he is also a triple World Champion. At the 2007 World Championships, Tyson became only the second man in history to win titles at 100 meters, 200 meters and the 4x100-meter relay.

Since turning professional in June 2005, Tyson has quickly worked his way to the top of the sport: just weeks after ending his NCAA career, he made the USA 200-meter team for the World Championships, and at season’s end won his first World Athletics Final 200m title.

Gay counts the ability to bounce back from a bad race, instilled by his mother, as perhaps his biggest strength, but his ability to run a textbook curve in the 200 doesn’t hurt, either. In 2006, he put his stamp on the sport, notching four of the top six 200-meter times of the year and the second-fastest time (9.84) for 100m. This after calling the 100 an event he needed to learn at the end of the 2005 season.

By Gene Cherry

SALVO, North Carolina, Jan 17 (Reuters) - World sprint champion Tyson Gay said on Thursday he would have no problem racing South African double amputee Oscar Pistorius, who has been barred from the Beijing Olympics and other international races by the sport's world governing body.

"If they (Pistorius and other other paralympic athletes) want to go out there and compete just like we do and put their heart in to it, I see no problem with it whatsoever," Gay said during a teleconference announcing his selection as U.S. Olympic Committee sportsman of the year.

"It would be great," Gay, the world 100 and 200 metres champion, said . "I think he would be motivating a lot of other people."

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) ruled on Monday that Pistorius, who runs with carbon fibre blades attached to his legs, should not be allowed to compete internationally against able-bodied runners.

World's fastest man runs away with another year-end award

Practically from the dawn of creation, the ability to run fast has been a measure of one's worth. From cave men hunting for food to modern athletes seeking gold medals, there is the need for speed.

After all, it's the human race.

Nobody -- anywhere -- was faster than Tyson Gay in 2007.

Thus, the Lafayette High School graduate and former University of Arkansas standout is the winner of the 27th annual Kentucky Sportsman of the Year award, presented by the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Prosthetic legs give sprinter unfair advantage

By Raf Casert

All his life, Oscar Pistorius has had to battle adversity. Competing in the Beijing Olympics is a challenge the double-amputee runner may not be able to overcome.

The IAAF ruled yesterday that the South African is ineligible to compete in Beijing - or any other sanctioned able-bodied competitions - because his "Cheetah" racing blades are considered "technical aids" that give him a clear competitive advantage.

"An athlete using this prosthetic blade has a demonstrable mechanical advantage (more than 30 per cent) when compared to someone not using the blade," the IAAF said.

The 21-year-old Pistorius had long learned not to consider his artificial legs a hindrance. Now, the sport he learned to love as a teenager has thrown up a huge obstacle, just as he was making his name among the world's able-bodied athletes.

"That's a huge blow," said Pistorius' manager, Peet Van Zyl. "He has been competing in South African able-bodied competition for the past three years. At this stage, it looks like he is out of any able-bodied event."

Van Zyl spoke briefly with Pistorius, saying he "could hear from his voice that he is disappointed."

Argentina has held onto the No. 1 spot in the men's world football rankings released by the sport's governing body FIFA on Wednesday.

With European and South American teams taking a break in December and early January, the top 18 places in the FIFA ranking remained unchanged.

Brazil remains in second place followed by world champion Italy, then Spain and Germany. The Czech Republic is sixth, with France, Portugal, Netherlands and Croatia rounding out the top 10.

Nigeria was the first team to advance, moving up one spot to number 18 on the strength of a 2-0 friendly win over Sudan on January ninth. They switched places with the United States, which fell one place to number-19 in the rankings.

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By Marc Pau

Adriano Leite Ribeiro is preparing for what he hopes will be a double return as the striker returns to competitive club play in Brazil after over six years in Italy - with the ultimate aim of returning to the peak form that has so infamously eluded him at Inter of late. After the São Paulo loan deal was formally announced, Goal.com reviews the return of the decadent Emperor in the view of the Brazilian press and pundits...

zoom - galleria It's certainly not a bombshell to welcome a Brazilian back from years spent abroad to the Brasileirão (Big Brazilian; the Brazilian first division) as Brazil has been receiving repatriated veterans for decades, but the big boom about Adriano's return that echoed around Brazil was centred around the fact that a star was coming back...in his mid-twenties.

If all goes well, Adriano will celebrate his twenty-sixth birthday in the aftermath of Carnaval on the 17th of February, but some are already wondering whether 'aftermath' will be a prophetic term to use given the striker's self-confessed fondness for a drink or seventeen. That's the reality behind the surprise at receiving an exported star at such an early age: is he damaged goods?

It's a bet in a different way than the two other recent São Paulo striking sensations that had returned from European experiences: Amoroso and Ricardo Oliveira. The former arrived over thirty and after a poor passage through Malaga and briefly re-ignited his spluttering career whereas the latter, although under 30, was getting over delicate cruciate ligament damage.

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By  Jamie Trecker

For almost a decade, Eddie Pope was the heart of the American defense.

One of the few skilled players capable of making the big tackle and scoring the big goal, he organized the back and was a key component of the U.S. team that made the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals. A founding player of Major League Soccer, he helped lead D.C. United to three MLS Cups and was the first African-American player to be named as the Honda Player of the Year. A consensus pick for MLS' all-time Best XI, he finished his career in Salt Lake.

Tuesday, the 37-year old Pope accepted a new job that will test his organizational skills and another type of defense. Eddie Pope is now a labor leader, the player representative for the MLS Players Union. And, yes, he knows what he's in for.

Pope is already a veteran of two labor battles, one with MLS and the other at the national team level (in the USMNT's case, both sides were forced to make a short-term deal just to get through the last World Cup).

"Having been a part of those negotiations, I saw what worked and what didn't," said Pope. "I think as far as what works, one of the important things is unity, and we've seen that the MLS players are largely unified, and that is a huge thing moving forward."

They're going to have to be. Players are still licking their wounds over the last go-round, and face a bruising fight when their collective bargaining agreement with MLS expires in 2009.

US golfer Tiger Woods is set to become the world's first billion-dollar sportsman in 2010, Splash news reported on Thursday, citing Golf Digest magazine.

The record-setting golfer took home a staggering $122,7-million (around R8-billion) in 2007 - an increase of $26-million from 2006, according to the reports.

Tiger enjoyed a boom year on the golf course in 2007, winning his 13th Major title, as well as a $10-million bonus for winning the FedEx Cup competition.

Wood's bank account was also bolstered by lucrative advertising deals.

The magazine estimates that since turning pro in 1996 Woods has earned $769,4-million dollars in total earnings, the report said.

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By Mark Lamport-Stokes

HONOLULU, Jan 9 (Reuters) - American cable television network The Golf Channel has suspended one of its presenters for two weeks for making a racially sensitive comment on Friday at the expense of world number one Tiger Woods.

Anchor Kelly Tilghman, a former playing professional, joked in a telecast with Nick Faldo that players bidding to challenge Woods might have to "lynch him in a back alley".

The Golf Channel said on Wednesday it regretted Tilghman's remarks and had decided to suspend her for two weeks.

"There is simply no place on our network for offensive language like this," it said in a statement.

"While we believe that Kelly's choice of words were inadvertent and that she did not intend them in an offensive manner, the words were hurtful and grossly inappropriate."

Former U.S. figure skating champion and Olympian Christopher Bowman died of a "possible overdose," according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Coroner.

He was 40.

Christopher Bowman competes for the United States in the men's figure skating event at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. Bowman was pronounced dead Thursday, at a motel in North Hills. (Chris Cole / Getty Images)

"If I had to pick the three most talented skaters of all time, I would pick Christopher as one," Brian Boitano, the 1988 Olympic champion, told the Chicago Tribune, after learning of his death. "He had natural charisma, natural athleticism, he could turn on a crowd in a matter of seconds and he always seemed so relaxed about it."

Bowman's body was found in a hotel room in the North Hills section of Los Angeles, and he was pronounced dead at 12:06 p.m. (3:06 p.m. ET) Thursday, the statement said.

"He just passed away in his sleep," Bowman's mother, Joyce, told the Detroit Free Press, which first reported details of his death, according to The Associated Press. "His friend told me that he was fine. He just went to bed and didn't wake up."

The cause of death was under investigation, said Lt. Joe Bale, adding that a full examination should take place this weekend. However, signs pointed to a "possible overdose," Bale said.

David Beckham

Soccer ace DAVID BECKHAM basks in his status as a gay icon, insisting he's proud to be a pin-up for men who desire him. The L.A. Galaxy hunk is so comfortable with his sexuality, he never recoils when a lusty homosexual casts an amorous glance in his direction.

He says, "I'm very honoured to have the tag of gay icon." And Beckham also admits his Spice Girls wife Victoria is responsible for his fashion choices - and always has his clothes laid out ready for him before he goes to bed. He adds, "Without a doubt, Victoria has a huge part in the way I look these days. I'm very organised and controlled, and need to go to bed at night knowing what I'm going to wear the next morning."

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The world of sports opened just a bit to gay people in 2007. The hosting by Argentina of the Gay Soccer World Cup was both a stellar event and one that pundits would never have imagined happening only a few years ago. And of course several high profile sports figures came out or were “Outed” hopefully opening the doors for gay sportspeople everywhere. Please find below a few articles which represent the year.

	University of Tennesee fails to admit gay All American Jackie Walker to it's Hall of Fame
	First Gay Football World Cup held in Buenos Aries
	Brazilian Football Great Richarlyson Outed
	NBA All Star John Amaechi comes Out.
	Nigeria looses Commonwealth Games - Gay Rights suspected as cause

By Mark Kiszla

A JAIL door slams shut. A casket lid falls. Two sports stars lost.

Quarterback Michael Vick gets almost two years in prison for running a dog-fighting ring, while fellow National Football League star Sean Taylor is dead.

The tragedy of both athletes is as sad as a tear drop splattering on the sidewalk. But maybe the real crime is Vick and Taylor have become two more grim statistics in a lost generation of African-American males.

It's an era of living dangerously for too many young black men in this country. If rich and famous jocks can be locked up or gunned down before age 30, what hope can an unemployed, uneducated teenager on the streets of Baltimore or Cleveland or Los Angeles have?

"You just feel blessed that the mistakes you made weren't serious enough to have you in jail or dead," 32-year-old Nuggets guard Allen Iverson said, shaking his head.

The leading cause of death in black males ages 18-24 is homicide. One in three black males can expect to spend time in prison over the course of a lifetime, predicts a study by the US Government. The stats are frightening. And depressing.

While there are more than 800,000 young black men enrolled in American colleges, the screaming headlines of Vick and Taylor only reinforce the bleak urban mythology that you might as well live fast, before getting busted or capped.

UK, West Midlands, based sports equipment and football team wear supplier, Maudesport Clubline, recently sponsored one of the UK football teams playing in the 2007 International Gay & Lesbian FA World Club Championships in Argentina.

(PRWEB) December 12, 2007 -- UK, West Midlands, based sports equipment and football team wear supplier, Maudesport Clubline, recently sponsored one of the UK football teams playing in the 2007 International Gay & Lesbian FA World Club Championships in Argentina.

The Gay World Cup, which took place in Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, September 23rd to 29th, showcased more than 500 footballers from 28 countries.