IranÕs manager Afshin Qotbi

Iran’s manager Afshin Qotbi has apologized to Iranians for the country’s national soccer team’s failure to qualify for the 2010 World Cup.
“I take responsibility for the failure and apologize to the Iranian people for failing to take the soccer squad to the 2010 World Cup,“ Qotbi said at a press conference at Iran’s Football Federation (IFF) on Sunday, Presstv wrote.
“Unfortunately, we had just nine minutes to qualify for South Africa’s World Cup, but we lost the chance in such a short time,“ he added.
“I want all Iranians to know that we did whatever we could, but we could not finish successfully,“ said Qotbi
Manchester United player Park Ji-sung poured cold water on the Iranians’ hopes when he scored the equalizer against Iran in the eighty first minute in Seoul on June 17.
To add insult to injury, the match between Saudi Arabia and North Korea at King Fahad stadium in Riyadh controversially resulted in a goalless draw on the same day to hold Iran in the fourth place position of the Asian Group B.
“If Iran’s soccer squad wanted to be successful, it had to start working a long time ago as there are lots of weak points,“ he explained.
Qotbi further pointed out that he has submitted his program for the next four years to the IFF and intends to stay on coaching the Iranian side.
The 46-year-old Qotbi was hired specifically for the last three World Cup qualifiers against the United Arab Emirates, North Korea, and South Korea. His team gained five points from the three games, and eventually failed to qualify.
Iran’s football has a bright path, he said adding “I have prepared a four-year plan which Iran’s Football Federation has called for, according to the plan arranged in full details Iran can not only go to 2014 World Cup, but also it can attend the second round of the matches and stand first in 2011 Asian Cup,“ ISNA quoted him as saying.

Brazil sliced Italy apart with three goals in a devastating eight-minute spell to send the world champions crashing out of the Confederations Cup on Sunday.
Sevilla striker Luis Fabiano bagged a brace and Liverpool defender Andrea Dossena scored an own goal as Dunga’s flamboyant troops stunned their arch rivals with the triple blow just before the break.
It was the first time Italy has conceded three goals before half-time since 1957, AFP reported.
With the United States recording a shock 3-0 win over Egypt in Rustenberg, Italy missed out on goal difference with Bob Bradley’s men instead unexpectedly going through to the semifinals with Brazil.
By topping Group B, Brazil avoids Spain and play South Africa on Thursday for a place in the final after the hosts finished runner-up in Group A.
The United States take on the European champions on Wednesday.
“We showed today that we were superior in all aspects of the game. We beat the world champions and we did it in an efficient way,“ said Dunga.
“We tried to have a balanced approach, keep possession of the ball as much as possible. I told the players they have to concentrate and score goals because that is what throws the other team out of kilter.“
It was a lackluster display by an ageing Italian team that has failed to shine with Coach Marcello Lippi sure to face stinging criticism back home where he has been slammed for failing to make better use of his younger players.
“Frankly I didn’t think our condition was brilliant when we first showed up. I hoped the physical ability of the players would grow but we are going home,“ he said.
“We are disappointed with our performance and we are very much aware of that. This does not reflect the way we usually perform. We were certainly not at our best in this championship.“
An apathetic Italy slumped to a shock 1-0 defeat against Egypt in their last group game and Lippi made four changes to try and reverse the slide.
Out went Fabio Grosso, Gennaro Gattuso, Giuseppe Rossi and Fabio Quagliarella and in came Andrea Dossena, Riccardo Montolivo, Luca Toni and Mauro Camoranesi.
But it made little difference against a Brazilian team that took full advantage of Italy’s defensive frailties.
They were dangerous from the outset with Italy fortunate not to go behind after six minutes when Ramires hit the angle between the post and the crossbar after being put through by Fabiano.
Italy were forced to get men behind the ball as the South Americans surged forward, Maicon and Kaka both having shots blocked and Robinho forcing a save from Gianluigi Buffon.
They eventually settled down but the Brazilian pressure was relentless and Daniele de Rossi almost put the ball in his own goal when he stuck out a foot to meet a Lucio shot and it deflected onto the post.
The breakthrough came eight minutes before half-time when Fabiano pounced on a scuffed shot from Maicon to drive the ball beyond Buffon’s reach.
They doubled their lead six minutes later when Robinho and Kaka combined to feed Fabiano who made no mistake from close range.
With Italy on the ropes, Brazil delivered a knockout punch two minutes later after Robinho broke down the left and delivered a cross with Dossena turning the ball into his own net under pressure.
Italy finally woke up in the second half with substitutes Simone Pepe, Giuseppe Rossi and Alberto Gilardino all getting shots on target as they desperately tried to restore some pride.
Their best chance came when Pepe had a shot blocked with goalkeeper Julio Cesar stranded, but despite last ditch efforts they failed to redeem themselves.

Sepp Blatter

FIFA president Sepp Blatter welcomed North Korea’s qualification for the 2010 World Cup, saying it showed the game’s development around the world was continuing unabated.
“I think to have the Democratic Republic of Korea at the World Cup is a confirmation that the development of football will not stop, and North Korea has always had good footballers,“ Blatter told a media briefing on Monday, Reuters said.
“In the past they have been in FIFA’s women’s competitions, they have had great players in the women’s Under-17 and Under-20 teams.“
North Korea famously beat Italy 1-0 in the group stage on their previous appearance in the finals in 1966. They also led Portugal 3-0 in the quarter-finals of the tournament before losing 5-3 to a Eusebio-inspired fight back.
They secured a place in the finals again when they drew 0-0 with Saudi Arabia in Riyadh last week, taking them through from Asian qualifying along with South Korea, Australia and Japan.
North Korea is a notoriously closed society but FIFA rules mean the squad will have to hold regular, open media briefings at the finals in South Africa next year.
“I don’t think there will be a problem with North Korea,“ Blatter said. “Whether we can make a draw and bring them together with Italy again, we’ll have to wait and see whether Italy qualify,“ he joked.

Inter Milan’s Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Brazil full-back Maicon are on the market if the right offer comes and there is a 50 percent chance they will depart, president Massimo Moratti has said.
The Italian champion’s two best players have both threatened to leave the San Siro and have been linked to big spending Real Madrid, among other teams.
Moratti will meet the Spanish club’s president Florentino Perez this week to discuss Ibrahimovic, Serie A’ top scorer last season, according to reports in the Italian and Spanish media.
“As a fan I’d want them to stay, but as a president with a balance sheet to keep an eye on, I say that if they want to go, they can go. It would be counterproductive to keep them,“ Moratti said in an interview published in Monday’s Il Giornale newspaper.
“I’d give them both a 50 percent chance of staying at Inter.“
Moratti said he had already had talks with Barcelona about Ibrahimovic but added that the Catalans’ president Joan Laporta was not “so motivated“ about doing a deal.
He also confirmed that an Inter director had met Real Madrid last week to discuss Maicon, adding that Perez’s lack of interest in signing defenders may help keep the Brazilian in Italy.
“Real Madrid have almost no interest in defenders, zero interest actually, which is fortunate because Maicon is the best full back in the world,“ he said.

Michael Phelps

Olympic swimming star Michael Phelps won the 100m freestyle at the Canada Cup, and said he has room for improvement before the US world championship trials in July.
Phelps, who won an unprecedented eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and owns 14 Olympic titles overall, won in 48.65sec.
The American, still refining his freestyle sprint skills as he looks ahead to the London Olympics, said he satisfied with at least half the race, AFP said.
“I felt awesome in the first 50, I’m not really sure what happened in the second 50É the last 50 wasn’t that good,“ he said, adding that he would try to iron out the kinks before the US championships in Indianapolis start on July 7.
“I’m sort of everywhere where I want to be, except in the 100 free,“ said Phelps, who finished ahead of Australian Matt Targett and Trinidad’s George Bovell. “I want to be faster in that.“
“There’s two weeks. Hopefully we’ll work on these things and perfect those for trials. I’m really happy with the stroke and the first 50,“ Phelps said.
With the victory Phelps completed a sweep of both of his events in Montreal. On Saturday he won the 100m butterfly in a personal best time of 50.48sec.
Phelps’s 100m freestyle time improved on the 48.87 that he clocked the previous weekend at a meeting in Santa Clara, California, when he finished second to defending world champion Brent Hayden of Canada.