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The week in numbers: w/e 18/9/11

September 19, 2011 3 Comments

Djokovic improved his record against Nadal in 2011 to 6-0 in winning the US Open

6 – Novak Djokovic‘s 6-2 6-4 6-6 6-1 victory over Rafael Nadal in Monday’s US Open men’s singles final improved his 2011 record against the Spaniard to 6-0 and made him only the sixth man to win three Grand Slam singles titles in the same year, joining Rod Laver, Jimmy Connors, Mats Wilander, Roger Federer (three times) and Nadal.

97.0% – Djokovic‘s win percentage in 2011, currently the best single-year record ever. He has lost just twice in 66 matches this year.

26 – Federer (12), Nadal (10) and Djokovic (four) have now won 26 of the last 27 Slams between them, dating back to the 2005 French Open. The only man to break the sequence is Juan Martín del Potro, who won the US Open in 2009.

77 – Lancashire won their first County Championship in 77 years after beating Somerset by eight wickets.

3 – AC Milan became only the third team in Champions League history to score in the first and last minutes, as they drew 2-2 at Barcelona. Alexandro Pato‘s opening goal after 24 seconds was the fifth-fastest in the history of the competition.

17 – Borussia Dortmund’s late equaliser in a 1-1 draw extended Arsenal‘s run of Champions League away games without a clean sheet to 17 games.

Giggs has now scored in 16 separate Champions League campaigns

16 – Ryan Giggs‘ goal for Manchester United in the 1-1 draw at Benfica means he has now scored in a record 16 of the 17 Champions League campaigns he has played in, failing only in 2007-08.

2 – Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake recorded the fastest times of 2011 in the 100 and 200 metres respectively at the Diamond League meeting in Brussels. Bolt clocked 9.76s in the 100 metres, while Blake’s 19.26s in the 200 metres was also the second-fastest run ever, 0.07s behind Bolt’s world record.

1 – Jonathan Trott became the first ever English cricketer to win the ICC Cricketer of the Year award outright. (Andrew Flintoff shared the award with Jacques Kallis in 2005.) Alastair Cook also won Test Player of the Year.

8 – Barcelona‘s 8-0 win over Osasuna in La Liga on Saturday night marked the first time they had scored eight times in a game at the Camp Nou since October 2003. Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick.

3 – The HTC-Highroad pair of Mark Cavendish and Mark Renshaw recorded three one-two wins during the Tour of Britain‘s eight stages. Cavendish won the final sprint in London to claim his second stage. Dutchman Lars Boom won the overall race by 36 seconds.

58:56 – Kenya’s Martin Mathathi broke the men’s record for the Great North Run, winning in a time of 58:56 – nine seconds faster than the previous record and the sixth-best half-marathon time ever.

The Premier League in numbers

3 – All three promoted sides won on Saturday: Swansea beat West Bromwich Albion 3-0, while QPR and Norwich won 3-0 at Wolves and 2-1 at Bolton respectively.

Arteta has scored for both Everton and Arsenal at Ewood Park this season (image courtesy of arsenal.com)

2 – Mikel Arteta‘s goal in Arsenal’s 4-3 defeat at Blackburn marked the second time he has scored in the Premier League at Ewood Park this season. He had already scored the only goal when Everton won 1-0 in August.

3 – Shots on target by Blackburn, who scored four goals.

373 - Scott Sinclair’s 14th-minute opener for Swansea was their first Premier League goal, ending a run of 373 minutes without scoring.

5 – Bolton‘s 2-1 defeat at home to Norwich means they have lost five consecutive top-flight home matches for the first time ever.

5 – Norwich equalled Wimbledon’s feat (in the 1999-2000 season) of conceding a penalty in each of the first five games of a season.

14 – Liverpool‘s 4-0 defeat at Tottenham, in which they finished with just nine men, was the 14th consecutive away game in which they have gone on to lose after trailing at half-time.

4 – Stoke‘s 4-0 defeat at Sunderland means they have failed to score in their four Premier League visits to the Stadium of Light.

5 – Wayne Rooney became only the second player to score in each of first five matches of a season, scoring the last of Manchester United’s goals in the 3-1 win over Chelsea. Former Arsenal player José Antonio Reyes was the first to achieve the feat, in 2004/05.

6 – Martin Jol remains unbeaten as a manager against Manchester City as Fulham recovered from two goals down to draw 2-2. However, the draw did end his perfect record of six wins out of six against City prior to yesterday’s game.

1 – Four of the five teams who started the weekend winless – Blackburn, Swansea, Sunderland, Norwich – won their matches. Only Fulham remain waiting for their first victory.

The Rugby World Cup in numbers

11 - Penalties committed by England in an ill-disciplined first half of their 41-10 win over Georgia. They conceded just three after the interval.

Shaw became England's oldest ever World Cup player

38 – At 38 years and 17 days, Simon Shaw became the oldest player to play for England at a Rugby World Cup.

0 – Number of tries scored in Scotland‘s 15-6 win over Romania.

1 – Russia lost 13-6 to the USA in their debut World Cup match, as Mike Petri scored the only try in the first half. It was also only the third ever win in the competition for the USA.

83 – New Zealand‘s 83 points in their 83-7 win over Japan was the 14th highest score in Rugby World Cup history. In total, they have posted six of the top 14 individual scores.

3 – Australia‘s 15-6 defeat to Ireland was only the third time they had failed to score a try in their 36 World Cup matches.

6 – South Africa and Argentina both scored six tries from six different players as they beat Fiji 49-3 and Romania 43-8 respectively.

The NFL in numbers

11 – New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady became only the 11th man to pass for over 500 yards in a single game as he registered 517 yards and four touchdown passes in a 38-24 Monday night win over the Miami Dolphins. One of Brady’s four touchdown passes was a 99-yarder to Wes Welker, a former Dolphin.

358 – However Brady did throw one interception, ending his NFL record streak without an interception at 358 pass attempts.

Janikowski tied the NFL record with a towering 63-yard FG (image courtesy of raiders.com)

63 – The Oakland Raiders’ Sebastian Janikowski tied the NFL record by kicking a 63-yard field goal in their 23-20 win over the Denver Broncos. New Orleans’ Tom Dempsey (in 1970) and Denver’s Jason Elam (1998) also landed 63-yarders.

5 – The Buffalo Bills scored on all five second half possessions as they overcame a 21-3 half-time deficit to beat the Oakland Raiders 38-35. The lead changed hands five times in the last 14:10, the last on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick to David Nelson with 14 seconds remaining.

45 – The Detroit Lions‘ margin of victory in their 48-3 win over the Kansas City Chiefs was the largest in the team’s history.

16 – Santonio Holmes‘ first quarter score in the New York Jets‘ 32-3 win over Jacksonville broke his team’s streak of 16 consecutive games without an offensive touchdown in the opening period.

11 – Rookie running back Ben Tate became only the 11th player in NFL history to rush for at least 100 yards in his first two games as the Houston Texans defeated the Miami Dolphins 23-13. Tate gained 107 yards on the ground.

7 – Both Carolina Panthers rookie Cam Newton and New England’s Tom Brady had their second consecutive 400-yard passing days, becoming only the sixth and seventh quarterbacks ever to achieve the feat. Carolina have lost both games (they lost 30-23 to the Green Bay Packers last night); New England have won both (they beat San Diego 35-21).

(Some statistics courtesy of Opta Sports, The Times, StatManJon, Infostrada, nfl.com and rugbyworldcup.com.)

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The week in numbers: w/e 17/7/11

July 18, 2011 Leave a comment

20 – Age of Tom Lewis, an amateur from Welwyn Garden City, who shot a five-under par round of 65 to share the first round lead at the Open Championship with Thomas Björn. It was the lowest total recorded by an amateur in the history of the tournament.

Clarke won the Open at his 20th attempt (image courtesy of Wikipedia)

42 – At 42 years 337 days Darren Clarke won the Open to become the oldest player to win a major championship since Ben Crenshaw at the 1995 Masters (43 years 88 days).

20 – Clarke‘s first Open win came at his 20th appearance in the tournament. No other golfer had previously won their first Open after their 15th attempt.

184 – Alex Hales hit a career-best 184 in Nottinghamshire’s County Championship draw with Somerset.

6 – Runs conceded by Durham’s Paul Collingwood as he took five wickets in helping to bowl out Northamptonshire for just 47 in their Twenty20 encounter.

59 – Balls taken by Murray Goodwin to score an unbeaten 100 in Sussex’s 11-run Twenty20 win over Surrey.

5 – Number of North Korean footballers who tested positive for steroids at the Women’s World Cup.

1 – Japan defeated the USA in a penalty shoot-out to win their first women’s World Cup after twice coming from behind late in normal and extra time to equalise. Aya Miyama equalised in the 81st minute to send the game to extra time, while Homare Sawa scored in the 117th minute to force the climactic shoot-out.

1 – Samoa stunned Australia 32-23 in Sydney to claim their first ever rugby union test win over the Wallabies. They had lost all four previous meetings by a combined score of 181-26.

The Tour de France in numbers

14 - André Greipel became the 14th active rider (and only German) to win a stage at all three Grand Tours as he won stage ten of the Tour de France in Carmaux.

3 – Mark Cavendish won stage 11 in Lavaur. It is the third consecutive year in which he has won the 11th stage at the Tour.

Sanchez won ten years after Laiseka won at Luz-Ardiden

10 – Euskaltel-Euskadi‘s Samuel Sánchez claimed his first ever Tour stage – and only his team’s fourth ever – on Luz-Ardiden on stage 12. The victory came ten years after Roberto Laiseka recorded the team’s maiden victory – which came on the same mountain.

2 – Thor Hushovd became only the second reigning road race world champion in 30 years to win a Tour stage when he was victorious on stage 13 in Lourdes. Óscar Freire also achieved the feat in 2002.

1 – Jelle Vanendert‘s win at Plateau de Beille was his first of any description in the professional ranks. On the four previous occasions a stage has finished there, the stage winner has gone on to win the Tour. (Vanendert is a relatively lowly 20th.)

19 – In winning stage 15 in Montpellier, Mark Cavendish handed the Isle of Man its 19th Tour stage win, surpassing the totals of both England and Denmark (both 18). All 19 victories have been recorded by Cavendish himself.

4 – It was also Cavendish‘s fourth stage win this year. He became only the second rider ever (after Eddy Merckx) to win four or more stages in four consecutive years at the Tour.

11 - Of the 14 individual stages so far (excluding the team time trial), there have been 11 different winners. Cavendish is the only multiple winner.

8 – Only eight of the 22 competing teams have won stages so far. HTC-Highroad have won four (all Cavendish), Omega Pharma-Lotto (Gilbert, Greipel, Vanendert) and Garmin-Cervélo (Farrar, Hushovd, team time trial) three each.

7 – Days in the yellow jersey (so far) for Thomas Voeckler. In 2004, he spent ten days in yellow.

0 – Stages won by French riders so far, versus six last in total last year. (They have recorded three second places.)

(Some statistics courtesy of Opta Sports, The Times and Infostrada.)

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Did Landon Donovan scupper England’s World Cup hopes?

June 24, 2010 Leave a comment

Landon Donovan (image courtesy of marc_tacoma)

Amidst the hard-earned sense of jubilation that engulfed the England squad after yesterday’s 1-0 win over Slovenia secured their qualification for the last 16 of the World Cup, Landon Donovan scored a 92nd-minute goal which had a significant bearing on both the USA‘s and England‘s prospects in the competition.

Donovan’s late, late winner gave the USA a deserved 1-0 win over Algeria in a game they had dominated. The goal turned Group C on its head. At 0-0, England were going through as group winners, with Slovenia qualifying as runner-up. However, the USA’s win catapulted them to the top of the group, with England pushed down to second and a distraught Slovenia missing out altogether.

For a brief moment, the top section of the draw had opened up tantalisingly for England. Last night’s Group D results would have meant a second round game against Ghana, followed by a potential quarter-final against either Uruguay or South Korea. All three are good sides who would have posed a lacklustre England side all manner of problems – and I am in no way assuming we would have beaten any of them – but it is nonetheless as benign a draw as could possibly have been hoped for. It is the closest any side could get to a gilt-edged invitation to the semi-finals.

But this is now the USA’s path, and it is churlish to begrudge them that. Victory over Algeria should have been secured long before Donovan’s injury-time winner, with Clint Dempsey having an apparently legitimate goal ruled out for offside, and a catalogue of missed chances throughout the game. Add to that the ‘goal’ against Slovenia, disallowed for a mystery infringement, which would have sealed a thrilling 3-2 comeback win, and only the most blinkered of England fans could deny that the Americans deserved to win what has been a throughly underwhelming group.

England must now pay a hefty price for only drawing their opening two games and for failing to score the second goal yesterday which would have won the group on goal difference. Their potential route to the semi-final must now go via Germany (on Sunday afternoon), with probably Argentina lying in wait in the quarter-final. Gulp. Not impossible, by any means, but on the evidence of what we have seen so far in South Africa it is difficult for any England fan to regard the way forward with any great sense of optimism. So you’ll forgive me if the smile on my face this morning is a slightly wary one.

While it’s fair enough for England’s players to have patted themselves on the back and possibly even had a beer or two last night, they will have woken up this morning to the realisation that, should they exit the World Cup in either the last 16 or the last eight, they will have no one to blame but themselves.

One more goal in any of their three games could have made a world of difference. On such fine margins is the distinction between heroes and villains made.

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England squeak through, but Slovenia are denied by late USA winner

June 23, 2010 Leave a comment

In the end, everything worked out okay. Just. Deep down, most of us always knew it would, but feared it wouldn’t. England have qualified for the knockout stages of the 2010 World Cup after a tense 1-0 win over Slovenia.

When England beat today’s opponents 2-1 in a friendly last September, few would have suspected that this would be a dress rehearsal for today’s far more serious match in Port Elizabeth, with qualification for the last 16 – and potentially the international futures of coach Fabio Capello and a number of his senior players – at stake. Funny how these things work out, isn’t it?

Capello, confident in his system and typically stubborn, retained his trusted 4-4-2 formation, ignoring the clamour of journalistic and armchair ‘experts’ who were demanding captain Steven Gerrard be allowed to play behind Wayne Rooney at the head of a five-man midfield. Bringing in the pace and finishing ability of Jermain Defoe for the aerial strength and physical presence of Emile Heskey was an obvious tactical switch. And Matthew Upson getting the nod over uncapped Michael Dawson to replace the suspended Jamie Carragher was the only realistic choice. But it was the announcement of James Milner - and not Joe Cole – to take Aaron Lennon‘s place on the right side of midfield which set eyebrows raising.

In truth Cole, who had not played a single minute in the previous two games, was never going to start. Even if Capello had been considering him, John Terry‘s clumsy, self-aggrandising pronouncement effectively telling the Italian to start his Chelsea teammate against the Slovenians was only ever going to elicit the opposite response. Like it or not – and it is as transparent as glass that Terry does not like it – there is one man in charge of the England football team, and it isn’t him.

After what is now an habitual slow start, in which Terry, Upson and Glen Johnson were all guilty of poor distribution in the defensive third, England gradually settled down against a relatively unadventurous Slovenian side. Indeed, other than one smart punch from a free kick and a couple of catches which even Robert Green would have found routine, David James was a virtual spectator throughout the first half.

But for all England’s visibly improved workrate and attacking threat, they clearly needed a goal to inject much-needed confidence. And that finally arrived on 22 minutes, when Milner delivered a perfect cross from wide on the right and Defoe, predator that he is, nipped just in front of his defender and volleyed it venomously past Slovenia keeper Samir Handanovic, who had no chance even though the ball was hit almost straight at him. Milner and Defoe, Capello’s two tactical changes: no longer an iffy decision, now a masterstroke.

Like a double shot of espresso entering the bloodstream, the goal lifted England. The body language of the team shifted visibly; more assertive, more confident, with red shirts half a yard faster to every ball than before. They started to dominate possession as Slovenia faltered, unsure whether to go on the attack immediately or get to half-time and then regroup. Again and again England carved out openings – a half-chance here, a promising cross there.

The second half began with England even further on the front foot. Defoe shot just wide with the half barely a minute old. Handanovic kept Slovenia in the game with a smart save from a Terry bullet header, and then touched a Rooney effort onto a post.

At this point, Slovenia were staggering around the pitch like a boxer who has been nailed with one jab too many – still just about on their feet, but with no idea what to do next. But as a second goal failed to materialise and legs started to tire, they slowly crept back into the game. A couple of free kicks came to nothing. Gareth Barry, largely anonymous throughout, conceded possession sloppily deep in his own half, leading to a sequence of chances that required brave blocks by Terry – who, despite his self-inflicted woes at the weekend, had an excellent game – and Johnson in turn.

Rooney, in England red still a shadow of the defenders’ nightmare who plays in the red of Man U, slowed with a hobble and was replaced by Joe Cole. Defoe gave way to Heskey late on as Capello sought to consolidate. (The Tottenham striker is still yet to complete 90 minutes for England after 42 caps.) Slovenia continued to knock timorously on the door, largely ineffectual but you just knew a chance had to come eventually. And, with the clock showing almost exactly 90:00, it did, the ball pinballing around the England penalty area until a sliding red shirt – Upson, I think – snatched the bullet from the gun just as the trigger was about to be pulled.

And, at last, the final whistle. England were through. As group winners, we thought at first, with the Slovenians qualifying alongside. But news of a 92nd minute winner by Landon Donovan for the USA against Algeria turned the group on its head. England had still qualified, but as runners-up, with the USA leapfrogging them and Slovenia to claim top spot. Slovenia go home.

This was not by any stretch of the imagination a vintage performance by England – it started okay, peaked at quite good either side of half-time and rapidly disintegrated to a Sunday park hack-about towards the end – but it was a massive improvement over the USA and Algeria games. Most importantly, it was enough to see them through. England will face far tougher tests in the knockout stages, but at least they will be there to face them unlike, say, France.

The echo of Italia ’90 grows ever stronger too. Then, as now, England manager Bobby Robson faced a revolt from players unhappy with his tactics. Then as now, England, drew their opening game 1-1 and battled to a goalless draw in their second, before ekeing out a nervy 1-0 win over distinctly mediocre opposition (in that case, Egypt) to clinch qualification. That tournament proved to be the most successful World Cup performance ever by an England team outside of home soil. Let’s hope it’s a good omen.

Anyway, what we know for sure is that England will take on the winners of Group D – which could mean Germany – in Bloemfontein on Sunday afternoon, with a potential quarter-final match against Argentina in Cape Town on July 3rd. It’s the more difficult path to tread, for sure, but at least we’re on the path and not the runway. Bring it on. The group stage is done and dusted as far as England are concerned, and the team can look forward to starting with a clean slate. The serious business begins now.

England player ratings (out of 10):

James 6

Johnson 6, Terry 7, Upson 5, A Cole 7

Milner 7, Lampard 6, Barry 5, Gerrard 7

Rooney 6, Defoe 7

Subs: J Cole 4, Heskey

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Green fumbles as England stumble in World Cup opener

June 12, 2010 1 Comment


Image courtesy of xannov

Such was the manner in which England conceded the equalising goal in tonight’s 1-1 draw with the USA that if this had been a boxing match, it would probably have been a narrow points victory, but one where England had somehow managed to land an upper cut to its own chin in the fifth round.

It was just 16 months ago when some ITV viewers watching an FA Cup replay between Everton and Liverpool missed the only goal of the game when the channel accidentally cut to a commercial. Tonight, viewers watching on ITV1′s HD service experienced the same problem, as a Hyundai car commercial suddenly replaced live coverage from Rustenburg just as Steven Gerrard scored the opening goal of England’s opening World Cup match. Sadly, it wasn’t the only goal-related cock-up of the night, as Robert Green‘s handling howler gifted the Americans the softest of equalisers just before half-time.

England have the oldest squad of any of the 32 nations at this World Cup, and it was two of their most experienced campaigners who gave them the best possible start in the fourth minute. Those not watching on HD would have seen captain Gerrard take a clever pass from Emile Heskey – England’s best player on the night – and lash it past Tim Howard. But England failed to capitalise on their early advantage, allowing a workmanlike US team to claw their way back into the match. They had already survived a couple of worrying moments when, in the 40th minute, Clint Dempsey sent a speculative, under-hit effort straight at Green, who somehow contrived to bundle the ball backwards – maybe he was distracted by an unexpected car advert? – and was unable to retrieve it before it had rolled, with agonising slowness, into the empty net.

England huffed and puffed throughout the second half, but other than a Frank Lampard shot which stung Howard’s hands and a Wayne Rooney effort which went narrowly wide, in truth they did little to threaten the American keeper’s goal. Indeed, had Green not partially redeemed himself midway through the second half, making a sharp reaction save to turn Jozy Altidore‘s shot onto his near post, England could easily have lost.

The goalkeeping position has been probably the biggest problem facing Capello in the build-up to the tournament, with most observers feeling that Green deserved first call, having had a more solid and injury-free season than David James and more experience than Joe Hart. However, his fumbling nightmare was not wholly unexpected; no Premier League keeper conceded more goals than Green (four) as a direct result of his own errors last season. For me, that tendency to have one too many aberrations has always been a black mark against any claim to be a goalkeeper of genuine class.

The big question for Capello is: what now? Does he keep faith with Green and give him his shot at redemption, or does he replace him for next Friday’s game, most likely with Hart?

England’s Italian coach faces other dilemmas. Gareth Barry will return to the midfield, probably at the expense of James Milner, who was taken off after half an hour having committed as many fouls (two) as he had had touches of the ball. Ledley King departed at half-time with a torn abductor muscle which will rule him out of the next game; his replacement Jamie Carragher‘s lack of pace was embarrassingly exposed by Altidore. Those two early changes restricted Capello’s tactical options later in the game, which certainly didn’t help his team’s cause as they ran short of ideas against a well-organised American defence.

With hindsight, the result itself is not a major problem for either team, although it does feel more like two points dropped by England and a point gained by the US. Neither Algeria nor Slovenia are particularly great teams, so both England and USA will remain confident of qualifying. And individual results and performances in the group phase mean little when it comes to the knockout rounds. After all, England drew their first game of the 1966 World Cup, a poor 0-0 effort against Uruguay. And Italy drew 1-1 with the USA in the group phase in 2006. Both did rather well subsequent to that. A misstep at this early stage is no more than that: a misstep.

The optimist in me says it is better to get the bad karma out of the way first and that there is plenty of time to get things right. The pessimist tells me England’s goalkeeping and defence are a mess of injuries and disasters waiting to happen. But this is a familiar refrain for fans of the national team. We have been here many, many times before. It is no surprise that we are here again. After Green’s error, the national mood will have been one of disbelief, then anger and finally resignation – oh God, not again – acceptance and quiet hope. It’s a bit like going through all seven stages of grief in the space of 90 minutes. Or, to put it another way, it’s the lot of the football fan the world over, whether you are English, German or North Korean.

After the game, Capello remained calm and upbeat:

Yes, we created a lot of chances to score goals. We pressed a lot, played a good game. They shot once and scored a goal. We are in a good moment as a team and the next game will be better. Only the result is not good.

And that is pretty much spot on. Over-reaction after a disappointing result like this is a common fault of media and fans alike. England, the eighth best team in the world according to FIFA, drew with the USA, ranked 14 – that hardly qualifies a shock result. To make wholesale changes now would disrupt carefully laid plans, confuse the players and undermine confidence. What’s more important is that Capello makes whatever tweaks are necessary to elicit a reaction from his team over the next two games. Fundamentally, England’s position remains sound. They avoided a damaging defeat tonight, and if they cannot achieve positive results against relative minnows like Algeria and Slovenia, in what is still one of the weakest groups overall in the competition, they do not deserve to go through anyway.

Barring further injuries, expect three changes for the Algeria game on Friday: a fit-again Barry for Milner (with Gerrard moving out to the left flank), Carragher replacing King if the latter is unfit, and Hart for Green. Any more would be change for the sake of change.

England can definitely do better than they did tonight. They will need to if they are to get anywhere near the final on July 11th. But right now that is no cause for panic – yet.

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