RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Twice now, Belgium has relied on a late revival boosted by stamina and its bench to turn desperate situations around at the World Cup. On Sunday, it was teenager Divock Origi who turned a listless Belgian performance into a late 1-0 win over Russia, enough to qualify for the next round. Belgium barely contained a reinvigorated Russia for most of the match, yet struck with a blistering late spurt of class and opportunism to turn a bad situation into a wild, fist-pumping celebration for coach Marc Wilmots and his team in the 88th minute. "Why were we good in last 10 minutes? Simple, the others were tired," said Wilmots. "The Russians were so tired they looked at their feet, and it offered us chances to counter." After its dour 1-1 draw with South Korea, Russia produced the kind of sparkle and dominance that most had been expected more from Belgium in front of 73,819 increasingly restless fans at Maracana stadium. With Belgian King Philippe looking on, substitute Kevin Mirallas hit a freekick against the post in 84th minute, setting off the amazing turnaround. At first it appeared as if late flashes from Eden Hazard would only camouflage a dismal performance. But then the playmaker made a move into the area on the left and spotted Origi free in the centre. A pinpoint pass from Hazard and cool right-foot finishing from the 19-year-old Origi gave Belgium the victory. "Nobody could have thought this possible," said Origi, who was only called into the squad because No. 1 striker Christian Benteke injured his Achilles in April. Most of Belgium barely knew of the talented young player developing quickly for Lille in the French league. Belgium didnt play with any real authority for most of the game on a bright, sunny afternoon in Rio, confounding predictions that it should be one of the teams to watch at the World Cup. Instead, it was Russia applied most pressure in the second half and was let down by its blunt finishing touch. That helped give Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois his 100th professional clean sheet at age 22. "We got the last pass wrong, or shot too quickly," Russia coach Fabio Capello said. "The result was unfair, but the fact is we lost." Belgium moved to six points with the win, five ahead of Russia and South Korea -- the Koreans were playing Algeria later Sunday. "Now we will build a party, but then it is back to work as of tomorrow," Wilmots said. Belgium could be considered lucky to go to halftime at 0-0, escaping a penalty in the 26th minute when German referee waved on play after defender Toby Alderweireld was late with a challenge on Maksim Kanunnikov in the area. While most critics had been expecting a defence-oriented Russia against Belgium, Capello decided otherwise and the addition of 22-year-old Maksim Kanunnikov gave some zip to the team that it so badly lacked against South Korea. Wilmots promoted his two substitute goalscorers from the 2-1 win over Algeria to the starting lineup and while Dries Mertens thrived on the right wing, Marouane Fellaini was sloppy and ineffectual in the centre of midfield. Once Russias central defence of Sergey Ignashevich and Vasily Berezutskiy worked out how to control the Belgian passing combinations, momentum changed. And after the early massive cheers for Belgium from the crowd, shouts of "Ro-ssi-ya, Ro-ssi-ya," took over. Belgium captain Vincent Kompany recovered from a groin strain to play a polished first half, but the surprise call-up of defender Thomas Vermaelen to start the game backfired and forced a first-half change. The Arsenal defender injured his knee in the warmup and lasted only 31 minutes before limping off. "That was my only big setback today," Wilmots said. . Today, well look at five frontcourt players today, here from the Bay Area. 1. AMIR JOHNSON (Raptors): I cant figure out what the issue or problem is, but based upon what Im seeing, hes not right. . The 26-year-old Sobotka injured his left leg playing for the St. Louis Blues in a 3-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday. The Blues said he would not recover from the injury in time for the Olympic tournament.
http://www.cheapuclajerseys.com/?tag=uc ... ege-jersey. -- Lara Gut of Switzerland regained the overall World Cup lead with Sundays super-G win in Lake Louise, Alta. .com) - Ryan Johansens creative moves and hometown appeal highlighted Team Folignos successful night at the NHL All- Star Skills Competition. . 5 Trade Deadline isnt that far away and teams will be making decisions on whether to buy, sell and decide which players can make the biggest difference and hold the greatest value.SOELDEN, Austria -- Ted Ligety will be the overwhelming favourite when the Olympic ski season opens on Sunday with a World Cup giant slalom on Rettenbach glacier. The American has won this race for the past two years and finished on the podium for the past five. A year ago, Ligety didnt just win here, he dominated with a massive victory margin of 2.75 seconds. Taking advantage of extensive preparation on newly shaped skis introduced last season, he went on to win six of eight giant slaloms on the circuit. "I hope to come close to that," Ligety said on Thursday. "But people have figured out the skis by now and I cant really expect to win GS by those kind of margins." Ligety also won three gold medals at last seasons world championships -- a feat no man had accomplished since French great Jean-Claude Killy won four 45 years earlier. So how does he find motivation having already achieved so much? "Ted is internally motivated, has always been internally motivated and thats never been a question," U.S. mens head coach Sasha Rearick said. "The challenge now, after a year like that, is everyone wants a piece of him -- media, industry, commercials, the foundation, marketing. So hes been busy. But hes done a good job to make sure that hasnt interfered with his training and keeping focused on what is important. Hes working on getting better every day." While Ligety is hoping to peak for the Sochi Games in February, he also wants to win the overall World Cup. Ligety broke the 1,000-point barrier for the first time last season but he still finished third overall behind Marcel Hirscher of Austria and Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway. "The overall challenge is going to be able to execute week in and week out," Rearick said. "He was able to do that in GS consistently, now its about taking that same kind of consistency into the slalom and super-G. Last year we saw a real, big gain in his super-G and now we need to make that same jump in slalom." Ligety showed his super-G potential by winning that event at the worlds, and his main emphasis in preseason training has been on slalom. &quoot;Hopefully thats the formula to win the overall," he said.dddddddddddd "The overall is every World Cup skiers big goal and every year I round out my skiing. Its not easy though." To help Ligety achieve his overall goal, the U.S. squad has a special multi-event team of coaches to work exclusively with Ligety and fellow allrounder Bode Miller, who is back after taking a season off to let his surgically repaired left knee fully heal. "My knee is good. Its a little puffy but its been that way for a long time," Miller said. "Overall it feels better than it has since 01." Having sat out last season, the reshaped GS skis are completely new to Miller. "Its been difficult because I havent had a chance to ski at a very high level," he said. "So when I got on the race hill here it was a bit of a shock. ... Its less fun, more work, but it seems OK." Miller also has a solid record in Soelden. He won in 2003 and 2004 and has eight consecutive top-10 finishes. Still, having not raced for so long, Miller wasnt about to make any predictions for Sunday. "Its an intimidating race hill," he said. "I hope to be in touch and gain some points." Hirscher and Svindal are again the favourites for the overall title. Hirscher took the coveted crown the past two seasons and Svindal won it in 2007 and 2009. "Im ready," Svindal said. "Last year I made the overall exciting and I want to be a part of that excitement again. If its Ted or whoever I want to make it hard for them, too. I for sure want to win it." Another overall contender could be Alexis Pinturault, the Frenchman who was sixth overall last season with three victories in three different disciplines: Slalom, super-combined and giant slalom. The only racers to win in GS last season besides Ligety were Hirscher in Val dIsere, France, and Pinturault in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. After Soelden, the World Cup goes to Levi, Finland, for slaloms on Nov. 16-17, followed by stops in the United States and Canada before the traditional races in Europe. The Sochi Games run from Feb. 7-23. ' ' '
