FRANKFURT, Germany -- Germany began an 11-day training camp in northern Italy on Wednesday with injury worries clouding the mood of the team shortly before the World Cup. Several key players, including captain Philipp Lahm and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, are carrying injuries into the camp in St. Leonhard, in the German speaking Alto Adige region. Lahm and Neuer will join the rest of the team later. Defender Per Mertesacker delayed his arrival by a day because of the birth of his second child. Another star, Sami Khedira of Real Madrid, will not join the squad until after the Champions League final on Saturday. Germany coach Joachim Loews camp will eventually include 27 players. The squad will return to Germany for a friendly against Cameroon on June 1, after which Loew will announce his final 23-man squad. Germany also plays Armenia on June 6, one day before departing for Brazil. The Germans open their World Cup campaign against Portugal on June 16 in Salvador, then play Ghana on June 21 in Fortaleza and conclude the group stage against the United States on June 26 in Recife. Loew said earlier this week that he was optimistic about Lahm and Neuer recovering for the World Cup. "But its good and important to have them with us in South Tirol from the start, even if they cant practice," Loew said. His players, however, decided to extend their break. While the remaining squad flew to Italy, Bayern Munichs players arrived by car -- minus Lahm and Neuer. While Lahm was expected to show up on Friday, Neuer was "day-by-day," but still expected to arrive at some point, team spokesman Jens Grittner said. The decision for them to stay in Munich was reached mutually by Loew and team doctors, Grittner said. Lahm, nominally a defender, can also play in midfield, a role he has executed well at Bayern Munich. He injured his left ankle in the German Cup final on Saturday, when Bayern beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0. Doctors said he would not be able to train for up to seven days and Lahm said Wednesday he would stay home until Friday, while stressing that he would be ready for the World Cup. "I need to rest a few days but I will be top fit by the World Cup," Lahm told Bild newspaper in comments also published on the federations site. Lahm said Germany needed to work on its defence. "Weve allowed too many goals and too many chances recently. We have to pay more attention to our defence," he said. Neuer injured his right shoulder in the cup final and is wearing a brace. Khedira has yet to play a full match since coming back this month from a knee injury that had sidelined him for six months. A leader of the team, he is considered one of Loews key men. Midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has been nursing a knee inflammation and missed the cup final. Miroslav Klose, one of only two strikers in squad, has been bothered by a hamstring injury. Defender Mats Hummels has a foot injury and played the cup final on medication. He played only 23 Bundesliga games this season for Dortmund because of various injuries. Germany also trained in the same region ahead of the 1990 World Cup in Italy and went on to win the last of its three titles. .J. -- The Houston Astros had the No. . Canadas 5-1 loss to Finland in the semifinal ranks as the tournaments most-watched game with a record 2.7 million viewers, the largest ever for a World Juniors game played outside of North America, and winning Saturday as the most-watched program on Canadian television.
http://www.cheapcanucksjerseysauthentic ... zzi-jersey. -- Fantasy football owners and Denver Broncos fans can rest easy: Peyton Manning is back. . -- Aaron Rodgers looked fine on the practice field Thursday. . The $145.7-million Tim Hortons Field was slated to open this month, a year before it was to host all 32 mens and womens soccer competitions. The delay has forced the Hamilton Tiger-Cats football team to use a smaller facility for the first two home games of the season.HOYLAKE, England -- Rory McIlroy had everything go his way Thursday in the British Open. A lovely summer day in England with abundant sunshine and minimal wind allowed him to attack Royal Liverpool. He made half his six birdies on the par 5s and kept bogeys off his card. And on the day Tiger Woods made a promising return, McIlroy took the lead with a 6-under 66, his best score in nearly two years at a major. Now if he can only find a way to get to the weekend. McIlroy either set himself up for a good run at the claret jug or another dose of Friday failures. In what already has been an unusual year for golf, no trend is more mysterious than Boy Wonder going from awesome to awful overnight. Six times in his last eight tournaments, he has had a nine-hole score of 40 or higher on Friday that has taken him out of the mix. "Its not like Ive shot good scores in first rounds and havent backed them up before," McIlroy said. "Im used to doing that. I just havent done it recently. Well see what tomorrow brings and what weather it is and try and handle it as best I can. "Hopefully," he said, "its just one of those things and Im able to turn it around tomorrow." Woods also would like to keep moving in the right direction. He got off to a troubling start with two quick bogeys, nearly made another one on the fourth hole, and then looked like a 14-time major champion when he ran off five birdies in six holes toward the end of his round for a 69. Not bad for guy who had back surgery March 31, who started taking full swings only a month ago and who had not played in a major in 11 months. "It felt good to be back out there competing again," Woods said. Such pristine weather -- how long it lasts is the big unknown -- gave just about everyone a chance to score. Matteo Manassero broke par in The Open for the first time since he was a 16-year-old amateur. He began his round by hitting into a pot bunker, blasting out to the fairway and holing out from 160 yards for birdie. He made five birdies on the back nine, three on the par 5s. That made him low Italian -- barely. Francesco Molinari and Edoardo Molinari have games that are nothing alike, though they shot the same score. They were in a large group at 68 along with Jim Furyk, Sergio Garcia, Brooks Koepka, Shane Lowry and Adam Scott. Scott stands out as the No. 1 player in the world, and because he was the only player in the top 10 who played in the afternoon when the wind made Hoylake tougher. Scott went out in 31 and was slowed only by two bogeys on the back nine. Even in tamme conditions, the British Open can mete out punishment -- to players, to spectators and even a golf club.dddddddddddd Phil Mickelson was trying to get back to even par when he hooked his approach to the 18th beyond the out-of-bounds stakes down the right side of the hole and had to scramble for a bogey and a 74. He hasnt broken par at a major since winning at Muirfield last summer. That still doesnt top the bad day of Ernie Els. His opening tee shot hit a spectator in the face, and the sight of so much blood shook the Big Easy. When he got to the green, he missed a 1-foot putt, and then carelessly tried to back-hand the next one into the hole and missed that one. The triple bogey sent him to a 79. Henrik Stenson knocked a 30-foot birdie putt off the 12th green and made double bogey, and then took two hacks out of the shin-high grass left of the 17th fairway. Walking to his next shot, he snapped his gap wedge over his thigh like a baseball player -- Bo Jackson comes to mind -- who had just struck out with the bases loaded. Through all this activity, two names came to the forefront -- McIlroy and Woods, both trying to restore their games from different circumstances. McIlroys only victory this year was at the BMW PGA Championship, where he started his week by breaking off his engagement with Caroline Wozniacki. He could have had more chances to win except for that 40 on the front nine at Quail Hollow, the 42 on the front nine at The Players Championship and the 43 on the back nine at the Memorial. He met with Jack Nicklaus, and the topic of his freaky Fridays came up. "I didnt mention it to him," McIlroy said. "He mentioned it to me -- How the hell can you shoot 63 and then 78? No, I think what we talked about was just holding a round together. And he was never afraid to make a change in the middle of the round ... to get it back on track." The trick for McIlroy is to not get derailed in the second round. For the year, he is 55-under par in the first round and 15-over par in the second round. Woods gave a light fist pump when he rolled in a 30-foot putt from just off the green on No. 11. He then hit a beautiful approach to 6 feet for birdie on the 12th. That put him under par in a tournament for the first time since March 9, the final round of Doral. OK, the sample size is small -- that was the last tournament he played until returning to Congressional three weeks ago after back surgery. Even so, he was playing with such rhythm late in his round that he might have wanted to keep going. That makes Friday a big day for Woods, too. ' ' '
