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The Coppa Italia Dilettanti may not be the most glamorous competition in Europe — it's contested by amateurs — but the tie between Torres and Unione Sportiva Termoli has thrown up an unusual guilt-induced last-minute penalty miss.
Leading the match 1-0 (3-2 on aggregate), Termoli were given a dubious 90th-minute penalty when Vittorio Esposito went down in the box without being touched. Having been undeservedly awarded a spot kick, Esposito's conscious got the better of him when he stepped up and made absolutely no attempt to put the ball in the net.
Torres appreciate the sporting gesture, but in the manner of their Chelsea namesake's recent performances, temporary excitement was followed by pangs of disappointment when they were dumped out of the cup.
Termoli also did something vaguely interesting in the first leg of the tie, when Fabio Cifani caught the keeper off his line with a long-distance lob... |
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| Slovakia will be without key defender Martin Skrtel for next week's friendly against Austria because of a calf muscle injury. Skrtel hasn't been able to train with his club Liverpool because of the problem. Forwards Stanislav Sestak and Robert Vittek are also out of the match next Wednesday in Klagenfurt. |
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Birmingham has decided against firing Alex McLeish despite the club's relegation from the Premier League and says it expects its manager to engineer an immediate return to the topflight. Birmingham was relegated Sunday following a 2-1 defeat in its final match at Tottenham and acting chairman Peter Pannu says fans "have been let down." Pannu added that owner Carson Yeung had provided...
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| Ankaragucu forward Robert Vittek has returned to the Slovakia squad for the 2012 European Championship qualifier at Andorra and a friendly against Denmark. Vittek, who scored four goals at the 2010 World Cup, has recovered from a long term knee injury. Captain Marek Hamsik of Napoli, Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel and Everton goalkeeper Jan Mucha were all included in the 23-man squad announced on... |
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| FIFA has blocked Slovakia forward Robert Vittek's transfer from Salzburg despite his Turkish club Ankaragucu's faulty fax machine being blamed for the move failing to go through during the January window. Salzburg says FIFA made a ruling Wednesday after analyzing why the attempted deal missed the Jan. |
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| In the absence of injured key striker Robert Vittek, Frantisek Kubik was called up to the Slovakia squad for the first time to play against Bosnia in next week's friendly. The 21-year-old Kubik has six goals this season for his ADO Den Haag in the Dutch league. Vittek, who scored four times at the World Cup in South Africa, is still recovering from a knee injury. |
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| Portugal great Eusebio says Argentina striker Gonzalo Higuain or David Villa of Spain will win the Golden Boot award for the World Cup's top scorer. Eusebio, who was the top scorer with nine goals at the 1966 tournament, says "it's going to be a very close shave between these two." Villa, Higuain and Robert Vittek of Slovakia share the scoring lead with four goals. |
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| Slovakia has already reached its target of making the round of 16 at the World Cup, so a positive result against the Netherlands on Monday would be a bonus. "For us it will be a completely new and fantastic experience," said forward Robert Vittek, who scored twice in Slovakia's stunning 3-2 win over defending champion Italy. |
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| Slovakia has already reached its target of making the second round of the World Cup so a positive result against the Netherlands on Monday will be a bonus. Forward Robert Vittek scored twice in Slovakia's stunning 3-2 upset of defending champion Italy and says that the next game "will be a completely new and fantastic experience." Slovakia coach Vladimir Weiss already reached the... |
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| Defending champion Italy was eliminated from the World Cup after a humbling 3-2 loss to Slovakia on Thursday. For the third consecutive match, the Azzurri allowed an early goal, and this time they never recovered. Robert Vittek put Slovakia ahead in the 25th minute at Ellis Park, taking advantage of an errant pass from midfielder Daniele De Rossi. |
