embarrassment for Russia and the Russian aut from corse178's blog
NAPLES, Italy -- Not missing Gonzalo Higuain in the least, Napoli tightened its grip on Group B of the Champions League with a convincing 4-2 win over Benfica on Wednesday. Wholesale Basketball NCAA Jerseys .Captain Marek Hamsik opened the scoring with a header after 20 minutes, and Napoli opened the floodgates early in the second half with three goals -- two of them from Dries Mertens -- in the space of seven minutes.Mertens scored his first with a beautiful free kick that floated over Benficas wall before dipping down into the net. Arkadiusz Milik, the 22-year-old Poland center forward brought in to replace Higuain, converted a penalty before Mertens added another from close range after goalkeeper Julio Cesar made a miscalculation.Substitutes Goncalo Guedes and Eduardo Salvio scored late for Benfica.We showed that we can belong in this competition, Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri said. Knocking out a top-level squad like this is not easy.Having opened with a come-from-behind 2-1 win at Dynamo Kiev, Napoli has six points from two games and looks improved despite Higuains Italian-record transfer to domestic rival Juventus for 90 million euros ($99 million).Besiktas has two points after drawing 1-1 with Dynamo in the other group match, while Dynamo and Benfica have one each.We played a great match and we obtained a great result against a top-level squad, Hamsik said. Too bad we conceded those two goals at the end but it was still a great match.Napoli had never before scored four goals in the Champions League, and the outburst came a day after Juventus 4-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb.Could this match be taken as a response to Juves performance?Napoli is here, Hamsik said. It was a big victory.After two seasons without Champions League action, Napolis San Paolo stadium was buzzing.Perhaps the only hindrance to the match being a sellout were expensive ticket prices, with the cheapest seats selling for 40 euros ($45). In a protest against the high costs, a banner hanging from the Curva B where Napolis hard-core ultra fans sit proclaimed the area the Settore popolare -- working class sector.Napoli controlled the game right from the start, with Milik set up by a long pass from Faouzi Ghoulam only to produce a weak shot on goal less than 20 seconds after kickoff.Benfica came close a few minutes later when Nelson Semedo rolled a cross into the area, before defender Elseid Hysaj was able to clear the danger.Also early on, Napoli lost key center back Raul Albiol to an apparent muscle strain. The Spaniard was replaced by Nikola Maksimovic, who made his Napoli debut with the poise of a veteran.A minute before Hamsiks opener, Benfica defender Alex Grimaldo prevented a golden opportunity for the hosts with an acrobatic interception of a cross from Mertens that was heading directly for Jose Callejon in front of the goal.Hamsik then beat his marker to meet a corner from Ghoulam and deliver a header inside the near post for his 101st goal in a Napoli shirt, placing him within 14 goals of Diego Maradonas club record.Benfica sorely missed injured striker Jonas, the Brazilian who scored 32 goals in 34 Portuguese league matches last season.---Andrew Dampf on Twitter: www.twitter.com/asdampf Cheap Throwback NCAA Jerseys Outlet .com) - Manchester City midfielder David Silva is expected to miss the next four weeks because of a calf problem. Authentic Throwback NCAA Jerseys . Already owning gold from competition in Vancouver in 2010, Loch posted a combined four-run time of 3:27.526. That included a track-record third run of 51. http://www.cheapthrowbackcollegejerseys.com/ .J. -- New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his left knee. HARARE, Zimbabwe -- The African with the most Olympic medals is one of the great distance runners from Kenya or Ethiopia, right?Nope.Its a swimmer from Zimbabwe.Like Michael Phelps, Kirsty Coventry is going to the Olympics for the fifth and final time, and shes swimming for one more little slice of history in the Rio de Janeiro pool.Phelps has the all-time Olympic record with his medal haul of 22, but Coventry needs one more podium finish at her last Olympics to be the first female swimmer to win eight individual medals.Its not an arbitrary stat. It underlines how Coventry, from a southern African nation with very little Olympic success (apart from hers, that is) has done it all by herself. No help from relay teammates to boost that medal count.Zimbabwe has won eight medals in total at the Olympics, and seven of them have been provided by Coventry, the two-time gold medalist in the 200-meter backstroke. The countrys only other medal is a womens field hockey gold won during the boycotted 1980 Games in Moscow.Shes already Africas best at the Olympics. As for the other mark, Coventry is level on seven individual swimming medals with Hungarys Krisztina Egerszegi. Rio is the last chance to edge ahead of Egerszegi. Coventry is 32, on her way out, knows it, and can make light of it.Whos the swimmer to watch at the Rio Games?Me! she responded.Joking.In all seriousness the field of swimmers is so strong right now, its crazy, Coventry wrote in an email exchange. I remember saying how strong it was in London (in 2012), but Rio will be even more so.Of them all, Coventry rates Americans Camille Adams and Katie Ledecky highest.Camille Adams ... she will get you out of your chairs when she is racing. And then there is Katie Ledecky. She will blow your mind. They are the whole package: hard working, competitive, confident, talented, beautiful and filled with positive energy and kindness.Coventrys been pretty good, too, basically representing her country at the Olympics single-handedly over the last 16 years, and ending up with more Olympic medals than any other African athlete. In the pool, too, not on the running track, normally the most fertile ground for African athletes.Making the Olympic team is a huge accomplishment, going to five Olympics is incredible, she wrote. But winning this number of medals in a sport that is not strong in Africa is unbelievabble. Wholesale NCAA Jerseys Authentic. Like Phelps, she made her Olympic debut as a teenager in Sydney in 2000. And theyll finish at the same time. In Rio, Coventry will focus on her favorite race and the one thats brought her two Olympic golds, the 200 backstroke. Shes also qualified in the 100 backstroke and 200 individual medley.Is there one more medal in there somewhere? Itll be tough. She didnt manage to get on the podium in London four years ago.Coventry grew up around swimming and the Olympics. She remembers watching the 92 Games in Barcelona on TV and telling her parents she wanted to go to the Olympics. She went to the Sydney Olympics while still at high school. She broke through in Athens with the first of her back-to-back Olympic titles. She went to Auburn University in Alabama, winning NCAA swimming championships while she studied. She was desperately grateful for an Olympic scholarship that helped her prepare for Beijing. She also broke the world records in the 100 and the 200 backstroke.Makes sense, then, that she stays around sport and the Olympic movement. Coventry is now a member of the International Olympic Committee and serves on the IOC and World Anti-Doping Agencys athletes commissions. She has clear opinions on the big issues affecting the Olympics right now.On the Russian doping scandal, Coventry said: This is a huge embarrassment for Russia and the Russian authorities are responsible ... there is a higher level of dishonesty at play. This is a warning to any country, coach, parent and athlete that is doping or considering doping: it does not matter who you are and it may not happen today, but you will get caught, and you will become an embarrassment to your friends and family.And on the Zika virus and the problems it has presented for the Rio Olympics, Coventry said she never once considered skipping the games. Brazil are going to put on a great show. Its going to be an awesome Olympics with some outstanding performances and I cant wait to get there.Onto the last Olympics for Africas best Olympian and, ideally, one last medal. But if not, no big deal.Its always been about a desire to make the Olympic team and represent my country, Coventry said.---Follow the Rio de Janeiro Games at http://www.summergames.ap.org/ Cheap MLB Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping cheap nfl jerseys Cheap Jerseys USA China Jerseys Cheap NFL Authentic JerseysCheap Jerseys For Sale Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Cheap NBA Jerseys ' ' '
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