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Drogba to rejoin Ivory Coast team mates

Johannesburg - Didier Drogba will rejoin the Ivory Coast World Cup squad on Monday after weekend surgery on a fractured arm, the Ivorian Football Federation said.

However, it is still not clear whether the African Footballer of the Year will be fit to play in the opening Group G match against Portugal in Port Elizabeth next week.

Drogba fractured the ulna, or inner bone, of his right forearm in a warm-up match against Japan in Switzerland on Friday, the federation said.

The striker had surgery in Berne on Saturday, an operation Swiss doctors described as successful.

A statement from the Ivorian federation said Drogba would rejoin his team mates at their Swiss hotel on Monday.

He spent the weekend in hospital, surrounded by his wife and three children, the federation added.

"His recovery has been extremely encouraging. It is suggested that, at this stage, all the signs are good and there is great hope the captain of the Elephants will be in action with his team mates as soon as possible," spokesman Roger Kouassi said.

The Ivorian squad departs for South Africa on Wednesday. They conclude their preparations in Switzerland with a friendly against Lausanne Sports in Nyon on Tuesday.

The speculation initially was that Drogba would not make the tournament in South Africa, adding to a growing list of high profile casualties including three of his Chelsea team mates.

Drogba averages more than a goal a game for the Ivory Coast and is seen as pivotal to their chances of getting past the first round. They also face Brazil and North Korea in a tough group but are more than capable of producing upsets. (Uu.S022/P003)

Source: http://www.antara.co.id

Milan keen to keep hold of Huntelaar

Milan sporting director Ariedo Braida insists the club has no plans to sell Dutch forward Klaas-Jan Huntelaar this summer.

Huntelaar has been linked with a move away from the San Siro this summer after failing to make an impact in the Serie A.

Benfica, with sporting director Rui Costa, are among the clubs reportedly interested in signing the former Real Madrid forward.

“Milan do not want to sell Huntelaar, this is a player who has three more years of contract with us,” Braida told Diario de Noticias. “Huntelaar has quality and we do not want to let him leave.

“In football, anything is possible, but I find it very hard that Huntelaar is transferred to another club. Rui Costa is a friend, a friend of Milan, an ex-player of Milan and a lovable person. We have never spoken about Huntelaar.”

Source: http://www.footballnewsblog.co.uk

Technical Specifications
2010 Yamaha YZ85

Engine
Engine type
Bore x Stroke
Displacement
Valves
Compression ratio
Max Power
Max Torque
Fuel system
Transmission
Final drive
Clutch
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Starting system
Lubrication
Exhaust system
Spark plug
Battery
Gear ratios

Liquid cooled, single cylinder, two-stroke, reed-valve inducted
47.5 x 47.8mm
85cc
2 valves per cylinder
8.2:1

Keihin PWK28
6-speed
Chain
Wet multiplate
CDI
Kick starter

1st:
2nd:
3rd:
4th:
5th:
6th:

Dimensions
Frame type
Rake/trail
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Color
Suspension (front)
Suspension (rear)
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Tyre (rear)
Brake (front)
Brake (rear)

Rigid, semi-double cradle, single backbone

1,818mm (71.6 inches)
758mm (29.8 inches)
1,161mm (45.7 inches)
1,255mm (49.4 inches)
864mm (34 inches)
351mm (13.8 inches)
71.0 kg
5.0 litres (1.1 gallons)
Yamaha blue
Adjustable 36mm inverted fork / 275mm (10.8") travel
Fully adjustable link Monocross / 282mm (11.1") travel
70/100-R17
90/100-R14
Single hydraulic disc brake, 220mm
Single hydraulic disc brake, 190mm

Image: http://yamahamanual.blogspot.co.id/2012/06/2010-yamaha-yz85yz85lwz-owners-manual.html

Holland the dark horses for World Cup glory

It is very rare for the pre-tournament favourite to win a World Cup. It is also very rare that there isn’t at least one that performs above expectations and causes a shock or two. With this in mind, it seems about time to look beyond the teams everybody is talking about.

Spain, Brazil, England and Argentina are the four favourites in the World Cup odds. They go into the biggest competition in football with a decent amount of confidence, and although there are some doubts over the last two of the sides, punters still expect them to overcome their problems.

So which team might push these four and give themselves a genuine chance of lifting the trophy next month? Personally, I think Holland could surprise a few people and have made them my football tips for the tournament. Not many pundits have spoken about their chances, but there is no way they should be ignored.

Their manager, Bert Van Marwjik enjoyed a 100 per cent record in qualifying and he is certainly a manager with a growing reputation. He has been in charge since 2008 and it would have all been leading up to this tournament, so his squad will be fully prepared.

Their players rival the best around for talent as well. Just one glance at the talent they have picked for South Africa tells you that, with names like Robin van Persie, Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder leaping from the page.

One issue for Holland could be that of the group they find themselves in - it isn’t an easy one. They will face Cameroon, Denmark and Japan in Group E and even though they are favourites to top the group, they will have to be on their game to defeat three determined sides.

The group stages of major competitions aren’t normally an issue for Holland though. In Euro 2008, they topped a group containing Italy and France. Prior to that, they sailed through the Group of Death in the 2006 World Cup.

It is the next stage of the competitions that they have struggled in. Whatever they have promised in the first three games, they have fallen flat on their feet when it comes the pressure of knockout matches.

Perhaps the way they have kept a lid on their expectations and hopes for this particular tournament is an indicator that they will not get ahead of themselves if they reach the last 16. It will be a case of taking each game as it comes and using the talent they have in the team to progress.

Should the likes of van Persie and Robben stay fit and they manage to stay solid defensively, there is no doubt that this Holland team - which has shown a new sense of unity in recent months - can go all the way.

Source: http://www.footballnewsblog.co.uk

Real Madrid sign Van der Vaart

Media reports in Spain claim that La Liga champions Real Madrid have completed the signing of Dutch playmaker Rafael Van der Vaart.

A fee of nine million euros has reportedly been agreed with his Bundesliga club Hamburg for the midfielder, who is out of contract at the end of this season.

Under the deal Real Madrid will also get a bonus which will vary depending on the performance of the 25-year-old midfielder, whose mother is Spanish, the radio station added.

Real coach Bernd Schuster has publicly stated his determination to sign the playmaker and pair him in midfield with Wesley Sneijder, a partnership which lit up the Euro 2008 finals this summer.

Last week Hamburg boss Dietmar Beiersdorfer said the German side had rejected an offer of seven million euros for the Dutchman who has made no secret of his desire to play for a major European club.

But Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon said in an interview published Wednesday that the Spanish side was close to signing the player.

“He is a player that Schuster and the coaching staff like a lot and the deal is close. We are waiting to reach a definitive agreement with Hamburg, but it shouldn’t be difficult,” he told Spanish sports daily AS.

Cadena Ser said the player would be officially unveiled as a Real Madrid player on Monday.

Van der Vaart has publicly stated he is happy to play another season at the north German club.

Source: http://www.footballnewsblog.co.uk

Negredo to sign for Sevilla

Real Madrid striker Alvaro Negredo has ended weeks of speculation about his future and agreed to join Primera Liga rivals Sevilla, Spanish sporting dailies said Thursday.

The 23-year-old was last month linked with Tottenham and then more recently with Hull City and Zenit St Petersburg and finally with newly promoted Spanish side Zaragoza.

The Marca newspaper said Sevilla, which qualified for this season’s European Champions League by finishing third behind Barcelona and Real, will pay 15 million euros (21 million dollars) for the player, who is set to sign a four-year contract later Thursday.

It said the club will have an option to buy back the striker for 18 million euros in the first year and 21 million in the second.

Another paper, AS, put the transfer fee at 14 million euros with a buy-back option of 17 million over the two seasons.

Spanish media said earlier this week that Hull was ready to meet Real’s terms of an 18-million-euro transfer fee plus a two-year buy-back clause worth 25 million euros.

But Negredo wanted to remain in Spain, and Real was ready to let him.

He was then on the point of moving to Zaragoza before Sevilla made a final effort to sign him, Marca said.

Negredo scored 19 goals in Spain’s Primera Liga last season, when he played for Almeria. Real then exercised a buy-back option on him during the close season.

Real president Florentino Perez has splashed out over 250 million euros on the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Karim Benzema since he returned to the club in June in a bid to make the nine-times European champions a formidable force again.

But he is now seeking to offload a number of players to recoup some of the massive outlay.

Source: http://www.footballnewsblog.co.uk

Platini stands by Ronaldo transfer criticism

UEFA president Michel Platini on Wednesday stood by his view that the record 94 million euros which Real Madrid paid to sign Cristiano Ronaldo was “indecent” during a visit to the Spanish giants’ stadium.

“The amount seems indecent to me,” he told a news conference at the Santiago Bernabeu ahead of Real’s Champions League clash against AC Milan.

“But that does not bother me in the case that the club has the money to do it. And there is no problem with Real Madrid because they have the money to do it,” added Platini who was sitting beside Real president Florentino Perez.

The two men went out of their way to show that there was no bad blood between Real, which spent 250 million euros on new signings in the pre-season, and UEFA, which is seeking to curb splurges by clubs.

“Ties between UEFA and Real Madrid, and between the president of UEFA and the president of Real Madrid, are, and will always be, excellent,” said Perez.

Real was heavily criticized for the amount it paid to sign Ronaldo from Manchester United as well as the 65 million euros it dished out to sign Brazil’s Kaka from AC Milan.

At the time Platini called the transfers “a serious challenge to the idea of fairplay” while Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano said Real’s spending splurge runs the risk of pushing football clubs towards bankrupcy by inflating transfer fees.

Perez, who brought stars Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane to Real during his first term as the club’s president between 2000 and 2006, said Wednesday that the club has a record budget of 422 million euros in the 2009-10 season.

Source: http://www.footballnewsblog.co.uk