Alonso: We are still lacking pace

Fernando Alonso says it will be a struggle to repeat his Monza victory of 12 months ago this weekend, explaining that Ferrari is lacking pace compared to ‘the best’ in Italy this weekend. The two-time Champion was the fifth fastest man on Friday, over half a second adrift of McLaren rival Lewis Hamilton’s fastest time in morning practice.

"Racing at Monza is always exciting, especially if you are a Ferrari driver," said Alonso. "The warmth of the fans is amazing and you can feel it. However, from a technical point of view, today was just a Friday like any other: we worked a lot on comparing different aerodynamic solutions as well as on evaluating different set-up choices on the car.

"Now we must put everything together and try and make the right choices. Honestly, I think we lack a bit of performance compared to the best, even if there are still the same unknowns relating to Fridays, especially those linked to fuel loads.

"However, we have to be realistic: the car is more or less the one we had in Spa, apart from specific updates to cope with the fact this track requires low aerodynamic downforce. Sure, it would be nice to repeat last year’s performance, but we know that will be very difficult. You can’t create a miracle in two weeks, but we will do our utmost to give the fans something to cheer about."

The Spaniard also took time to reflect on his position in the championship, admitting that stealing second place from Red Bull's Mark Webber is a very realistic prospect.

"What is my motivation like for this final part of the season? I am a very competitive person and I don’t like losing," he added. "It’s true, this year that’s happened quite often, but there are still targets that are within our grasp, for example, second place in the Drivers’ championship: Webber is not that far ahead."

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Ten-man Iron hold Blades

Substitute Ched Evans preserved Sheffield United's unbeaten record with a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw against 10-man Scunthorpe.

The home side, still looking for their first win of the season, were forced to play with a numerical disadvantage for over an hour after winger Andy Barcham was shown a straight red card for his challenge on Blades skipper Michael Doyle in the 25th minute.

But it was Scunthorpe who bossed the first half, and they should have been in front after just seven minutes when striker Chris Dagnall shot against the crossbar from close range with the goal at his mercy. However, Dagnall made amends in first-half stoppage time when he fired the Iron in front with a brilliant solo effort, taking on the Sheffield defence in a run from the halfway line before picking his spot past goalkeeper Steve Simonsen.

Following a disappointing first half, the Blades came back strongly after the interval and were unlucky not to be on level terms when a shot from Nathaniel Mendez-Laing came back off a post. Richard Cresswell then missed two golden opportunities to bring his side back on level terms.

Scunthorpe defended in depth with good debuts from goalkeeper Sam Johnstone of Manchester United and centre-back Shane Duffy from Everton. But the Blades` pressure was finally rewarded with a 72nd-minute equaliser from Evans, who scored with an overhead kick after the home defence had failed to deal with a cross from full-back Matthew Lowton.

The Blades almost snatched a winner after 83 minutes when Doyle headed against the crossbar from a corner.

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Can rough diamond Kaby make the grade at Chelsea?

Having first appeared on the Chelsea radar during the final months of José Mourinho's reign in West London, exciting midfielder Aliu Djaló is hoping for his Blues breakthrough under Mourinho's apprentice, André Villas-Boas.

Djaló, known simply as Kaby after the famous leader of his homeland of Guinea-Bissau, arrived in London after four years in Boavista's Academy. Chelsea were initially alerted to the talents of the then 15-year-old by one of Mourinho's trusted aides, and splashed out a reported £5 million to take Kaby to Cobham.

The skillful central midfielder struggled to adapt to the English game in his first season as a scholar, but on occasion still showed glimpses of his boundless potential. The 2009/10 season then saw big improvements from Djaló, who thrived when given the opportunity to captain Chelsea's Under-18s. He played a key role in the FA Youth Cup win, showing off all his attacking talents, while showing good awareness and discipline to track back and help out defensively.

Last season, the improvements continued, and they didn't go unnoticed away away from Stamford Bridge.

Crystal Palace gave him a 17 minute pre-season run out, but the Championship outfit failed to agree terms with Chelsea over a loan move. Undeterred, Djaló followed up some good pre-season form with 18 Reserve team appearances, in which he scored three goals and made eight as the Blues won the Premier Reserve League.

He continued to show off his usual blend of flicks, tricks and stylish attacking play, but also injected an improved work ethic to his performances.

The current Portugal Under-20 international has since played 45 first-team minutes against Wycombe Wanderers during this pre-season, and has already trained with the first-team on a handful of occasions. At 19, Kaby needs to ramp up his development, something a loan move may well help with.

Chelsea have wasted money on many prospects who have failed to make the grade over the years, but don't rule out the committed and talented Kaby Djaló just yet.

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Repsol Honda factory rider Casey Stoner claims the 2011 Indianapolis MotoGP in dominant fashion

Australian Casey Stoner rode away from the pack at the Indianapolis Moto Grand Prix on Sunday for his third consecutive victory and seventh overall this year.

Stoner pole sitter completed 28 laps over the 2.621-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in 46 minutes, 52.786 seconds.

The Aussie making his seventh start of the year from the pole, finished 4.828 seconds ahead of teammate Dani Pedrosa of Spain.

American Ben Spies, who began the race on the middle of the front row, finished third.

Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo who sits second behing Stoner in the MotoGP world championship finished fourth.

Stoner's victory extended his lead in the title chase from 32 to 44 points.

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RI aiming to draw against Iran in pre-World Cup qualifying round

Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng said that the Indonesian national soccer team will fight to contain host team Iran during this Friday’s match in Tehran in order to further advance their prospects for the pre-World Cup 2014 qualifying round.

“We hope to gain [at least] one point from the match,” Andi said on Wednesday, as reported by tribunnews.com.

A draw, Andi said, was enough to allow Indonesia to put its best foot forward in the competition against its next opponent, Bahrain. The Indonesian team will play Bahrain before the home crowd at Bung Karno Soccer Stadium in Jakarta on Sep. 6.

Andi said the red-and-white team expects to beat Bahrain, partially because of support from their fans.

“We will win the Sep. 6 match against Bahrain,” Andi said.

Indonesia lost to Qatar 0-1 in a try-out match on Sunday.

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S Sumatra to host Asian age group swimming championships

Palembang, S Sumatra - South Sumatra province will host the 7th Asian Age Group Swimming Championships (AASF) in Palembang on October 5-13, one of its organizers said.

The event would serve as a test case for South Sumatra`s preparedness to host the 26th SEA Games on November 11-21, the coordinator of the 26th SEA Games` test event, Dhenie Zainal, said here on Saturday.

"To organize the SEA Games, South Sumatra must conduct a test event. Luckily, the Asian Swimming Federation (ASF) has given us a chance to do so," he said.

The test event would be held at Jakabaring indoor swimming pool in Jakabaring Sport City (JSC) and Lumban Tirta swimming pool at the Palembang campus, he said.

"During the SEA Games all swimming contests will be held at Jakabaring swimming pool. But if its construction has not been completed we can use Lumban Tirta which is now being renovated for the test event," he said.

He said Lumban Tirta was a world-class swimming pool like Senayan swimming pool in Jakarta.

"So there will be no reason not to hold a test event if the construction of Jakabaring indoor swimming pool has not been completed," he said.

The AASF is a biennial event. This time the event will be divided into swimming, diving, water polo, and synchronized swimming.

"Participants will come from 24 countries but not all of them will take part in all matches," he said. (*)

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Bahrain soccer team expected in Jakarta Saturday

Jakarta - The national soccer team of Bahrain is expected to arrive in Jakarta on Saturday (Sept.3) night or earlier than the Indonesian senior team which was scheduled to arrive here from Iran on Sunday night.

The Indonesian team will play against the Bahrain team in the second leg of the Pre-World Cup 2014 round Group E on Tuesday (Sept.6) at the Bung Karno main stadium, Senayan, Jakarta, the official website of the All-Indonesia Soccer Association (PSSI), reported on Saturday.

As the host, the Indonesian team which was scheduled to arrive here at 10.25 pm western Indonesia standard time (WIB) would have a short time of rest before playing against Bahrain.

Indonesia lost 0-3 (0-0) to Iran in the third round of Pre-World Cup 2011 round group E at Tehran`s Azadi Stadium early on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Bahrain team that shared a 0-0 draw against Qatar, was scheduled to arrive in the Soekarno-Hatta international airport on Saturday at 09.45 pm local time by Qatar airlines (QR 670).

The game devices will arrive here on Sunday (Sept.4).

In addition, the match supervisor is Salman Al Namshan from Saudi Arabia.

While the referee who will lead the game, Min Hu Lee from South Korea, will be assisted by two referee assistants namely Choi Min Byuong and Young Ha Kim and the referee reserve Jo Hyung Jin, all are from South Korea.

In the Group E standings, Iran for the time-being leads with three points after beating Indonesia 3-0 in the first leg. The second position place is Bahrain (1), followed by Qatar (1) and Indonesia (0). (*)

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