YOU ARE HERE: &|Grahame L. Jones | Times Staff Writer
Among the more than two dozen international matches played worldwide Wednesday were seven games involving eight teams ranked in FIFA's top 10. Of the eight teams, only one, World Cup semifinalist Turkey, stumbled.Here's how soccer's leading nations fared:* Top-ranked Brazil failed to give Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira his first victory in his third stint in charge when it was held to a 0-0 tie by ninth-ranked Mexico at near-sold-out Estadio Jalisco in Guadalajara in a game that might have ended 4-4 had both teams taken advantage of their many scoring chances. Diego, 18, made his debut for Brazil as a late substitute.* Second-ranked Spain rolled to 4-0 victory over Ecuador in Madrid behind a hat trick by Real Madrid striker Fernando Morientes, whose three goals brought his total to 20 in only 28 international games. Midfielder Javi de Pedro opened the scoring for Spain, which is unbeaten in nine games since Inaki Saez took over as coach after the 2002 World Cup.* Third-ranked France swamped Egypt, 5-0, in Paris in the first meeting between the countries. Thierry Henry scored twice, with Arsenal teammate Robert Pires adding another and Djibril Cisse and Olivier Kapo also scoring. The match also saw French captain Marcel Desailly, 34, become his country's all-time leader with 104 international games, one more than former captain Didier Deschamps.* Fourth-ranked Germany, fielding a makeshift lineup without many of its top players, managed to overcome Serbia and Montenegro, 1-0, in Bremen, Germany, only because of an error by Serbia and Montenegro goalkeeper Dragoslav Jevric, who meant to punch away a 25-yard shot by German midfielder Sebastian Kehl but instead deflected the ball into his own net.* The fifth-ranked Netherlands extended its unbeaten streak to 14 games under Coach Dick Advocaat when it played 2004 European Championship host Portugal to a 1-1 tie in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Patrick Kluivert tied Dennis Bergkamp's Dutch record when he scored his 37th international goal, but Portugal's Simao Sabrosa tied it up on a shot that deflected off a defender.* Sixth-ranked Argentina made a long-range foray to Africa, where it defeated Libya, 3-1, in front of 55,000 in Tripoli. Javier Saviola gave the South Americans the lead in the first half, but Libya tied it up on a 60th-minute goal by Tareq Taieb before Juan Roman Riquelme and Pablo Aimar each scored in the last half-hour. Al-Saadi Kadafi, the son of Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi, played for Libya.* Seventh-ranked England was idle, but eighth-ranked Turkey continued its downward spiral when its was thrashed, 4-0, by the Czech Republic, which scored all its goals in the first 38 minutes in the Czech city of Teplice. Tomas Rosicky's first-minute goal was followed by Jan Koller's 24th in 41 internationals and two more by the Liverpool duo of Vladimir Smicer and Milan Baros. The Czechs are unbeaten in 14 games under Coach Karel Bruckner.The 10th-ranked United States was idle but plays Mexico on May 8 in Houston, where U.S. Soccer said Wednesday that ticket sales have surpassed 45,000.In other games involving CONCACAF teams Wednesday, Jamaica was held to a 0-0 tie by South Africa in Cape Town, South A Trinidad and Tobago was beaten, 3-0, by Venezuela in San Cristobal, V Costa Rica was edged, 1-0, by Chile in Santiago, Chile, and Honduras and Colombia fought to a 0-0 tie at the Orange Bowl in Miami.Other noteworthy performances Wednesday included Hungary's 5-1 demolition of Luxembourg in Budapest, where Imre Szabics score Austria's 2-0 victory over floundering Scotland in Glasgow, and Croatia's 2-1 upset of Sweden in Stockholm.Also, Italy ended Switzerland's six-match unbeaten streak with a 2-1 victory in Geneva in a game that marked the inauguration of the Stade de Geneva, FC Servette's new stadium, and Ireland edged Norway, 1-0, in Dublin.Liechtenstein scored only the third victory in its history when it beat Saudi Arabia, 1-0, in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.Euro 2004There were five qualifying matches for the 2004 European Championship in Portugal played on Wednesday, with the most significant of the results being Georgia's 1-0 victory over Russia in Tbilisi on a goal by Malkhaz Asatiani, who was making his international debut.The loss was Russia's second in a row in qualifying and complicates its chances of reaching Euro 2004 next summer.In other qualifying games, Israel shut out Cyprus, 2-0, in Palermo, S Latvia blanked San Marino, 3-0, in Riga, L Estonia beat Andorra, 2-0, in Andorra la Vella, Andorra, and Slovenia defeated Malta, 3-1, in Valletta, Malta.Quick Passes1 |I Can Feel an Upset or Two on Day 1 of the Cheltenham Festival
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It all comes down to this. Months of research, hour upon hour of video, both watching and recording and a Mullins merry-go-round. It can only be day 1 of the Cheltenham Festival
Conceived at Market Harborough 156 years ago and once resident of Warwick racecourse, the Festival was embryonic back then, and arguably even into the 80's and 90's (thats 1980's and 90's) compared the behemoth it has become today.
The behemoth is also the Irish invasion of competitors and in particular, headlines, led by the man from Closutton, who brings something like 60 entries to Prestbury, closely followed by Gordon Elliot who has a fair handful at 25 too!
From home ground, Paul Nichols has been quiet but looks to be fending off his Irish rival in the Champion trainer stakes, but also has his own competition in former hand Dan Skelton who could get the upsets started in the Supreme Novice Hurdle. Look out too for ever popular Local Nigel Twiston Davies who has suddenly got his string in form and Jonjo O'Neil who is always liable to land one - But back to that name synonymous with equine talent and primed to be champion trainer one day - Team Skelton....
A&swathe of cash has gone down for the Mullins Grade 1 four timer again this year. (Min, Douvan, Annie Power and Vroum Vroum Mag) I will confess to having 50ps worth at around 28/1, but young Dan Skelton could bring this crashing down in the Supreme Novices Hurdle and provide a week of smiles at the first for the bookmakers by usurping not only Willie Mullins but also the yet to be mentioned Seven Barrows legend Nicky Henderson in the opening event of the 2016 Festival. Whilst Min is all the rage and Altior and Buveur D'Air the obvious alternatives, Dan Skelton has little fancied NORTH HILL HARVEY&waiting in the wings at a huge price. Impressive up the hill over course and distance back in December will be to his advantage, as would any reproduction of the form that went fairly unnoticed in finishing second on his next and last outing at Huntingdon. The Supreme is not a given for fancied runners, just ask Willie Mullins (Him again!) and Ebayzian!
The remainder of the day will ride on the back of a facile victory for Douvan in the seven runner Arkle - Should he not emerge victorious, he can only beat himself here surely, then those looking to Gordon Elliot and a very quiet THE GAME CHANGER who has not been seen since October last year might just find themselves smiling at odd once again. Tuesday has so often seen the punters day, I have a feeling about 2016 and The game Changer would certainly do that if following up a shock in the first!
The Ultima Solutions Handicap Chase is the biggest puzzle of the day (not the last time puzzle might be mentioned before i finish!) - Southfield Theatre could be considered very well handicapped having made his last appearance here just 6 lengths down on Gold Cup contender Don Poli in the RSA chase here 12 months ago. Two 'interesting' outings since leave me wondering and i have some esteemed and talented friends who have picked him out for the win but i BEG TO DIFFER and think Jonjo O Neill can get off the mark this year. Lightly raced and improving with each of his four chase outings to date, small stakes will be applied.
It's the Champion Hurdle up next, a race last won by a mare back in 1994 (Flakey Dove), at the mercy of Faugheen until his withdrawal and the drafting in at a supplementation of Willie Mullins 'supermare' Annie Power . Former World Hurdle 2015 loser and final fence faller in the Mares Race in 2016 she was instantly installed as favourite despite this being a second choice and arguably not ideal event. Her price makes her avoidable for me. Based on connections and expectation rather than reality she can be opposed with any one of several of her rivals. Nichols Canyon is the only one to have beaten Faugheen although questions on the latter fitness at that point remain, Identity Thief was unheard of not so long ago his rise to prominence here meteoric. From there we can cast eyes upon well known contenders, My Tent or Yours who, had he had a run this season before coming into this, we would be far more informed of his chance, his previous exploits in this race if reproduced would make him very interesting indeed and then THE NEW ONE, unlucky finishing third behind the aforementioned and Jezki in the 2014 renewal and 5th last year, this race is not as strong as previously, weakened further by the absence of Faugheen and Arctic Fire and this could be third time lucky - How the roof would be raised for a Nigel Twiston-Davies Champion!!
I mentioned Puzzle already didn't I? Bitofapuzzle is my pick for the OLBG Mares Hurdle. With Annie Powers defection fate decided, Vroum Vroum Mag has been drafted in from the Colsutton collaboration and again, the layers run scared. Unbeaten in 8 outings, 6 over fences before switching to hurdles, the bookies can be excused for caution. With little value in here price, I look to last years race and events immediately after Annie Power came down at the last leaving Glens Melody, Polly Peachum and BITOFAPUZZLE to fight out a close. With the winner retired the latter pair will battle again for honours against the Mullins hot-pot. Harry Frys' mare is twice the price of polly this year for that neck beating into third and has to be of each way interest.
The remaining two races on the card are not for the faint of heart punters, with the amateur riders National Hunt Chase (the original festival race at Market Harborough) and the closing handicap ensuring anyone picking a winner is rewarded handsomely! I will be avoiding the last today as I've not had any time to take a look at the race but will be very interested in the 4 miles given a premonition that Willie Mullins would run PONT ALEXANDRE&here and secured odds just shy of 100/1 on betfair just a few weeks ago. That ticket looks tasty now and a little interest in NOBLE ENDEAVOUR with Jamie Codd on board.
Whatever you might be backing today and for the rest of the week all the very best of luck and of course the safe return of all horses and jockeys are of paramount interest over financial reward.
Have a great week!Looking for more of the latest headlines on LinkedIn?知识点梳理
整理教师:&&
举一反三（巩固练习，成绩显著提升，去）
根据问他()知识点分析，
试题“I don't want to upset you, but...”，相似的试题还有：
As prices and building costs keep
rising, the “do-it-yourself”(DIY)trend in the US continues to grow.“We
needed furniture for our living room,” says John Ross, “and we just didn’t have
enough money to buy it. So we decided to try making a few tables and chairs.”
John got married six months ago, and like many young people these days, they
are struggling to make a home at a time when the cost of living is very high.
The Roses took a 2-week course for $280 at a night school. Now they build all
their furniture and make repairs around the house.Jim
Hatfield has three boys and his wife died. He has a full-time job at home as
well as in a shoe making factory. Last month, he received a car repair bill for
$520. “I was deeply upset about it. Now I have finished a car repair course, I
should be able to fix the car by myself.”John
and Jim are not unusual people. Most families in the country are doing everything
they can to save money so they can fight the high cost of living. If you want
to become a “do-it-yourself”, you can go to DIY classes. And for those who
don’t have time to take a course, there are books that tell you how you can do
things yourself.1.We can learn from
the text that many newly married people__________.A.
find it hard to pay for what they needB.
have to learn to make their own furnitureC.
take DIY courses run by the governmentD.
seldom go to a department store to buy things2.John and his wife
went to evening classes to learn how to __________.A.
B. make or repair thingsC.
save time and money
D. improve the quality of life3. Jim decided to
become a do-it-yourselfer when__________A.
his car repairs cost too much
the car repair class was not helpfulC.
He couldn't possibly do two jobs
D. keeps house and looks
after his children4. When the writer
says that Jim has a full-time job at home, he means Jim_________.A.
makes shoes in his home
B. does extra work at night
C. does his own car
and home repairs
D. keeps house and looks after his children
“You'll have to take care of the baby
today,” a woman told her husband . “ I'm not feeling well.”“Then you must stay in bed and rest, dear.
“ her husband said. “I'll be pleased to look after our baby. ““Thank you. I'll have a quiet day and I'll
soon get better. “ his wife told him.“Shall I do the shopping for you as well?”
her husband asked.She was very pleased and said, “That will
help me very much. I'll give you a list of things to buy. “She wrote out the list and gave it to him.“You can get all these things at the
supermarket,” she said.“You can put the baby in the shopping cart,
then you won't have to leave him outside.”The man took the baby to the supermarket
and put him in the shopping cart. Then he pushed the shopping cart along the
rows of things to buy and looked for those that were on his list.At first all was well, but then the baby
began to cry.Then he started to scream.And scream!And SCREAM!“Keep calm ,George, ” the man said. “Don't
get excited. Don't shout, George. Don't lose your temper, George.”A woman in the supermarket heard him saying
these things. She walked up to him.“I think you are wonderful ,”she said. “You
are so patient with your little George. ”“Madam,
”& the man said, “I'm George. He's Edward.”1. Why did the man take care of the baby?A．it was his turn.B．His wife was not well.C．His wife was not at home.D．He always looked after it.2.Why did the man take the baby to the
supermarket?A．He had to go shopping.B．He wanted to show the baby to his friend.C．He wanted to give the baby a ride in a shopping cart.D．The baby liked going to the supermarket.3.What did the baby do in the supermarket?A．pushed the shopping cartB．lost its temperC．made a lot of noiseD．helped his father4.Finally we can infer from the story
that_____ .A．the man was very calm when the baby was cryingB．the woman was very pleased to see the manC．the woman mistook George for the baby, while in fact the man was
named GeorgeD．the man was very busy in shopping, but he couldn't find all the
goods on the list
upon a time, there was an island inhabited by: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge,
and all the rest of it, including Love. One day it was announced to the
feelings that the island would sink, so all constructed boats and left. Except
Love was the only one who stayed. Love wanted to hold out until the last
possible moment.When the island had almost sunk,
Love decided to ask for help.
Richness was
passing by Love in a grand boat. Love said, &Richness, can you take me
with you?&
answered, &No, I can't. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat.
There is no place here for you.&
Love decided
to ask Vanity(虚荣) who was also passing by in a
beautiful vessel. &Vanity, please help me!&
help you, Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat,& Vanity
Sadness was
close by so Love asked, &Sadness, let me go with you.&
Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself!&
passed by Love, too, but she was so happy that she did not even hear when Love
called her.
there was a voice, &Come, Love, I will take you.& It was an elder. So
blessed and overjoyed, Love even forgot to ask the elder where they were going.
When they arrived at dry land, the elder went her own way.1.What idea did the writer intend
to tell us in this passage?
takes a long period.
Love gets along without richness.
goes on against Vanity.
D. Love is different from happiness.2.Why did all except the elder
refuse to take Love with them?
Because they have enough Love already.
B. Because they don’t
need Love.
C. Because they
look down upon Love.
Because in the writer’s opinion, Love has nothing to do with them.3.It can be inferred from the
passage that the elder probably refers to ________.A.
Cleverness
C. Knowledge