Japan continues late magic against Argentina

Soccer Betting Lines

09/14/2007 - Shanghai, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Yuki Nagasato rescued all three points for Japan as she scored in stoppage time to give the Japanese a 1-0 win over Argentina on Friday.

After being held scoreless for 90 minutes against the struggling Argentines, Japan received a nice break when Argentina keeper Romina Ferro gave up a bad rebound from Yukari Tinga's shot. Nagasato was left with an easy tap-in goal and Japan now finds itself with a chance to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 1995.

After downing Argentina 6-0 in the 2003 Women's World Cup, Japan was let down in the final third in this year's competition, and came within minutes of a draw that would have all but given them no chance at advancing.

Japan must play a strong German team on Monday in its final group stage match, while Argentina looks to salvage something against England on Monday.

Things nearly started in disastrous fashion for Argentina, which scored two own goals against itself in the opener. Tomomi Miyamoto drove a cross into the area from the left, but Argentina defender Eva Gonzalez cut inside her mark and got a foot to the pass in an attempt to clear the ball. However, her clearance attempt was not hit cleanly and it ended up going off the post.

Argentina did not generate much offensively, but after conceding 11 goals against Germany on Monday, the fact that it held Japan scoreless over the first 45 minutes was a small victory.

Japan was able to create a few chances, with Nagasato threatening on two occasions. She made a run toward the box in the ninth minute and took a pass from the left. After holding off her defender, she drove a shot on net from just inside the box, but it was saved comfortably by Ferro.

Nagasato turned a header wide from 10 yards out, and Aya Miyama, who scored two free-kick goals against England on Tuesday, was given another dangerous chance in the 31st, but did poorly with the kick, knocking it over the net.

Tomoe Sakai lofted a promising cross for the back post from the right after the restart and Ferro came off her line to try and punch it clear. However, the keeper missed the ball and it ended up on the head of Nagasato, but her header went well over the net.

Nagasato found more room for a solid strike on goal in the 71st, but her effort was hit right at the keeper.

Japan keeper Miho Fukumoto was not called upon all match, but she was almost caught off guard on a long-range shot from 40 yards out by Fabiana Vallejos. Fukumoto faded back on the ball and as she jumped up to tip it over the net, the ball struck the crossbar and stayed out.

The Japanese then went back on the attack, with Kinga getting two good looks at goal. The first came in the 79th minute when she cut the ball back on the right and drilled a hard shot on goal. The keeper was in a good position and punched the ball over the top, but Kinga would get another chance five minutes from time.

Rumi Utsugi drove a brilliant cross from the left to the back post, where Kinga made a long run and got on the other end of it. She headed the ball back across the face of goal and it rolled along the goal line, inches from crossing over, before sliding past the far post.

It looked like Japan would suffer a terrible draw, but a mistake by Ferro in net allowed them to claim all three points. Kinga received the ball in space on the right and drove a low shot on goal. Ferro got down to stop it but spilled a bad rebound, allowing Nagasato to move in and tap the ball home for the game winner.

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FOOTBALL TRASH TALK

NFL Football Trash Talk

Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).

Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.

Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).

Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.

Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.

The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.

What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.

Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.

But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.

In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.

SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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