Why are the mighty falling: as Netherlands dismantle Spain in a thrilling 5-1 win

Netherlands rocked Spain in Salvador with a thumping comeback win, thrashing the World Cup holders 5-1.

The Dutch should have taken the lead after just eight minutes, but Wesley Sneijder botched a wonderful opening. Robben produced the pass that sent Sneijder bearing in on goal but he snatched at his lofted shot and allowed Iker Casillas to thrust his right glove up and make the save.

Spain rallied quickly from that scare and soon began to stamp themselves on the game. By 20 minutes the Dutch were being dictated to by Xavi, Iniesta, David Silva and Xabi Alonso, with Ron Vlaar producing at least two desperate blocks.

The controversial penalty followed in the 26th minute, starting with Xavi's beautifully weighted pass for Costa. He surged into the area and took two touches before turning De Vrij, who appeared in real time to trip him.

By the time Xabi Alonso had buried the spot-kick, replays showed Costa apparently initiating contact.

Netherlands responded positively but needed Jasper Cillessen to paw clear Silva's instinctive lob after a glorious pass from Iniesta in the 43rd minute.

That paved the way for Van Persie's leveller, the Manchester United man reading the space perfectly as he leapt to head Daley Blind's hanging cross high over the helpless Casillas.

The reation was rampant, not least from the high-fiving Louis van Gaal on the touchline.

The celebrations were even better eight minutes into the second half, when a piece of Robben magic gave them the lead.

Van Persie's chip picked out his teammate, but he had plenty still to do as he controlled the ball brilliantly with the outside of his boot before turning Gerard Pique and Sergio Ramos, converting with a slight deflection off the latter.

There was no holding Netherlands back, though, Van Persie cracking a volley against the crossbar on the hour before De Vrij made it 3-1 from Sneijder's curling free-kick. Casillas came to claim but failed, with De Vrij on hand to bundle home at the far post.

The pace only increased from there, Silva's close-range finish chalked off for offside before Netherlands extended their lead to three in the 72nd minute. Casillas was wholly culpable this time, turning a harmless back pass into one dreadful touch and an open goal for the alert Van Persie.

Robben completed Spain's misery with 10 minutes left, collecting Sneijder's pass and then reducing Casillas and his defenders to a floundering mess as he made room for an emphatic finish.

Netherlands might have scored two more had they been more clinical, and Spain's Fernando Torres made a woeful blunder from close range, but their statement was already well made.

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University of Lagos Produces Africa’s youngest PhD holder- Age 24

The University of Lagos (UNILAG) that is well known has the Nigeria University of first choice and the Nation's pride yesterday the 12th of June, 2014 awarded a PhD to Mr. Olaoluwa Oluwadamilola (age 24), making him Africa’s youngest PhD holder. 

Olwadamilola had the best PhD thesis, titled: “Studies on Fixed Points of Contractive and Expanding Maps in Multi-Dimensional Spaces”. He scored 5.0 Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA).

Bakre Oluwafemi Abubakar, a graduate of Electrical/Electronics, was the 2012/2013 Convocation Valedictorian, with a superlative CGPA of 4.86.

Olaoluwa obtained a B.SC in Mathematics and M.SC and Physics in African Central Republic before returning to Nigeria in October, 2009. He began his PhD in 2010, courtesy of a scholarship from the General Overseer of the Deeper Christian Life Mission, Pastor Williams Kumuyi. Speaking with reporters at UNILAG Auditorium One, Oluwadamilola said:

“I used to come first in my secondary school days, but not always. My performances became better when I entered the university. As a Christian, my schedule is very tight. I am focused. There were times when I faced distractions from friends who wanted to take me out. There is nothing bad in it, but it can make you concentrate less. There were times when I had job offers and was tempted to take them.

I was discouraged at the beginning. One gets a feeling at the beginning of one’s doctorate programme that all the research topics had been considered by previous scholars and so there is nothing else to do, except for the most complicated ones that are most times beyond one’s ability. Sometimes when you send your papers to international journals, they return it for one reason or the other. That does not mean your work is not good enough, but it can be very discouraging. I want to take another doctoral programme, which will be in either Mathematics or Physics. I will think of what topic to choose before I eventually go ahead,” he said.

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The Nigerian Kokoroko Singer 'Kefee' is dead

Nigeria born entertainer, Kefee is dead. 

Latest updates show that Kefee, who went into coma on her way to Chicago,United states didn’t survive the ordeal. She was pregnant when she went into coma.

The plane in which Kefee was travelling made an emergency landing in Los Ageles so that she could get urgent medical attention.

The death of Kefee is coming days after her radio presenter husband,Teddy Esosa made a call to Nigerians to pray for her survival.Doctors said her chance of survival depends on a miracle.

Though, her management/family is yet to make any official statement but condolence messages have started pouring in.

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Injury scare: Ronaldo cuts training short

Cristiano Ronaldo cut short a training session with Portugal on Thursday, to add weight to the suggestion that he will not be fully fit ahead of their first game against Germany on Monday.

Ronaldo trained with the rest of the team for about 15-20 minutes doing physical exercises but then did not take part in the rest of the session with full ball drills.

Instead, he stretched on his own and signed a few shirts for fans before going to sit on the bench. When he left, he had an ice pack over his left knee -- indicating that his tendinosis is still bothering him.

However, Portugual midfielder Joao Moutinho said there was nothing to worry about concerning Ronaldo's health.

"Ever since he started to train with us he has been 100 percent like the rest of us," Moutinho said. "Everything is fine with him but there is some caution, not only with him. Today many other players were using ice as well. There is nothing to worry about. The ice is normal after training."

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Brazil-Croatia: The Controversial Penalty

Thursday's World Cup opener between Brazil and Croatia had plenty of excitement, and it was also utterly scandalous.

With the match tied at one in the 72nd minute, Fred made a move for the ball in the Croatia penalty area. Dejan Lovren appeared to not make much contact with Fred, but Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura awarded Brazil a questionable penalty that Neymar converted in the 71st minute, giving the host nation 2-1 up in what turned into a 3-1 victory over Croatia in Group A play in the 2014 World Cup.

Referees make mistakes. Nobody should get too exercised about one bad decision, not even one as obviously wrong as the penalty.

What they should get worked up about was the obvious pattern. Let’s be generous and say Yuichi Nishimura, the Japanese referee, was overwhelmed by the occasion, but his was a performance so bad it made you believe in conspiracies, or at least that Nishimura was swayed by some sort of (misplaced) guilt, having sent off Felipe Melo for a stamp on Arjen Robben when Brazil lost to the Netherlands in the quarterfinal four years ago.

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Photos: Brazil 2014 World Cup Kickoff with Protests still in the Air

The 2014 World cup kickoff yesterday June 13th with a colorful opening ceremony at the Arena de Sao Paulo in Brazil that reportedly cost around $4.5million to put together. 
International music stars, Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull were joined on stage by Brazilian pop-star Claudia Leitte to perform the official World Cup song 'We Are One (Ola Ola)'. 
Despite the ongoing celebration going on inside the arena hundreds of protesters also took to the streets in at least four cities, including São Paulo to show their grievance on the government. 
The protesters railed against the $14 billion that Brazil's government has spent to host the event, arguing the money could have been better spent on areas like education. 

See more photos.....

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Breaking News: Cesc Fabregas Sign for Chelsea for £30m

Cesc Fabregas completed his move to Chelsea on Thursday claiming he has 'unfinished business' in the Premier League, with former club Arsenal deciding not to exercise their first-option agreement on the Spain midfielder.

It is believed Barcelona received £30million from Chelsea for the 27-year-old and Fabregas has signed a five-year deal at Stamford Bridge and to wear number 4 shirt for the blues.

Pleased to be back in the Premier League with Chelsea.

'I do feel that I have unfinished business in the Premier League and now is the right time for me to return,' he said in a statement.

'Yes, everyone knows that Arsenal had the first option to sign me.

'They decided not to take this option and therefore it wasn't meant to be. I wish them well in the future.

'I considered all the other offers very carefully and I firmly believe that Chelsea is the best choice.

'They match my footballing ambitions with their hunger and desire to win trophies. They have an amazing squad of players and an incredible manager. I am fully committed to this team and I can't wait to start playing.

'It was extremely important to me that this transfer was completed before the World Cup so that my mind will only be focused on hopefully helping my country try to retain the trophy.'

The signing will be seen as perfect timing for Chelsea following the end of Frank Lampard's long affiliation with the club and he becomes the first addition to Jose Mourinho's squad as the Portuguese looks to improve on last year's trophyless campaign.

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Forbes: World's Highest-Paid Athletes- Floyd Mayweather Jnr

Floyd Mayweather Jnr has been named the world’s highest-paid athlete in 2013 by Forbes magazine.

The pound-for-pound No 1, who has won all 46 of his fights as a professional, made $105million (£62.5m) for his last two fights, against Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Marcos Maidana.

Mayweather, 37, beat Cristiano Ronaldo to top spot with basketball star LeBron James in third.

Mayweather also topped the list in 2013 with $85m (£51m), ousting Tiger Woods who been No 1 for the previous decade.

‘I'm humbled and extremely fortunate to be recognized by Forbes as the highest-paid athlete once again,’ said Mayweather.

‘I'm doing something that no other athlete is doing, promoting myself and seeing my hard work pay off in the form of record-breaking numbers. It's all about hard work and dedication which is so important and a key part of my financial success.

‘I’m grateful for my family, team and fans. Being able to take care of my family is my number one priority and the level of success that I've achieved allows me to give them the best. I look forward to stepping into the ring in September and doing what I do best.’

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Kim Kardashian and Kanye Unofficial Second Honeymoon in Mexico

Kim Kardashian with hubby 'Kanye' where seen in Mexico enjoying their unannounced second honeymoon.

Kim, 33, was seen on an off-white bikini, relaxed poolside at a villa in Punta Mita owned by her friend, Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis, while Kanye, 37, chilled out on the sun lounger.

Wearing her long brown hair piled on top of her head in a loose bun, Kim strolled barefoot in the villa's backyard, sipping on a glass of cooling iced water. 

It is the second leg of the pair's honeymoon -  they spent two weeks together in Ireland following their Florence nuptials on May 24. 

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Daredevil Underwater Dance with Death: Amazing photos show model swimming with killer tiger sharks

Armed with absolutely nothing, not even diving equipment, this model dived 50ft into the Atlantic Ocean to swim with a shoal of the most dangerous sharks in the world.

Hannah Fraser risked her life as she dances with tiger sharks off the coast of the Bahamas in a bid to show the animals’ true nature.

However, the 38-year-old had to keep in constant motion in order to stop the 16ft long sharks from eating her alive.

 

 

Hannah, who was born in England but now lives in LA, said goodbye to her family in case she did not return from the ultimate dangerous feat.

The model undertook the dangerous swim without a mask and fins, to oppose the culling of tiger sharks, which are a threatened species due to finning and fishing by humans.

Amazing footage, shot by Emmy award-winning cinematographer Shawn Heinrichs, shows Hannah dancing on the bottom of the seabed with the sharks swimming around her.

 

The whole process took five days to shoot and is part of an upcoming documentary called Tears Of A Mermaid, and the short video so far released was edited while the team were all still aboard the boat.

'All of the groundbreaking short films and amazing photographs Shawn and I have created have been aimed at inspiring change and creating direct action for ocean conservation,' Hannah revealed.

Hannah, who can hold her breath for up to two minutes and swim to depths of 45 feet, is even seen resting her hand on the head of a huge tiger shark and touching their tails and fins.

She underwent vigorous physical and emotional training to prepare herself for the event, and at any given time there were 10-12 cameras filming her interactions with the sharks.

The massive marine mammals appear oblivious to her presence as she dances and twirls on the bottom of the ocean.

She said: ‘I was feeling very anxious the first time I got in the water with the tiger sharks.

‘The most important aspect was knowing how their minds worked, finding out what triggered them to use their mouths and teeth to inspect or react to situations and how to avoid doing any of those actions or movements.

‘We avoided wearing anything light coloured because that may catch their eye and look like a little fish, causing them to bite by accident.

‘I learned how to touch them in the right way to allow a connection that they felt comfortable with, and amazingly enough, I found out that they actually love being tickled on the nose.’

Photographer Shawn said: ‘What made this shoot entirely unique was that Hannah was devoid of any scuba or free-dive gear, dressed only in a tiny costume and airbrush body paint to create the perfect artistic vision.

‘Without mask, fins or any sort of protective gear, she had to rely solely on her skills, training and experience, along with the diligent support of her expert team, to ensure the shoot went off without a hitch.

‘There was no room for error, as one mistake could have resulted in severe injury or worse.

‘Despite the risks, the team was resolute in their mission to create the most groundbreaking imagery to oppose not only the Australia shark cull, but also the global slaughter of sharks.’

Hannah added: ‘Many people have asked me why I would put my life on the line to do this, especially for dangerous predatory sharks.

‘I feel that all animals play an essential role in keeping our ocean ecosystems in balance.

'We humans have a history of annihilating anything we see as a competition, so much so that we are now threatening our very existence on this planet.

‘I advocate for greater understanding and awareness for all sea creatures, and hope to inspire people to see that sharks, despite being one of the world's most effective predators, are also intelligent, and magnificent animals worthy of protection.

‘We are currently killing over 100million sharks per year, whereas there are only five reported human fatalities by sharks per year worldwide.

'Who are the real dangerous predators in this equation?’

Tiger sharks can grow up to 16ft long and are found in tropical waters. They are nocturnal hunters and eat fish, seals, bird and turtles.

'They are captured and killed for their fins, flash and liver

Over 100 million sharks are killed by humans every year. There are around 15 shark fatalities to humans globally around the world each year.

 

 

 

-dailymail

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