Back heel of the net: Showboating footballer scores 'best penalty ever' with brave trick shot

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Heely good: United Arab Emirates star Awana Diab back heels the ball past the goalkeeper in what fans are calling the 'best penalty ever'


This is one 'heel' remember for a while.

Arab footballer Awana Diab amazed fans by tucking away 'the best penalty ever' with a nifty back heel.

The 21-year-old ran up like any other spot-kick but moments before he was about to make contact he quickly spun and round took the penalty backwards.


Tricky: Diab calms his nerves moments before the penalty, and right, an angle from behind the goal shows how the keeper guessed the wrong way and was wrong-footed


Diab's unorthodox shot wrong-footed the goalkeeper who could only look on as the ball rolled into the net.

But Diab's celebrations were cut short when he was booked for showboating and substituted by his manager - who had only brought him on three minutes earlier - for showing a 'lack of respect'.


Back heel to basics: Awana quickly spun round moments before kicking the ball to put his side 6-2 up against Lebanon in the international friendly


The impressive show of nerve and skill has become an internet sensation after the international friendly between the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

UAE were leading 5-2 when Diab stepped up to take the penalty. His successful conversion put his side 6-2 in front.


Run up: The showboating sub, who had only been on the field for three minutes, runs up to the spot-kick


But manager UAE coach Srecko Katanec was so incensed that he substituted hauled him off the field to give him a dressing down.

Katanec said: ‘This penalty, I didn’t like it. We must respect players from other teams. In future, you don’t know what football will give you back.

'This is not respect. He’s a young guy and he knows he made a mistake immediately.

I just want him to show respect, not just on the field but off it as well.’

But the opposition manager did not have a problem with the spot-kick.
'I didn’t feel it was an insult,' Lebanon’s coach Emile Rustom said.


Is he mad? The other players look on in disbelief as the 21-year-old goes for the back heel


'This is a personal decision the player made and it has nothing to do with the way the UAE plays its football.'

The bizarre goal has become an internet hit - with legions of football fans heralding it as the 'best penalty ever'.

One internet user wrote: 'What a classic goal. He was pretty brave to attempt such an extravagant penalty.'

Another added: 'This was a courageous trick and the goalkeeper froze completely. Respect to the player.'

One said: 'How many times had he practised this one in training?'


Back of the net: The wrong-footed goalkeeper is left standing as the ball rolls over the line in the 7-2 drumming on Sunday




source: dailymail

The Yorkshire pudding that just wouldn't rise: Magnificent men fail to fly in their plunging machines

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER


On the rise! The James And The Giant Yorkshire Pudding team see their contraption soar


It's pie in the sky for this team from Yorkshire...but not for long, as they soon took a battering!

The team dubbed James And The Giant Yorkshire Pudding were taking part in the annual Red Bull Flugtag festival, with the madness descending on the city's Roundhay Park.

And judging by these pictures the crowds were treated to a comical spectacle as a number of other wacky aircrafts took immediate plunges into the water.

Held yearly, the event invites competitors to build and attempt to fly their own homemade flying machines, launching their creations from the six metre high platform.



Pud's up: The Yorkshire pudding proves a pleasant treat for its owners


Over 15,000 spectators braved the weekend's showers and were rewarded with laughs galore, with very few of the 34 'aircrafts' managing to soar high above the waters for long.

Toy Story heroes To Infinity and the Pond took first place, ahead of Come on Kes with My Whippy and His Team of Toppings - first off the ramp, finishing in a respectable third place.

However, the crowds did see a real aviation display when the Red Bull Matadors performed a series of loop-the-loops to top off the day's showcase




Leap of faith! Where Weasels Dare takes off, but is soon on the way down



Incoming! The Weasels craft hits the water



Going down! This team plunge almost immediately after launching their craft



Drive safely! Doc Brown's Delorian heads straight for the water



Left behind! Team Super Monkey Flying Banana see their team-mate fly away whilst they're left standing



Top that! Mr Whippy and His Team of Toppings fail to keep their craft in the air for long



Ice-cream float! Unlikely, as Mr Wippy and his Team of Toppings hit the water



I believe I can fly: A team from Trinidad and Tobago get ready to test out their tribal chief-like craft



Wheeling away! This team see the wheels dismantle from their craft after launch



A falling monarch: The Prince of Wales takes an immediate tumble



Falling to pieces: Team Water Drop take the plunge in an instant



Green with envy: The only way is down for team Orville

source: dailymail

Back to the day job: Tom Daley puts on a Shanghai spectacular in breathtaking display with diving partner

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER


Bombs away! Pete Waterfield and Tom Daley are competing in Shanghai

These spectacular pictures of diving ace Tom Daley come from the world championships in Shanghai, where Tom and his partner have just qualified for the synchronised diving final.

They were taken against the backdrop of the city's harbours, and show the skills and fitness needed for Tom and Pete Waterfield to progress past the first round of the FINA World Championships.

But it nearly didn't happen, after 30-year-old Waterfield fell ill with flu-like symptoms on arriving in Shanghai.



Tense: Waterfield and Daley prepare to dive in the first round of the World Championships



Launching: The pair made it into the final of the 10m synchronised diving


However, at the last minute he was passed fit and was able to join Tom, 17, who was the individual winner at the last world championships in 2009.

The pair have been diving together since the beginning of the year, in an attempt by diving bosses to find the best pairing for the synchronised dives in time for the London Olympics.


The pair have been put together in preparation for the London Olympics



Tumbling: Tom will be hoping to replicate his success at the last World Championships



Competition: This is Tom's first contest since his father died


The current competition is Tom's first major event since the loss of his father, Rob, who died of cancer in May, aged 40.

Last week Tom paid tribute to his father's influence, saying: 'Without my dad I wouldn't have come as far as I have.



Teamwork: But the pair were nearly broken up when Waterfield fell ill



Splash! The divers were watched by a largely hostile Chinese crowd


'It's not been easy, but I'm just trying to focus all my attention on the upcoming world championships as this is what dad would have wanted.'

He is expected to be one of the major faces of next year's Olympics, and has recently signed up to front an ad campaign from Nestle.



Training: Tom is expected to be one of the stars of the 2012 Games

source: dailymail

What a racket: Tennis star’s embarrassment as mobile phone starts ringing – as she faces match point

By TED THORNHILL

Not ace: Caroline Wozniacki laughs as she realises where the mobile ring is coming from


We all know that letting your mobile phone ring during a tense tennis match is not such smashing behaviour, but in the Swedish Open a tennis star was left red-faced when her own handset went off.

World No1 Caroline Wozniacki was about to serve for the match against French No3 Alize Cornet when a distinct mobile phone ring broke the silence.

The ring was just too off-putting for Wozniacki, who stopped and looked around for the perpetrator– but it turned out that the guilty party was her opponent.


Courting trouble: The TV camera zooms in on Cornet's kit bag, where the noise is coming from


The faux pas occurred in the first-round match in Bastad while the Danish ace was one set to the good, 5-3 up in the second set and winning the game 40-30.

A somewhat crucial moment, then.

At first she just tries to ignore the ring, but it had clearly broken her concentration, so she waits for it to be silenced.

Then she breaks into a huge grin and the TV camera swings around onto Cornet’s kit bag, where the noise is coming from.


Guilty: Cornet rummages through her bag to stop the handset ringing


Net a to-do: Cornet apologises for the disruption


Embarrassed: Cornet puts her head down in shame as she scurries back to the baseline


The 21-year-old scampers over to it and turns off her handset. Laughing, she holds her hand up in apology and takes up her place at the baseline once more.

The break in play did her a favour – because she broke serve. But her luck didn’t last, with Wozniacki taking the final set 6-4 and winning the game.

Wozniacki is World No1 despite not having won a grand slam yet.

She went out in the fourth round to Dominika Cibulkova at Wimbledon and also ended up taking an early exit in Bastad after retiring from the tournament mid-way through a second-round clash against Sofia Arvidsson with a shoulder injury.

Alize Cornet was beaten in the first round of Wimbledon by Kateryna Bondarenko from Ukraine.




source :dailymail

It should have been me: Glum Murray skips Wimbledon for a pub lunch

By PAUL HARRIS and EMILY ANDREWS

Dejected: Andy Murray is left to reflect on what might have been during his glum pub lunch with girlfriend Kim Sears


This probably wasn’t the kind of get-together he had in mind for Wimbledon finals weekend.

While Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal prepared to slug it out on Centre Court, Andy Murray sat disconsolately outside a pub dreaming of what might have been.

The 24-year-old Scot and his girlfriend Kim Sears had a quiet, two-hour lunch near his Surrey mansion, accompanied by his divorced father Willie and companion. Murray sipped a soft drink from a pint glass and buried his head in his hands from time to time.

And if the talk was of tennis then it certainly didn’t show.


Animal instinct: Novak Djokovic tucks in on Centre Court


The only stroke he demonstrated was a backhand – to swat away a wasp getting too close to Kim’s face. Meanwhile in SW19, yesterday’s was a scintillating final with all eyes fixed on the tennis. All eyes, that is, save for those of former Chancellor Nigel Lawson.

The 79-year-old appeared to nod off for the first two sets, prompting amusement in the Royal Box as his chin continually dropped on to his blue paisley tie.

But he woke up in time to see Djokovic defeat the defending champion in four sets.

After the winning shot, the 24-year-old Serb sank to his knees and, in a bizarre celebration, picked and ate some of the Centre Court grass.



Celebration: Djokovic sinks to the floor in triumph after his win over defending champion Nadal


Savouring the moment: The Serb laps up the adoration of the Centre Court crowd moments before his bizarre grass eating


Shows of support: Djokovic's beaming girlfriend Jelena Ristic was close to tears after the Serb's win, while Nadal's girlfriend Maria Francisca Perello, right, also watches on


Champion: Djokovic kisses the Wimbledon trophy
Moments after sealing his four-set triumph over defending champion Rafael Nadal, the Serb sank to his knees and raised his hands to the skies in celebration.


Then seconds later he glanced down, quickly plucked a few blades of grass from the hallowed Centre Court turf near the net, and popped them in his mouth.

The 24-year-old's surprise 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 victory confirmed Djokovic's place at the top of men's tennis, and he was clearly determined to enjoy the moment.

Asked why he decided to chew on the Centre Court grass to mark the win, Djokovic said it was a 'spontaneous' decision.

He said: 'I felt like an animal, I wanted to see how it tastes and it tastes good.


Dieting tips: Mrs Murray offered her own unique weight loss advice on Twitter


Success: Winner of the Men's Single's title at Wimbledon Novak Djokovic arrives with his partner for the Champions' dinner at the Intercontinental Hotel, Park Lane, London


Last night his girlfriend Jelena Ristic, 24, said: 'I'm very proud of him. The match was really, really exciting.'

Asked about her boyfriend's grass eating, she said: 'You know what, winning Wimbledon was his dream so it was a really big thing.'


Muddling through: The BBC were left red-faced when presenter Sue Barker's microphone failed during her interview with Novak Djokovic


There was one British victory to cheer at Wimbledon yesterday. George Morgan, 18, won the boys’ doubles with his Croatian partner Mate Pavic.

As for Murray, he is expected to take a short break to get over his disappointment.

But might he have another prize in his sights? His mother Judy is reported to be encouraging her son to marry Kim, whom he has been dating for six years. And older brother Jamie reckons tying the knot would be good for his game.


Djokovic vs Nadal Wimbledon Final 2011



source :dailymail

Roger Federer crashes out of Wimbledon in the quarter finals as tournament of upsets continues

By DEBORAH ARTHURS

Out and down: Roger Federer slumps in his chair after his surprise exit at the hands of Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga


There was shock for a second day running at Wimbledon as Switzerland's Roger Federer crashed out of the tournament in the quarter finals.

The world number three was beaten in an unexpected defeat by French hope Jo-Wilifried Tsonga, who battled the six-times Wimbledon champion in a five set marathon.

It means Andy Murray now has one less challenge to overcome as he aims to win his first Wimbledon title, having breezed past Feliciano Lopez in straight sets in imperious form.

Tsonga's reward for beating Federer is a semi against Novak Djokovic. Murray's victory means he will now face another Spaniard, Rafael Nadal, who made it through to the semi-final by seeing off the challenge of Mardy Fish.


Win: Left, Tsonga celebrates his unexpected victory over six times Wimbledon champion Federer while, right, the Swiss maestro's wife Mirka can't quite believe her eyes


Federer's defeat came after the Swiss had established a strong two-set lead where it seemed he had the game in his stylish white bag.

But in an amazing comeback that stunned the crowd, Tsonga snatched victory from the jaws of defeat by beating Federer three sets to two, winning six games to four in the final set.

A delighted Tsonga performed a victory dance as Roger quietly walked from the court he has come to call his own over the past eight years.

After his match Murray said he was surprised at Federer's exit but that Tsonga had simply played too well for even the Swiss legend to cope.


In reverse: Perennial underachiever Tsonga, left, consoles one of the greatest players in history after his shock victory over Federer


A pat on the back: Federer has the class to acknowledge Tsonga on a job well done


'I don't think Roger played a bad match,' said Murray.

Sometimes other guys just play too good.'

Confident Federer fans looked jubilant as Federer easily took the first two sets.

But their smiles faded as he lost the third set and it became clear he could not push back against Tsonga's unwavering energy.


'I could get used to this': Tsonga is mobbed by fans clamouring for an autograph as he leaves the court after his shock victory


It's all a bit of a blur: Federer can't find an answer to Tsonga's onslaught as he prowls the baseline


Court appearance: Anna Wintour is jubilant early on in Federer's match, while right, Chelsy Davy looks tense in the face of reports today that on-off boyfriend Prince Harry has a new girlfriend, Florence Brudenell-Bruce


Fans: Pippa Middleton is flanked by mother Carole and boyfriend Alex Loudon as they watch Federer play

source: dailymail