Greek defender may not make it to his marriage
LEGIONOWO, Poland: Greece defender Giannis Maniatis will just have to miss his own wedding in the event that his side make it to the July 1 final of Euro 2012, team-mate Dimitris Salpingidis said yesterday. Pressed on what would happen if Greece continue their march in the tournament, Salpingidis quipped: "He won't be at the wedding!" As Greece brace for Friday's crunch quarter-final with Germany, Salpingidis laughed off suggestions that the fact that Olympiakos player Maniatis is planning to tie the knot the same day means they don't rate their chances of getting that far. "He arranged the wedding a year-and-a-half ago, when he didn't even know if we'd be at Euro 2012, let alone that he'd been in the team," the PAOK striker told reporters at Greece's training ground in Legionowo near the Polish capital Warsaw. Greece is poised to travel north today to the Polish port of Gdansk, venue of the quarter-final with Germany.
Cameron jokes about disallowed Ukraine 'goal'
LOS CABOS: British Premier David Cameron joked he may drop his support for goalmouth technology after England benefited from referee error in a Euro 2012 match against Ukraine. England beat Ukraine 1-0 in Tuesday's match, qualifying for the quarter-final knockout stage in the process, but only after Ukraine's 62nd-minute equalizer was wrongly adjudged not to have crossed the line. Asked about the game at a news conference at the G20 summit in Mexico, Cameron was happy to offer his congratulations, but a little more coy when asked if the mistake should lead to the introduction of sensors to confirm goals. He referred back to a previous international match in which England was the team on the wrong end of a bad refereeing decision. "Goal-line technology?" he pondered. "I remember thinking it was a thoroughly good idea when Frank Lampard was disappointed in that previous England-Germany game. I'll have to reflect a little bit further but don't expect an immediate U-turn," he joked.
Piano sensation from YouTube to London
LONDON: A pianist who launched her career by posting videos of herself on YouTube translated her online success into reality with a solo performance at one of the world's most famous music venues on Tuesday. Ukrainian-born Valentina Lisitsa dazzled a crowd of thousands at London's Royal Albert Hall, her fingers flying through a two-and-a-half-hour virtuoso performance. The blonde 42-year-old had advertised the concert on her YouTube page and website, allowing fans from around the world to pick her program. The final selection included two pieces that are among her most-viewed hits on YouTube, Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" and Rachmaninov's etude, popularly known as "Little Red Riding Hood." While holding the audience spellbound with her playing, she also won over the largely British crowd of some 2,500 by referring to the evening as a special night not because of her performance, but it coincided with England meeting co-hosts Ukraine at the Euro 2012 football tournament.
— Compiled from agencies
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