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Russia had raised the hopes of their fans by taking a first-half lead through Alexander Samedov but were quickly pegged back by Nestor Araujo's equaliser on the half hour.

Mexico winger Hirving Lozano took advantage of an awful mix-up in the Russian defence to score an extraordinary goal which gave his side a 2-1 win and knocked the Confederations Cup hosts out of the tournament on Saturday.

Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev completely mis-read the situation after Hector Herrera sent a looping clearance 80 metres downfield from the edge of the Mexican area seven minutes into the second half.

The ball bounced once about 25 metres from the Russian goal and, as Akinfeev and his defence dallied, Lozano bravely nipped in to head the ball over the goalkeeper from the edge of the area to send the CONCACAF champions into the semi-finals.

Russia had raised the hopes of their fans by taking a first-half lead through Alexander Samedov but were quickly pegged back by Nestor Araujo’s equaliser on the half hour.

Russia’s early exit from was another setback for next year’s World Cup hosts who also went out of last year’s European Championship at the group stage, when they failed to win a game and were regarded by many as the worst team in the tournament.

Russia’s afternoon was completed in the 68th minute after Yury Zhirkov was sent off for elbowing and they were only saved further embarrassment by the video assistant referee who disallowed a third Mexican goal for offside.

The video replay was also used in the 17th minute after Russian forward Fedor Smolov went down in the box after he appeared to come into contact with Araujo but the referee ruled against a penalty.

Mexico dominated possession early on but Russia went ahead fortuitously when Samedov beat goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa just inside the far post after Mexico had failed to clear a header and midfielder Aleksandr Erokhin missed the ball as he was trying to shoot.

Mexico defender Nestor Araujo equalised in the 30th minute with a looping header. The crowd seemed to sense that Russia had missed their chance and Lozano’s freak equaliser confirmed their worst fears.

Mexico finished second in Group A on seven points, behind Portugal on goal difference. Russia were third with three.

Russia coach Stanislav Cherchisov, a former national team goalkeeper, backed Akinfeev. “Every goalkeeper is entitled to commit mistakes and it is something you have to live with,” he told reporters. “Life will go on, this is sport and I am convinced he will remain on the national team and make his fans happy.

“Passions are running high so it’s not the time to come to any conclusions,” he added. “I hope the players will use the experience to grow and develop.”

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European champions Portugal comfortably dispatched New Zealand 4-0 to reach the Confederations Cup semi-finals on Saturday after leading goal-scorer for the country Cristiano Ronaldo set them on their way with a penalty in the 33rd minute.

European champions Portugal comfortably dispatched New Zealand 4-0 to reach the Confederations Cup semi-finals on Saturday after Cristiano Ronaldo set them on their way with a penalty. Portugal’s all-time leading scorer swept the ball home in the 33rd minute, his 75th goal for his country, and Bernardo Silva added the second four minutes later.

A solo effort from Andre Silva, his eighth goal in 11 appearances, in the 80th minute and a stoppage-time goal from substitute Nani completed the scoring. It was a typically efficient performance from Portugal who never looked in real danger despite a sluggish start.However, it was not all good news as Bernardo Silva went off injured at halftime, while a needless and reckless challenge from Pepe, with his

However, it was not all good news as Bernardo Silva went off injured at halftime, while a needless and reckless challenge from Pepe, with his side 2-0 up, earned the controversial central defender his second yellow card of the tournament, ruling him out of Wednesday’s semi-final.”It was an odd game – we were in control, but they started creating problems, and if it had got back to 2-1, it could have got complicated,” said Portugal coach Fernando Santos.

“It was an odd game – we were in control, but they started creating problems, and if it had got back to 2-1, it could have got complicated,” said Portugal coach Fernando Santos.New Zealand goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic, who helped Unterhaching win promotion from the German fourth division last season, kept the score down with a superb second-half display.

New Zealand goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic, who helped Unterhaching win promotion from the German fourth division last season, kept the score down with a superb second-half display.The Oceania champions were far from disgraced but have now competed in the tournament four times without winning a game and have an overall record of 11 defeats and a draw in 12 matches.

The Oceania champions were far from disgraced but have now competed in the tournament four times without winning a game and have an overall record of 11 defeats and a draw in 12 matches.Even so, coach Anthony Hudson was proud of his side, who refused to shut up shop in the second half.

Even so, coach Anthony Hudson was proud of his side, who refused to shut up shop in the second half.”We know we’ve played some really good football at times. We never stopped. We created chances, we put them under

“We know we’ve played some really good football at times. We never stopped. We created chances, we put them under pressure, so we could have got a little more out of this tournament,” he told reporters.”This team are on the right path, they have got

“This team are on the right path, they have got great character, great belief and it’s a young team moving in the right direction.”

Portugal topped Group A with seven points from three games, ahead of Mexico on goal difference after the CONCACAF champions beat hosts Russia 2-1. New Zealand finished bottom of the group after losing all three games.

Ronaldo had already headed against the crossbar before firing Portugal ahead after Danilo went tumbling under a challenge from two defenders and the referee pointed to the spot without asking for a video replay.

Bernardo Silva turned Eliseu’s low cross into the net four minutes later, although he suffered a knock on the ankle in the process.

Marinovic made impressive saves to deny Ronaldo, Andre Silva and Nani but was powerless stop Andre Silva when he collected the ball on the halfway line, ran at two defenders who backed off, and fired his shot into the far corner. Nani completed the scoring with his 25th international goal.

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The Indian side began on a positive note when they defeated Scotland 4-1. But after the defeat against Netherlands, the Indian side lost the plot displaying their inconsistency and losing their second consecutive match to Malaysia.

The Indian men’s hockey team had a relatively mixed ride in the Hockey World League Semi-Finals this year. While on one hand, they netted in as many as 23 goals in 6 matches on the other they suffered a couple of crucial defeats on the trot. This once more resurfaced their age old problem of being unable to maintain a consistent string of results which ultimately saw them crash out in the quarter-finals stage.

The Indian side began on a positive note when they defeated Scotland 4-1. It was their first win of the Hockey World League Semi-final as Ramandeep Singh scored two goals while Akashdeep and Harmanpreet Singh scored a goal each. Then in the next match, India beat Canada 3-0. After that India thrashed arch-rivals Pakistan 7-1. This was a massive result for India as it boosted their confidence.

However, they faced a stiff challenge against Netherlands in their final Pool B match of the Hockey World League Semi-Final. This is where they succumbed to a defeat in their fourth match as Netherlands won the match by 3-1.

From here on the Indian side lost the plot displaying their inconsistency and losing their second consecutive match to Malaysia. In a frustrating performance, India lost 3-2 to Malaysia in the quarter-finals. After the loss coach, Oltmans said the team was ‘nervous’, because of which they could not execute the gameplan. This was India’s second defeat against Malaysia in less than two months. However, India once more came back strongly to defeat Pakistan 6-1.

Hence, this shows the inconsistent performances that India has been delivering over the past couple of weeks in the tournament. Many a time despite being on top of the game, the Indian side missed a lot of opportunities, especially in the last quarter. This led the game slip away from their grasp in a crucial stage of the match.

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Raikkonen was more than one second behind Hamilton, qualifying third ahead of his Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel, the championship leader. After his impressive pole at the Canadian GP two weeks ago, it was another commanding performance from Hamilton as he took his fifth pole in seven races this season.

Lewis Hamilton took a brilliant pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix ahead of Valtteri Bottas on Saturday, with Mercedes securing a convincing 1-2 as rival Ferrari lagged behind.

Bottas led qualifying and then set an even quicker time on his final lap  only for Hamilton to beat him by nearly half a second.

“There was a lot of pressure with a minute left. It was all or nothing,” Hamilton said. “That was one of the most exciting laps I’ve had all year. I’m so pumped, that’s how qualifying should be.”

The British driver’s 66th pole moves him one ahead of Formula One great Ayrton Senna and just two behind Michael Schumacher’s all-time record of 68.

“I thought the hunger might drop off after I matched him (Senna),” Hamilton said. “But I was hungrier than ever today.”

Raikkonen was more than one second behind Hamilton, qualifying third ahead of his Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel, the championship leader.

After his impressive pole at the Canadian GP two weeks ago, it was another commanding performance from Hamilton as he took his fifth pole in seven races this season.

“My last lap in Montreal was pretty special but I think this one topped it,” the three-time F1 champion said.

After three difficult practice sessions, qualifying also proved tough with Turns 2, 6 and 8 causing most problems. There were close calls for Bottas and Vettel while Force India’s Sergio Perez shaved the barriers on the demanding street circuit.

With three minutes remaining a red flag came up, halting the session, after Daniel Ricciardo clipped the wall with the left side of his Red Bull coming out of Turn 6 prompting an expletive from the Australian driver.

Ricciardo’s teammate, Max Verstappen, qualified fifth ahead of Perez. But it was disappointing for the 19-year-old Verstappen, considering he topped both of Friday’s practice sessions.

Bottas, meanwhile, was disappointed not to secure his second career pole.

“I wasn’t quite comfortable with the tire temperature,” said Bottas, who took pole at the Bahrain GP in April. “Just didn’t get them to work as well as Lewis.”

It was also a sweet moment for Hamilton’s mechanics, considering how difficult Friday’s practice had been.

“Yesterday we were at a bit of a loss and we had to make a lot of changes overnight,” said Hamilton, who was 10th in P2. “This morning, we didn’t know if those changes were going to be right or not. But the guys did excellent work.”

Hamilton is 12 points behind Vettel and will be confident of closing that gap on Sunday.

At the other end of the F1 spectrum, the misery continues for struggling McLaren as Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne were eliminated from the first part of qualifying. So were Romain Grosjean (Haas), Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) and Jolyon Palmer (Renault).

Hamilton topped Q1 ahead of Verstappen and Raikkonen. Williams driver Felipe Massa misjudged the difficult approach into Turn 8 and Carlos Sainz Jr. overshot the entry into Turn 2 _ which happened to several drivers over the two days.

Hamilton topped Q2 ahead of Bottas and Vettel. The Q2 eliminated rivers were: Toro Rosso drivers Daniil Kvyat and Sainz Jr.; Kevin Magnussen (Haas); Nico Hulkenberg (Renault); and Pascal Wehrlein (Sauber).

In Q3, Bottas went close to clipping the wall on Turn 8, and Vettel took an exit road and span after a braking error.

Earlier, in an eventful P3, Bottas was fastest.

Both days, drivers were severely tested on the 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) track, which is volatile and unpredictable due to a combination of long straights, blistering track temperatures and hard-braking corners.

Just seven minutes into P3, Palmer’s engine caught fire, forcing him to go off the track and ruling him out of qualifying.

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The 18-times grand slam champion, who captured the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami titles this year, skipped the entire claycourt season to improve his chances of winning a record eighth title at the All England Club.

Top seed Roger Federer will challenge for a ninth Halle Open title after reaching the Wimbledon warm-up event final with a 6-4 7-6(5) victory over rising Russian talent Karen Khachanov on Saturday.

The 18-times grand slam champion, who captured the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami titles this year, skipped the entire claycourt season to improve his chances of winning a record eighth title at the All England Club.

Despite a shock exit from Stuttgart on his comeback last week, Federer has improved in Halle and has not lost a set. He will now play the winner of the other semi-final between Frenchman Richard Gasquet and local favourite Alexander Zverev.

ThePAIR TRADED breaks in the first two games but Federer made amends by grabbing a second one to restore his advantage and clinch the first set on his second set point.

The Swiss lured Khachanov to the net on several occasions, including at 4-4 in the second set and the Russian dumped a forehand volley into the net to give Federer two break points.

But instead of serving out the set, the top seed was broken again and the Russian even held two set points at 6-5 before the world number five recovered and forced a tiebreak. He converted his first match point to reach an 11th Halle final.

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