Spain celebrates Iniesta, World Cup

Senin, 12 Juli 2010

(CNN) -- Spain won the World Cup for the first time in its history as an extra-time goal from midfielder Andres Iniesta gave his country a last-gasp 1-0 victory over the Netherlands in the final at Soccer City.

The showpiece game of the South Africa-hosted tournament on Sunday was littered with no less than 13 yellow cards and one red but was settled by a moment of magic by the Barcelona man after he was played in by substitute Cesc Fabregas.

His 116th-minute strike was the goal all Spaniards were waiting for and spared both sides the agony of deciding the new world champions by penalties.

The breakthrough came after the Dutch had been reduced to 10 men, following Johnny Heitinga's dismissal in the second half of extra time by referee Howard Webb for a foul on Iniesta.

"It's incredible," Iniesta told gathered media in a post-match news conference.

"What a joy especially when you see how we won it. There aren't the words to describe what I am feeling. After my goal, I thought about my family and all the people who I love. But the victory is the fruit of a lot of work," an emotional Iniesta told reporters.

Spain coach Vincente del Bosque added to the happy sentiment following his side's victory: "Today is a reward for beautiful football. Everyone in the dressing room is ecstatic," he said.

Del Bosque, who won two European Cups when in charge of club side Real Madrid, dedicated the win to his countrymen.

"Spain, the country, deserves this triumph. This goes beyond sport. We have to celebrate and are delighted to be able to offer this victory to all the people of Spain."

Del Bosque said it had been a pleasure to coach the side, which with the win adds the World Cup to its European crown.

"There is joy of being 50 days with this group of players who have given us the world title. It was a difficult match. Afterwards, I think that we were slightly better," he added.

The coach also refused to be drawn into criticizing the tough tackling of the Netherlands: "I'm here to speak about the beautiful things of football. Holland played a good game in an even, balanced match. Yes it was rough at times, but that is part of football."

For the Spanish came joy, but for the Dutch, desolation. The Netherlands lost its third appearance in a World Cup final, after previous defeats in the 1974 and 1978.

Two second-half chances went begging for star player Arjen Robben. The flying winger was sent clear by Wesley Sneijder, only to be denied by a superb save from Spain captain Iker Casillas, who stuck out a leg to send the ball wide.

Late in normal time Robben was also through and appeared to be pulled back by Spain defender Carles Puyol before Casillas saved again at his feet.

Spain had great chances in the second half with David Villa denied by the legs of Heitinga, and Sergio Ramos who headed over with the goal at his mercy.

At the end of normal time, the game remained scoreless, as the dropping temperatures and deadlock in the match served to quiet the sell-out crowd in the Soccer City Stadium.

In extra-time, Spain pressed forward with yet more urgency and Fabregas was put through by Iniesta only for goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg to deny him with a smart save.

With the game opening up, Joris Mathijsen was nearly an unlikely scorer for the Dutch while Spain substitute Jesus Navas saw his shot deflected into the side netting.

But in the second half of extra-time, the goal chances dried up until Iniesta cropped up to score the winner.

Substitute Fernando Torres, who later pulled up in agony clutching his hamstring, played in the initial ball.

It was poorly cleared, falling to Fabregas, who sent a neat pass through to his teammate Iniesta, who had cleverly stayed onside.

The Dutch angrily protested Webb should have awarded an earlier foul, but he waved the protests away and was soon signaling the end of an eventful final, marred by persistent fouling that broke up the natural rhythm of the game.

However, Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk -- who lost out on the chance to have become the first coach since 1970 to have led a side through World Cup qualifying and the finals unbeaten -- conceded Spain had deserved to win.

"The best team won. I am disappointed. Early on we gave chances away, we were not good enough in possession of the ball. But then we turned it around. We made a real game out of it and we had two great chances through Arjen [Robben].

"It is very bitter, but that is sport. It is harsh. Spain were the better team," he told reporters after the game.

In Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, most of the hundreds of thousands of people who'd gathered in the Museumplein square to watch the game on a giant screen filtered out in stunned silence after the final whistle, leaving behind trampled orange hats and a smattering of tearful people sitting on crates with their heads in their hands.

"I thought we could hang on till the penalties, and then it would have been 50-50," said a man in his 30s, wearing face paint in the colors of the Dutch flag.

A woman in her early 20s had an expression that veered between a smile and a frown.

"We really thought we could do it," she said. "It was tough to watch, and it feels tough now."

Back in South Africa, Van Marwijk defended the tactics that had seen his side regularly penalized by the referee: "It is not our style, but then again you play a match to win. It is a World Cup final, and there is a lot of emotion -- you saw that at the end of the match.

"I would have loved to win the match, even with not so beautiful football. I'm not someone to look back on the what the referee did. I think the best team usually wins the match," he added.

Iran execution of woman temporarily halted, state media reports

(CNN) -- Iran's judiciary chief has temporarily halted the execution of a woman convicted of adultery, state media reported Sunday, citing a judicial official.

"Although the verdict still stands and is definite, the execution has been halted on humanitarian grounds from the order of the honorable judiciary chief, and will not be implemented at this time," Malek Ajdar Sharifi, a judiciary official in East Azerbaijan province, told Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency.

The well-publicized case involves Sakineh Mohammedie Ashtiani, who faces the possibility of execution by stoning after being convicted in 2006 of adultery.

Her lawyer, Mohommad Mostafaei, told CNN that Ashtiani confessed to the crime after being subjected to 99 lashes. She later recanted that confession and has denied wrongdoing, he said.

Ashtiani's case has drawn international attention and many human rights activists have called for the sentence to be changed.

Protesters in London, England, on Saturday condemned the sentence and called for the end of hanging and stoning executions during a rally outside the Iranian Embassy.

But Ajdar Sharifi said Sunday that "whenever the minister (Sadeq Larijani) orders the verdict again ... it will take place despite the Western media propaganda," according to IRNA.

"We do not pay attention to the Western media," IRNA quoted Ajdar Sharifi as saying.

Last week, in what was the Islamic republic's first public statement on the case, Iran seems to back away from an execution-by-stoning sentence, although it left open the possibility that Ashtiani could be executed by another method.

The Iranian Embassy in London, England, said Thursday that "this mission denies the false news aired in this respect and ... according to information from the relevant judicial authorities in Iran, she will not be executed by stoning punishment.

But in response to that statement, Drewery Dyke of Amnesty International in London said Ashtiani still faced the possibility of execution. "We have noted in the past that those who have been sentenced to stonings have gone on to be hanged," he said. "That remains a concern."

Ashtiani's lawyer has said his client's conviction was based not on evidence but on the determination of three out of five judges. She has asked forgiveness from the court but the judges refused to grant clemency. Iran's supreme court upheld the conviction in 2007.

Ajdar Sharifi told IRNA Sunday that Ashtiani's crimes were "numerous" but added "because of morality and ethics, I cannot go into the details of the crimes, but if the public knew, they would understand the criminal nature of them."

BP "pleased" with containment cap operation so far

New Orleans, Louisiana (CNN) -- BP said Sunday that it is "pleased" with how the operation to place a new cap on its ruptured undersea well is proceeding.

Officials hope the containment cap will stop oil from gushing into the Gulf. But while robots replace the old cap, crude is flowing freely.

The procedure -- expected to take four to seven days -- continued to progress Sunday as crews worked to position a transition spool over the gushing well to prepare for the new connection, according to BP's Senior Vice President Kent Wells.

"We're pleased with how it's going," Wells said, but cautioned that the operation, which began Saturday with the removal of the old cap, is only in its second day.

Robots removed six giant bolts from the apparatus early Sunday so that the new cap could be positioned.

If successful, the effects of the containment cap operation could halt the oil gusher that started April 20 after a deadly explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico.

But officials have said the new containment cap would be a temporary fix, and the permanent solution would still be completion of a relief well. There are two relief wells under construction.

Wells said Sunday that one of the relief wells could intercept the ruptured well as early as the end of July.

"We're feeling very good about how we've positioned that well," he said.

The other relief well is expected to be completed in August.

The old cap had been diverting about 15,000 barrels a day (630,000 gallons) to a ship. BP still is recovering an additional 8,000 to 9,000 barrels a day (336,000 to 378,000 gallons) through a line connected to another vessel, the Q4000.

"As we start to ramp up the additional containment capacity, we should see less and less flow," Wells said.

The Helix Producer recovery vessel is expected to begin collecting oil Sunday evening, Wells said, and officials hope to reach its full collection capacity of 20,000 to 25,000 barrels (840,000 to 1.5 million gallons) per day within three days.

Over the next two to three weeks, 60,000 to 80,000 barrels (2.52 million to 3.36 million gallons) a day should be collected as part of the containment process, Wells said. Scientists estimate that 35,000 to 60,000 barrels of oil are spewing daily from BP's breached well.

BP says there will be a period of decreased oil and gas capture from the wellhead during the cap replacement. It said another recovery vessel, the Q4000, "should continue to capture and flare oil and gas." There will be other recovery vessels and skimmers deployed.

Two more oil skimmers were added to the Gulf Sunday bringing the total to 48 collecting an oil and water mix from the surface, BP officials said. And another 15 burns were conducted in calm seas.

"It was a good day in trying to contain the oil that made it out to the surface," Wells said.

Wells also said there will be "significant measurement capability" added to the new cap so officials can get a good idea of the flow rate.

BP said in a statement that the new cap "should improve containment efficiency during hurricane season by allowing shorter disconnect and reconnect times."

Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said Friday that the new cap would allow responders to collect more accurate oil flow data and that, once the switch is complete, the resulting capacity to contain oil "will be far greater than the capabilities we have achieved using current systems."

European Commission limits Iran Air

(CNN) -- Citing air safety, the European Commission Tuesday expanded restrictions on Iran Air's operations by banning more types of aircraft.

The commission banned Iran Air from flying its fleet of Airbus A-320 and of Boeing B-727 and B-747 planes into European airports. It said it would continue to monitor Iran Air and work with the airline to improve standards.

"We cannot afford to compromise on air safety," said Siim Kallas, the commission's vice president.

The commission also banned a carrier from Suriname and removed two Indonesian airlines from its banned list. The Suriname carrier, Blue Wing Airlines, was banned because of a series of accidents and "serious deficiencies revealed during ramp inspections of its aircraft."

Three other carriers are banned from operating in the European Union: Ariana Afghan Airlines from Afghanistan, Siem reap Airways International from Cambodia and Silverback Cargo Freighters from Rwanda.

All carriers from 17 countries -- 278 companies in total -- are also banned: Angola, Benin, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon (except three carriers with restrictions), Indonesia (except six carriers from which the restrictions have been fully removed), Kazakhstan (except one restricted carrier), Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Philippines, Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Sao Tome and Principe, Sudan, Swaziland and Zambia.

Uganda bomb attacks during Cup final kill 9

Kampala, Uganda -- At least nine people were killed Sunday in a pair of bombings that struck a restaurant and a rugby ground in Uganda's capital as patrons gathered to watch the World Cup final, police said.

Nine people died and others were wounded at an Ethiopian restaurant in Kampala, police spokeswoman Judith Nabakooba said.

But there was an undetermined number of fatalities and injuries at a rugby field where other fans gathered to watch Sunday night's match between Spain and the Netherlands, Nabakooba said.

Some of the injured at the restaurant included six members of an American church mission working with a local congregation, according to the Rev. Kathleen Kind, pastor of Christ Community United Methodist Church in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania.

"All of our members are accounted for and all of the families have been contacted," Kind told CNN. She added that injuries ranged from broken bones and flesh wounds to temporary blindness and "hearing issues."

She said congregants are now "praying here in the church and in their homes for our members."

The bombs went off within 25 minutes of each other shortly after 10 p.m. (3 p.m. ET), as fans gathered in both locations. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for what Nabakooba called "definite acts of terrorism."

Islamic militants battling Somalia's U.N.-backed transitional government have threatened attacks on Uganda and Burundi, which contribute troops to an African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia. But Nabakooba said the investigation is not yet focused on any specific group.