Klinsi ‘too emotional’

STUTTGART: Germany manager Jurgen Klinsmann said he was overcome with emotion after the hosts secured third place at the World Cup and emphasised that he needed time and a clear head to decide his future. “It is difficult to put into words what happened tonight. It went beyond what we have seen in the past three weeks,” Klinsmann said. “So much has happened in the last few weeks and I haven’t taken it all on board yet. Give me a few days. I am overwhelmed by emotion at the moment and need to process things in my mind before making a decision.”

Kenya win street WC

BERLIN: A team from Kenya on Saturday won the first World Cup street football title in the competition which has been played alongside the main World Cup. The team from Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) beat the Kick Aids team from South Africa in a penalty shootout after the match had ended 2-2 in normal time. The MYSA players are drawn from shanty towns. The “streetfootballworld” tournament featured matches lasting 12 minutes with teams of five players, all aged between 16 and 21. The tournament was created in memory of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who was murdered after scoring an own goal in the 1994 World Cup.

Red card to WAGs

LONDON: New England manager Steve McLaren has banned WAGs, players’ wives and girlfriends, from future tournaments. McLaren, who took over from Sven-Goran Eriksson after England’s World Cup quarter-final exit, has decided that the WAGs’ power shopping and late night partying make them too much of a distraction. He is convinced that their high-profile stay at the team camp in Baden-Baden didn’t help the team’s performance. The WAGs included David Beckham’s wife Victoria, Wayne Rooney’s girlfriend Colleen McLoughlin, Joe Cole’s girlfriend Carly Zucker, Elen Rives, Frank Lampard’s fiancee, and pop singer Cheryl Tweedy, Ashley Cole’s partner.

Portuguese hailed

LISBON: Portugal’s media congratulated Luiz Felipe Scolari’s team on Sunday after it finished fourth in the 2006 World Cup. “We lost yesterday but it doesn’t matter, they were fantastic days,” read 24Horas headline. “Portugal pleased with fourth place in its ‘final’ with Germany,” said Diario de Noticias. “We already miss Figo,” said A Bola while O Jogo said “Thanks and so long”. Some newspapers lamented the fact that Figo’s last match did not end with a win. “Figo didn’t deserve to say goodbye this way,” said Publico. “Bitter goodbye,” said Correio da Manha.