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Germany's preparations ahead of the World Cup were plagued by poor results and controversy, and their problems were magnified in Moscow as they crashed to their first defeat in the opening game of a World Cup since 1982. Hirving Lozano's 35th-minute strike at the Luzhniki Stadium earned Mexico just the second win over Germany in history, as Loew's side paid the price for a dismal first half. "In the first half we played very badly," Loew said. "We weren't able to impose our usual way of playing, our attacking and passing was not effective." "It's disappointing to have lost the first match," he added. "It's a situation we're not used to at all. In many previous tournaments we've always won the first match but we have to accept it." Germany's proud record of never being eliminated in the group stage at a World Cup is already in danger. And if they finish runners-up in Group F, Germany could be on course to face Brazil in a daunting second-round match-up.  Germany face Sweden in … [Read more...] about Germany ‘very bad’ in shock Mexico loss, says Loew

On the day when holders Germany were shocked 1-0 by Mexico, Brazil's tag as pre-tournament favourites looked justified in a dominant first-half capped by Philippe Coutinho's wonder strike to open the scoring. However, Brazil paid for their failure to kill the game off when Steven Zuber powered home an equaliser from Xherdan Shaqiri's corner five minutes after the break. The pressure will now be on Brazil to kickstart their campaign when they face Costa Rica on Friday. The stalemate left Tite unimpressed. "I'm not happy with this result. Our finishing wasn't good. We had 20 chances, but too many shots were off target. We should have made their keeper work harder than that. "I put it down to stress, first match nerves, that's true for me too," the Brazil boss said. He added: "Up to their goal, I was satisfied. We were moving well. Then they raised their game, and it took us 10 minutes to regain our rhythm. But once again, our finishing wasn't good." His Swiss counterpart Vladimir … [Read more...] about Brazil suffer first night nerves in Swiss stalemate

ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia, - A second-half header from Steven Zuber cancelled out a sensational early goal from Philippe Coutinho as Switzerland and Brazil drew 1-1 in a tight Group E World Cup opener on Sunday. With 20 minutes gone, Coutinho gathered a clearance 25 yards from goal and curled a marvellous shot into the far corner off the post to give the five-times world champions the lead. However, Switzerland, who had looked toothless throughout the first half, got back on level terms five minutes into the second period when Zuber rose unmarked to head home a corner kick. Coutinho had Brazil's best chance after the break but shot wide. The result means that Serbia lead Group E after beating Costa Rica 1-0 earlier in the day. (Reporting by Andrew Downie, editing by Neil Robinson) … [Read more...] about News FIFA World Cup: Brazil held to 1-1 draw by Switzerland in Group E opener

MANILA, Philippines – For the first time in the 2018 PBA Commissioner's Cup, the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings have put together back-to-back victories. After defeating the NLEX Road Warriors, 93-85, last week, the Gin Kings made it two games in a row by crushing the Magnolia Hotshots, 104-84, in the Manila Clasico on Sunday. The result hiked their record to 3-5, and kept them in the hunt for a spot in the quarterfinals. "We picked tonight to play our best game of the conference, obviously," a beaming Tim Cone told reporters after the game. READ: Ginebra takes Manila Clasico anew For Cone, their recent surge shows that the Gin Kings are finally finding their groove after a poor start to the conference. Ginebra opened its campaign with back-to-back losses, earned a breakthrough win over Blackwater, then proceeded to drop three straight games. Two of those losses – to Phoenix and San Miguel – were painful overtime defeats; the other was a 92-83 setback at the hands of … [Read more...] about News PBA: Ginebra finding its groove after rocky start

MOSCOW -- Germany was stunned, 1-0, by Mexico in the opening game of their World Cup defense on Sunday as Hirving Lozano finished off a sharp counter-attack that exposed the ragged defending that the four-times winners had displayed in their warm-up games. Germany's defense had looked stretched to breaking point on several occasions in the opening half-hour, and it was no surprise when Javier Hernandez again left Mats Hummels for dead to play in Lozano, who cut inside Mesut Ozil and smashed the ball low into the corner to release an explosion of noise in Luzhniki Stadium. Germany came close to levelling late in the half when a Toni Kroos free kick was touched on to the bar by goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, and they gradually took command once Marco Reus joined the fray after an hour and introduced some pace to their attack. But despite almost constant pressure, they were largely kept at long range, and their poor finishing rarely threatened Ochoa as Mexico held out for only their second … [Read more...] about News FIFA World Cup: Mexico stuns holders Germany in opener