North and South Korea have agreed to send a 300-strong joint cheering squad to the Beijing Olympics on the first train to run through the Korean peninsula and into China for more than half a century, an official said, reports Reuters from Seoul.
The leaders of the two countries, technically still at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce and not a peace treaty, agreed at a rare summit in October to send the cheering squad as a symbol of reconciliation.
The train will pick up 150 people from the South then go to the North to pick up 150 more and finally to China for the August opening ceremony. The two Koreas will send another batch half way through the games to replace the first 300. The two Koreas reached agreement on the details of the cheering team on Monday and they plan to have members of the squad on hand when Korean athletes compete.
The train joining Seoul and Sinuiju on the North Korean border with China stopped running during the Korean War.
No drinks for Russians
Russia coach Guus Hiddink has raised a few eyebrows by holding the national team's training camp this week at a five-star Mediterranean resort hotel offering free drinks all day, reports Reuters.
But the catch is that none of his players are allowed to take advantage of it. All guests at the all-inclusive Cornelia De Luxe Resort can order unlimited alcohol, including vodka and whisky, and some officials feared that the abundance of free booze might distract the players. Hiddink said he fully trusted his players. “It's not a problem for me,” the Dutchman said. “I think the players in this team are all professionals, not only when they play but also in how they prepare themselves,” he said. Still, the hotel management took no chances. “All our waiters and waitresses as well as bar attendants were told not to serve players any drinks under any circumstances,” said a hotel employee. “Not even if they offered us money for a drink.”
Malaysia seek answers in a Rush
Malaysian soccer chiefs are hoping to inject some Anfield magic into their forward line after recruiting Liverpool great Ian Rush to help solve the country's goalscoring problems, reports Reuters from Kuala Lumpur.
The country's soccer federation is planning an upheaval of its national team after their embarrassing performance as co-hosts of last year's Asian Cup. Malaysia suffered humiliating defeats in all three of their group matches and scored only one goal.
Khairy Jamaluddin, deputy president of the Football Association of Malaysia, told local media that Malaysia were struggling because of their poor quality strikers.
“Rush will be here in March... we know that our strikers are not doing very well so they should learn from him,” Khairy said.
Tani’s hopes on brain revolution
Japan's double Olympic judo gold medallist Ryoko Tani has hit upon an unusual idea to prepare for this year's Beijing Games — a neurological kick-start, reports Reuters from Tokyo.
Busy being a mum since winning her second successive gold in Athens four years ago, Tani has turned to scientific methods to help sharpen up for an attempt on an Olympic treble. The pint-sized judoka will spend three days listening to lectures from brain specialists in Paris, Japanese media reported on Tuesday, some under the headline "Tani's Brain Revolution!"
“It's something I really want to do,” Tani told reporters before leaving Japan on Monday. “I want to get as much out of it as I can. It's a training exercise for Beijing. I've been interested in it since school,” added Tani, who gave birth to a son in December 2005. “So I suggested it would be a good time to do it.”
Capello’s English predicaments
When he was named England coach at the start of December Italian Fabio Capello, who spoke little English, said he would be fluent in his new language in a month, reports Reuters from London.
He met the British media for the first time since then on Tuesday and said he was “happy with his English” and “I am speaking to the players in English.” However, Capello was praising his new skills through an interpreter.
Despite the language barrier, Capello showed a lighter side to his character. “I will not speak to you in English until I am happy I have learned all the expressions and phrases I need,” he said to reporters. Capello used only one word in English throughout. When asked what the players called him he replied: “Boss.”
