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09/14/2007 - Shanghai, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Yuki Nagasato rescued all three points for Japan as she scored in stoppage time to give the Japanese a 1-0 win over Argentina on Friday.
After being held scoreless for 90 minutes against the struggling Argentines, Japan received a nice break when Argentina keeper Romina Ferro gave up a bad rebound from Yukari Tinga's shot. Nagasato was left with an easy tap-in goal and Japan now finds itself with a chance to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 1995.
After downing Argentina 6-0 in the 2003 Women's World Cup, Japan was let down in the final third in this year's competition, and came within minutes of a draw that would have all but given them no chance at advancing.
Japan must play a strong German team on Monday in its final group stage match, while Argentina looks to salvage something against England on Monday.
Things nearly started in disastrous fashion for Argentina, which scored two own goals against itself in the opener. Tomomi Miyamoto drove a cross into the area from the left, but Argentina defender Eva Gonzalez cut inside her mark and got a foot to the pass in an attempt to clear the ball. However, her clearance attempt was not hit cleanly and it ended up going off the post.
Argentina did not generate much offensively, but after conceding 11 goals against Germany on Monday, the fact that it held Japan scoreless over the first 45 minutes was a small victory.
Japan was able to create a few chances, with Nagasato threatening on two occasions. She made a run toward the box in the ninth minute and took a pass from the left. After holding off her defender, she drove a shot on net from just inside the box, but it was saved comfortably by Ferro.
Nagasato turned a header wide from 10 yards out, and Aya Miyama, who scored two free-kick goals against England on Tuesday, was given another dangerous chance in the 31st, but did poorly with the kick, knocking it over the net.
Tomoe Sakai lofted a promising cross for the back post from the right after the restart and Ferro came off her line to try and punch it clear. However, the keeper missed the ball and it ended up on the head of Nagasato, but her header went well over the net.
Nagasato found more room for a solid strike on goal in the 71st, but her effort was hit right at the keeper.
Japan keeper Miho Fukumoto was not called upon all match, but she was almost caught off guard on a long-range shot from 40 yards out by Fabiana Vallejos. Fukumoto faded back on the ball and as she jumped up to tip it over the net, the ball struck the crossbar and stayed out.
The Japanese then went back on the attack, with Kinga getting two good looks at goal. The first came in the 79th minute when she cut the ball back on the right and drilled a hard shot on goal. The keeper was in a good position and punched the ball over the top, but Kinga would get another chance five minutes from time.
Rumi Utsugi drove a brilliant cross from the left to the back post, where Kinga made a long run and got on the other end of it. She headed the ball back across the face of goal and it rolled along the goal line, inches from crossing over, before sliding past the far post.
It looked like Japan would suffer a terrible draw, but a mistake by Ferro in net allowed them to claim all three points. Kinga received the ball in space on the right and drove a low shot on goal. Ferro got down to stop it but spilled a bad rebound, allowing Nagasato to move in and tap the ball home for the game winner.
<< Wambach double leads United States past Sweden
Chengdu, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Abby Wambach scored two goals as the United
States posted an impressive 2-0 win over Sweden on Friday in the World Cup.
Wambach converted a penalty kick in the first half and added her third goal of
the tou
<< U.S. Open Cup preview as Revs, Hoops square off
Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FC Dallas travels to New England Saturday
for a Major League Soccer fixture between two teams that are virtual locks for
the upcoming MLS Cup playoffs.
The Revs are currently second in the East, seven p
<< Goats take West lead with first Super Clasico title over L.A.
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In just its third season in Major League
Soccer, CD Chivas USA has gone from worst to first.
The Mexican owned, Los Angeles based club took over the top spot in the
Western table, as well as winn
<< Mariners plate five in eighth to top D-Rays
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adrian Beltre's run-scoring single put Seattle
in front as the Mariners scored five runs in the eighth inning to come from
behind and post an 8-7 victory over Tampa Bay at Safeco Field.
Yuniesky Betancourt
Davenport stuns Jankovic in Bali >>
Bali, Indonesia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic
was upset by new mom and former world No. 1 American Lindsay Davenport in
Friday's quarterfinal action at the $225,000 Commonwealth Bank Tennis
Classic
North Korea grounds Super Falcons >>
Chengdu, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyong Hwa Kim and Kum Suk Ri scored as North
Korea cruised to a 2-0 win over Nigeria on Friday, proving its tie against the
United States on Tuesday was no fluke.
Kim and Ri scored four minutes apart in the
Reality check: Germany held to scoreless draw by England >>
Shanghai, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After setting a record with 11 goals in
its opening match, Germany was held to a 0-0 draw by England on Friday.
Germany had scored a goal in its last 11 World Cup games, the third longest
streak eve
Around the FCS: It's Primetime for top teams in FCS >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's just week three of the college
football season and already we've seen an FCS team (Appalachian State) playing
an "Instant Classic" on ESPN Classic.
We've watched Northern Iowa not just beat, but beat
In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.
And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.
Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.
So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.
Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)
The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.
As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.
The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.
In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.
Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.
And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.
So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.
There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.
So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.
And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.
There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)
Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.
Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.
So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.
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