Mueller praises namesake

Thomas Mueller wears the shirt with the number 13 that once belonged to Gerd Mueller,and the scoring legend says thats not the only thing that unites them.

Thomas Mueller wears the shirt with the number 13 that once belonged to Gerd Mueller,and the scoring legend says thats not the only thing that unites them. Like Gerd,the younger Mueller scored in his World Cup debut in another highlight of an incredible season. Mueller has won the domestic double,was in the Champions League final,and now has a World Cup goal for Germany. Not bad for a 20-year-old who was still playing for Bayern Munichs reserve side in Germanys third division one year ago. Gerd Mueller says his younger namesake twists like me and can shoot with both feet.

Franz hits out at England

JOHANNESBURG: Germany great Franz Beckenbauer says England has gone backwards under coach Fabio Capello and the teams discouraging start to the World Cup has occurred partly because of a lack of domestic talent in the Premier League. Beckenbauer,in a column for South Africas The Times newspaper,said he didnt think Capello could still change much there. What I saw of the English against the USA had very little to do with football. It looked to me as if the English have gone backwards into the bad old days of kick and rush.

We cant handle pressure

KNYSNA: Florent Malouda says Frances players are having trouble dealing with the weight of expectation surrounding them and some are not coping well with the criticism they have been getting at the World Cup. France is regularly knocked by its fans,criticised by former players and even lambasted by its own politicians,and Malouda says that some players have trouble with stories coming out and are unable to relax on the field. Malouda says even if were shut away,it touches the players a bit and it can affect the way they play.

BBC to press mute on vuvuzela

LONDON: The BBC is considering filtering out crowd noise from its World Cup broadcasts following a deluge of complaints about the vuvuzelas. By Tuesday morning,the BBC had received 545 complaints from viewers about the constant buzzing sound of the plastic horns used by fans in South Africa. We have already taken steps to minimise the noise and are continuing to monitor the situation, the BBC said in a statement. The broadcaster is considering offering viewers the possibility of muting most ambient noise while maintaining game commentary through the red button digital service. Viewers would push the red button on their remote control to receive the quieter broadcast on a separate channel.

Verbeek cautious over Kewell

DURBAN: Harry Kewell has no doubt he is 100 per cent fit for Australias vital match with Ghana. His coach,Pim Verbeek,doesnt sound convinced. The Galatasaray forward has played only two minutes of club football in 2010,with his latest setback being a groin injury. I want to play. I know I can play, Kewell said. Hes fit,he has no problem with his injury the question is if he can play for 90 minutes and if Im willing to take a risk with a player, Verbeek said.

Ambush marketing

Johannesburg: FIFA has denied reports it detained dozens of women for wearing orange mini-dresses at a World Cup match in an alleged ambush marketing scam by a Dutch brewery. More than 30 young,blonde fans attended the Netherlands match against Denmark on Monday wearing skimpy dresses that are in the countrys national color and are a symbol of a beer advertising campaign back home. No one was detained, FIFA spokesman said,but added FIFA officials at the stadium did ask the women about clear ambush marketing.