Sunday, June 14, 1998
Eagles dare and do Spaniards in
Spain's veteran goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta ruined his side's hopes of a smooth start to their World Cup campaign yesterday evening as Nigeria emerged with a sensational 3-2 victory in Group D. The 36-year-old Zubizarreta, winning his 124th cap, was guilty of a gruesome mistake in the 73rd minute when he parried Garba Lawal's left-footed cross into the Spanish net and was beaten again five minutes later by Sunday Oliseh's fierce drive from outside the box.
Friends fetch France fab win
With three goals and repeated attacks, France produced the result the whole host nation had been hoping for and crushed South Africa 3-0 to stake its claim as a World Cup favourite. Olympique Marseille's hero Christophe Dugarry scored one goal and assisted on another and prodigy Thierry Henry weaved through the South African defense in injury time with a darting run and a gentle, cunning finish, to top off a dominating performance.
Sri Lanka spin win over Kiwis
Sri Lanka's spin bowlers sealed a 164-run victory over New Zealand with a day to spare as the host nation took the three-Test cricket series 2-1. Muthiah Muralitharan and Niroshan Bandaratilake took nine wickets between them to dismiss New Zealand for 131 runs on the fourth day of the third Test. New Zealand, set a difficult target of 296 for victory, were all out 42 minutes before tea with Muralitharan finishing with five for 30 and Bandaratilake four for 52.
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