eight months ago. Man of the Day Nominees Ashkan Dejagah – I

SAITAMA, Japan -- Canadas Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford won a pairs bronze medal at the world figure skating championships Thursday while Mao Asada of Japan set a world record to finish first in the womens short program. Duhamel, from Lively, Ont., and Radford, from Balmertown, Ont., were third with 210.84 points. Teammates Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont., and Dylan Moscovitch of Toronto were fourth. Duhamel and Radford, who were seventh at the Sochi Olympics, also won bronze at last years world championships in London, Ont. "In some ways I think that this bronze medal feels even better than the last one," Radford said. "This season was just a lot more difficult and we had a lot more downs than we did last season. Especially after the Olympics, with our sort of disappointing result, we had to really pull ourselves together and to shift our point of view to just go out here and do it for ourselves. "And then to go out there and to actually do it and be back on the podium, its a huge thing for us. We are just so proud of ourselves." Germanys Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy won the gold, claiming their fifth title in the event they have dominated since 2008. Skating to Chopins Nocturne, Asada hit her trademark triple Axel at the start of her routine and completed all her remaining jumps to finish with 78.66 points, surpassing the previous record of 78.50 set by Yuna Kim at the Vancouver Olympics. "As the last competition of this season, I am happy to skate the best short program," said Asada, a two-time world champion. "My mission here is to perform both programs perfect so already half is done and tomorrow I want to focus on showing everything I have practised." Carolina Kostner of Italy was second with 77.24 points followed by Julia Lipnitskaia of Russia, who had 74.54 points. Kim, the defending champion, has retired and Olympic gold medallist Adelina Sotnikova of Russia isnt competing at the worlds. Kaetlyn Osmond of Marystown, N.L., was eighth and Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., was 14th. Skating to music from the "Alice in Wonderland" soundtrack, Duhamel fell on a triple Salchow in what was supposed to be a three-jump combination for the Canadian pairs team. It was an otherwise clean performance. "When you make a mistake as a figure skater, you need to put that mistake behind you as quickly as possible and continue skating as if you were skating cleanly. And weve been able to do that before, but at the Olympics after we made one mistake, things started to unravel a little bit," Duhamel said. "So we were really aware, as soon as I fell, that was not going to take away from our performance, that we were still going to go strong right until the end." Savchenko and Szolkowy were solid on all their elements in their program to "The Nutcracker," and earned 224.88 points to beat Russias Olympic silver medallists Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov, who had 215.92 points. "A fifth title is quite amazing," Szolkowy said. "We did and very good performance yesterday and were very good today." Savchenko and Szolkowy, who won the Olympic bronze in 2010 and 2014, have been together since August of 2003 and will split up after the world championships. "I can hardly believe it is over now. It feels very strange," Savchenko said. "To be honest, it felt like I was skating in an exhibition gala." Duhamel and Radford, in only their fourth year together, will continue competing next season. "I think that we have just learned a lot about where skating fits into our lives and the way that we approach our competitions. We spent the beginning of the season trying so hard to get every other point, and to really please the judges," Radford said. "Weve realized that if we go out and just skate the way that we want, we tend to skate better and we get better points. "Knowing that, we will take a very different approach going into next season. I think we will have a lot more streamlined programs, maybe a little bit simpler, just to create as much flow as possible and in turn we will perform more relaxed." Paige Lawrence of Kennedy, Sask., and Rudi Swiegers of Kipling, Sask., were 12th overall out of 16 pairs. In womens singles, Osmond pulled off all three of triple flip, triple toe and triple Lutz in the short program for the first time in competition. "I was really excited with the program," said Osmond. "It meant a lot to me to be able to do that here at worlds." Football Jerseys China . The lightning strike was in the parking lot of Crew Stadium on Saturday night, but its not known if the off-duty lieutenant was struck directly, Columbus Fire Department Battalion Chief Tracy Smith said. The firefighter, identified as Lt. Cheap Football Jerseys . So heres what I do when I want to get into the baseball mood—I delve into "The Baseball Project". https://www.fakefootballjerseys.com/ . THE THUNDER & PACERS BENCHES: In a nutshell, not impressive at all. Wholesale Football Jerseys China . He learned about pressure and expectations at the 2010 Games in his hometown of Vancouver. His next mission is to build on that experience at his next Olympic appearance in Sochi, where he plans to ride the momentum from the teams strong start to the season. Cheap Football Jerseys Authentic . Pierre last November, only to watch St. Pierre leave the UFC octagon with his welterweight title belt and a split-decision victory.Day 10 in 100 words or less If this was 2010 and Germany and Ghana had just played out the 2-2 draw that took place on Saturday then people would be talking about it as one of the greatest games in World Cup history. Of course it wasnt, although it was fantastic, but place that game around a long bunch of duds and that would have been the perception. Instead, it came in the midst of what is turning out to be the finest World Cup group stage ever. Typically, for Brazil 2014, the game wasnt even the main story on day 10, instead the little master took over that honour. Argentina 1-0 Iran Sometimes there just has to be a winner. Someone proved right even when it just seemed they were so wrong. You will have heard by now that Lionel Messi scored a dramatic injury time winner against Iran so you probably presume that the winner I am talking about is him. I am not. Heading into this World Cup the biggest storyline of all was "can the best player in the world carry Argentina to glory and become one of the greats?" For many it was nonsense, an obsession with an individual in a team sport who cannot possibly do it all himself. As the clock ticked past the ninety minute mark that crowd smiled. Resolute Iran had defended brilliantly. In a World Cup full of swashbuckling, quick, decisive finishing, it took a footballing minnow to give a masterclass in defending. Dont be fooled, they threatened to score also, but above anything else they made world class attacking stars look very ordinary. This included Messi. It was the perfect example of a game that laughed in the face of those who demanded the Barcelona star must carry his team. A game that required complete cohesion, partnerships on the field, combining to open up an opponent. A game that, late in the first half, saw Messi pick up the ball, look up and see 11 opponents in front of him... Iran did a great job with Messi, not only marking him tightly but being so disciplined with their shape and getting extra numbers that were ready if Messi cut in with his left. Messi from deep areas likes to glide from right to left but still the Iranians blocked that path. Last weekend Messi was able to score his goal against Bosnia-Herzegovina when that key area highlighted by the square (below) was open and not blocked with defenders... A 1-2 pass with Fernando Gago and suddenly Messi is into that space, shoots to the right of the goalkeeper for the game winner. And that was how he got his goal against Iran. With the game coming to a close, Iran got too deep, Messi got a one-on-one matchup with the defender and saw space to his left if he cut in... With 11 men behind the ball, but with that crucial narrow space opening up, Messi unleashed a brilliant strike to win it... Goals change perceptions as quickly as they change games. Suddenly Messi was doing what some had demanded. Carrying Argentina on his back to a victory. It was a wonderful World Cup moment, without question, but those demanding it, should be careful what they wish for. This is not Messi of 2010 and it is not even close. Yet. By not scoring, and therefore not having a moment, in South Africa Messis legacy was seen as tarnished for not performing at a World Cup. Now he looks tired and isnt quite at the same level, but scoring, everything seems to be fine again. It just goes to show you what a staggeringly misguided argument it was in the first place. Germany 2-2 Ghana There is no room for perfection in a World Cup like this..dddddddddddd Germany, superior against Portugal, were clearly the most impressive team after the first round of games but it just wouldnt be Brazil 2014 if that was allowed to continue. Germany, much like Italy and Spain this week, spent some time in the heat of Brazil struggling to get back in a match. The big difference was they had a record breaker to bring off the bench. For the first time since 1994, the Germans trailed at the World Cup after leading and, stunned at 2-1, on came Miroslav Klose. Two minutes later he had them level, fittingly poaching at the backpost, equaling the Brazilian great Ronaldo with 15 World Cup goals. It was the fourth goal in a mad 20 minutes. Ghana had joined an ever-growing comeback club at this World Cup responding to a Mario Gotze opener with two excellent goals that highlighted some German weakness. Germanys weakness is their defence and they were easily outjumped by Andre Ayew to make it 1-1. The heat of Fortaleza certainly played a part but the tempo of their passing wasnt quick enough either and that showed when they turned the ball over on the second goal. Philipp Lahm has now had two opportunities to move back to right back in two games but so far Joachim Low has resisted. To get Bastian Schweinsteiger, Sami Khedira and Toni Kroos together, bringing more pace and power to their midfield, Lahm may need to move back to defence. Nigeria 1-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina The African momentum continued into the evening game, which was another wide open, stretched affair. The game swung in the first half when Edin Dzeko was wrongly ruled offside after putting his team ahead. Soon after, Nigeria, a constant threat down the right side, opened the scoring when Emmanuel Emenike crossed for Peter Odemwingie to smash home. The Europeans were poor in the second half and didnt threaten enough until Vincent Enyeama produced a wonderful save with his legs in the dying moments. Seen as some as a dark horse heading in, the World Cup rookies are eliminated at the first fence. Another lesson that far too much emphasis can be placed on form from qualifying, which ended eight months ago. Man of the Day Nominees Ashkan Dejagah – Iran had many stars on this day but the Fulham man was incredibly lively when they countered and could have had a penalty when tripped by Pablo Zabaleta. Javad Nekounam – If Dejagah was the star going forward, his midfielder teammate was marvelous maintaining the shape and discipline of their back lines. Lionel Messi – It could have been a two yard tap-in and it still would have been a massive moment, given the timing of the goal, but in the end it was an absolutely stunning goal. Miroslav Klose – Any player who equals any stat held by the great Ronaldo is special. Emmanuel Emenike – It was a dominant display from the forward tearing apart Emir Spahic at the heart of the Bosnian defence. The winner... Lionel Messi – Who else? What comes next? Belgium vs. Russia (12pm/9am), South Korea vs. Algeria (3pm/noon), USA vs. Portugal (6pm/3pm). Burning question for Sunday Can the USA stop Joao Moutinho from dictating a game from midfield? Key stat of Day 10 Try this on your friends – what do Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Stoke City have in common? They are the three teams that have had players score past their club goalkeeper. Zinedine Zidane vs Iker Casillas (2006), Wesley Sneijder vs Julio Cesar (2010) and now Peter Odemwingie vs Asmir Begovic (2014). ' ' '