Joe Cole rescued England who again were poor in their World Cup qualifier against Andorra on Saturday. I admit I am stubborn and refuse to watch the current crop of England players as I fins them to be embarrassing and lacking commitment. Cole who many times in the past has been a strong impact player again produced the goods scoring both goals that saw England defeat a team who they should have comfortably put to the sword but as is the norm they made hard work of it.
With the Formula One I witnessed one of the greatest finales to a race that I have ever seen but controversy at the end ruined an emphatic performance. Lewis Hamilton having won a spectacular race was demoted 25 seconds for what stewards judged as gaining an unfair advantage after cutting a corner. A weak decision as Lewis had no choice but to cut the corner or risk taking himself and Kimi Raikkonen out of the race.
Lewis started the race well and with the strategy that McLaren had it was clear that the objective was to move clear of the chasing pack. This was working until Lewis spun on a wet part of the track, although he was able to get going again but Kimi who had started well from fourth had the momentum and was able to pass Lewis easily. From then on it was formation racing as Kimi, Lewis and Massa were inseparable in terms of lap times and the distance between the cars.
Kovalainen would have possibly been in contention as well but he had a race to forget and also received a drive through penalty. The late action was caused by the expected rain forecast and the wet conditions opened it up for Lewis as Kimi began easing off allowing Lewis to mount a challenge for first place. It was a great battle for position with both drivers going off the track as conditions became increasingly difficult.
Hamilton was told after the race that the move was under investigation and like everyone else I believed he had done nothing wrong. Racing for position he had no choice but to cut the Bus Stop chicane when Kimi closed the door on his move. Emerging from the corner in front of Kimi, Lewis yielded the position which is within the rules but the stewards saw this as him having the momentum. Anyway they fought over postion exchanging places several times before Kimi went off the track and hit a barrier ending his race and possible interest in the championship. Lewis went on to win the race, Massa second and third Heidfeld after an amazing final lap. McLaren are to appeal the decision so watch this space...
Onto Tennis and the US Open Semi Final between Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray has produced some stunning tennis. Tonight it produced a stunning result as Andy Murray held his nerve and was able to dispose of a valiant effort from Nadal 6-2, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4. Hurricane Hanna had interrupted play but it only postponed the outcome, Murray the sixth seed had won the first two Sets against the No.1 player in the world and current French Open, Wimbledon and Olympic Gold medalist. I felt that Nadal had just had a day to forget Saturday, which can be expected considering his blistering form lately, I thought that today Murray would be handed a lesson but it wasn't to work out that way. Nadal played some great tennis and was able to see out the Set having gone a break up the day before but Murray even though he missed the opportunity to break Nadal several times at the start of the fourth Set had Nadal worried.
Murray can be wasteful and it is frustrating watching him at times but he can also produce moments of sheer class. Tonight we witnessed the best of Murray and he moves into the final against Roger Federer and having beaten Federer previously he must fancy his chances against one of the best players of all time. I am hoping for a match like the Federer-Nadal final at Wimbledon but with this being our first Grand Slam finalist since Fred Perry I won't be watching as a neutral.
Great weekend for sport and the stand out for me still is the hat-trick scored by my son as that tops all of the above achievements by some distance!!
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