Dutch beat France 4-1 to win group

BERN, Switzerland (AP)—A three-goal second half lifted the Netherlands to a 4-1 rout of France on Friday night for a place in the European Championship’s quarterfinals.
The Dutch romped past both 2006 World Cup finalists in Group C, beating Italy 3-0 before outclassing the French. Substitute Arjen Robben set up one goal and scored another. Robin van Persie, Dirk Kuyt and Wesley Sneijder also scored.
The only goal the 1988 Euro champions have conceded came from Thierry Henry, who scored his record 45th goal for France in the 71st minute.
With a second classic performance in as many games, the Dutch again produced the sparkle any championship craves. And the second Dutch goal will be cherished by the Netherlands for years, while it haunts the aging French defense.
After Kuyt gave the Netherlands the lead in the ninth minute with a header from a corner kick, Van Persie finished off an attack in the 59th.
Ruud van Nistelrooy spun some magic with close footwork to send Robben down the left on a counterattack. The winger outran the opposition, bided his time and saw Van Persie make a run on the right. Van Persie pushed Robben’s pass past Gregory Coupet for the second goal.
After Henry had put the game within French reach with a subtle deflection from a cross by Willy Sagnol, the tension in the 30,000-capcity stadium suddenly was electric.
One minute later, though, Robben got loose on the left, with defender Lilian Thuram ahead of him. Robben created space and rifled the ball past Coupet high in the net. Thuram didn’t know what happened to him.

Taiwan, China agree to exchange offices

Taiwan and China agreed Thursday for the first time ever to set up permanent offices in each others' territories as the two sides met for their first formal talks in more than a decade, an official with one of the delegations said.

Thousands welcome Ana in Belgrade

Ana was greeted by thousands of supporters when she visited Belgrade yesterday. They crammed into the city's parliament square to welcome the world No.1 and Roland Garros to her hometown."This moment will be not equalled, I will remember it all my life," said an emotional Ana in a moving speech to the crowd."The last days have been a dream. I will never forget Roland Garros. When I heard the national anthem I couldn't hold back the tears. It was a special moment for me."Prior to the public celebration, which took place at 5pm local time, Ana met the country's media, and afterwards she had tea with Serbian president Boris Tadic.Ana later said: "It was a long day, very tiring, but so much fun. I will never forget it."

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How Ana celebrated her win

Shortly before the French Open began, Ana and her coaching team were travelling back to their hotels after an exhausting practice session. During the car journey Scott Byrnes (strength and conditioning coach), Sven Groeneveld (tennis advisor) and Marcin Rozpedski (hitting partner) all promised that they would do something outrageous if Ana won the tournament...Ana's brother Milos joined in, and so the four gave their word that if Ana won the event, they would run around the Arc de Triomphe while each wearing one of Ana's adidas dresses.True to their words, the quartet made a mockery of themselves in the early hours of Sunday morning, after a celebratory dinner.Ana herself could not stop laughing!

Open-Federer says French Open win would crown his career

PARIS, June 7 (Reuters) - Roger Federer said victory over Rafael Nadal in the final of the French Open on Sunday would be the crowning moment of his career.
The Swiss, who has won 12 grand-slam titles but has never triumphed at Roland Garros, has been beaten by the Spaniard in the final for the past two years.
Victory for Federer would make him only the sixth man to win all four grand-slam titles.
“That’s all I need in my career,” the world number one told reporters on Saturday, when asked what he would think if he beat Nadal.
“But then, even if I win, this is not the end of my career. I’ll still be looking for other titles. I still have many years ahead of me if my body and my physical condition allows, because I’m still very motivated.”
Federer, who has been working with former top-10 player Jose Higueras throughout the claycourt season, has beaten Nadal just once on clay in nine attempts—at the Hamburg Masters Series in 2007—but said he had the game to win on Sunday.
“I’ve changed my game on clay over the last month,” Federer said. “In the past I was less aggressive. Just waiting for a mistake from Rafa, I think that’s not the key to beat him. So it’s important to come up with the right plan, with the right aggressiveness, knowing on which points to use what type of play.”

Ana wins her first Grand Slam!

The new queen of tennis will not forget this day, June 7th, 2008, as she reached a major milestone in her young career. Ana conquered her first Grand Slam crown at the French Open, as she beat Russian Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-3 on a cloudy afternoon in Paris. It was the perfect way to end a dream fortnight for the 20-year-old, who will appear at the top of the... more... »