World Cup 2010 enjoys ticket frenzy

JOHANNESBURG, May 6 (Xinhua) -- The second phase of 2010 World Cup ticket sales reached 185,000 in eight hours as fans vied for seats in South Africa 2010, FIFA said on Tuesday.

Some 100,000 tickets are available for the phase which ends in November, excluding the two semi-finals and the final, and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

More than 1.6 million requests for tickets were recorded in the first ticket sales phase between February 20 and March 31.

FIFA said some 24,000 Confederations Cup tickets had sold in South Africa within the first 24 hours of direct sales for the tournament which begins next month.

With 340,000 tickets sold, some 300,000 remain available for the World Cup curtain raiser.

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Fulllana and Absalon win World Cup cross-country mountainbike

In World Cup cross-country mountainbike action. Margarita Fullana claimed her 5th career victory in Belgium on Sunday.

The win helped her to move the top of the World Cup standings. China's Ren Chengyuan placed third. The men's title went to Julien Absalon.

Fullana is the reigning cross-country world champion, and she went on the attack during the first of four laps around a 7.4-kilometre circuit in Houffalize, Belgium. Fullana tried her best to outdistance her pursuers and powered to victory in a time of one hour, 25 minutes and 1 second.

In the men's side, World Cup leader Absalon sealed his second straight victory. The defending men's World Cup cross-country champion increased his lead at the top of the UCI series standings after Sunday's win.

Ronaldo tops worst haircut voting in soccer history

RIO DE JANEIRO, April 13 (Xinhua) -- With his invention of his 2002 World Cup winning haircut, Ronaldo topped the worst-ever haircut voting in the world of soccer.

Withhisinventionofhis2002WorldCupwinninghaircut,Ronaldo
toppedtheworst-everhaircutvotingintheworldofsoccer.

Beating out some of the outrageous styles of David Beckham and the fern-like afro of Carlos Valderrama, Ronaldo took first place on the list of bad haircuts, English newspaper the Sun reported.

The haircut, which featured a completely shaved head, except for a thin patch over his forehead, was apparently used in homage of the Brazilian equivalent of Charley Brown.

Ronaldo is undoubtedly considered to be one of the best forwards and is currently the leading scorer in the history of the World Cup.

But in 2002, it was not his goals that caught the attention of the world but his exuberant hair style that had the whole world buzzing.

Even before walking away from the game, with this latest honor Ronaldo is guaranteed his spot in the history books of soccer.

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Palmeiras tie Sport in Libertadores Cup

RIO DE JANEIRO, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Palmeiras tied Sport 1-1 in a Group One match in the Libertadores Cup on Wednesday.

Palmeiras opened scoring in the 14th minute as the team's leading goal scorer Keirrison thumped the ball into the right side of the net from a free kick.

Sport responded just before half-time when the team was awarded a free kick just outside of the penalty box. Paulo Baier sent the ball towards the front of the net. Durval attempted to control the ball, but in a dual with the Palmeiras fullback, the ball popped out and landed at the feet of Wilson who took full advantage of the opportunity to fire the ball into the goal.

Sport and Colo-Colo are tied on seven points to lead the group standings, followed by Palmeiras and LDU de Quito, both on four points.

Palmeiras will need to win their next two games to keep their hopes alive.

Palmeiras will host reigning champions LDU on April 21 and Sport will host Colo-Colo the following day.

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