Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
Both teams got the Euro 2012 playoff draw they wanted
By Philip O’Connor in Stockholm
It wasn’t just Irish eyes that were smiling when the Euro 2012 playoff draw was made in Polish city of Krakow – some of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) delegation appeared to be laughing out loud when they were drawn to face Estonia, with the winner heading to next year’s finals.
But despite the protestations of coach Tarmo Ruutli, Ireland probably represents the best possible draw for the Estonians, given that the other alternatives were Portugal, Croatia or the Czech Republic.
“I don’t think the Republic of Ireland were the easiest of our potential opponents,” Ruutli said in a statement after the draw. “All the teams at this stage are strong and they proved it during the group stage. However, I won’t deny the fact that we wanted to face Ireland more than the others.”
Former Ireland captain Kenny Cunningham didn’t mince his words, telling RTE TV that “everyone would have been leaning towards Estonia. They are the weakest of the teams we could have faced.”
Euro 2012 playoffs renew recent rivalries
By Zoran Milosavljevic
The Euro 2012 two-legged playoffs should offer plenty of action and eight entertaining matches, with the last four berths in next year’s finals up for grabs.
While Ireland will start as strong favourites against Estonia, the other three ties appear set to be nerve-jangling affairs in which two former Yugoslav repubics will be eager to avenge painful defeats against their respective opponents, while another is aiming to make history in only their second tournament as an independent nation.
Former Estonian bouncer adds Baltic spice to sumo
Baruto throws his weight around
After the nightclub fracas that toppled a Mongolian grand champion from grace who would have thought it would take a former bouncer from Estonia to help clean up the mess in the troubled world of sumo?
The soft-spoken giant Baruto gave the ancient Japanese sport a shot in the arm after sealing his promotion to the sport’s second highest rank of “ozeki” with a 14-1 showing at the spring grand sumo tournament less than two months after “yokozuna” Asashoryu quit in disgrace amid a “booze rage” probe.
