Herzlich Willkommen » the success of the national womens program

SAO PAULO - Paolo Lorenzi of Italy reached his first ATP semifinal by upsetting fourth-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina 7-6 (6), 6-7 (4), 6-4 at the Brazil Open on Friday. Nike Air Max Vendita Online . The 114th-ranked Lorenzi broke Monacos serve to go up 4-3 in the decisive set and held on to close the match in 2 hours, 34 minutes at the Ibirapuera Arena. The 32-year-old Italian squandered a match point before losing the second set, but was in control in the third to pick up the win in the ATP 250 tournament in South Americas biggest city. Lorenzi, who had 12 aces, made it to the semis for the first time after five quarterfinal losses in his career. "Im very happy to finally breakthrough to the semifinals," Lorenzi said. "Ive had a lot of opportunities before but was never able to come up with the victory at this stage. For sure this is one of my greatest weeks on the tour." The 43rd-ranked Monaco, a former top 10 in the world, was trying to win his 200th clay-court match. He is the fifth-greatest winner in the surface, behind Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Tommy Robredo and Nicolas Almagro. Monaco had a set point in the first set but couldnt capitalize on it. "It was a very close match, he had his chances in the first set and I had mine in the second, it was very difficult," Lorenzi said. The Italian will play either top-seeded Tommy Haas of Germany or Horacio Zeballos of Argentina, who play their quarterfinal match later Friday. In the other quarterfinal Friday, Federico Delbonis of Argentina easily beat Alberto Montanes of Spain 6-4, 6-3 in just over an hour. He will play either home-crowd favourite Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil or Martin Klizan of Slovakia. The 61st-ranked Delbonis had upset three-time Brazil Open champion Almagro in the second round. Defending champion Rafael Nadal is not playing at the clay-court tournament this year. He chose to play at the first edition of the Rio Open, which he won last week. ___ Tales Azzoni on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tazzoni Vapormax 97 Italia . Tony Parker had 33 points and nine assists and San Antonio never trailed in a resounding 116-92 victory over Portland, bullying the younger Trail Blazers in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals. Air Max 95 Italia . It was just time for him to make a big play. Nicolas Batum had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Wesley Matthews scored 18 points, and the Trail Blazers overcame poor-shooting nights by two of their best players in a 94-90 victory over the New York Knicks on Wednesday. http://www.airmaxscarpescontate.it/scarpe-air-max-97-prezzo-basso/max-97-uomo-saldi.html . has left the San Jose Sharks to become the Boston Bruins director of player personnel.TORONTO -- Canada has gone through more than a few soccer blueprints in the past with a mixed bag of results. Next week, the Canadian Soccer Association unveils its latest road map -- a strategic vision for 2014-2018. And while there have been recent successes on the soccer field, the failure of the national mens program remains a sore issue. Still CSA general secretary Peter Montopoli, who says the new plan "is for the long-term," sees positives on the Canadian soccer landscape. "I feel very good about the foundation that weve placed here over the last number of years for the CSA," he said in an interview. "So while a lot of people talk about the end result -- if we were to say that would be, lets say, the mens national team -- I think weve laid a solid foundation to move forward for the sport in our country." That includes restructuring the associations governance, the success of the national womens program, retaining womens coach John Herdman in the face of rival offers, success at the mens under-17 level and hiring a veteran respected coach in Benito Floro for the senior mens squad, among other healthy developments. As the official governing body for soccer in Canada, the CSA oversees everyone from kids kicking a ball around to top pros. But many judge the association on the performance of the mens national squad, seen as the flagship team -- and for many, the face of Canadian soccer around the world. The Canadian men are currently stuck on a bumpy road that stretches back to the 8-1 humiliation in Honduras in October 2012 that knocked them out of World Cup qualifying. Stephen Hart threw himself on his sword in the wake of that lopsided defeat, resigning as manager. His overseers continued at the helm. CSA president Victor Montagliani and Nick Bontis, board member and chair of the strategic committee, will join Montopoli on Jan. 23 in unveiling the new plan. Montopoli says there are many sides to soccer in Canada. "It should not be lost on people that were doing well in terms of where we are with a lot of other things," he said, pointing to player registration and the fact Canada ranks in the top five per cent of qualifying for FIFA competitions. Still, the Canadian men have not won since being knocked out of World Cup qualifying. A 2-0 loss to Slovenia on Nov. 19 in Celje stretched the Canadian mens winless streak to 14 games. Canada is 0-11-3 over the streak and hasnt scored in 10 games. The winless run has seen the Canadian men outscored 27-2. Canada has not won since a 3-0 World Cup qualifying victory over Cuba in Toronto ffour days before the Honduras debacle. Air Max 97 Donna Scontate. In the national teams defence, Canada has played tough opposition in Australia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Japan, Mexico, Panama, Slovenia and the U.S. And Floro has looked to young talent since taking over the squad last summer. The Canadian men were No. 111 in the world, prior to Thursdays new rankings. That put them 11th in CONCACAF, which covers North and Central America and the Caribbean. Canada was ranked 86th in January 2009 at the start of the last blueprint. Its highest position since was No. 53 in October 2009; the lowest was No. 114 (an all-time worst) in November 2013. But some may have forgotten that while Canada went unbeaten 15 games straight during Holger Osiecks 46-game tenure as coach -- a streak that including the 2000 Gold Cup win -- Canada was also shut out 16 times under the German. The CSA was hit and miss on the "major 2013 milestones" identified in its Strategic Plan 2009-2013. It succeeded on a medal by the senior women at a World Cup or Olympics (2010 Olympic bronze). And it came through on its goal of hosting the 2015 Womens World Cup. But it failed on World Cup qualification by the men, taking its annual budget past the $25-million mark and has yet to surpass one million registered players in Canada. In 2009, the association budget was $12 million or $13 million. It went on to top $20 million some years but did not make $25 million. The current association budget is around $20 million. As for player registration, the number has come close to 900,000. But the latest figures for 2013 are not yet in. The Canadian senior women are currently ranked seventh in the world as they prepare for the 2015 World Cup. Canada is also hosting the 2014 FIFA-20 Womens World Cup. Montopoli says the CSA is running "one of largest womens budgets worldwide" and looking after the mens youth programs. "Theres no shortcuts taken on the mens youth side or on the womens entire program." Montopoli said it was hard to compare mens and womens senior budgets given the different stages the teams face during the quadrennial cycle. Asked if the women were better bankrolled than the men, he replied: "In certain years the answer would be yes." While the CSA is "putting a lot of emphasis" on the women, it is not "shortchanging the mens senior or youth programs, Montopoli said. He pointed to the fact the men played 13 games during 2013, when in the past the senior program has but all been shuttered the year after a failed World Cup qualification. ' ' '