News & Neuigkeiten » Fridays stage by also surging ahead of Froome in

PHILADELPHIA -- During Bawitha Tlings tumultuous journey fleeing war and forced labor under Myanmars dictatorship -- first to a Malaysian refugee camp, and eventually to Philadelphia -- one of the few constants in his life was soccer.We played every day in our country at school ... in recess time or after school, Tling said. I came here, and play every day, every weekend. Soccer is my favorite way to relax myself, to escape depression.Tling, 18, now a business major at a community college, is one of around 800 players participating in a newly created soccer tournament for immigrants organized by the city of Philadelphia. The first match, between Vietnam and Mexico, is scheduled for Friday.The 32 teams represent countries from India to Ireland, Cambodia to Congo. In the months running up to the tournament, named the Unity Cup, theyve been practicing several times a week and holding dozens of friendly matches.Interest in the inaugural event was strong. Within five days of opening registration, all the team slots were taken, with captains delivering commitment letters by hand to the citys Office of Immigrant Affairs.There were people waiting outside the office before they opened at 8 oclock in the morning, said Bill Salvatore, Unity Cup organizer with the citys Department of Parks and Recreation. It was pretty intense.Philadelphias foreign-born population has been booming, growing from barely 100,000 in 1990 to over 200,000 this year -- about 13 percent of the population, according to a report by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Still, the citys professional soccer team, the Union, gets only a fraction of the attention showered on its football and baseball franchises.The Unity Cup championship will be held Nov. 5 at Citizens Bank Park, home of Major League Baseballs Philadelphia Phillies, and city officials expect at least 5,000 people to attend. The winning team will receive a trophy modeled on the National Hockey Leagues Stanley Cup, with names of the victors engraved each year.Organizers are planning an international festival in the stadiums parking lot, with food trucks, craft stalls and performances.The Unity Cup is the brainchild of Mayor Jim Kenney, who says he got his inspiration from the World Cup.Remember, soccer is in every neighborhood, said Kenney, the descendent of Irish immigrants fleeing famine. The trash talking and the competitions already started between Mexico and Italy, between the Irish and the Polish, the Germans are calling out the Senegalese -- I mean its awesome, its going to be fun.The teams arent restricted by nationality, either. The Indian team has players from Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Morocco and Egypt -- giving Indian players a chance to build comradery with other immigrants, not just play against them.I really enjoy meeting new guys, forming new networks. The game is a really beautiful game for bringing people together, said Thorne Holder, a Trinidadian living in Philadelphia and the goalie for team Germany. Soccer is a team sport. I think thats what gives it its allure -- friends, friendship, common interests.Immigrants have long played soccer through grassroots organizations, but the Unity Cup appears to be the first immigrant soccer tournament organized by a government body in the country, according to city officials and U.S. Soccer, the countrys governing body of soccer.Demand has been so high that plans are already being drawn up for next year, with the potential for knockout preliminary rounds by continent -- Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas -- in order to accommodate more teams. The city envisions the Unity Cup will become a yearly event, Salvatore said.Players are enthusiastic about the chance to chat with people from ethnic enclaves all over Philadelphia whom they never would have met otherwise.Its like family, said Indian team captain Matthew Varughese, an engineer who moved to the U.S. as a child. Were not competing for money ... Were like brothers. Its good, its fun, you know -- its family.Air Max 97/1 Sean Wotherspoon Fake .5 seconds to play in the game, Kevin Love never stopped believing that they would come out of there with a win. Air Max 97 Clearance . Soukalova missed only one target and completed the 15-kilometre course in 40 minutes, 32.6 seconds for both victories in this seasons individual discipline. Darya Domracheva of Belarus was second, 34. http://www.outletairmax97.com/mens-nike-air-max-97-plus-black-shock-orange-ah8144-002.html .C. at the helm of the top team in the Eastern Conference. His tenure as the GM in Vancouver was all too brief. Though he led the Canucks to what was then a franchise record-shattering campaign in just his second season, Nonis was gone and replaced one year later. Air Max 97 Silver Bullet For Sale . "I dont know that were close," said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. "I just think, right now, the acquisition cost just doesnt work for us right now. I dont know if I can quantify how far off or things like that that they might be but I would say we continue to have dialogue. Air Max 97 Have a Nike Day Tropical Twist . - Goaltender Philippe Desrosiers of the Rimouski Oceanic has broken a shutout record that was only three months old in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.LA CAMPERONA, Spain -- Nairo Quintana successfully attacked Chris Froome on the demanding summit finish of the Spanish Vueltas eighth stage to take over the lead of the grand tour on Saturday.Sergey Lagutin of Russia won the 181.5-kilometer (113-mile) stage from Villalpando finishing at the category-one La Camperona summit in just over four hours.Quintana claimed the red jersey from fellow Colombian Darwin Atapuma, who fell behind the title favorites on the final ascent, which had gradients reaching 25 percent.Quintana, a Giro dItalia winner, has twice finished runner-up to Froome at the Tour de France. Froomes supposed challenger at this summers Tour, Quintana never put the Britons third Tour title in serious danger.But Quintana proved hes a rival for Froome at the Vuelta as he stuck with his late charge and dropped Froome over the last few hundred uphill meters.Everyone was cautious at the start of the climb, but then Froome went for it, as we expected, and I responded, Quintana said. I now have that extra bit of confidence knowing that, today, I was a bit better than my rivals.Quintanas Movistar teammate, Alejandro Valverde, remained in second place overall, at 19 seconds back, after crossing the line pegged to Froomes wheel.Froome was third at :27 behind, followed by Esteban Chaves, who felll to almost a minute behind.ddddddddddddAlberto Contador rebounded from his painful crash at the end of Fridays stage by also surging ahead of Froome in the final meters to stay in striking distance at a minute and a half off the pace.The three-time Vuelta winner made the decision on Saturday morning to keep racing, something that was in doubt after he took a hard knock and scrapes at the end of the seventh stage.I am satisfied because the goal was simply to stay alive, Contador said. I wasnt sure I was going to start the stage. When I could see that I could pass (Froome) at the end I knew I had to take advantage of it.Lagutin was a member of an early breakaway of 11 riders who opened up a 10-minute gap over the mostly flat stage that ended in a final 8.5-kilometer (5-mile) ascent.It was the Katusha riders first major win.Finally the dream came true, Lagutin said. I have been dreaming of this since I was little, to win a stage at a grand tour. I am 35 years old. At some point I was thinking it was too late.Sundays ninth stage is the second of three consecutive stages in the northern mountains, a 164.5-kilometer (102-mile) ride from Cistierna to the Alto del Naranco. ' ' '