Messi beats Brazil, Lukaku sinks Russia

By ESPNsoccernet staff- global

A Lionel Messi wonder goal saw Argentina narrowly edge out Brazil 1-0 in the friendly international in Doha to register their first win over their arch-rivals in five years.

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Lionel Messi celebrates against Brazil

Messi settled an even contest in the final minute, the Barcelona star picking up Ezequiel Lavezzi's pass before slaloming past four defenders and stroking the ball home into the corner of the net.

AC Milan playmaker Ronaldinho, back in the Brazil squad for the first time in 19 months, enjoyed a solid performance on his return to the team but failed to cap it with a goal as Sergio Romero enjoyed a good night in the Argentina goal.

Belgium eased to a 2-0 win over Russia in Voronezh. Romelu Lukaku proved the difference between the two sides with a goal in each half, first tapping home after two minutes when Eden Hazard dispossessed Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev and centred for the Anderlecht striker. Lukaku added his second 17 minutes from time with a low drive from just inside the area.

Bosnia-Herzegovina defeated Slovakia 3-2 in an entertaining encounter in Bratislava. Filip Sebo fired Slovakia ahead after three minutes but Haris Medunjanin levelled shortly before the half-hour.

Miralem Pjanic fired Bosnia ahead after 50 minutes and Edin Dzeko made it 3-1 on the hour. Peter Grajciar pulled one back for the hosts 24 minutes from time but that was the end of the scoring.

Birmingham striker Nikola Zigic proved the difference as Serbia posted a 1-0 win overBulgaria, the giant striker firing home from inside the area 10 minutes from time.

Israel were 3-2 winners against Iceland, Tamas Priskin and Balazs Dzsudzsak were on target as Hungary beat Lithuania 2-0 while Albania and Macedonia played out a goalless draw.

Strikes from Ahmed Abdul-Zaher, Mohamed Nagy and Mohamed Zidan saw Egypt to a comfortable 3-0 win over Australia.

Roque Santa Cruz scored twice as Paraguay crushed Hong Kong 7-0 in a friendly encounter on Wednesday. The Manchester City forward, who is set to leave the club in January after making just two appearances this season, opened the scoring for the World Cup quarter-finalists after just five minutes.

Edgar Barreto added a second just after the half-hour before Santa Cruz completed his brace in the 33rd minute. Nestor Ortigoza made it 4-0 two minutes into the second half and the midfielder scored again in the 54th minute. Late goals from Marcos Riveros and Cristian Riveros completed the rout.

Oman suffered a 4-0 hammering at the hands of Belarus at Al Seeb stadium. The home side fell behind after only five minutes when Alyaksandr Martynovich scored, and the 23-year-old defender added his second goal of the night six minutes later. Vyacheslav Hleb added the third goal for Belarus after 35 minutes before Vitali Rodionov scored the fourth in the 57th minute.

Saudi Arabia completed their preparations for the Gulf Cup as they held Ghana to a goalless draw in a friendly at Al Maktoum stadium in the United Arab Emirates. The draw was the second in a row for the Saudis after their scoreless stalemate with Uganda on Tuesday. The Saudis have been drawn in Group A of the Gulf Cup along with Yemen, Kuwait and Qatar, while they will play in Group B of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup along with Syria, Jordan and Japan.

Kuwait were held to a draw by Asian champions Iraq in their international friendly match at Bani Yas stadium. Iraq opened the scoring in the final minute of the first half through their striker Younis Mahmoud before Kuwait levelled the scores seven minutes after the hour mark when Mesaed Nada netted.

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Terrorist Warnings in Germany

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Travelers passed by a German policeman armed with a submachine gun at Hauptbahnhof railway station in Berlin on Thursday.

By STEFAN PAULY and MICHAEL SLACKMAN - NYTimes.com

Published: November 17, 201

BERLIN — Germany dispatched heavily armed police and bomb-sniffing dogs to its train stations, airports and key landmarks on Wednesday after the interior minister announced there was new evidence that Islamic terrorists planned to strike the nation within the coming weeks.

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German police at the Hauptbahnhof railway station in Berlin on Thursday.

In a hastily called news conference in the capital, Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière issued one of his most explicit warnings to date.

“The security situation in Germany has become more serious,” Mr. de Maizière told the news conference. “We have concrete indications of a series of attacks planned for the end of November.” He said new information that created a “new situation” had emerged after a  tip from Saudi Arabia led to the interception of two bombs shipped by air from Yemen. One had passed through a German airport.

“There’s reason to be worried, but no reason to panic,” said Mr. de Maizière. “We won’t be intimidated by international terror, neither in our way of life, nor our culture or freedom.”

The announcement and decision to show force on the streets represented a significant shift in approach. Mr. de Maizière has insisted for months that Germany faced only an abstract threat, even as intelligence reports concerning the possibility of a pending strike mounted. The raw intelligence reports have suggested that hit teams might be heading to Germany for a Mumbai-style attack or other terror strikes, a government intelligence official said.

But intelligence officials said they could not tell which reports were credible, even as they acknowledged concerns over a growing radical faction in Germany and as traffic between Germany and the Afghanistan-Pakistan region increased.

A high-ranking German intelligence official said that the decision to ramp up security and alert the public to the potential for a terrorist strike was likely a response to the stream of reports, rather than to a single new tip.

“In essence, the messages are nonspecific and the sources are difficult to reconstruct,” said the official, who insisted on anonymity because of the nature of his work. “It was a colorful variety of information and because of this, the impression developed that something is about to happen.”

A European intelligence official, who similarly spoke on condition of anonymity, said that “within the last six weeks there had been some Germans arrested in Pakistan” who said attackers were already in place in Germany, though they did not know where or when a strike was planned.

The German intelligence official said that the alert was also a likely result of the realization of the vulnerabilities of the cargo system, underscored not only by the Yemen bombs but also by a less-powerful package bomb sent from Greece that was found in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mail a few days later.

The concerns over cargo are particularly troubling at the time of year when holiday gifts flow heavily through the system, and, the official said, tipped the state from defining the threat as “abstract,” to concrete.

A Pakistani official said recently that drone strikes in Pakistan in September and October were believed to have killed Europeans directly involved in various plots, possibly including targets in Germany and Britain. Speaking anonymously on intelligence matters, he said several such plotters were believed to be still at large.

Germany has defended its generally restrained response to threats, saying that warnings — like the one Washington issued for Europe weeks ago — do little to protect the public while putting terrorism in the public eye, which is in itself a sort of victory for terrorists.

“We would be making a big mistake as a society if we allowed our free and democratic way of life to be impaired in any way,” a government spokesman, Steffen Seibert, insisted in Berlin on Wednesday. “That would be giving the terrorists a cheap victory.”

At Friedrichstrasse station in Berlin, a busy intersection for national and regional and commuter trains, heavily armed police in dark uniforms were patrolling the platforms and entry and exit points to the station by the afternoon rush hour.

While the security staff of Deutsche Bahn, the German Federal railways, seemed relaxed about Mr. de Maizière’s new alert warning, smoking and chatting outside the station, there was an increased police presence in the streets close to the Parliament and lawmakers’ offices.

“I worry about these terror alerts,” said Sabine Krohl, a sales assistant. “It’s all very well shrugging them off by saying it will never happen here in Germany.”

“But you never just know,” she added, rushing to catch her commuter train.

Stefan Pauly reported from Berlin and Michael Slackman from Warsaw. Reporting was contributed by Souad Mekhennet from Marrakesh, Morocco; Judy Dempsey and Victor Homola from Berlin; and Mark Mazzetti from Washington.

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Food for thought at one culinary crossroads in Yemen

SANA, Yemen -- His white shirt pressed, the chef glides through the crowd like a ship in full sail, checking tables, nodding to waiters. His world is full of hurry but he is not rushed. He sits down in the shade, wiping his brow amid a lunchtime crowd of gunrunners, clan elders, beggars and bankers.

They drift down unnamed roads toward his tables, the air sweet with meat, crushed vegetables, sprigs of spearmint. Scores of diners at a time cram elbow to elbow slurping and scooping at the edge of town, where big trucks haul white stone down from the mountains.

They know Abdulkarim Harazi has three wives, 18 children, a worn dagger and the humor of a man not done in by adversity. When he speaks, his customers, sopping broth with soft bread, listen, knowing that no matter how circuitous or embellished the tale, there'll be wisdom waiting at the end.

"You handle a big family with justice," says Harazi, pausing the way he does, eyes bright with mischief. "Justice means sleeping with one wife one night and another wife the next. This brings balance. Justice can't control some things, though, like the passion of the heart."

Harazi's fires spit blue flames and hum like storms, searing blackened bowls filled with a traditional meat dish called fasha and a stew known as saltah. Thick with chilies, herbs, onions, potatoes, coriander and maybe a speck of cilantro, the meals bubble and cool beneath conversations of impatient men.

"Quality and cleanliness are the keys" to a fine meal, Harazi says.

His waiters have blistered fingers and gold-trimmed caps. From sunrise to just before dusk, they serve 1,300 pounds of beef and 660 pounds of vegetables to 4,000 diners at the Fakhi restaurant. Nobody rests, not the ladle men, nor the dicers, knives chopping, oil hissing at the culinary crossroads of the capital, where, for a brief moment and a few dollars, businessmen sit with junkmen for a taste that's the same to everyone.

The main floor is shaded and dim, the tables long. Finding a seat requires cunning and swiftness and dodging men with quick hands. Some have guns, most have daggers. Outside, down steps faded by sunlight, more tables are lined beneath narrow shelters and there's a feeling of an army encamped beneath the hills circling the city. From the road, amid clatter and the glow of fires, the word is that eating lunch anywhere else would be a pitiful miscalculation.

The men - not a woman in sight - speak of private misfortunes and national troubles. A land of deserts, rock ridges and sea coves, Yemen is both beautiful and tormented. Rebellions rattle north and south, al-Qaida fighters roam the outlands and the Americans are talking about missile strikes and the cost of terror. Poorest country in Arab world, that's what they keep saying, a place of thin wallets and drought. Here, though, you polish your spoon, stay away from the flame and eat.

"It's simple," says Harazi. "The cost of living is too high and the country is too unstable. It's all about food and worry these days. There's no hope because you can't see anyone improving around you. I try to do the best for my children. Education, they must have that."

He's a solid man with thick hands and black stubble, settling into his chair like a priest hearing confessions. He knows that life needs places like this restaurant, reliable and intimate as home but without home's predictability. You never know who might pull up on a motorcycle or amble in from the fringes. Harazi's eyes gather them all, watching, ever watching.

By midafternoon the men are restless, waiting to dip into crinkly bags of shiny narcotic khat leaves that will mellow them out until way past sunset. It's a ritual as common as sleeping or waking. Nearly everyone at the restaurant finishes lunch and chews khat, cheeks bulging, eyes calm, the world suddenly fixable.

"Khat makes you forget about things," Harazi says. "Khat gives you many ideas, but behind them is no planning."

He laughs.

Wheels spin through gravel; a tribal leader in an SUV arrives in the parking lot, draped by dust and a well-armed entourage. Diners pause. No shots fired. Spoons resume. The leader, kissing cheeks, slapping backs, finds a seat.

"Look at that," Harazi says, "Barack Obama doesn't have as many bodyguards."

"How many employees do you have?" someone asks.

Harazi looks around and whispers.

"One hundred, but if the taxman comes, only 20."

The men around him smile. No sin in cheating the taxman.

"You're doing more for the economy than 10 professors put together," says another man.

"Yes," says Harazi, sighing, "but the country doesn't appreciate this."

More smiles.

Two boys with bags of garbage slung over their shoulders dodge taxis and trucks. The smaller of them is scared and his friend leads him to an alley, where he can smell but not taste the simmering food, and watch men with money roll away behind windows that make the world seem prettier than it is.

"The prophet said, I will be fair and just in the things I can control," says Harazi, "but please don't blame me for the things I can't do anything about."

It bothers him, the way this country of 23 million people is going. Good news always happens someplace else; too many men are taking and too few giving. But a dour soul does not bring customers back. He talks of partnerships and expansion, of clever, cheerful dreams that live and die in the span of seconds.

"If you want to open a restaurant in Washington or New York, let me know and I will come and lend experience."

He stands. The crowd thins. Waiters sponge tables, beggars prowl. Three wives and 18 children wait. Tomorrow, it will happen again: eggs cracking and fires rising in a restaurant at the edge of town.

By JEFFREY FLEISHMAN - Los Angeles Times

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Germany tightens security after receiving attack threat

Germany tightened security at airports and public buildings after receiving intelligence of an imminent threat of attack from Islamic terrorists.

Germany's Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere announced Wednesday that security is being stepped up at airports and train stations Photo: GETTY

By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent 8:07PM GMT 17 Nov 2010

Thomas De Maiziere, the interior minister, said that a foreign tip-off had indicated an al-Qaeda cell was planning an attack on Germany. He said the country was being actively targeted by extremist groups as a result of its involvement in Afghanistan.

Der Tagesspiegel, a German newspaper, said that American intelligence agencies had provided reports that up to four suicide bombers intent on carrying out an attack were about to arrive in the country. Berlin refused to confirm that American spies had provided the information that prompted the nationwide alert.

The newspaper said the attackers would arrive from India or the Gulf to target German shoppers at Christmas markets

The intelligence emerged from investigations triggered by a Yemen-based plot to blow up airborne cargo shipments that were intercepted last month. "According to information from a foreign partner which came to us after the Yemen incident, we suspect a planned attack is due to be put into action at the end of November," Mr Maiziere said.

Mr Maiziere warned Germans there would be a visible police presence as they went about their Christmas shopping. "Citizens will be able to see such police measures. In addition to this, there are a lot of measures that they won't be able to see," he said. "There is reason for concern, but no reason for hysteria."

Supplementary intelligence from Germany's intelligence agencies has pointed to a sustained and increasing interest by al-Qaeda-linked groups in staging attacks against Germany.

The German government said that while the dangers had increased it was determined to ensure that daily life would not be altered by the demands of extremists.

Germany only recently moved into the spotlight as a prime target of al-Qaeda commanders. It has come close to disaster only once when terrorists planted bombs on trains at Cologne's main train station in July 2006. The devices failed to detonate.

Leading members of the September 11 attacks on the US were radicalised at a Hamburg mosque that was recently raided after extremist activity had resumed.

Published in the telegraph

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Government 'committed on Yemen aid'

(UKPA) – 5 hours ago

The Government is "inclined" to increase the amount of aid it gives Yemen in an effort to stop the country spiralling out of control, ministers have said.

Global attention has once again focused on the country which spawned al Qaida after it emerged it was the source of the ink cartridge bombs found on aircraft last month.

The new head of British Forces, General Sir David Richards, recently ruled out military intervention but said the country must not be allowed to become a second Afghanistan.

Junior International Development Minister Alan Duncan said helping Yemen deal with its security issues, while also providing aid, was the Government's "highest priority". Schools, hospitals and jobs were all receiving British support, as well as the estimated 300,000 refugees in the country, he said.

Meanwhile, International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell recently visited Saudi Arabia for talks about Yemen's future.

But the country still faces massive internal security issues. Some $3 billion of pledged financial support, which has accumulated since 2006, remains unspent, Mr Duncan told the Commons.

He said: "Yemen is of the highest priority to the Coalition Government.

"Subject to the Department for International Development's (DFID) bi-lateral aid review and the security situation in Yemen, DFID is inclined to increase its commitment to the country.

"We believe strongly in the power of development to give solid foundations to a country which is facing threats to its stability and economy."

Mr Duncan added: "We want to underpin the country now rather than having to step in later should things get worse. I should stress very strongly we are not telling Yemen what to do, we are working with them as partners to support them in facing their challenges."

Copyright © 2010 The Press Association. All rights reserved.

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Royal wedding: 50 things you may not know about Kate Middleton and Prince William

To celebrate the announcement of Prince William and Kate Middleton's engagement, here are 50 things you may not know about the couple.

Royal wedding: Prince William and Kate Middleton are engaged to be married Photo: AFP/GETTY

By Laura Roberts 10:07AM GMT 17 Nov 2010

The Proposal

1. The couple only informed the Queen and the Prince of Wales of their engagement two hours before it was made public.

2. He asked the permission of Kate's father, Michael Middleton, only after he had proposed.

3. Prince William informed Prince Harry of the news by saying: "You've got a sister."

4. Prince William carried his late mother's engagement ring around in a rucksack in Africa for three weeks before proposing to Kate at a conservation park in Kenya.

5. William proposed next to a remote lake on the slopes of Mount Kenya 12,000 ft above sea level which they reached by helicopter.

6. They stayed at the Lewa Downs nature reserve which is owned by the family of Prince William's close friend Jecca Craig. He went there shortly after his mother's death in 1997 and also spent his gap year there.

7. The engagement was tempered by the death of Kate's grandfather Peter Middleton, a former airline pilot, last week aged 90.

8. The first years of their married life will be spent at a farmhouse on the island of Anglesey.

Trivia

9. Prince William's star sign is Cancer while Kate's is Capricorn - considered the opposite sign by astrologists.

10. The couple's nicknames for each other are "Babykins" for Kate and "Big Willie" for William.

11. Kate prefers to be called Catherine. Her middle name, fittingly, is Elizabeth.

12. The Prince's middle names are Arthur Philip Louis.

13. If Kate becomes Queen she will be the first British monarch with a degree. (2:1 History of Art from St Andrews)

14. She will also be the oldest spinster bride to marry a future king.

15. She will be the sixth Queen Catherine, after Catherine of Valois, Catherine of Aragon, Kathryn Howard, Katherine Parr and Catherine of Braganza.

16. The couple's favourite song is "I Like The Way You Move" by the Bodyrockers.

17. Kate is famed for her sausage and mashed potato suppers.

18. A horse named Tocatchaprince stormed to victory in the 1pm race at Fakenham two hours after the engagement was announced. His mother is called Queen For A Day.

University

19. Prince William claims he tried to impress Kate with his cooking skills at university – although she often had to rescue his attempts.

20. The couple dressed as Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler for their final May ball at St Andrews University

21. Prior to dating Prince William, Kate had a relationship with another St Andrews student, Rupert Finch, who is now a lawyer.

22. Kate was named the prettiest girl at her halls of residence, St Salvador's.

23. Prince William said he "knew there was something special about her" from the moment they met.

24. Their first public kiss was on a skiing holiday in Klosters in January 2006.

London life

25. In 2005 panic buttons linked to the police were installed at Kate's home in Chelsea.

26. One of Kate's favourite tipples is reportedly Jack Daniels, although she has been known to drink the "Crack Baby" cocktails sold at Boujis.

27. She is an enthusiastic dancer who William once said "would dance me under the tables".

28. Max Clifford estimated that Kate could have sold her story for £5 million during their brief split in 2007.

Fashion

29. The celebrity hairdresser Richard Ward is responsible for tending to Kate's brunette tresses.

30. Kate once turned down the chance to be an ambassador for Ralph Lauren.

31. For her first official interview Kate wore a dark blue "Lucky" dress by Issa. She has the £349 dress in every colour available by the Brazilian designer.

32. Prince William wore a navy suit by Gieves & Hawkes, the Savile Row tailors.

33. While Kate's choice of wedding dress is undecided Prince William will wear full military dress as a member of the Armed Forces

Early years

34. One of Kate's earliest memories is a white rabbit marshmallow cake that her mother baked for her seventh birthday.

35. Aged ten Kate played Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady.

36. It has been claimed that Kate used to "moon" at boys from her window at Marlborough College.

37. Kate attended all-girls boarding school Downe House for two terms but failed to settle in and left in favour of mixed school Marlborough.

38. At school her nickname was "Princess in Waiting".

39. Kate had a picture of the Levi's jeans model on her wall at school, not Prince William.

40. Prince William once visited Marlborough College for a sports fixture but the pair did not meet.

41. Prince William's prep school Ludgrove, in Wokingham, Berks was less than ten miles away from Kate's prep school, St Andrew's, in Pangbourne.

42. Aged 14 Prince William reportedly announced that Emma Bunton from the Spice Girls had replaced Pamela Anderson in his affections

Family

42. Kate met the Queen for the first time at the wedding of Peter Philips, the Princess Royal's son, to Autumn Kelly.

43. Prince William has reportedly already taken to calling Michael Middleton, Kate's father, "Dad".

44. The couple are 12th cousins once removed through their common ancestor - the 16th century soldier Sir Thomas Leighton.

45. The engagement was announced on by Clarence House on Twitter and on the Queen's Facebook page.

46. Kate's great-great-great-great-grandfather James Harrison was a coal miner in the village of Byker, now a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne. He first went down the pit in 1819 – the year that William's great-great-great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria was born.

Love of sport

47. Kate devotedly watches Prince William play polo despite her allergy to horses.

48. Despite his regular trips to Klosters, Kate is widely acknowledged to be a better skier than her fiancé.

49 She held her school records for high jump and long jump.

50. Both went on the same adventurous gap year expeditions as volunteers with Raleigh International in Chile just months apart.

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Royal wedding: Queen and Charles 'to pay their share' of the bill

The Queen and the Prince of Wales are willing to contribute to the cost of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding, which some believe could exceed £50 million.

Image 1 of 2

Both the Queen and Prince of Wales will contribute towards the cost of the wedding which could exceed £50 million Photo: P

By Tim Ross and Gordon Rayner 6:25PM GMT 17 Nov 2010

Charles’s own wedding to Diana in 1981 cost an estimated £30 million, with thousands of police and Armed Forces personnel lining the streets to maintain order as 600,000 people gathered in London to watch.

Even without some of the more lavish touches of 30 years ago - such as 10,000 pearls hand-sewn into Diana’s gown, and 27 wedding cakes - the bill for next year’s event could easily eclipse the costs incurred by Prince William’s parents.

Observers have suggested that the total will run into tens of millions of pounds, with one estimate putting the figure at £80 million for security alone.

The likely budget will not be known until the detailed arrangements for the event have been announced.

But Prince William and Miss Middleton have already come under pressure to rein in the costs, at a time of severe public spending cuts and high rates of unemployment.

Boris Johnson, the London Mayor, jokingly offered City Hall as a “cut price” venue with great views of the capital for an austerity wedding.

A spokesman for St James’s Palace said the couple were "mindful of the economic situation" and insisted that the Royal Family would pay their share.

“Both the Prince of Wales and the Queen will contribute towards the cost of the wedding. It will be a family contribution,” he said.

“In particular, if the reception is held at Buckingham Palace, the Queen will pay for that.”

Sarah Haywood, a renowned wedding designer, suggested that the event could easily cost £10 million, with a lavish reception, invitations, Miss Middleton’s bridal gown and other items taken into account.

If the ceremony is held in Westminster Abbey, teams of council cleaners will be deployed during the previous night, preparing the city to look its best, before spending more time clearing litter once the crowds have gone.

Officials estimated that the cost of cleaning the streets for a central London royal wedding could reach £40,000. The clear-up operation after the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, cost £300,000.

Cllr Ed Argar, from Westminster Council, said the authority would do everything possible to ensure that the day ran smoothly and that the borough was left “immaculately clean”.

However, it is the intensive policing and security operation that is likely to come with the highest price.

Royalty and political leaders from across the world could join hundreds of thousands of well-wishers in London for the day, requiring months of preparation and monitoring of potential threats. Royal protection, special branch, armed police, diplomatic protection and beat officers are certain to be involved.

Jenny Jones, a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, warned that the event would present a “fantastic opportunity” for terrorists.

“It is a massive nightmare for the police and I feel sorry for the Met because this is the last think that they need when they are under such pressure before the Olympics,” she said.

Ms Jones, a Green Party politician, said the Queen should pay for her grandson’s nuptials, which would “certainly” cost tens of millions of pounds.

“The Queen’s personal wealth is estimated at £290 million. I just think she has got to pay for it.”

Ms Jones said she could not put a figure on the likely policing cost but thought it would be “less than £100 million”. One estimate suggested the bill could run to £80 million.

But royal watchers insisted that the benefits to the UK economy of the event would far outweigh the final bill.

Pictures of the wedding will be broadcast to hundreds of millions of television viewers around the world, serving as an advertisement for Britain.

Neil Saunders, consulting director of retail researchers Verdict, said merchandising, increased tourism to the UK and a feel-good factor that increases retail sales in general could give the economy “a £620 million consumer spending boost”.

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Cheerleaders blamed for Yemen beach volleyball defeat

Bikini-clad cheerleaders have been blamed by the Yemen beach volleyball team for their defeat during the Asian Games.

The cheerleaders who are proving too hot for some competitors who claim the dancers make it impossible to concentrate.'They had an effect on how we played,' Yemen beach volleyballer Adeeb Mahfoudh told the Tianfu Morning News Photo: GETTY

By Our Foreign Staff 5:47PM GMT 17 Nov 2010

Organisers of the games in China have hired four cheerleader squads, each made up of eight girls, to entertain fans during breaks in the volleyball action, according to the Tianfu Morning News.

But Yemen beach volleyballer Adeeb Mahfoudh has now accused the squads of being distracting, and partly to blame for their defeat to Indonesia.

"They had an effect on how we played," he said. "I think they had something to do with our losing the match.

Besides cheering, the girls also perform routines that include traditional Chinese elements including martial arts and fan dancing.

"These girls are very beautiful. With them here, more people will pay attention to beach volleyball," Mr Mahfoudh added.

"If I can, I hope to watch them perform at the next match."

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