said. "Theyve been throwing good and today
RIBEIRAO PRETO, Brazil - Frances team doctor has criticized Bayern Munich for the way the club handled a lingering back injury that ruled star winger Franck Ribery out of the World Cup. Ribery appeared to have made progress from a chronic lower back injury that had plagued him for weeks, only to be ruled out of the competition last Friday when he pulled up in training. It came just three days before France flew to Brazil, depriving coach Didier Deschamps of his most experienced player and most dangerous attacker. "When I examined him and we did tests with the X-ray and scans, I was very reassured. There was no reason why he wouldnt play in the World Cup," France doctor Franck Le Gall said Thursday. "We have some explanations for his pain. However, he didnt find a way ... we didnt find the way for his pains to cease or for him to play through his discomfort." Ribery, who has scored 16 goals in 81 appearances for France, made his last appearance of the season for Bayern as a substitute in the German Cup final win over Borussia Dortmund on May 17, when he came on in the first half and was substituted during extra time. Ribery had been rested following the 4-0 defeat to Real Madrid in the return leg of their Champions League semifinal on April 29, and Le Gall thinks it was too risky for Ribery to play in the Cup final less than three weeks later. "He was out for more or less three weeks and played a match which he probably shouldnt have played because he played through pain," Le Gall said. He said when Ribery joined up with the France team at its World Cup training camp he "was just as much bothered" by the injury as before. Bayern "didnt manage to solve the problem in (those) three weeks," said Le Gall, who estimated that Ribery should be ready to play by mid-August. Le Gall was asked if France had considered treating Riberys injury by injection. It was an option that appeared to be ruled out by the France teams medical staff, even though, Le Gall said, Bayern could be regularly treating its players with jabs. "Franck belongs to a club where for all pathological treatments — twisted ankles, bruising, muscle pains, contractions, tears — there are injections," Le Gall said. "There are 10 per pathology (injury), or 20, 25, 40 per year, or more. So there comes a time when, well ... he (Ribery) has had enough of injections. If for a moment we thought it could be solved that way, we didnt do it, because hes scared of injections." In other injury updates, France striker Olivier Giroud and centre half Laurent Koscielny were earlier cleared to take part in Thursdays training session after sitting out the previous days practice to have some physio treatment. Giroud had some tightness in his left hamstring and Koscielny, his Arsenal club teammate, has some tendinitis in his Achilles. "(Koscielny) has been carrying that for several weeks or perhaps a bit more. Hes played a lot of games this season," Le Gall said. "Hes in great shape but tendons in the Achilles are a bit sensitive. During the competition well probably rest him for one, two, or three training sessions so as not to make the situation worse." Mamadou Sakho has recovered from some bruising to his right knee. "He felt some pain and a kind of locking sensation," Le Gall said. "The scan was reassuring, and he trained normally (on Wednesday). He was more apprehensive than anything." All three players are expected to be ready when France opens its Group E campaign against Honduras on Sunday. While Koscielny is not certain to be selected by Deschamps, Giroud is expected to lead the attack. "Hes fine and we decided that he could take part in training," Le Gall said of Giroud. "I dont have any particular apprehension. If hes training this afternoon it means that we think hes available." Trey Burton Bears Jersey . The 20-year-old Pelicans big man glanced up and smiled widely at the well-wishers -- a fitting end to a day he wont soon forget. Davis responded to his selection earlier in the day as a Western Conference All-Star with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 98-91 on Friday night. Aaron Lynch Bears Jersey .C. -- Theyll remember the OT from the first Syracuse-Duke game -- and the Ts that decided Round 2. http://www.bearsrookiestore.com/Bears-C ... el-Jersey/. On Wednesday, Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas hit back. In a passionate defence of himself and the London clubs medical staff, the Portuguese coach rebuked the "incompetent people" who have attacked Tottenham for allowing Lloris to continue playing after being briefly knocked unconscious against Everton on Sunday. Roquan Smith Bears Jersey .ca/CurlingSkins - with the Top 16 curlers earning a ticket to Banff, Alta. to compete in the TRAVELERS ALL-STAR CURLING SKINS GAME Presented by Pintys, running Jan. Joel Iyiegbuniwe Bears Jersey . -- So much for concern that running back Marshawn Lynch would be absent from the Seattle Seahawks minicamp.ST. LOUIS - The timing was perfect for Matt Adams dad to make a weekend visit to Busch Stadium. The burly first baseman is playing well after a stint on the 15-day disabled list, giving Jamie Adams a lot to smile about. "I think anybody here would like to have their parents around, especially on Fathers Day weekend," Adams said after hitting the go-ahead home run for the second straight game in a 4-1 victory over the Washington Nationals on Saturday. "Tonight was a little better," Adams said. "Coming the day before Fathers Day is great." Adams connected against Stephen Strasburg in St. Louis three-run seventh inning, driving a 3-1 offering over the wall in right-centre. On Friday, he homered on his first swing in his return from a left calf strain, lifting St. Louis to a 1-0 victory. "I think Im just waiting out the pitchers," Adams said. "I went down to Memphis to get my timing back and my confidence is up." The Cardinals batted around in the seventh with the help of two infield hits, a hit batter and two walks, one of them by Matt Holliday with the bases loaded against Drew Storen. Allen Craig added an infield hit off Storen on a slow tapper halfway down the third-base line. "What can you say?" Nationals catcher Jose Lobaton said. "Theyve been throwing good and today was one of those days." Jayson Werth had an RBI double in the first for the Nationals, who managed just four hits for a two-day total of six. Its their first series loss since losing a pair to Miami from May 26-28, and they will try to avoid a three-game sweep in the series finale Sunday. St. Louis reliever Randy Choate (1-2) needed one pitch to escape a bases-loaded threat in the seventh after a strong start from Shelby Miller, who gave up four hits in 6 2-3 innings. Pat Neshek worked a perfect eighth and Trevor Rosenthal finished for his 19th save in 22 chances. Strasburg allowed three runs and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings in his first career appearance in St. Louis. It was his 11th consecutive quality start, but he dropped to 5-3 with a 2.22 ERA in that stretch that began April 20 when he gave up two runs in six innings at home against the Cardinals. Strasburg didnt pitch in the 2012 NL division series against St. Louis after the Nationals shut him down the final month of thhe season.dddddddddddd They lost a five-game series. "It was just fun to finally get a chance to pitch here," Strasburg said. "I wanted to go out there and give it everything I had and I feel like I did that, so I can sleep easy tonight." Strasburg allowed just two homers in his previous seven starts, and Adams long ball was the Cardinals first off the right-hander in four career appearances. "In the grand scheme of things you can always second-guess yourself, but I think if I threw a 3-1 changeup there, especially if hes in swing mode, I probably wouldnt have had that result," Strasburg said. "Who knows? Im not going to dwell on it too much, just going to learn from it and move on." St. Louis pitchers have permitted just one run in the Cardinals last five victories, including a pair of 5-0 wins over Toronto and a 1-0 victory against Tampa Bay. Miller matched his season best with seven strikeouts but walked four, including two for Strasburg, batting .077 with two hits on the year. Strasburgs second walk loaded the bases, but Denard Span grounded out against Choate. "Ill say this just to make him mad, but it looks like he got a little tired," manager Mike Matheny said of Miller. "Those are the things that they dont like to hear, so hell come back and have something to say about that for sure." Span went 0 for 4 and is hitless in his last 18 at-bats over the last five games. Anthony Rendon singled with one out in the first and scored from first on Werths double to right-centre. Craig made a sliding stop to cut the ball off and couldnt recover in time. It was tied in the third after a two-out rally started by Millers fourth hit of the season — and third double. The pitcher scored standing up on Matt Carpenters single. NOTES: Cardinals LHP Jaime Garcia (2-0, 4.26 ERA) opposes Doug Fister (5-1, 2.68 ERA) on Sunday. Garcia is 3-1 against the Nationals and Fister has won his last five starts. ... The game time of 2 hours, 3 minutes for the series opener Friday night was the shortest in the major leagues this season. ... The Cardinals have won 11 of the last 13 regular-season meetings with Washington and are 17-2 at home the last two years against the NL East. ... The Nationals are 30-2 when scoring four or more runs and 5-30 when scoring three or fewer runs. Cheap Predators Jerseys Cheap Jets Jerseys Cheap Ducks Jerseys Cheap Coyotes Jerseys Cheap Sharks Jerseys Cheap Canucks Jerseys Cheap Bruins Jerseys Cheap Sabres Jerseys Cheap Panthers Jerseys Cheap Canadiens Jerseys Cheap Senators Jerseys Cheap Hurricanes Jerseys Cheap Blue Jackets Jerseys Cheap Islanders Jerseys Cheap Rangers Jerseys Cheap Flyers Jerseys ' ' '