Minister Tony Blair, awarded an hono

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Brazil wary of Chile threat (TSN 1050, TSN 690, TSN 1200, TEAM 1410) South American rivals Brazil and Chile open up the second round of the World Cup at the Estadio Mineirao on Saturday in an intriguing contest. It is also a matchup that Brazil head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari believes will be a serious test for his side. "If I could choose another opponent, I would," Scolari said a few days ago when asked about playing Chile. "I think theyre the trickiest side we could have been drawn against. They have everything." Chile advanced to the knockout round from a difficult Group B that included the Netherlands, Spain and Australia. La Roja started its tournament with wins over Australia and Spain to book a place in the next round before sitting a few key players in the group finale against the Netherlands, which topped Chile, 2-0, to win the group. One of the players that Chile head coach Jorge Sampaoli decided to rest against the Dutch was midfielder Arturo Vidal, who underwent knee surgery prior to the start of the tournament and who is expected to come straight back into the lineup against the hosts on Saturday. Vidal, along with Alexis Sanchez and Charles Aranguiz, will provide the biggest offensive threats for Chile, which will hope to exploit a Brazil back line that tends to get forward a lot and could be susceptible to counter attacks. As expected, Brazil finished atop Group A after wins over Croatia and Cameroon and a 0-0 draw with Mexico. The Selecao netted seven goals in three group-stage matches, including four from star forward Neymar, despite not appearing to hit top gear. Now, Scolari knows his team must take its play to the next level to get past a tough Chile side. "I hope that Chile dont qualify for the last 16," the coach said back in December after the draw for the World Cup. "I would prefer to face any other side. They are intelligent and their style of play doesnt suit us. It would be better to play against a European team." Scolari didnt get his wish, but his team may be able to exploit a height advantage against Chile to get to the quarterfinals. Against Australia in the group stage, Chiles shorter defenders struggled to cope with the aerial threat of Tim Cahill, while the Dutch scored on a header from Leroy Fer in the second half of the group finale to take the lead. Brazil should be a real threat from any set-piece opportunity in the attacking third with players like Fred, David Luiz and Thiago Silva able to get on the other end of crosses. Neymar has been as good as advertised so far, while Brazils threat in the air will also pose a stiff challenge for the Chileans. A win for Chile would give the club its first berth in the quarterfinals at a World Cup since 1962, and Sanchez is confident that his side will make history. "We have respect for them [Brazil] but I think we are going to beat them," he said. "We came to this World Cup to make history. We beat the world champions and, although we had a slip-up against Holland, we are going out to try and win the Cup." Colombia squares off with Suarez-less Uruguay (TSN 1050, TSN 1200, TEAM 1410) Uruguay has attracted plenty of attention at the 2014 World Cup, and not always for the right reasons, but the team will attempt to put its distractions aside against an impressive Colombia outfit at the Maracana on Saturday in the round of 16. Uruguay forward Luis Suarez has been a lightning rod for attention in Brazil, first sitting out his teams 3-1 defeat to Costa Rica after knee surgery, and then making a triumphant return against England that saw him score twice in a 2-1 Uruguay win. But the Liverpool striker stunned the soccer world by biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini in the second half of Uruguays 1-0 win in the group-stage finale to book a place in the second round. Suarez was not punished on the field, but FIFAs Disciplinary Committee came down hard on him after reviewing the incident, banning Suarez for nine international matches and from all football-related activity for four months. The loss of Suarez will put added pressure on forward Edinson Cavani, whose only goal so far in the tournament was a penalty kick in the opening match. Veteran Diego Forlan is expected to come in for Suarez, but this team has so far looked like a much different side with Suarez in the lineup than without him. Uruguay needed a win over Italy in its final Group D match to advance, and it wasnt Suarez who provided the difference, rather it was defender Diego Godin. The Atletico Madrid man scored the goal that clinched La Liga for his side in the final game of the season in May, while he also put Atletico ahead with a goal in the Champions League final. And he popped up once again to head home the winning goal against Italy in the final 10 minutes. "We didnt make it easy for ourselves, starting the way we did, and it was a miracle that we pulled it off in the end," Godin said of his team finally securing a place in the knockout round. "Now we can start thinking about the last 16, but no further. We respect everyone but fear no one." Godin will need to be on top of his game defensively if Uruguay is to reach the quarterfinals because his team is coming up against a Colombia side that has been one of the most impressive at the tournament so far. The Colombians won all three of their group-stage matches by a combined score of 9-2, with midfielder James Rodriguez turning in an especially impressive performance. The 22-year-old Monaco man has netted three goals with three assists so far, and along with Juan Cuadrado, Teofilo Gutierrez and Jackson Martinez, Godin and Uruguay will have their hands full. Colombia has also enjoyed some incredibly vocal support from its fans, making its three group matches feel like home games according to 21-year-old midfielder Juan Quintero. "Its like were playing in Barranquilla," Quintero said of the support Colombia has received. "The fans are 100 percent behind us and that makes us feel great. Were playing for our people and we want to make them as happy as we can." A win over Uruguay on Saturday would no doubt please Colombian supporters, especially since it would mark the first time that Colombia has ever advanced to the quarterfinals at a World Cup. DeMario Davis Jersey . Rockies manager Walt Weiss was unhappy, too. Weiss addressed the issue in a 15-minute meeting with his pitcher and catcher after the Rockies gave up 14 hits and lost 10-1. 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Terrence Brooks Jersey .The Toronto Raptors guard, who will represent the Eastern Conference at the All-Star Game in New Orleans on Sunday, says he doesnt complain in the face of adversity "because I know this little girl is just happy for anything.STIRLING -- She has taken to the catwalk at a New York fashion show, has been lined up for a photo shoot by a British tabloid and is possibly the most famous sportswoman in Scotland. The words "curling" and "celebrity" arent usually found in the same sentence, but brilliant play on the ice is ensuring plenty of exposure off it for British womens skip Eve Muirhead. "I enjoy it, although its a bit weird," Muirhead said of her glamorous life away from the rink. "But were trying to get the sport to grow because its a sport that needs to grow. So its always good to promote curling." Already a world and European champion with Scotland, Muirhead is heading to Februarys Winter Olympics in Sochi looking to fill the gap on her curling resume. And for the second straight games, she and her British teammates will be the favourites for the gold medal. Muirhead was only 19 when she competed at the Vancouver Olympics in 2010. She lost five straight games after a good start and failed to make it past the round-robin stage. "Ive looked back at it and we didnt train hard enough, didnt practice hard. We just werent good enough," Muirhead said after a practice session at the Scottish Institute of Sport training base in Stirling. "I think I learnt from that, and for this cycle Ive really stepped up everything. Its actually probably the best thing that could have happened to me." Womens curling in Britain has undergone a generational shift since Rhona Martin, a 36-year-old from a small Scottish village, led Britain to an unlikely gold medal in Salt Lake City in 2002. More than 6 million Britons stayed up into the early hours to watch Martins team, labeled the "housewife superstars" by the British media, become overnight sensations in a sport many previously didnt even know existed. Eleven years later, things have changed dramatically. British curling at the highest level has gone professional, a fund of 5 million pounds ($8.2 million) is dedicated to the countrys Olympians over four years, and there is as much gym work as practice on the ice. Sports psychologists -- in Britains case, a former Bolshoi ballet dancer -- and strength and conditioning coaches are part of the support staff. The curlers themselves are much younger. Muirhead and teammates Anna Sloan, Vicki Adams and Claire Hamilton are all between 22 and 24, making them the youngest womens team in Sochi. "Its nice to see a young aspect to the sport, to show that you do need to be fit to be a curler," Sloan told The Associated Press in an interview. "Curling had the image of being an older sport but I think with us being young and showing we enjoy itt so much, thats a healthy thing and hopefully we are going to get people to try it after the Olympics.dddddddddddd" Muirheads team is being held up as Britains best chance of gold in Sochi, more than a decade after Martin delivered what is referred to in Britain as the "Stone of Destiny" in the 2002 Olympic final against Switzerland. Muirhead was just 12 at the time, and recalls being allowed to stay up late on a school night to watch the final. No surprise given her father, Gordon, won a world championship in curling in 1999. "It was fantastic," she said. "Ever since that moment, you want to go there and do it yourself, dont you? It inspired me, for sure." That night also changed Martins life. She was shocked to see flag-waving crowds greet her at Heathrow Airport on her return to Britain. She was congratulated by then-Prime Minister Tony Blair, awarded an honour by Queen Elizabeth II and invited to sit in the Royal Box at Wimbledon. Martin was stopped everywhere she went and was hounded by the tabloid newspapers. "Football (journalists) were even phoning, asking me: What do you think of the new Scotland manager? recalled Martin, who keeps her gold medal "in a cupboard, in its box, with the toilet rolls." That level of media glare is something Muirhead can expect, too, if she returns home from Russia with a gold medal. Britain doesnt have a strong tradition at the Winter Olympics, winning only nine golds since the first games in 1924. As a result, every champion is feted as a national icon. Muirhead is used to coping with pressure and attention. A youth champion in bagpiping and golf, she turned down golf scholarships from a number of American universities to take up curling, with her accomplishments on the ice tracked from the moment she won the first of her four world junior titles, in 2007. Off the ice, Muirhead was invited by actor Sean Connery to stride the catwalk at the annual Scottish-themed "Dressed to Kilt" fashion show in New York in 2010 and has a photo shoot scheduled with The Sun newspaper in Britain. She is a big name in Canada, curlings stronghold, and even bigger in Scotland, where the sport originated. Muirhead remains level-headed, though -- in her own words, a "normal down-to-earth person." And with Martin now coach of the British womens team, Muirhead couldnt have a better mentor in her corner heading into Sochi. "Obviously there is a target on their back." Martin said. "They are world champions so thats just reality. They know every single game there will be tough but . they have the potential. 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