st chance either side has to progress in
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LAKE LOUISE, Alta. - After a fifth-place finish in a World Cup super-G, her third race in three days, Lindsey Vonn used six simple words to sum up where things stand in her comeback from major knee surgery. "I know," Vonn said, "I can win again." She also had this to say after coming within a second of winner Lara Gut of Switzerland on Sunday: "Im ready for Sochi." The 2014 Winter Games are less than two full months away, and Vonn said she might only race one or two times before then. "I know that Im skiing well," said Vonn, the 2010 Olympic downhill gold medallist and a four-time overall World Cup champion. "So I know that I dont need to push myself and try to push the limits of my knee to race as many as races as I can." Until this weekend, the 29-year-old American had not competed since a high-speed crash at the world championships last February ripped two ligaments in her right knee and broke a bone in that leg. Working her way back from that, Vonn had a setback less than three weeks ago, partially re-tearing her reconstructed right ACL. "She had a trauma about a month ago, so its very impressive that shes doing it," said U.S. teammate Leanne Smith, who was sixth Sunday. "Every one of her teammates are her biggest fans, I would say. Were happy to have her back." Vonns first race in 10 months was Fridays downhill, and she was — not surprisingly — rusty and a tad nervous, and wound up 40th, ending a seven-race winning streak at a resort in the Canadian Rockies nicknamed "Lake Lindsey." In Saturdays downhill, Vonn was 11th. The "very good progression," as U.S. Ski Team womens speed coach Chip White put it, continued Sunday with Vonns best showing yet. She declared herself pleased with her mental and physical improvement over these past few days. "My run was pretty good. I was pushing the line really hard and I think I went a little bit too straight in some sections. But thats a good mistake to make — pushing the limits and trying to go straighter," Vonn said after finishing in 1 minute, 23.71 seconds. "Thats far from where I was two days ago. So I think it was a huge step in the right direction. I think it was a perfect way to end the weekend." Gut was timed in 1:22.86, edging Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein by three-hundredths of a second to reclaim the lead in the overall World Cup standings with her fourth victory of the young season. Shes won half of the races so far. Vonn, of course, knows how to ski rather well, to say the least. What shes needed to do of late is figure out how to do it properly with, as she joked Friday, "a little bit of ACL left." Skiing with a brace on, Vonn felt her right knee was stable and came through what amounted to a 72-hour test in good shape. Now she will huddle with her coaches and try to decide where and exactly how often to get in a starting hut ahead of the Olympics. "I do need a couple more starts," Vonn said. "I want to make sure that I get on the podium at least once, if not win, before ... Sochi. For me, mentally, I really want to have that in my back pocket." ___ Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich Vans Old Skool Baratas España . Listen to the Raptors vs. Jazz live tonight on TSN Radio 1050 at 9pm et/6pm pt. The Raptors are 1-1 so far on the five-game junket after defeating Denver and losing to Portland. Vans Old Skool España .What they got was a bevy of players chipping in to pick up the slack.Josh Smith scored 18 points and James Harden added 17 as the Rockets used a balanced scoring effort to outlast the Mavericks for a 99-94 victory. http://www.vansoldskoolbaratas.es/. "Its not done, but its a huge step," Hannover general manager Dirk Dufner said. Poor defending allowed the visitors to score in the second minute, when Leon Andreasens header from Christian Panders cross sent the ball inside the far post. Vans Old Skool Rebajas .com) - In the absence of Dwight Howard, Donatas Motiejunas had a career night to keep the Houston Rockets winning streak alive. Vans Old Skool En Oferta . Infante hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning and had an RBI single in a four-run fifth against former teammate Justin Verlander, helping the Kansas City Royals beat the Tigers 11-8 Monday night. CURITIBA, Brazil -- Nigeria and Iran delivered the first draw of the World Cup on Monday as they ground out a scrappy 0-0 stalemate in their opening match in Group F. The draw at the Arena da Baixada in the southern Brazilian city of Curitiba followed 12 mostly high scoring and attacking games. After a first half in which Nigeria failed to capitalize on its dominance, chances were few and far between in the second. In the early passages of play, Nigeria had shown menace, with much of its attacking thrust coming down the left with Emmanuel Emenike and Victor Moses combining to cause problems for the defensively-minded Iran side. Nigeria came closest to scoring in the seventh minute when an Ahmed Musa goal was disallowed after John Obi Mikel was adjudged to have fouled Iran goalkeeper Alireza Haghighi at a corner. Iran grew more confident as the game progressed and came close to scoring in the 34th when a Reza Ghoochannejhad header required a sharp save from Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama. In the second half, both sides were guilty of sloppy passages of play, to the growing annoyance of the mainly Brazilian crowd. Players from both sides snatched at chances, and neither goalkeeper was troubled despite some frantic late pressure in the final minutes. "They had 11 people behind the ball, which made it hard for us to create chances," Mikel said. "Its frustrating because they sat back." Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi said his team became anxious when it failed to score during a dominant opening 25 minuutes.dddddddddddd. But he added: "Respect to Iran, they had their game plan to sit back and defend and they did well." Keshi, who played for Nigeria at the 1994 World Cup, is already anticipating a backlash after the draw. "Win or lose Im criticized," said Keshi, whose side won last years Africa Cup of Nations. "A draw now, Ill be criticized. Its part of the game. In my country, its win at all costs and sometimes it doesnt go that way." The best chance either side has to progress in the tournament is to beat debutant Bosnia-Herzegovina, as Argentina is the firm favourite to top the group. Lionel Messi scored one of the tournaments best goals in Argentinas 2-1 victory over the Bosnians on Sunday. Iran coach Carlos Queiroz said the result was "fair" and that his players deserved "sympathy and respect" for performing on the biggest stage despite the impact of economic sanctions on the country -- which made it difficult to arrange friendlies. "Were not here to perform the role of the happy loser," Queiroz said. "The fans need to know the conditions we have endured for three years to get here." Queiroz wouldnt talk about the teams next game against Argentina. "Now Im so tired just let me enjoy this point we collected from Nigeria," he said. The draw means the winless World Cup runs of both teams continues, dating back to France 1998. For Iran, though, this was the first time it had not conceded a goal at the World Cup finals. ' ' '