Lob & Kritik » t Paul Goldschmidt, leads the Diamondbacks with

ANNECY, France -- Icelands players will go into Sundays quarterfinal against France with exactly the same approach they had when sensationally eliminating England from the European Championship.They have nothing to lose.As the smallest nation to appear at a European Championship, Iceland was not burdened by the expectations heaped on England in Mondays round of 16 match. And the result was one of the biggest upsets in the competitions history, as Iceland came through with a well-deserved 2-1 victory.The pressure was always so much more on England. This was a game for them to lose and I think that has a big, big effect, joint-coach Heimir Hallgrimsson said at the teams tournament base at Annecy on Wednesday. They kinda mocked us a little bit before the game. This was a game for us, that we almost couldnt lose. Wed already won our supporters over.And Hallgrimsson thinks the situation will be the same at the Stade de France on Sunday.We can go relaxed, we can show our best. We dont have the pressure of the world that we need to win the game, he said.France has never lost to Iceland, which has a population of just 330,000, in their 11 previous meetings.Its a statistic that will have many France fans assuming their team already has a place in the semifinals.No one expected this and I think maybe the most difficult (thing) to handle is the expectations, said Lars Lagerback, who shares coaching duties with Hallgrimsson. Its always a benefit to be the underdog. France, of course, have really high expectations, like they had in England.Both coaches know that Iceland faces a huge challenge against a team with more technical ability and the resilience to always keep going to the very end.Thats because they have a lot of ball possession, Hallgrimsson said. They tire the opponents, so they score vital goals at the end of games. Well have to keep really focused and concentrated for the whole game, not only 90 minutes but 94 or 95, he said.Hallgrimsson, who also runs a dental practice at home, compared Icelands adventure to that of Leicester, which unexpectedly won the Premier League last season.They played on their strengths and were trying to do the same. Theres the same team spirit in both teams. We are willing to work for each other and thats the only way for our team, said Hallgrimsson, who pointed out that most of Frances players were regularly playing Champions League football.Theres not many in the Iceland team that has played Champions League, he said. In individual quality you can see that they are superior. So we have to be collective and work together to make up for it.Responding to media suggestions that Englands loss was the worst in its history, Lagerback highlighted the strengths of Mondays winning team.Weve shown in matches that we have really, really good organization, were very difficult to break down, Lagerback said. The players on our team deserve a lot of credit for the way they are handling the games. But I dont care. I know of our analysis from the game, we know what we did well and we know what we can improve.One of five unbeaten teams to make it to the final eight, Iceland has already been improving as the tournament progresses. It opened with a 1-1 draw against Cristiano Ronaldos Portugal, then matched that result against Hungary and followed up with a 2-1 win over Austria before beating England.We have raised the standard of Icelandic football and we will maintain that standard and keep pushing forward, Hallgrimsson said.That standard also includes matters off the field.Lagerback demands professionalism from the players, and even criticized some of them for being a little sloppy by showing up late to the team dinner on Tuesday.Lagerbacks attitude is that Icelands players shouldnt get above themselves just because you beat the English. We keep the standard, were 100 percent professional. We try to build that into everything we do on the pitch, off the pitch. Saucony Shoes Australia . Jon Montgomerys gold medal in skeleton at the Whistler Sliding Centre and his subsequent auctioning off of a pitcher of beer in the village square elevated him to folk-hero status. Saucony Shoes Sale . - 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. http://www.wholesalesauconyaustralia.com/ . Peter Holland and Brad Staubitz were sent to Toronto on Saturday as the Maple Leafs traded defenceman Jesse Blacker and draft picks to the Anaheim Ducks. Saucony Clearance . The Dane followed up his first European Tour title last weekend with eight birdies and just a single dropped shot on Thursday for a one-stroke advantage over South Africas Allan Versfeld and Portugals Ricardo Santos. Wholesale Saucony Shoes . Nathan MacKinnon, Jamie McGinn and Jan Hejda also scored for the Avalanche, who won despite being outshot 38-23. MacKinnons goal, also on the power play, came with just over a minute remaining. PHOENIX -- Chase Field is nothing if not hitter-friendly.Call it Coors Field SXSW.Arizona and Colorado combined to score 21 runs in the Diamondbacks 12-9 victory at Chase Field in the first game of a three-game series Monday, continuing the Runs-R-Us trend that has defined the series throughout the year.The Diamondbacks and Rockies combined for 39 runs in the season-opening three-game series at Chase from April 4-6, a Rockies sweep, and not much has changed since.In the three series at Coors Field starting May 9, the teams combined for 36, 65 (four games) and 47 runs.Colorado left-hander Jorge De La Rosa and Arizona left-hander Robbie Ray will do what they can to change that in the second game of the series Tuesday. De La Rosa is 8-7 with a 5.00 this season, while Ray is 7-13 with a 4.46 ERA.Ray has 195 strikeouts and would be the fourth NL pitcher to reach 200 this season, following Washingtons Max Scherzer, Miamis Jose Fernandez and San Franciscos Madison Bumgarner. Ray had 119 strikeouts in his rookie season of 2015.The biggest thing is just how well Ive been able to command the fastball and how my other pitches play off that, said Ray, whose fastball routinely touches 97 mph and stays there throughout his starts.Arizona used four hits from Yasmany Tomas, including his first career grand slam, and four hits and a homer from Brandon Drury in the slugfest Monday, the 10th time the Diamondbacks have scored at least seven runs in their 17 games with the Rockies this season.The Diamondbacks also made some historical headway. They had 16 hits, the 12th straight game in which they have had double-digit hits against Colorado. Teexas had a 12-game double-digit hit streak against Oakland in 1996, the last major league team do that.dddddddddddd Arizona was the first NL team to do that since the Brooklyn Dodgers had a 12-game doublet-digit streak in 1932.Tomas slam in the sixth inning rescued the D-backs and gave them a 10-9 lead after they were unable to hold a 5-0 lead after three innings.They got some clutch hits and we got some clutch hits, Colorado manager Walt Weiss said.They got a few more.Tomas, not Paul Goldschmidt, leads the Diamondbacks with 29 home runs. Jake Lamb is second with 28 and Goldschmidt is third with 20.That ball jumped out of here, but he had good at-bats all night, Arizona manager Chip Hale said of Tomas slam.Tomas had 19 homers as a rookie last season after signing a six-year $68.5 million free agent contract. He ended last season as a role player.Was he going to be a big home run guy? Hale said. We thought he was going to be more gap-to-gap. He has it in him. I didnt think it would come this quickly.Several Rockies have big numbers in season series, too. Charlie Blackmon was 3-for-4 Monday and is hitting .366 in 66 games against Arizona, the fifth-highest batting average among active Diamondbacks opponents.Carlos Gonzalez, who had three doubles and three RBI Monday, is 13-for-25 (.520) with seven runs and four RBI in six games at Chase Field this year. He has 29 doubles and 24 homers in 377 career at-bats against Arizona, and his 24 homers are fourth among active players against the Diamondbacks. ' ' '