intelligence required to learn from his difficult experiences.

Brazil Olympic football coach Rogerio Micale said that his teams captain and superstar Neymar has learned from past mistakes, as the tournament favourites head for Wednesdays semifinals against outsiders Honduras.Brazil went into this summers Olympic football tournament widely expected to win, with Barcelona star Neymar just one of a number of top talents called up and most other countries not taking the competition as seriously.Such expectations led to disappointment and upset when Brazil drew both their opening group games 0-0, against 10-man South Africa and Iraq, but they then beat Denmark 4-0 to progress to the quarterfinals, where they overcame Colombia 2-0?in a hotly contested game.The tournament has also brought further questioning of Neymars on- and off-the-field behaviour, with former Brazil midfielder Zico?saying the 24-year-old was not showing the leadership?and focus required to be a proper captain, although that was before the ex-Santos starlet scored a free kick to move his side through what was a scrappy grudge match against the Colombians.Ahead of the game against surprise package Honduras at Rio de Janeiros Maracana stadium, the Selecao coach?told a news conference?that Neymar had faced a lot of pressure due to his emergence as a superstar at an early age, but he had shown the intelligence required to learn from his difficult experiences.Neymar is very young, has lots of responsibility, and became a star very early due to the quality he has, Micale said. Maturity comes with performances. He is intelligent, learns from his mistakes, we can see that. If he has made errors in the past, he has corrected them.I believe that, and I hope it happens. Football is a game of passion, with nerves on the edge, and we are humans. We can all make mistakes, even Neymar. Bob Cousy Jersey . Clarke was injured while practicing on the Doha Golf Club range after the pro-am on Tuesday. The Northern Irishman arrived at the course on Wednesday hoping to start, but after hitting a few balls on the practice putting green Clarke advised officials he was not fit to play. Bill Russell Jersey . That left plenty of energy for pitching books and swatting away free agency questions. Anthony had 24 points and nine rebounds, and the Knicks avenged an embarrassing home loss with a rout of their own, beating the Boston Celtics 114-88 on Wednesday night for their third straight victory. http://www.authenticcelticsproshop.com/Paul-Pierce-Jersey/ .C. -- Calgarys Kevin Koe did it the hard way again. Custom Boston Celtics Jerseys . "We have always prided ourselves on the way we play defence. Having two big pieces back is going to be a key for us moving forward for years to come," said Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen. Robert Williams Celtics Jersey .Y. - Detroit goaltender Jonas Gustavsson has earned NHL first star of the week honours after winning in his first three appearances of the season. RALEIGH, N.C. -- The young Carolina Hurricanes are still learning to ride the highs and lows of the NHL season.Theyre doing just fine defending home ice, though.Lee Stempniak and Sebastian Aho scored on Carolinas first two shootout attempts, lifting the Hurricanes to a 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night.Cam Ward made 23 saves and stopped two shots in the shootout for Carolina, which has points in each of its last nine home games (8-0-1) but had lost a 4-3 shootout heartbreaker to Washington on Friday night.Its rewarding to play well, Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. I thought we played better last night than tonight -- we played better last night and lost and not as good tonight and won. What does that tell you? So I dont know. Youve got to stay with it, youve got to battle, youve got to compete.Carolina is 2-4 in shootouts this season.(Shootout wins) are pretty rare for me, so that felt pretty good, said Ward, who took the loss on Friday. Theres only one way to get over what happens in the shootouts. Today I felt more relaxed and calm than I did last night. I just told the boys I was due.Stempniak said he was happy just to get the shootout off on the right foot for his team.I guess theres some strategy whether you shoot first or second, Stempniak said. Weve tried everything, it seems like. If you get the first goal and then get the save it definitely puts some pressure on the other team. We got two goals and some big saves from Cam. Its great to get the second point.Joakim Nordstromm had a first-period goal for Carolina, and Evander Kane tied it late in the third.ddddddddddddAnders Nilsson stopped 21 shots for Buffalo, which won all three meetings against Carolina last season.The teams will play again on Thursday night in Buffalo.Nordstrom put the Hurricanes ahead with 5:56 left in the first, beating Nilsson stick side on a rush with Jay McClement and Brett Pesce assisting.Buffalo tied it with 2:37 left when Kane, who has points in three straight games, tipped Jake McCabes shot past Ward stick side.We knew we were going to have to ramp up the game to scratch and claw to get a (third-period) goal, Buffalo coach Dan Bylsma said. I thought we did that, and we got a couple of chances to score. We finally get one with a big goal by Kane there on the backdoor tip-in.Game notes Bylsma has 299 career wins. ... This was the second half of Carolinas fifth back-to-back this season, and the Hurricanes are 4-1 in those second games. ... Pesce played in his 100th game, all with Carolina. ... Carolina C Andrej Nestrasil, D Klas Dahlbeck and D Ryan Murphy were all healthy scratches. ... C Derek Grant and D Justin Falk were healthy scratches for the Sabres. ... The teams meet three times this season, with the finale in Raleigh on Jan. 13.UP NEXTSabres: Visit Florida on Tuesday night.Hurricanes: Host Detroit on Monday night in the finale of their four-game homestand. ' ' '