Sheis Rezaei of Persepolis (l) heads the ball during Persepolis- Abu Moslem match in the 20th week of IPL at TehranÕs Azadi Stadium on Feb. 10.

TEHRAN, Feb. 11--Iran league leaders, Persepolis, staged an amazing come back to grab a valuable point against Abu Moslem of Mashhad on Sunday, in spite of being 3-0 down at half time.
According to ISP, Persepolis struggled for form recently, but it was still a major surprise when they found themselves 3-0 down at half time in the Azadi Stadium against Abu Moslem. An own goal by Karim Baqeri in the 6th minute started the ball rolling for Abu Moslem.
Atsou doubled the lead in the 32nd minute with a strong header and it was 3-0 for Abu Moslem on the stroke of half time, when a goal keeping error by Karimi left Petrovic with an empty net which he couldn’t miss. A shell shocked Persepolis went in to the break 3-0 down, facing their first home defeat of the season.
Persepolis needed an early goal in the second half if they were to snatch anything from the game, and Aqaei gave them hope in the 54th minute, with a finish from close range. Persepolis pulled another goal back 5 minutes later, when Nikbakht was fouled in the area. He took the penalty kick himself, and made it 3-2 to Abu Moslem in the 59th minute.
Abu Moslem’s Khani lost his head around the hour mark, and was booked twice in the space of two minutes, and saw red card in the 60th minute.
With Persepolis pushing forward, Abu Moslem managed to hold on to their slender lead, and with time running out, it looked as though Abu Moslem will return from Tehran with a priceless victory. However, there was another twist in the match, and Persepolis’ recent buy, Matcovic, scored with a header in the 88th minute to draw the match.
The game finished 3-3.
Earlier on Sunday, Sepahan faced Peykan in an empty Stadium in Yazd’s Nasiri Stadium. Peykan opened the scoring in the 39th minute through Azizmohammadi, but then had a player send off half way through the second half, and Sepahan finally managed to pull level five minutes from time through Bengar. The game finished 1-1.
In the day’s other game, Esteqlal lost to Mes in Kerman. Mes, managed by Esteqlal’s ex-manager, Amir Qalenoei, took the lead in the 6th minute through Ebrahimi who met Navidkia’s free kick with a good header. The remaining 84 minutes of the game didn’t result in any goals, with both goal keepers on top. The game finished 1-0 for Mes.

Captain Ahmed Hassan holds up the cup as Egypt's team celebrates their 1-0 win over Cameroon in the Africa Cup of Nations final soccer match at Ohene Djan Stadium in Accra, Ghana, Sunday, Feb. 10,

ACCRA, Ghana,
Feb. 11--Egypt’s Pharaohs set a new continental record with a sixth African Cup of Nations victory against Cameroon on Sunday in Accra.
Both teams ended the tournament with a beautiful display of sportsmanship and quality soccer, allAfrica.com said.
Egypt, seen throughout the competition as the strongest team, lived up to their reputation by defeating Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions 1-0. Cameroon, which Egypt had defeated previously in the tournament, stood their ground and offered a tough challenge, making it clear they came to win.
But it was Egypt who first threatened the Cameroonian lineup, led by the powerful triad of Abutreika, Amr Zaky and Emad.
As early as the fifth minute, a free kick 25 meters from Cameroon’s goal almost landed in the net. But goalie Kameni stretched over, pushing the ball out.
Sunday’s game included a match-up between the goalkeepers. Kameni won several face-to-face duels with Egyptian strikers, beating a close range kick from Egypt’s Emad at the 40th minute.
Egypt seemed on top of their game, pushing harder and harder, forcing Cameroon’s Alexandre Song to quit the field. For the first time, the Indomitable Lions found a team physically stronger than them.
Samuel Eto’o, Cameroon’s top scorer, found himself isolated amid a tight Egyptian defense. His first clear shot came at the 34th minute, but he failed to score.
The first half ended with an Egyptian offensive, and Cameroon forced into counter-attacks. During the second half, Egypt’s domination became clearer and they remained careful not to allow Cameroon to get too far with their counter-attacks.

PARIS, Feb. 11--Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic suffered a dramatic on-court collapse as he failed in his brave bid to rescue Serbia’s Davis Cup dream against Russia on Sunday.
The Serbs had trailed 2-1 overnight going into the final day of the World Group clash in Moscow and Djokovic, who had missed Friday’s singles because of flu, battled into a two-set lead over Nikolay Davydenko, according to AFP.
He was 6-4, 6-3, 3-0 ahead after two and a half hours on court, but once the Russian had clawed back to win the third set 6-4, the Serbian retired complaining of dizziness and nausea.
Davydenko’s win assured Russia a place in the quarter-finals in April where they will face the Czech Republic who completed a 3-2 win over Belgium in Ostrava.
Defending champions the United States said they plan a noisy reception in the heart of the nation’s south for their quarterfinal against France.
The United States eventually ran out comfortable 4-1 winners over Austria.
With Sunday’s dead reverse singles reduced to the best of three sets, the Austrians earned an early consolation point when Mike Bryan retired with cramping when he was down 7-5, 1-0 to Stefan Koubek.
Mike’s twin Bob then defeated Werner Eschauer 6-0, 3-6, 7-6 (7/3).
France completed a 5-0 whitewash of Romania in Sibiu with Michael Llodra and Arnaud Clement winning the reverse singles, against Andrei Pavel and Horia Tecau respectively, to add to their marathon doubles triumph on Saturday.
In Ramat Hasharon, Sweden, the seven-time winners, came from 2-1 down overnight to beat Israel 3-2 with Thomas Johansson seeing off Dudi Sela 7-6 (8/6), 6-1, 7-5 and veteran Jonas Bjorkman defeating Harel Levy 0-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (8/6).

TEHRAN, Feb. 11--Iranian athletes will fly to Doha, Qatar on Tuesday night to participate in the 3rd Indoor Athletic Championship.
The Iranian participants in five-day tournament are as follows: Mohammad Hassan Rabbani(pole vault), Hadi Sepehr-Zad (heptathlon), Amin Hassan-Zadeh Rahbar (High Jump), Ehsan Mohajer Shoja’ei (800 meters), Amir Moradi(800 meters), Amir Piahu(60 meters), IRNA reported.
Eidi Alijani and Morteza Lachiani will accompany the team as supervisor and coach respectively.
The 3rd Indoor Athletic Championship is slated for February 13-16 in Doha’s Aspire Sports Academy.

PAMPLONA, Spain, Feb. 11--Iran international Javad Nekounam is convinced he will overcome his serious knee injury in time to play for Osasuna before the end of the season.
Nekounam has been sidelined by an anterior cruciate ligament injury since August, and while the 27-year-old midfielder does not know when he will be fit to return, he is confident it will be this season, Sportinglife wrote.
“I am doing everything that I can do to get back to my best level. I cannot say when I am going to reappear, only that I’m sure that I’m going to play this season,“ he said.
“Now I am calm, I know that the recuperation takes time, although it is true that for me I would play tomorrow.“
Nekounam also spoke of his gratitude to both his team-mates and Osasuna for their support during his rehabilitation.
“They have all given me their support,“ said Nekounam, who in November extended his contract with Osasuna until 2011.
“I have always wanted to be here and that is why I renewed my contract. The club have given me their support and everybody has shown their warmth. For me this is very important.“

ROME, Feb. 11-- Rahman Rezaei seems to have had a change of heart over his decision to retire from National Team and is now considering playing for Iran once again.
“If the conditions are appropriate, I will play for the national team again. Saying goodbye does not mean a definite separation. That I have been called up for the national team again makes me happy,“ Rezaei told ISP.
The experienced Iranian defender who said goodbye to the national team at the end of the 2007 Asian Cup, intends to return to the national team.
Rezaei stated, “Playing and serving the national team makes me proud, but I have to speak to the new head coach regarding issues concerning my leaving the national team and make him familiar with those issues.“
He emphasized: “My exit does not mean my total separation from the national team. Many of the big names of Iranian football have been overlooked before but have returned when the team needed them.“
Pointing out that he did not know about his call up to the national team, Rezaei said: “I cannot definitely say that I will participate in the national team’s training camps and this issue will be made clear once I speak to the new head coach. However, I would like to be in the final list of players.“

MADRID, Feb. 11--Belgium’s Philippe Gilbert held off a threatening pack of sprinters with a late attack to claim victory in the first stage of the Tour of Mallorca here Sunday.
According to AFP, Gilbert, of the Francaise des Jeux team, finished a few meters ahead of the bunch after distancing his pursuers around 1km from the finish line of the 100km stage, which finished in Palma.
Australian Graeme Brown, of Rabobank, finished second ahead of Germany’s Robert Forster. Belgian Gert Steegmans, of Quick Step, finished fourth.
“I pulled away at a little over one kilometer to go and saw straight away that I had a chance,“ said Gilbert, a one-day race specialist whose specialty is launching attacks just before the finish line. “I just kept the head down and didn’t look back.“ Monday’s stage, the second of five, is over 162.7km from Cala Millor to Son Servera.

Javier Clemente

TEHRAN, Feb. 11--Spaniard Javier Clemente has officially announced his readiness to take charge of Iran’s football on Monday.
Spain’s former coach, who returned to his country on Thursday without signing a contract, has sent a letter to Iran’s Football Federation and agreed to coach Iran up to 2010, Mehr News Agency wrote.
He watched Iran-Syria draw from the stands of Azadi Stadium last week.
Iran’s media had earlier reported that Clemente is unlikely to return to head the team.