PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil - Algerias players are being left to decide whether or not they observe the Ramadan fast during Mondays World Cup game against Germany, with coach Vahid Halilhodzic saying its not a divisive issue. [url=http://www.thebostonbruinshockey.com/customized/]Custom Boston Bruins Jerseys[

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil - Algerias players are being left to decide whether or not they observe the Ramadan fast during Mondays World Cup game against Germany, with coach Vahid Halilhodzic saying its not a divisive issue. Custom Boston Bruins Jerseys . Observant Muslims avoid food and liquids from dawn to dusk during Ramadan but can, and often do, skip it if travelling or doing hard physical labour. Some devout Muslim athletes choose to fast during training or competition, but it can create selection difficulties for the coaches in team sports. Halilhodzic, who has testy relations with sections of the Algerian media and its football association, threatened to leave a news conference Sunday if questions persisted on the topic. He said critics were using the issue to "try and raise hatred of me and my family. This is really disgusting." The national football association released a statement denying a report in Algerias leading football newspaper suggesting that Halilhodzic, a Muslim, had ordered players not to fast. Its a potentially sensitive allegation in the mostly Muslim country. The federation said Halilhodzic had been "very respectful" of the religion in his three years at the helm of the national team. The veteran coach, a French-Bosnian, said fasting was a "private issue and players will do exactly as they wish." "When you ask this question you lack respect and ethics. I would like this to stop. Stop this controversy. Talk about football," he said, in response to repeated questions at the official pre-match news conference. "And stop asking me about Ramadan, otherwise I will get up and leave." The match Monday kicks less than an hour before sunset in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre. The Algeria lineup has been impressive in its three group games, and had its best attacking display so far in a 4-2 win over South Korea. Halilhodzic started that match with five new players following its opening 2-1 defeat to Belgium. They followed that up with a 1-0 win over Russia to reach the knockout rounds for the first time. "We will do everything we can to try and win this match, but (the Germans) are of a higher quality, more experienced and basically better than us," Halilhodzic said. "We shall prepare for this game as the most important in our career. We will give it our all." Algeria shocked West Germany 2-1 in the group stages of the 1982 World Cup, in what was a colossal upset at the time. But the team didnt make it through to the qualifying rounds after the Germans and Austria played out a mutually advantageous result in their last group match in one of the most infamous World Cup episodes. The build up to Mondays match has focused on whether this is now the opportunity for Algeria to avenge what has become known as the "Disgrace of Gijon." But Halilhodzic and Germany coach Joachim Loew downplayed that Sunday, noting that the vast majority of players were not born when it occurred. "This is history. There are many things that occur in football. I would like this wonderful championship to finish in a different way," Halilhodzic said. Jaromir Jagr Jersey . Vincent Lamar Carter is no longer the lean, athletic dynamo who dazzled Raptors fans with eye-popping dunks that posterized even the leagues best defenders. Austin Czarnik Jersey . - Derek Wolfe says hes finally healthy after suffering a seizure in November that doctors now believe was related to the spinal cord injury he suffered in the preseason. http://www.thebostonbruinshockey.com/dougie-hamilton-hockey-jersey/ . - UFC 178, previously announced for Sept.MINSK, Belarus -- High-scoring Russia routed Kazakhstan 7-2 on Wednesday for its fourth straight victory at the ice hockey world championship. Sergei Plotnikov scored twice on power plays, and Viktor Tikhonov had one goal. They each have four goals, tied for the most in the tournament. Tikhonov also added three assists, while Plotnikov had two. "Its a question of good partners," Plotnikov said. "We have a good team. We play all for one and one for all and that leads to the results. Were well motivated." Plotnikov, Yegor Yakovlev and Danis Zaripov each had a power play goal for a commanding 3-0 lead. Nikolai Kulyomin and Alexander Burmistrov also scored. Mikhail Panshin and Andrei Spiridonov scored for Kazakhstan. Russia leads Group B with 12 points and has scored a total of 22 goals. The United States, Belarus and Latvia, who were idle Wednesday, have six points. Kazakhstan has one. Also Wednesday, Switzerland ended a three-game losing streak by beating Germany 3-2, Czech Republic shut out Italy 2-0 and Slovakia beat Norway 5-2 for its first win. Damien Brunner had a power pllay goal and an assist to lead the Swiss team -- last years runner-up -- to its first victory after losses to Russia, the U. Ray Bourque Jersey. S. and Belarus. "We found a way to win and thats important," Brunner said. Thomas Oppenheimer scored two goals for Germany. Switzerland has three points in four games in Group B. Germany has five. Jiri Sekac gave the Czechs a 1-0 lead in the second period, and Jaromir Jagr added an insurance goal in the third. The Czechs outshot Italy 37-11, but goaltender Daniel Bellissimo made 35 saves. Czech goalie Alexander Salak stopped 11 shots for the shutout. Ladislav Nagy scored the winning goal for Slovakia with 18 seconds remaining in the second period and added another one in the third. He has scored four times in the tournament. Tomas Tatar, Juraj Mikus and Michel Miklik also scored for Slovakia. Norway got goals from Alexander Bonsaksen and Morten Ask. The Czechs and Norway have six points in Group A in four games, two more than Slovakia, while Italy has three. Sweden tops the group with eight points, one point ahead of Canada. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '