MONACO -- Tottenham was grouped with Anzhi Makhachkala and former champion Valencia was pitted against Swansea in Fridays draw for the group stage of the Europa League. Tottenhams group also includes Norwegian side Tromso, which was chosen as the replacement for Besiktas in Europes second-tier competition after the Turkish team was banned by UEFA for fixing its victory in a domestic cup final in 2011. In Group A, Swansea will take its growing contingent of Spanish players to face 2004 champion Valencia in its opening match. Europa League debutants Kuban Krasnodar and Saint Gallen are also in Group A. "Its a strong group, but we are Valencia and have big ambitions," Valencia coach Miroslav Djukic said. "If you want to win this tournament you have to look to beat everyone. We are confident." APOEL was also added to the draw after being picked as the lucky loser to replace Fenerbahce, which lost its appeal against a two-year competition ban for match-fixing on Wednesday. The Cypriot club was handed a tough group with Bordeaux, Eintracht Frankfurt and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Sevilla, which won the competition in 2006 and 2007, will face Estoril and Slovan Liberec as well as Freiburg, which had an impressive season in the Bundesliga last year. "Its a tough group, with big clubs such as Sevilla, but we are looking forward to it," Freiburg president Fritz Keller said. "Its great for our fans to have the chance to visit these places and watch Freiburg play abroad." Seven-time French champion Lyon was placed in a group with Real Betis, Guimaraes and Croatian side Rijeka. Wigan, the English second-division club which won the FA Cup last season, was grouped with Rubin Kazan, Maribor and Zulte Waregem. Shakhter Karagandy is the first team from Kazakhstan to participate in the group stage of a UEFA competition and was drawn with AZ Alkmaar, PAOK Thessaloniki and Maccabi Haifa, while newcomer Ludogorets Razgrad was grouped with PSV Eindhoven, Dinamo Zagreb and Chornomorets Odesa. "For us, any group would have been tough and exciting because it is our first appearance in a European club competition group stage," Shakhter Karagandy captain Andrey Finonchenko said. "We would have liked to have been drawn against such big sides as Lazio, Tottenham or Lyon, but it is going to be interesting. We will gain experience." Serie A clubs Fiorentina and Lazio have been handed relatively easy draws with the former facing Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Pacos Ferreira and Pandurii Targu Jiu, and the latter with Trabzonspor, Legia Warsaw and Apollon Limassol. The first matches take place on Sept. 19. cheap nfl jerseys . 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After four hours of exhilarating, record-setting tennis, Federer finally put away del Potro 3-6, 7-6 (7), 19-17 on Friday to advance to the gold medal match for the first time in his storied career, securing Switzerlands first medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games. GREENSBORO, N.C. -- John Henson had a great seat on the North Carolina sideline to watch his teammates advance in the NCAA tournament. The question is how long the Tar Heels will have to win without him, not to mention if his sore left wrist will heal enough to make him a factor in March at all. Tyler Zeller had 17 points and 15 rebounds to help North Carolina beat Vermont 77-58 on Friday in its NCAA tournament opener despite playing without its shot-blocking and rebound-snatching starter. The top-seeded Tar Heels didnt turn in a rousing performance, but they had a danger-free afternoon and advanced to play Creighton on Sunday in the third round of the Midwest Regional. They also bought Henson another two days to recover. "We know hes either going to be with us or (were) without him," point guard Kendall Marshall said. "If hes in there, he can help us and thats great for our team. If hes not, we have other players who can step up." Against the 16th-seeded Catamounts (24-12), that meant another strong performance from freshman James Michael McAdoo starting in Hensons place. McAdoo shook off a poor shooting start and finished with a season-high 17 points to give Zeller some help in the paint, including a one-handed tip slam off a missed 3-pointer from Reggie Bullock that sent the home-state crowd wearing plenty of light blue into a roar. McAdoo also had consecutive three-point plays during the run that broke the game open after halftime. "I kind of got down on myself a little because my shot wasnt falling (early), but I was getting great shots," McAdoo said. "That was what the coaches kept saying. I really just tried to play myself into the game on the defensive end and then just be aggressive." While McAdoos surge helped the Tar Heels improve to 30-1 in NCAA tournament games played in their home state, they know that the question of Hensons return is becoming more urgent with each game. The 6-foot-10 junior -- who averages 14 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks -- was hurt during when he fell to the floor while being fouled during last weeks Atlantic Coast Conference tournament and missed the last two games in Atlanta. He had practiced this week and said he hoped to play Friday, but coach Roy Williamms didnt sound sure Thursday that Henson would be ready and the team announced about 90 minutes before tipoff he was out.dddddddddddd Williams said Henson looked better during a morning shootaround, including being able to palm the ball with his left hand, catch passes with both hands and make a couple of strong moves off the dribble. "I went to him and I said, John, it just doesnt look like youre comfortable," Williams said. "And he says, Coach, not really, but Im right there." Williams said the chances of Henson playing Sunday are "a little better than 50-50" considering his recent progress. Zeller shot just 4 for 9 from the floor but went 9 of 10 at the free throw line and was a rebound shy of a double-double by halftime. Harrison Barnes also finished with 14 points, while Marshall had 11 points and 10 assists for UNC. The Tar Heels shot just 42 per cent, but scored 24 points off 20 turnovers. North Carolina led by 12 at halftime before blowing the game open. After McAdoos three-point plays, fellow rookie P.J. Hairston followed with a 3-pointer, then Barnes added a three-point play that pushed North Carolinas lead to 60-37 with 8:12 left. Sandro Carissimo had 11 points for the Catamounts, who beat Lamar in one of Wednesdays First Four games. They arrived in Greensboro late Thursday afternoon and had little time to get acclimated to their surroundings before getting the unenviable challenge of facing a high seed playing about an hour from its own campus. "Its been an unbelievable ride and to have this opportunity to beat a very good Lamar team and to put ourselves in this situation was something that I dont think any of us have ever dreamed of," senior Matt Glass said. "So to be here in this atmosphere and have an opportunity to play one of the top teams in the country is very special and were all very humbled." The Catamounts shot 40 per cent and missed 15 of 18 3-point tries. Perhaps no Vermont player struggled more than leading scorer Four McGlynn, who came in averaging about 12 points off the bench. The freshman had 18 points against Lamar, but finished with just six against the Tar Heels on 2-for-13 shooting. He also missed all six of his shots from beyond the arc. cheap jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' '