■ Soccer
Burst ball results in replay
A Belgian league game between Anderlecht and La Louviere in which the ball burst in during the scoring of a goal will have to be replayed, the Belgian soccer federation ruled Thursday. Anderlecht beat La Louviere 2-1 in a 12th-round match on Nov. 5, rally to equalize in the 65th minute when midfielder Walter Baseggio scored with a drive in which the ball burst. The ball was limp going into the net, but the protests of La Louviere players were rejected. Anderlecht won on a 71st-minute penalty by Par Zetterberg. An initial plea from the club was turned down, but the federation's appeal body accepted La Louviere's complaint on Thursday. It was unclear when the game would have to be replayed. Anderlecht is currently second in the league, seven points behind leader FC Brugge.
■ Olympics
Armani to carry the torch
Italian designer Giorgio Armani will be among those who will carry the 2006 Turin Olympic torch, which was officially unveiled in Milan, Italy on Thursday. Organizers said 2002 Olympic ice dancing bronze medalists Barbara Fusar Poli and Maurizio Margaglio also would be among the celebrities and athletes picked to be torchbearers during the flame's trip through the Lombardy region prior to the games. Created and produced by the renowned Pininfarina company of auto designers, the torch will start its journey from Rome on Dec. 8, and arrive in Turin on Feb. 10, 2006 for the Winter Games' opening ceremony. The most striking feature of the 77cm high torch is that the flame is contained within the aluminum shell, covered by cap with holes rather than exposed at the top. With the flame only scheduled to burn for 15 minutes in each torch, about 12,000 torches will be produced for the relay. The first torchbearer will be Athens Olympic marathon champion Stefano Baldini.
■ Soccer
Emmanuel Petit to retire
Midfielder Emmanuel Petit, who scored France's third and final goal against Brazil in its 1998 World Cup triumph, has told French media he's retiring. Petit, who left English team Chelsea last year, told French radio station RTL on Thursday that at the age of 34 he no longer feels fit enough to continue his career, especially after suffering a knee injury. "I've earned a lot of money. I have a career rich in achievements," Petit told RTL. "My only regret is to end with an injury, but you have to stop one day." As well as sealing France's 3-0 World Cup win over Brazil on July 12, 1998, Petit was also a member of the French squad that won the European Championships in 2000.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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