■ITALY
Kaka tips Ronaldo for award
Brazilian superstar Kaka believes Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo will succeed him as the world’s best player. The AC Milan midfielder cleaned up last year, winning both the FIFA World Player of the Year award and the European Golden Ball, following a year in which he guided the San Siro side to the Champions League, scoring 10 goals on the way to victory. Now he feels the Portuguese winger’s exploits in helping the English side to succeed Milan as European champions warrants him lifting the various trophies. “I believe that the No. 1 candidate is still Cristiano Ronaldo, above all for what he did and won in the Champions League with Manchester United,” Kaka told Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport’s Sportweek magazine.
■FRANCE
Tragedy overshadows game
Zinedine Zidane pulled on the blue shirt of France one more time on Saturday to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the country’s 1998 World Cup triumph. But the occasion at the Stade de France was overshadowed by the death of a young fan who was killed in a road accident on his way to the ground. Zidane, who scored twice in the 3-0 win over Brazil in the World Cup final 10 years ago, scored the first goal of the night for the French side on the hour mark against a Rest of the World team. Emilio Butragueno had given the international select the lead in the 25th minute before Zidane’s leveller. Pedro Pauleta made it 2-1 to the world team before Ludovic Giuly equalized for France. Croatia’s Davor Suker and Bernard Diomede both scored in the last minute to ensure a 3-3 draw in front of a 75,000 crowd. Aime Jacquet, who coached the 1998 World Cup winners, admitted that the evening had been overshadowed by the death of the 10-year-old fan. A minute’s silence was held in the youngster’s honor.
■BRAZIL
Star set to defy Barca: report
Ronaldinho will reportedly break his contract with FC Barcelona if need be to go to the Beijing Olympics. Newspaper O Globo reported on Saturday that the two-time FIFA player of the year will next week tell the Spanish club of his plans to help Brazil win its first Olympic gold medal. “On Tuesday, Ronaldinho will announce that nothing will keep him away from the Beijing Olympics,” the newspaper said. “And if Barcelona insists on not allowing him to play, he will break his contract with the Spanish club. The first demonstration of his determination will take place on Monday when he will not report to [Barcelona coach] Josep Guardiola for training.” Earlier this week, Barcelona said Ronaldinho “will have to report for training on Monday, the first session of the 2008-2009 season. The Olympics do not form part of the official FIFA calendar, and no official decision has ever been made in that respect, so the club is under no obligation to allow its player to travel,” the club said in a statement.
■ITALY
Ball in Lampard’s court
Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti said on Saturday the decision whether Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard joins the San Siro outfit is ultimately down to the player. Moratti said that the time has arrived for the 30-year-old to make his intentions clear. “We’ve made our offer to Chelsea and now it depends on the player. He is someone we like, but we can’t do any more than this,” the Inter chief told Corriere dello Sport. Lampard has been a summer-long transfer target for the Italian champions.
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
When Wang Tao ran away from home aged 17 to become a professional wrestler, he knew it would be a hard slog to succeed in China’s passionate but underdeveloped scene. Years later, he has endured family disapproval, countless side gigs and thousands of hours of brutal training to become China’s “Belt and Road Champion” — but the struggle is far from over. Despite a promising potential domestic market, the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades. “I have done all kinds of jobs [on the side]... Because in the end, it is very
No team in the CPBL can surpass the Taipei Dome attendance record set by the CTBC Brothers, except when the Brothers team up with Taiwanese rock band Mayday. A record-high 40,000 fans turned out at the indoor baseball venue on Saturday for Brothers veteran Chou Szu-chi’s first farewell game, which was followed by a mini post-game concert featuring Mayday. This broke the previous CPBL record of 34,506 set by the Brothers in early last month, when K-pop singer Hyuna performed after the game, and the dome’s overall record of 37,890 set in early March, which featured the Brothers and the
With a quivering finger, England Subbuteo veteran Rudi Peterschinigg conceded the free-kick that sent his country’s World Cup quarter-final into extra-time before smashing his plastic goalkeeper on the floor in frustration. In the genteel southern English town of Tunbridge Wells, 300 elite players have gathered to play the game they love. “I won’t say this is the best weekend I’ve ever had in my life, but it’s certainly in the top two,” said Hughie Best, 58, who flew in from Perth, Australia, to compete and commentate at the event. Tunbridge Wells is the “spiritual home” of Subbuteo, which was invented there in 1946