■ SOCCER
Di Natale downplays penalty
Udinese forward Antonio Di Natale said on Saturday he has put last month’s costly Euro 2008 penalty miss against Spain well and truly behind him. Di Natale was one of two Italy players to miss penalties in the quarter-final shoot-out that Spain won before going on to lift the trophy in Vienna. But Di Natale, whose only start in the competition came in Italy’s embarrassing opening 3-0 drubbing at the hands of the Netherlands, says he is not letting that affect him ahead of the new season. “I feel calm and collected. I realize I can’t live off memories, obviously I look back at the good ones but like everyone I have to start from scratch again,” he said.
■ SOCCER
United to tour South Africa
Sir Alex Ferguson insisted Manchester United will tour South Africa again after winning Vodacom Challenge on Saturday — but admitted that plans to return in 2010, World Cup year, are unlikely to bear fruit. Goals from Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney, Tom Cleverley and Fraizer Campbell sealed a 4-0 win against Kaizer Chiefs at Loftus Versfeld to complete United’s three-game tour of the country. United immediately flew out of Johannesburg for a game against Premier League rivals Portsmouth in Abuja, Nigeria, on Sunday, but Ferguson admitted that he is keen for the club to make another visit to South Africa in the near future.
■ SOCCER
10 injured in Budapest riots
At least 10 people were injured Saturday when supporters of Budapest football club Honved clashed with fans of Austria’s Sturm Graz during a match in the Hungarian capital. While Sturm Graz qualified for the Intertoto Cup during the 3rd round after winning 0-0, and then 2-1 late on Saturday in Budapest, rival supporters clashed throughout the day. Police detained an Austrian man after he damaged a police car. During the match, Austrian supporters threw smoke bombs in the stadium where the two clubs faced off. Sturm Graz chief Hans Rinner said he regretted the use of the devices by supporters of his club, but said Honved Budapest stewards had “clamped down brutally” on thousands of Austrians.
■ VOLLEYBALL
US upsets Brazil in semis
The US upset five-time defending champion Brazil 25-23, 25-22, 27-25 on Saturday to reach the World League volleyball final in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Clayton Stanley had three aces to lead the US with 16 points, while Brazil’s Dante Guimaraes Amaral picked up 17. Serbia also advanced to yesterday’s final, beating Russia 25-19, 25-19, 25-23 behind 22 points from Ivan Miljkovic. The last time Brazil failed to win the World League title was in 2002, when it finished second. “We made several of the same mistakes we have made in the past and in a match like this one they can make all the difference,” Brazil’s Andre Heller said.
■ VOLLEYBALL
Messi hits hat-trick in win
Argentine star Lionel Messi, currently at the center of an Olympic Games club-or-country row, hit a hat-trick in Barcelona’s 5-1 pre-season friendly win over Scotland’s Dundee United on Saturday. Messi found the target in the 51st, 75th and 78th minutes while Thierry Henry (26) and Samuel Eto’o (60) added to the scoreline after the Scots had taken a shock lead. Barcelona insist that Messi cannot play in the Beijing Olympics as he’s wanted for the club’s opening Champions League qualifier.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
Top seeded Jessica Pegula on Friday once again fought back from a set down to reach the WTA Charleston Open semi-finals with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win against Russia’s Diana Shnaider. Defending champion Pegula has lost the first set in all three of her matches at the tournament so far, but again dug deep to maintain her hopes of retaining the title. The world No. 5 from the US took 2 hours, 10 minutes to defeat 19th-ranked Shnaider, relying on a formidable service game that included eight aces. Shnaider battled well in the first two sets and broke early for a 2-0 lead
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