■ 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.
The New Taipei Kings claimed the inaugural Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL) championship on Sunday, defeating the Kaohsiung FamilyMart Aquas 108-89 in the final. Playing at home, the Kings pulled ahead with Jeremy Lin’s (林書豪) clutch three-pointers, securing their victory over the Aquas in the TPBL final. The Kings came out strong in the first quarter, dominating to build a 35-18 lead. By halftime, they had stretched their advantage to 61-38. In the third quarter, the Aquas narrowed the deficit to 12 points, but Lin stepped up, sinking several tough three- pointers to extend the lead. In the final quarter, the Kings pushed the
In an unlikely Ethiopian outpost of one the most French of pastimes, four men are leaning over their petanque balls, arguing over who is winning. Petanque, the bowling game also known as boules, is more readily associated with French village squares where locals launch metal balls at a jack while enjoying an afternoon drink, but for decades, it has also been a beloved pastime for members of a club near the iconic Meskel Square in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. It was founded in the early 20th century to cater to French railway workers, who built a line connecting Addis Ababa
Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Australian teenager Maya Joint on Tuesday eased into the Eastbourne Open quarter-finals in England as Hsieh prepares for the Wimbledon Championships next week. Four-time Wimbledon women’s doubles champion Hsieh and 19-year-old Joint fired two aces and converted five of eight break points to defeat Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Poland’s Katarzyna Piter 6-3, 6-3 in 58 minutes on the grass court. Hsieh and Joint are today to face fourth seeds Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, who advanced on Monday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Quinn Gleason of the US and
BEAT THE HEAT: A brutal heat wave in the US has made cooling breaks standard. Dortmund’s coach said the weather could shape the destiny of the tournament Chelsea on Tuesday beat Esperance of Tunisia 3-0 to set up a FIFA Club World Cup last-16 tie against SL Benfica, who earlier defeated Bayern Munich 1-0, as furnace-link heat and the threat of thunder and lightning wreak havoc at the tournament. Elsewhere, minnows Auckland City claimed a memorable draw against Boca Juniors, while Los Angeles bowed out of the tournament with a stalemate against Flamengo. In Charlotte, Andreas Schjelderup scored the only goal for Benfica in their Group C clash with Bayern in front of 33,287 fans, finishing first-time from a cutback by his fellow Norwegian Fredrik Aursnes in the 13th
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