■ 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.
Shaquille O’Neal is staying with TNT Sports on a new contract worth more than US$15 million per year, Front Office Sports reported on Friday. The news means the cast of Inside the NBA is staying together even as TNT is set to license out the show to ESPN starting next season. TNT was the odd network out in the NBA’s recent TV rights negotiations, as NBC and Amazon joined previous rightsholder ESPN in inking deals for basketball games. That left TNT without a need for pregame and postgame NBA shows. In a trade with ESPN, TNT is licensing Inside the NBA to the
Juventus on Sunday stopped Inter from replacing SSC Napoli at the top of Serie A by beating their fierce rivals 1-0 and moving into the UEFA Champions League positions. Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin. Portugal attacker Conceicao netted his fourth goal of the season in all competitions after brilliant work from Randal Kolo Muani to give Juve a third straight league win. Juve are in fourth place on 46 points, ahead on goal-difference from SS
Eugenie Bouchard already has her own signature pickleball paddle. She is No. 17 in the pickleball rankings and constantly appears on the main court at events because she is always a big draw. However, just to be absolutely clear, she is not retired from tennis. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist still practices on the tennis court, still competes at tennis events and still has a Women’s Tennis Association ranking (No. 1,288). The Canadian standout just has a new sport that has caught her attention. Bouchard is one of several familiar tennis names — like Jack Sock and Donald Young — crossing over to
BELGIANS ADVANCE: Club Brugge gave Atalanta a lesson in efficiency, as Gian Piero Gasperini’s team had 29 efforts at goal, compared with seven from the visitors Seldom has a player’s sending off had such an influence on a game. AC Milan was to left rue Theo Hernandez’s second yellow card — for diving — as Feyenoord advanced to the UEFA Champions League last 16 at the former European champion’s expense with a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their playoff on Tuesday, giving the Dutch team a 2-1 win on aggregate. Bayern Munich, Club Brugge and Benfica also won their playoffs, eliminating Celtic, UEFA Europa League winner Atalanta BC and French team AS Monaco respectively. “In soccer everything changes in a second,” said Milan forward
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