CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Former England manager Steve McClaren’s new Dutch side FC Twente will play Arsenal in the Champions League third qualifying round later this month.
McClaren, who was sacked from the England job after their failure to qualify for Euro 2008, took over at FC Twente in June on a two-year deal.
The 47-year-old told Sky Sports News: “It was strange, because as soon as I joined [Twente] I knew we had the draw coming up. I expected one of the English teams. I think fate deals you certain cards and it has dealt us this draw. On one hand it’s very, very tough for us, but on the other it is very exciting.”
McClaren’s club are making their Champions League debut after defeating Ajax in a play-off last season.
Past winners Liverpool face Belgian outfit Standard Liege, while Rangers will come up against either Denmark’s Aalborg or Bosnian outfit Modrica providing they first see off FBK Kaunas.
Aalborg are coached by former Arsenal boss Bruce Rioch.
Barcelona have been handed what looks like being a trouble free passage to the competition proper as they meet the winner of the second round tie between Beitar Jerusalem and Wisla Krakow.
Irish champions Drogheda take on Spartak Moscow, as long as they can reverse a 2-1 first leg deficit against Dynamo Kiev.
Atletico Madrid were drawn with Germany’s Schalke 04, with France’s former European champions Marseille up against either SK Brann or Ventspils.
McClaren, meanwhile, described Arsenal as the toughest team Twente could have come up against in Friday’s draw made at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon.
“In one respect it’s a tough draw for us; on the other it’s now an opponent we know very well, not just myself, everyone in Holland knows the Premier League well, so Arsenal will be no strangers to us,” McClaren said. “This is a reward for a great achievement last season in reaching this stage, to get one of the big teams. It will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience that doesn’t come along that often. I’m sure the fans will be delighted.”
Arsenal company secretary David Miles said: “We will be pleased with the draw; logistically Holland isn’t too far and it will give our fans the opportunity to see the game. As you rightly say, it’s a reunion with Steve and we are looking forward to it. When Steve was first-team coach for the national team and then manager they used to use our training ground [at London Colney] so there are good relations there.”
The winners of the third qualifying round will go into the lucrative first group stage of Europe’s top club competition.
Champions League third qualifying round fixtures:
• Anorthosis Famagusta or Rapid Vienna v Olympiakos
• Vitoria Guimaraes v IFK Gothenburg or Basel
• Shakhtar Donetsk v Domzale or Dinamo Zagreb
• Schalke 04 v Atletico Madrid
• Aalborg or Modrica v Rangers or FBK Kaunas
• Barcelona v Beitar Jerusalem or Wisla Krakow
• Levski Sofia v Anderlecht or BATE Borisov
• Standard Liege v Liverpool
• Inter Baku or Partizan Belgrade v Fenerbahce or MTK Budapest
• FC Twente v Arsenal
• Spartak Moscow v Drogheda or Dynamo Kiev
• Juventus v Tampere United or Artmedia
• SK Brann or Ventspils v Marseille
• Fiorentina v Slavia Prague
• Galatasaray v Steaua Bucharest
• Panathinaikos or Dinamo Tblisi v Sheriff or Sparta Prague
Marloon Herrera was crying — happy tears. With Cuba trailing in the fifth inning of its Little League World Series (LLWS) opener on Thursday, Herrera lined a two-run double to give his team the lead. When the Czech Republic, representing Europe-Africa, made a pitching change, he ran over to give his third base coach a hug. Cuba went on to win 4-1. It was the first game at this year’s tournament for both sides, but it was also the beginning of Cuba’s second appearance in the series ever — and it was emotional. “You breathe baseball in Cuba,” manager Everaldo Machado said on
Taiwan on Friday beat Australia 11-0 at the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Taiwan are represented at the tournament by Taoyuan’s Gueishan Elementary School, who won the Asia-Pacific regional tournament to earn the trip to the US. Australia are represented by the Hills Red team from Sydney. Taiwan advanced to a game tomorrow against Santa Clara, representing Cuba, who won 4-1 against the Czech Republic’s Brno, the Europe-Africa regional qualifiers. Australian starter Sayre Howick had a tough time controlling his pitches at Volunteer Stadium, one of which allowed Taiwan to open their account. They scored six in the inning and
World Boxing, an international amateur boxing organization formed last year after a breakdown in relations between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Boxing Association (IBA), has announced the admission of Taiwan, along with four other nations, into its growing list of members. In a statement released on its Web site on Friday, the Swiss- based organization said that in addition to Taiwan, admitted as Chinese Taipei, Bhutan, Ecuador, Fiji and Pakistan have also become members. The new members all have well-rounded national and international boxing programs as well as transparency in the leadership and management of their national boxing programs,
COOLED DOWN: Du Plessis apologized after the fight for comments about his Nigerian-born opponent, after Adesanya said he planned to take the belt back to Africa South African Dricus du Plessis yesterday took a flurry of body hits across four rounds before defeating Israel Adesanya by submission to retain his middleweight championship at UFC 305. After scoring some early takedowns, Du Plessis (22-2) had to withstand a flurry of body strikes from Adesanya through the middle rounds, which appeared to be taking a toll on the 30-year-old South African as the fight progressed. However, a left hook followed by three rights helped bring Adesanya down, giving Du Plessis the opening he wanted as he swiftly got the choke hold that forced the Nigerian-born New Zealander to tap out