■SPAIN
Real left with work to do
A brace from Ruud Van Nistelrooy was not enough for Real Madrid on Sunday and left the club with work to do as they lost their Spanish Supercup first leg 3-2 to Valencia. The Dutch hitman opened the scoring for the league champions against the Copa del Rey winners on 14 minutes with a right-footed shot but Juan Manuel Mata and Euro 2008 star David Villa turned things around with quickfire goals just before the hour mark. Van Nistelrooy scored again with 22 minutes remaining but Vicente hit the winner on the night in the 82nd minute, ensuring Real must sweat in the return leg in Madrid. Real, who last year lost the Supercup contest to Sevilla, included Brazilian midfielder Robinho despite persistent talk of a possible move to Chelsea.
■ENGLAND
City star suffers setback
Manchester City forward Valeri Bojinov is set to be out for six months after the Bulgarian snapped his Achilles tendon ahead of Sunday’s 4-2 defeat at Aston Villa. Bojinov, 22, and who suffered a knee ligament injury last season, was injured in the warm-up. “It is a huge blow for Valeri,” City boss Mark Hughes told BBC Sport. “He has had a terrible spell with injury. We are all disappointed for him but he will have to come back again.” Hughes is already shorn of the services of injured pair Benjani Mwaruwari and Darius Vassell and newcomer Jo is at the Olympics, absences which could yet prompt a renewed City bid for Blackburn’s Paraguayan striker Roque Santa Cruz. Bojinov joined City from Fiorentina a year ago but has made only four brief appearances owing to his previous injury misfortune.
■FRANCE
Marseille thrash Auxerre
Olympique Marseille’s inter-season signing from Nice, Bakari Kone, was instrumental in OM’s 4-0 victory over Auxerre at a packed Stade Velodrome on Sunday. Ivory Coast international Kone, transferred to OM before the start of the season, dodged defenders and sent in a precise cross from the right to Mamadou Niang who, with a flick of his head sent it into the net. Later, Marseille’s account was doubled when Auxerre defender Stephane Grichting deflected a Hatem Ben Arfa strike into his own net. Next, Elliot Grandine skilfully evaded defenders and sent in a lob which ended up in the Auxerre goal. Taking a free kick six minutes before time, Marseille’s Dutchman Boudewijn Zenden sent the ball sailing over the wall into the target, the finishing touch to the home side’s quadruple scoreline.
■GERMANY
Stuttgart make winning start
Stuttgart, bidding to dislodge last season’s Bundesliga winners Bayern Munich, got their campaign off to a solid start on Sunday in winning 3-1 away at promoted Borussia Moenchengladbach. With Bayern held to a 2-2 home draw the previous day by old rivals Hamburg the stage was set for Armin Veh’s side to take advantage and his side impressed in securing full points with goals from Thomas Hitzlsperger, Ciprian Marica and Mario Gomez, all before half-time. A Rob Friend consolation on the hour mark was of little cheer to Borussia fans. Veh was delighted by the start to the campaign. “We saw really good football out there today, not least as Gladbach also played in an attacking vein [although] at 3-0 it was essentially all over,” Veh said. In the other Sunday encounter, Eintracht Frankfurt slid to a 2-0 home loss to Hertha Berlin, who bagged the points with Brazilian Raffael and Patrick Ebert on target either side of the break.
Santiago Castro on Tuesday had an immediate impact off the bench as he scored the goal to send Bologna into the Coppa Italia semi-finals for the first time in 26 years. Bologna won 1-0 against last year’s runners-up, Atalanta BC, and are to play either holders Juventus or Empoli in the final four. Juventus are to host Empoli in their quarter-final on Feb. 26. The last time Bologna reached the semi-finals was in 1999, when they lost 4-2 to ACF Fiorentina. There were chances for both sides in a high-tempo match in Bergamo, but it was Bologna who broke the deadlock 10 minutes from
The former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani on Thursday was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for bank and tax fraud after he stole nearly US$17 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers player’s bank account. Ippei Mizuhara, who was supposed to bridge the gap between the Japanese athlete and his English-speaking teammates and fans, was sentenced in federal court in Santa Ana to four years and nine months after pleading guilty last year. He was ordered to pay US$18 million in restitution, with nearly US$17 million going to Ohtani and the remainder to the US Internal Revenue Service. He was
The 40-year-old LeBron James on Thursday became the oldest player to score 40 points in an NBA game, putting up a season-high 42 in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 120-112 victory over the Golden State Warriors. James passed the record held by Michael Jordan, his idol and the only other NBA player to score 40 after his 40th birthday. “I’m old, that’s my take,” James said when asked about his latest achievement. “I need a glass of wine and some sleep, that’s what I think.” Jordan did it for the Washington Wizards just three days after turning 40 in February 2003. James is 38
SPEEDSKATER: Her bronze medal ended Taiwan’s run at the Asian Winter Games without a medal since the nation first participated in the second iteration in 1990 Speedskater Chen Ying-chu yesterday made history as the first athlete representing Taiwan to secure a medal at the Asian Winter Games. Competing at the HIC Speedskating Oval in Harbin, China, Chen clocked 10.510 seconds in the women’s 100m event, finishing third behind South Koreans Lee Na-hyum and Kim Min-sun, who posted times of 10.501 and 10.505 seconds respectively. Her bronze medal ended Taiwan’s drought at the Asian Winter Games since the nation first participated in the second iteration in 1990. This year’s Games mark Chen’s debut at the event. Previously excelling in roller speedskating, she won six medals at world championships before transitioning
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