■ENGLAND
Ferdinand off to Sunderland
West Ham defender Anton Ferdinand is Sunderland-bound after the London club accepted a bid reported to be approaching £8 million (US$14.7 million), Hammers boss Alan Curbishley said on Sunday. Curbishley told BBC Radio 5 Live: “The board have accepted the bid — he’s not renegotiated his contract — and the decision was taken out of my hands. I don’t know where Anton is in terms of signing for Sunderland — but once the club accept the bid it moves on.”
■SPAIN
Hleb says he needs time
Belarusian international midfielder Alexander Hleb, who joined Barcelona from Arsenal last month, said on Sunday he needs more time to fully adapt to the Spanish giants. “It takes time to adapt. It’s important for me to learn Spanish and to be able to communicate with my teammates and make myself understood on the pitch,” he said in comments published on the club’s Web site. The 27-year-old said he felt most comfortable playing “in the middle, behind the striker” but was able to shine in other positions. “I’ve learned to play in a lot of positions; on the left or on the right and in the middle of midfield, or further forward, wherever the manager needed me,” he said.
■RUSSIA
Danny set to leave Dynamo
Dynamo Moscow’s Portuguese international Daniel Miguel Alves Gomes, known as Danny, is expected to sign next week for UEFA Cup winners Zenit St Petersburg for a record 30 million euros (US$44 million), the Portuguese press reported on Sunday. “It’s great to be the most expensive player in the history of Russian football. Everything should be sorted by Monday,” the 25-year-old told the daily Diario de Noticias. The Portuguese press reported that Russian champions Zenit have accepted to pay the player’s 30-million-euro get out clause with Dynamo. The Venezuela-born midfielder played for the national side for the first time in Wednesday’s 5-0 friendly win over the Faroe Islands.He moved to Dynamo in 2005 from Sporting Lisbon.
■AUSTRIA
Firecracker deafens keeper
Rapid Vienna goalkeeper Georg Koch was hospitalized with hearing problems on Sunday after a firecracker thrown from the stands exploded near his head in the first half of a domestic league match against Austria Vienna. Koch damaged his ear canal when the cracker exploded in the sixth minute and afterward complained about being deaf in the right ear, Rapid Vienna team doctor Benno Zifko said. “Georg has a lot of pain and can’t hear,” Zifko said. “I can’t exclude permanent damage to his ear.” Police said they studied a video recording of the incident and arrested a suspect immediately after the match. The match was interrupted for about 15 minutes after the incident before resuming. Rapid won 3-0 to go atop the league standings.
■PORTUGAL
Porto start with win
Porto began the defense of their Portuguese premier league title with a 2-0 home win over Belenenses on Sunday. The champions went ahead after 15 minutes when Belenenses goalkeeper Paulo Cesar parried Argentine Lisandro Lopez’s shot and his compatriot Mariano Gonzalez knocked in the rebound. Belenenses were reduced to 10 men after 73 minutes when defender Graziano was sent off for a second bookable offence. Newly signed Brazilian Hulk wrapped up the three points with a searing left-footed shot into the top corner from 25m six minutes from the final whistle.
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
Things are somewhat out of control at the Australian Open this year, and that has only a little to do with the results on the courts. Yes, there were some upsets, including Madison Keys eliminating No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the women’s singles semi-finals on Thursday. It also was the first time since 1990 that three teenagers beat top-10 men’s seeds at a Grand Slam tennis tournament. The loser of one of those matches, Daniil Medvedev, got fined US$76,000 for behaving badly. Last year’s women’s singles runner-up exited in the first round. However, the real fuss is happening elsewhere. The rowdy fans, for one
The CTBC Brothers from Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) on Friday announced they reached an agreement with the team’s shortstop Chiang Kun-yu (江坤宇) to extend his contract by 10 years in a deal that could worth up to NT $147.88 million (US$4.5 million). Including a NT$10 million incentive bonus, the 24-year- old’s new contract stipulates that his monthly salary will be NT$660,000 starting this year, increasing to NT$1.2 million from the fifth year of the deal. Chiang’s new agreement also comes with a caveat in the form of a “player option” where he would have the choice to become a free
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