■AUSTRALIA
Under-17 coach Crook dies
Officials expressed shock yesterday after under-17 coach and former national goalkeeper Martyn Crook died suddenly during a tour to the US. Football Federation Australia (FFA) said Crook, 52, passed away on Friday in Los Angeles, where the team was preparing for three matches against Brazil and the US. Media reports said he died of a heart attack. “We are deeply saddened and shocked by this news,” FFA chief executive Ben Buckley said in a statement, adding that Crook was “highly respected by the players and his professional colleagues alike.” “Martyn will be remembered by many people in the [Australian] football community, because he was a long-time contributor to the game in many capacities,” Buckley said. England-born Crook migrated to Australia as a child with his family, settling in Adelaide. Crook played 192 games as a goalkeeper with West Adelaide from 1977 to 1986 and made 14 appearances for the national team from 1979 to 1983. He was appointed assistant coach with the national under-17 team from 2001, before becoming head coach last year.
■ITALY
Vieira maybe out until 2009
Inter coach Jose Mourinho, announcing that Patrick Vieira’s Achilles tendon injury would rule him out for the next two games, added it was unlikely the French midfielder would be back playing before next year. “In two weeks, 2008 is over,” Mourinho said. “There’s a risk that you won’t see Vieira make his return until next year.” Vieira suffered the injury in training two days after Inter’s 1-0 win over Juventus on Nov. 22.
■CARIBBEAN
Trinidad, Jamaica both win
Errol McFarlane converted two second-half penalties for Trinidad and Tobago as they beat Barbados 2-1 in Caribbean Cup action at Trelawny Stadium on Friday. Gregory Goodridge gave Barbados a 13th-minute lead and McFarlane leveled two minutes after half-time. When Barbados goalkeeper John Michael Williams was penalized and sent off in the 70th minute, McFarlane slotted home the penalty for the win. In the late match, hosts Jamaica thrashed Grenada 4-0 to virtually assure them of a semi-final berth. Forward Eric Vernon opened the scoring after just six minutes and Luton Shelton of Norwegan club Valerenga found the net in the 17th minute. Real Salt Lake midfielder Andy Williams extended the lead in the 53rd minute, before Demar Phillips of English club Stoke City rounded out the scoring in the 77th minute.
■ENGLAND
Five Palace fans jailed
Five Crystal Palace fans were jailed for up to four years on Friday for attacking Charlton Athletic supporters on a train. Prosecutors told a London court that more than 30 Palace fans trapped the Charlton followers on the train in a pre-planned attack before the game between the two neighbors in September last year, chanting “kill them” and “get off our manor”. Clive Taylor, 35, and Ashley White, 21, were jailed for four years, while 40-year-old Carl Thomas received a 38-month sentence and Darren Bush, 39, was sentenced to three years. Andrew Spicer, 38, admitted the charge and was jailed for two-and-a-half years.
■ENGLAND
Dutch friendly announced
England and Holland will begin their respective countdowns to the 2010 World Cup with a friendly in Amsterdam at the start of the 2009-2010 season. The Aug. 12 match was announced on Friday by the Football Association.
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
When Wang Tao ran away from home aged 17 to become a professional wrestler, he knew it would be a hard slog to succeed in China’s passionate but underdeveloped scene. Years later, he has endured family disapproval, countless side gigs and thousands of hours of brutal training to become China’s “Belt and Road Champion” — but the struggle is far from over. Despite a promising potential domestic market, the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades. “I have done all kinds of jobs [on the side]... Because in the end, it is very
No team in the CPBL can surpass the Taipei Dome attendance record set by the CTBC Brothers, except when the Brothers team up with Taiwanese rock band Mayday. A record-high 40,000 fans turned out at the indoor baseball venue on Saturday for Brothers veteran Chou Szu-chi’s first farewell game, which was followed by a mini post-game concert featuring Mayday. This broke the previous CPBL record of 34,506 set by the Brothers in early last month, when K-pop singer Hyuna performed after the game, and the dome’s overall record of 37,890 set in early March, which featured the Brothers and the
With a quivering finger, England Subbuteo veteran Rudi Peterschinigg conceded the free-kick that sent his country’s World Cup quarter-final into extra-time before smashing his plastic goalkeeper on the floor in frustration. In the genteel southern English town of Tunbridge Wells, 300 elite players have gathered to play the game they love. “I won’t say this is the best weekend I’ve ever had in my life, but it’s certainly in the top two,” said Hughie Best, 58, who flew in from Perth, Australia, to compete and commentate at the event. Tunbridge Wells is the “spiritual home” of Subbuteo, which was invented there in 1946