■ BRAZIL
Sao Paulo take the title
Sao Paulo won their third straight Brazilian league title on Sunday after beating Goias 1-0 with a goal from striker Borges. Borges’ 22nd-minute goal secured victory for a team that needed only a draw to win the championship. Gremio, who beat Atletico Mineiro 2-0, were the only team capable of denying the champions a sixth title, but that had depended on Sao Paulo losing. Sao Paulo also won the Brazilian league in 1977, 1986 and 1991. Sao Paulo trailed Gremio by 11 points just after the midway point of the competition, but steadily moved up the standings. They could have clinched the title a week ago by beating Fluminense, but could only draw 1-1 in front of nearly 70,000 fans at Morumbi Stadium. Besides Sao Paulo and second-place Gremio, Palmeiras and Cruzeiro also won the right to play in next year’s Copa Libertadores. Four-time champions Vasco da Gama were relegated to the second division after losing 2-0 to Vitoria. Also going down were Figueirense, Portuguesa and Ipatinga.
■ARGENTINA
Wins set up thrilling finale
San Lorenzo and Tigre won on Sunday to go level on points at the top of the Argentine championship with Boca Juniors and set up a thrilling finale to the title race. Boca, who had started the weekend with a two-point lead, were held 0-0 at Gimnasia-La Plata. Unfashionable Tigre came from two goals behind to win 3-2 at Rosario Central and San Lorenzo thumped floundering Independiente 4-1. The trio each have 36 points from 18 games with one match to play. Lanus, two points behind in fourth place after a 2-0 win at Velez Sarsfield, also have an outside chance. Goal difference is not used to decide the title, so a playoff will be held if two teams are still level after next Sunday’s final games and a three-way tournament will take place if all three sides finish on the same number of points. The biggest drama involved Tigre, who were 2-0 down after only 11 minutes at Rosario Central following goals by Milton Caraglio and Ezequiel Gonzalez. But Carlos Luna struck twice to pull Tigre level by halftime and substitute Leandro Lazarro grabbed the winner in the 81st minute, scoring from near the penalty spot after Leonel Altobelli pulled the ball back.
■MEXICO
Toluca, Cruz Azul make final
Toluca beat champions Santos Laguna 2-1 on Sunday to reach the final of the Mexican championship despite conceding a goal for the first time in nine games. The Red Devils will face Cruz Azul in the two-leg final after their win at home in the semi-final second-leg followed a goalless draw in the first match last week. Edgar Castillo put the Santos ahead in the 26th minute after exchanging passes with Daniel Luduena, the first goal conceded by goalkeeper Hernan Cristante in 772 minutes of play. Toluca quickly recovered from the blow and leveled a minute later with a goal by Edgar Duenas. Chilean forward Hector Mancilla scored the winner four minutes before halftime after a one-two with Antonio Naelson.
■PORTUGAL
Benfica hit six to go top
Benfica routed a 10-man Maritimo 6-0 on Sunday to move top of the Portuguese league for the first time in more than three years. Nuno Gomes and David Suazo scored two goals each, while defender Luisao added another in the 65th minute. Jose Antonio Reyes had opened the scoring at the Barreiros Stadium with a 20th-minute penalty. Maritimo’s Marcos Oliveira was red-carded after 16 minutes to give Benfica the advantage.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
LONG TIME COMING: With the addition of Marcus Smart, the Washington Wizards finally held a team to under 100 points, the last team this season to do so The Detroit Pistons on Monday won their seventh straight game in the NBA with in-form Cade Cunningham making 32 points and grabbing nine rebounds in a 106-97 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Pistons, who are in the playoff position, moved to 32-26, their best record at this stage of a season for 17 years. It was an all-round effort from Detroit with Tobias Harris adding 20 points and Jalen Duren making 19 rebounds along with his 12 points. It was a tight contest until Detroit pulled away late in the third quarter to tie their longest winning streak since the 2014-2015
RSS