■ENGLAND
Sunderland appoint Sbragia
Coach Ricky Sbragia, who has been in charge of Sunderland as caretaker since Roy Keane quit, has been appointed manager, the Premier League club announced on Saturday. “Ricky took up the reins when we were at a low ebb and has without doubt revitalised the club. He is the unanimous choice of the executive board,” chairman Niall Quinn said on the club’s Web site. Sbragia, a 52-year-old Scot, took charge early this month after Keane walked out with the team in the relegation zone. He has signed an 18-month contract. In four matches since Keane’s departure, Sunderland have impressed with two wins and a draw lifting them to 14th.
■England
Ferdinand out for 10 days
Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand will be out for 10 days after a recurrence of a back injury before Friday’s 1-0 win at Stoke. Ferdinand is set to miss today’s match against Middlesbrough and the following weekend’s FA Cup third-round match at Southampton. It is just a month since he was sidelined with the same injury. “He had a back spasm again, we have to get to the root of this,” manager Alex Ferguson said. “He’s had this back problem too many times, so we want to get to the bottom of it. First of all, we’ll give him complete rest, but I think he’ll be OK in about 10 days.”
■England
Beckham deal goes flat
Despite his high-profile loan move to AC Milan, the fizz could be evaporating from David Beckham’s commercial appeal after ending a 10-year deal with Pepsi. “David’s football legacy will live on and everyone at Pepsi will continue to be as passionate about his success as we have been over the last 10 years,” the soft drinks manufacturer said. “We wish David well with the many projects he is pursuing and look forward to the possibility of partnering together with him again someday.” The 33-year-old still has lucrative sponsorship deals with major brands like Adidas and Armani. “I have nothing but good memories of my association with Pepsi,” Beckham said. “I’ve played a gladiator, a cowboy, a surfer, and worked alongside Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez as well as some of the biggest names in world football.”
■Scotland
Cup winner Miller dies
George Miller, who won the Scottish Cup with Dunfermline in 1961, has died aged 69 of cancer, it was announced on Saturday. Miller’s moment of glory came under the stewardship of Scottish soccer great Jock Stein and saw the unfashionable club claim its first ever piece of silverware with a 2-0 replay victory over Celtic. Miller went on to play for then English giants Wolves but he soon returned to Scotland to play for Hearts.
■Spain
Fans demand Basque team
Thousands of people marched through the city of Bilbao on Saturday to demand the Basque soccer team be allowed to take part in international competitions. Britain is allowed “to have teams from Scotland or from Wales play at international level and we are demanding that same right within the states of Spain and France,” said Elisa Sainz de Murieta, the head of the Basque Solidarity political party. The demonstrators marched behind a banner reading “Basque Nation, one nation, one national team, one federation.” A Basque soccer team, drawn from the Basque regions of both Spain and France, does exist but it is not officially recognized by the game’s authorities and is restricted to occasional friendly games.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
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