■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.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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