■ITALY
Lazio rally to down Juve
Lazio came from behind to beat Juventus 2-1 at home in the first leg of their Italian Cup semi-final on Tuesday thanks to second-half goals by Goran Pandev and Tommaso Rocchi. Macedonia striker Pandev controlled a rebounded Stephan Lichtsteiner shot, before spinning around and finding the far corner of the net on 65 minutes. Rocchi then sprinted onto a though ball and slid in to fire home and give the Rome side a precious advantage 12 minutes from time. Midfielder Marco Marchionni had put Juventus in front in the 34th minute, intercepting a loose clearance and driving in with the help of a deflection. The visitors made the brighter start and striker Vincenzo Iaquinta had a goal disallowed for offside early on, although TV replays suggested he was in line with the last defender. Lazio responded well and Juve keeper Alex Manninger, standing in for the rested Gianluigi Buffon, did well to repel a diagonal Rocchi shot and a Cristian Ledesma free-kick later in the first half. The hosts keep pressing hard after Pandev’s goal and Pasquale Foggia forced two more good saves from Manninger before Rocchi scored the deserved winner.
■GERMANY
Mainz stun Schalke
Second-division Mainz got a goal from Aristide Bance in the 88th minute to beat Schalke 04 1-0 and reach the semi-finals of the German Cup for the first time on Tuesday. Bance sneaked behind Schalke’s defense to meet a long free-kick and slotted the ball home unopposed from close range. Mainz, the second-placed team in the second division, sent Schalke deeper into troubled water. Fred Routen’s team were third last season in the Bundesliga, but they have been unable to challenge for the title and are stuck in eighth place. Tuesday’s loss meant Schalke are out of the running for any title. “It was a really dumb goal to concede,” Schalke manager Andreas Mueller said.
■FRANCE
Guingamp defeat Le Mans
Bakary Kone scored a late winner as Ligue 2 side En Avant Guingamp defeated top flight Le Mans 1-0 to reach the quarter-finals of the French Cup on Tuesday. Kone got the clinching goal in the 83rd minute. A Xavier Pentecote double earned Toulouse a 2-0 win at Ligue 2 side Boulogne-sur-Mer. Pentecote, who has featured in only three Ligue 1 games this season, opened the scoring four minutes before the break when he latched onto an Alexandre Bonnet cross. The 22-year-old striker grabbed his second on 62 minutes by beating Boulogne keeper Florian Bague from close range. Grenoble went through after winning a penalty shootout 4-2 at Ligue 2 side Dijon following a 1-1 draw. Defender Stephane Morisot’s 15th-minute opener for the home side was canceled out three minutes later by Grenoble striker Nassim Akrour.
■SERBIA
Platini rejects Kosovo
UEFA president Michel Platini said on Tuesday that Kosovo could not join the organization until it was recognized by the UN. “The situation is very simple: UEFA, FIFA do not go in for politics ... the only thing UEFA can do at the present is to respect the statutes of UEFA and the statutes clearly say that to be affiliated with UEFA it is necessary to be recognized by the United Nations,” Platini told reporters in Belgrade. Kosovo, which unilaterally declared independence from Serbia a year ago, has been recognized by more than 50 countries, including the US and most of the EU.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
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