■CANADA
Zidane suffers freak injury
Zinedine Zidane’s charity match today is in danger of being canceled after the soccer great suffered a freak injury. Nick Smith, a spokesman for the game organizers, said Zidane injured his back while bending down to pick up his child on Wednesday as he was watching Vancouver’s Canada Day fireworks display. The three-time world player of the year underwent physiotherapy on Thursday, but may have pulled a tendon in his back and recovery usually takes a week. Organizers were expected to make a decision on the game’s status late yesterday. Smith said Zidane’s chances of playing were “50-50.” The game at B.C. Place is the finale in the three-game “Friends of Zidane” tour that has already staged events in Toronto and Montreal. They pit Zidane and other current and retired internationals against local select sides with proceeds going to UNICEF and other causes.
■GERMANY
Ze Roberto joins Hamburg
Brazilian midfielder Ze Roberto has joined Hamburg on a two-year contract. The 34-year-old former Brazil international signed for Hamburg on Thursday, the club said. Ze Roberto was a free agent after turning down Bayern Munich’s offer of a one-year extension to his contract. He played for Bayern between 2002 and 2006 and again between 2007 and last season, winning four Bundesliga titles and four German Cups. “He is a technically outstanding player and brings incredible experience with him,” Hamburg coach Bruno Labbadia said. He also played four seasons at Bayer Leverkusen, had a season at Real Madrid, and spells with Santos, Flamengo and Portuguesa in his homeland.
■SWITZERLAND
FIFA won’t punish Iranians
FIFA won’t punish the Iran national soccer team for the green wristbands some players wore in solidarity with anti-government protesters during a World Cup qualifier last month. Soccer’s world governing body said last week it would review all relevant match reports from the June 17 fixture against South Korea to decide whether any rules on player dress were breached. Under the rules drawn up by the International Football Association Board, “the team of a player whose basic compulsory equipment has political, religious or personal slogans or statements will be sanctioned by the competition organizer or by FIFA.” “We received the match reports and there was no reference to the wristbands,” meaning there will be “no further action,” FIFA said in an e-mailed statement on Thursday. FIFA last week asked the Iranian Federation to clarify media reports that several players were permanently banned for showing support for defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. It received a reply stating that “no disciplinary action has been imposed on any players of the Iran national team.”
■SOUTH AFRICA
Strike threat to stadiums
World Cup organizers will meet trade union officials to try to ensure a strike next week does not delay completion of stadiums. About 50,000 workers from South Africa’s biggest workers organization, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), plan to start a strike to support pay demands from next Wednesday. It is expected to halt work on stadiums for next June’s soccer finals, as well as power stations, hospitals, roads and a new high-speed urban rail project. “We are going to be engaging with the unions ... to understand the issues, because it is going to help us in our planning,” said Irvin Khoza, chairman of the local organizing committee.
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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