■EGYPT
Brazil get off to a flyer
Brazil got off to a dream start at the under-20 World Cup on Sunday, with Alan Kardec scoring twice in a 5-0 win over Costa Rica. Also in Group E, the Czech Republic prevailed 2-1 over Australia in a game that saw two late penalties and the 89th-minute sending off of Australian defender Ryan McGowan. There was more late drama in Group F, where the United Arab Emirates scored twice in injury-time for a surprise 2-2 draw with South Africa, and Mario Martinez struck two brilliant goals as Honduras beat Hungary 3-0 in Alexandria. With Argentina absent from the youth tournament, four-time winners Brazil are the hot favorites and they quickly established dominance over the energetic Costa Ricans. Kardec headed home from a corner in the 24th minute and Giuliano followed up with an expert lob over Costa Rica goalkeeper Esteban Alvarado to make it 2-0. Kardec got his second in the 44th, pouncing on a loose ball in the goalmouth following a Giuliano free-kick. Alex Teixeira tapped home Brazil’s fourth in the 75th minute after Douglas slipped through the Costa Rica defense and struck the post with his shot. Substitute Boquita completed the rout in the 89th minute.
■NETHERLANDS
Ajax keep in touch with PSV
Ajax beat ADO The Hague 3-0 on Sunday to stay within a point of Dutch league leaders PSV Eindhoven and FC Twente. Demy de Zeeuw gave Ajax the lead by blasting a 20m shot in the 25th minute, before newcomer Marko Pantelic doubled the lead in the 71st minute, converting Luis Suarez’s pinpoint pass from 10m. After Suarez had missed a dozen chances for Ajax, substitute Siem de Jong netted the third from Dennis Rommedahl’s cross in the 89th minute. Andwele Slory scored on his 27th birthday and Leroy Fer added another in Feyenoord’s 2-0 win over NAC Breda, while Paulo Henrique and Viktor Elm scored to help SC Heerenveen beat Sparta Rotterdam by the same score. Danny Holla’s 26th-minute goal was all FC Groningen needed to see off Vitesse Arnhem 1-0 and secure their first home win of the season. Bas Dost and Everton scored first-half goals to give Heracles Almelo a 2-0 win at NEC Nijmegen.
■BRAZIL
Palmeiras go clear at top
On-loan defender Danilo justified the US$55,000 Palmeiras had to pay to field him against Atletico Paranaense, who hold his registration, by scoring the winner in their 2-1 victory in the Brazilian championship. Chilean full back Luis Figueroa had put Palmeiras ahead and Chico equalized, before Danilo scored the winner from a corner 20 minutes from time on Saturday to send Palmeiras five points clear in the standings. Palmeiras now have 50 points, while second placed Goias have 45 after their 2-1 win over Gremio and are ahead of Sao Paulo having scored more goals, with Internacional fourth on 44 points after a 0-0 draw at home to Flamengo. Corinthians striker Ronaldo scored one goal and could have had another in their 1-1 draw with local rivals Sao Paulo on Sunday. Substitute Washington equalized for the champions.
■ENGLAND
Whole squad put up for sale
Micky Adams, the manager of English fourth-tier side Port Vale, said on Sunday he was putting his entire squad up for sale following a 3-1 defeat to Notts County. Adams told the BBC: “I’ve told them that the whole squad will be transfer listed on Monday morning. It’s not a personal thing. I could make excuses for them and their performance on Saturday, but that would just be papering over the cracks. The fans deserve better and I want to give them better.”
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures