■SOUTH AFRICA
Santana future looks in doubt
Joel Santana’s future as South Africa coach dimmed again after his side lost 1-0 to Iceland in a friendly in Reykjavik on Tuesday. The result, South Africa’s eighth loss in nine matches, came hours after the national soccer association said it would give Santana another month to fix next year’s World Cup host team. Fans and commentators have expressed unhappiness at Santana’s conservative tactics, which were apparent again against Iceland, who finished last in their World Cup qualifying group. Nancy striker Viegar Pall Gunnarsson scored Iceland’s goal in the 51st minute.
■ARGENTINA
Players receive phone threats
River Plate players received threatening phone calls on Tuesday from fans fed up with their poor performances in the Argentine first division, local media said. A humiliating 3-1 defeat at home to Independiente on Monday was the first time in 13 years that River had lost at home to their opponents in one of the Argentine game’s big “classics.” Players canceled their mobile phone contracts and refused to talk to reporters suspecting they had passed the numbers to the fans who made the calls, media said. “We know at what time your wife goes shopping” and “we know your family’s movements” were among the threats made, they reported.
■AUSTRALIA
Farina fired after drink rap
Former Australia player and coach Frank Farina was fired as coach of the A-League’s Brisbane Roar yesterday after being charged with drink driving. Farina was stopped while driving to a Brisbane training run at 7am on Saturday and recorded a blood alcohol reading more than twice the legal limit. He is due to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates’ Court next month. He faced a similar charge in Sydney in 2007. After making 67 appearances for Australia, Farina coached the national team between 1999 and 2005.
■NORTH KOREA
Congo, North Korea draw
North Korea were held to a scoreless draw by the Republic of Congo in a friendly on Tuesday. Playing their second match in Europe in 43 years following a 0-0 draw with French second-division club Nantes last week, North Korea created more chances than Congo. North Korea arrived in France on Oct. 5 as part of preparations for next year’s World Cup. They will play in their second World Cup in South Africa following an epic run at the 1966 tournament in England, where they reached the quarter-finals.
■UNITED STATES
Star in fatal car accident
Forward Charlie Davies is unlikely to play in next year’s World Cup after undergoing several hours of emergency surgery on Tuesday to repair a shattered right leg and ruptured bladder. The 23-year-old suffered multiple fractures in his face, a badly broken right leg, a broken left elbow and a lacerated bladder in a fatal car smash in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Doctors expressed hope that Davies’ high level of fitness would speed up his recovery but they added he would need further surgery and could be looking at up to 12 months or more of recovery and physiotherapy treatment. Davies, who plays for French club Sochaux, was listed in serious but stable condition in a Washington hospital after the emergency surgery. Davies was a passenger in the vehicle in which a 22-year-old woman died. A police officer who was at the scene said the vehicle was ripped in two pieces after crashing into a metal guardrail, the Washington Post reported. Davies has played 17 times for the US.
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
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
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
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