■FRANCE
Bordeaux leave it late in Cup
Ligue 1 champions Girondins Bordeaux needed a late penalty to beat third division Rodez 1-0 in the French Cup round of 64 on Saturday. Bordeaux worried their fans until Jaroslav Plasil was fouled in the box and Wendel converted the resulting penalty 13 minutes from time. In the only all-Ligue 1 clash Le Mans beat visitors Valenciennes thanks to a first-half goal by Anthony Le Tallec. Monaco survived a few scares at home to second division Tours in a match that ended 0-0 after extra time. The hosts won the shootout 4-3. Olympique Lyon qualified in more impressive fashion with a 3-1 win at second division Racing Strasbourg. Several matches were called off because of wintry conditions.
■TURKEY
Club suspend midfielder
First division side Kayserispor said on Saturday that it had suspended midfielder Bilal Aziz Ozer after a newspaper report implicated him in the match-fixing scandal. “Unfortunately, our player Bilal Aziz has been accused of manipulating a match against Eskisehirspor. We won the said match with a goal assisted by the said player,” the club said in a statement on its Web site. “Despite this, we have suspended Bilal Aziz ... so as not to give rise to any rumors,” it said. The announcement came after the Milliyet newspaper published a report filed with German prosecutors that named Ozer as one of three Kayserispor players that tried to fix an Oct. 4 league match against Eskisehirspor.
■PORTUGAL
Benfica top after 1-0 win
Javier Saviola’s goal led Benfica to a 1-0 victory over Rio Ave that kept them joint-leaders as the Portuguese league resumed on Saturday after a three-week break. The Argentine’s goal sent Benfica to the top of the standings ahead of Braga on goal difference. It was Rio Ave’s first home loss this season. Sporting took advantage of its man advantage to beat Lexoies 1-0. Bruno Gallo was shown a red card in the 70th minute before Antonio Vilar headed home the winner with six minutes left. Also, Henrique Sereno’s goal led Guimaraes to a 1-0 win over Maritimo.
■ZAMBIA
Copper Bullets beat S Korea
Zambia sent out a strong message ahead of their departure for the African Nations Cup finals in Angola by beating South Korea 4-2 in a friendly on Saturday. Felix Katongo, Rainsford Kalaba, James Chamanaga and Noel Chivuta scored as the Copper Bullets took advantage of Korean errors. Katongo and Kalaba had Zambia two up before Kim Jung-woo pulled one back in the 34th minute. Chamanga extended the lead just before the hour and Chivuta added a fourth on 71 minutes. Korea got a late goal from Koo Ja-cheol. South Korea were in South Africa for a week of high altitude training and now head to Spain for two more internationals. Zambia play Tunisia in their opening match at the Nations Cup in Lubango on Wednesday.
■CAMEROON
Webo on target in 3-1 win
Achille Webo scored twice as African Nations Cup hopefuls Cameroon beat Kenya 3-1 in a warm-up match on Saturday. Cameroon stretched their unbeaten run to eight games despite going behind in the 20th minute to a James Situma goal. Webo equalized eight minutes before half-time and then put his side in the lead 11 minutes into the second half. Two minutes later Mohammadou Idrissou grabbed a third. Cameroon play their opening Group D match against Gabon on Wednesday.
‘REMARKABLE’: Gaelic football is a traditional Irish sport that blends the skills of soccer and rugby, and hurling is an ancient sport played with a wooden stick and ‘sliotar’ The Taiwan Celts Gaelic Football Club marked a milestone achievement at the Asian Gaelic Games in Bangkok on Nov. 23 and 24, with two sides advancing to the knockout stages and competing at hurling for the first time. The event brought together 68 teams from 16 clubs across Asia, with more than 800 players in men’s and women’s tournaments. Gaelic football is a traditional Irish team sport that blends the skills of soccer, rugby union and basketball. Hurling is an ancient Irish sport played with a wooden stick, called a hurley, and a small ball, or sliotar. The Taiwan Celts’ women’s team reached
LIVERPOOL WIN: The 50th Champions League goal by Mohamed Salah helped the leaders of the Premier League to keep their perfect record intact Real Madrid’s big stars on Tuesday turned on the style to revive the Spanish giant’s faltering UEFA Champions League title defense. Galacticos Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham all scored in a thrilling 3-2 win against Serie A leaders Atalanta BC. However, Madrid still had to ride their luck as Mateo Retegui fired over from in front of goal in stoppage-time when handed a golden chance to level the game. It was only Madrid’s third win in the competition’s revamped league phase and leaves the 15-time champions in the unseeded playoff positions in 18th place. “It’s a very important win. Not everyone wins
Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen yesterday exited at the BWF World Tour Finals in China, losing in the semi-finals to China’s world No. 1 Shi Yuqi. Shi, who was named the BWF Men’s Singles Player of the Year, had a 9-4 record against Chou going into the match. He extended that record to 9-5 with a 21-14, 21-18 victory. Chou advanced to the men’s singles semi-finals on Friday by upsetting top-seeded Anders Antonsen of Denmark in a must-win match at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium. The 16-21, 21-18, 21-15 victory saw Chou secure his second semi-finals appearance at the tournament, despite his relatively older
TO NO AVAIL: The Denver Nuggets’ Serbian center Nikola Jokic surpassed his 53-point performance in the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix The Washington Wizards withstood a 56-point explosion from Denver star Nikola Jokic to beat the Nuggets 122-113 on Saturday and snap their 16-game NBA losing streak. Jokic, who won his third NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award last season, posted a career scoring high — surpassing a 53-point performance in game four of the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix and a 50-point regular-season best against Sacramento in 2021. The Serbian big man added 16 rebounds and eight assists, but it was all to no avail as Washington, buoyed by 39 points from Jordan Poole, won for the first time
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