■RUSSIA
Hiddink to quit national job
Guus Hiddink will leave as coach of Russia’s national team when his contract expires on June 30. He guided Russia to the semi-finals of the 2008 European Championships but the team fell short of qualifying for this year’s World Cup. Hiddink wrote in a Dutch newspaper column that he had spoken with new Russian federation president Sergei Fursenko and “it was decided that we will part ways after the expiration of my contract on June 30.” “We decided this now in order to give the federation enough time to look for a successor,” he wrote in De Telegraaf. The 63-year-old Dutchman did not mention future plans but has been linked with major clubs in Europe and even with taking up a job at short notice coaching one of the teams at the World Cup. Hiddink was reportedly in the running for jobs at Juventus and Liverpool, while he also has close links to Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and coached the team on an interim basis last season, winning England’s FA Cup. There had also been reports that Hiddink was being lined up by Nigeria to lead the team at the World Cup.
■GERMANY
Borussia beat Nuremberg
Substitute striker Rob Friend scored with his first touch of the ball to give Borussia Moenchengladbach a 2-1 win over next-to-last Nuremberg in the Bundesliga on Friday. The Canadian had just come on for Roberto Colautti, who scored Moenchengladbach’s first goal in the 27th, when he hit the winner in the 74th after Karim Matmour had robbed goalkeeper Raphael Schaefer of the ball from a cross. Nuremberg’s goal came from Albert Bunjaku in the 47th, his 11th of the season. The win took Moenchengladbach up to 11th place.
■SPAIN
Real Madrid sign Canales
Real Madrid have completed the signing of teenage forward Sergio Canales from Racing Santander for next season. The 18-year-old signed a six-year contract after rejecting offers from many other major European clubs. Madrid did not disclose financial terms of the deal, which begins July 1. Canales has scored numerous goals that have caught the attention this season, leading Spain coach Vicente del Bosque to say he has a chance of making the World Cup squad later this year. Neither club said whether Canales would stay on loan next season at Racing, which wanted that condition as part of any deal.
■ITALY
AC Milan snap winless run
Klaas Jan Huntelaar scored either side of half-time on Friday to lead AC Milan to a 3-2 win over Udinese that snapped a four-match winless run. Huntelaar opened the scoring early on and Leonardo’s side appeared in control when Alexandre Pato scored a second later in the half. Antonio Floro Flores pulled a goal back for Udinese just before half-time, but Huntelaar’s second in the 57th appeared to have wrapped up the match. However, Antonio Di Natale scored his 17th of the season with four minutes remaining, but Udinese were unable to find the equalizer. The result means that Milan are back up to second, on 45 points, eight behind league leader Inter and one point ahead of AS Roma. “It was an important win for us,” Huntelaar said. “We had to win to keep up with Roma because there was a difference of two points. Now we have a game in hand, against Fiorentina.” The Dutch striker’s second was his fifth of the season and shows his improving confidence after a slow start to the season. “I have to do my job and score goals,” Huntelaar said. “I was happy to play today and score twice.”
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
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
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
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