■PERU
The U’s headaches worsen
Being bottom of Peru’s first division is one of several problems besetting champions Universitario, including a four-match suspension for coach Juan Reynoso for insulting a referee. Universitario have also been banned by the ADFP, which groups the 16 top-flight clubs, for favoring a different airline from the one which sponsors the championship and provides teams with air travel to matches. Reynoso was suspended by the Peruvian Football Federation for insulting the referee in Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat by Sporting Cristal, who scored a controversial winner after a player appeared to handle the ball. “The U,” as they are popularly known, said they would appeal against the ADFP suspension. The champions struck a deal with Star Peru to fly them to away matches and wore the airline’s logo on their shirts in Tuesday’s game. The ADFP has a deal with LAN Peru, a subsidiary of Chile’s LAN.
■ENGLAND
Tug-of-war over Donovan
Everton wants to keep US midfielder Landon Donovan beyond his 10-week loan period, but Los Angeles Galaxy coach Bruce Arena says he doesn’t intend to give an extension. Donovan has made an impact in the English Premier League, winning praise from club manager David Moyes and the Goodison Park fans, who have started a Facebook campaign to keep him. Donovan, who was Everton’s player of the month for January, has two games remaining with Everton in the current loan deal: against Hull City today and at Birmingham City on Saturday.
■FRANCE
Minister rips into Domenech
Sports Minister Rama Yade waded into the row over the fate of national team coach Raymond Domenech on Friday, saying he deserved the boot after Les Bleus’ disastrous showing in Euro 2008. “We should have replaced the coach after the fiasco at Euro 2008 and judged him on those bad results,” Yade told a French radio station, two days after France lost 2-0 to Spain in a friendly match. “It is a shame to see this poor style of play. We’ve got some great individual players, but the manager has been so far unable to shape a team.” France went into Euro 2008 as one of the favorites, but suffered the embarrassment of being dumped out in the first round and finished bottom of their group.
■MOROCCO
Missing defender surfaces
Trouble-prone defender Youssef Rabeh has resurfaced in his native Morocco after going missing in Russia and then threatening to quit the game. The prolonged saga over the 24-year-old’s future finally appears over after he signed for Moghreb Tetouan, the Moroccan club said yesterday. Rabeh went missing from his new Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala’s training camp in Turkey last month only two weeks after joining from Bulgarian champions Levski Sofia. In another twist, Rabeh subsequently broke his silence and announced that he was hanging up his boots.
■ENGLAND
O’Neill pans Wembley pitch
Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill on Friday added his voice on Friday to the mounting criticism of Wembley’s playing surface after Sir Alex Ferguson blamed the pitch for the injury to striker Michael Owen. O’Neill, whose side were beaten by Ferguson’s team in the League Cup final last weekend, said: “It looked like a rock concert had been held on it the night before. It is very poor for a national stadium. There is really no excuse for it.
SIBLING RIVALRY: Marc Marquez was locked in a duel with his little brother, falling behind at one point before recovering for his first season-opening victory since 2014 Six-time world champion Marc Marquez yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening Thailand Grand Prix to complete a dominant debut weekend at his new Ducati Lenovo Team, having also romped to Saturday’s sprint. The Spanish great took the 26-lap grand prix by 1.732 seconds for his 63rd MotoGP victory from younger brother Alex Marquez, who is still seeking a first checkered flag, with Francesco Bagnaia third to complete an all-Ducati podium. It completed a perfect weekend for Marc Marquez, who took pole position, the sprint victory and the grand prix win for a maximum 37 points to open the 22-leg 2025 campaign. He led from
AC Milan’s slender hopes of reaching next season’s UEFA Champions League took another hit on Thursday with a 2-1 defeat at Bologna which left them eight points from Serie A’s top four. Sergio Conceicao’s team sit eighth, some way behind fourth-placed Juventus after losing an entertaining contest at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, a match which was rescheduled from October last year due to torrential rain and flooding. Swathes of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy, much of which is fertile agricultural land, had been left under water following a massive autumn downpour. Dan Ndoye prodded home the decisive goal in the 82nd minute
Former Australian motorcycle gang member-turned-golfer Ryan Peake, who served a lengthy jail term for assault, yesterday produced a “life-changing” maiden win to qualify for The Open Championship. Peake held his nerve for a one-stroke victory at the New Zealand Open, earning him a berth at the major in Portrush, Northern Ireland, in July, pending clearance to travel as a convicted criminal. The 31-year-old from Perth celebrated animatedly and was showered with champagne by friends on the 18th green of the Millbrook Resort course near Queenstown after a redemption story rarely seen in the refined sport of golf. Peake held back tears as he
MILWAUKEE PREVAIL: Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 28 points as the Bucks withstood Nikola Jokic’s 27th triple-double of the season to beat the Nuggets Golden State star Stephen Curry on Thursday drilled 12 three-pointers in a scintillating 56-point display that carried the Warriors to a 121-115 victory over the Orlando Magic. Curry’s explosive performance helped the Warriors dig themselves out of a 17-point hole, with the point guard signaling the start of the fightback with a three-pointer from beyond the half-court line to end the first half that pulled the Warriors within 66-52 at the break. In the third quarter, he single-handedly outscored the Magic with 22 points to Orlando’s 21. The four-time NBA champion finished two three-pointers shy of former teammate Klay Thompson’s record for most
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