■UKRAINE
Salenko to sell award
The 1994 World Cup’s joint top goalscorer Oleg Salenko is prepared to sell his Golden Boot award for US$500,000 to pay off his debts, local media reported on Thursday. “I received a good offer from the United Arab Emirates,” Kiev-based Salenko was quoted as saying by Blik newspaper. “I had a small business but after the [global] crisis everything is down and I need to pay off some debts,” added the former Russia striker, who played for various clubs including Zenit, Dynamo Kiev, Valencia and Rangers before retiring in 2001. “I’m not totally broke or anything like that so I have to sell everything, but the offer was hard to resist. I was told wealthy Arab sheikhs would take good care of the award by putting it in a local museum.”
■UNITED KINGDOM
Man United plan tour
There will be little time to rest for Manchester United’s players in the off-season, with the English Premier League club revealing plans to tour North America immediately after the World Cup. Manchester United announced on Thursday they would play one match in Canada and another three in the US, kicking off just five days after the World Cup final, although any players involved in the latter stages of the tournament in South Africa are unlikely to be included. They will begin their tour against Scottish Premier League runners-up Celtic in Toronto (July 16), before playing Philadelphia Union (July 21) and Kansas City Wizards (July 25) then the Major League Soccer All-Stars in Houston (July 28).
■ARGENTINA
Riot police protect refs
Police were needed to protect the match officials when Alianza Lima protested vehemently against a late Universidad de Chile equalizer that knocked the Peruvians out of the Libertadores Cup on Thursday. Alianza were minutes away from qualification on the away goals rule. However, a shot by Felipe Seymour two minutes into stoppage time was deflected off a defender past Alianza goalkeeper George Forsyth and into the net to give the U a 2-2 draw and send them through instead, 3-2 on aggregate. Alianza were incensed because the linesman signaled for offside at first, but after consultation with the referee Carlos Verase the goal was allowed to stand. The Peruvians argued that Chilean players in offside positions blocked Forsyth’s vision, a view backed up by video replays. Riot police formed a protective wall around the match officials in the middle of the pitch as Alianza players tried to argue with them. Play was held up for more than a quarter of an hour before the referee resumed the match, playing out the remaining two minutes of stoppage time in a climate of hostility.
■UNITED KINGDOM
Mancini to stay at Man City
Roberto Mancini will remain as Manchester City manager for many years, club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said on Thursday. “Roberto’s going to do a wonderful job for us for many years,” Mubarak said in a video interview on the City Web site. “Roberto is our manager. He’s done an excellent job coming in mid-season, organizing the team. I’m very happy, and [owner] Sheikh Mansour is delighted with the way he’s organized the team.” City’s chance of fourth place in the Premier League and a berth in the Champions League disappeared with Wednesday’s 1-0 home defeat by Tottenham Hotspur. That led to media speculation that Italian Mancini could be fired.
MEDVEDEV AWAITS: The world No. 1 Spainiard said that he is ‘finding the right shots’ as he pushed his record so far this year to 16 victories and no losses Carlos Alcaraz on Thursday extended his unbeaten season and got revenge over Cameron Norrie to reach the semi-finals at Indian Wells for a fifth straight year. The world No. 1 from Spain emerged from a see-saw battle with 29th-ranked Norrie with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. In the semis tomorrow, he faces Russian Daniil Medvedev, who pushed his own ATP winning streak to eight matches with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over defending champion Jack Draper. World No. 2 Jannik Sinner powered past Learner Tien 6-1, 6-2 to line up a semi-final with fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Arthur Fils. Alcaraz, 22, became
West Ham United on Monday advanced to the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win against Brentford, who paid the price for Dango Ouattara’s spot-kick blunder. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side twice blew the lead as Jarrod Bowen’s double was canceled out by an Igor Thiago brace to force extra-time in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium, but in the shoot-out, Brentford winger Ouattara attempted a chipped Panenka penalty, but his woeful effort was straight at West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. It was an awful mistake by the Burkina Faso international and West Ham took full advantage. Bowen, Valentin Castellanos, Callum
Thanks to Italy beating Mexico on Wednesday, the US get another chance in the World Baseball Classic (WBC). What looked like a potentially disastrous early exit for US manager Mark DeRosa and his team turned out to be nothing more than substantial worry and significant embarrassment for about 24 hours. It remains to be seen whether the US really want to win badly enough for the reprieve to matter, as if it is just a switch they can flick, but there is little reason for their fans to be optimistic. The team’s attitude and behavior have been all over the place when
Brice Turang and Pete Crow-Armstrong’s consecutive RBI singles proved to be the difference in the US’ 5-3 win over Canada in a World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarterfinal on Friday night in Houston. The US faces the Dominican Republic, which crushed South Korea 10-0 in seven innings in its quarter-final, in a semifinal Sunday in Miami for a spot in Tuesday’s championship. The Dominican team has won all five games in this WBC by a combined margin of 51-10. It appeared the US squad was headed toward a cozy victory when it built a 5-0 lead by the sixth inning. A first-inning RBI groundout
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