Captain Alessandro Del Piero scored his third goal in two games and Uruguayan Marcelo Zalayeta added another Thursday to give Italian league leader Juventus a 2-0 victory over traditional rival AS Roma 2-0, extending its unbeaten streak to eight and restoring its five-point lead atop the Serie A.
Del Piero, who was hampered by a tendon inflammation at the start of the season, scored with a low right-footed drive from the edge of the penalty area in the 31st minute. He scored two in Saturday's 3-0 win at Siena.
Zalayeta, Del Piero's second-half substitute, made it 2-0 in the 75th, scoring from a few meters following a defensive blunder by Roma's Matteo Ferrari.
Zalayeta's third goal of the season ended the hopes of Roma, which produced its chance in first-half injury time when striker Vincenzo Montella's shot tested Juventus goalkeeper GianLuigi Buffon.
The win gave La Juve to 22 points. AC Milan was five back, two ahead of third-place Lecce which held Inter Milan to a 2-2 draw. The loss left AS Roma in 13th place with nine points, 13 behind Juventus.
Striker Eloi Amagat scored a late winner Thursday to earn third-division Girona a 2-1 upset over Villarreal in the first round of the King's Cup.
Girona rallied with two goals in the final 16 minutes after Bolivian defender Juan Manuel Pena gave Villarreal the lead off a pass by Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan in the 50th minute.
Raul Caballero equalized in the 74th minute with a penalty conceded by Forlan. Eloi sealed the victory in the 88th minute to send the minnow into the last 32 of the knockout competition.
The Belgian soccer federation will not appeal a five-match suspension imposed by world governing body FIFA on national captain Bart Goor for spitting, officials said.
The decision ran counter to the expectations of both Goor and national coach Aime Antheunis, who wanted the midfielder back as soon as possible to boost Belgium's flagging chances to reach the 2006 World Cup.
"We want to give youth a signal that we don't agree with some things, like spitting and insulting a referee," federation president Jan Peeters told Friday's edition of Het Laatste Nieuws.
World soccer's governing body suspended midfielder Goor and fined him SF10,000 (US$8,300) for spitting toward Spain midfielder Xavi Hernandez.
Goor was suspended for four games for the incident itself and a fifth match for picking up two yellow cards because of the spitting in the Oct. 9 match, which Belgium lost 2-0.
The hefty sanction highlighted the seriousness with which soccer authorities are treating spitting incidents after Italian star Francesco Totti was effectively thrown out of the European championships over the summer for a similar incident.
Leeds wants proof
Leeds United demanded proof of funding Thursday from a British-American consortium seeking to buy the club for ?25 million (US$45.7 million).
Sebastian Sainsbury, the great-grandson of the founder of British supermarket chain Sainsbury's, is behind the takeover bid along with Pennsylvania-based Nova Financial Holdings, Inc.
The Leeds board met Thursday, but chairman Gerald Krasner said no deal had been reached yet.
"The board of Leeds United confirms that a number of discussions are continuing with various parties, and at this stage no agreement has been signed," Krasner said.
"We have always insisted that any interested party must be able to confirm that the necessary funds are available in order to complete any transaction. Despite much press speculation, as we stand now, no party has met our conditions."
Krasner was behind the ?30 million (US$54.82 million) takeover that saved Leeds from bankruptcy in March.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
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