Zinedine Zidane scored in his final game for Real Madrid on Tuesday, consolation in a season-ending 4-3 loss to Sevilla.
Madrid conceded all four goals to the newly crowned UEFA Cup champion in a 17-minute spell before halftime after David Beckham had given Real a 2-0 lead.
Zidane, who is to retire after the World Cup, reduced the deficit in the 72nd.
PHOTO: AFP
Despite the loss, Real Madrid still finished in second place after Valencia failed to capitalize, ended a point behind in third after a 2-1 defeat at Osasuna in Tuesday's other game. Valencia's loss means the 2002 and 2004 league champion must enter the European Champions League's preliminary stage next season.
Osasuna's victory secured fourth place and a debut in Europe's top club competition, ending Sevilla fifth and returning it to the UEFA Cup next season.
Barcelona, which won the league title on May 3, has 82 points from 37 games, while Madrid finished with 70 and Valencia 69. Osasuna and Sevilla ended with 68 but Osasuna finished higher due to head-to-head results.
The league season concludes tomorrow when Barcelona, which has to play without its international players, visits Athletic Bilbao, two days after it faces Arsenal in the Champions League final.
Madrid appeared to be cruising toward a victory at Sevilla's Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium and set to celebrate the final game of Zidane, who joined the club in 2001.
A former Italian senator has been assigned to clean up Italian soccer amid a widening scandal involving allegations of match-fixing, illegal betting and manipulation of referee assignments.
Guido Rossi, former chief of the Italian stock market regulator Consob and an expert in sporting law, was approved Tuesday as extraordinary commissioner of the soccer federation.
"Rossi will have to rewrite the rules, ethics and morals," Italian Olympic Committee president Gianni Petrucci said.
Prosecutors said last week four Serie A clubs -- Juventus, Lazio, AC Milan and Fiorentina -- are involved in the match-fixing probe. The illegal betting probe has involved Juventus and Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.
Forty-one people have been ordered to appear for questioning for suspected criminal association.
Naples prosecutors said Friday that investigators were looking into the rigging of 20 games from the 2004-2005 season -- all but one in the top league, Serie A.
Goleo maker bankrupt
The German company producing Goleo, the official mascot for the World Cup, said on Tuesday it has filed for bankruptcy amid reports of low demand for the stuffed lions.
Uwe Klimach, head of marketing for stuffed animal maker Nici, a family run company based in the southern city of Altenkunstadt, confirmed that the company had filed for insolvency, but declined to comment further.
According reports in the German media, the company has run into financial problems predominantly due to low sales of its plush mascots. Nici won the sole rights for production of the lion, which was designed by the Jim Henson Company, maker of the Muppets.
restaurant cleared
Tests have cleared a London hotel restaurant which Tottenham blamed for a suspected outbreak of food poisoning that affected 10 of its players before a crucial defeat.
Health officials said on Tuesday that a virus was the likely cause of the illness which occurred on the eve of Tottenham's 2-1 loss to West Ham on May 7.
That loss and a 4-2 win by Arsenal over Wigan allowed the Gunners to overtake Spurs and finish in fourth place, gaining the last berth in the Champions League.
Tainan TSG Hawks slugger Steven Moya, who is leading the CPBL in home runs, has withdrawn from this weekend’s All-Star Game after the unexpected death of his wife. Moya’s wife began feeling severely unwell aboard a plane that landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday evening. She was rushed to a hospital, but passed away, the Hawks said in a statement yesterday. The franchise is assisting Moya with funeral arrangements and hopes fans who were looking forward to seeing him at the All-Star Game can understand his decision to withdraw. According to Landseed Medical Clinic, whose staff attempted to save Moya’s wife,
Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday homered for the fifth consecutive game, tying a Los Angeles Dodgers franchise record. Yankees star Aaron Judge was the last player to homer in five consecutive games, accomplishing that feat last year. Ohtani, who leads the National League with 37 home runs, homered in the first inning off Minnesota Twins starter Chris Paddack. He hit a slow curveball 134m to center. He carried the bat midway down the first-base line and then did a bat flip. He did not hit a home run later in the game with the Dodgers trailing, but his presence was felt. With two outs
Taiwan’s world No. 6 shuttler Chou Tien-chen yesterday defeated India’s H.S. Prannoy to advance to the quarter-finals of the China Open in Changzhou. It was former world No. 2 Chou’s eighth win in 14 matches against Prannoy, who had earlier this week lamented the age divide between him and up-and-comers, although he is only two years younger than 35-year-old Chou. The Taiwanese, who is seeded sixth at the tournament, rebounded from a close 21-18 loss in game 1 on Court 2 at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium. He bounced back to take the next games 21-15, 21-8 and set up a tough quarter-final
The Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday acquired Taiwanese-American outfielder Stuart Fairchild from the Atlanta Braves for cash considerations to fill the roster after All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe was placed back on the injured list. Fairchild was designated for assignment by the Braves on Monday after hitting .216/.273/.333 in 28 games for Atlanta, with most of his work coming as a pinch runner or defensive replacement. He joins Tampa Bay as a versatile fourth outfielder option. To make room for Fairchild on the 40-man roster, the Rays transferred relief pitcher Manuel Rodriguez (forearm strain) from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day
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