■ Soccer
Larsson calls it quits
Striker Henrik Larsson says he has played his last match for Sweden. "It is time to quit now. It feels right. I'm done with the national team," Larsson, 34, told TV station Canal Plus on Monday. The former Celtic and FC Barcelona striker hinted this month he would quit the national team as he returned to Sweden to finish his career at Helsingborg. Larsson, who earned his first cap in 1993, scored 36 goals in 93 matches for Sweden. If he sticks by his decision to quit -- he has changed his mind before -- his last international match would be Sweden's 2-0 loss to Germany in the second round of the World Cup where Larsson sent a penalty kick over the bar in that match.
■ Soccer
Thuram understands Zizou
France defender Lilian Thuram disagreed with Zinedine Zidane's head-butt in the World Cup final and said the Italy player who provoked him was hurting soccer. Thuram said in an interview published yesterday by the weekly Les Inrockuptibles that he understood Zidane's reaction to Marco Materazzi for insulting his family but that the timing was wrong. "Materazzi insulted his family. I understand that Zidane reacted, but not on the field," Thuram said.
■ Soccer
Clemente set for Serbia
Former Spain coach Javier Clemente will reportedly take over Serbia's national team following its poor World Cup performance. Clemente, who led Spain for six years through 1998, will become Serbia's first foreign coach, independent Belgrade radio station B92 said on Monday. Serbia's soccer federation refused to confirm or deny the report, but said that a formal announcement will be made later this week. Serbia and Montenegro was knocked out of the World Cup after losing its three first-round matches to the Netherlands, Argentina and Ivory Coast. Serbia will play its first match as a separate nation in a friendly against the Czech Republic in Prague on Aug. 16.
■ Baseball
Oh OK after op
Japan's baseball legend, Sadaharu Oh, has successfully undergone a stomach operation, his team said. Japanese home-run king, Oh, 66, said earlier this month he was temporarily leaving the Pacific League's Fukuoka Softbank Hawks to undergo an operation to have a stomach tumor removed. The operation on Monday "ended successfully," and Oh will devote his time for follow-up treatment for the time being, the team said in a statement later in the day. Oh was hospitalized last week in Tokyo after tests had found a tumor in his stomach. He did not say whether the tumor was cancerous but said he did not know when he will be able to return to the team. Oh, who played for the Yomiuri Giants, holds Japanese baseball's all-time record of 868 home runs and set the single-season record of 55 homers in 1964, which was tied by Tuffy Rhodes (2001) and Alex Cabrera (2002).
■ Soccer
Villa players want meeting
Aston Villa's players requested a meeting with chairman Doug Ellis on Monday to discuss an alleged statement released over the weekend concerning cost-cutting at the club. Manager David O'Leary would not comment on what the issues were, but Ellis is "furious" about the situation according to the club. Club spokesman Phil Mepham said it will hold "an internal inquiry" into "the circumstances surrounding the recent publication of a so-called player statement which was allegedly supported by the entire first-team squad." Mepham said several players had no knowledge of the statement.
RSS