■ Soccer
Gulf Cup kicks off
Oman beat the United Arab Emirates 2-1 on Wednesday in the opening match of the Arabian Gulf Cup. Oman's Fawzi Basheer scored in the 36th minute of the Group A game from outside the penalty area. Basheer set up the second goal for Emad Al Hosani in the 50th. Ismail Matar scored in the 63rd for the hosts. The UAE played with 10 men from the 27th when midfielder Hilal Saeed was sent off for a foul on Basheer. This is the 18th biennial championship. Oman lost the 2005 final to Qatar.
■ Ice Hockey
Straka extends his deal
Martin Straka, the leading scorer for the New York Rangers this season, signed a contract extension with the NHL club on Wednesday, the team announced. The 34-year-old left wing from the Czech Republic has scored 24 goals and added 31 assists in 47 games this season for the Rangers, proving invaluable in power play situations. Straka, an All-Star with Pittsburgh in 1999, has 238 career goals and 423 assists in parts of 14 seasons with the Rangers, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles Kings, Florida Panthers, Ottawa Senators and New York Islanders. The Rangers have lost 10 of their past 15 games and slid to 23-20 with four overtime losses, trailing division leader New Jersey by 10 points.
■ NFL
Chargers retain head coach
The San Diego Chargers have said Marty Schottenheimer will return as head coach next season, but that the veteran had turned down an extension for next year. There had been speculation Schottenheimer would be fired after the Chargers lost to the New England Patriots 24-21 on Sunday, bringing their tremendous NFL season to a disappointing end. San Diego went 14-2 but a late collapse in the playoff game against New England ended their Super Bowl aspirations.
■ Soccer
Withe set to get the boot
Indonesia coach Peter Withe is set to lose his job after the national side failed to reach the semi-finals of the Asean championship, the chairman of the Indonesian Football Association was quoted as saying yesterday. "Obviously I will fire him. We have given him a chance," Nurdin Halid told the Koran Tempo newspaper. The former England and Aston Villa striker was handed an ultimatum before the tournament began: take Indonesia to the final or face the axe. Indonesia drew 2-2 with Singapore on Wednesday when a win would have guaranteed them a place in the final four. Indonesia collected five points, but missed out on a semi-final berth because of goal difference.
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