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Sports Briefs

■ Football
Benfica signs China striker
Yu Dabao, an 18-year-old striker from China, has signed a three-year contract with Portuguese club Benfica, the Beijing Times said yesterday. Currently on loan from Chinese club Qingdao Hailifeng, Yu has agreed to a more permanent move worth US$536,000 to join Benfica, which is currently second-place in the Portuguese league, the paper said. While on loan since the beginning of this year, Yu scored 12 goals in just eight appearances for Benfica's development side.

■ Football
Stingley dies at 55
Darryl Stingley, the former New England Patriots wide receiver who was paralyzed by a vicious hit in a 1978 NFL preseason game, died on Thursday at the age of 55. Stingley was pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago on Thursday after he was found unresponsive at his home, according to a spokesperson with the Cook County medical examiner's office. The cause of death was not immediately known. "This is a sad day for all who knew Darryl Stingley," Patriots chairman Robert Kraft said.

■ Basketball
Gators heading to NBA
With two coveted collegiate basketball championships in their pockets, Joakim Noah and his fellow University of Florida starters are heading to the NBA. Forwards Noah and Corey Brewer, center Al Horford and point guard Taurean Green all announced on Thursday they will forego their final year of college eligibility and enter the NBA draft. Shooting guard Lee Humphrey is in his final senior year of college and also headed for the pros.

■ Basketball
Arenas likely out for season
Washington Wizards point guard Gilbert Arenas was scheduled to have surgery on Thursday on his left knee and is essentially done for the season. Arenas was diagnosed with a lateral meniscus tear and was to have arthroscopic surgery later in the day at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington. The Wizards said the recovery time will be two to three months, meaning he might play again this season only if Washington manages to make the NBA finals without him. Arenas was injured in the first quarter of Wednesday night's 108-100 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats.

■ Soccer
Arsenal shares sold
Another US sports team owner bought into an English soccer club as Stan Kroenke, the billionaire owner of the Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets and Colorado Rapids, purchased 9.99 percent of Premier League team Arsenal from British broadcasting company ITV. Kroenke follows Malcolm Glazer, Randy Lerner, Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr. as US investors in Premier League teams. Kroenke's British-based vehicle KSE UK bought the shares on Thursday, ITV said in a statement.


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