■ SOCCER
Schuster set for Real Madrid
Bernd Schuster, the German coach of Spanish top flight outfit Getafe, said in an interview with sports daily AS on Friday he expected to be installed within days as Fabio Capello's successor at Real Madrid. "I am sure all will be sorted out next week," said Schuster, 47, a former Real star who also played with distinction in Spain with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. "Angel [Torres, the Getafe chairman], has made me very happy. He knows I have given my all for Getafe these past two years and he will not stand in the way of me fulfilling my dream. He has behaved like a gentleman and I am sure there will be no problem," Schuster said.
■ SWIMMING
Phelps wins in Santa Clara
US swimming star Michael Phelps broke his own 200m butterfly meet record and compatriot Natalie Coughlin won two titles on Friday at the Santa Clara International meet. Phelps, aiming to break Mark Spitz's record of seven Olympic gold medals at next year's Beijing Games, won in 1 minute 56.05 seconds to break his meet record from 2003 by 0.01 of a second, although off his world record 1 minute 52.09 seconds from last March. Coughlin captured the women's 100m freestyle in 54.12 seconds, beating Emily Silver by 1.58 seconds, and took the 100m butterfly in 58.45 seconds, 0.05 seconds ahead of Dana Vollmer.
■ GOLF
Khan grabs lead in France
England's Simon Khan produced the round of the day with a four-under 67 to grab the halfway lead at a weather-hit French Open on Friday. Playing with an old, battered putter he had requisitioned from his two-year-old daughter in a bid to end his woes on the greens, the 35-year-old Khan had a bogey-free round with four birdies as he got to five-under for the tournament.
■ GOLF
Perry fires nine-under 63
Kenny Perry, so off target in round one that he broke a spectator's nose, fired a nine-under par 63 on Friday to grab a share of the lead after two rounds of the US PGA Buick Open. The 46-year-old American matched his low round of 2007 and equaled compatriots Jim Furyk and Brett Quigley on 10-under par 144 after 36 holes at the US$4.9 million event. Perry's sizzling round followed a horrid 71 on Thursday that saw him hit two spectators. "I broke a lady's nose with a three-wood, going into 16," Perry said. "It hit her flush. She didn't even see it and it just shattered her nose ... She had so much blood all over. I've never seen anything like that. It really shook me up. Then I hit a guy on the 13th hole off the tee, hit him in the shoulder."
■ BASKETBALL
Mavericks row heats up
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban claims in an ongoing dispute with his former coach that Don Nelson used "confidential information" to help the Golden State Warriors pull off a stunning first-round NBA playoff victory. That accusation is part of Cuban's response to an arbitration claim Nelson has filed against Cuban to get US$6.5 million of deferred compensation, which Nelson said he was owed for his time with the Mavericks from 1997 to 2005. "Don may know that [Dirk] Nowitzki likes to turn toward his left shoulder not his right shoulder, but we don't think that's a trade secret or confidential information," Nelson's attorney, John O'Connor, said by telephone on Friday from his San Francisco office. "Cuban apparently does." Cuban didn't respond to e-mail on Friday, when he had left hip replacement surgery.
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