■RUSSIA
Blues lose another shootout
Chelsea once more had a penalty shootout defeat in Moscow, in the Railways Cup tournament on Friday night, following their Champions League final loss to Manchester United in May. The stakes were much lower this time however, as Luiz Felipe Scolari’s men fell to Lokomotiv Moscow 5-4 on penalties after the match ended 1-1 in this semi-final of a friendly pre-season event. It was Andrei Shevchenko who missed the fateful kick, sending Lokomotiv into today’s final where they will meet Sevilla, 1-0 victors over AC Milan in the other last-four match. Chelsea dominated play from the start and went into the lead through Michael Essien, who fired home on 27 minutes after Nicolas Anelka fed him on the edge of the box from Deco’s precise cross from the right. After the break Chelsea still dominated play, but the hosts nevertheless managed to equalize through defender Ruslan Kambolov, who beat Chelsea keeper Petr Cech with a well-struck free-kick with six minutes to go. In a penalty shootout that followed Cech parred the series-opening kick by Lokomotiv skipper Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, but Lokomotiv goalkeeper Ivan Pelizzoli denied Wayne Bridge’s attempt later to level the scores. Pelizzoli deflected Shevchenko’s shot to put his side into the final.
■VIETNAM
Canarinho down Vietnam
Brazil, led by AC Milan star Ronaldinho, beat Vietnam 2-0 in a friendly on Friday that served as an Olympic warm-up for the South American giants. Alexandre Pato of AC Milan scored the first goal in the sixth minute, before a packed out crowd that included Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet in Hanoi’s 40,000-seat My Dinh Stadium. But his second attempt to score in the 46th minute was warded off by Vietnam’s goalkeeper, Brazilian-born Fabio Dos Santos, who became a naturalized Vietnamese citizen in December. Vietnam nearly equalized just after halftime, in the 47th minute, when striker Nguyen Viet Thang took a bold shot at goal, which keeper Diego Alves deflected away to safety. In the 81st minute the Canarinho’s Thiago Neves, voted the best player in the Brazilian league last year, scored the second goal.
■ENGLAND
Adebayor agrees new deal
Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor said on Friday he had agreed to sign a new contract with the Gunners. The 24-year-old Togo international joined Arsenal in January 2006 from Monaco and his performance last season attracted interest from Barcelona and AC Milan, but he has opted to stay with Arsene Wenger’s team. “Now I can tell everyone that, yes, I will sign a contract,” he told the club’s Web site. “I’m feeling very good here, very well here, and at the moment my heart is with Arsenal.”
■ITALY
Vieira to miss start of season
Inter midfielder Patrick Vieira is set to miss the start of the Serie A season after injuring his thigh. The France captain has strained his left thigh, an injury similar to the one that ruled him out of France’s ill-fated Euro 2008 campaign in June. “I am disappointed, but I remain optimistic,” the 32-year-old Vieira told Inter’s Web site.
■ENGLAND
Villa sign Guzan from Chivas
Aston Villa have completed the signing of American goalkeeper Brad Guzan after the MLS star was granted a work permit, the club said on Friday. The Chivas USA stopper, who agreed to join Martin O’Neill’s side last month pending Home Office clearance, will now be deputy to Brad Friedel.
■SWIMMING
Hardy pulls out of US team
Swimmer Jessica Hardy withdrew from the US Olympic team on Friday, four weeks after testing positive for a banned substance at the national trials. The US Anti-Doping Agency announced Hardy’s decision, saying she did so “in the best interests of the team.” The 21-year-old from Long Beach, California, tested positive for a low level of clenbuterol, a prohibited anabolic agent, at the trials on July 4.
■FOOTBALL
No NFL opener for Fabian
Baltimore Ravens cornerback Fabian Washington has been suspended for the team’s season-opening game for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. Friday’s punishment stems from an incident in February, when Washington, 24, was arrested on a charge of domestic battery. According to the police report, an argument with his girlfriend became physical, and officers noticed red marks on the neck of the player’s 21-year-old live-in girlfriend. Washington is allowed to participate in all preseason games and practices. His ban begins on Aug. 30 and he is eligible to return on Sept. 8, the day after the Ravens open their season against the Cincinnati Bengals.
■CRICKET
Kent out of league: ECB
Kent have been excluded from the inaugural Champions Twenty20 League for fielding two players who took part in the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL), the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Friday. The Indian board, one of the event’s organizers, said in June that English county teams containing ICL players would be barred from the multimillion dollar Champions Twenty20 League. The ECB said Cricket Australia, which is in charge of setting the rules for the tournament, had told it that domestic Twenty20 runners-up Kent would not be invited because the team contained ICL participants Justin Kemp and Azhar Mahmood.
■RALLYING
Loeb sparks in Finland
French four-time world champion Sebastien Loeb was on fire in Friday’s Rally of Finland, ending the day with a 14-second lead over overall leader Mikko Hirvonen. Loeb, of Citroen, took eight of the first 10 special stages to romp into the lead with a time of 1:04.57.9. That left Loeb with a tactical conundrum of keeping his lead in the last special and being first out of the blocks yesterday, or allowing the Finn to catch up and be the guinea pig for the difficult course. “I thought about it. But it took me all day to get this lead, and I wasn’t about to slow down at the end and give him a gift,” Loeb said. “I prefer to keep the time and see what happens tomorrow,” he said. Loeb — who has notched up a record 41 rallies — trails Ford’s Hirvonen in the drivers’ championship by three points.
■BASEBALL
Canada top US in tuneup
Scott Thorman had an RBI double in the 10th inning to lead Canada to a 4-3 pre-Olympic warmup match victory over the US in Cary, North Carolina, on Friday. Thorman’s two-out drive down the right-field line off Jeff Stevens scored Stubby Clapp for the Canadians, who didn’t have any baserunners reach third until the eighth yet rallied to claim the first of four pre-Olympic tuneups between the teams before they head to Beijing. Scott Richmond struck out three in two innings for the victory, and David Davidson worked a perfect 10th for the save.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB