■SOCCER
Canales nets late equalizer
Gustavo Canales scored a last-minute equalizer to give Union Espanola of Chile a 2-2 away draw with La Equidad of Colombia in the Copa Sudamericana preliminary round on Wednesday. Franco Mendoza also scored in extra-time to give Emelec of Ecuador a 1-0 away win over Zamora of Venezuela in the day’s other preliminary-round fixture. The return legs of both matches will be played in three weeks. Canales opened the scoring for Union Espanola in the fourth minute, applying the final touch as Miguel Aceval’s free-kick ricocheted inside the area. La Equidad drew level when Ariel Carreno bundled home a 54th-minute corner and took the lead when Union defender Sebastian Miranda diverted into his own net from Wilson Carpintero’s cross in the 80th minute. Canales seized on a defensive lapse in the third minute of injury-time to ensure the draw. In Venezuela, substitute Mendoza headed home from a corner in the final minute to give the Ecuadorian club a valuable away victory.
■FOOTBALL
Eli Manning agrees to deal
New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning has agreed to a six-year, US$97 million contract extension, making him the NFL’s highest-paid player. A person close to the talks, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been signed or announced, said Manning would be paid about US$15.3 million in annual salary to the end of the 2015 season. The deal means he will now be paid more than his older brother and Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, who receives an average US$14.2 million annually.
■ICE HOCKEY
Teppo Numminen retires
Veteran defenseman Teppo Numminen will retire after 20 seasons in the NHL. The 41-year-old Finn was an unrestricted free agent after playing the last four seasons in Buffalo. He also had stops in Winnipeg, Phoenix and Dallas during his career. He made the announcement on Wednesday, saying “playing hockey in the NHL and also for my country, Finland, was very enjoyable.” The three-time All-Star had 17 points in 57 games for the Sabres last season. In 1,372 career games, he recorded 117 goals and had 520 assists.
■CYCLING
Hagen wins in Rzeszow
Norwegian ace Edvald Boasson Hagen of the Columbia team won the fourth stage of the Tour of Poland on Wednesday after outshining teammate Andre Greipel in a sprint finish. Greipel, wearing the race leader’s jersey, finished second on the 239.7km stage from Naleczow to Rzeszow, but was later disqualified by race officials after an incident with another rider, believed to be Australia’s Allan Davis. It meant Belgium’s Jurgen Roelandts and Italy’s Danilo Napolitano were credited with second and third place finishes, meaning Roelandts was the new race leader. Roelandts leads Slovakia’s Borut Boziuc and a handful of other riders, including Greipel, by two seconds.
■RUGBY UNION
Giteau family to celebrate
The Giteau family will celebrate a unique double tomorrow when brother and sister Matt and Kristy both represent Australia. Matt will turn out for the Wallabies in their Tri-Nations match against South Africa in Cape Town, while his older sister Kristy will play for the national women’s team in a World Cup qualifier in Samoa. While Matt has been a regular in the since 2002, Kristy will be making her debut for the Wallaroos, although she has already represented her country at rugby league.
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
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