■NIGERIA
Nigeria rally to force draw
Hosts Nigeria fought back from three goals down to force Germany to a 3-3 draw in their opening Group A match of the under-17 World Cup played at the Abuja National Stadium on Saturday. The result of the game, where kick-off was delayed by 30 minutes following a heavy downpour, extended Nigeria’s unbeaten run against Germany at this level, having won their previous clashes in 1985 and 2007. The Golden Eaglets were losing 3-0 after 48 minutes, before star player Stanley Okoro pulled a goal back for the defending champions in the 54th minute after Omoh Ojabu had been brought down by Robert Labus. Labus’ sending-off set the tone for a Nigerian fightback as Kenneth Omeruo and Edafe Egbedi also scored to cancel out goals from Lennart Thy (21 minutes), Shkodran Mustafi (39 minutes) and the lively Mario Goetze (47 minutes). Argentina lead the group after a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Honduras courtesy of a 58th-minute strike by Sergio Araujo in a clash the South Americans dominated. In Lagos, Switzerland upset Mexico 2-0 in a Group B match, with first-half goals from Pajtim Kasami and an own-goal by Mexico goalkeeper Jose Rodriguez, while Brazil scraped past Japan 3-2.
■FRANCE
PSG hit by swine flu
Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday confirmed that their attacking midfielder Ludovic Giuly and defender Mamadou Sakho have contracted swine flu. Midfielder Jeremie Clement has also fallen ill, but it is not yet known if he has the virus. “The test results received this morning confirm that they [Giuly and Sakho] are carriers of the virus,” PSG doctor Eric Rolland said. “They’re still in isolation at their homes and will not travel with the squad. We’re waiting to find out about the third case, Jeremie Clement, and hope to know more before the end of the evening.”
■NETHERLANDS
Feyenoord down VVV-Venlo
Feyenoord midfielder Denny Landzaat scored on Saturday to lead his team to a 1-0 win over VVV-Venlo in the Dutch league. Landzaat scored off a rebound after goalkeeper Kevin Begois had spilled Roy Makaay’s shot. FC Twente lead the standings with 26 points, two more than PSV Eindhoven. Feyenoord have 23 points along with Ajax. Also on Saturday, Erik Falkenburg scored a hat-trick to lead Sparta Rotterdam to a 3-2 win over ADO The Hague. Falkenburg hit the net in the ninth, 38th and 90th minutes. Danny Buijs and Charlton Vicento replied with first-half goals for ADO Willy Overtoom and Sebastiaan Steur scored to give Heracles Almelo a 2-0 win over Vitesse Arnhem. Anthony Lurling scored as NAC Breda edged RKC Waalwijk 1-0. RKC’s Gijs Luirink was sent off in the 83rd minute after picking up his second yellow card. On Friday, Zambia forward Jacob Mulenga scored his first goal for FC Utrecht and Ricky van Wolfswinkel added another in a 2-1 win over Roda JC. Willem Janssen got a consolation for Roda in injury-time.
■PORTUGAL
Braga’s winning run ended
Braga’s seven-match winning run ended when they drew 1-1 against Rio Ave in the Portuguese league on Saturday. Rio Ave went ahead after nine minutes through Joao Tomas and Evaldo equalized in the 31st minute. Braga have made the best start to a league campaign in their history, leading the standings and unbeaten after eight games. On 22 points, however, they are only three points ahead of Benfica. Elsewhere, Leiria beat Naval 2-0. Leiria are seventh in the standings and Naval 10th.
Jobe Bellingham on Tuesday admitted to having “anxieties” on following in brother Jude’s footsteps after joining Borussia Dortmund in the summer. Jobe Bellingham, 19, is two years younger than Jude Bellingham, who joined Real Madrid in 2023 after three years at Dortmund. A centerpiece of the England national team, Jude Bellingham has emerged as one of the best players in the world in recent seasons. The younger Jobe Bellingham joined Dortmund in June from Sunderland after their promotion to the English Premier League. He admitted he understood what the perception would be ahead of the move to Germany. “It’s something you do think about.
Before Tuesday’s 7-2 win at the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy suggested “most people couldn’t tell you five players on our team.” A look at the standings would indicate more Brewers players soon will be recognized by more fans. After all, it is difficult to overlook a team that not only continues to extend their lead in the National League Central, but also boasts the best record in the majors. “What we’re doing in here right now is special,” right-handed pitcher Freddy Peralta said after allowing only four hits and one run in five innings, while setting a career high with
A baseball team from New Taipei City won the US Pony Palomino Division World Series yesterday in Laredo, Texas, defeating the US West representative team from Azusa, California, 2-1. Ku-Pao Home Economics and Commercial High School earned the right to represent Taiwan in the Pony Palomino (17 to 18 age group) World Series after winning this year's Wang Chen-chih Cup, a competition named after Taiwanese-Japanese baseball legend Wang Chen-chih (王貞治), also known as Sadaharu Oh. In the championship game against Azusa, Ku-Pao's starting pitcher Luo Yu-yan (羅于晏) was erratic early, giving up two hits in the bottom of the first inning, followed
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko advanced to her first career WTA Tour semi-final with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro on Monday night at the National Bank Open. Two days after ousting No. 1 seed Coco Gauff in just 62 minutes, there was no letdown for the 18-year-old from Toronto. After taking a back-and-forth — and error-filled — first set, Mboko was broken in a sluggish start to the second set, but broke back in the fourth and sixth games to take a 4-2 advantage. Mboko is the first Canadian to reach the WTA 1000 event’s semi-finals since Bianca Andreescu’s title
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