■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.
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