■ECUADOR
Liga storm into final
Claudio Bieler scored a hat-trick as Ecuadorean club Liga de Quito stormed into the final of the Copa Sudamericana with a resounding 7-0 win over River Plate of Uruguay on Thursday. Carlos Espinola, Miller Bolanos, Edison Mendez and Ulises De La Cruz also scored. Liga will play Brazilian club Fluminense in the two-legged final scheduled for Nov. 25 and Dec. 2. Liga’s 7-0 win at home against River overturned the 2-1 loss suffered by the Ecuadorean club in the first leg in Montevideo a week ago. Bieler opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 18th minute after Neicer Reasco was brought down in the box. Espinola headed Edison Mendez’s corner past the dive of River goalkeeper Luciano Dos Santos in the 28th minute to put Liga ahead on aggregate. River fell further behind in first-half stoppage-time when Bieler’s looping cross was headed back across goal by Walter Calderon for an unmarked Bolanos to smash into the roof of the net. Mendez scored Liga’s fourth with a clean strike from outside the box in the 57th minute and De La Cruz added a fifth in the 78th minute. Bieler completed his hat-trick with goals in the 84th and 89th minutes.
■FRANCE
Boli defends himself
Former France international defender Basile Boli, under investigation by prosecutors for embezzlement and handling stolen goods, said on Thursday that he had been “unfairly accused.” In a statement, the former Marseille centerback said he left the Brigade for the Repression of Economic Crime on Wednesday afternoon after being questioned over the activities of the Undertaking and Succeeding in Africa (ERA) foundation that he set up. “I only regret that the news of my being taken into custody was made public,” Boli said. “Believing myself to be unfairly accused, I try to think of my attachment and my devotion to the African continent. I am more than ever convinced of ERA’s mission — bringing France and Africa together with a view to the co-development of these two cultures. It’s why I will continue to bring my modest contribution to this mission that is so close to my heart.” A judicial source revealed that “the investigation” would “be pursued.”
■GERMANY
Senior figures pan van Gaal
Louis van Gaal’s future as Bayern Munich coach appeared shakier than ever after senior figures at the club criticized him before the game against Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen. In a joint interview published on Thursday in the Bild newspaper, Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer and general manager Uli Hoeness both gave the Dutch coach some blunt advice. “Louis van Gaal thinks he can take care of everything himself, but one single person can’t solve everything,” Hoeness said. “He has to learn to delegate responsibility,” Beckenbauer said. Van Gaal’s team are all but out of the Champions League and six points behind Leverkusen in the Bundesliga.
■SPAIN
Ibrahimovic ruled out
Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be out of action for around a week, the European champions announced on Thursday. The Swedish striker has aggravated the muscle injury in his left thigh which he suffered two weeks ago against Real Mallorca. He limped out of training on Wednesday and underwent medical checks on Thursday. Ibrahimovic will miss today’s league game away to Athletic Bilbao and probably also Tuesday’s crucial Champions League game at home to Italy’s Inter. He may also miss the Spanish clasico against Real Madrid on Nov. 29.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later