■ITALY
Miccoli has Diego’s earring
Palermo forward Fabrizio Miccoli has revealed he was the mystery buyer of an earring seized from Diego Maradona last year as part payment of his tax arrears in Italy. The piece of jewelry was taken by police while Maradona was in Italy at a weight-loss clinic in September. He owes the Italian inland revenue more than 30 million euros (US$41 million) stemming from unpaid taxes when he played for Napoli and helped them to win the Serie A title in 1987 and 1990. Miccoli paid 25,000 euros for the earring at auction in January. “He knows that I have it,” Miccoli told yesterday’s La Gazzetta dello Sport when asked if he will return it to the Argentina coach. “It’ll be difficult to meet him now, but we’ll see each other soon. I called my son Diego in his honor.”
■AUSTRALIA
Thai trailblazer extends deal
Trailblazing Thai defender Surat Sukha has extended his contract with Melbourne Victory for a year, keeping him at the club until 2012, officials said yesterday. The 27-year-old has made 18 appearances including last month’s Grand Final since joining from Chonburi FC last year, when he became the A-League’s first Southeast Asian player. “He’s the first player from Southeast Asia to play at the highest level in Australia and we couldn’t be more impressed with the way he’s adapted and performed since joining the club,” operations manager Gary Cole said. “He’s fitted in so well, he’s always laughing and smiling and he and his family thoroughly enjoy living in Melbourne.”
■ARGENTINA
Palermo sets goals record
Argentina striker Martin Palermo, hoping to make Diego Maradona’s World Cup squad, set a Boca Juniors record of 220 goals when he scored twice in their 4-0 defeat of Arsenal in the Clausura championship on Monday. Palermo surpassed the 218 goals scored by Roberto Cherro, who had held the record since the late 1930s, when he tapped the ball home after nine minutes following a fine move by Juan Roman Riquelme and added another in the second half from fellow striker Nicolas Gaitan’s pass. The victory under new coach Roberto Pompei ended a run of three consecutive defeats in which Boca, whose previous coach Abel Alves quit on Friday, conceded nine goals. Riquelme also scored as Boca climbed to joint 14th in the standings. Palermo is in his second spell at Boca after his debut with the club in 1997 following a transfer from Estudiantes. He played for Villarreal, Real Betis and Alaves in Spain between 2001-2004. He has scored seven goals in 12 matches for Argentina and Maradona has said he has an 80 percent chance of being in his squad for the finals in South Africa starting on June 11.
■ARGENTINA
‘Monkey’ jibes earn ban
Argentine defender Matias Manrique has been banned for five matches after calling Ecuadorean defender Giovanny Espinoza a “monkey” in a match last month. Manrique, who plays for Nublense, said on Monday he did not plan to appeal the suspension. Espinoza plays for Chilean club Union Espanola. Espinoza testified to a league disciplinary panel that Manrique told him several times to “go eat a banana” and “you’re a monkey” in the March 27 game. In its report, the disciplinary panel said Manrique told them he did not mean the taunts to be racist and said he called Espinoza after the match to apologize.
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
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
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two