Veteran Mexico defender Rafa Marquez yesterday warned his teammates to beware of a French renaissance in their Group A meeting in Polokwane tomorrow as both sides look to build on opening draws.
Marquez, who is at his third World Cup finals, notched a late equalizer in their 1-1 draw with hosts South Africa while the French and Uruguay finished goalless.
BEWARE
But the 31-year-old Barcelona center-back knows the French can do much better than that and says his men must beware.
“We know the potential they have and the quality they can display in attack. They could really get it together at any moment and change everything as they are great players,” said Marquez, who had a spell with Monaco before joining Barca.
‘FINE SIDE’
“We are going up against a fine side and must go for the win,” Marquez said, while suggesting it would help both nations to play their game a day after the Uruguayans take on the South Africans so they will know what to make of that result.
“Knowing their result might make us perhaps go for the win. But it will be good to be armed with the knowledge of the outcome of that game,” he said.
“Even so we must prepare as well as possible to face the French. At any rate, I am really confident in this team’s chances after the work wwe have put in,” Marquez said.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB