■ENGLAND
Heskey ends England career
England striker Emile Heskey announced his international retirement on Thursday after his country’s disappointing World Cup campaign. “I’ve enjoyed every moment of my England career, I’ve worn the shirt with pride every time I’ve been fortunate enough to be selected,” the 32-year-old Aston Villa player said in a statement. “I wish the management team and the playing squad all the best for the future.” Heskey made 62 appearances for England, scoring just seven goals. He drew a blank at the World Cup in South Africa, where he missed a golden opportunity to score in the opening 1-1 draw against the US after setting up captain Steven Gerrard for the first goal. Despite frequently misfiring in front of goal, the muscular striker found favor with various England managers, including Fabio Capello.
■ENGLAND
Rooney wins court battle
Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has defeated attempts by his former management agency to sue him for £4.3 million (US$6.6 million), labeling their claim “a joke” and an attempt to exploit him. The 24-year-old England player had been accused of withholding commission on deals brokered by sports management firm Proactive, who used to represent him. Rooney made no payments after soccer agent Paul Stretford, a director and founder of Proactive, left the firm in acrimony in October 2008, taking with him their top client. Judge Brendan Hegarty said the contract Rooney signed with Proactive in 2002 was a “restraint of trade” as it was up to eight years long when the FA recommended a maximum of two years. He said Proactive was entitled to a “restitutional remedy” from Rooney of about £90,000.
■SOUTH AFRICA
Mosimane to coach Bafana
Pitso Mosimane signed a four-year contract on Thursday to be South Africa’s new coach, tasked with ensuring this year’s World Cup hosts qualify for the next edition in Brazil. The 45-year-old replaces Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira, under whom he worked as an assistant over the last four years. His appointment keeps a promise the country’s soccer association made to appoint a local once the World Cup was over. “I feel extremely privileged to be filing Carlos Alberto Parreira’s shoes,” Mosimane told reporters. Mosimane’s first mission will be to oversee the qualifying campaign for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations finals.
■ITALY
Cavani set to join Napoli
Edinson Cavani is set to join Napoli when he returns to Italy from his post-World Cup break in Uruguay. Italian media reports on Thursday said the 23-year-old Cavani has agreed to a one-year loan deal with Napoli, with the club having the option to sign him permanently for 16 million euros (US$20 million) at the end of the season. Cavani has been with Palermo since 2007 and has scored 34 goals in 109 games.
■ASIA
Tickets to go on sale
Tickets for the Asian Cup in Qatar next year go on sale over the Internet starting later this month. The Asian Football Confederation says tickets will be sold starting July 25 at www.the-afc.com. Ticket prices are expected to be announced as early as next week. Asian soccer fans will be able to choose matches, ticket categories and seat locations within the stadiums. They may also purchase multiple tickets for one match or a group of matches at the same time. The Asian Cup will be held in Doha, Qatar, from Jan. 7 to Jan. 29.
Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open. Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2. Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16. Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Armed with three solid men’s singles shuttlers and doubles Olympic champions, Taiwan aim to make their first Thomas Cup semi-final, Chou Tien-chen said Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying yesterday quickly dispatched Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in straight sets, while her male counterpart Chou Tien-chen beat Germany’s Kai Schaefer, as Taiwan’s women’s and men’s teams won their Group B opening rounds of the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Chengdu, China. World No. 5 Tai beat Goh 21-19, 22-20 in a speedy 33 minutes, her fourth straight victory over the world No. 24 shuttler since they first faced each other in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Malaysia Open, where Tai went on to win the women’s singles title. Malaysia followed up Tai’s opening victory
Chen Yi-tung (陳奕通) secured a historic Olympic berth on Sunday by winning the senior men’s foil event at the 2024 Asia Oceania Zonal Olympic Fencing Qualifiers in United Arab Emirates. Chen defeated Samuel Elijah of Singapore 15-4 in the final in Dubai to secure the only wild card in the event, making him the first male Olympian fencer from Taiwan in 36 years and only the sixth Taiwanese fencer to ever qualify for the quadrennial event. The last appearance by a Taiwanese male fencer at the Olympics was in 1988, when Wang San-tsai (王三財) and Cheng Ming-hsiang (鄭明祥) competed in Seoul. The
A soccer jersey carrying a national map including disputed Western Sahara has become a hot commodity in Morocco after a diplomatic dispute with Algeria. Retailers said RS Berkane jerseys have been flying off the shelves after a Confederation of African Football (CAF) Cup match against Algerian club USM Alger was canceled last month over the jerseys. “We are overwhelmed by the influx of messages and requests,” said Brahim Rabii, representative of the official RS Berkane jersey distributor. Algeria broke off diplomatic relations with Morocco in 2021, partly over the issue of Western Sahara. The former Spanish colony is largely controlled by Morocco, but claimed