AC Milan received an injury boost ahead of the Champions League visit of Tottenham today, but it did not regard one of their own players.
Welsh wing wonder Gareth Bale has been ruled out of the second-round, first-leg tie at the San Siro and one person in particular, Milan rightback Ignazio Abate, is heaving a huge sigh of relief.
Memories of Cardiff-born Bale in Milan are still vivid following his scorching hat-trick against Inter in the Champions League group stages in the very same stadium he will not be able to grace again because of a back injury.
The 21-year-old will not be traveling to Milan because of the problem that has kept him out of action for about three weeks.
“I’d like to be able to scare Milan and say he’s going to be available, but he’s not,” Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp said.
“He’s struggling to get over this back injury. The specialists don’t see too much of a problem there. There’s nothing that should keep him out too long, [but] we’ve got to make sure he’s right,” Redknapp said.
“He’s a young lad and he’s very important. He’s got a great future in front of him. On Sunday morning, when the fitness coaches started to push him a bit, he couldn’t go on,” he said.
“He doesn’t feel he’s ready to play. We’ve got to take our time and make sure he’s right when he comes back,” Redknapp said.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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