A new-look Atletico Madrid suffered a setback in their opening La Liga match of the season when they squandered several chances and twice struck the post in a 0-0 draw at home to CA Osasuna yesterday.
In brilliant sunshine at a festive Calderon, midfielder Eduardo Salvio was guilty of poor finishing and curled an effort off the upright in the first half, while former Arsenal winger Jose Antonio Reyes hit the post with a powerful swerving shot shortly after the break.
Osasuna goalkeeper Andres Fernandez pulled off a string of fine saves to deny the home side and Atletico were fortunate substitute Nino opted for power rather than precision in blasting wide from close range at the death.
Photo: Reuters
Madrid’s second club have seen Argentina striker Sergio Aguero and Spain under-21 goalkeeper David De Gea depart for the English Premier League this summer, while Uruguay forward Diego Forlan looks poised to leave for Serie A side Inter and was not included in the squad for yesterday’s game.
Atletico also have a new coach in Gregorio Manzano, who has begun a second stint with the club after replacing Quique Sanchez Flores at the end of last season.
He has brought in players including club record-signing Falcao, Turkey midfielder Arda Turan, and Spanish under-21 striker Adrian.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but