The Czech Republic suffered a 2-1 home defeat by Hungary in their final Euro 2012 warm-up game despite dominating possession as Adam Gyurcso netted a late winner for the visitors on Friday.
The unmarked Gyurcso latched onto a long-range pass in front of goal and rifled a shot past goalkeeper Petr Cech.
Hungary opened the scoring after just six minutes when Balazs Dzsudzsak’s quick free-kick from just outside the penalty area caught the Czechs out as they organized their defence.
The hosts, who created several chances, equalized with a Michal Kadlec penalty midway through the first half after forward Milan Baros was dragged down inside the area.
Czech Republic coach Michal Bilek fielded a full strength side except for injured captain Tomas Rosicky, although the midfielder is expected to be fit for the tournament.
Bilek said the Czechs could not find the final pass to penetrate a physical Hungarian side who spent most of the night concentrating on defending rather than looking to attack.
He also lamented the two defensive breakdowns that gifted the visitors their two goals, but said the Czechs would be ready for the tournament which starts next week.
“The result will not affect our confidence,” Bilek said. “We dominated the game but could not get over the [defensive] wall.”
The Czechs, semi-finalists in 2004 and finalists in 1996, play Russia on Friday in their opening Group A game before facing former European champions Greece and co-hosts Poland.
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
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite