ENGLAND
Davids inspires Barnet win
Dutch legend Edgar Davids inspired Barnet to a 4-0 victory over Northampton Town on his debut for the English League Two club on Friday. Davids is more used to plying his trade on the sport’s grandest stages after an illustrious career with European giants like Juventus, Ajax, Barcelona and Inter Milan. Howeverm the 39-year-old midfielder has come out of retirement in the unlikely surroundings of Barnet, a tiny club based in the suburbs of north London who attract crowds of just over 1,000. Davids, a former Champions League winner who won 74 caps for Holland, had been working with Sunday league amateur footballers in England before accepting the offer to work alongside Mark Robson as joint Barnet Bees manager. His arrival at the club initially failed to spark a revival of fortunes for the Bees, as they lost 4-1 to Plymouth last weekend to remain rooted to the bottom of English soccer’s fourth tier. However, Davids was able to work his magic on the pitch at Underhill on Friday. Driven on by Davids, who played 90 minutes and earned a booking, Barnet secured their first league win of the season with four second half goals.
FRANCE
Lille salvage 1-1 draw
A last-gasp effort from Montenegrin defender Marko Basa handed LOSC Lille Metropole a 1-1 draw against Girondins de Bordeaux on Friday, the result maintaining the latter’s stalemate syndrome in drawing for the sixth time in nine matches this term. Polish international midfielder Ludovic Obraniak’s 18th-minute opener looked set to vault Bordeaux into provisional second place in the French table at the expense of last year’s struggling champions Lille. However, three minutes into stoppage time, home forward Henri Saivet committed a needless foul and from the resulting free-kick Basa headed home to rescue a point which keeps Lille in midtable and leaves Bordeaux four points off leaders Marseille in joint fourth spot. Bordeaux had set about their task with relish and had their reward when Brazilian defender Mariano Ferreira sped down the right and found Obraniak, who could hardly miss from six yards out. The southwesterners now have 15 points from their nine games, the same as Lyon but one behind title favorites Paris Saint Germain.
GERMANY
Fuerth tie with Hoffenheim
SpVgg Greuther Fuerth snatched a 3-3 draw against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim with the last touch of the ball in the Bundesliga’s 15,000th match on Friday.Lasse Sobiech scored three minutes into injury time with a header from a corner, after Joselu’s second goal in the 89th minute looked to have given the home side all three points. “My lads showed great spirit to come back three times,” said Fuerth coach Mike Bueskens, who ran onto the pitch in celebration. Robert Firmino opened the scoring in the eighth minute for Hoffenheim, only for Zoltan Stieber to equalize in the 39th after Tim Wiese saved Edgar Prib’s initial effort. Kevin Volland held off three Fuerth players to set up Joselu’s first goal in the 67th, before Prib equalized with a fine strike from distance in the 84th. “It was a great game for the fans. Unfortnately we didn’t manage to close the deal,” said Hoffenheim coach Markus Babbel, who felt the draw was “like a defeat.” Wiese was making his return from injury, and has now conceded 18 goals in five competitive games since moving from Werder Bremen. Hoffenheim has yet to win with him in the side.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two