SOCCER
‘Les Verts’ end Rennes run
AS Saint-Etienne beat Rennes 2-0 in Ligue 1 on Friday to end their opponent’s run of three successive league victories. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened the scoring in the 22nd minute before Renaud Cohade doubled Saint-Etienne’s lead four minutes into the second half. Rennes striker Mevlut Erding was sent off in stoppage time for a foul on Jean-Pascal Mignot. Rennes were without midfielder Yann M’Vila and center-half Chris Mavinga, who have both been suspended until further notice after going to a nightclub while on international duty with the France under-21 squad earlier this month. ‘Les Verts’ move level on points with fifth-placed Valenciennes, while Rennes slipped to 10th.
FOOTBALL
Appendix sidelines Roos
Michael Roos’ run of 119 consecutive starts for the Tennessee Titans will end today after the offensive tackle was ruled out of the game against the Indianapolis Colts. Roos had an emergency appendectomy on Monday and the team was wary of bringing him back too soon. “We’re not going to take any risks or chances with that even though he’s feeling pretty good,” Titans coach Mike Munchak told reporters on Friday. “He probably needs a good week to rest, and then he’ll be good next week.” Munchak expressed sympathy that the 30-year-old had been ruled out for a non-football reason. “You take that for granted when you have a guy like that, that you count on every week and has always been there,” Munchak said. “I don’t think that guy missed a practice, very few practices in all that time too. That’s the hard part. The bottom line is he wants to play and help us win. The side story is it is too bad it has to end a great streak he has going.”
SOCCER
Hamburg win at Augsburg
Hamburg SV forward Son Heung-min scored an early goal to set them on the way to a 2-0 win at lowly Augsburg on Friday. Artjoms Rudnevs added a second just past the hour to give Hamburg a third win in their last four outings. Visiting goalkeeper Rene Adler was barely troubled as his side climbed to fourth place with 13 points from nine games. Hamburg went ahead in the 13th minute after an interception by Rudnevs who found Son. The South Korean then cut inside his marker and curled a shot into the bottom left-hand corner. Son was also involved in Hamburg’s second goal in the 63rd minute as he fed Rafael van der Vaart on the edge of the area. The Dutchman slipped a pass between two defenders and Rudnevs stole in to score.
Olympics
President blasts failure
Outspoken Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko hit out at Belarus sports bosses on Friday for the country’s “complete failure” at the 2012 London Olympics. “Belarus people will no longer tolerate such a disastrous showing,” Lukashenko, who also serves as president of the Belarus Olympic Committee (BOC), told delegates at the annual BOC convention. “The performance of our Olympic team in Britain this summer was a complete failure,” he said, referring to a total of 12 medals, two of them gold. “Our team should be in the top three [medal-winning nations] instead of finishing in 30th or 26th place,” he said. Last week, Lukashenko blasted his national soccer team following a 4-0 home thrashing by Spain in a World Cup qualifier. “I’ve never seen such a disgrace for our nation,” he said. “Our team, excuse my language, just shit themselves. They came out on the pitch with their legs and arms shaking.”
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
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
Roger Federer on Wednesday said that staying involved with tennis in retirement helped him avoid feeling “like an alien” ahead of this week’s Laver Cup in Berlin. Federer, who helped create the tournament, retired at the Laver Cup in London two years ago and has since stayed involved with the competition as an ambassador. “I’m happy I went back right away to some tournaments,” the 43-year-old told reporters. “I feel I ripped the Band-Aid off quite quickly and when I walk around the tennis sites I still feel I belong there,” he said. “I don’t feel like an alien, which is 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