FRANCE
Rennes dump out Troyes
Romain Alessandrini’s late winner sent Stade Rennais into the Coupe de la Ligue semi-finals after a 2-1 home success against ES Troyes AC on Thursday. Midfielder Alessandrini poked the ball home on 88 minutes after goalkeeper Yohann Thuram-Ulien had parried away a Vincent Pajot header into his path as the hosts booked a place in the last four against Montpellier Herault. AS Saint-Etienne take on LOSC Lille Metropole in the other semi-final. Rennes started brightly, with Jonathan Pitroipa latching onto a Julien Feret cross to make it 1-0 from close range. The 17-year-old Corentin Jean equalized for the visitors in the 22nd minute with a fine low shot from inside the box and Troyes produced a battling display until they cracked in the closing stages.
ENGLAND
Rodgers counsels Sterling
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has warned 17-year-old sensation Raheem Sterling he would be “foolish” not to reach a swift agreement on committing his future to Anfield. Sterling has been one of Liverpool’s few bright spots in a stuttering season, but Rodgers insisted the skillful winger cannot expect a huge leap in wages just yet. Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre held further talks with Sterling’s advisers earlier this week and the club insisted a deal would be struck soon. The Merseyside club has offered an estimated £20,000 (US$32,100) a week to Sterling, who turns 18 on Dec. 8, but according to reports the player’s representatives want double that.
ENGLAND
Dempsey ratchets up tension
Tottenham Hotspur’s Clint Dempsey has increased the tension ahead of his side’s Premier League game against Fulham by saying that his former club did not give him the recognition he deserved. Today, Tottenham and Dempsey make the short journey across London to Fulham, the club where he scored 50 goals in 184 league matches from 2007 to last season. Despite a number of players swapping between Tottenham and Fulham, Dempsey’s comments — and the way in which he left the club — are likely to ensure he is the one most targeted by the home fans. “If you always felt valued and appreciated enough, I don’t think you’d ever leave, but it came to a point where I didn’t feel valued and appreciated,” Dempsey said on Thursday. “Not by the fans, but by other situations. That’s just the way things went.” Dempsey scored 21 league goals in his first three-and-a-half seasons at Craven Cottage, before adding 29 more in his final two campaigns, winning Fulham’s Player of the Season award.
SWAZILAND
Striker asks for boots back
International striker Mfanzile Ndzimandze has begged disgruntled fans to return his boots, which were seized after his team’s worst drubbing in decades. The boots were taken at the weekend, when fans of Ndzimandze’s team the Mbabane Highlanders went berserk after a humiliating 5-1 defeat against underdogs the Malanti Chiefs. “I really want my Nike boots back,” the player said on Thursday. Ndzimandze had been one of a group of players trying to protect team manager Sipho Xaba from rampaging supporters at the Somhlolo National Stadium after the side’s worst defeat in 22 years. “The fans wanted to assault the players and we ran to the mini-bus to get protection,” Ndzimandze said. The loss placed the team, once a giant of Swazi soccer, deep in the relegation zone. Ndzimandze said taking his boots would not help, because they were not responsible for the team’s troubles.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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