ENGLAND
Paul Scholes to retire, again
Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes announced his retirement for a second time on Saturday — just days after veteran manager Sir Alex Ferguson said he would be standing down at the end of the season. Former England international Scholes, 38, first quit in 2011 to take up a position on United’s coaching staff, but returned to first-team action in January last year. “Yes, I am finally hanging up my boots for good,” said Scholes, who was expected to make his first appearance since January in yesterday’s Premier League match against Swansea City at Old Trafford. “Playing football is all I have ever wanted to do, and to have had such a long and successful career at Manchester United, under the greatest manager of all time, has been an honor,” Scholes said.
ENGLAND
Hornets win thrilling playoff
Troy Deeney’s last-minute goal earned Watford a dramatic 3-1 win over Leicester City yesterday and a place in the championship playoff final with a 3-2 aggregate victory. Leicester, trailing 2-1 after winning the first leg 1-0, looked poised to reach the final when they were awarded a penalty in the 90th minute, but Hornets goalkeeper Manuel Almunia made a brilliant double save to deny Anthony Knockaert. Watford broke quickly and Jonathan Hogg headed a deep cross back into the danger area for Deeney to smash the ball past Kasper Schmeichel. Brighton and Hove Albion host Crystal Palace in the second playoff semi-final today.
ITALY
Juve’s record bid foiled
Newly crowned champions Juventus were foiled in their record-breaking Serie A points bid when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Cagliari on Saturday. Juve secured their 29th title the previous weekend, but Antonio Conte’s side had a new objective — beating the 91 points garnered in 2005-2006 when they were stripped of their Serie A title for match-fixing. That feat has now alluded them after the stalemate in which Victor Ibarbo’s 12th-minute goal was canceled out by Juventus’ Mirko Vucinic just after the hour mark. Saturday’s late game saw Catania climb to 55 points for the first time with a 1-0 win over Delfino Pescara 1936.
PORTUGAL
Porto go one point clear
Porto beat archrivals SL Benfica 2-1 thanks to a dramatic stoppage-time winner on Saturday, moving ahead in the title race with only one game to play and inflicting a first league loss of the season on the Lisbon-based club. Porto’s win gave them a one-point lead at the top of the standings with one match to play. Benfica scored through Lima in the 19th minute, but Porto soon leveled when Benfica’s Maxi Pereira scored an own-goal. A draw would have kept Benfica in command of the title race, but Kelvin raced down the left flank to score the winner and put Porto in prime position.
GREECE
Olympiakos claim double
Two extra-time goals by Algerian players lifted Olympiakos to a 3-1 win over PAE Asteras Tripolis in the Greek Cup final at the Olympic Stadium in Athens on Saturday. It was their 26th Greek Cup win and their 16th league and cup double after they won the league title last month. It was also the second straight double for Olympiakos. Striker Rafik Djebbour scored in the 98th minute and winger Djamel Abdoun added a goal via the penalty spot in the 119th to break a 1-1 deadlock. Asteras took a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute through Ruben Rayos, but Olympiakos leveled in the 42nd through David Fuster.
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
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB