SPAIN
Godin hands Atletico the edge
A first-half header by Diego Godin gave holders Atletico Madrid a 1-0 victory in their Copa del Rey quarter-final first leg at home to Athletic Bilbao on Thursday. Godin nodded in a cross from midfielder Koke after 41 minutes in a repeat of the 2011-2012 Europa League final, also won by Atletico. Bilbao will fancy their chances of overturning the deficit in the second leg, especially as they have yet to lose at the San Mames Barria this season. Bilbao put out a strong side at the Vicente Calderon, with Kike Sola given a chance in attack ahead of the misfiring Aritz Aduriz. Atletico rested a number of first-choice players and the visitors went close to an early goal when Ander Herrera fired wide in the 10th minute. The hosts carried more of a threat in attack and goalkeeper Iago Herrerin had to produce a fine save to thwart Diego Costa. Herrerin also denied Adrian Lopez when he was clean through on goal, before Godin finally put Atletico in front. Costa and Koke then went close in the second half, but Atletico had to make do with a slender one-goal advantage.
ITALY
Fiorentina to face Udinese
ACF Fiorentina ground out a 2-1 victory over second-tier AC Siena to reach the Coppa Italia semi-finals on Thursday. Marvin Compper headed home a corner 15 minutes from time to book Fiorentina a two-leg tie against Udinese, who beat AC Milan on Wednesday. Josip Ilicic gave Fiorentina the lead in the 20th minute, shrugging off his marker to control the ball, before slotting under diving Siena goalkeeper Simone Farelli. Guillermo Giacomazzi leveled on the hour mark with a glancing header from Francesco Valiani’s free-kick. Siena almost equalized immediately after Fiorentina’s opener, but Neto pulled off a fantastic save to fingertip Michele Paolucci’s effort away from his top-left corner. Neto pulled off another good save in stoppage-time to keep out Alessandro Rosina’s swerving strike.
ENGLAND
Blues sign Mohamed Salah
Chelsea have already covered for the imminent departure of Spain international playmaker Juan Mata to Manchester United by signing winger Mohamed Salah from Swiss team Basel in a big-money deal. “The move is subject to the Egypt international agreeing personal terms and completing a medical,” the London club said on their Web site on Thursday. “The winger scored against us twice in the [UEFA] Champions League earlier this season and impressed against the Blues in last season’s Europa League semi-final,” the club said. Chelsea beat Basel over two legs in the Europa League, before going on to defeat SL Benfica 2-1 in the final in Amsterdam in May last year. The transfer fee for Salah was undisclosed, but media reports speculated that he could cost up to £16 million (US$26.6 million).
ENGLAND
Anelka to fight FA charges
Nicolas Anelka on Thursday denied making a controversial goal salute which was condemned as anti-Semitic and vowed to fight charges which could see him banned from the sport. Anelka, 34, was widely criticized for the “quenelle” gesture, which was popularized by French comedian Dieudonne M’bala M’bala, but described by critics as an inverted Nazi salute. The West Bromwich Albion striker said he would fight Football Association (FA) charges, which could carry a five-match suspension. Anelka has denied he is anti-Semitic, but the team shirt sponsor, Zoopla, has opted against renewing a commercial agreement at the end of the season in the wake of the incident.
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but