Luis Suarez returned for Uruguay for the first time since his infamous World Cup biting shame and helped the South Americans to a 1-1 friendly draw against Saudi Arabia.
The 27-year-old Barcelona star’s shot from an angle on 47 minutes in Jeddah came back off the far post before hitting Hassan Muath Fallatah for an own-goal.
Suarez was replaced with 20 minutes to go, but his hopes of a winning international return were ruined by Naif Hazazi’s last-minute equalizer for the former Asian champions.
Although still serving a nine-match competitive international ban for sinking his teeth into Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup, Suarez is allowed to play in friendlies.
Suarez, whose club ban ends in two weeks when Barcelona face bitter rivals Real Madrid, could have scored just before coming off when he pounced on a bad back pass.
However, with only goalkeeper Waleed Abdullah to beat, he tried to dribble past the shot-stopper and was tackled.
“Happy to wear this shirt again, gives me so much joy. Love the shirt. Uruguay!!” Suarez tweeted after the match.
Asian champions Japan gave Javier Aguirre his first win with a labored 1-0 victory over Jamaica, while Australia struggled to a 0-0 draw in sweltering Abu Dhabi.
Japan, who like Australia are building toward the Asian Cup in January, squandered several chances against Jamaica in Niigata, but an own goal from Nyron Nosworthy in the 16th minute proved decisive.
Japan were beaten 2-0 by Uruguay and were held 2-2 by Venezuela last month in their first two games under Mexican coach Aguirre, who took charge following the side’s World Cup flop in Brazil.
Japan will need to improve before a glamor friendly against Brazil in Singapore on Tuesday.
“We won’t get as many opportunities against Brazil as we did today,” Aguirre said. “We will have to be more clinical when chances come our way.”
In humid Abu Dhabi, Australia were held 0-0 by fellow Asian Cup finalists the United Arab Emirates.
Alex Wilkinson needed to clear Ali Ahmed Mabkhout’s attempt off the line in the first half, while Trent Sainsbury missed Australia’s best chance late in the game after being teed-up by Tim Cahill.
In Wuhan, China’s build-up for the Asian Cup continued with a 3-0 over Thailand thanks to a second-half own-goal from Thai goalkeeper Sinthaweechai Hathairattanakool, Sun Ke and Yang Xu.
In Muscat, World Cup quarter-finalists Costa Rica edged Oman 4-3 with Alvaro Saborio, John Jairo Ruiz, Juan Bustos and David Ramirez on target, while Saleh Raed, Mohammed al-Seyabi and Emad al-Hosani replied for the Gulf state.
Uli Stielike’s first game as South Korea coach saw a 2-0 win over Paraguay in Cheonan with goals from Kim Min-woo and Nam Tae-hee in the space of five first-half minutes.
In Harrison, New Jersey, Radamel Falcao’s first international goal in nearly a year and a quickfire Carlos Bacca brace gave Colombia a 3-0 victory over El Salvador.
The US settled for a 1-1 draw with Ecuador in Connecticut in a match that saw Landon Donovan, the US’ all-time leading scorer, make his final international appearance.
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