Soccer: Fergie admits Keane wrong
After initially saying Roy Keane had done nothing wrong, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has changed his mind. Ferguson now admits that his captain deserved a red card for elbowing fellow Irishman Jason McAteer in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Sunderland. Keane was sent off for the 10th time in his career after a last-minute challenge on his former Ireland teammate. The two had tangled earlier in the second half. In a post-match television interview, Ferguson described Keane's actions as ``innocuous'' and accused McAteer of play-acting. But, after further reviewing television replays, Ferguson said the referee made the right decision. ``Roy is the first United player to be sent off for this offense and I have said recently the use of the elbow is a growing problem in our game,'' Ferguson was quoted as saying in the The Sun newspaper. ``We won't appeal, the referee had no choice but to send him off. The replay I was shown immediately after the match was misleading. When I saw the TV pictures from a different angle, I saw the referee had no choice.'' Keane was sent home from Ireland's World Cup training camp after falling out with manager Mick McCarthy. McAteer has since taken over the Ireland captaincy from Keane.
Swimming: Welsh breaks 50m record
Matt Welsh broke the 50m backstroke short-course world record at the Australian swimming championships yesterday. Welsh finished in 23.31 seconds, 11-100ths of a second faster than the former record in a 25m pool. On March 16, 2000, American Neil Walker set the previous world mark of 23.42 at Athens, Greece.
Soccer: Korea goodwill match on
North Korea notified South Korea yesterday of plans to send 21 players and five coaching staff to Seoul this week for a soccer friendly, South Korean soccer officials said. The North Korean team will arrive Thursday for a goodwill match with South Korea at Seoul's Sangam World Cup stadium on Saturday and plans to return home on Sunday, said the officials at the South Korean Football Association. The North Korean delegation, which will also include journalists, will be headed by Minister of Foreign Trade Gun Ri-kwang , who also serves as chairman of the North's national soccer association, the officials said. The two countries held similar friendly soccer matches in their respective capitals in 1990. North Korea also has agreed to send a delegation to the 14th Asian Games to be held in South Korea's southern city of Busan on Sept. 29-Oct. 14.
US Football: Freshman player shot dead
Hours after his first college football game, a Minnesota player was shot dead near a downtown bar following a confrontation with three men. ``We lost a family member,'' Gophers coach Glen Mason said Sunday at a news conference to announce the death of Brandon Hall, a 19-year-old redshirt freshman. Hall was shot about eight blocks from the Metrodome during a dispute between a group of teammates and three other men about 2am local time, police said. The players had accused the men of robbing another player, police spokeswoman Cyndi Barrington said. As the players approached, the three man began walking away and went into a van, Barrington said. One of them got out of the van and began walking toward the players. ``At that point, someone in the group said, 'He's got a gun!' and they scattered,'' Barrington said.
Brazil has four teams, more than any other country, in the expanded Club World Cup that kicked off yesterday in the US, but for SE Palmeiras, the competition holds a special meaning: winning it would provide some redemption. Under coach Abel Ferreira since 2020, Palmeiras lifted two Copa Libertadores titles, plus Brazilian league, cup and state championships. Even before Ferreira, it boasted another South American crown and 11 league titles. The only major trophy missing is a world champions’ title. Other Brazilian clubs like Fluminense FC and Botafogo FR, also in the tournament, have never won it either, but the problem for Palmeiras
Manchester City on Monday completed the signing of left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a reported ￡31 million (US$41.8 million). The 24-year-old Algeria international has signed a five-year contract and will be available for the FIFA Club World Cup, which begins later this week. Ait-Nouri is expected to be just one of a trio of new City faces for that tournament with deals close to completion for AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders and Olympique Lyonnais playmaker Rayan Cherki. After missing out on a major trophy in the recently completed season for the first time since 2016-2017, City are hoping
Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in has pleaded with South Korea fans to get behind the team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after more boos were aimed at coach Hong Myung-bo despite leading them to qualification. South Korea reached next year’s finals in North America without losing a game, but that does not tell the whole story. The country’s soccer association has been in the firing line, having scrambled about to find a successor after sacking the unpopular Jurgen Klinsmann in February last year. They eventually settled on Hong, the decorated former skipper who had an unsuccessful stint as coach in 2013-2014, during which
Lionel Messi drew vast crowds and showed flashes of his brilliance when his Inter Miami side were held to a goalless draw by African giants Al-Ahly as the revamped FIFA Club World Cup got off to a festive start on Saturday. Fans showed up en masse for the Group A clash at the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, but Messi could not fully deliver, his best chance coming through a last-second attempt that was deflected onto the crossbar. Inter Miami next face FC Porto on Thursday in Atlanta, while Al-Ahly, who benefited from raucous, massive support, are to
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