■ Soccer
Guti, Carlos ink contracts
Midfielder Jose Maria "Guti" Gutierrez and defender Roberto Carlos have agreed to extend their contracts with Real Madrid. The 30-year-old Guti extended his contract from 2008 to 2010, while the 33-year-old Roberto Carlos added one season and will finish his contract in 2008, Madrid said on Monday. The Brazilian will have an option to sign for another season. The contracts were to be signed after yesterday's Champions League match against Lyon.
■ Soccer
Adu on trial with United
American teenager Freddy Adu began a two-week trial with English Premier League club Manchester United on Monday. The 17-year-old Adu took part in training with players from the club's youth academy. Man United's senior squad left Monday for Glasgow, Scotland, for its Champions League match against Celtic yesterday. As Adu does not have a British work permit, he is not able to play in a competitive match. Under FIFA transfer rules, Adu, who plays for MLS club D.C. United, is not allowed to transfer to a club outside the US until he turns 18 on June 2 next year. Chelsea has also expressed interest in possibly signing Adu one day.
■ Rugby Union
Pelous, Elissalde out
Captain Fabien Pelous and scrumhalf Jean-Baptiste Elissalde are out of France's rugby union international against Argentina on Saturday. Pelous has not played since breaking a rib in the 47-3 defeat against the All Blacks on Nov. 11. Raphael Ibanez, who led France in its 23-11 loss to New Zealand at the weekend, will remain captain, the French team said on Monday. Elissalde sustained a calf injury in the second game against New Zealand and will be replaced by Pierre Mignoni, the 17-cap scrumhalf with Clermont. Mignoni made his only international appearance this year in France's 62-14 romp over Romania in June.
■ Motorsport
Imola refurbishment begins
Refurbishment work at the Imola race track, venue of the San Marino Grand Prix, has started. The media box and paddock were razed with explosives on Sunday as part of a 10 million euro (US$12.8 million) overhaul of the deteriorating facilities at the 56-year-old track. Imola, which hosted its first Formula One Grand Prix in 1980, was dropped from next year's race calendar for the first time. It's hoping to get back on the calendar.
■ Olympics
Deripaska bets on Sochi
A company controlled by Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska bought the Sochi airport on Monday at a government auction, hoping the city will win the right to stage the 2014 Winter Olympics. Trade and Economic Development Ministry official Igor Konkov said the investment was promising given Sochi's strong Olympic bid, according to RIA-Novosti. Deripaska's holding company, an affiliate of Basic Element, paid 5.5 billion rubles (US$206 million) for the airport.
■ College football
Game floods cell networks
Michigan wasn't the only loser in Saturday's football game against Ohio State: Cellphone users had difficulty making or receiving calls in the packed Ohio Stadium. A crowd of 105,708 inside the stadium and tens of thousands of fans surrounding it flooded cell suppliers during the game, stretching the capabilities of the networks, major providers said. Verizon, which brought in a portable call relayer or "cell on wheels," had a 60 percent increase in the traffic it typically handles in the area on non-game days, spokesman Don Carretta said on Monday. He was not aware of any customer complaints and the number of calls was not unusual for a game, concert or other large-scale public event, he said. "Any event where you have a large volume of people in a small area, you have problems," Carretta said. Cingular also anticipated the crush of calls and wheeled in a mobile cell site, said Chris Bondurant, executive director of network services.
■ Tennis
Russia's cup team named
Marat Safin and Nikolay Davydenko will play for Russia in the Davis Cup final against Argentina. Mikhail Youzhny and Dmitry Tursunov will also be on the team, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency. Both teams were due to be officially announced by the International Tennis Federation yesterday. The final is scheduled for Dec. 1 to Dec. 3 and will be played on carpet at the Olympic Indoor Stadium in Moscow.
■ Boxing
Hatton to hit Vegas
British fighter Ricky Hatton will challenge Colombia's Juan Urango for his former IBF light-welterweight title in Las Vegas on Jan. 20. Hatton relinquished the WBA welterweight title he won by beating Luis Collazo in Boston in May. He is moving up a division to try to reclaim the IBF crown he took from Kostya Tszyu in June last year. Hatton hopes to line up a fight against former two-time WBC lightweight champion Jose Luis Castillo, who is scheduled to appear on the same card in Las Vegas. It will be Hatton's first fight in the city. "It was always one of my goals to top the bill in Las Vegas," he said on Monday. "The era of Leonard, Hagler, Hearns and Duran was what got me into boxing and all their fights were there." The unbeaten Urango claimed the vacant IBF title with a win over Naoufel Ben Rabah last June in Hollywood, Florida.
■ College Football
Talley closes in on record
John Talley only wishes his Duke team could have enjoyed his success. The senior cornerback had a spectacular season, but the Blue Devils suffered through a woeful one (0-11, 0-7). They've lost 19 straight and haven't beaten a Division I-A team in more than two years. Talley leads the Atlantic Coast Conference with seven interceptions and is tied for fourth nationally. "It's real tough, because I'm not one to brag or boast about my individual stats," Talley said Monday. "I'd love to have the wins instead of personal success." Talley enters his final college game against rival North Carolina with 18 career interceptions, two shy of the record held by the Tar Heels' Dre Bly. He might have a shot to tie or surpass that mark, because no ACC team has thrown more interceptions than the Tar Heels No. 17. "He's a guy who hasn't really ever wavered," coach Ted Roof said. "He's only gotten stronger and better in the way that he works and the way that he approaches the game."
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
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