■ Germany
Gladbach appoint Ziege
Struggling Borussia Moenchengladbach named ex-AC Milan, Liverpool and Tottenham player Christian Ziege as director of sport on Thursday. He replaces Peter Pander who quit earlier in the day after a string of poor results. Pander's departure follows that of coach Jupp Heynckes who left just over a month ago. Ziege, 35, has been an assistant trainer at Gladbach since June 2004. Pander had come under increasing pressure at the club, who are bottom of the Bundesliga.
■ South America
Caracas earn historic win
Ivan Velasquez scored the winner as Caracas FC of Venezuela held off a furious rally by River Plate for an historic 1-0 victory in the Copa Libertadores on Thursday. It was the first time in the tournament's history that a Venezuelan club had scored in Argentina, let alone won there. The victory also snapped River's unbeaten streak of 12 victories and two draws against Venezuelan clubs, prompting whistling and booing by River fans. Velasquez showed speed and dexterity as he collected a pass from Wilson Carpintero and scored in the 10th minute.
■ Spain
Roberto Carlos to leave Real
Roberto Carlos will leave Real Madrid in June. "I'm not going to renew [my contract]." Spanish media yesterday quoted him as telling radio station Onda Cero. He pointed to Wednesday's Champions League loss to Bayern Munich as the reason for his decision. "It's a signal that God brought me to wake up, to understand that this decision is best for me," Carlos said. "I'm 33 years old and I don't deserve more suffering. I've been at this club 11 years, in which in seven-and-a-half years we won many things, but we lose one game and all of the fault has landed on me.'' Carlos blamed recent criticism and Madrid's elimination from yet another Champions League competition as the main motivation for not renewing his contract.
■ England
Wembley almost ready
Final safety checks on Wembley have been made and the keys to the world's most expensive soccer stadium will be handed over by the constructors to the owners any day now. There's even speculation that the first game to be played at the new venue will take place on March 24, with England facing Italy in an Under-21 level game. A community day is scheduled to go ahead next Saturday, with local residents allowed in to take a close-up look at the ?800 million(US$1.54 billion) stadium in northwest London. The old Wembley was demolished after staging its last game in 2000. Rebuilding costs have spiraled and the scheduled opening date has been put back several times.
■ Egypt
Ban draws condemnation
Egypt warned against racism and intolerance in Canada after a young girl was expelled from a soccer tournament for insisting on wearing an Islamic headscarf, the foreign ministry said on Thursday. Ihab Fawzi, a senior official at the ministry, met on Tuesday with Canada's deputy ambassador to Cairo, Christopher Hull, to express concern over "mounting signs of racism and intolerance in Canada" after the incident, it said. "The question of wearing the headscarf should remain a part of individual freedoms, so long as it does not harm security, public order or the values of a society," the ministry said in a statement. Hull was quoted as saying the decision was taken by a referee and did not represent the position of his government.
■ Golf
Katayama leaves his hat on
The cowboy hats that made Shingo Katayama famous are not just a fashion accessory. The Japanese golfer says they have the power to transform his game. "Once I wear my cowboy hats, I turn into the professional golfer Shingo, not like the regular human Shingo," said the world No. 30, through a translator earlier this week. "People notice it and they can cheer for me, it's good luck for me," said Katayama, in Singapore for the US$1.1 million Singapore Masters, which began on Thursday. Hoping his headwear will also add some color to what he says is usually a "quiet" sport, Katayama says he brings about 20 hats -- each with its own unique style, color and material -- to every tournament.
■ Olympics
Beijing tickets on sale soon
The line has begun to form for tickets to next year's Beijing Olympics. Nearly every newspaper in China proclaimed yesterday that a Web site had opened to register for the coveted tickets. Registration can also take place at Bank of China offices. The actual sales begin next month, and a random draw will be used for the most popular events, officials said. The initial ticket sales are limited to Chinese nationals and foreigners living in China. The first phase of sales will continue until June, and tickets will not be delivered until June next year. Organizers plan to sell about seven million tickets to the Games, and have promised to make tickets affordable. Prices for competition events will begin at 30 yuan (US$3.90) and top out at 1,000 yuan.
■ Skiing
Cuche leads Miller
Didier Cuche of Switzerland took a narrow lead over Bode Miller after the opening downhill leg in a World Cup super-combi yesterday. Cuche sped down the Olympiabakken course in 1 minute, 29.89 seconds, edging the US skier by 0.14 of a second. Mario Scheiber of Austria finished third in 1:30.07. Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal, who trails Marc Berthod of Switzerland by just one point in the super-combi standings, finished ninth in 1:30.46. Berthod was 28th in 1:31.54. Benjamin Raich, the defending World Cup overall champion from Austria, placed 11th in 1:30.68. He leads Svindal 945 points to 868 in the overall standings.
■ Ice Hockey
Chris Simon ejected
Chris Simon was thrown out of the New York Islanders' loss on Thursday night after striking Rangers forward Ryan Hollweg in the face with his stick. The hit, which conjured memories of the shot Marty McSorley landed to the head of Donald Brashear seven years ago, flattened Hollweg with 6:31 remaining and left him motionless on his stomach for several minutes in the Rangers' zone. Simon was immediately ejected from the game, slapped with a match penalty for deliberate attempt to injure. While Hollweg recovered quickly and needed only a few stitches to repair a cut on his chin, Simon will likely feel the sting of his actions for quite some time.
Carlos Alcaraz on Monday powered into the French Open second round with a resounding win to start his title defense, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and three-time defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek also progressed at Roland Garros. Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz struck 31 winners in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri and is to face Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in round two. Alcaraz is now on an eight-match winning streak at the French Open and also took Olympic silver at Roland Garros last year, losing the final to Novak Djokovic. “The first round is never
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
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