■ SOCCER
Pizarro joins Chelsea
Bayern Munich striker Claudio Pizarro joined Chelsea on a free transfer on Friday. The Peru international became the London club's second signing of the close season after Reading midfielder Steve Sidwell moved to Stamford Bridge on another free transfer last month. "I think it's very important for me to win some titles and I have the chance to win them here," Pizarro told the club's official Web site. "I had some interesting offers but the most important thing was that I talked to the coach [Jose Mourinho], I talked to the people here and they were very interested."
■ CRICKET
Flintoff to return this season
England allrounder Andrew Flintoff is likely to return to action before the end of the season after having surgery on his left ankle on Friday. The 29-year-old Flintoff missed England's last two tests against West Indies with the injury that has troubled him for several months. The England and Wales Cricket Board said the surgery was successful, but did not set a date for Flintoff's return or say whether he was expected to play in England's tests against India in July and August. "Early signs are that the operation was routine and Andrew will begin his rehabilitation accordingly following successful removal of tissue," it said.
■ SOCCER
Figo wants to play on
Portuguese midfielder Luis Figo admitted on Friday that he is considering extending his stay at Inter Milan, despite having previously indicated a wish to leave the Italian champions. Figo said he wanted to play on for another year or two, but ruled out a return to his first club, Sporting Lisbon. "For the moment I'm going to look into playing on for another year or two," he told a press conference. "Inter really want me to stay. There are doors open to me. I made a great choice two years ago [in joining Inter] but I'm going to think about whether I want to stay playing at the top level." The 34-year-old was linked with a move to Saudi club Al Ittihad during the January transfer window.
■ SOCCER
Colombia mulls boycott
Colombia may boycott the 2010 World Cup qualifiers unless FIFA reverses its decision to ban international matches at high altitude, the government's top sports authority said on Friday. Everth Bustamente, director of the Coldeportes sports institute, said the government also discussed the idea of a boycott with Peru and Ecuador, which are also be affected by FIFA's decision to prohibit games from being played at altitudes above 2,500m. "We've discussed together the possibility of withdrawing from the World Cup qualifiers in the extreme case that FIFA doesn't review this clearly antidemocratic measure," Bustamente said on Friday.
■ SOCCER
Nigerian gets 13 years
A French court on Friday sentenced a Nigerian former soccer player who played for a top French club, Godwin Okpara, to 13 years in prison for the rape of his adopted daughter. Okpara's wife received 15 years for her rape and torture, while his mother-in-law received a five-year sentence for failing to come to the aid of a person in danger. After the verdict, Okpara's wife, Linda, sarcastically turned on their daughter, Tina, saying: "Thanks. Thanks a lot, Tina. Good luck in France." She then danced in the accused's box and made incomprehensible remarks toward her daughter, who stared at the ground.
■ FOOTBALL
Thurman sentence cut
Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Odell Thurman was sentenced to six days in a treatment program, settling his drunken driving conviction on Friday. Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge John Burlew also put Thurman on two years' probation. Thurman is still suspended by the NFL for violating its substance abuse policy. Thurman pleaded no contest to driving drunk in February. Burlew sentenced him to 90 days in prison, but offered to reduce the sentence if Thurman got treatment for alcohol abuse and stayed out of trouble. The judge agreed on Friday to suspend all but six days of the sentence, and allowed Thurman to serve those six days at a local treatment center.
■ FOOTBALL
Andruzzi has chemotherapy
Veteran offensive lineman Joe Andruzzi, released by the Cleveland Browns last month after two seasons with the NFL club, has been diagnosed with a treatable form of non-Hodgkins lymphoma. His agent, Joe Linta, said on Friday that the 31-year-old Andruzzi has begun chemotherapy treatments at the Dana Farber Institute in Boston, a hospital for which he helped raise money while playing for the New England Patriots. "While this condition is very serious, both Joe and his doctors feel he will be quickly on his way to a full recovery," Linta said.
■ BASEBALL
Sheffield and Bard banned
Detroit Tigers designated hitter Gary Sheffield and San Diego Padres catcher Josh Bard were both handed three-game suspensions for aggressive actions towards umpires, Major League Baseball said on Friday. The suspensions will not yet come into effect, pending an appeal by the players. Sheffield was disciplined for tossing a piece of his broken bat in the direction of the home plate umpire, with whom he had been arguing the ball-and-strike calls during Thursday's game against the Cleveland Indians. Bard charged out of the dugout in the 11th inning of San Diego's game on Thursday against the Pittsburgh Pirates when his apparent home run was ruled a double and made contact with the home plate umpire.
■ SOCCER
Canada draw in Maracaibo
Substitute Ali Gerba sped past Venezuela's defense just minutes from the final whistle and scored for Canada to draw 2-2 in a friendly at Maracaibo, Venezuela on Friday. Canada took the lead six minutes in when Dwayne de Rosario scored off of a pass from Rod Friend. Venezuela fought back and equalized in the 22nd as Alejandro Cichero scored off Ricardo Paez's free kick into the box. Striker Giancarlo Maldonado put Venezuela ahead three minutes later by pouncing on a loose ball in the penalty area. When Javier Villafraz was sent off in the 85th Venezuela's disadvantage was exploited by Canada. Soon after Gerba outpaced his marker to claim the equalizer.
■ BASEBALL
Yankees slugger sidelined
The New York Yankees will have to make do without slugger Jason Giambi who was placed on the disabled list on Friday due to partially torn tissue in the arch of his left foot that will shelve him for at least three weeks and could possibly end his season. Giambi, 36, had expected to take a cortisone shot to relieve pain in his foot, but an examination on Thursday revealed the extent of the injury. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Giambi's injury was "severe."
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
CUNNINGHAM CONNECTS: In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons snapped their record 15-game playoff losing streak by beating the Knicks to level their series at 1-1 Kawhi Leonard on Monday scored 39 points on 15-of-19 shooting as the Los Angeles Clippers evened their first-round NBA Playoffs series against the Nuggets with a 105-102 win in Denver. “It feels like he didn’t miss a shot,” James Harden said. “His shot-making ability is elite.” Good thing, too, because his teammates were a combined 26 of 66 for a 39 percent clip. “I made shots tonight,” Leonard said. “I just keep playing, try to stay in the zone no matter if I’m making or missing shots.” The fifth-seeded Clippers needed every bit of his brilliance to snatch the homecourt advantage in the series
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