■ RUGBY UNION
Bok coach announcement
The new Springbok coach will be selected on Jan. 9, the South African Rugby Union (SARU) announced on Monday. A meeting of the council of provincial union presidents -- which has 19 voting members -- will make the choice after receiving recommendations from a nine-man appointment committee. The four shortlisted candidates to succeed Jake White, who steered the Springboks to victory in the World Cup earlier this year, were to be interviewed on Monday and yesterday, a SARU statement said. The contenders are Springbok backline coach Allister Coetzee, SA under-21 coach Peter de Villiers, Bulls coach Heyneke Meyer and 1995 World Cup-winning Springbok wing Chester Williams.
■ Soccer
Rogerio Ceni honored
Sao Paulo goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni, who allowed only 19 goals and scored seven, won his second straight Brazilian league player of the year award on Monday, the Brazilian soccer confederation announced. Ceni, whose penchant for leaving his own goal for scoring opportunities is his trademark, helped Sao Paulo claim its fifth Brasileiro and second straight title. "It's a moment of great happiness for me. To receive awards at this level is a great honor," Ceni said upon receiving the trophy. "The message I have is that all the fan clubs live in harmony. I am only an instrument of my team." He also won trophies for being the championship's best goalkeeper and was selected the top player with 51 percent in an Internet fan poll. Of Ceni's seven goals, two came via free kicks and five more on penalty kicks.
■ Rugby Union
Lionel Nallet honored
Lock Lionel Nallet was named France's international player of the year on Monday in a stinging rebuke to former national coach Bernard Laporte. Laporte, who quit as coach after the World Cup to become junior sports minister, omitted the 31-year-old Castres forward from his team for the World Cup semi-final loss to England in October. "I think I won the award because I played all the games of our winning Six Nations campaign," Nallet told reporters during the "Night of Rugby" ceremony. "I would have liked to play more during the World Cup. It was really frustrating because we didn't reach our objective which was to win the World Cup," he said. The awards were made by the French rugby league, players' union and coaches' association. The best player of the French championship award went to Juan Martin Hernandez, who plays for Stade Francais.
■ Soccer
Builders still on strike
Builders of a stadium for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa were on strike on Monday with talks still locked on bonuses and transport allowances, the union said. Some 800 workers downed tools for the fifth day running at the site of the Mbombela stadium, where at least four first-round matches in the World Cup are scheduled to be played. "They want a 2,000 rand bonus and a 900 rand transport allowance," said Onismus Serothwane, the regional co-ordinator for the National Union of Mineworkers. Workers at the stadium in the northeastern city of Nelspruit first went on strike on Nov. 21, however they returned to work after a day to allow their employers to come up with a suitable offer. They resumed their strike action last Wednesday after the parties failed to reach an agreement.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
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
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