■ Soccer
US to face England
The US national team will face England in an exhibition match at Wembley Stadium in London on May 28. The Americans will be making their first visit to England in 13 years before heading to Spain for another match in early June. The England contest will be the ninth career game between the two countries and will be played at the new 90,000 seat Wembley Stadium. It will serve as preparation for both teams as they gear up for the start of qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
■ Formula One
F1 returning to Beeb
The BBC has regained the British television rights to Formula One from rivals ITV in a deal starting next year, Formula One commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone announced on Thursday. The agreement will be seen as a coup for the public broadcaster, coming at a time when 23-year-old British driver Lewis Hamilton is leading the championship for McLaren after finishing last year as runner-up. ITV have broadcast the sport in Britain since the start of the 1997 season, when Britain's Damon Hill was Formula One champion. "I am delighted to conclude this new deal with the BBC," Ecclestone said in a statement issued by Formula One Management that gave no financial details.
■ Soccer
Van Nistelrooy has surgery
Real Madrid striker Ruud van Nistelrooy is expected to miss six weeks after having surgery on his injured right ankle on Wednesday. Van Nistelrooy traveled to a clinic in the Netherlands to have arthroscopic surgery in a bid to stop inflammation in the ankle joint, Real Madrid said in a statement on their Web site. The Netherlands striker could still return for the club's final four Spanish league matches, which include a home date against FC Barcelona. Van Nistelrooy is expected to be available for the European Championship in June.
■ Soccer
Amateurs beat Marseille
Amateur side Carquefou pulled off one of the biggest upsets in French Cup history late on Wednesday by defeating mighty Marseille 1-0 to reach the quarter-finals. Playing in Nantes' Beaujoire stadium as their own ground was too small, the winning goal came from veteran Senegalese international Papa N'Doye after just seven minutes. Marseille besieged the minnows' goal for the rest of the game but were unable to get the equalizer that would have saved them from humiliation. The fifth division side reached the quarter-finals for the first time in their history.
■ Soccer
Becks may not make team
David Beckham could struggle to force himself into the England team even if coach Fabio Capello recalls him for next week's friendly against France. Capello's assistant watched Beckham in preseason action for the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday to assess his fitness, suggesting that the former captain may be about to make his 100th appearance for his country. But Theo Walcott, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Aaron Lennon have all been left out of next week's under-21 friendly against Poland, suggesting that they could also figure when Capello announced his squad yesterday. Under-21 coach Stuart Pearce has already hinted that Capello may be about to draft in some young players. "You never know, there might be one or two names in Fabio's squad that make you sit up and listen," Pearce said.
■ SUMO
Raging Asashoryu stumbles
Mongolian grand champion Asashoryu was upset by Kotoshogiku at the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament yesterday, while fellow top ranker and compatriot Hakuho also lost. In the day's final bout at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, sekiwake Kotoshogiku handed Asashoryu his first loss after getting both hands on the belt of the Mongolian and forcing the grand champion out. Asashoryu dropped to 11-1, but still holds a one-win lead over Hakuho and lower-ranked wrestlers Baruto and Tochiozan with three days left in the tournament. Kotoshogiku improved to 6-6. Hakuho was handed his second loss of the 15-day tourney when he was slapped down by ozeki Chiyotaikai seconds after the faceoff. Chiyotaikai improved to 8-4 and wrapped up the winning record he needs to maintain his ozeki status for the next tournament.
■ TENNIS
Seles writing her memoirs
Tennis great Monica Seles is working on her memoirs. The book, currently untitled, will be published next year by Avery, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA). "I hope to share how I found balance, strength and happiness in my life after a rollercoaster ride of exhilarating accomplishment and sometimes overwhelming tragedy," she said in a statement on Wednesday. Seles, 34, won nine Grand Slams and as a teenager was the top-ranked women's player for three years. But she was also known for one of sport's most bizarre and terrifying incidents: In April 1993, at a tournament in Hamburg, Germany, she was stabbed in the back by a man who climbed out of the stands. Seles, who has struggled with weight problems, is currently a contestant on US TV's Dancing With the Stars.
■ BASEBALL
Bonds `not going to retire'
Controversial US career home run king Barry Bonds vows he will not retire at age 43 even though Major League Baseball clubs have shown no interest in him and a court hearing looms today. Bonds, whose feats were dogged by doping accusations, told the baseball league's Web site that he remains fit and ready should any team come calling even as baseball union leaders say they may look into why no clubs want Bonds. "I'm not going to retire. I don't think that's going to happen," Bonds said. "I'm working out. I'm training. If my phone rings, it rings. If it don't, it don't. I'll come back in July if I have to. It depends on the circumstances."
■ RUGBY UNION
O'Sullivan quits Ireland job
Eddie O'Sullivan resigned from the Ireland job on Wednesday, bringing an end to the reign of the country's most successful international coach. After six years in the job and winning three Triple Crowns, the 49-year-old Corkman stepped down following a disappointing Six Nations Championship that culminated in a 33-10 defeat to England on Saturday. After last year's disaster at the World Cup, commentators who had long criticized his conservative approach to team selection, tactics and coaching staff, believed a good Six Nations may be his only chance of staying in the job. O'Sullivan issued a brief statement, but made no mention of the terms of his severance. "At the conclusion of the Six Nations Championship and having given my role as national team head coach much consideration, I have come to the decision to step down," the statement said.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
Crowds descended on the home of 17-year-old Chinese diver Quan Hongchan after she won two golds at the Paris Olympics while gymnast Zhang Boheng hid in a Beijing airport toilet to escape overzealous throngs of fans. They are just two recent examples of what state media are calling “toxic fandom” and Chinese authorities have vowed to crack down on it. Some of the adulation toward China’s sports stars has been more sinister — fans obsessing over athletes’ personal lives, cyberbullying opponents or slamming supposedly crooked judges. Experts say it mirrors the kind of behavior once reserved for entertainment celebrities before
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
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