■ BRAZIL
Ronaldo just needs club
Brazilian World Cup winner Ronaldo, who has been out of action since February with a knee injury, hopes to play again in January — if he can find a club, his doctor said. The 32-year-old’s physiotherapist Bruno Mazzioti told Radio Brasil that the player hopes to train next week with Flamengo. “He’ll train with Flamengo. Then his idea is to return to action in January 2009 although it remains to see which club he will play for,” Mazzioti said. Ronaldo, who suffered a serious left knee injury in February, has been without a club since the end of last season when his contract with AC Milan came to an end. He has been linked with a move to fellow Serie A side Siena, who offered him a deal in which he would be paid 98,000 euros (US$126,200) for every goal scored. The former world player of the year recently took part in a charity match, but only lasted 22 minutes before being substituted, blaming it on the exhaustive regime he was following to return to action.
■ ENGLAND
Torres injured again
Liverpool’s Premier League title push suffered a setback on Thursday when their Spanish international striker Fernando Torres was ruled out for up to three weeks with a hamstring strain. Torres, who had only just returned to the side after five weeks out with a similar problem, picked up the injury in the 1-0 Champions League win over Marseille at Anfield on Wednesday. Defender Fabio Aurelio will be out for a fortnight after picking up a calf problem in the same game. A club spokesman told www.
liverpoolfc.tv: “Fernando has a strain in his right hamstring and will be out of action for between two and three weeks. Fabio has a calf strain in his left leg and will be out for two weeks.”
■ SPAIN
Real sees record revenues
Real Madrid on Thursday posted a pre-tax net profit for the 2007-2008 season of 51.4 million euros (US$66.7 million) and predicted its revenues will total more than 400 million euros next season for the first time in its history. The club’s pre-tax net profit in the 12 months to June 30 was 7.4 million euros higher than that posted during the same time last year. Revenues in 2007/2008 totaled 366 million euros and are expected to climb to 400.2 million euros in the 12-month period to June 30 next year, vice-president Jose Ignacio Rivero told reporters. Real Madrid were the world’s largest revenue-generating club for the third successive season in the 2006-2007 season, according to an annual ranking compiled by business advisory firm Deloitte. The reigning Spanish champions overtook Manchester United as the biggest soccer club by revenue in the 2004-2005 season after a policy of signing big names like David Beckham, Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane led to a surge in sales of replica shirts and other items.
■ UEFA CUP
Police spray fighting fans
Belgian police used water cannon to break up running brawls between fans of Bruges and French side St Etienne before kick-off in the UEFA Cup tie between the two sides in Bruges, Belgium, on Thursday. A police spokesman said numerous fights had broken out outside the stadium. “These scuffles were so serious that there were some injuries suffered by supporters. Two policemen were also hurt and were taken to hospital,” he said. Another police source said around two dozen fans had been arrested.
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
TO FINAL FOUR: France had 22 chances and scored two goals, while Croatia could not manage a single shot on target in 120 minutes. Les Bleus won 5-4 on penalties France on Sunday overturned a two-goal deficit to qualify for the UEFA Nations League Final Four by eliminating Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg at the Stade de France. Dayot Upamecano scored the winning spot kick in a nail-biting shootout in which France keeper Mike Maignan made two saves, sending Les Bleus into the semi-finals against Spain. Michael Olise opened the scoring and Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead 10 minutes from time to send the tie into extra time after their 2-0 loss in Split, Croatia, on Thursday. France had a total of
Armand Duplantis will be among the reigning Olympic champions adding star power to the world indoor championships this weekend when the Chinese city of Nanjing hosts the first major global athletics meet since the Paris Games last year. The three-day event was originally slated for 2020 and faced multiple postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Nanjing’s Sports Training Center would finally welcome more than 570 athletes for the start of the showpiece today. One of the main attractions would be pole vaulter “Mondo” Duplantis, who soared 6.27m to break the world record for a staggering 11th time in Clermont-Ferrand last
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