■NETHERLANDS
Alkmaar go six points clear
Moroccan forward Mounir El Hamdaoui’s 15th goal of the season helped AZ Alkmaar beat FC Utrecht 2-0 to move six points clear at the top of the Dutch league on Friday. AZ, seeking their first title in 28 years, have not conceded a goal at home since Aug. 31 and extended their unbeaten run to 14 matches. Striker Ari set up El Hamdaoui in the eighth minute and Demy de Zeeuw netted the second in injury-time off a fast counterattack. AZ Alkmaar have 38 points. Ajax are next with 32, two ahead of FC Twente. Today, defending champions PSV Eindhoven takes on Feyenoord, while UEFA Cup hopefuls Twente play Willem II. Also, NEC Nijmegen host ADO The Hague and Ajax travel to De Graafschap.
■ENGLAND
Santa Cruz looks for move
Blackburn Rovers striker Roque Santa Cruz has admitted that he would consider leaving the Premier League outfit if “a bigger club came in for me” during next month’s transfer window. New Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce has insisted he wants the 27-year-old Paraguay forward to stay at Ewood Park, but speculation is growing linking him with Manchester City, the club of his former boss Mark Hughes. “Everybody knows my opinion [regarding a possible transfer]. I am happy at Blackburn, but also I want to keep improving my football and remain ambitious,” Santa Cruz told BBC radio on Friday. “My contract with Blackburn is clear and for that I need to continue with the club. But I am looking to again play in a big side that is in Europe and trying to win their league.”
■SCOTLAND
Darcheville to leave Rangers
Rangers striker Jean-Claude Darcheville will join French team Valenciennes on Jan. 1, the Scottish Premier League club revealed on Friday. Darcheville, 33, has opted to leave Ibrox after making just 10 appearances for Walter Smith’s side this season. The former Bordeaux star, who has scored 16 goals in all competitions for Rangers, admits it was hard to turn his back on the Glasgow outfit. “It is a difficult moment for me to leave Rangers, because I played for a year and a half here and I was very happy in Glasgow,” Darcheville told the Rangers Web site.
■SPAIN
Xavi signs Barca extension
Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez, voted the best player at Euro 2008, on Friday signed an extension to his contract that will keep him at the club until 2014. “The new deal means that the Barca midfielder will be staying at the club until at least 30 June, 2014, four years more than his original contract, which was due to run out in 2010,” the club said in a statement. His buyout clause has been set at 80 million euros (US$111 million), Barcelona said in a statement. It did not mention the player’s salary, but Spanish media have said he stands to earn 7.5 million euros a year.
■ROMANIA
Becali transcripts released
Anti-corruption prosecutors on Friday made public transcripts of tapped telephone conversations of the owner of top Romanian side Steaua Bucharest, Gigi Becali, accused of corruption. The transcripts allege that Becali offered cash sums of several thousand euros to players from five clubs as an incentive when playing Steaua’s title rivals Cluj. In the conversations, Becali is heard talking to the main shareholder of Universitatea Craiova, Adrian Mititelu, about “sorting out the Cluj problem” and providing a “case” — presumed filled with cash — for players of Cluj’s city rivals Universitatea Cluj.
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
Taiwan’s top women’s badminton doubles duo, Hsieh Pei-shan (謝沛珊) and Hung En-tzu (洪恩慈), achieved a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Kaho Osawa and Mayui Tanabe at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 Macau Open on Sunday. The Taiwanese pair won the final 21-18, 21-12, marking the duo’s second title this year after their win at the BWF Super 300 Taipei Open in May. The match on Sunday was their first encounter with the Japanese duo, ranked No. 63 in the world. Hsieh and Hung, ranked No. 12, began the opening game well. Hung, who plays left-handed, performed strongly at both the net and the
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
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