■SOCCER
Subotic opts for Serbia
Bosnian-born defender Neven Subotic has chosen to play soccer for Serbia instead of the US. Subotic, who holds a US passport, has played for the US under-17 and under-20 teams. He now plays for Borussia Dortmund in the German league. Subotic wrote to US soccer officials, informing them of his decision to play for Serbia. “We wish Neven all the best and continued success in the future,” US Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati said on Thursday. Subotic had until next Dec. 10, his 21st birthday, to chose his senior national team under the rules. He could have picked the US, Bosnia or Serbia. Serbia coach Radomir Antic has said he plans to pair Subotic with Manchester United’s Nemanja Vidic in the center of Serbia’s defense in next year’s World Cup qualifiers.
■SOCCER
Reims appoint Fernandez
Former Paris Saint-Germain and Athletic Bilbao coach Luis Fernandez has agreed to take over as coach at struggling French second division side Reims, club sources said on Thursday. The much-traveled Fernandez, 49, has been working as a television commentator since he stood down as manager at Real Betis in Spain in June last year, but he has always said that he would be ready to return to coaching if the offer was right. Reims are currently bottom of France’s second divison, a long way from their glory days of the 1950s and 1960s when they were one of the best teams in Europe.
■BOXING
Conte fingers Mosley
Victor Conte says boxer Shane Mosley would arrive by limousine for visits to his office where Conte provided him with steroids, USA Today newspaper reported on Wednesday. Conte, whose BALCO laboratories sparked stunning scandals in athletics and baseball, alleges in court papers filed on Tuesday that he charged Mosley US$900 for blood-boosting drug EPO and US$600 for the steroids known as “the cream” and “the clear.” Conte says he also billed Mosley US$200 for the limousine Mosley used to get around in. He also charged him US$150 for blood work before Mosley’s 2003 title fight against Oscar De La Hoya. Conte is trying to have a defamation suit filed by Mosley against him dismissed.
■SOCCER
Ramos looks to improve
Real Madrid coach Juande Ramos said on Thursday that the Spanish champions, trailing in fifth position behind arch rivals Barcelona in La Liga, were experiencing “a complicated situation.” Yet the former Tottenham Hotspur boss, who replaced Bernd Schuster at the Bernabeu this month, insisted things would only get better. “The team’s experiencing a complicated situation, but I’m hopeful and I like challenges,” Ramos wrote on his personal Web site on Thursday. “I’m sure the team’s going to get better ... we’re not even at the halfway point of the season and we can still achieve lots of things and above all give satisfaction to our fans.”
■TENNIS
Pierce not ready to retire
Two-time Grand Slam champion Mary Pierce isn’t ready to hang up her racket just yet. Despite being sidelined by a knee injury since 2006, the Frenchwoman told sports daily L’Equipe that she’d like to play again at the French Open. “I care about Roland Garros. If I could stand in center court for one match, that would already be a big victory,” she said. “I don’t feel it’s the right moment [to announce my retirement],” she told L’Equipe, adding that her left leg was weak, but her knee had recovered.
■BASKETBALL
Francis back with Grizzlies
Steve Francis never wanted to play for the last-place Grizzlies when the Vancouver franchise made him their first round draft pick in 1999. Chances are he won’t be much happier in his return to the Grizzly franchise either. Now an NBA journeyman, the aging former all-star Francis was traded on Wednesday by Houston to Memphis where the former Vancouver franchise moved when it left western Canada. The last-place Memphis Grizzlies (9-19) acquired Francis, a second-round draft pick next year and cash considerations from the Rockets, who received a conditional second-round pick in 2011. Francis was drafted second overall out of college by Vancouver but never played a game there, saying he wanted to play in a bigger NBA market. Vancouver traded him to Houston in a three-team, 11 player deal in August 1999. Francis hasn’t appeared in a game for Houston this season and played in just 10 games last season. The often injured Francis was scheduled to make US$2.63 million this season, meaning that the deal merely constitutes a salary dump for Houston. Francis was considered one of the NBA’s top all-around point guards during his first stint with Houston and has averaged 18.1 points in parts of nine seasons.
■BASKETBALL
Suns sign ‘Dee’ Brown
The Phoenix Suns have signed free agent guard Daniel ‘Dee’ Brown, the NBA club said on Wednesday. Brown entered the NBA with the Utah Jazz in the 2006 draft and spent his rookie season in Salt Lake City before moving to Galatasaray in Turkey for the 2007-2008 season. The pacey Brown made 11 starts this season for the Washington Wizards before being released two weeks ago.
■OLYMPICS
Harbin may make bid
The northeastern Chinese city of Harbin is considering a bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics and could make a decision following an international sports event there in February, state press said on Thursday. “We are considering a bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics, although the decision has to be approved by Chinese sports authorities,” the China Daily quoted Li Zhanshu, governor of Heilongjiang Province, as saying. “If the hosting of the 2009 Winter Universiade [games in February] can win applause from all guests, it will enhance our confidence to bid for the Winter Olympic Games.”
■SAILING
Team Russia pulls out
Team Russia has withdrawn from the round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race because of insufficient funding, team backer Oleg Zherebtsov said. “By this stage in the Volvo campaign we had intended to find sponsorship, but this process has been impacted by the global economic situation,” Zherebtsov, the founder of a Russian hypermarket chain, announced late on Tuesday. He said he had been financing the team with his own money in anticipation of sponsorship, which did not come about. Team Russia said it had “suspended” racing after arriving in Singapore at the end of the race’s third stage. Teams completed the third stage from Kochi, India on Tuesday. Spanish yacht Telefonica Blue sailed into the city-state first, snatching the lead from Sweden’s Ericsson 4 as the boats headed for the finish. Teams will leave Singapore on Jan. 18 for Qingdao, China, on the fourth stage of the event. The race, one of the most arduous in sport, will end in St Petersburg, Russia, in June after nine months negotiating 10 stages totaling more than 68,500km.
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
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
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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