David Beckham struck his first goal in Italian soccer on Sunday while Kaka put the Manchester City transfer saga behind him with a brace as AC Milan romped to a 4-1 victory at Bologna.
But Milan remain six points off the top after leaders Inter won 1-0 at home to Sampdoria.
It was Kaka’s first match since his proposed world record switch to City collapsed and he responded with a calmly taken penalty and a left-foot rocket.
Kaka’s contribution deflected somewhat from Beckham’s first goal for Milan since joining on loan from the LA Galaxy.
Bologna took the lead on nine minutes after Marco Di Vaio converted from the spot.
But just four minutes later Bologna lost the ball in midfield and Kaka hit a shot from distance that Francesco Antonioli couldn’t hold, allowing Clarence Seedorf to prod home the rebound.
The third goal in the 17th minute came after Kaka scored from the spot and he scored from a wonderful left-footed shot before half-time.
Beckham then smashed home a fierce right-footer on the hour after a pass from Seedorf.
Inter were made to work hard against a stubborn Sampdoria but Adriano scored the vital winner in first-half stoppage time.
Coach Jose Mourinho was sent to the stands after reacting angrily to a yellow card shown to Dejan Stankovic.
AS Roma closed to within three points of fourth place with a stunning 3-0 win at Napoli.
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
RSS