■FRANCE
Toulouse through to semis
Toulouse needed a penalty shootout to overcome Lille at home in the French Cup quarter-finals after a 1-1 draw marred by three red cards on Tuesday. Michel Fernandes Bastos put Lille in front with a powerful long-range shot in the first half of extra-time, but fellow Brazilian Emerson scored an own goal in the second period to keep Toulouse in the tie. Toulouse keeper Cedric Carrasso then made the decisive save in the shootout from Emerson to send the southern side through to the semi-finals. Both teams were reduced to 10 men in the first half after Lille’s Ludovic Obraniak and Toulouse’s Alexandre Bonnet were sent off. Lille were reduced to nine men when Yohan Cabaye was sent off for dissent just before the start of extra-time. Brazilian Ribeiro Eduardo scored a double to help Guingamp go through to the semi-finals with a 3-1 win at Ligue 2 rivals Sedan.
■ENGLAND
Capello likened to Ramsey
George Cohen believes that in Fabio Capello, England have a manager with similar qualities to those of 1966 World Cup supremo Sir Alf Ramsey. Cohen, England’s right-back when they beat the then West Germany 4-2 after extra-time in the World Cup final at Wembley nearly 43 years ago, reckons that successive sides have too often been allowed to lose their way. “I think in Capello we have a real disciplinarian. He has players thinking only about the football, which is how it should be,” Cohen said. “In that sense he is the same as Ramsey. He would always make sure we concentrated on why we were there, with no asides, and he got results. Capello is the same.”
■AUSTRALIA
Kewell returns to squad
Talisman Harry Kewell was named in the Australian squad yesterday to face Uzbekistan next month in a qualifier that could seal the Socceroos’ passage to the 2010 World Cup. Victory against the Uzbeks in Sydney on April 1 could guarantee Australia’s qualification, prompting coach Pim Verbeek to call on Kewell’s attacking flair. The Turkey-based midfielder missed the Socceroos’ last qualifier, a dour 0-0 draw against Japan, through injury. The 22-man squad also includes goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, who will become the longest serving Socceroo when he lines up against Uzbekistan. The fixture will mark 15 years and 244 days since the 36-year-old made his international debut, beating the previous record set by Tony Vidmar by a day.
■SWEDEN
Larsson gets the nod
Veteran striker Henrik Larsson was included in Sweden’s 23-man squad for next week’s World Cup qualifier against Portugal. Larsson will likely spearhead Sweden’s attack in the March 28 game in Porto, as Inter striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is suspended. Ibrahimovic picked up his second yellow card of the qualifying campaign against Portugal in Stockholm last year. Galatasaray midfielder Tobias Linderoth and Malmo midfielder Daniel Andersson are also out with injuries.
■CANADA
Whitecaps expect MLS spot
The Vancouver Whitecaps are expected to be introduced soon as the second Canadian team in Major League Soccer (MLS). Bob Lenarduzzi, the Whitecaps president, said he expects some sort of announcement before the MLS season opening on Thursday in Seattle. Will Kuhns, MLS director of communications, said the league has indicated in the past it would like to have the new teams named before the season begins. Ottawa, Portland and St Louis have also applied for a franchise.
Inter on Sunday were given a letoff when they snatched a late 1-1 derby draw with AC Milan, while league leaders SSC Napoli were held by a late goal at AS Roma. Reigning champions Inter remain three points behind Napoli, who looked to be heading five clear as they led in Rome until Angelino volleyed in a stunning leveler in the first minute of stoppage-time. Angelino’s strike gave even more significance to Stefan de Vrij’s last-gasp equalizer at the San Siro. The defender forced home Nicola Zalewski’s knockdown just as it looked like Tijjani Reijnders’ opener would be enough for Milan. “I can
Santiago Castro on Tuesday had an immediate impact off the bench as he scored the goal to send Bologna into the Coppa Italia semi-finals for the first time in 26 years. Bologna won 1-0 against last year’s runners-up, Atalanta BC, and are to play either holders Juventus or Empoli in the final four. Juventus are to host Empoli in their quarter-final on Feb. 26. The last time Bologna reached the semi-finals was in 1999, when they lost 4-2 to ACF Fiorentina. There were chances for both sides in a high-tempo match in Bergamo, but it was Bologna who broke the deadlock 10 minutes from
After nearly six years away from the NBA, New Taipei Kings player Jeremy Lin (林書豪) is set to participate in the 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend’s Rising Stars mini-tournament as the coach of Team G League. The NBA announced Monday (U.S. time) that the Taiwanese-American player will join a trio of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famers – Tim Hardaway Sr., Chris Mullin, and Mitch Richmond – as honorary coaches for four teams featuring 28 rising talents. "See you soon in the Bay," Lin wrote in an Instagram story sharing the news. As the All-Star Weekend will take place at
The former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani on Thursday was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for bank and tax fraud after he stole nearly US$17 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers player’s bank account. Ippei Mizuhara, who was supposed to bridge the gap between the Japanese athlete and his English-speaking teammates and fans, was sentenced in federal court in Santa Ana to four years and nine months after pleading guilty last year. He was ordered to pay US$18 million in restitution, with nearly US$17 million going to Ohtani and the remainder to the US Internal Revenue Service. He was
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