■BRAZIL
Adriano to take a break
Brazil and Inter striker Adriano said on Thursday he was taking a break from soccer and would rethink his career. “I’ve lost the happiness of playing,” he told reporters. “I wouldn’t like to go back to Italy, I want to live in peace here in Brazil. I wasn’t unhappy in Italy. I don’t know if I’m going to stay for one, two or thee months without playing. I’m going to rethink my career.” Adriano failed to return to Italy after last week’s World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Peru, in which he was an unused substitute. On Monday, his agent Gilmar Rinaldo said Adriano had stayed in Brazil because of a private matter and confirmed the player had spent time in the Vila Cruzeiro favela, where he was raised.
■SERBIA
Police arrest 95 in Belgrade
Police arrested 95 fans and pressed charges against 25 of them following violence at the Belgrade derby between bitter rivals Partizan and Red Star, the Serbian Interior Ministry said on Thursday. “The hooligans who face legal action have been charged with assault on police officers, violent behavior, causing general danger as well as the possession and sale of narcotics,” it said. Red Star Belgrade fans clashed with riot police before Wednesday’s match and set fire to seats in the north tier of Partizan’s stadium after the final whistle, forcing fire brigades to move in. The fixture has a history of crowd trouble dating back to times when Serbia was still a part of the former Yugoslavia.
■ENGLAND
Police drop Mourinho case
Inter boss Jose Mourinho will not face police action after allegations that he punched a supporter outside Old Trafford, police sources said on Thursday. A Manchester United fan claimed he was hit in the face by the Portuguese manager following last month’s Champions League tie between United and Inter. Mourinho, 46, was said to have clashed with a man close to the Inter team bus shortly before midnight on March 11 after his side’s 2-0 defeat. The supporter alleged common assault, although he was not thought to be seriously injured, and Greater Manchester Police approached the Old Trafford club to view CCTV footage of the area. But the case has been dropped.
■ROMANIA
Piturca gets the sack
Victor Piturca was on Thursday sacked as Romania coach after a disappointing run of results that looks to have derailed the country’s bid to appear at next year’s World Cup. “Piturca has been relieved of his post,” said Dumitru Dragomir, head of the Romanian professional soccer league. “We haven’t decided on his replacement, that will be made later on.” Romania’s most recent defeat, a 2-1 loss to Austria on April 1, dropped them to fifth place in Group 7, with only four points from five matches — effectively ending any hopes they had of qualifying for next year’s showpiece. Group 7 is being led by Serbia on 12 points, with France on 10 points, Lithuania on nine and Austria on seven.
■ENGLAND
Much interest in the Saints
The administrators running ailing English Championship side Southampton said on Thursday that 31 parties had expressed an interest in buying the club. The Saints’ parent company, Southampton Leisure Holdings, went into administration last week with reported debts of £27.5 million (US$40.5 million). The Football League is considering whether to penalize the club 10 points which would result in their almost certain relegation to the third tier of English soccer for the first time in 49 years.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
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