■SOCCER
Zheng Zhi signs for Celtic
China captain Zheng Zhi has signed a two-year contract with Scottish giants Celtic, state media said yesterday. The 29-year-old midfielder signed with the Glasgow club for £10,000 (US$16,250) a week, Soccer News reported. Zheng was a free agent after his contract at English League One club Charlton expired at the end of last season. Newly hired Celtic coach Tony Mowbray was keen to sign Zheng when he was manager at West Bromwich Albion and is finally set to get his man, subject to a work permit being granted.
■SOCCER
Madonna fans damage pitch
Bulgaria have raised concerns over the state of the pitch at the Vasil Levski national stadium in Sofia ahead of tomorrow’s World Cup qualifier against Montenegro after fans attending a recent Madonna concert damaged the playing surface. “It’s disgraceful,” Bulgaria’s sporting director Nasko Sirakov told the local soccer union’s Web site, www.bfunion.bg. “Do we have a national stadium or not?” Bulgaria face the prospect of playing former Yugoslav republic in a Group Eight qualifier at the 44,000-capacity venue on a pitch that looks far from adequate for a high-profile game. Bulgaria coach Stanimir Stoilov also blamed stadium officials for allowing last Saturday’s Madonna’s concert to take place just a week before such important match. “These people have no idea how to take care of the pitch, the surface is completely destroyed,” Stoilov told reporters. “There’s no grass on it ... we should sue them for crimes against soccer,” he said.
■SOCCER
Player banned for kicking
A Bolivian soccer player has been banned for one year for assaulting an opponent with a flying karate kick after both players had been sent off. Blooming defender Sergio Jauregui was suspended at a meeting of the Bolivian league’s disciplinary tribunal in La Paz following the incident in the derby against Oriente Petrolero on Aug. 23, Bolivian media said on Wednesday. The astonishing attack, featured on video clips posted on various Web sites, left Oriente forward Leonardo Medina needing hospital treatment and put him out of action for two weeks.
■CYCLING
Horner forced to quit Vuelta
American Chris Horner has been forced out of the Tour of Spain after sustaining injuries in the mass pile-up that marred the end of Tuesday’s stage, his Astana team said on Wednesday. Another Astana rider, Alexandre Vinokourov, was also caught up in the melee which took down dozens of riders at a roundabout made slippery by the rain, but he will continue, his team said. Horner has a fracture on his left hand, severe bruising on his right hip and a deep cut on his upper lip. The American, who is known for his climbing skills, had been 20th overall at only 23 seconds behind race leader Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland. Wednesday was the first rest day on the three-week Tour of Spain.
■FOOTBALL
Cowboys top value rankings
The Dallas Cowboys are No. 1 in something even before the NFL season begins: total value. The Cowboys are worth US$1.65 billion, the most of any US-based sports team, according to Forbes magazine’s annual rankings. Only Manchester United of the English Premier League is worth more worldwide at US$1.87 billion. The Cowboys lead the rankings for the third straight year and are worth US$100 million more than the runners-up, the Washington Redskins.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
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