■DAKAR RALLY
Sainz takes over lead
Carlos Sainz took over the lead in the Dakar Rally as Volkswagen swept the podium in a taxing fifth stage north through the foothills of the Atacama Desert on Wednesday. Mark Miller of the US won his first Dakar stage, the grueling 483km stretch from Copiapo to Antofagasta over rocks and the dust-like sand in 5 hours, 6 minutes, 15 seconds. Teammate Sainz finished 2:10 behind, and Qatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah was third, 4:27 back. Sainz led al-Attiyah by 4:37 overall and Miller was 9:39 off the pace in third. In motorbikes, defending champion Marc Coma’s Sherco blew a rear tire while leading by six minutes, allowing Contardo Lopez to win the stage on an Aprilla in 5:52:40. Cyril Despres’ KTM was 1:30 behind, allowing the Frenchman to extend his overall lead to 37:37 on Lopez. Rally great Stephane Peterhansel, who started the day as overall leader, stalled twice with mechanical problems and finished more than two hours behind Miller.
■SOCCER
Vieira joining Man City
Patrick Vieira confirmed yesterday he was leaving Inter to join Manchester City in a bid to secure more first team action and gain a place in France’s World Cup squad. “I set myself an objective, I want to go to the World Cup,” the 33-year-old former France captain told television channel Eurosport. “The important thing for me is to go to Manchester City and to show the coach [Roberto Mancini] I’m the same player than when he was in charge of Inter,” he said. “After a year in Turin and three and a half years in Milan, it’s over. To go to the World Cup I need playing time and I can’t reach my objective with Inter where I’m not a first choice player.”
■SOCCER
Atletico take Cup beating
Atletico Madrid’s miserable season took a turn for the worse when they were reduced to 10 men and beaten 3-0 at second division Recreativo Huelva in their King’s Cup last-16 first-leg match on Wednesday. Atletico were two goals behind and down to 10 men inside half an hour. Bruno Fornaroli gave the home side the lead on 14 minutes before Tomas Ujfalusi was shown a straight red card. The visitors’ misery deepened when Cedric brought Aitor down in the penalty area and Jeronimo Barrales scored from the spot. Recreativo easily contained a toothless Atletico in the second half and Daniel Candeias added a deserved third. The result left Atletico on the verge of elimination before next week’s second leg. In other King’s Cup games Deportivo Coruna won 2-1 at La Liga rivals Valencia, while Villarreal surrendered the lead to draw 1-1 at struggling second-tier side Celta Vigo. Third-tier Alcorcon, who dumped Real Madrid out in the last round, fell 3-1 behind at home to Racing Santander but scored a late goal to keep alive their hopes.
■SOCCER
Fergie Jr takes Preston job
Darren Ferguson, the 37-year-old son of Manchester United boss Sir Alex, on Wednesday returned to management as manager of Championship side Preston. Ferguson, who left Peterborough in November was installed as the successor to Alan Irvine. “I’m very, very ambitious and with my name I cannot afford to fail,” he told reporters, shrugging off the inevitability of comparisons with his illustrious father. “Pressure is there in any walk of life but you’ve got to try and be successful. If you win enough games you will be fine, if you don’t then you will be under pressure.”
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen has become the first female player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after the Golden State Valkyries selected her in the third and final round of the league’s draft on Monday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship earlier this month. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament’s most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
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
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
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