■FRANCE
Bordeaux leave it late in Cup
Ligue 1 champions Girondins Bordeaux needed a late penalty to beat third division Rodez 1-0 in the French Cup round of 64 on Saturday. Bordeaux worried their fans until Jaroslav Plasil was fouled in the box and Wendel converted the resulting penalty 13 minutes from time. In the only all-Ligue 1 clash Le Mans beat visitors Valenciennes thanks to a first-half goal by Anthony Le Tallec. Monaco survived a few scares at home to second division Tours in a match that ended 0-0 after extra time. The hosts won the shootout 4-3. Olympique Lyon qualified in more impressive fashion with a 3-1 win at second division Racing Strasbourg. Several matches were called off because of wintry conditions.
■TURKEY
Club suspend midfielder
First division side Kayserispor said on Saturday that it had suspended midfielder Bilal Aziz Ozer after a newspaper report implicated him in the match-fixing scandal. “Unfortunately, our player Bilal Aziz has been accused of manipulating a match against Eskisehirspor. We won the said match with a goal assisted by the said player,” the club said in a statement on its Web site. “Despite this, we have suspended Bilal Aziz ... so as not to give rise to any rumors,” it said. The announcement came after the Milliyet newspaper published a report filed with German prosecutors that named Ozer as one of three Kayserispor players that tried to fix an Oct. 4 league match against Eskisehirspor.
■PORTUGAL
Benfica top after 1-0 win
Javier Saviola’s goal led Benfica to a 1-0 victory over Rio Ave that kept them joint-leaders as the Portuguese league resumed on Saturday after a three-week break. The Argentine’s goal sent Benfica to the top of the standings ahead of Braga on goal difference. It was Rio Ave’s first home loss this season. Sporting took advantage of its man advantage to beat Lexoies 1-0. Bruno Gallo was shown a red card in the 70th minute before Antonio Vilar headed home the winner with six minutes left. Also, Henrique Sereno’s goal led Guimaraes to a 1-0 win over Maritimo.
■ZAMBIA
Copper Bullets beat S Korea
Zambia sent out a strong message ahead of their departure for the African Nations Cup finals in Angola by beating South Korea 4-2 in a friendly on Saturday. Felix Katongo, Rainsford Kalaba, James Chamanaga and Noel Chivuta scored as the Copper Bullets took advantage of Korean errors. Katongo and Kalaba had Zambia two up before Kim Jung-woo pulled one back in the 34th minute. Chamanga extended the lead just before the hour and Chivuta added a fourth on 71 minutes. Korea got a late goal from Koo Ja-cheol. South Korea were in South Africa for a week of high altitude training and now head to Spain for two more internationals. Zambia play Tunisia in their opening match at the Nations Cup in Lubango on Wednesday.
■CAMEROON
Webo on target in 3-1 win
Achille Webo scored twice as African Nations Cup hopefuls Cameroon beat Kenya 3-1 in a warm-up match on Saturday. Cameroon stretched their unbeaten run to eight games despite going behind in the 20th minute to a James Situma goal. Webo equalized eight minutes before half-time and then put his side in the lead 11 minutes into the second half. Two minutes later Mohammadou Idrissou grabbed a third. Cameroon play their opening Group D match against Gabon on Wednesday.
ADVANTAGE ATLETICO: Well off the pace in La Liga, the Copa del Rey represents Atletico Madrid’s best chance of silverware this season Atletico Madrid on Thursday hammered Copa del Rey holders Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of their semi-final. After an Eric Garcia own-goal sent Diego Simeone’s side ahead early on, Antoine Griezmann, Ademola Lookman and Julian Alvarez struck to give Atletico a landslide lead by halftime. Barca defender Garcia was sent off in the final stages, with Atletico maintaining their significant advantage on the record 32-time winners, which they take into the second leg at the Camp Nou on March 3. Both sides missed good chances in the second half, with Barca’s Pau Cubarsi having a goal disallowed before Garcia was sent off
Dasun Shanaka hammered the fastest half-century by a Sri Lankan in T20Is as the cohosts thrashed Oman by 105 runs at the World Cup yesterday in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, for their second win in Group B. The 2014 champions piled up 225-5, the highest total of the tournament, before restricting an outclassed Oman to 120-9. The 43-year-old Mohammad Nadeem waged a lone battle for Oman, compiling an unbeaten 53 to become the oldest player to score a 50 in T20 World Cups. Having promoted himself up the order and under pressure to deliver, Sri Lanka skipper Shanaka smashed a 19-ball half-century. It has been
Kawhi Leonard on Sunday scored 41 points, grabbed eight rebounds and made four steals to lead the Los Angeles Clippers in a lopsided 115-96 victory at Minnesota. The 34-year-old forward, a two-time NBA champion, matched the second-best road scoring effort of his career as the Clippers improved to 25-27. “Just being aggressive. My teammates trust me,” Leonard said. “Every moment when I touch the ball — assist, shooting the basketball or getting a rebound — I’m just trying to help the team win.” Leonard made three steals in a row at the start of the contest. “Just wanted to come out early in the
FLOP TO CONQUEROR: It was sweet vindication for Sam Darnold, who played for four NFL teams before his debut season in Seattle ended in the ultimate win The Seattle Seahawks on Sunday coasted to Super Bowl glory, routing the New England Patriots 29-13 as Sam Darnold sealed his journey from flop quarterback to conqueror of the NFL’s biggest prize. Brushing off a reputation for wilting in big games, journeyman quarterback Darnold threw for a touchdown and 200 yards on the grandest stage of all to give the Seahawks their second-ever Lombardi Trophy. “It’s unbelievable. Everything that has happened in my career, but to do it with this team, I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Darnold said. The victory was buoyed by a dominant defensive display and kicker Jason Myers’
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