■UNITED STATES
World Cup bid cities named
Eighteen cities were named as part of a US bid for the 2018 or 2022 soccer World Cup on Tuesday, but Chicago was notably absent. The 18 cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas and Boston, have stadiums with average seating capacities of 78,000. Other cities named in the bid that will be presented to FIFA on May 14 were Atlanta, Baltimore, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Nashville, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, Tampa and Washington. Asked about Chicago failing to make the cut, US Soccer president Sunil Gulati said: “I think there’s a little Olympic fatigue. They had a tough time wrestling with FIFA requirements and when we approached them they were still in the middle of their [failed 2016] Olympic bid.”
■JAPAN
Inamoto to return home
Junichi Inamoto will return to the J-League with Kawasaki Frontale after falling out of favor at French side Stade Rennes. The 30-year-old is set to be unveiled as a Frontale player this week subject to a medical after Rennes announced his move to the J-League club on their Web site. Inamoto is desperate to play at this year’s World Cup and a move to Frontale should boost his chances of being selected.
■ITALY
Roma hit back to avoid upset
AS Roma bounced back from conceding a shock early goal against Serie B strugglers Triestina to win 3-1 on Tuesday and qualify for the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia. Roma, who will play Genoa or Catania next, joined Serie A leaders Inter in the last eight after Jose Mourinho’s team beat Livorno 1-0 last month. Triestina were ahead after just five minutes as Luigi Della Rocca converted a penalty after he had been fouled by Marco Cassetti. A shock was on the cards against a weakened Roma, for whom coach Claudio Ranieri rested the likes of Juan, Luca Toni and Daniele De Rossi. But Roma drew level on the stroke of half-time as Matteo Brighi scored. Mirko Vucini gave the hosts the lead on the hour after he was set up by Jeremy Menez. And 10 minutes from time Julio Baptista sealed the victory direct from a free-kick.
■ITALY
Ferrara keeps Juventus job
Juventus coach Ciro Ferrara retained his job after a two-hour emergency team meeting with club officials, but could be at risk if the Turin powerhouse failed to eliminate Napoli in the Italian Cup yesterday. Juventus president Jean-Claude Blanc and fellow management members Roberto Bettega and Alessio Secco addressed the underperforming squad on Tuesday. A 3-0 home loss to AC Milan on the weekend prompted fans to set fire to seats inside the Stadio Olimpico. It was Juve’s third league loss in four games _ a run that follows a 4-1 home defeat to Bayern Munich that knocked the Turin power out of the Champions League.
■SPAIN
Late penalty sinks Villarreal
Second division Celta Vigo knocked Villarreal out of the King’s Cup 2-1 on aggregate with a stoppage-time penalty at the Madrigal on Tuesday. Roberto Trashorras squeezed his 91st-minute spot kick under Diego Lopez for a 1-0 victory on the night, after home defender Angel had tripped Pedro Botelho as he raced into the area. Celta, who drew 1-1 at home in the first leg, moved into the quarter-finals next week where they will meet Atletico Madrid or second division Recreativo Huelva. Recre, who hold a 3-0 first-leg lead, visit the Calderon today.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
Shuttler Lin Chun-yi yesterday kept Taiwan on the board as they faced their first major challenge of the group stage after marching into the last eight at the Sudirman Cup Finals in Xiamen, China. Taiwan were losing 3-1 to South Korea as of press time last night, with only the men’s doubles match remaining. Taiwan and four-time champions South Korea have already progressed to the quarter-finals, after Taiwan on Monday blanked the Czech Republic 5-0 without giving up a single game. Before last night’s tie, Taiwan were undefeated in Group B, with a 9-1 match record, ahead of South Korea, who, although also
A man fell from the 6.4m-high Clemente Wall in right field at PNC Park in Pittsburgh during Wednesday night’s game between the Pirates and the Chicago Cubs. Right after Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run double in the seventh inning to put the Pirates ahead 4-3, players began waving frantically for medical personnel and pointing to the man, who had fallen onto the warning track. The fan was tended to for approximately five minutes by members of both the Pirates and Cubs training staffs as well as PNC personnel before being removed from the field on a cart. The team issued a statement shortly
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