■YACHTING
America’s Cup race canceled
The opening race of the America’s Cup was canceled on Wednesday due to rough waters, two days after it was postponed due to weak winds. Race director Harold Bennett said the waves of more than 2m in the race area some 40km off the Spanish city of Valencia would be unsafe for the giant multihulls fielded by US team Oracle and defending Swiss champion Alinghi. The race — 20 nautical miles (37km) upwind and 20 back — is now set to be held today. Unlike on Monday when both teams agreed with Bennett’s decision to cancel the race, this time around Alinghi backed the move while Oracle, whose boat is thought to have an edge in strong winds, opposed it.
■SOCCER
Argentina beat Jamaica
Martin Palermo and Ignacio Canuto scored late goals to give Argentina a 2-1 win over Jamaica in an international friendly on Wednesday. Jamaica opened the scoring with a header by Ryan Johnson early in the second half. Palermo equalized seven minutes from time and Canuto, who came on as a substitute in the final minutes, scored the winner in injury time. Boca Juniors forward Palermo was one of the few players in the match expected to play a role in South Africa. Argentine coach Diego Maradona only fielded home-based players.
■SOCCER
Palop leads Sevilla to final
Sevilla lost 1-0 away to Getafe but hung on to qualify for the King’s Cup final 2-1 on aggregate on Wednesday, thanks to the heroics of their goalkeeper Andres Palop. The 36-year-old Sevilla captain held his side together and was only beaten once as Getafe completely dominated at the Coliseum. Getafe made a spirited effort to overturn the deficit hitting the crossbar early on. Sevilla were barely in the game and their coach Manolo Jimenez was sent to the stands for protesting a decision. The home side’s pressure finally paid off when Robert Soldado’s header snuck inside the far post after 52 minutes. But Palop was in outstanding form and Sevilla hung on to win.
■SOCCER
Eight man Cologne lose
Cologne had three players sent off during a 2-0 defeat at second division Augsburg in their German Cup quarter-final on Wednesday. Bayern Munich scored five times in the second half in a 6-2 win over SpVgg Fuerth, another tier two team, while Schalke 04 beat third division VfL Osnabrueck 1-0 away. Cologne were quickly in trouble when Michael Thurk gave Augsburg a third-minute lead and a straight red card for Adil Chihi on the half hour for elbowing added to their worries. There was more trouble when Lukas Podolski, who came on as a substitute on the hour, was dismissed nine minutes later when he was booked for sarcastically applauding the referee and, immediately afterwards, for arguing again. Petit followed with five minutes left for a second bookable offence before Nando Rafael added a second for Augsburg. Bayern notched their 11th successive win thanks to a dramatic second-half revival. Thomas Mueller gave Bayern a fifth-minute lead but Christopher Noethe leveled five minutes later and Sami Allagui headed the underdogs ahead just before the break. Bayern hit back with three goals in seven minutes either side of the hour. Arjen Robben equalized from a penalty, then Franck Ribery curled in the third before setting up Philipp Lahm for the fourth. In the final 10 minutes, Mueller added a fifth and Allagui headed into his own goal.
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
Chris Wood has fired Nottingham Forest into surprise UEFA Champions League contention and now the striker wants to score the goals to help New Zealand make history at the FIFA World Cup. New Zealand are strong favorites to qualify out of the Oceania region over the next week and reach the World Cup for only the third time. At the country’s two previous appearances at the finals, in 1982 and 2010, they have failed to win a match in six attempts. With Wood captaining the side and leading from the front, he told local media yesterday that the current squad can finally deliver
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