■ SOCCER
Demichelis wants out
Argentine centerback Martin Demichelis said on Friday he wants to leave Bayern Munich after being left out of the starting lineup for the opening Bundesliga match against VfL Wolfsburg. Bayern coach Louis van Gaal opted to select Daniel van Buyten and youngster Holger Badstuber as his centerbacks against Wolfsburg and Demichelis boycotted the match at Munich’s Allianz Arena in protest. “The truth is that a cycle is ending and it’s better for both sides if we go separate ways,” Demichelis told the Bild newspaper. “I don’t think it is fair to remain with the team if the signs point to separation.” Demichelis caused a stir before the first German league game of the season by refusing to attend the match. The 29-year-old played at the World Cup and was in the Argentina side that lost 4-0 to Germany in the quarter-finals. “I made my decision and the player must accept it. He won the title last season, but now has been replaced and he must accept that, it’s not easy,” van Gaal said.
■ SOCCER
Bremen sign Wesley
Werder Bremen on Friday announced that they have reached an agreement with Santos over the transfer of Brazilian attacking midfielder Wesley to the German club. Wesley, 23, will sign a four-year contract with Bremen, who finished third in the Bundesliga last season. The transfer fee was not divulged, but was estimated to be in the region of 7.5 million euros (US$9.5 million). Wesley will join up with his new teammates next week, but will not participate in the second leg of their Champions League playoff tie with Italian side Sampdoria next Tuesday. “It’s always been my dream to play in a big championship for a big club, I’m super-happy,” Wesley told the Werder Bremen Web site. The Brazilian will be expected to fill the gap left by German playmaker Mesut Ozil, who joined Real Madrid earlier this week. The deal would also appear to signal the end of Bremen’s plans to sign French winger Hatem Ben Arfa, who is on strike at Marseille as he seeks to engineer a move away from the club.
■ SOCCER
Jelavic moves to Rangers
Scottish champions Rangers on Friday announced the signing of Croatian international striker Nikica Jelavic on a four-year contract from Austrian side Rapid Vienna. The deal, which is pending a work permit, is worth £4 million (US$6.2 million) and makes Jelavic Rangers’ most expensive signing since the capture of Mikel Arteta in 2002. The 24-year-old completed a medical earlier on Friday and Rangers hope he will have received international clearance in time to make his debut against St Johnstone at Ibrox next Saturday.
■ RUGBY UNION
Jauzion sets retirement date
Toulouse center Yannick Jauzion has announced he will end his international career with France after next year’s World Cup in New Zealand. “Yes, it will obviously be my last World Cup and also my last international season,” Jauzion, 32, told French daily Le Figaro in an interview published yesterday. “Afterwards, I’ll focus uniquely on my club. Playing for France is a great honor, but it also means lots of accumulated fatigue. You pay for it, especially at the end of your career.” Jauzion made his France debut in 2004 and has since made 68 international appearances, scoring 20 tries. He won the Six Nations Grand Slam in 2004 and this year and the championship in 2007. He joined Toulouse from Colomiers in 2002 and went on to win the European Cup three times.
■ BASEBALL
A-Rod back in lineup
Alex Rodriguez is in the New York Yankees’ lineup as the designated hitter after missing three games because of a strained left calf. Rodriguez said he would be cautious while running the bases on Friday night against the Seattle Mariners and is not sure when he’ll be able to play third base again. The Yankees slugger said he hurt his calf during an at-bat in the fourth inning of Monday night’s game against Detroit and hasn’t played since. Yankees manager Joe Girardi listed A-Rod in the lineup on Friday, but said he would wait until after batting practice to make it final. Rodriguez said he was ready to play. Rodriguez hit several long homers during BP and took groundballs at third base.
■ BASKETBALL
Serbian player arrested
Serbian basketball player Nenad Krstic was arrested but released without bail after a mass brawl caused a game against Greece to be abandoned, police said on Friday. The 27-year-old, who plays for the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder, was alleged to have hit Yiannis Bourousis with a chair as the Greek player tried to break up a fight during the Acropolis Tournament final in Athens on Thursday. Police said Krstic was charged with causing bodily harm but this was a misdemeanor offense under Greek law, normally punishable with a fine. With the world championship starting on Aug. 28 in Turkey, Greece and Serbia will be concerned about the possibility that certain players may be prevented from taking part. Greece forward Kostas Tsartsaris apologized for the incident at the Olympic Indoor Hall. “Sorry to everyone from all over the world who attended the game because these images are not in keeping with the Olympic spirit,” he told reporters.
■ NASCAR
Johnson secures pole
Four-time defending NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson secured pole position on Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee, where he was to attempt yesterday to recap his win there in March. Johnson bettered Carl Edwards, who earned the second starting spot in a Ford. His hold on the pole was for just a few minutes — Johnson ran his lap two cars after Edwards’ attempt. Joey Logano qualified third in a Toyota, and also had a brief time atop the speed chart before Edwards and then Johnson knocked him into the second row. Tony Stewart qualified fourth and David Reutimann bounced back from a bout with food poisoning to qualify fifth. NASCAR had 49 cars vying for 43 starting positions. Drivers not making the race were Dave Blaney, Joe Nemechek, Kevin Lepage, J.J. Yeley, Brian Keselowski and Mike Bliss.
■ BASEBALL
Clemens has story to tell
Roger Clemens, who has been indicted on federal charges that he lied to the US Congress, said on Friday he was looking forward to the day he would get to tell his side of the story. Speaking on a US radio station, Clemens said he was “doing fine” in the face of the indictments, which stem on whether he lied to Congress two years ago about being injected with steroids. “I’m not going to get into details,” Clemens said. “All I’m going to say is that I learned a lot through what happened, and what did not happen. We’re going to deal with it. I don’t know what else to say. We’re going to deal with it and have our day.” The radio host asked Clemens if he was taken by surprise by Thursday’s indictment. “It wasn’t really a surprise,” he said.
Carlos Alcaraz on Monday powered into the French Open second round with a resounding win to start his title defense, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and three-time defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek also progressed at Roland Garros. Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz struck 31 winners in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri and is to face Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in round two. Alcaraz is now on an eight-match winning streak at the French Open and also took Olympic silver at Roland Garros last year, losing the final to Novak Djokovic. “The first round is never
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
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