■SOCCER
Ibrahimovic slams Guardiola
Zlatan Ibrahimovic on Wednesday took a swipe at Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, dismissing him as “small time.” “In my book, a great coach solves his problems. A small-time coach runs from them,” the Swede said. “There was only one person [on the Barcelona team] who wanted to get rid of me,” he said, explaining why he left the team and signed for AC Milan over the weekend on an initial one-year loan with a pre-arranged 24 million euro (US$31 million) permanent deal arranged for the end of the season. “I have never had problems with any coach before during my career,” he said. “But suddenly I had a thousand problems and I had no communication with ‘the Philosopher.’ No communication whatsoever. I don’t know what his problem was,” he said of Guardiola. “I couldn’t take it. I had no choice but to find a new place of work and I was lucky to go to a club like Milan. I am 28 years old and can not afford to lose a year sitting on the bench and watching the weather,” he said.
■SOCCER
Spurs seal deal
English Premier League club Tottenham were allowed to sign Rafael van der Vaart from Real Madrid on Wednesday after their last-ditch move for the Dutch playmaker on deadline day. Spurs boss Harry Redknapp moved for van der Vaart just two hours before the transfer window closed late on Tuesday, causing a frantic scramble to file the paperwork in time, and the north London outfit were left to wait overnight to discover if the Premier League would ratify the deal. Redknapp was finally able to plan a team that includes van der Vaart on Wednesday after the Premier League rubber-stamped the deal. “We are delighted to announce that we have reached agreement with Real Madrid for the transfer of Rafael van der Vaart,” a statement on Tottenham’s Web site confirmed. Real confirmed the deal. Van der Vaart was available at a cut-price rate after new Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho decided to cash in on a player who would have struggled to win a first-team place.
■SOCCER
Girls prone to knee injuries
“Kicking like a girl” is a real phenomenon and may explain why females are more likely to suffer knee injuries in sports such as soccer, US researchers said on Wednesday. The researchers found significant differences in knee alignment and muscle activation between men and women while kicking a ball. The study appearing in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery offers a possible explanation on why female players are more than twice as likely as males to sustain an anterior cruciate ligament injury. “By analyzing the detailed motion of a soccer kick in progress, our goal was to home in on some of the differences between the sexes and how they may relate to injury risk,” said orthopedic surgeon Robert Brophy of the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, Missouri.
■FOOTBALL
Dockett signs new deal
Arizona Cardinals’ defensive lineman Darnell Dockett has signed a four-year contract extension which will keep him with the NFC West team until 2015. The Cardinals did not disclose details of the terms but Dockett told a news conference that he believed he was now up with the best paid players in his position. Media reports said the two-times Pro Bowl selection could earn up to US$50 million with US$31 million guaranteed. The former Florida State lineman was taken by the Cardinals in the third round of the 2004 draft and helped the Arizona team to the Super Bowl last year.
The next generation of running talent takes center stage at today’s Berlin Marathon, in the absence of stars including Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopian world record holder Tigist Assefa. With most of the major marathon stars skipping the event in the wake of the Paris Olympics just more than a month ago, the field is wide open in the men’s and women’s races. Since 2015, Kipchoge has won five times in Berlin, Kenenisa Bekele has won twice and Guye Adola once — with all three missing today. Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie and Ethiopian Tadese Takele are among the favourites for the men, while
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Taiwan’s Tony Wu yesterday beat Mackenzie McDonald of the US to win the Nonthaburi Challenger IV in Thailand, his first challenger victory since 2022. The 26-year-old world No. 315, who won both his qualifiers to advance to the main draw, has been on a hot streak this month, winning his past nine matches, including two that ensured Taiwan’s victory in their Davis Cup World Group I tie. Wu took just more than two hours to top world No. 172 McDonald 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to win his second challenger tournament since the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in 2022. Wu’s Tallahassee win followed two years of
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