ENGLAND
Spurs receive festive boost
Tottenham Hotspur have received a Christmas boost with the news that Dutch forward Rafael van der Vaart’s hamstring injury proved less serious than first feared. The 28-year-old Netherlands star went off at halftime in Thursday’s 1-1 draw against Chelsea, but a scan showed up no tear. “He looks OK,” Spurs manager Harry Redknapp told Sky Sports News. “He looks like he could be fit. We thought he had a hamstring. He went for a scan and it didn’t show a tear.” Van der Vaart said: “I think I’m going to be fine.” Tottenham have lost just once in their last 14 English Premier League matches to climb to third in the table, but van der Vaart is not getting too carried away with title talk. The former Hamburg SV and Real Madrid man said: “We are third and still have one game in hand. We’re playing really good this season — you can see it in the big games, so it’s going to be interesting, but there’s still a long way to go.”
ENGLAND
City may stutter: Adebayor
Tottenham Hotspur striker Emmanuel Adebayor believes that Manchester City’s Premier League title push could be derailed by next month’s Africa Cup of Nations tournament. City will lose influential brothers Yaya Toure and Kolo Toure to the Ivory Coast squad for the Jan. 21 to Feb. 12 tournament, while Spurs will be unaffected, with Adebayor’s Togo banned from taking part. “They have two players going to the African Nations Cup [sic]. Kolo Toure is not playing a lot, but he is a great player,” Adebayor said. “Yaya Toure has been amazing for them this year. We will have to wait and see [how they cope]. In football you can have two or three injuries in a week. That has happened to us recently. City have a great team, a great spirit and at the moment they are playing good football, but if they got a couple of injuries I think it would be very difficult for them.” The tournament in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon coincides with City facing Spurs, Everton, Fulham and Aston Villa. The Toure brothers will also miss the game against Wigan Athletic on Jan. 16 because of the Ivory Coast’s training camp. Chelsea will lose Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou, while Arsenal will be without Gervinho, Alex Song and Emmanuel Frimpong.
ENGLAND
Magpies in good spirits: Ba
Newcastle United striker Demba Ba insists spirits are not sagging on Tyneside, despite a desperate run of two points from six matches. After a bright start, the Magpies have slid down into midtable after losing to Manchester City, Chelsea and Norwich City, as well as at the renamed St James’ Park in midweek to West Bromwich Albion, but the 26-year-old Senegal international, with 13 goals already to his credit, insists that even with injuries and suspensions piling up spirits are intact. “I don’t think it has affected anybody in the team, and personally, it hasn’t affected me.” Even so, his absence during next month’s Africa Cup of Nations will leave boss Alan Pardew with a gap to fill.
SPAIN
Only two clubs: Fabregas
Cesc Fabregas said on Sunday that he hopes to finish his career with Barcelona, but if he were to leave the Spanish giants he would only go back to Arsenal and nowhere else. “Apart from Arsenal and Barcelona, I don’t see myself playing anywhere else,” the 24-year-old told Sky Sports News. “I will definitely be going back [to Arsenal] whenever I have time to watch games and to see the guys, and you never know in the future, why not? In life, you can never say never, and if there is one place to go back to, it is Arsenal for sure.”
Spain are the favorites to win the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025, but star player Aitana Bonmati’s illness ahead of the tournament raises another question mark around a side which, despite their obvious quality, are not unstoppable. Having claimed the last two Ballon d’Or awards, Barcelona midfielder Bonmati is the game’s biggest star at present, so her absence in the final days before the start of Euro 2025 is a major setback. The 27-year-old came down with a fever in training last week, and was subsequently hospitalized and diagnosed with viral meningitis. Bonmati was discharged on Sunday and joined up with
HSIEH ADVANCES: In the women’s doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei was to play in the second round last night, but Taiwan’s Ray Ho exited in the men’s doubles It is more than 10 years since Grigor Dimitrov reached his sole Wimbledon semi-final and back then it still seemed a reasonable bet that the Bulgarian once dubbed “Baby Federer” would win a Grand Slam title. There were semi-final runs at the US Open and Australian Open after that, but it has never quite happened and despite him still being ranked No. 21, it most likely never will. Dimitrov, 34, remains one of the most stylish players on the circuit though, with his elegant single-handed backhand and smooth all-court game a rare reminder of how tennis was before the power merchants turned
TAIWANESE WIN: Chan Hao-ching and Wu Fang-hsien and their partners won their first-round matches in the women’s doubles at the All England Lawn Tennis Club Late-night finishes and five-set matches are becoming a habit for Taylor Fritz at Wimbledon this year. On Wednesday, he wrapped up his win over Gabriel Diallo before the match was suspended — making sure the fifth-seeded American would not have to come back on court for a fourth straight day. Fritz overcame a bloodied elbow to win 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/0), 4-6, 6-3 on No. 1 Court a day after he finished off another five-set win over Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in a match that was halted on Monday at about 10:15pm after Fritz forced a fifth set with Wimbledon’s 11pm curfew looming. He
Real Madrid’s FIFA Club World Cup quarter-final against Borussia Dortmund had taken three crazy turns during nine minutes of second-half stoppage time when Marcel Sabitzer chested the ball and sent a right-footed volley toward Thibaut Courtois’ post. Courtois leapt to his right, extended the long arm on his 2m frame and just managed to get his gloved fingertips on the ball, knocking it down. Courtois hit the ground as the ball bounded up. He looked skyward, planted his right hand to regain his balance, grabbed the ball with both hands on the second bounce and fell onto it with his chest. Sabitzer turned
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