SOCCER
PSV go top in Eredivisie
PSV Eindhoven scored four first-half goals to beat De Graafschap 4-1 on Sunday and move back on top of the Dutch League on goal difference. Dries Mertens converted an eighth-minute penalty to open the scoring before Ola Toivonen, Tim Matavz and Jeremain Lens settled the match before the break. Gil Vermouth gave the visitors a consolation goal from close range in the 52nd minute. PSV have 45 points from 21 matches and are ahead of AZ Alkmaar, who beat Excelsior Rotterdam 2-0 on Saturday, on goal difference.
SOCCER
Tevez apology smooths issue
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has told Carlos Tevez that an apology over his touchline tantrum might be enough to end his exile. Tevez is reported to have said he would return to Manchester today after spending the past few months home in Argentina following his row with Mancini during a Champions League tie against Bayern Munich in September last year. The Argentina forward has not played for City since he refused to warm up during the Bayern defeat and he was expected to leave the Premier League club during last month’s transfer window, but City were unable to agree a deal with AC Milan, Inter and Paris Saint-Germain and Tevez has now indicated he is ready to resume his career with City.
RUGBY UNION
Lomu needs new kidney
New Zealand great Jonah Lomu said yesterday that medical tests had confirmed a donated kidney he received eight years ago had failed and he needs a new transplant. The former All Blacks wing said he had lost 30kg since his longstanding health problems re-emerged in September last year, telling the New Zealand Women’s Weekly “everybody has to die sometime” and revealing he needs dialysis three times a week to keep his renal system functioning. Lomu was diagnosed in 1995 with the rare kidney disorder nephrotic syndrome and underwent a transplant in 2004, receiving an organ donated by friend and New Zealand radio broadcaster Grant Kereama.
RUGBY SEVENS
Samoa beat NZ in the US
Alafoti Faosiliva scored his second try in the last moments on Sunday to give Samoa a 26-19 upset of season leaders New Zealand in the final of the US stage of the IRB Rugby Sevens World Series. The giant forward crashed in for the deciding points at the death to bring a victory in Samoa’s first Sevens series final since the Dubai Sevens in December 2010. The shocker thwarted a two-try New Zealand comeback that had pulled the favorites level only to see them denied a third consecutive series crown. New Zealand remained atop the Series after the fifth of nine rounds on 92 points to 87 for Fiji with South Africa third on 76, two ahead of England, and Samoa jumping to fifth in the chase on 69.
CRICKET
Clarke out with injury
Australia captain Michael Clarke has been ruled out of Friday’s triangular series match against Sri Lanka in Sydney with a right hamstring injury, Cricket Australia said yesterday. The selectors will name the Australia squad for the next bunch of matches in the series today, where they will also have to choose a replacement captain for Friday’s fixture. “Michael Clarke sustained a low grade right hamstring strain in the ODI [one-day international] versus India in Adelaide on Sunday,” Australia team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said in a statement.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
Crowds descended on the home of 17-year-old Chinese diver Quan Hongchan after she won two golds at the Paris Olympics while gymnast Zhang Boheng hid in a Beijing airport toilet to escape overzealous throngs of fans. They are just two recent examples of what state media are calling “toxic fandom” and Chinese authorities have vowed to crack down on it. Some of the adulation toward China’s sports stars has been more sinister — fans obsessing over athletes’ personal lives, cyberbullying opponents or slamming supposedly crooked judges. Experts say it mirrors the kind of behavior once reserved for entertainment celebrities before
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
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