ARGENTINA
Name change report queried
FIFA questioned the Argentine Football Association (AFA) over reports the country’s championship could be renamed after the General Belgrano battleship sunk during the Falklands War in 1982. AFA were warned the potential name change for the Clausura championship, which began last weekend, could breach FIFA statutes. “FIFA contacted AFA with regards to a potential change of name of the Liga de Primera Division.” According to media reports, the league was set to be named after “Crucero General Belgrano,” FIFA said in a statement. “FIFA has requested the AFA to provide further information on this matter, and reminded the AFA of article three of the FIFA statutes which prohibits any kind of discrimination against a country, private person or group of people on account of ethnic origin, gender, language, religion, politics or any other reason.” Local media said the name change would have to be approved first by the AFA’s executive committee, which meets weekly, usually on Tuesdays.
BRAZIL
Ronaldinho may play Bosnia
The national team could field Ronaldinho, Neymar and Paulo Henrique Ganso, a key trio in their 2014 World Cup ambitions, when they meet Bosnia in a friendly in Switzerland on Feb. 28. Flamengo captain Ronaldinho and the Santos pair, striker Neymar and playmaker Ganso, were included in a 23-man squad named on Tuesday by coach Mano Menezes. Menezes first fielded the trio against Ghana in September last year when Ronaldinho, 31, made his Brazil comeback, but midfielder Ganso only played for a few minutes before being injured in the 1-0 win in London. Ronaldinho, part of Brazil’s 2002 World Cup-winning team, but overlooked in 2010, was recalled by Menezes in September after a 10-month absence during which he missed the Copa America in Argentina in July.
ARGENTINA
Roma’s Lamela called up
AS Roma teenager Erik Lamela and 31-year-old Napoli defender Hugo Campagnaro have earned their first national team call-ups for a friendly against Switzerland in Berne on Feb. 29. Liverpool winger Maxi Rodriguez also earned a recall in the 18-man squad of foreign-based players named by coach Alejandro Sabella on Tuesday, while Real Madrid’s Angel Di Maria returns from injury. The squad will be increased in the leadup to the match with the inclusion of players from the local league, the AFA said on their Web site. The gifted Lamela has been in good form for Roma since his transfer from relegated Argentine giants River Plate in middle of last year. Rodriguez, who played for Argentina at the 2006 World Cup, last turned out for his country in the 4-0 quarter-final defeat by Germany in Cape Town in July 2010.
ENGLAND
Mertesacker out for a while
Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker could be sidelined for a month with an ankle injury, manager Arsene Wenger said on the eve of yesterday’s Champions League game at AC Milan. The Germany international was injured in Saturday’s Premier League win at Sunderland and is poised to miss both legs of the last-16 tie with Milan as well as the north London derby against Tottenham Hotspur and his national team’s friendly with France. “He had reconstruction of his ankle in Germany before he joined us and the scan did not look too positive yesterday. Last night he went back to Germany to speak to the specialist and see where we go from there,” Wenger told reporters on Tuesday. “Certainly in the next month he will not be with us.”
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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