GERMANY
Chaos investigated
The German soccer federation opened an investigation on Wednesday into the chaotic scenes during a relegation match between Fortuna Duesseldorf 1895 and Hertha BSC Berlin that forced the referee to stop the game three times. Duesseldorf secured promotion to the Bundesliga top tier on Tuesday with a 2-2 draw against Hertha. The game was held up twice when fireworks and flares landed on the field, and once more with less than two minutes of stoppage-time to be played when Duesseldorf fans prematurely stormed the pitch. The German federation said its supervisory committee has launched a probe into the incident to work out an “appropriate” punishment for those responsible. Hertha said on Wednesday they would submit a legal complaint to annul the result.
PORTUGAL
Lopes happy, wedding off
Portugal fullback Miguel Lopes, a surprise pick for Euro 2012, said it was the happiest day of his life when coach Paulo Bento called him up, even though it forced him to scrap his wedding plans. “I had to talk to a lot of people, but they understood why I had to cancel the wedding and gave me a lot of support, another day will come,” Lopes, 25, said on Wednesday. He did not specify if his wife-to-be was one of the people who understood his decision, but admitted the first thing he did after hearing about the call-up was to kiss his fiancee, Monica Pina. “This is the happiest day of my life,” the Braga player said. Lopes’ wedding had been scheduled for the same day as Portugal’s pre-tournament friendly against Macedonia on Saturday next week.
ARGENTINA
No apologies, Tevez says
Striker Carlos Tevez insisted on Wednesday he would not apologize to Sir Alex Ferguson after waving a mocked-up tombstone of the Manchester United boss during Manchester City’s Premier League title celebrations. “It seems that Ferguson is the president of England. Because each time that he speaks badly of a player or talks nonsense about me, no one comes out to say that he has to apologize. When you make a joke, you have to apologize. But I’m not apologizing,” Tevez said on returning to Buenos Aires after helping City to their first title in 44 years. The 28-year-old Argentina striker held up a banner designed to look like a gravestone and bearing the words “RIP Fergie” as City celebrated their title triumph over Manchester United during an open-top bus parade. Manchester City later released a statement apologizing to Ferguson and criticizing Tevez, while the player — who it is believed took the banner from a fan — also said he “didn’t mean any disrespect.”
JAPAN
Star eyes Premier League
Japanese star Shinji Kagawa said he wants to play in the Premier League after meeting with Manchester United coach Alex Ferguson. The 23-year-old Kagawa has one year left on his contract with two-time Bundesliga champion Borussia Dortmund, but has declined the club’s extension offer. Kagawa returned to Japan on Wednesday after meeting with Ferguson earlier this week. “I want to go to a team where it’ll be challenging for me,” Kagawa said. “It’d be nice if I end up playing in the Premier League.” Ferguson attended the German Cup final in Berlin on Saturday, when Kagawa scored one goal and set up another to help Dortmund rout Bayern Munich 5-2 in what might have been his last game for the club.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
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