ENGLAND
Davids inspires Barnet win
Dutch legend Edgar Davids inspired Barnet to a 4-0 victory over Northampton Town on his debut for the English League Two club on Friday. Davids is more used to plying his trade on the sport’s grandest stages after an illustrious career with European giants like Juventus, Ajax, Barcelona and Inter Milan. Howeverm the 39-year-old midfielder has come out of retirement in the unlikely surroundings of Barnet, a tiny club based in the suburbs of north London who attract crowds of just over 1,000. Davids, a former Champions League winner who won 74 caps for Holland, had been working with Sunday league amateur footballers in England before accepting the offer to work alongside Mark Robson as joint Barnet Bees manager. His arrival at the club initially failed to spark a revival of fortunes for the Bees, as they lost 4-1 to Plymouth last weekend to remain rooted to the bottom of English soccer’s fourth tier. However, Davids was able to work his magic on the pitch at Underhill on Friday. Driven on by Davids, who played 90 minutes and earned a booking, Barnet secured their first league win of the season with four second half goals.
FRANCE
Lille salvage 1-1 draw
A last-gasp effort from Montenegrin defender Marko Basa handed LOSC Lille Metropole a 1-1 draw against Girondins de Bordeaux on Friday, the result maintaining the latter’s stalemate syndrome in drawing for the sixth time in nine matches this term. Polish international midfielder Ludovic Obraniak’s 18th-minute opener looked set to vault Bordeaux into provisional second place in the French table at the expense of last year’s struggling champions Lille. However, three minutes into stoppage time, home forward Henri Saivet committed a needless foul and from the resulting free-kick Basa headed home to rescue a point which keeps Lille in midtable and leaves Bordeaux four points off leaders Marseille in joint fourth spot. Bordeaux had set about their task with relish and had their reward when Brazilian defender Mariano Ferreira sped down the right and found Obraniak, who could hardly miss from six yards out. The southwesterners now have 15 points from their nine games, the same as Lyon but one behind title favorites Paris Saint Germain.
GERMANY
Fuerth tie with Hoffenheim
SpVgg Greuther Fuerth snatched a 3-3 draw against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim with the last touch of the ball in the Bundesliga’s 15,000th match on Friday.Lasse Sobiech scored three minutes into injury time with a header from a corner, after Joselu’s second goal in the 89th minute looked to have given the home side all three points. “My lads showed great spirit to come back three times,” said Fuerth coach Mike Bueskens, who ran onto the pitch in celebration. Robert Firmino opened the scoring in the eighth minute for Hoffenheim, only for Zoltan Stieber to equalize in the 39th after Tim Wiese saved Edgar Prib’s initial effort. Kevin Volland held off three Fuerth players to set up Joselu’s first goal in the 67th, before Prib equalized with a fine strike from distance in the 84th. “It was a great game for the fans. Unfortnately we didn’t manage to close the deal,” said Hoffenheim coach Markus Babbel, who felt the draw was “like a defeat.” Wiese was making his return from injury, and has now conceded 18 goals in five competitive games since moving from Werder Bremen. Hoffenheim has yet to win with him in the side.
Taiwan’s men’s table tennis team won bronze on Saturday at this year’s International Table Tennis Federation World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, matching the country’s best-ever finish at the regular tournament. Consisting of Lin Yun-ju, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7, Feng Yi-hsin, Kuo Guan-hong, Hong Jing-kai and Hsu Hsien-chia, the team won bronze after losing 0-3 to Japan in the semifinals. In the opening match, 24-year-old Lin played the first game against world No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto 11-5, but ultimately lost the next three closely contested games 9-11, 10-12 and 10-12. Feng then faced world No. 8 Sora Matsushima in
Taiwanese fire dancer Yang Li-wei advanced to the final of Britain’s Got Talent this weekend after receiving a Golden Buzzer during her live semi-final performance. Yang, a member of Taiwan’s Coming True Fire Group, awed judges and audiences with a high-intensity fire performance featuring flaming umbrellas, fire swallowing and spinning metal structures balanced with her legs. Judge Simon Cowell praised Yang as a star, while guest judge KSI reacted with amazement before pressing the Golden Buzzer, sending her to the finals. The dance group wrote on social media that the Golden Buzzer was “the highest honor” on the talent show, adding: “Twenty-three years
Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke, 29, has died, the NBA team said in a statement on Tuesday, while the family of Jason Collins, the first openly gay man to play in a major US pro sports league, announced the former Grizzlies and Brooklyn Nets player had died after a battle with brain cancer. “We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of Brandon Clarke,” the Grizzlies said in a statement posted on social media. “Brandon was an outstanding teammate and an even better person whose impact on the organization and the greater Memphis community will not be forgotten.” The statement did not provide
As Super Rugby fast approaches its playoff season it finds itself racing toward a reckoning with many issues that threaten the southern hemisphere tournament. A group of stakeholders met in the New Zealand city of Christchurch late last month to address problems that are making the future of the 31-year-old competition increasingly tenuous. The discussion was made more urgent by the decision by the owners of Moana Pasifika to fold the Auckland-based club for financial reasons. That followed the closure of the Melbourne Rebels at the end of the 2024 season, likewise because of financial difficulties. Problems addressed included player retention as more
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