SOCCER
AFC nominates players
Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, Manchester United midfielder Shinji Kagawa and his Japanese teammate Yuto Nagatomo have been nominated for the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) first Asian International Player of the Year award. The AFC announced the three-man shortlist for the new honor yesterday along with the nominees for their Asian Player of the Year award, open to candidates who play for clubs in the continent. South Korean winger Lee Keun-ho, who won the AFC Champions League with Ulsan Hyundai last week, and Australian captain Lucas Neill, who plays for Al Wasl in the United Arab Emirates, were shortlisted for the prize. Also nominated were 2004 winner Ali Karimi, his Iranian teammate Mohsen Bengar and Guangzhou Evergrande defender Zheng Zhi. The winners will be announced at the AFC awards night in Kuala Lumpur on Nov. 29. Three Japanese, Aya Miyama, Homare Sawa and Yuki Ogimi, were nominated for the Women’s Player of the Year award, while a trio of Brazilians, Bruno Correa, Ricardo Oliveira and Rogerio De Assis Silva Coutinho are up for the foreign Player of the Year.
RUGBY UNION
The Beast bounces back
South Africa prop Tendai Mtawarira says his rugby career is not under threat after having a medical procedure to correct an irregular heartbeat. The South African Rugby Union says Mtawarira, who left the Springboks’ tour to Europe after a recurrence of heart palpitations, underwent a “minor” procedure on Wednesday. He was released from hospital in Cape Town on Friday. Mtawarira has managed the condition for some time, but had a recurrence of the palpitations on the morning of the game against Ireland last weekend. He was briefly hospitalized in Dublin. In a statement yesterday, the 27-year-old forward says the procedure was successful and there was “no need to worry. This is something that has happened to me before and can be treated ... it’s not career-threatening.”
GOLF
Coetzee chases Stenson
South African George Coetzee hit a course-record 63 at the Serengeti Golf and Wildlife Estate to end the third round of the South African Open in second place on Saturday. At 13 under par, 26-year-old Coetzee is tied in second place with Sweden’s Magnus Carlsson, just three strokes behind leader Henrik Stenson, who had his worst round yet at 69, after 66 and 65 in the previous two rounds. His round puts him only one stroke behind the lowest score in SA Open history, after John Bland who shot a 62 at the Durban Country Club in 1993.
TENNIS
Czechs eye Davis Cup
Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek used a roaring home crowd to come back from a set down on Saturday, putting the Czech Republic 2-1 up over holders Spain and a win away from the Davis Cup title. The Czech pair triumphed 3-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-3. Spain’s top duo of Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez silenced the 14,000-strong crowd early on, but the Czechs shook off the slow start by racing ahead in the second set. They took control of the match by winning the third with a Berdych backhand volley and then easing through the fourth set. The Czech pair improved their doubles record to 12-1. World No. 6 Berdych would hope to take that momentum into the first singles match yesterday against fifth-ranked David Ferrer. A win would give the Czech Republic its first Davis Cup crown in 32 years.
Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the UEFA Champions League. “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honor,” said Carrick, 44, who won 12 major trophies in his 12-year playing career at United. The former midfielder previously had an unbeaten three-game stint as caretaker boss at Old Trafford in 2021. Carrick then took on his first permanent managerial role at second-tier Middlesbrough in October 2022 and was sacked in June last year after the club finished 10th in the
Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg on Wednesday was ruled out for the second half of their 118-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets after the No. 1 pick sprained his left ankle in the first half. Flagg was called for a foul while defending against Peyton Watson and turned the ankle as he fell to the floor with 6 minutes, 1 second left in the second quarter. Flagg limped to the bench and continued to the locker room, but returned for the final 2 minutes, 35 seconds before the break. The 19-year-old did not come out for the second half before the announcement that
Yassine Bounou on Wednesday saved two penalties, while Youssef en-Nesyri netted the decisive spot-kick as hosts Morocco secured a 4-2 shoot-out victory over Nigeria following a 0-0 draw in a tense Africa Cup of Nations semi-final in Rabat. Morocco, seeking their first continental title in 50 years, are to face 2021 winners Senegal in Sunday’s decider in Rabat, while Nigeria take on Egypt in the third-place playoff tomorrow. The 120 minutes before the shoot-out had few clear-cut chances for either side, but it was Morocco who created more opportunities, although they were denied by some fine saves from Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali. Nigeria
James Harden on Friday scored 31 points and came up big in overtime to help the Los Angeles Clippers erase a double-digit deficit on the way to a 121-117 NBA victory over the Toronto Raptors. Harden scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Clippers pushed their wining steak to five games despite the absence of star Kawhi Leonard with a sprained right ankle. The Clippers trailed by 11 entering the fourth quarter, but Harden drilled a pair of free-throws with 1:24 left in regulation to tie it and after misses from both teams, they went to
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