SOCCER
Greece beat Mexico in U-20
It was disappointing night for Latin American teams at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup as Greece scored late to beat Mexico 2-1 and South American champions Colombia were held to 1-1 by Australia on Saturday. Greece scored first in Gaziantep through Andreas Bouchalakis in the 16th minute. Mexico’s Jorge Espericueta drew the CONCACAF champion level in the 40th of the Group D match with a wonderful long-range free-kick. Dimitrios Kolovos then made a turn in the area and scored a late winner in the 88th. Hosts Turkey made an ideal start with a 3-0 win over El Salvador to top Group C. Cenk Sahin launched an attack down the right side in the ninth before sending a low cross for Salih Ucan to slot home. The two teamed up again after halftime, as Ucan slipped a pass to Sahin, who scored the first of his two goals in the 46th. Seventeen minutes later, Sahin slotted home inside the far post to put the match out of reach. In the other Group D match, Paraguay and Mali settled for a 1-1 draw.
SOCCER
Almeria to return to Primera
UD Almeria will return to the Primera Division after a two-year absence next season after they sealed a 4-0 aggregate win over Girona in the promotion playoff final with a 3-0 win at home over the Catalans on Saturday night. Already leading 1-0 from the first-leg in Girona earlier in the week, Aleix Vidal got the hosts off to a perfect start on 17 minutes as he fired home from the edge of the area to give the Andalusians a comfortable advantage. Brazilian Charles, who also scored the winner in the first-leg, then sealed the victory on the night with two more goals in the second-half.
ATHLETICS
Rollins runs 12.26 seconds
Brianna Rollins equaled the fourth-fastest 100m hurdles ever run as she clocked a stunning 12.26 seconds at the US world championship trials on Saturday at Des Moines, Iowa. Finally catching an allowable wind, the 21-year-old US collegiate record holder sent a strong message to Australian Olympic and world champion Sally Pearson with the fastest time since 1992. Only Bulgarian Yordanka Donkova, whose 1988 world record is 12.21 seconds, and compatriot Ginka Zagorcheva, the former record holder, have run faster. Donkova has done so twice. Runner-up Queen Harrison (12.43 seconds), third-place finisher Nia Ali (12.48) and Beijing Olympic winner Dawn Harper, who has a wild card entry, also made the US team for the Aug. 10 to Aug. 18 world championships in Moscow.
ATHLETICS
Farah wins 5,000m
Double Olympic champion Mo Farah stormed to victory in the 5,000m at the European Team Championships on Saturday in his first British squad appearance since the London Games. Farah’s performance, capped by a blistering final lap of 50.89 seconds, helped Britain claim five wins to sit third out of 12 in the standings after the opening day in Gateshead. Farah took victory in 14 minutes, 10 seconds. “I had a text from [coach] Alberto [Salazar] this morning to just wait as late as possible,” the 30-year-old said. “I wasn’t allowed to do anything, wasn’t even allowed to go to the front, but I was tripping over as the race was so slow, so I went to the front, ran as easily as possible and went from the bell. I went hard. [Salazar] said just go, don’t build up.”
Soccer officials yesterday offered “full support and assistance” to the Iranian team in Australia for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup after the US and Israel launched massive attacks on their homeland. Iran’s 26-strong squad arrived on the Gold Coast days before the strikes on Saturday killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Washington and Tel Aviv seek to topple the Islamic republic. They are due to open their tournament today against South Korea. The AFC in a statement said it “continues to closely monitor the recent developments in the Middle East during this challenging period.” “The AFC’s foremost priority remains the welfare, safety and
ROAD RASH: Marc Marquez retired after a crash, marking the first time after 88 consecutive races stretching back to 2021 that a Ducati bike failed to make the podium Marco Bezzecchi yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening grand prix in Thailand from pole position as defending world champion Marc Marquez retired late with a buckled wheel. Aprilia’s Bezzecchi led from start to finish to top the podium in Buriram, with KTM’s Pedro Acosta second and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez third. Ducati’s Marquez is chasing a record-equaling eighth world title this season, but he exited the race in dramatic fashion while in fourth place with five laps to go. The Spaniard, who started from second on the grid, took a corner wide, with the jolt to his bike dislodging the rear tire, badly damaging his
EVERY DAY A VICTORY: Players on the women’s team faced pressure from society just getting out onto the field as they prepare for their first Women’s Asian Cup game today Bangladesh’s national soccer team face daunting odds at their first-ever Women’s Asian Cup, but have already scored a major victory by qualifying. In the South Asian nation of 170 million, social stigma, family expectations, poverty and religious hardliners have long relegated women and girls to sports sidelines. The first women’s soccer league matches took place in 2011 and the squad, known to fans as the Red and Green, have kept pressing forward despite deeply embedded prejudices. “Many more girls would have joined us if the community had been even slightly supportive,” captain Afeida Khandaker told AFP ahead of her side’s March 3
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool
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