ENGLAND
Spurs to sign Eriksen
Tottenham Hotspur have agreed a deal to sign Ajax’s Denmark international Christian Eriksen, the Premier League club said on Friday. Eriksen, a crafty playmaker who has been capped 37 times for his country, becomes the latest attacking addition to the north London club’s burgeoning ranks. The 21-year-old will be Tottenham’s seventh transfer-window acquisition and with media reports putting the fee in the region of ￡12 million (US$18.6 million), the move is likely to take the club’s spending to more than ￡100 million. Eriksen joined Ajax in 2008 from Denmark’s OB Odense and played 161 games for the club, scoring 33 goals. He won three Dutch championships between 2011 and this year.
SPAIN
Bale has boots waiting
Gareth Bale’s boot sponsors Adidas are taking no chances when it comes to the Wales international’s possible presentation at Real Madrid and already have a pair waiting in the Spanish capital, Spanish sports daily As reported on Friday. With a deal to take the Tottenham Hotspur winger to the Bernabeu apparently imminent, As published a photo on its Web site of what it said was the box Adidas sent by courier to Real’s Valdebebas training facility. It also showed a shipping document with the player’s name on and “shoes” listed as the contents. The paper also reported that a deal was in place in which Real will pay Spurs 84 million euros (US$110.8 million) for Bale, plus a possible 7 million euros more, linked to performance. Spanish media reported this week that Adidas had already started selling Real shirts with Bale’s name on at their store in Paris.
FRANCE
PSG leave out Sakho
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) defender Mamadou Sakho, who has asked to leave the club, was left of the squad for yesterday’s Ligue 1 home game against En Avant de Guingamp amid media reports he is on his way out. The 23-year-old France international has not played a single minute this season and has fallen behind Brazilians Thiago Silva and Alex, who are coach Laurent Blanc’s favored pairing. French broadcaster beIN Sport, whose chairman Nasser al-Khelaifi is also chairman at PSG, reported on Friday that the French champions had agreed to sell Sakho to Liverpool for 23 million euros (US$30.33 million). Media reports have also linked him with a move to AC Milan. Sakho, who has 14 international caps, asked to leave the club after France coach Didier Deschamps left him out of this month’s friendly in Belgium because of his lack of competitive action.
BULGARIA
Players fight each other
Beroe Stara finished with eight men after two players were sent off for fighting with each other during halftime, before beating Neftohimik Burgas 2-0 on Friday to move up to fifth in the Bulgarian league. Beroe ’keeper Ivan Karadzhov and his Portuguese teammate Elio Martins were shown straight red cards by referee Ivaylo Stoyanov after exchanging blows on their way to the dressing room. Beroe were reduced to eight men when Brazilian midfielder Elias received a second bookable offence for diving midway through the second half, but the Stara Zagora-based side held their two-goal lead from the first half. Pirin Gotse Delchev goalkeeper Abdi Abdikov was sent off for hitting a teammate during his club’s 5-1 loss at Cherno More Varna in the Bulgarian league in April. Abdikov was banned for four matches.
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
LeBron James and eldest son Bronny James claimed a piece of NBA history on Sunday after making their long-awaited first appearance alongside each other for the Los Angeles Lakers. The duo appeared together at the start of the second quarter in the Lakers’ 118-114 preseason defeat to the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert, east of Los Angeles. While LeBron James impressed with 19 points in just 16 minutes and 20 seconds on court before sitting out the second half, Bronny found the going harder with zero points in just over 13 minutes on court. The younger James attempted just one
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