SOCCER
All White says sorry
Disgraced New Zealand player Ben Sigmund issued a public apology yesterday for stamping on the legs of a United Arab Emirates player as he lay prone on the ground. Sigmund was red-carded after the incident involving Ali Mabkhout in the 89th minute of Monday’s 2-0 loss to the UAE in Saudi Arabia and faces possible further disciplinary action from both world governing body FIFA and New Zealand Football. “I just have to say sorry, it was not acceptable,” Sigmund said on his return home. “My son was watching the telly and that probably hurt me the most for him to say ‘where’s daddy gone?’ It’s not a nice situation and I’m not proud of that,” he said. Sigmund said he acted out of frustration and knows he has to accept any further punishment that comes his way. Former All White Sam Malcolmson said he felt “a bit sick” when he saw the incident. “If he did that to one of my team-mates when I was playing, I’d be livid,” he told the New Zealand Herald.
GOLF
Pressure gets to Shevchenko
Former European Footballer of the Year Andriy Shevchenko plunged to a 12-over-par 84 on his debut on the continent’s second-tier Challenge Tour on Thursday. The former AC Milan and Chelsea striker, who has a handicap of two and plays left-handed, was 20 strokes behind playing partner and compatriot Victor Riu after the opening round of the Kharkov Superior Cup in their native Ukraine. “I am not a big fan of soccer so I didn’t really know much about Andriy, but it was great to play with him,” Riu told reporters after ending the day on top of the leaderboard at the Superior Golf and Spa Resort in Kharkov. “There were a lot of people watching and he was great. Every time I holed a putt he shook my hand or gave me a high-five.” Former Ukrainian international Shevchenko, 36, said he enjoyed the experience despite his poor round. “It’s a completely different game when you are under pressure,” said the 2004 European Footballer of the Year.
TENNIS
Top seed reaches final
Top seed Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia defeated Spain’s Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor 6-2, 6-2 yesterday to reach the singles final of the Tashkent Open. She will play Olga Govortsova in today’s final after the unseeded Belarusian beat another unseeded player, Mandy Minella of Luxembourg, 6-2, 7-5 in the other semi-final. The 21-year-old Serb will be seeking to claim the second WTA title of her career while her 113th-ranked opponent will be hoping to land her first.
SOCCER
Argentina climb rankings
Argentina have climbed to second place behind World Cup winners Spain in the monthly FIFA rankings, released on Thursday. Belgium surged to No. 6 in the world while the US moved up six places to No. 13, their highest position in four years, after joining Argentina in qualifying for the World Cup. The Argentines rose two places from fourth, knocking Germany down to No. 3. Italy also qualified for the World Cup and jumped two spots to No. 4, while Colombia dropped two to fifth. Belgium, Uruguay, Brazil, the Netherlands and Croatia round out the top 10. Taiwan moved up one place to joint-175th. Japan are the top-ranked Asian team at No. 42, despite dropping five places, followed by Iran in 48th position.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
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
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
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