AUSTRALIA
Socceroos arrive in Brazil
Australia became the first of the 31 foreign squads to arrive in Brazil for the FIFA World Cup finals on Wednesday. The Socceroos arrived in the southern city of Curitiba, before transferring to another flight to Vitoria, where they will be based. Australia are in a tough Group B alongside World and European champions Spain, Chile and the Netherlands, finalists four years ago in South Africa. “We are the underdogs,” midfielder Tommy Oar said in a FIFA statement. “It will be a good opportunity for the Australian team to surprise, so this is all very exciting, and being in the ‘soccer country’ is an extra motivation, of course.” The tournament kicks off on June 12 when Brazil play Croatia in Sao Paulo, while Australia’s first game is against Chile on June 13 in Cuiaba.
NETHERLANDS
Van der Vaart ruled out
Midfielder Rafael van der Vaart has been ruled out of the FIFA World Cup finals after the experienced international picked up a calf injury at a training camp in Portugal, the Dutch soccer association (KNVB) confirmed on Wednesday. Capped 109 times for his country, the 31-year-old Hamburg SV midfielder suffered the injury at a training camp on Tuesday, with the KNVB saying he was not expected to recover in time to participate in the June 12 to July 13 finals. The former Ajax, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder competed at the last two World Cup finals and was expected to a play a major role for the team in Brazil. His injury means the squad have lost two key midfielders in the run-up to the tournament, with AS Roma’s Kevin Strootman ruled out in March with a serious knee injury.
ENGLAND
United owner Glazer dies
Malcolm Glazer, the self-made billionaire who owned English Premier League club Manchester United and the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has died. He was 85. The Bucs said Glazer died on Wednesday. The reclusive Palm Beach businessman had been in failing health since April 2006 when a pair of strokes left him with impaired speech, and limited mobility in his right arm and leg. Glazer’s unobtrusive management style helped transform the Bucs from a laughingstock into a model franchise that in 2003 won the Super Bowl 48-21 over the Oakland Raiders. He raised his profile in 2005 with a US$1.47 billion takeover of Manchester United that was bitterly opposed by fans.
PORTUGAL
Ronaldo most marketable
Cristiano Ronaldo is the world’s most marketable player, according to a study released by an international sports market research company on Wednesday. Barcelona and Argentina forward Lionel Messi ranked second in the study conducted by Repucom, ahead of club teammate and surprise third-placed entry Gerard Pique of Spain. The data measured the perceptions of more than 6,500 people in 13 countries, including the UK, the US, Brazil, China and India, which was reportedly claimed to represent the views of more than 1.5 billion people worldwide. Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo was also found to be the most well-known player on the planet with 83.9 percent of people aware of who he was. “Ronaldo is an endorser’s dream. His value is as important to the teams he plays for as they are for the companies that endorse him,” Repucom chief executive Paul Smith said. “Global awareness of Ronaldo is what drives his commercial power and with over 82 million Facebook likes and 26 million Twitter followers, he is also one of the most liked in the business.”
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
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