COPA DEL REY
Villarreal eliminated
Villarreal on Wednesday were eliminated by Racing Santander in the round-of-32, while Atletico Madrid beat fourth-tier Atletico Baleares. Villarreal lost 2-1 to Racing, while Antoine Griezmann scored a goal in each half as Atletico held on for a 3-2 win over Atletico Baleares. Elsewhere, Cultural Leonesa beat Levante UD 1-0, Albacete Balompie and RC Celta de Vigo drew 2-2, CA Osasuna downed SD Huesca 4-2, Deportivo Alaves won 1-0 against Sevilla and Real Madrid got the better of Talavera 3-2.
Photo: AFP
EFL CUP
Manchester City win
Manchester City on Wednesday eased into the semi-finals of the EFL Cup with a 2-0 home win over Brentford, while holders Newcastle United needed an added-time Lewis Miley goal to beat Fulham 2-1 at St James’ Park.
WOMEN’S
Chelsea, Bayern advance
Chelsea and Bayern Munich on Wednesday advanced to the quarter-finals as the league phase ended. Chelsea won 2-1 against VfL Wolfsburg to take third place behind top-of-the-table Barcelona — 2-0 winners over Paris (10th) — and OL Lyonnes (second), who downed Atletico Madrid (11th) 4-0. Bayern cruised to a 3-0 win over Norway’s Valerenga (13th) to claim the fourth and last direct quarter-final place and dodge the playoff round. Elsewhere, Juventus and Real Madrid dropped points and are headed to the playoff round. Real Madrid drew 1-1 against Twente to finish seventh, while Manchester United (sixth) beat Juventus 1-0 (eighth). Arsenal (fifth) beat OH Leuven (12th) 3-0, Paris Saint-Germain (17th) drew 1-1 with Benfica (16th) and AS Roma (14th) beat St Polten 6-1 (18th).
MALAYSIA
FIFA overturns results
FIFA overturned the results of three Malaysia matches after finding they had fielded ineligible players, the Football Association of Malaysia said on Wednesday. FIFA in September ruled that false documentation had been used ahead of an AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Vietnam in June. The association said that it would appeal.
WORLD CUP
Nigeria submit petition
Nigeria have submitted a petition to FIFA alleging that the Democratic Republic of the Congo fielded ineligible players in their African qualification play-off, a Nigerian Football Federation spokesperson said. DR Congo beat Nigeria last month to keep alive their hopes of appearing at the tournament and are set to compete in an inter-confederation playoff in March. The federation said that several dual-nationality players had been cleared to play for DR Congo without meeting the required criteria. DR Congo’s federation rejected the allegations.
WORLD CUP
Prize pool announced
The winners of next year’s FIFA World Cup are to receive US$50 million from a US$655 million prize pool, FIFA said on Wednesday as it announced record financial rewards for teams in the tournament. The champions’ figure is up from US$42 million won by Argentina in 2022. The total prize fund for the World Cup, to be staged in the US, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, is up 48.9 percent from US$440 million for the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
By the time Cameron Menzies finally left the arena on Monday, the blood gushing from the gash on his right hand had trickled down his wrist, part of his forearm and — somehow — up to his face. Smeared in crimson and regret, and already mouthing sheepish apologies to the crowd, he disappeared down the steps, pursued by a stern-looking Matt Porter, the chief executive of Professional Darts Corp (PDC). The physical scars from Menzies’ encounter with the Alexandra Palace drinks table after his 3-2 defeat against Charlie Manby at the Darts World Championship would be gone within a few weeks.
Manchester United on Monday blew the lead three times to miss out on moving up to fifth in the Premier League as AFC Bournemouth would not be beaten in a thrilling 4-4 draw at Old Trafford. United have lost just once in their past 10 games, but Ruben Amorim would be frustrated as more points at home were frittered away despite arguably the best attacking display of his reign in charge. Amad Diallo and Casemiro gave the hosts a halftime lead either side of Antoine Semenyo’s equalizer. Two Bournemouth goals from Evanilson and Marcus Tavernier in seven minutes at the start of the
Italian Luca de Aliprandini described Saturday’s World Cup giant slalom at Val d’Isere as the hardest race of his life, coming two days after his Swiss partner Michelle Gisin suffered a heavy fall in training which required neck surgery. De Aliprandini finished 26th in the men’s event won by Loic Meillard, but the result paled into insignificance with two-time Olympic ski champion Gisin in hospital with injuries to her wrist, knee and cervical spine (neck). “It was Michelle’s wish that I race here. I couldn’t say no to her, but it was the toughest race of my entire life,” an emotional De
LOW-GOAL SHOOT-OUT: Of the nine penalties in the shoot-out, only three went in, with Flamengo’s Samuel Lino, and Vitinha and Nuno Mendes of PSG netting Matvei Safonov on Wednesday made four straight penalty saves in a penalty shoot-out to help Paris Saint-Germain beat Flamengo in the Intercontinental Cup final and win a sixth trophy of the year. The Russian goalkeeper was thrown in the air by his teammates after his exploits in the shoot-out, which was won 2-1 by PSG after a 1-1 draw after extra-time. It completed a trophy-laden 12 months for the French team, who had already won the Trophee des Champions, Ligue 1, the Coupe de France, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Super Cup — also on penalties against Tottenham Hotspur in
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