Page 55 stories
La Liga president admits to being Real Madrid fan
La Liga president Javier Tebas has risked causing consternation in Clasico week by admitting he is a Real Madrid supporter.
The 53-year-old, who has led the LFP since April 2013, confessed he has followed the club since childhood.
Tebas was born in Costa Rica but revealed his support for the club in order to avoid being called a hypocrite if the fact came out from elsewhere.
“If I say I don’t support [Madrid], then that would be hypocritical and I would be painted as a liar,” he said in an interview with AS.
“And I certainly don’t like to be called a liar. Imagine if I said that I loved all teams, and then it came out that I supported Madrid since I was a boy, went to 27 Clasicos in the past, that I celebrated Madrid wins with friends in a bar. I prefer to call it as it is.”
Tebas has previously voiced his desire for domestic fixtures to be played abroad and while he reaffirmed that desire he insisted the Clasico will never take place on foreign shores.
“The Clasico will never be played outside of Spain. It’s a key game in our league competition and has huge international prestige.
“We’ll study the possibility of playing certain games outside of Spain but at present this initiative doesn’t form part of our international expansion plans.”
Goalkeeper makes first league start after 13 years as sub
A professional goalkeeper has finally made his full league debut after 13 years on the bench.
Perennial reserve James Bittner was first named as a substitute nearly 5,000 days ago when he joined Bournemouth as a fresh-faced 21-year-old in 2002.
He has remained on the bench ever since and only made it onto the pitch ONCE – for the second half only – despite representing clubs in all four professional leagues.
But he got his big chance with Plymouth Argyle on Saturday when an injury to first choice stopper Luke McCormick handed him a place in the opening line-up.
Delighted James, now 33, played a starring role as Argyle secured a 2-1 away victory at York City.
He said: “I’ve started with three points and hopefully I can carry on.
“It’s hard for goalkeepers unless you get a break when you’re young.
“But if you don’t get that break early on as a goalkeeper it’s hard, you’re almost always seen as a second or a third choice.”
James was a youth team player at Swindon Town before being offered a chance to play in the Premier League with Fulham in 2000.
But he didn’t make any appearances for the Cottagers during a a two-year spell and went on to join Bournemouth in 2002 on non-contract terms as injury cover.
He made the first of many appearances on the bench on 16 March that year as his new team drew 0-0 at Tranmere Rovers in League Two.
James then joined Queens Park Rangers for a season without making an appearance before stepping down to non-league football in 2003.
Howe impressed by ‘positive and sharp’ Rantie
Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe was impressed with the way Tokelo Rantie performed in South Africa’s 3-1 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying win over Angola in Benguela on Friday.
The pacey striker has struggled for game time in England this season, finally making his English Premier League debut earlier this month having failed to make it onto the park in the Cherries’ opening 11 top flight fixtures.
Rantie, 25, has experienced the wrath of the passionate Bafana Bafana fans this year, with his penalty miss against Algeria in the 2015 African Cup of Nations still fresh in the memory.
The striker, though, went some why in proving his critics wrong with another outstanding performance for South Africa in a qualifier, scoring a superb equaliser before winning the penalty that led to the third goal.
“TK’s goal and all-round display for South Africa capped a memorable few days for him. He was a constant threat to the Angolan defenders and they found his pace difficult to deal with. He took his goal superbly and had a big hand in the third when he was fouled for the penalty,” Howe told the Bournemouth Echo.
“TK looked sharp when he came off the bench against Newcastle in our last game and I know how much it meant to him to play in the Premier League. Players always need to be ready when they are given an opportunity. He is a very positive character and will have taken great confidence from his recent displays.
“Hopefully, he can help South Africa put on another good show in the second leg of their qualifier and they can progress to the next stage.”
FOOTBALL
GLO PREMIER LEAGUE
Warri 5 – 1 FC Taraba
3SC 2 – 2 Dolphins
Abia 1 – 0 Sharks
Akwa Utd 1 – 0 Lobi
Heartland 2 – 1 El-Kanemi
Kwara Utd 2 – 0 IfeanyiUbah
Nasarawa 2 – 0 Giwa FC
Rangers 3 – 1 Bayelsa United
Sunshine 0 – 0 Enyimba
Wikki 2 – 0 Pillars
AFRICA WORLD CUP QUALIFIER
Guinea 2 – 0 Namibia
E/Guinea 1 – 0 Morocco
Congo DR 2 – 2 Burundi
Uganda 3 – 0 Togo
Zambia 2 – 0 Sudan
Gabon (4) 1 – 1 (3) Mozambique
Chad 1 – 0 Egypt
Botswana 2 – 1 Mali
Tanzania 2 – 2 Algeria
Ethiopia 3 – 4 Congo
Mauritania 1 – 2 Tunisia
Swaziland 0 – 0 Nigeria
Liberia 0 – 1 Côte d’Ivoire
Niger 0 – 3 Cameroon
Angola 1 – 3 South Africa
Libya 1 – 0 Rwanda
Kenya 1 – 0 Cape Verde
Comoros 0 – 0 Ghana
Madagascar 2 – 2 Senegal
SOUTH AMERICA WORLD CUP QUALIFIER
Peru 1 – 0 Paraguay
Argentina 1 – 1 Brazil
Chile 1 – 1 Colombia
Ecuador 2 – 1 Uruguay
Bolivia 4 – 2 Venezuela
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS
Hungary 2 – 1 Norway
T Priskin (14)
O Nyland (og 83) M Henriksen (87)
Sweden 2 – 1 Denmark
E Forsberg (45)
Ibrahimovic (pen 50) N Jorgensen (80)
Ukraine 2 – 0 Slovenia
A Yarmolenko (22)
E Seleznyov (54)
Bosnia 1 – 1 Ireland
E Dzeko (85) R Brady (82)
Norway 0 – 1 Hungary
L Kleinheisler (26)
UEFA U-21 QUALIFIER
Montenegro 3-3 Latvia
Lithuania 3-1 Ireland
Serbia 1-1 Italy
Scotland 2-2 Ukraine
Wales 2-1 Armenia
Romania 0-3 Denmark
Austria 2-0 Finland
Germany 3-1 Azerbaijan
INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLIES
France 2-0 Germany
Russia 1-0 Portugal
BASKETBALL (NBA)
Memphis 114-106 Timberwolves
Knicks 95-87 Pelicans
Grizzlies 114-106 Timberwolves
Celtics 100-85 Thunder
Hornets 106-94 Blazers
GOLF
WORLD CLASSIC CHAMPIONSHIP
Danthai Boonma (THA) 72-69-72-69
Nicholas Fung (MAS) 74-67-70-72
Jeunghun Wang (KOR) 69-75-71-69
Sam Brazel (AUS) 69-74-72-70
Jazz Janewattananond (THA) 71-71-77-67
Prom Meesawat (THA) 73-73-70-70
Chapchai Nirat (THA) 76-69-69-72
Scott Barr (AUS) 69-71-76-71
Danny Chia (MAS) 73-72-70-72
Jyoti Randhawa (IND) 79-68-68-73
LORENA OCHOA INVITATIONAL
Park In-Bee Park (KOR) 68-71-67-64
Carlota Ciganda (ESP) 72-69-69-63
Kim Sei-Young (KOR) 73-66-70-66
Ryu So-Yeon (KOR) 71-70-69-67
Sakura Yokomine (JPN) 72-70-69-68
Mariajo Uribe (COL) 71-73-71-65
Caroline Masson (GER) 73-71-70-66
Suzann Pettersen (NOR) 69-71-73-69
Cristie Kerr 74-69-69-70
Christina Kim 73-66-73-70
Jaye Marie Green 71-70-72-69
Min-Jee Lee (AUS) 69-69-75-70
Pernilla Lindberg (SWE) 71-70-71-71
Jennifer Song 72-73-69-69