Soccer

Zambia win African Cup after penalty shoot-out

Libreville, Gabon: Zambia returned to the scene of their worst sporting tragedy to make it a place of unrestrained joy after winning a nerve-racking African Cup of Nations final on Sunday on penalties over tournament favorites Ivory Coast. Stophira Sunzu scored the deciding sudden-death spot-kick after Gervinho missed for the Ivorians, giving Zambia a 8-7 win on penalties after the teams were locked at 0-0 through 120 minutes. Zambia's first...

Suarez apologizes for snubbing Evra handshake

London: Luis Suarez apologized on Sunday for snubbing Patrice Evra in a pre-match handshake as Liverpool publicly condemned the striker for the first time in a long-running racism row that has tarnished the name of one of England's biggest clubs. The Uruguay international was widely criticized for failing to shake Evra's hand before Saturday's Premier League game at Old Trafford in the players' first meeting since Suarez was banned for...

Ronaldo hat-trick leads Madrid past Levante 4-2

Madrid: Cristiano Ronaldo's sixth hat-trick of the season guided Real Madrid to a 4-2 victory over 10-man Levante on Sunday to extend the Spanish leaders' advantage over defending champions Barcelona to 10 points. Gustavo Cabral gave Levante a surprising lead in the fifth minute at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, and Madrid struggled to respond until Vicente Iborra's red card set up Ronaldo's penalty before half-time. Ronaldo headed home his second...

Inter woes continue with 1-0 loss to Novara

Rome: Inter Milan's woes deepened on Sunday as they slipped to a 1-0 loss at home to bottom-placed Novara in Serie A, despite having a man advantage for the final 10 minutes. On-loan Genoa striker Andrea Caracciolo scored the only goal of the game in the 56th minute to inflict more misery on Inter, who lost 4-0 at Roma last weekend. Novara midfielder Ivan Radovanovic was dismissed for a second...

'Lost respect' for Suarez, says Ferdinand

Manchester: Rio Ferdinand has revealed that he has "lost respect" for Luis Suarez after the Uruguayan refused to shake hands with Patrice Evra prior to Manchester United's 2-1 win over Liverpool at Old Trafford. Saturday's encounter between the two sides saw Suarez start for the first time since returning from an eight-match suspension after being found guilty of racially abusing Evra last October. Ferdinand told MUTV: "After seeing what I...

Dalglish defends Suarez after handshake snub

Manchester: Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish claimed he was unaware that Luis Suarez had refused to shake Manchester United defender Patrice Evra's hand before their defeat at Old Trafford, and insisted the Uruguayan was not to blame for a tense match on Saturday. Suarez, who was given an eight-match ban earlier in the season for racially abusing the Frenchman, rejected the leftbacks attempts to shake his hand just before kick-off. The...

Guardiola defiant even as title hopes recede

Barcelona: Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola refused to concede the title after Saturday night's 3-2 defeat at Osasuna, but admitted that his side's hopes of catching Real Madrid at the top of La Liga have become "more complicated." The Catalans could have drawn within four points of the leaders with a victory at the Reyno de Navarra but, as their coach admitted, the defending champions now look set to fall 10...

Mascherano sent off after Barcelona defeat

Barcelona: Barcelona midfielder Javier Mascherano was sent off in the tunnel following a heated confrontation with the referee after his side's 3-2 loss to Osasuna on Saturday. The former Liverpool man was yellow-carded on 88 minutes by Jose Romero for protesting a decision, but shortly after the game, he was shown a second yellow for a subsequent act of dissent towards the match official. Romero also added in his post-match...

Tevez return at City still possible: Mancini

Manchester: Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has spoken of a potential reconciliation with Carlos Tevez, despite previously saying that the Argentine would never feature under him again. The rift between the Italian boss and the striker opened up when the 28-year-old allegedly refused to go on as a substitute in a Champions League clash against Bayern Munich. Following that match - which ended in a 2-0 defeat for City -...

FA chief praises England favourite Redknapp

London: The head of the English Football Association has hailed Harry Redknapp's "amazing" work at Tottenham while saying the vacant national team job is best suited to an older coach. Following Fabio Capello's sudden resignation on Wednesday, the 64-year-old Redknapp is the main contender to lead England at the European Championships in four months. Amid an outpouring of support from England players for Redknapp, though, the FA has avoided anointing...

Capello rejects Inter link, plans to relax

Milan: Fabio Capello plans to relax rather than return to coaching in Italy after blaming a "misunderstanding" for his exit from the England job. The Italian quit on Wednesday after being overruled by his employees at the English Football Association, who decided to strip John Terry of the captaincy due to his pending trial for alleged racial abuse of a player. "I haven't run away. I left because there was...

Barcelona suffer another away loss at Osasuna

Madrid: Sub-zero temperatures and poor defending cost Barcelona as the defending Spanish champions' league hopes took a big hit by losing 3-2 at Osasuna on Saturday. Barcelona, already trailing leaders Real Madrid by seven points, trailed 2-0 after 22 minutes as Osasuna striker Dejan Lekic took advantage of poor defending to score both. Barcelona hadn't recovered from a two-goal half-time deficit in 50 years, but Alexis Sanchez provided hope with...

Classy Tottenham thrash Newcastle 5-0

London Energized by the return of manager Harry Redknapp to the dug-out, Tottenham routed visitors Newcastle 5-0 at White Hart Lane in the Premier League on Saturday. After a whirlwind week during which Redknapp was cleared of tax fraud and became the overwhelming favorite to replace Fabio Capello as England manager, the Spurs manager looked on as his team put in a stellar performance that allowed it to keep pace...

PLS auction postponed, future in doubt

Kolkata: The auction for the Indian players for the IFA-backed Premier League Soccer, scheduled to be held on Sunday, was postponed on Saturday. "The players' auction will not be held tomorrow. IFA wants to sort out the issues with the AIFF and then we will go on a full-fledged basis. Utpal Ganguli (IFA secretary) is going to New Delhi to sort this out (with AIFF)," Bhaswar Goswami of the Celebrity...