Neymar Saves Brazil
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Park wins Warriors one win sixth major16 from17 NBA title TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2015 International glitter shines on Royal Ascot Page 19 Neymar saves Brazil Colombia upset at Copa TEMUCO: Brazil captain Neymar scored once and set up opportunity, calmly placing his shot beyond the despair- an injury-time winner as the five-time world champions ing dive of Pedro Gallese. scraped a 2-1 win over Peru on Sunday after Colombia suf- While Brazil can now start planning for the knockout fered a shock defeat to Venezuela. Neymar headed in a rounds, Group C rivals Colombia must regroup after their fifth-minute equaliser before creating a goal for team- upset defeat to Venezuela. mate Douglas Costa deep into stoppage time to seal A second-half goal from Russian-based striker Salomon Brazil’s 11th consecutive victory since last year’s World Rondon settled a hard-fought encounter in Rancagua as Cup. the highly-rated Colombians struggled to break down the “This is a very tough competition,” Neymar said after- Venezuelans. wards as he collected a man-of-the-match award. “We got Despite a starting line-up packed with star names from the win and that’s important.” Neymar has now reached 44 Europe’s strongest leagues, including James Rodriguez international goals at the age of 23, a year earlier than from Real Madrid, Manchester United’s Radamel Falcao Brazilian legend Pele. and Chelsea’s Juan Cuadrado, Colombia were never able “I want to keep on reaching records, with goals, assists to impose their attacking style on the contest. and everything that can help the team to win,” Neymar Venezuela’s goal came after a quick throw caught said. The Brazilian star was at the centre of the action Colombia’s defence off guard. Juan Arango improvised a throughout the game, even getting a bizarre yellow card first-time cross across the box to Alejandro Guerra, who for pushing aside the foam the referee had sprayed on the headed back into the path of Rondon. The Zenit St. pitch to show where a free kick should be taken. Petersburg striker, reportedly a summer transfer target for Brazil coach Dunga praised the contribution of his cap- English clubs Tottenham and Liverpool, guided a superb tain. “Neymar was again decisive,” Dunga said afterwards. header over Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina before “He’s played three finals in Spain (with Barcelona), and he’s being mobbed by his team-mates. had a long season. But he comes here and takes responsi- Colombia rallied furiously in search of an equaliser but bility for sorting out our problems.” could find no way past Venezuelan goalkeeper Alain Peru, who took the lead after only three minutes when Baroja. “We knew they were going to play hard,” said Christian Cueva punished a defensive blunder by David Colombia goalkeeper Ospina, who offered no excuses. Luiz, looked to have done enough to secure a share of the “Venezuela closed down the space well. We did not get Group C points. the room for our individual skills. In the end we lost the But with the final whistle looming, Neymar advanced game, but there are still two more left to turn this around.” menacingly down the left flank and threaded a pass “Now we have to recover and start thinking about through a forest of bodies for unmarked Shakhtar Donetsk Brazil,” Ospina added. Tomorrow’s game against Brazil striker Douglas Costa. promises to be one of the ties of the first round, a rematch Douglas, who had earlier squandered a golden chance of the bruising quarter-final at last year’s World Cup, won created by Neymar, made no mistake with his second 2-1 by the hosts. — AFP Can the Glazers lose their public enemy tag at United LONDON/NEW YORK: The Glazers are unlikely to ever be cial deals. United’s sponsorship appeal stretches from liked, let alone loved, by fans of Manchester United. The beer, wine and watches to tires, paint, noodles and fiercely private American family that bought the famous office equipment - across partners in many countries. It English soccer club 10 years ago has been widely depict- even has telecommunication company sponsors in TEMUCO: Brazil’s Neymar (left) battles for the ball with Peru’s Luis Advincula during a Copa America Group ed by the team’s fans and the British media as seeking to Azerbaijan and Thailand. C soccer match. — AP bleed the club dry after leveraging it up with debt. As part of the Adidas deal, the club has retained retail Yet the Glazers are now assuaging some of their critics rights to its own store, online sales and product licens- as the club says it will bankroll new player signings and is ing and will likely expand and outsource to third parties in a position to return to Europe’s biggest cup competi- and take a royalty, Nomura analysts say. A new digital tion after failing to qualify in 2014 for the first time in 19 media platform has also been slated. years. Crucially, their transformation of United into a United’s commercial progress led the club to raise its commercial cash machine may give them an advantage full-year earnings forecast last month. And Jefferies ana- over rivals. lysts see United’s revenue growing by a third to 521 mil- There have been modest signs of hope for investors in lion pounds in the year to June 30, 2016. the club’s New York-listed shares, which have outper- formed the S&P 500 so far this year, gaining 2.3 percent EFFIGY BURNT against the index’s rise of 1.7 percent as revenue and New York-based hedge fund manager Ron Baron, cash flow are expected to climb. The shares have lagged who owned 40 percent of the shares not controlled by the market since United’s 2012 initial public offering. the Glazers at the end of last year - told CNBC in January “My view is Man United are better off he expected to double or triple his money for the Glazer’s ownership. Building the on United over the next four to five years. commercial engine they’ve built will con- He declined to comment for this article. tinue to serve the club well,” said Philip Some smaller investors are also hopeful. Hall, managing partner at Spotlight “There’s always the chance that the solid Equity Partners, who advised other US and incalculable value of the Manchester investors on purchases of Liverpool and United brand and related intangible worth Sunderland soccer clubs. will prevail, and ultimately reflect in the Last week, consultancy Brand Finance stock’s performance,” commented Steve declared that Manchester United had Schmelkin, a senior director of the Clutch regained its position as the most valu- Group, a legal services company, who says able soccer brand in the world in annual he owns a small stake. rankings, moving up from No. 3 in 2014. Malcolm Glazer, the family patriarch The value of its brand had soared 63 per- who made his fortune in real estate and cent in the past year to $1.2 billion as its stocks, bought United in May 2005 for 790 Executive Vice-Chairman Ed Woodward Malcolm Glazer million pounds, after entering the sports and the Glazers “capitalised on the brand’s growing pow- business in 1995 with a takeover of American football er to establish a worldwide fan-base and a range of spon- team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. sorship deals unrivalled in their number and value,” The leveraged nature of the deal - United took on according to Brand Finance CEO David Haigh. loans of 525 million pounds to finance the acquisition - United and the Glazers - the family rarely make any by a businessman and his family who were unknowns in public statements - declined to comment for this story. the UK - made many United supporters very angry. On the pitch, this season’s performance improved An effigy of Malcolm Glazer was burnt in the street enough to get United fourth place in the English during mass protests, and his death last year was cele- Premier League, up from what for United was a shock- brated by some on the terraces. The three of his six chil- ingly low seventh in 2013-14. dren, Avram, Joel and Bryan, who have managed the While still unacceptable to fans given the side has investment since Malcolm suffered a stroke in 2006, been synonymous with winning trophies for much of have also had a bad reception. Fans chanted “die, die the past two decades, the improvement is enough to Glazers” at the club’s Old Trafford ground, forcing family secure a play-off round for the UEFA Champions League, members to escape in an armored police van on one the continent’s blue-riband competition. With that occasion. comes more match-day revenue from extra games, A dip in performance after legendary manager Alex increased sponsorship money, additional club merchan- Ferguson retired in 2013 hasn’t helped relations with dise sales, and a boost to TV income. some fans who allege the club has been more interested But crucial to growth is the way in which United is in servicing its debt rather than investing in new players. using the allure of what it says are 659 million people following the club around the world to secure sponsor- RISKS OF SETBACK ship deals. And despite the improved prospects there is plenty that could go wrong. The worst case scenario would be FROM NOODLES TO TIRES if expensive new players fail to perform, the club suffers A world record 750 million pound ($1.17 billion) 10- an early exit from the Champions League, and it falls year kit deal with Adidas, signed last year, underlined down the Premier League table.