TUESDAY, APRIL 1, 2014 SPORTS

Stinging rebuke on Benitez Magnussen eyes record Valdes to miss World Cup BARCELONA: Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes will miss the rest of the season ITALY: Juventus coach Antonio Conte has issued a stinging rebuke to Napoli coach Rafael Benitez after BRISBANE: New coach Jacco Verhaeren says a world 100-metre and ’s defence of the World Cup as he will be sidelined for seven months fol- the two bickered over which team had spent the more money. freestyle record is possible for James Magnussen in this week’s lowing knee surgery. Conte, whose side lost 2-0 to Napoli on Sunday, was angry that Benitez had labelled Juventus as the Australian Commonwealth Games swimming trials in Brisbane. “Victor Valdes underwent surgery on his torn anterior cruciate ligament yesterday big-spenders in the run-up to the game. “We were facing a squad which has spent more than 100 million Brazilian Cesar Cielo holds the world record at 46.91 seconds with doctors Ulrich Boenish and Ricard Pruna in Augsburg, ,” Barcelona said euros ($137.5 million) and which was built to win, not to take part,” Conte told reporters. from the 2009 Rome world championships, but Dutchman “We have invested 25 million euros in our team, they have spent more than 100. They have spent in Verhaeren says Magnussen is at a “fantastic level” ahead of today’s in a statement on Monday. “They made an incision in the internal meniscus of the one year what we have spent in three, but they are 17 points behind us and out of Europe. “People need six-day selection trials. right knee and the surgery was completed in a satisfactory to get their facts right and not spread misleading messages. I hope Benitez Magnussen, the world 100m champion, has clocked four sub-48 manner. “The estimated time out will be seven months.” will check his calculations.” Juventus are 11 points clear of AS Roma at the second times ahead of the trials and is FINA’s top-ranked sprinter in the The 32-year-old had been primed to push Spain cap- top of Serie A and on course to win their third successive title under event with a year’s best time of 47.59 set in Perth in late January. His per- tain Iker Casillas for his place in goal at the World Cup Conte. They are also in the quarter-finals of the Europa League and sonal best is 47.10. “It’s hard to talk about times but he’s at a fantastic lev- in Brazil later this year given the Real Madrid man’s their stadium will host the final. Napoli, in their first season under el,” Verhaeren said ahead of the trials. “For me, the first objective is to lack of first team action this season. Benitez, are third, a further six points behind Roma, and were knocked make the (Commonwealth Games) team. That might look easy for him Instead, Manchester United’s David de Gea is out of the Europa League by Porto in the last round. Benitez made ref- but it isn’t. “Is he able to improve on that 47.10, and go 46? Maybe. Time likely to go as back up to Casillas and Napoli’s Pepe erences to Juventus’s revenue in the run-up to the game and said they will tell.” Magnussen said he has been working hard on his fitness ahead Reina. It is expected that Valdes has also played his had more strength in depth than Napoli, a remark the Spaniard of the trials. “My general aerobic fitness is at a better level this year to last game for Barcelona when picking up the injury repeated after the match. “It’s not easy, as we don’t have as much what it has been in the past,” he said. “We’ve focused a lot less on speed... in a 3-0 win against Celta Vigo last week after declar- strength in depth as Juventus and it becomes even tougher when so it’s a matter of whether doing all that work on fitness has taken away ing his intention to leave the club when his contract you see Roma ahead of us aren’t making any mistakes,” he said. Napoli from my speed in the first 50. “I’m hoping as I get older and bigger and expires in June. Valdes has been linked with a number of stronger, speed will take care of itself.” Verhaeren, the former coach of were Serie A’s biggest spenders in the summer as they splashed out 37 clubs including Monaco and Manchester City, but has dual Dutch Olympic 100m freestyle champion Pieter van den million euros on Gonzalo Higuain, 12 million on Raul Albiol and over nine made no official announcement on where he will play Hoogenband, took over as Australia’s head coach last October. —AFP million each on Jose Callejon and Dries Mertens. —Reuters next season. —AFP Quiet appreciation Penguins down Blackhawks for new F1 engines PITTSBURGH: Sidney Crosby scored twice in the final five minutes, helping SEPANG: Sebastian Vettel bluntly swore seen. And five years down the line we’ll all the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-1 vic- when asked about the new sound of be driving them in our cars back home.” tory over the injury-riddled Chicago but a more measured Blackhawks on Sunday night. response elsewhere at the Malaysian GET USED TO IT The Blackhawks also lost captain Grand Prix suggests it is not all bleak for Denmark’s Steffen Moller, a former rac- Jonathan Toews to an upper-body the sport’s quiet, hybrid engines. ing driver who now manages new talent, injury in the second period. Toews The engineering marvels that are pro- said Formula One simply had to embrace was hit hard by Penguins defense- pelling F1 cars faster than before, but at a a future of more fuel-efficient motoring. man Brooks Orpik and was holding fraction of the noise and with less fuel, “I know there’s a lot of criticism about his left arm on the bench before have not been widely welcomed in a the sound but we see a lot of electrical heading down the runway. world that revels in the roar of machinery. cars on the road now and Formula One James Neal and Lee Stempniak But even F1 supremo Bernie must be the point where all the manufac- also scored for the Penguins, who Ecclestone, initially a critic, toned it down turers look to find new ideas,” he said. “So won their second straight and after hearing the cars trackside for the for me it’s not about the sound, it’s more snapped a three-game home losing first time this weekend at Sepang. about the top of the performance for streak. Marc-Andre Fleury made 25 “It’s a little better than we thought,” what you can do engineering-wise.” saves in his 36th victory of the sea- said Ecclestone, who watched this year’s Australian sales manager Tim son. Orpik drilled Toews in the corner first race, in Australia, on TV. While F1’s Anscombe, from Perth, said he missed the with 6:30 remaining in the second ear-splitting V8 engines are gone, the tur- old sound but was resigned to the fact period while the two went for a loose bocharged 1.6-litre V6s bring out different that Formula One had to move on. puck. sounds: squealing tyres, the roar of the “You miss that thunder of the old V8s It’s been a rough stretch for injuries crowd and the previously inaudible race but I suppose the times are changing and for the defending Stanley Cup champi- updates over the tannoy. Spectators and that’s the way it’s going to be. Certainly ons, who will be without star forward officials can watch without earplugs, and you miss the atmosphere of that roar Patrick Kane for the rest of the regular the fear of hearing damage, and parents going through you,” said the 47-year-old. season due to a lower-body injury. can bring young children to the track Others were less philosophical. Pete Bryan Bickell is out with an upper- CHICAGO: Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews is hit in the face by a high stick from Pittsburgh without wondering if the noise will Visagie of South Africa, who heads an body injury but is expected to return Penguins left wing Chris Kunitz (14) as Michal Rozsival (32) and Sidney Crosby (87) watch during reduce them to tears. engineering company and races produc- soon. Sheldon Brookbank scored for the first period of an NHL Stadium Series hockey game. —AP tion cars in his spare time, said: “It’s not the Blackhawks, who have lost three LOW EXPECTATIONS the spectacle it used to be. The sound was straight in regulation for the first time scored for the Bruins. Rick Nash and Mats Zuccarello scored goal for Washington. The Capitals have In , the response among visit- much nicer. “Even the safety car and the since February 2012. two goals apiece to lead New York to its lost three straight. In the tiebreaker, ing fans was mixed but rarely as damning medical car sound better than the F1 cars RED WINGS 3, LIGHTNING 2 sixth win in seven games. Nashville goaltender Carter Hutton as world champion Vettel’s four-letter going past, honestly.” BRUINS 4, FLYERS 3 David Legwand had a goal and an Derek Brassard also scored for the denied all three Washington shooters. reaction, indicating quiet engines may By the end of this year, Formula One Patrice Bergeron scored in the sec- assist as Detroit held off Tampa Bay to Rangers, who moved two points ahead not be quite the disaster that some in the will sound noisy compared to the futuris- ond period and also tallied in the move into seventh place in the Eastern of the Philadelphia Flyers for second SENATORS 6, FLAMES 3 sport had feared. tic whine of Formula E, a worldwide series shootout, leading Boston to the victo- Conference. place in the Metropolitan Division. Milan Michalek and Kyle Turris had Ross Hainan, an IT analyst who flew for electric cars which debuts in in ry. The Bruins have won nine straight Joakim Andersson and Gustav The Rangers tied their franchise two goals apiece, leading the Senators out for the race from Glasgow, had low December. road games, a single-season club Nyquist also scored for Detroit, and record for road wins with 24 this sea- to the win. Jared Cowen gave Ottawa a expectations after watching the And Claire Williams, the deputy team record. Jonas Gustavsson stopped 26 shots. son. The Oilers have lost four of their lift with a tiebreaking goal on a wrist Australian race on TV. “When we came out principal of Williams who has grown up Reilly Smith, the fifth Boston shoot- Valtteri Filppula and Sami Salo scored last five games. It was the ninth time shot 1:12 into the third period, and the initial expectation was that it was around Formula One, predicted people er, clinched the victory in the tiebreak- for Tampa Bay and Ben Bishop made 27 this season that the Oilers have been Clarke MacArthur made it 5-3 with a tip- going to be really poor. However, actually would soon get used to a sound that has er. The Bruins went 15-1-1 in March. saves. Legwand assisted on Nyquist’s shut out. in at 12:22. Turris then scored his 25th being here and hearing it live with your been disparagingly compared to vacuum Vincent Lecavalier scored twice for the goal that gave Detroit a 2-1 lead with goal into an empty net. own ears, it’s far, far better than we cleaners and golf carts. Flyers, including the tying goal with 25 4:36 remaining in the first. He made it 3- PREDATORS 4, CAPITALS 3 Robin Lehner made 37 saves as the expected,” said Hainan, 35. “Personally I like the sound of the seconds left in regulation. Lecavalier’s 1 on a power-play score with 3:24 left in Craig Smith scored the only goal in Senators won back-to-back games on His wife Julie added: “It’s not quiet engines, but then I love Formula One and first goal was the 400th of his career. the second period, tipping in Johan the shootout to lead Nashville over home ice for the first time since they when they’re all out running and they’re I love watching cars go round a racetrack,” Kimmo Timonen scored for Franzen’s shot for his 13th goal. Washington. Patric Hornqvist scored won three straight in late December on full throttle, it’s definitely not. “Plus she said. “We’ve had so many changes Philadelphia, which has lost three of two goals and Shea Weber added and early January. Matt Stajan, Paul Formula One should be the pinnacle of over so many decades of motor racing four to remain in third place in the RANGERS 5, OILERS 0 another for Nashville, which has won Byron and Sean Monahan scored for technology in motorsport, and they are and you very quickly forget what a previ- Metropolitan Division. Andrej Backup Cam Talbot stopped 26 two of three. Troy Brouwer scored twice the Flames, and Karri Ramo made 31 the most amazing hybrids you’ve ever ous engine sounds like.” —AFP Meszaros and Zdeno Chara also shots for his third career shutout and and Nicklas Backstrom had the other saves. —AP Mercedes march on as Red Bull closing in

SEPANG: With two wins from two races direction for a team that looked in disar- Red Bull team principal Christian ishes in Australia. Even struggling Lotus to them. “A lot of the issues are software under their belt in the new Formula One ray during winter testing after their Horner was optimistic that they had managed to finish a race, with Romain related so hopefully the steps can be season, Mercedes are powering confi- Renault power unit suffered reliability made progress in bridging the gap on Grosjean ending in 11th in Malaysia. made and we can close that gap down.” dently toward another speedster’s para- woes. the Formula One pace setters. However, they were all second best to For that reason, Hamilton knew it was dise in this week, albeit with a “The last day of testing was four “Considering where we were a month Mercedes, whose pace on the quick vital to take advantage before the pack watchful eye on fast improving rivals Red weeks ago or something and they were ago, to be on the podium with Sebastian Sepang straights was too much for the inevitably caught up, much like Jenson Bull. absolutely nowhere and now he (Vettel) in Malaysia in a dry race, is an incredible Red Bulls. Button did en route to winning the 2009 Lewis Hamilton’s pole-to-flag victory was right in the back of me, pushing me,” performance,” he said. With similarly long straights awaiting championship with Brawn when his six on Sunday ahead of team mate Nico Rosberg told reporters after moving fur- “We knew that we had some ground them in Manama before they head to race victories came in the first seven Rosberg looked comfortable in the ther clear in the drivers standings ahead to catch up to the Mercedes, so to finish another Hermann Tilke designed circuit races. scorching Sepang sunshine, but quadru- of Hamilton. as close as Sebastian did today was a in after that, Horner was thinking Hamilton is also wary of allowing ple world champion Sebastian Vettel had “The way they’ve ramped up their really positive performance and, while small in the short term. complacency to creep into the team, managed to split the pair in a wet quali- pace, very impressive, so we need to we know we’ve got a lot of work to do, “Their advantage in Bahrain will obvi- who claimed their first one-two since fying session. keep on it to keep our advantage.” we can begin to realise the scale of our ously be bigger than it was here because 1955. Mercedes suffered reliability prob- The German Red Bull driver fell Rosberg leads the drivers championship challenge.” that is a very powered dominated circuit,” lems in the season-opening race which behind Rosberg before the first corner on 43 points, ahead of Hamilton (25) and he said. forced Hamilton to retire early after quali- on race day in Malaysia but managed to Ferrari’s (24). ‘ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN’ “For Bahrain, I don’t think there is fying on pole in Melbourne. “It’s great to push his compatriot for long periods Vettel’s team mate, Daniel Ricciardo, Adding fuel to the Renault-powered going to be a solution and it doesn’t see Mercedes leading the championship before the gap widened in the final also showed promising signs before a revival was Russian rookie Danil Kvyat tend to rain much in Bahrain so we are but we know that we have to make these stages of the 56-lap race. Vettel’s 15 botched pit stop, damaged front wing grabbing 10th to give Toro Rosso a sec- obviously going to try and make us early races pay,” the Briton said after his points for third place were Red Bull’s first and punctured tyre led to him retiring ond weekend of points after both he and much progress as we can in the week 23rd career win. “Anything can happen, of the season and a jump in the right on lap 49. team mate Jean-Eric Vergne’s top 10 fin- and hopefully we can nudge a bit closer as we saw in Australia.”—Reuters

SEPANG: Lotus driver Romain Grosjean of France turns a corner in this file photo. —AFP