THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2014 SPORTS Valencia hold off Atletico in King’s Cup

MADRID: Valencia forward Helder Postiga game. Nevertheless, with an away in the headed an equalizer in the final minute of bank, Atletico, who beat bitter city rivals Real added time to snatch a 1-1 draw at home to 2-1 in last season’s final, will be King’s Cup holders Atletico Madrid in an favorites to advance to face or intense and entertaining last 16, first leg tie on Athletic Bilbao, who play on Wednesday, in the Tuesday. After Raul Garcia had nodded the visi- quarter-finals. tors ahead in the 72nd minute, Portugal for- ward Postiga finally beat inspired keeper AWAY GOAL Thibaut Courtois when he was on hand to Atletico have won all their home matches send a mis-hit Sofiane Feghouli cross into the this season apart from a 1-1 draw against net from close range after 93 minutes. In new , who they play in on coach Juan Antonio ’s second game in Saturday, in August’s Spanish Super Cup first charge, a fired-up Valencia dominated posses- leg. “I think we deserved more but we are con- sion at the Mestalla but fell behind when a tent with the draw, the tie is still open and we fluffed clearance by keeper Vicente Guaita fell will carry on fighting,” Postiga said told Spanish to Garcia. television broadcaster Canal Plus. “The intensi- Garcia also had Atletico’s best chance of the ty of the team was good and we have to con- first half but his rising effort was well saved by tinue in the same vein,” he added. “We were up Guaita, while Valencia’s Juan Bernat drew a fine against a great goalkeeper and a solid defence save from Courtois with a low drive seven min- and we knew how tough it would be to score a utes after the break. Courtois made three more goal against Atletico.” brilliant saves as Valencia pressed for an equal- Courtois told Canal Plus the away goal izer, first leaping to tip a curling effort from could be crucial for next week’s second leg. “It substitute around the post in was a great match and Valencia are always a the 76th minute. The Belgium international, on great opponent and there was a fantastic loan from Chelsea, then denied in atmosphere,” he said. “In the first half we hardly the 82nd before producing possibly his best created anything and in the second I had a lot stop of the night a minute later from Feghouli’s of work to do. “We were hoping to hold out close-range blast. until the end but it wasn’t to be but the posi- It looked as if ’s Atletico side, tive thing is we’ve scored an away goal and who are level with Barcelona at the top of La that’s important for the return leg.” Record VALENCIA: Atletico Madrid’s Turkish midfielder Arda Turan (left) vies with Valencia’s Portuguese defender Liga, would hold on to their lead ahead of the King’s Cup winners Barca welcome Getafe in second leg at the Calderon in a week’s time their last 16, first leg while Real host Osasuna Joao Pereira during the Spanish Copa del Rey (King’s Cup) round of 16 first-leg football match Valencia CF vs but Postiga struck in the final action of the today. —Reuters Club Atletico de Madrid at the Mestalla stadium on January 7, 2014. —AFP Sunderland worsen Man United misery

SUNDERLAND: Sunderland gained the upper hand on Manchester United by deservedly win- ning their League Cup semi-final, first leg 2-1 on Tuesday to intensify the pressure on visiting manager after a testing week. Italian Fabio Borini scored a second-half penalty to give the ’s bottom club a one- goal lead ahead of the return at Old Trafford after a 52nd minute Nemanja Vidic header can- celled out Ryan Giggs’s own goal in first-half stoppage time. It was United’s third straight defeat after they were beaten at home in the FA Cup third round by Swansea City on Sunday and by Tottenham MADRID: Real Madrid’s Portuguese forward celebrates Hotspur in the league the previous week, heap- ing pressure on Moyes in his first season in with Real Madrid’s Welsh striker Gareth Bale after scoring his second goal charge. The second leg will be on Jan 22 to during the Spanish league football match Real Madrid vs RC Celta de Vigo at decide who will face either favorites Manchester the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on January 6, 2014. —AFP City or West Ham United, who played at the Etihad Stadium yesterday, in the final on March 2. Real’s Bale to replace For beleaguered United manager Moyes, the League Cup has developed added significance with the club already out of the FA Cup, looking under fire Di Maria unlikely to retain their Premier League title and long odds to win the Champions League. For the MADRID: Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti this month. fans who booed them off the pitch following the has confirmed that Gareth Bale will return to However, Ancelotti reiterated his stance loss to Swansea, there was little to perk up the his side’s starting line-up for their Copa del that he didn’t see anyone leaving or arriving spirits. This was the first time since 1932 that Rey last 16, first-leg meeting with Osasuna at the Bernabeu during the January transfer United had lost their opening three games of today. Bale hasn’t started Madrid’s last three window, including Manchester United tar- the year and the first time since 1992 that they matches due to a calf injury, but did make get Fabio Coentrao. “I have not spoken to had lost three times in a week. his return as a substitute for the final 25 min- Coentrao and Di Maria because there is SUNDERLAND: Sunderland’s captain (left) vies for the ball with utes of Monday’s 3-0 win over Celta Vigo. nothing to speak about. There will be no OFFICIALS BLAMED Manchester United’s Danny Welbeck during their English League Cup semifinal first Angel di Maria was the man to be signings nor sales. We have a very good Moyes blamed the officials, who he criticised leg soccer match at the , Sunderland on Tuesday, Jan 7, 2014. —AP replaced by Bale and the Argentine contro- squad and don’t have great injury problems for awarding Sunderland the free kick that led to versially grabbed his genitals as he was just now so we don’t need anyone.” Xabi the first goal, rather than his players who he whom exciting Belgian teenager Adnan Januzaj who displayed a resilience lacking for much of coming off the field following whistles by Alonso will also miss out against Osasuna as described as being “unbelievable”. “It looks as provided a lone attacking threat. their league campaign, retaking the lead the Santiago Bernabeu crowd to his depar- he continues to suffer from a burst left though we are having to play them (the officials) through on-loan Liverpool forward Borini from ture. Real have since opened an investiga- eardrum. as well as the opposition at the moment,” he SUNDERLAND BREAKTHROUGH the penalty spot after Adam Johnson had been tion into the gesture with Di Maria protest- The midfielder suffered the injury in the said. “I thought the players, our crowd were After Giggs rattled the bar with a dipping felled in the area by Tom Cleverley. ing his innocence and apologizing if any win away to Valencia just before Christmas, unbelievable, the players deserved to get a drive, the 18-year-old Januzaj had the ball in the There was no backs-to-the-wall finale and unintended offence had been taken. but it had been expected he could contin- result. It’s a two-legged game and I am really net seven minutes before halftime only to be it was Sunderland, who had not beaten And whilst Ancelotti confirmed Di Maria ue to play without any problems. However, looking forward to the second leg.” Sunderland denied the opening goal by the offside flag. In United in 20 matches, who looked the more wouldn’t start against Osasuna, he insisted the Spanish international had to be with- have only reached the League Cup final once, in the end it was Sunderland who made the break- likely to increase their lead, with United leav- the reasoning was to give Bale some much drawn at half-time against Celta earlier in 1985 when they lost to Norwich City, and their through in first-half injury time. Jonny Evans ing it late before throwing bodies forward to needed match practice. “Tomorrow he will the week because the noise in the stadium fans do not need reminding they were relegated gave away a needless free kick and Seb Larsson’s try and force a leveler. “It’s something very not start because I am going to play a fresh- was affecting him. “He doesn’t have prob- from the top flight that season. whipped set piece was diverted in by Giggs strange but with the way we are playing er player. “There is no problem in him play- lems in training but when he hears the The knockout competitions have again pro- under pressure from former United player Phil maybe it is suited to playing against the big ing. He is happy to be here, he is calm and noise in the stadium it bothers him. It will vided Sunderland with their only moments of Bardsley. teams. It was a very tight game, and some- has a good relationship with his teammates. improve, although he is not in the squad relief in a miserable campaign, having won all It was the first goal United had conceded in times a decision goes for you and you win the He won’t play (tomorrow) but not for this tomorrow,” said Ancelotti. “He won’t have five home ties in the League and FA Cups. There the competition all season. The gloom among game,” Sunderland manager said. reason. “We have Bale who didn’t play problems playing, but we need to see what were rows of empty seats at the Stadium of Light the travelling fans was briefly lifted seven min- “We know it’s not easy to beat Manchester against Celta Vigo and he will start tomor- it is that he is feeling. Today he will meet but those who ventured into the cold saw them utes into the second half when Serb defender United but now we go to Old Trafford with a row.” Rumors have linked Di Maria with a with a specialist to try and find a solution to make a bright start. They kept possession well in Vidic, returning to the side, drew them level with lead. It has been a long time since we were in move to free-spending side Monaco the problem.” —AFP the opening minutes, subduing a United side for a towering far post header. Yet it was Sunderland a final so we will try our best.” —Reuters Confusion over air travel Extras

with WCup months away Mikel eyes Africa’s with referee Andre Marriner for awarding a free-kick Best Player award against Jonny Evans in the build-up to Sunderland’s open- RIO DE JANEIRO: Five months out from the terminal facilities,” Mann said in an email to AP. election in October. Air will be the mode of ABUJA: Nigeria’s John Obi Mikel is hoping to be crowned er, which saw Ryan Giggs turn the ball into his own net in World Cup, Brazilian authorities seem unsure He said a similar surge in Brazilian carriers could travel for foreigners. Brazil has limited rail serv- Africa’s best player at the Confederation of African Football first-half stoppage time. “We defended a terrible free-kick, about how to handle the crunch of 500,000 cause the same problems. ice and the road network is underdeveloped awards this week, he said yesterday. The Chelsea midfield- but how the referee has given a free-kick for that is way international visitors expecting to rely on air “While the inbound international flying is and crowded. Some airports are undergoing er is vying for the prestigious award with the Ivorian pair of beyond me,” Moyes said. travel for the month-long tournament. The chief relatively easily planned, the key issue is that last-minute renovations, but many of the Yaya Toure, of English Premier League rivals Manchester of staff for Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff much of the intra-Brazilian flying would be upgrades won’t be finished in time. Airports City, and Didier Drogba, from Turkish club Galatasaray. “It is PSG’s star Alex in said this week that a presidential decree was almost at a moment’s notice since it corre- listed as the most crowded are Belo Horizonte, an honor to be selected and nominated for the award. I homophobia row being considered to open more air routes to for- sponds with which teams advance in the early Fortaleza, Sao Paulo and Brasilia. am looking forward to winning it for my country,” Mikel, PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain’s former Chelsea defender Alex eign carriers, partly aimed at keeping down rounds. So one may plan in theory, but the Air travel is only part of a long list of prob- who has twice been voted Africa’s best young player said has provoked accusations of homophobia by claiming: soaring prices. actual demand may differ in practice.” Carlos lems surrounding the World Cup, which opens The state-run tourism agency Embratur also Ebner, the International Air Transport on June 12 in Sao Paulo and ends on July 13 in by phone from London. The 26-year-old helped Nigeria “God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Yves”. The said foreign carriers may be needed to help Association country director for Brazil, said any Rio. Only six of the 12 World Cup venues are win a third Africa Cup of Nations in February last year and Brazilian international, a born-again Christian, reveals his move traffic to the 12 host cities. Those views changes would be complex and require time. ready, and at least two of the six may not be also qualify for a fifth World Cup finals in November. faith-based disapproval of homosexuality in a documen- clash with the position of Civil Aviation secretary “The logistics are complicated,” he said in a delivered until April. This leaves less time for tel- tary on evangelical believers in football by French pay TV Wellington Moreira Franco who, in a recent statement to the Brazilian Association of evision broadcasters to prepare. It also causes Moyes in ‘hot water’ company Canal+. The program was broadcasted yesterday interview with The Associated Press, said the Airlines. “These are not buses. It takes three or confusion in ensuring that tickets correspond over referee remarks evening, just hours after Thomas Hitzlsperger became the body would rely on domestic operators only. four months at least in advance for companies to stadium seating configurations, which may LONDON: David Moyes’s problems increased yesterday first German international, and one of only a handful of “We will consider all possibilities, including to be able to plan.” Ebner said the knockout not be known until the last minute. when the Football Association said they were looking into top footballers worldwide, to come out as gay. The coinci- opening the market,” Gleisi Hoffmann, stage of the tournament, when the 32 teams Brazil is spending about $3.6 billion on the Manchester United manager’s latest attack on referees. dence exacerbated the backlash against Alex on social Rousseff’s chief of staff, told the Brazilian news- are winnowed to 16, would be unpredictable new stadiums or refurbishing old ones, and Moyes said United were “playing” officials as well as the media. “Here we have the reason why players find it so dif- paper Folha de S Paulo. She said it could be and the most difficult. “We will be dealing with the price keeps increasing with cost overruns opposition” after Sunderland’s 2-1 victory at the Stadium ficult to come out,” wrote @gillypea1978 in one of many done quickly through what she called “provi- the unknown,” Ebner said. “There won’t be time and worker overtime. FIFA President Sepp of Light in the first leg of a League Cup semi-final on tweets on a similar theme. The Canal+ program also fea- sional measures.” to mount an operation.” Blatter acknowledged to the Swiss newspaper Tuesday condemned his side to three consecutive defeats tures former PSG defender Marcos Ceara, now an evangeli- Robert Mann, an independent airline indus- Brazil’s airports are generally old and out- 24 Heures that Brazil is “the country that is the for the first time in 13 years. Moyes had previously seen cal preacher, who declares: “I’m not really for homosexuali- try analyst and former airline executive based in dated, which is likely to create bottlenecks in furthest behind” in World Cup preparations in his team lose by the same scoreline at home to Tottenham ty. For me that is a little out with God’s plan.” Alex then New York, said foreign carriers coming in at the the air and on the ground. Delays are sure to his four decades of experience. Hotel prices Hotspur and Swansea City in the past week, leaving reign- delivers his quip about Adam and Eve, according to last minute might make matters worse. “It will anger visiting football fans - and more than 3 and air fares are also sky rocketing with the ing champions United 11 points off the pace in the excerpts from the program published by French daily Le simply add to the congestion already experi- million Brazilians expected to attend - and government promising a crackdown on price Premier League and out of the FA Cup. The Scot was angry Parisien. enced in Brazilian air traffic control, airport and could embarrass Rousseff, who is up for re- gouging. —AP