THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017 SPORTS

E Timor revokes passports of nine Brazil-born players

KUALA LUMPUR: East Timor has able to register in any competition ments for 12 Brazil-born players. players had seen the tiny nation, with a born players following the complaint revoked the passports of nine Brazil- under East Timor, the AFC said. The forgery involved birth or bap- population of around 1.2 million peo- and suffered heavy losses in subse- born players on its national team fol- A further enquiry on the status of tismal certificates showing that one or ple, shoot up the rankings from the quent matches to UAE (8-0), Saudi lowing revelations they had submitted the passports of “a number of other both of the players’ parents were born football wilderness. Ranked 205 global- Arabia (10-0) and Palestine (7-0). falsified documents, Asia’s football gov- players” was also carried out, it said in East Timor, which made them eligible ly in 2011, the football minnows They started fielding Brazil-born erning body said yesterday. without saying what action had been to play for the country. jumped to their best ever ranking of players again in the Asian Cup qualifiers The Asian Football Confederation taken following the probe. Nine of the 12 players had partici- 170 in 2015. in June 2016 against Malaysia. (AFC) said it received information from AFC’s disciplinary committee in pated in 29 matches under the AFC and Palestine in October 2015 lodged a Days later, the AFC in conjunction East Timor’s justice ministry through January banned East Timor from the seven tournaments under the world complaint with FIFA after East Timor with FIFA opened an investigation into Dili’s embassy in Kuala Lumpur that the 2023 AFC Asian Cup after uncovering a football governing body FIFA between fielded seven Brazil-born players in a 1- the eligibility of certain footballers. passports have been declared “null and scandal in which the country’s football 2012 and 2016, according to the AFC. 1 draw, but no action was taken. East Timor has a current world ranking void”. The nine players will no longer be association submitted forged docu- The influx of naturalised Brazilian East Timor stopped fielding Brazil- of 194. — AFP mourn ‘Boot Room’ great Moran LONDON: Liverpool greats past and pres- and four European Cups. ent paid tribute to former captain, coach He was twice called upon to become and Ronnie Moran on caretaker manager, following Dalglish’s res- Monday following his death aged 83. ignation in 1991 and then during Graeme “RIP Ronnie Moran,” former captain Souness’s recovery from major heart sur- wrote on Instagram. gery in 1992. A regular visitor to “Gave me some great advice over the and the club’s Melwood training ground, years. The reason our club has a he was diagnosed with vascular dementia fantastic history is because of people last year. “Liverpool Football Club is deeply like him. My thoughts are with his family at saddened by the passing of Ronnie Moran,” this sad time.” Moran spent his entire play- the club said in a statement. ing career at Liverpool between 1952 and “Ronnie is fondly remembered for his 49 1968, making 379 appearances, and served years of service to Liverpool, during which as a coach under managers including Bill time he represented the club with distinc- Shankly, , and Kenny tion as a player, coach, physio, reserve- Dalglish. Known as ‘Bugsy’, he had two team coach, assistant manager and care- spells as caretaker manager taker manager. during the early 1990s and “The thoughts of everyone had spent 49 years at the at Liverpool Football Club are club by the time he retired in with Ronnie’s wife Joyce, his 1998. children, family and many , Liverpool’s all- friends.” time leading scorer, tweeted: Former Liverpool manager “It’s a sad day in Football! RIP , who worked with Mr. Liverpool #RonnieMoran Moran for many years, said he you will be greatly missed!” was “one of the greats of Moran’s son, Paul, announced Liverpool”. on Twitter that he had died Current Liverpool captain on Monday following “a short Jordan Henderson wrote on illness”. Instagram: “The reason being Born locally in Crosby, Ronnie Moran captain of Liverpool Football Moran joined Liverpool on a Club is such a huge honour is part-time basis in 1949 and became an because legendary figures like Ronnie ever-present at left-back under Shankly, Moran held it before I did. “I know I speak winning two league titles and the FA Cup. for all of the current players when I say that Shankly then invited Moran to join we are all deeply saddened by Ronnie’s BUFFALO: Mark Streit #32 of the Pittsburgh Penguins takes a shot as Jack Eichel #15 of the Buffalo Sabres defends during the third period at the Liverpool’s coaching staff and he became a passing. KeyBank Center on Tuesday in Buffalo, New York. The Penguins beat the Sabres 3-1. — AFP member of the fabled Anfield Boot Room, “The greatest tribute we can pay to him the name given to the club’s coaching unit. is to give everything we’ve got for His time on the back-room staff coincid- Liverpool Football Club just as he did each NHL ed with the greatest period in the club’s and every single day during the 49 years he history as Liverpool won 11 league titles spent here.”— AFP ‘Toothless’ Crosby leads China seek to lift fading campaign against S Korea Penguins into playoffs NEW YORK: Nick Bonino scored with 5:29 remaining to CHANGSHA: China coach Marcello Lippi Syria (five points), who are forced to play lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 3-1 win over the has sought to bolster player confidence their home games in Malaysia due to the NHL results/standings Buffalo Sabres. Sidney Crosby and Conor Sheary also ahead of a do-or-die World Cup qualifying security situation in their country, will host scored for Pittsburgh, which clinched a playoff berth clash with South Korea today as the Italian a third-placed Uzbekistan side (nine points) Winnipeg 3, Philadelphia 2; Detroit 2, Montreal 1 (OT); Arizona 5, Tampa Bay 3; Carolina 4, Florida 3; Ottawa 3, Boston for the 11th consecutive season. Matt Murray made 29 attempts to encourage his squad to display poised to capitalise on any errors by the 2; Pittsburgh 3, Buffalo 1; New Jersey 4, NY Rangers 2 (OT); Washington 4, Calgary 2. saves. Sam Reinhart scored for Buffalo. Robin Lehner more self-belief. two teams above them. made 31 saves and was terrific throughout. Lehner Western Conference Ottawa 40 24 8 191 187 88 China have picked up just two points in In Group B, the United Arab Emirates stopped three breakaways in the first two periods. Central Division Boston 38 29 6 209 195 82 five games to sit bottom of Group A in AFC will seek to complete home-and-away wins WLOTLGFGAPTS Toronto 33 23 15 216 210 81 third round qualifying and defeat against over five-time World Cup qualifiers Japan in Chicago 47 20 6 222 183 100 CAPITALS 4, FLAMES 2 Tampa Bay 34 29 9 197 202 77 Uli Stielike’s side in Changsha’s Helong Al Ain as coach Mahdi Ali attempts to keep Minnesota 44 22 6 235 180 94 T.J. Oshie scored his 30th goal of the season as Florida 31 30 11 183 208 73 Stadium would all but end any hope of a his country’s quest for a second appear- St. Louis 39 28 5 201 195 83 Washington used a second-period shooting barrage Nashville 36 25 11 212 202 83 Buffalo 30 32 12 183 214 72 top-three spot for Lippi’s side. ance at the finals on track. to wear down streaking Calgary, ending Brian Winnipeg 33 33 7 220 232 73 Detroit 29 32 11 180 213 69 “Tomorrow’s game is the most impor- The UAE won their opening game of the Elliott’s winning run at 11 straight. Alexander Dallas 29 33 10 196 233 68 Metropolitan Division tant and our mentality is crucial,” the 68- third phase of qualifying against Japan in Colorado 20 49 3 140 238 43 Ovechkin, Kevin Shattenkirk and Evgeny Kuznetsov Washington 47 17 8 232 161 102 year-old former Guangzhou Evergrande Saitama last year but Ali stressed that result Pacific Division also scored for the Capitals. Troy Brouwer and Sean Pittsburgh 46 17 9 252 199 101 coach, who took over the job after Gao counted for nothing against Vahid San Jose 42 24 7 198 169 91 Monahan scored for the Flames. Senators 3, Bruins 2 Columbus 47 18 6 228 164 100 Hongbo stepped down in October, told Halilhodzic’s side, who will be without Edmonton 39 24 9 209 186 87 Craig Anderson made 34 saves and Kyle Turris Anaheim 38 23 11 186 178 87 NY Rangers 45 24 4 233 193 94 reporters. “I have repeated that very often injured captain Makoto Hasebe. scored his second goal of the game 4:04 into the Calgary 41 28 4 203 197 86 NY Islanders 33 26 12 210 218 78 to the players since day one and they have “Football doesn’t believe in history... third period, allowing Ottawa to end a four-game Los Angeles 34 31 7 175 181 75 Carolina 31 27 13 186 206 75 to forget about all the pressure and fear. what happened in the previous game is in Vancouver 29 34 9 166 211 67 losing streak with an important victory over Boston. Philadelphia 33 31 8 188 216 74 “They are defending the honour of 1.4 the past,” he said. “Football knows only one Arizona 27 37 9 178 233 63 Tom Pyatt also scored for the Senators. David Krejci New Jersey 27 33 12 168 211 66 billion Chinese people. Once they put on language: how prepared you are, how Eastern Conference and Torey Krug scored for the Bruins, who got both Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the the jersey, they have to give their best. We strong you are on the pitch, how much Atlantic Division goals on the power play. Montreal 41 23 9 200 182 91 standings and are not included in the loss column (L) are worse than no one in Asia as long as effort you give in the game. they play at their true level.” “And I think we always play our football, DEVILS 3, RANGERS 2 (OT) China, who have struggled for goals, are always try to work hard, whether in training game losing skid. Martin Hanzal and Charlie Coyle scored twice as the Blackhawks erased a three-goal Joe Blandisi scored with 54.6 seconds remaining eight points behind second-placed South or on the pitch. And that makes the differ- just 15 seconds apart. Matt Dumba also scored, and deficit in the third period. Marian Hossa and Richard in overtime to give New Jersey a victory over New Korea and nine adrift of leaders Iran as the ence in the team.” Devan Dubnyk had 21 saves for the Wild. David Panik also scored for the Blackhawks. York at Prudential Center. John Quenneville collect- top two teams advance to next year’s finals Just two points cover the top four teams Schlemko and Patrick Marleau had second-period ed his first NHL goal and Taylor Hall also scored for in Russia with a playoff spot available for in the group, with the UAE in fourth on goals, and Martin Jones had 24 saves, but the Sharks BLUES 4, AVALANCHE 2 the Devils. Cory Schneider made 38 saves. Oscar the third-place finishers. nine points from their five games, just a lost to the Wild for the second time this month and Magnus Paajarvi scored the tie-breaking goal Lindberg and Rick Nash scored for the Rangers. point behind leaders Saudi Arabia, who the third time this season. early in the third period, Jordan Schwartz added to ONE LANGUAGE take on last-placed Thailand (one point). the lead later in the frame and St Louis stayed hot COYOTES 5, LIGHTNING 3 “If we want to keep our dream of quali- The Japanese are in second, level on 10 CANUCKS 5, BLACKHAWKS 4 (OT) with a win over Colorado. Patrik Berglund scored Tampa Bay lost its third straight as it struggles to fying for the next year’s World Cup alive, we points with the Saudis, while Australia Brandon Sutter scored a pair of goals in regula- twice and Jake Allen had 26 saves for the Blues, who stay in the wild-card mix, falling to Arizona. Radim have to win three points tomorrow and my occupy third, also on nine points. tion and Daniel Sedin scored with 2:48 to go in over- have won eight of their last nine. John Mitchell had a Vrbata and Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored in the third players and I both know that,” added Lippi, Ange Postecoglou’s Socceroos will be time to lift Vancouver over Chicago. Henrik Sedin goal and an assist, Mark Barberio also scored and period, while Connor Murphy, Christian Fischer and who led Italy to World Cup glory in 2006. aiming to maintain their drive for a fourth and Reid Boucher also scored as the Canucks Calvin Pickard finished with 25 saves for the Christian Dvorak also scored for the Coyotes, who Iran travel to Doha to take on 2022 consecutive World Cup appearance when snapped a six-game winless streak. Ryan Hartman Avalanche. — Reuters ended a three-game losing streak. Victor Hedman, World Cup hosts Qatar (four points), who they play Iraq (three points) in Tehran, Nikita Kucherov and Vladislav Namestnikov scored are in fifth place, with Carlos Queiroz’s side where the Iraqis have been forced to play for the Lightning. aiming to maintain their unbeaten run in their home games due to security con- the campaign. cerns. — Reuters HURRICANES 4, PANTHERS 3 Shirley Cruz: Costa Rican Jeff Skinner scored the go-ahead goal, his second of the game, with 3:55 left in the third period as dynamo and PSG star Carolina defeated Florida at the BB&T Center. Teuvo Teravainen and Sebastian Aho also scored for the : Costa Rican Shirley Cruz never thought That heart belongs to Costa Rica, where she Hurricanes. The Panthers got goals from Aleksander she would earn a living from football. But learned to play the game and which she hopes Barkov, Reilly Smith and Keith Yandle. today she will lead out Paris Saint-Germain for to represent in the 2019 World Cup hosted by their Champions League quarter-final against her adopted country France. RED WINGS 2, CANADIENS 1 (OT) Bayern Munich. “In Costa Rica football is just a She arrived in France alone, aged 20, after Anthony Mantha scored the game-winner with way of getting an education,” she told AFP in scouts recruited her and offered her a contract less than a minute to go in overtime to lift Detroit the French capital, where PSG fans are haunt- to play for Lyon, France’s most successful over Montreal at the Bell Centre. Justin Abdelkader ed by the 6-1 humiliation of the men’s side at women’s team. “It was hard. The Latino her- scored in regulation for the Red Wings. Artturi Barcelona in the Champions League earlier itage means we are family-orientated,” she Lehkonen replied for the Canadiens. Jimmy Howard this month. “What happens is you go to the said. But there was no looking back, and no stopped 35 shots for Detroit while Al Montoya made United States, attend college for four years (on regrets. “I grew as a person and as a player,” she 34 saves for the Canadiens. a sports scholarship), so you can get yourself a said. The football scout who brought her to decent career at the end of it all. Lyon had spotted her at a youth tournament in JETS 3, FLYERS 2 “I never thought I would end up being paid Canada and opened her eyes to opportunities Michael Hutchinson stopped 24 shots as to play the game.” Cruz, 31, a national hero in Europe. “Until that moment I didn’t know Winnipeg edged Philadelphia. Mark Scheifele and back home whose face adorns a postage professional football existed,” she said. Blake Wheeler each had a goal and two assists, while stamp, is small and slight and looks anything Born in the capital San Jose in a poor part Mathieu Perreault had a goal and an assist for the but the midfield dynamo she is for club and of town, Cruz found herself transplanted to Jets. Jordan Weal and Matt Read scored for the country. Lyon in 2006, joining a club embarking on the Flyers, and Steve Mason made 30 saves. But it is what’s inside you that counts, she path that would lead them to dominate says. “I have got the heart of a sports person women’s football in Europe. It was a good WILD 3, SHARKS 2 and you have to to get to this level,” she said, match and before long the midfielder was the CHANGSHA: South Korean players train during a practice session ahead of a World Two Wild goals within seconds of each other Cup football qualifying match between China and South Korea in Changsha, China’s adding with a grin in respect of her muscular fulcrum of the team that won the Champions snapped a second-period 1-1 tie and helped physique: “Look at my legs, you can see.” League in 2011 and 2012.—AFP central Hunan province on Tuesday. — AFP Minnesota beat San Jose to end a season-worst five-