Gatlin gunning England’s Bright for Bolt one eyes tough Dutch last time challenges THURSDAY,13 AUGUST 3, 2017 15 Vazquez’s 3-run HR lifts Red Sox over Indians Page 14 BARCELONA: In this Sunday, Jan. 11, 2015 file photo, FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, right, Neymar, center, and Luis Suarez, celebrate after scoring against Atletico Madrid during a Spanish La Liga soccer match at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain. Barcelona said, yesterday, Neymar’s 222 million euro ($262 million) release clause must be paid in full if the Brazil striker wants to leave. — AP Neymar world record PSG move imminent Messi bids farewell to Neymar on Instagram BARCELONA: Neymar could be presented as a club,” Barca said in a statement. Neymar has also been given permission to stay daily AS yesterday. “Especially when this club is Munich to fear. Neymar has formed one of the Paris Saint-Germain player as early as this week- “The club have informed them that the buy- away from training until the deal is complete infringing rules and laws.” deadliest strike partnerships in football history end for a world record fee as Barcelona admitted out clause in his contract, that from July 1 is 222 after making a brief appearance at Barca’s train- with Messi and Luis Suarez over the past three defeat in convincing the Brazilian to stay at the million euros, must be paid in full.” Neymar has ing ground yesterday morning to say goodbye to CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DREAM seasons. Together they have won two La Liga Camp Nou yesterday. been tempted to Paris by an astronomical offer his teammates. Winning the Champions League for a first titles, a Champions League and three Spanish Wagner Ribeiro, an advisor to the player, that would reportedly see his wages tripled to 30 Presuming both clubs don’t come to a late time is the dream driving PSG’s owners Oryx Cups, whilst Neymar has scored 105 goals and claimed PSG would pay his 222 million euro million euros a year after tax. agreement, the buyout clause would have to be Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) to fund a deal provided 80 assists in just 186 games. ($260 million) buyout clause in the “coming However, on the field he also faces the chal- paid to Barcelona via Spain’s La Liga to free the that could herald the start of a new era at the However, Neymar’s four-year spell in Spain has hours” to more than double the current transfer lenge of stepping out of the shadow of five-time player from the contract he signed last year and elite level of European football. also been overshadowed by the murky transfer record set by Paul Pogba’s £89.3 million ($111 World Player of the Year Lionel Messi to try and runs until 2021. Since QSI’s takeover in 2011, PSG have failed deal which brought him to Barcelona from Santos million, 105.2 million euros) move to Manchester prove himself as the world’s best. “It was a huge However, La Liga president Javier Tebas has to make it beyond the quarter-final stage in in 2013. He and his parents as well as Barca presi- United last year. pleasure having shared all those years with you, threatened not to accept PSG’s money over what recent seasons - most notably blowing a 4-0 first dent Josep Maria Bartomeu face charges of fraud Earlier, Barcelona ended weeks of speculation my friend @neymarjr,” Messi posted on Instagram he perceives as a failure on the French side’s part leg lead to lose 6-1 to a Neymar-inspired and corruption in an ongoing case brought by by publicly confirming for the first time the 25- alongside a montage displaying some of the to comply with UEFA’s financial fair play rules Barcelona in the last 16 of last season’s competi- DIS, a Brazilian investment company. year-old’s wish to leave after four years at the pair’s finest moments together. (FFP). Clubs can be sanctioned by UEFA for mak- tion in March. DIS owned 40 percent of the players’ rights at Camp Nou. “Neymar Jr, accompanied by his “I wish you lots of luck in this new stage in ing a loss of more than 30 million euros over a Prising Neymar from the grip of Barca would the time of the deal and believe they were delib- father and representative, communicated to FC your life. See you soon tkm,” he added. “Tkm” three-year period. “We will not accept this money truly announce PSG’s presence as a contender for erately cheated out of their real share due to the Barcelona this morning his decision to leave the stands for “te quiero mucho” (I love you loads). from a club like PSG,” Tebas told Madrid sports the likes of Barca, Real Madrid and Bayern complex structure of the transfer. — AFP Thiem, Halep win in MLS All-Stars get chance to make Washington openers statement with Real WASHINGTON: Top seeds Dominic Thiem and Thiem taking only one set. “Of course I will think CHICAGO: The best team in the world facing off against the local Simona Halep cruised into the round of 16 at the about it and I have to change something,” Thiem lads sounds like a recipe for disaster - just not when it takes place ATP and WTA Citi Open with straight-set triumphs said. “It’s a very tough draw.” Second-seeded in the MLS All-Star Game. Then, it’s a showcase. For the 13th Tuesday at the US Open tune-up event. Austria’s Nishikori turned back the determined challenge straight year, North America’s best take on a top international seventh-ranked Thiem, a French Open semi-final- of American Donald Young 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7/5). team, this time glamour-boys Real Madrid later at sold-out Soldier ist in June, waited out a rain delay then needed Nishikori, seeking his first title of 2017, didn’t face Field. The game caps a three-day, MLS-styled celebration of the only 63 minutes to dispatch 96th-ranked Swiss a break point in the third set, but he couldn’t con- sport - from matches on the sand at Oak Street beach to star-stud- Henri Laaksonen 6-3, 6-3. “It wasn’t easy but I’m vert any of his eight break chances as Young ded endorsements of the town’s deep-dish pizza - that had fans in pretty happy with my performance,” Thiem said. “It forced the tiebreaker. the City of Big Shoulders following along with their feet. was my first match on hardcourt since Miami (in Nishikori finally sealed the win on his sixth The payoff for those inside the venerable 61,000-seat stadium, March) and that’s always a little tricky.” match point after two hours and 25 minutes and coincidentally the site of the inaugural match of the 1994 World World number two Halep, this year’s French with the clock ticking toward 2 am. Cup, will be an embarrassment of soccer riches. Real’s Cristiano Open runner-up, took only 79 minutes to oust Ronaldo won’t be on hand for what amounts to another presea- US wildcard Sloane Stephens 7-6 (7/3), 6-0. “It HALEP PASSES FIRST TEST son friendly, but Sergio Ramos, Gareth Bale, Isco, Luka Modric and was a tough first set. I was missing a little bit too Halep will next face Colombia’s 115th-ranked nearly all the front-liners who helped every important club cham- much and she made some shots,” Halep said. Mariana Duque-Marino for a quarter-final berth as pionship in sight, will. They’ll encounter some familiar, if aging, “Didn’t have the rhythm at the beginning, but I the 25-year-old Romanian keeps her focus on faces across the pitch. feel better now.” building her game for the US Open that starts on They range from World Cup winner, former German national Thiem, who dropped only eight points on his August 28 in New York. team and current Chicago Fire midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, serve and just one on 25 successful first serves, “For first match on hardcourts, it wasn’t that to one-time Real teammate and Orlando City playmaker Kaka, as broke in the second game of the match and again bad,” Halep said. “My serve wasn’t the best but I well former Atletico Madrid rival and New York City FC striker in his rival’s last two service games, taking the was OK. Everything went well. I can’t say I have to David Villa. Also familiar will be a handful of Americans who match when Laaksonen netted a backhand. “I adjust something. “It was important I won today. It logged considerable time with the U.S. national team and don’t have a lack of confidence but it’s always nice was important the second set was much better. European clubs, among them Toronto’s Michael Bradley and Jozy to get that first win,” Thiem said. The next round I have to be a little more aggres- Altidore, Houston’s DaMarcus Beasley and Seattle goalkeeper Tim This marks the biggest event where Thiem has sive. I have to come to the baseline and finish the Howard. been top seeded, but his four nearest rankings points sooner.” Stephens has been back for only a Expect a competitive match, even though Real manager rivals are also in the field-Germany’s Alexander month after missing nearly a year with a left foot Zinedine Zidane is expected to reach deep into his bench after Zverev, Japan’s Kei Nishikori, Canada’s Milos injury, falling to 957th in the rankings.