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Sports Shorts: Female streaker brings light-hearted moment to fans in Serie A clash
A female streaker changed the depressing moment for the home fans to a light hearted one as she rushed into the field to show her support to UC Sampdoria after the club's 5-2 loss to Napoli in the Italian league Serie A clash.
According the New York Post, the female streaker reportedly rushed into the field at Luigi Ferraris stadium, wearing nothing but a bikini and an oversized Sampdoria flag, to bring a light-hearted moment for the otherwise depressed home fans.
The crowd showed its appreciation by giving the young lady a huge round of applause as a grinning security official, after getting his hands on the streaker, flipped her over his back and carried her off the field.
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United players gave their all for Moyes, says Vidic
Departing Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic has denied the players failed to give their all for former manager David Moyes.
"There is no question over any of the players," Vidic told the BBC. "They did everything that was asked of them.
"Sometimes you do things well, sometimes you don't. But the desire was there. They tried really hard.
"From the first day until the last you didn't hear any player say anything bad about the training. That shows the players have respect for the manager."
Moyes was sacked in April, only 10 months into a six-year contract, after United failed to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 1995/96.
Vidic, who is set to join Inter Milan after playing the last of his 300 games for United against Southampton on Sunday, said there were no dressing-room fallouts with Moyes and the only arguments were between players desperate to improve.
"I am not saying we have had a good season. It was a bad time and the players could have done better. But everyone lost belief in the team," the 32-year-old Serb said.
"The players did argue among ourselves. But we were arguing to get better. When you have bad times, people show they care. It hurts but we could say those things to each other because we have been together for so long.
"We had some hard moments in the dressing room but we never argued with the manager or his assistants. Never."
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South Korea's Park Ji-sung retires
South Korean Park Ji-sung announced his retirement from soccer on Wednesday, bringing the curtain down on a career that took him to the 2002 World Cup semi-finals and saw him become the first Asian to play in a UEFA Champions League final.
Park's industry, energy and work ethic made him a favourite of Alex Ferguson during his time at Manchester United and his performances in England and in the Netherlands with PSV Eindhoven helped raise the profile of Korean soccer around the world.
The 33-year-old, who called time on his international career after the 2011 Asian Cup, said he could not continue to play at the highest level because of knee issues but added that he was leaving the game without any regrets.
"I didn't cry about it yesterday, and I'm not crying about it today, that means I'm leaving with no regrets," he told a news conference at the Park Ji-sung Football Centre in Suwon, where he has a street named after him.
After leaving Manchester United in 2012, Park signed for Queen's Park Rangers but spent the last season on loan at PSV. Issues with his knee sidelined him for long spells over the last two years.
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Sevilla can out-play favourites Benfica, says Emery
Sevilla coach Unai Emery admits that Benfica are favourites to win the Europa League final on Wednesday but says his side will stay faithful to their style of play and believe in their chances.
The Andalusian club are aiming to lift the trophy for the third time in nine years but their form has dropped off in recent weeks and they face a strong Benfica side that are Portuguese champions.
Sevilla have failed to win in their last three La Liga games, which ended their hopes of claiming a Champions League place.
They only scraped through their Europa League semi-final with Valencia, having won the first leg 2-0. They needed an injury-time Stephane MBia goal to go through 3-3 on aggregate in Valencia.
Captain Ivan Rakitic dismissed concerns over recent poor results.
"We are all 100 percent," he told the news conference. "Not only physically but mentally. We work to be 100 percent for all games and you have some matches better than others but tomorrow we will be at a high level."
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FIFA official says fines for racism are 'disrespectful'
FIFA's anti-racism chief Jeffrey Webb has called on national soccer associations to start implementing tougher sanctions to rid the game of discrimination, describing the use of monetary fines as ‘disrespectful’ and little more than a 'slap on the wrist.'
Jeffrey Webb, the chairman of FIFA's Anti-Racism and Discrimination Task Force, said that while the world and regional bodies had introduced strict new laws to combat racism, some national leagues were ignoring the proposals and being too lenient.
Webb singled out the Spanish football federation for criticism after it fined La Liga club Villarreal 12,000 euros ($16,500) after a fan threw a banana at Barcelona's Dani Alves.
"You saw the incident that happened in La Liga and of course you've seen the punishment, which is very, very unfortunate," Webb told a select group of journalists at a meeting in midtown Manhattan on Tuesday.
"I thought it was very disrespectful, to be honest with you."
Webb's criticism came just one day after FIFA president Sepp Blatter made a similar plea on social media after a spate of incidents in Europe.
Italian club Atalanta were fined 40,000 euros ($55,000) after a banana was thrown onto the pitch during a Serie A match on Sunday.
On the same day, Zenit St Petersburg’s Russian championship clash with Dynamo Moscow was abandoned after fans invaded the pitch and punched Dynamo defender Vladimir Granat in the head.
"Racism, and games stopped/abandoned due to acts of hooliganism. Each Federation needs to act. Sanctions are available & HAVE to be applied," Blatter said on Twitter.
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Caterham pull out of F1 test after Kobayashi crash
Caterham pulled out of Formula One testing in Barcelona on Wednesday because their car was too badly damaged after Kamui Kobayashi crashed on the opening day.
The Japanese smashed into the barriers in the final half hour of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya on Tuesday and the Malaysian-owned team said they had decided not to run after assessing the damage overnight.
Dutch test driver Robin Frijns had been due to take over for the final day.
"While obviously not ideal, this ensures the team can now focus on the next grand prix in Monaco, starting next week," said the team, last in the championship and yet to score a point.
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South African court orders Pistorius to undergo mental evaluation
A South African court on Wednesday ordered Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius to undergo evaluation for mental illness, further delaying a murder trial that has already stretched into its 32nd day.
The state had asked for the evaluation after a psychiatrist told the court this week that Pistorius, who is on trial for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp last year, suffered from an anxiety disorder.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel has argued he wanted to prevent the 27-year-old sprinter, who faces life in prison if convicted, from later appealing on the basis of a disturbed mental condition.
Defence lawyer Barry Roux had argued against the motion, saying it was "premature" to have the evaluation done now, as he planned to call other witnesses.
But Judge Thokozile Masipa ruled that a mental assessment would ensure that Pistorius gets a fair trial.
Masipa said the court would hand down the details of the assessment on Tuesday, adding it would be preferable for him to undergo the evaluation as an outpatient.
Pistorius has denied he killed Steenkamp in cold blood, saying he shot four times at the toilet door of his luxury Pretoria home to protect himself from what he thought was an intruder.
Pistorius competed against able-bodied sprinters on carbon-fibre prosthetics, becoming one of the most recognised names in athletics. He won a clutch of Paralympic medals and reached the semi-finals of the 400m at the London 2012 Olympics.