Schulz: Hanover’s Germany defender Christian Schulz is set to extended his contract with the Bundesliga club and reject a move to play under new Wolfsburg coach Felix Magath, it was revealed yesterday. The 27-year-old, who has won four caps for Germany, has been offered a contract at Wolves, but just two days after Magath returned to Wolfsburg as coach, Schulz is close to signing a deal with Hanover to stay until 2014.
Bale: Wales winger Gareth Bale signed a new four-and-a-half year contract with Tottenham yesterday. Spurs manager Harry Redknapp told the club’s website: “It’s great to have Gareth sign a new contract at the club. He is a fantastic player and the type of player we need to be keeping at Spurs. Gareth is now one of the top left sided players in the world, he really is an amazing talent and can only get better.”
Lucky fan: The Cardiff fan who survived a 20-foot fall from the upper tier at The Den during today’s 3-3 draw with Millwall has been described as “very, very lucky”. The 35-year-old supporter was celebrating Chris Burke’s 48th-minute opener when he toppled from the second tier of the away fans’ end. He was treated by medical staff at the ground for about 20 minutes before being taken to hospital. He was initially said to be in a serious but stable condition, but the Metropolitan Police later said he had minor injuries.
Holden: Bolton boss Owen Coyle confirmed midfielder Stuart Holden was taken to hospital following Jonny Evans’ red card challenge on the midfielder at Old Trafford yesterday. Evans was sent off 15 minutes from the end of Manchester United’s 1-0 win over Bolton after Holden sustained a nasty gash in a tackle with the Northern Ireland international.
Lucho: Didier Deschamps ex-pressed concern after revealing that star midfielder Lucho Gonzalez was the latest Marseille player to fall victim to armed burglars. Lucho was at home in Aix-en-Provence when four individuals broke into his appartment late on Thursday. They stole bank cards, jewellery and other valuable belongings before escaping in the Argentinian player’s car.
Abidal: Barcelona’s defender Eric Abidal is recovering well from surgery to remove a liver tumour, coach Pep Guardiola said. The 31-year-old French international underwent the three-hour operation on Thursday at a Barcelona hospital. “As far as we know, the operation went very well and Abidal is developing well,” Guardiola said.
Cricket: Hapless Bangladesh were sent crashing out of the World Cup yesterday by merciless South Africa, with their humiliating 206-run defeat sending India, England and West Indies into the quarter-finals. Bangladesh, chasing 285 to win, were bowled out for a paltry 78 in the 28th over, the ninth lowest World Cup total of all time and third lowest at the 2011 event, with only skipper Shakib Al Hasan (30) getting to double figures. The Tigers, who had high hopes of making the last eight after playing all their Group B matches in favourable home conditions, finished on six points, the same as West Indies, who have a superior run-rate.
Basketball, NBA: Kevin Martin scored 26 points and rookie Patrick Patterson added 18 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Houston Rockets past the slumping Boston Celtics 93-77. Chuck Hayes added 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Rockets, whose third victory in a row pulled Houston, 36-34, within 1 1/2 games of Memphis for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff berth.
Golf: Elin Nordegren, the ex-wife of Tiger Woods, has purchased a Florida beachfront mansion larger than the golf superstar’s nearby island estate home. The newspaper said Nordegren spent $12.2 million for a 17,000-square foot home built in 1932 with eight bedrooms in a gated community near Palm Beach.
Tennis: World No.1 Rafael Nadal reached the Indian Wells final by beating Juan Martin del Potro 6-4, 6-4, snapping a three-match losing run to the Argentine. Nadal blasted four aces and won 81 percent of his first serve points in the first of two semi-finals yesterday at the $9 million WTA and ATP Masters 1000 tournament. Nadal now has a 5-3 edge in career matches but Del Potro had won the last three.