World Sports News in Brief

Argentine duo help Tottenham past Boro in replay, Newcastle through

Tottenham’s Hotspur’s Argentine midfield duo Giovani Lo Celso and Erik Lamela both scored as Jose Mourinho’s side edged past Middlesbrough 2-1 in their FA Cup third-round replay on Tuesday.

Soccer Football - FA Cup Third Round Replay - Tottenham Hotspur v Middlesbrough - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - January 14, 2020 Tottenham Hotspur's Giovani Lo Celso scores their first goal. (Photo: Action Images via Reuters)
Soccer Football - FA Cup Third Round Replay - Tottenham Hotspur v Middlesbrough - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - January 14, 2020 Tottenham Hotspur's Giovani Lo Celso scores their first goal. (Photo: Action Images via Reuters)

Newcastle United strolled past third-tier Rochdale, winning 4-1 at St James’ Park. Third-tier Shrewsbury Town set up a dream fourth-round home tie against Liverpool as they sprang something of a surprise by knocking out Championship club Bristol City 1-0.

* The LPGA Tour season kicks off on Thursday, launching a year which will see the world's best women golfers compete for US$75 million in prize money - a record but still a pittance compared to what their male counterparts will play for on the PGA Tour. The LPGA purses - an average of more than US$2 million per event over the 33 official-money tournaments - are nothing to scoff at, even if they are not comparable to the men.

* Everton have agreed a 30-million pounds naming rights deal with Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov for their proposed new Bramley-Moore Dock stadium, the club's chief executive said on Tuesday. The Russian tycoon's holding company USM, which has sponsored Everton's Finch Farm training ground since 2017, has secured an option on the naming rights for the club's proposed new home, Chief Executive Officer Denise Barrett-Baxendale told the club's general meeting.

* La Liga champions Barcelona recorded operating revenues of 839.5 million euros (US$935.29 million) in the 2018-19 season, over 200m euros more than any of the other victors in Europe's eight major leagues, a study from auditing firm KPMG revealed on Wednesday. The Spanish champions' revenues eclipsed those of Ligue 1's Paris St Germain (636 million euros), the Bundesliga's Bayern Munich (626 million euros) and the Premier League's Manchester City (610 million euros).

* Chile's Nicolas Jarry has been provisionally suspended by the International Tennis Federation after testing positive for two banned substances at last year's Davis Cup finals in Madrid, the sport's international governing body said on Tuesday. During the tournament in November, the 24-year-old, ranked 78 in the world, provided urine samples containing traces of anabolic agents Ligandrol and Stanozolol, which are on the World Anti-Doping Agency's prohibited list.

* Romelu Lukaku scored after just 22 seconds and added another goal to help Inter Milan to a 4-1 victory over Cagliari at San Siro on Tuesday and a place in the Italian Cup quarter-final. Napoli and Lazio set up a meeting in the last eight as they both won at home against second-tier opposition with Ciro Immobile continuing his scoring ways for Lazio as they beat Cremonese 4-0.

* Watford have signed Argentine winger Ignacio Pussetto from Italian side Udinese on a four-and-a-half-year deal, the Premier League club announced on Tuesday. The 24-year-old, who can also play as a striker, has five goals and five assists in 50 appearances since his move to Udinese in 2018.

* Ernesto Valverde was sacked as coach even though Barcelona are on top of La Liga because the team needed an injection of momentum, president Josep Maria Bartomeu said on Tuesday at the presentation of new coach Quique Setien. Former Real Betis coach Setien has signed a contract until June 2022 after Valverde was sacked on Monday despite winning back-to-back league titles and the 2018 Copa del Rey.

* Manchester United's young forward Mason Greenwood has all the qualities to have a successful career but he needs to be given time to flourish after making his breakthrough in the senior team this season, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said on Tuesday. Greenwood, 18, has scored nine goals for United in all competitions this season and he is the club's leading goal scorer in the Europa League with four goals.

* The United States will hold the fifth SheBelieves Cup women's soccer tournament in March, local media reported on Tuesday. The 2020 SheBelieves Cup will take place from March 5-11 as three of the top teams in the world - England, Japan and Spain - join the United States in the elite four-team international tournament in women's soccer.

* Fabio Borini has joined Hellas Verona from AC Milan on a permanent deal, Verona confirmed on Tuesday. Borini, who previously played for Roma and Liverpool, joined AC Milan in the summer of 2017, managing four goals in 51 league games at San Siro. But the 28-year-old striker failed to make impact this season, only making two appearances.

* Both FC Barcelona and Real Madrid have been given relatively easy ties in the third round of the Spanish Copa del Rey knockout tournament on Tuesday. FC Barcelona will take a short flight to play Ibiza CF of Segunda B, the third tier of the Spanish soccer. Real Madrid also faces a relatively comfortable tie as they travel to play Unionistas de Salamanca, also a third-tier member.

* Jordi Cruyff, the son of Dutch legend Johan Cruyff, has been appointed head coach of Ecuador, the South American country's football federation said late on Monday.

* For the second consecutive day, qualifying rounds for the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne have been disrupted due to poor air quality, with thick bushfire smoke continuing to sweep across the city from blazes in Victoria State's Gippsland region. "Practice has been suspended until 11am (local time) this morning due to air quality concerns, and play won't start before 1.00pm," Tennis Australia said in a statement on Wednesday.

* Men's doubles world No.1 Robert Farah withdrew from this month's Australian Open on Tuesday after a positive doping test. The 32-year-old Colombian said he was informed by the International Tennis Federation that he was found to have traces of anabolic steroid Boldenona in a test sample provided in October.

* Japanese World No. 1 Kento Momota, who was injured in a crash in Malaysia, has been discharged from the hospital on Wednesday after receiving treatment. Momota was injured in a traffic accident in Malaysia early Monday along with UK badminton court official William Thomas who operates the hawkeye system, Japanese assistant coach Hirayama Yu and physiologist Morimoto Arkifuki.

* The latest polling shows that 70% of Japanese public is interested in the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, up 5% from a survey taken last August. The poll, released by Japan's national broadcaster NHK on Wednesday, suggested that 31% respondents are "very much interested" in the Games and 42% are "somewhat interested," which means 73% are interested in the events to kick off in six months.

Reuters, Xinhua