IN BRIEF (Page 22)
Quick-draw Llorente nets 2nd fastest Spanish league goal
MADRID: Valladolid's Joseba Llorente struck the second fastest goal in Spanish first division history on Sunday when he took just 7.3 seconds to put his side ahead and on its way to a 2-1 win over Espanyol.
Malaga's former Uruguayan international Dario Silva is still credited with the fastest goal in La Liga. He found the net after 7.2 seconds, ironically against Valladolid, on December 10, 2000.
Llorente's super-quick strike on Sunday came after his teammate Victor Fernandez booted the ball up the field following the kick off.
He dashed forward, brought the ball under control - which possibly cost him the record - before hammering it home.
Llorente then scored again later in the first half to take his tally to 11 goals for the season before Marc Torrejon got one back for the visitors after 58 minutes.
According to soccer's world governing body FIFA, the quickest goal in a recognized first division league game came in Australia on December 6, 1995 when Damian Mori scored for Adelaide City after 3.69 seconds against Sydney United.
Ferguson defends Saudi trip that will honor Al Jaber
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia: Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has defended the club's mid-season break to Saudi Arabia by claiming that the four-day trip will hand his players a priceless warm-weather training base.
The Premiership champions is in Riyadh to provide the opposition for Saudi legend Sami Al Jaber's testimonial game and will face Al Hilal in front of 65,000 fans in the King Fahd Stadium on Monday.
However, the club has been subjected to accusations of greed, with an estimated one million pounds ($2 million) being paid into the Old Trafford coffers by the Saudis to entice United to the Middle East.
"We will have two good training sessions out here on Wednesday and Thursday in good, warm conditions, so that will definitely be an advantage to us before we go back to Manchester and we have made a decision to come out here which we hope will prove right," said Ferguson.
Ghana wins Cup opener as Drogba-Mikel showdown awaits
ACCRA, Ghana: Hosts Ghana set out its stall at the African Nations Cup finals on Sunday with victory in the opening game as the tournament looks ahead to the first match involving two of its top contenders on Monday.
A long-range shot from Portsmouth striker Sulley Muntari handed Ghana a 2-1 win over Guinea in front of a sellout 45,000-strong crowd at the Ohene Djan stadium to kick the tournament off in style.
Yet the team's performance was far from convincing and will not have caused any of their fellow favorites a sleepless night.
Two of those fancied sides clash in Sekondi on Monday at the start of Group B with Cote d'Ivoire, runner-up last year, up against Nigeria, which has reached the semifinal stage at the last four tournaments.
The game pits Ivorian captain Didier Drogba, with 30 goals in 47 international appearances, against his Chelsea teammate John Obi Mikel.
Miller beats Mahre's mark with combined win
KITZBUEHEL, Austria: Bode Miller became the most successful US skier on the World Cup circuit with a combined victory here Sunday, which boosts his chances of winning the overall title.
Miller, a runner-up to Swiss Didier Cuche in Saturday's downhill, finished 14th in Sunday's slalom won by Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Grange to secure top spot in the combined and his 28th World Cup win overall.
The winner of the combined is the skier who performs best over both disciplines.
It means the 30-year-old Miller has overtaken compatriot Phil Mahre's 27 World Cup victories, achieved at the end of the 1970, and through the 1980s.
Austrian Benjamin Raich finished second in the combined, which is composed of a downhill and a slalom, to move back atop the overall World Cup standings.
Another Austrian, Rainer Schoenfelder, tied for third in the combined with Croatia's Ivica Kostelic.
(China Daily 01/22/2008 page22)
