IN BRIEF (Page 24)

Soccer

Schalke seals Euro berth

BERLIN: A goal by striker Gerald Asamoah launched Schalke 04's 3-0 win over VfL Bochum on Tuesday to put the Royal Blues second in the Bundesliga and seal their Champions League berth next season.

Bayern Munich was confirmed as German League champion last Sunday, but with two games left Schalke are almost certain to finish in the league's top three.

Asamoah's 34th minute header gave Schalke the lead before Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitic put the result beyond doubt when he netted on 67 minutes and captain Marcelo Bordon added a late third with a header.

"We wanted to win our last three games to put Bremen under pressure. So three points were a must in Bochum," said caretaker manager Mike Bueskens.

"We are very pleased, but there is still plenty of footbal left this season."

Late goal sends PSG through

AMIENS, France: Paris St Germain needed a late goal to win 1-0 at second division Amiens and advance to the French Cup final on Tuesday, after a match that had to be interrupted because of teargas blowing into the stadium.

Security officials said the gas came from outside the ground where it had been used by police on PSG supporters without tickets trying to get in.

The game was stopped after just over 30 minutes and resumed after a 10-minute break. No other incidents were reported.

Substitute forward Yannick Boli hit the winner after a brilliant solo run 12 minutes from the end.

PSG, who often make unwanted headlines because of their unruly supporters, are third from bottom in the league with two matches left and in danger of being relegated for the first time.

Ice hockey

Hot Heatley lifts Canada

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia: Dany Heatley scored twice, including the winner with 47 seconds left, to lift Canada to a riveting 5-4 victory over the United States at the world championships on Tuesday.

The Canadians secured top spot in Group B with a perfect 3-0 record while Russia survived a goaltending crisis to beat Denmark 4-1 in Quebec City to take first place in Group D.

After the US had stormed back from 3-0 down to level at 4-4, Heatley clinched victory when he ripped a slapshot past Craig Anderson.

In other games, the Czech Republic secured its spot in the next round with a 7-2 victory over winless Italy, which drops down in the relegation battle.

The Italians were joined in the relegation round by Slovenia, which was shutout 3-0 by Latvia.

(China Daily 05/08/2008 page24)