IN BRIEF (Page 24)

Soccer

Henry celebrates 100th cap

PARIS: Thierry Henry celebrated his 100th cap for France in a 1-0 Euro 2008 warm-up win over Colombia at the Stade de France on Tuesday.

Winger Franck Ribery opened the scoring from a penalty after striker Henry, who became the sixth French player to reach the century milestone, was fouled in the box on 24 minutes.

"Not many strikers from the big nations have reached 100 caps so this means a lot to me, but the main thing tonight is that we won," Henry told reporters. "We prepared ourselves in order to win Euro 2008, that's the goal."

The game ended South American-flavored preparations for the 2006 World Cup runners-up, who defeated Ecuador 2-0 last week before being held to a 0-0 draw by Paraguay at the weekend.

City to compensate Hughes

LONDON: Manchester City has agreed a compensation package with Blackburn Rovers for manager Mark Hughes, Rovers said on Tuesday.

The former Manchester United and Barcelona striker was given permission to speak to City on Monday when Sven-Goran Eriksson left the club by mutual consent after just one season in charge.

"We can confirm that we have reached agreement with Manchester City on compensation terms for Mark Hughes," Rovers said on its website (www.rovers.co.uk).

"As a consequence the club has given permission to Manchester City to talk to Hughes."

Former Wales international and manager Hughes, who has been in charge at Rovers for four years, is also being linked with the vacant manager's position at Chelsea.

NFL

Owens remains a Cowboy

DALLAS: Wide receiver Terrell Owens signed a three-year contract extension with the Dallas Cowboys on Tuesday that will keep him with the team until the end of the 2011 season.

The 34-year-old, a third-round pick by the San Francisco 49ers in 1996, has agreed to a deal estimated by local media to be worth $27 million.

"With this contract, I know I'm a Cowboy for life," Owens told a news conference. "It was always a possibility that I could end my career with the Cowboys. Now that's gonna happen.

"This contract, for a lot of people, it signifies money and they see dollar signs, but for me, it signifies commitment."

A six-time Pro Bowl selection, Owens produced 166 catches for 2,535 yards and 28 touchdowns in his first two seasons with the Cowboys. He holds the team's single-season record for touchdowns with 15 last year.

Motor Sports

Mosley hangs on at FIA

PARIS: Max Mosley received a resounding vote of confidence to remain FIA president, surviving a sex scandal that questioned his ability to lead motor sport's governing body.

But keeping a fragmented FIA together could prove to be a bigger challenge than the one Mosley survived on Tuesday.

The 68-year-old Englishman won a secret ballot 103-62 - with four invalid votes - in a specially convened assembly at the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile headquarters, which backed Mosley to serve out his fourth term to October 2009.

"The view repeated time and time again from the members during the Assembly was a categoric rejection of what they felt had been a deliberate attempt to destabilize both him and the FIA," the governing body said in a statement.

Mosley refused to resign in late March after a British tabloid said he was involved in a sadomasochistic sex romp with prostitutes, with reported Nazi overtones.

(China Daily 06/05/2008 page24)