Football (soccer):
The Football Association asks
UEFA to grant
Liverpool a place in next season's
Champions League should they win the competition this year but finish below fourth place in the
FA Premier League.
UEFA have indicated that they will not allow five teams from one country to take part. The FA could still place Liverpool in the Champions League if they win it – but they would have to deny the fourth placed Premiership club (currently Liverpool's intracity rivals
Everton) in order to do so.
(sportinglife.com)[permanent dead link]
Basketball: Defending champions
Guangdong Southern Tigers defeat
Jiangsu Dragons in the fifth and final match of the best-of-five
Chinese Basketball Association finals, winning the finals 3 games to 2. Guangdong had a 42-point fourth quarter, overcoming a 14-point deficit in the early minutes of that quarter to win the final match by eight points, 107–99.
Auburn has four first-round picks, with Brown and Williams joined by cornerback
Carlos Rogers (ninth) and QB
Jason Campbell (25).
Cal QB
Aaron Rodgers, who was regarded by many as a possible top overall pick until a week before the draft, freefalls through the first round all the way to the 24th slot. The
Green Bay Packers pick Rodgers, who now stands to be the eventual successor to
Brett Favre.
Major League Soccer: The
Los Angeles Galaxy defeats
C.D. Chivas USA 3–1 in an inter-city match. A strange delay occurs in the 41st minute when the "SkyCam", a movable TV camera suspended above the ground on a cable, that
ESPN2 is using crashes to the ground, sparking a 3+1⁄2-minute stoppage. The camera is removed at halftime. No one is injured when it falls.
(MLSNet MatchTracker)
Olympic champion
Tyler Hamilton is banned for two years for blood
doping, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency reports. Hamilton forfeits all competitive results since the
Tour of Spain where he tested positive last 11 September.
(BBC)
Football (soccer):
UEFA hands down its punishment to
Internazionale for the unruly behaviour of their fans during their
Champions League match against
AC Milan. AC has been awarded a 3–0 victory in the match and will advance to the semifinals to face
PSV Eindhoven. In addition, Inter must play their next four UEFA home matches in an empty stadium, with the possibility of two more empty stadium matches if fans cause more trouble during a three-year probation period.
(Reuters/Yahoo!)
During the 8th inning of a
Yankees/
Red Sox game, a fan hits right fielder
Gary Sheffield in the face while in foul territory. Security guards quickly intervene to prevent a major skirmish. In the game itself, the Red Sox win 8–5.
(ESPN.com)
Inter Milan – AC Milan – match abandoned after 75 minutes because of fan unrest, when AC Milan were leading 1–0 (3–0 on aggregate). Result is pending decision of the
UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body, which may either let the result stand, or award the match 3–0 to AC Milan. Regardless of UEFA's final decision, AC Milan advance.
(UEFA.com)
England has the largest contingent, with 20 players; 14 of them played on the
2003 World Cup champions.
Six Nations winner
Wales has 10 players, Ireland has 11, and
Scotland has three.
England icon
Jonny Wilkinson has been left off the team due to his current injuries, but may be added if his health and form allow.
England's veteran back row of
Lawrence Dallaglio,
Neil Back and
Richard Hill received their third Lions callups. Both Dallaglio and Back were called back from international retirement, and the 36-year-old Back becomes the oldest Lion ever.
Ice hockey –
Women's World Championship: The United States defeat Canada 3–1 in a penalty shootout to win the women's world hockey championship. It is Canada's first loss to the US in the history of the championships. The loss brings to an end their streak of eight consecutive championships. A ninth consecutive championship would have tied the Soviet men's team for most consecutive championships in ice hockey.
(AP/Yahoo!)