Sports x 07CONTACT US AT: 8351-9424, 1793367393@QQ.COM

Monday December 18, 2017

Houston Rockets guard James Harden (C) and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (R) battle for a loose ball during the second quarter at Toyota Center. SD-Agencies

President of Brazilian Soccer Confedera-tion (CBF) Marco Polo Del Nero arrives for a news conference after the announce-ment of the players for the 2018 World Cup qualifi ers, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Oct. 22, 2015. SD-Agencies

CRISTIANO RONALDO scored from a free-kick as Real Madrid claimed its third Club World Cup title after beating Brazilian team Gremio 1-0 Saturday.

The Ballon d’Or winner fi red his right-footed shot between two players in Gremio’s defensive wall, leaving goalkeeper Marcelo Grohe no hope of reaching the ball before it bounced inside the post in the 53rd minute.

“[Ronaldo] is always there at the key moments,” Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said. “Nobody can do what he does.”

Madrid became the fi rst team to retain the FIFA Club World Cup title, and collected its fi fth trophy of 2017, along with the Champions League, Spanish league, European Super Cup and Spanish Super Cup.

Ronaldo celebrated the goal by rushing to Madrid’s dugout where he was embraced by his teammates. The goal increased Ronaldo’s record to seven goals in the competition. He also scored in Madrid’s 2-1 comeback win over Al Jazira in the semifi nals.

“What am I going to say? The numbers speak for themselves. I am very happy. The team played fantastically well and it has won another title,” Ronaldo said. “We played a very good game and deserved the victory.”

Madrid equaled Barcelona’s record of three titles for the short knockout tournament between the champions of FIFA’s six continental confederations and the host nation’s league winner.

European clubs have won 10

Real Madrid retains Club World Cup

of the last 11 Club World Cups, with only Brazil’s Corinthians interrupting that streak in 2012 when it defeated Chelsea.

Zidane played the same start-ing 11 from last season’s Cham-pions League fi nal in June, when Madrid crushed Juventus 4-1 — led by Ronaldo’s double.

The European champion out-classed Gremio throughout the match, but the closest it got to scoring in the fi rst half was Dani Carvajal’s goal-bound volley in the 20th that was cleared by Pedro Geromel.

Gremio had to scramble on several occasions to stop Madrid inside its own area. At the other end, a free-kick by Edilson for the South American champions swerved onto the top netting near the half-hour mark.

Ronaldo had a poor fi rst half. He twice erred in short passes with his back heel that failed to reach his teammates, and he squandered a good opportunity when he took too long to shoot when a loose ball fell to him close to the net.

All that changed after the

interval. Ronaldo baited Jailson into fouling him outside the area with some fancy dribbling, set-ting up his winner.

Ronaldo thought he had another goal moments later, but Karim Benzema was ruled offside before he passed the ball back to Ronaldo.

Marcelo Grohe kept his side in the game by pushing Luka Modric’s shot onto his post and denied Ronaldo a second goal, but Gremio never mounted a serious response to get the equalizer. (SD-Agencies)

Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and teammates celebrate with the trophy after winning the FIFA Club World Cup. SD-Agencies

Brazilian soccer chief banned by FIFAMARCO POLO DEL NERO was suspended as president of Bra-zil’s soccer confederation Friday, two years after he was indicted in the United States on charges of racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.

FIFA said Del Nero was under an ethics investigation and has been banned for 90 days from all soccer activities.

Del Nero fl ed Zurich in May 2015 when other FIFA colleagues were arrested. They included Jose Maria Marin, who was at the time the head of the Brazil-ian confederation, known as the CBF. Marin and two other South American soccer offi cials have been on trial in New York. Del Nero was indicted Dec. 2, 2015.

“As many Brazilians that love soccer, my hope is that he is banned for good,” soccer great Romario — now a Brazilian federal senator — wrote on his Facebook page.

“Del Nero has already had his crimes exposed along with those of other crooks like Jose Maria Marin, who is in jail in the United States, and [former CBF president] Ricardo Teix-eira who is still on the loose in Brazil. They all used CBF to get illegally rich.”

Del Nero’s lawyers said in a statement that he is going to appeal FIFA’s suspension. They insisted there was no evidence against him.

The attorneys labeled the ethics committee report “funny investigative specula-tions.” They argued Del Nero took offi ce as CBF president in 2015 and should not be linked to contracts from previous administrations.

FIFA failed to ban Del Nero until Friday. FIFA president Gianni Infantino has been questioned about him in recent days.

Infantino was photographed at last year’s Olympics receiving a Brazilian soccer shirt from Del Nero, and reporters questioned him about Del Nero at the World Cup draw this month in Moscow.

Del Nero has not traveled from Brazil for several years, fearing arrest and extradition to the United States. Brazil has an extradition treaty with the U.S. but seldom sends its own citizens abroad for trial.

(SD-Agencies)

SOUTH KOREA handed fellow 2018 World Cup fi nalist Japan a brutal 4-1 home thrashing Saturday night as Kim Shin-wook inspired Shin Tae-yong’s side to a come-from-behind win that sealed a successful defense of the East Asian Championship title.

J. League Player of the Year Yu Kobayashi gave Japan a third-minute lead from the pen-alty spot in Tokyo. But Kim’s double, and goals from Jung Woo-young and Yeom Ki-hun’s defl ected free-kick, earned the South Koreans an emphatic and historic win.

The defeat was Japan’s biggest on home soil at the hands of the South Koreans since a 5-1 rever-sal for the Samurai Blue when the nations met for the very fi rst time in 1954. The win meant the South Koreans moved above Japan in the fi nal standings of the regional tournament.

China, meanwhile, took third overall with Wei Shihao scoring for the second time in three games as Marcello Lippi’s team was held to a 1-1 draw by North Korea.

(SD-Agencies)

South Korea takes EastAsian title

Rockets win 13th straight gameJAMES HARDEN scored a game-high 31 points and Chris Paul produced 23 of his 25 points in the second half as the Houston Rockets extended their winning streak to 13 games with a 115-111 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night at Toyota Center.

Paul had just two points on 0-of-5 shooting before the inter-mission but opened the second half by drilling three consecutive 3-pointers. He was just as lethal down the stretch, nailing back-to-back mid-range jumpers off screens to lift the Rockets (24-4) to a seven-point lead with 33.7 seconds left.

Houston improved to 14-0 with Paul in the lineup.

The Rockets struggled from the perimeter throughout but produced timely 3-pointers in the clutch. Harden hit a 3 through a foul and completed a four-point play with 5:42 left before Trevor Ariza answered an 8-0 Milwaukee run with a corner 3-pointer with 2:24 remaining.

The Bucks (15-13) were game down the stretch but ran out of time to conjure additional magic.

Giannis Antetokounmpo paced Milwaukee with 28 points and nine rebounds. Khris Mid-dleton added 23 points, includ-

ing 12 in the fourth quarter. Malcolm Brogdon scored 20 points off the bench and Eric Bledsoe added 19 points for the Bucks, who fi nished 27 of 33 from the free throw line.

For a spell, all the Rockets had were free throws. The Bucks offered defensive resistance all over the court, thwarting Harden on his forays to the rim while also sprinting to the arc to challenge Houston shooters.

The Rockets missed 9 of 11 treys in the fi rst quarter but sank 10 of 11 from the line, effi ciency

that helped offset 40 percent shooting from the fi eld (8 of 20) in the quarter.

Defensively, the Rockets labored to limit Antetokounmpo, and that dogged attention opened the door for Brogdon and Bledsoe to thrive. The tandem combined for 26 points while Antetokounmpo managed just seven shots in the fi rst half.

With the Rockets shooting just 4 of 19 on 3-pointers, Milwaukee mustered enough offense for a 55-55 deadlock at the half.

(SD-Agencies)