SPORTS

Madrid, Spain | AFP | Real Madrid’s revival under Santiago Solari appears to be back on track after they moved up to fifth in La Liga with a 2-0 win over Valencia on Saturday. An own-goal from Valencia’s Daniel Wass gave Madrid an early lead before Lucas Vazquez added a …

Southampton, United Kingdom | AFP | Jose Mourinho suggested after a third Premier League match without victory that his team had not had enough “mad dogs” on the field in their 2-2 draw with Southampton. To a neutral, it seemed that it was not rabid canines that were missing but …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino is not going to let the north London derby clash on Sunday affect his friendship with Arsenal boss Unai Emery. The two old friends will meet for the first time in the Premier League with third-placed Spurs three points …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Former Springbok World Cup winner and Super Rugby coach Naka Drotske was pictured Saturday making a thumbs-up sign from his hospital bed after being shot during an armed robbery. The 47-year-old was wounded in the abdomen and arm late Thursday at the home of …

Los Angeles, United States | AFP |  Deontay Wilder, weighing in at 212.5 pounds for his WBC heavyweight world title defense against Tyson Fury on Friday, vowed to knock out the British challenger. Wilder wore a black leather facemask to the weigh-in outside of Staples Center, but that was as …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP & THE INDEPENDENT |  Congolese side V Club admit it will be “very difficult” to overcome a 3-0 deficit against Raja Casablanca of Morocco Sunday when they host the CAF Confederation Cup final second leg. There have been 108 two-leg CAF club finals in four …

Buenos Aires, Argentina | AFP |  River Plate said Saturday they have refused to play the Copa Libertadores final against Boca Juniors in Madrid. The match between the Argentine arch-rivals has been moved to Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium after it was twice postponed last weekend after River Plate fans …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  Nominees for 2018 African football awards, which will be announced on January 8 in Dakar: Player of the Year Abdelmoumene Djabou (ALG, Entente Setif), Ahmed Gomaa (EGY, Al Masry), Ahmed Musa (NGR, Al Nassr/KSA), Alex Iwobi (NGR, Arsenal/ENG), Andre Onana (CMR, Ajax/NED), Anis Badri …

  Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  Liverpool trio Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita are among 34 nominees named Friday for the 2018 African Player of the Year award. Egyptian Salah won the award last year after scoring 44 goals in all competitions during his first season at …

Accra, Ghana | AFP | Cameroon was on Friday stripped of hosting the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations due to delays in preparing for the continental showpiece, organisers the Confederation of African Football announced. “Today we took the decision to withdraw the 2019 CAN from Cameroon,” CAF president Ahmad Ahmad told …