Rossi defers comeback decision

Milan - MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi will decide on Wednesday whether he is fit enough for this weekend`s German Grand Prix after testing a bike for the second time since breaking his leg.

The Yamaha rider, who suffered the injury during practice for the Italian Grand Prix last month, had been expected to be out for at least three months but has made a remarkable recovery.

"I`m very happy with how it went. I`m a lot more in form than last week," the 31-year-old told reporters after testing a Superbike at Brno in the Czech Republic on Monday.
"Now I`ll have to wait to take a decision on Wednesday after we have some X-rays as to whether I race or not in Germany.

Doing a full race will be a different story, but I still have another couple of days to get a bit better."

The Italian first tested a Superbike last Wednesday at Italy`s Misano and took advantage of crews staying behind in Brno after Sunday`s Czech Superbike races to again try out his leg.

He turned up at the track on crutches but set decent times despite some pain in his shoulder and knee. Testing on MotoGP bikes during the season is banned.

The 31-year-old, linked with a move to Ducati next season with some reports saying an announcement could be made in Germany this weekend, had previously targeted a comeback at the Czech Grand Prix on Aug 15.

The nine-times motorcycling world champion has missed four races and is a distant seventh in the standings behind championship leader and Yamaha team mate Jorge Lorenzo. (Uu.A008/F005/P003)

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Pedrosa wins German GP ahead of Lorenzo

Dani Pedrosa of Spain has held off compatriot and world championship leader Jorge Lorenzo to win a shortened German GP.

Pole-sitter Lorenzo's three-race winning streak ended as he was passed by Pedrosa, who crossed for victory in 28 minutes, 50.476 seconds at the Sachsenring circuit to cut Lorenzo's lead in the MotoGP standings to 47 points.

World champion Valentino Rossi, competing in his first race since returning to action after six weeks out with a broken leg, finished fourth Sunday behind Casey Stoner of Australia.

The race was red-flagged on lap nine after a crash involving Randy de Puniet also took down Alvaro Bautista and Aleix Espargaro. The race then was shortened to 21 laps.

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Henry watches on as Red Bulls beaten

New signing Thierry Henry watched from the stands as the New York Red Bulls lost 2-0 at Columbus on Saturday, giving the Crew a five-point lead atop Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference.

Fittingly for a former Arsenal player, Henry is expected to make his first New York appearance in a friendly against old north London rivals Tottenham on Thursday.

Emilio Renteria ended Columbus' 245-minute goalless drought and put the Crew ahead in the 20th minute on a counter following Brian Carroll stripping possession from Juan Pablo Angel in midfield.

Carroll later scored his first goal since 2008 in the 48th minute with a strike from 25 yards.

It was New York's first loss in six MLS games, against its main Conference rival.[ Dallas 2, Real Salt Lake 0=

In Frisco, Texas, Brek Shea scored one and set up another as Dallas ended Real Salt Lake's 10-game MLS unbeaten streak.

Shea scored in the 69th minute, on a rebound from Milton Rodriguez's shot, knocking the ball into the far corner from the top left of the box. Colombia's Rodriguez was making his Dallas debut.

It was the first goal conceded in 566 minutes by Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando, who had five straight clean sheets.

Atiba Harris made it 2-0 in the 77th minute.

Dallas is unbeaten in six games and closed the gap on Western Conference second-placed Salt Lake to five points.[ Colorado Rapids 1, Kansas City Wizards 1=

In Commerce City, Colorado, Conor Casey scored in the 74th minute to salvage a home draw for Colorado against Kansas City.

Casey beat goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen with a left-footed shot from just outside the area for Colorado, whose winless skid reached five games. Casey has seven of Colorado's 17 goals this season.

Davy Arnaud scored in the 20th minute for Kansas City, which has gone seven games without a win in Colorado.[ Philadelphia Union 2, Toronto 1=

In Chester, Pennsylvania, Sebastien Le Toux converted a penalty deep in stoppage time to give Philadelphia a dramatic win over Toronto.

Maksim Usanov's handball led to Le Toux's goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time. He leads the Union with seven this season.

Toronto had looked like getting a share of the points when Chad Barrett scored in the 81st minute, 20 minutes after Michael Orozco Fiscal scored headed in a Le Toux corner to open the scoring.

It was the Canadians' first loss in nine games.

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Team Indonesia Pumped Up for Games

After playing in a number of international tournaments this year, Grace Sari Ysidora is now ready to represent the country in the Youth Olympics next month.

“I’ll do my best to win any medal for the country,” Grace, Indonesia’s lone entry in tennis at the Singapore Games, said on Wednesday.

“I feel confident about my chances having participated in a lot of competitions overseas.”

While most local athletes have struggled to find the budget to compete abroad and hone their skills, Grace doesn’t appear to face such a problem, given how often she competes overseas in top-level tournaments.

The 17-year-old has played in 10 international events this year, including all three junior tournaments at the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon.

Her best result this season was a third-round appearance at the Australian Open and a semifinal finish at the ITF Junior Championships in Bangkok in March.

Her most recent tournament was at the Wimbledon junior championships, where she failed to get out of the first round after losing 7-5, 7-5 to 16th-seeded Russian Daria Gavrilova.

Grace, who was born in North Sumatra and comes from a wealthy family, said such an exposure not only has helped her to improve her game but has also strengthened her character.

“Playing overseas has also given me a chance to study the other players, as I’m sure most of them will also participate in the Youth Olympics,” said the world No.39, who has been training in Bandung for the Youth Olympics.

In badminton, men’s singles shuttler Evert Sukamta said he was looking forward to the Singapore Games.

“My focus right now is mental preparation,” said Evert, who qualified for the Youth Olympics after he reached the semifinal of the Asian Youth Under-19 Championships in Kuala Lumpur in April. “ I think my toughest opponents will all come from Asia. I’ve seen them all play so I’m ready.”

Evert is scheduled to play in two more tournaments before the Youth Olympics — the Singapore International Series on July 20-24 and the Indonesia International Challenge in Surabaya on July 27-31.

“The Singapore series will be a good warm-up for me because it’ll help me adjust to the court conditions there,” Evert said.

The Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI) on Tuesday said it didn’t want to burden the national youth team with medal targets but just wanted them to enjoy the competition. The Indonesian squad is composed of 10 athletes fielded in seven sports.

However, KOI official Djoko Pramono said the country had a better chance at a podium finish in badminton and weightlifting.

He added that a lack of funding has forced the team to have a shorter training camp.

“The budget allotted for the training camp was only around Rp 120 million [$13,000] , so we couldn’t hold a much longer camp,” Djoko said.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Weightlifting, Powerlifting and Bodybuilding Association (Pabbsi) said its two lifters — Zainuddin and Dewi Safitri — were ready to do the country proud.

Zainuddin, 16, came in as a replacement for Sumaryanto, who had qualified for the Youth Olympics after placing third at the Youth World Championships in Thailand last year.

However, Sumaryanto, 15, did not meet the international weightlifting federation’s minimum age requirement of 16 years old.

Some 3,600 athletes between 14 and 18 years old are expected to compete in the inaugural Youth Olympics on Aug. 14-18.

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Spurs Lock In Redknapp, Set Sights on Brazilian Striker

London. Tottenham Hotspur boss Harry Redknapp said on Tuesday that Sevilla striker Luis Fabiano was high on his wish list, but admitted that the player’s salary expectations could prove a stumbling block.

Tottenham has not made any official contact with the Spanish club, but Redknapp confirmed that he would be interested in the 29-year-old Brazil international, who had an impressive run during the World Cup.

“Yes, I like him,” Redknapp said during an interview with ESPN Soccernet.

“He’s a fabulous player and would be a brilliant addition to any team. It was put to us that he might be available, but we’ve not made contact with his club, Sevilla, and, to be perfectly honest, I haven’t sat down to discuss any transfer targets with our chairman, Daniel Levy, apart from trying to do a deal with Joe Cole.

“I am not unhappy with the squad I have, but of course if a special player came along I would look at it, and Fabiano is a special player all right. For sure, he is a class act, but I don’t know what he earns. He might be on mega-money, so it might prove to be impossible for us.”

Tottenham’s interest in free agent Cole continues and Redknapp said he hoped the former Chelsea midfielder would opt to head to White Hart Lane.

Cole is thought to be considering offers from Manchester City and Arsenal, but Spurs remain in the hunt, with Redknapp looking to team up again with the player he signed for West Ham.

“I managed Joe before, and I signed him when he was 11,” Redknapp said. “We have always had a good relationship. I know what makes Joe tick and it’s his love of the game, and his need to be playing it.

“I have spoken with Joe at length and I would like him, and when we talked, he appreciated my view that Tottenham is now a club going places.

“I would like Joe here with me, but it is now up to the club and up to Joe. If it is beyond us in financial terms I can appreciate that, but I am hoping other factors will come into play to make up Joe’s mind.”

Redknapp has also signed a contract extension to manage the team until 2013. His contract had been due to expire at the end of next season.

The 63-year-old Englishman took charge in October 2008 when Spurs were bottom of the English Premier League and transformed them into a top-four team by May.

“I am now committed to Spurs for the next three years and of course I am pleased by that,” Redknapp said. “That has made me think about how long I want to stay in the game, and who knows, I might stay with Spurs many more years than 2013.”

After finishing fourth in the Premier League last season, Spurs will contest a playoff next month to reach the Champions League group stage for the first time.

Redknapp, who left Portsmouth to manage Spurs, has shelved any talk of retirement.

“You never know what is around the corner and, while I have the energy, I think I will carry on for as long as I can,” he said.

“I have changed my mind and I feel as though I have a good few years left me in yet. When you see how long Sir Alex Ferguson has lasted, and some of the guys of the older generation that keep on going like Fabio Capello, Arsene Wenger and Roy Hodgson, you think I could do the same.

“None of them are youngsters any more, they are of the same age group, and it is true that there is no substitute for experience in management. The game is crying out for stability, and the experienced guys know the job.” (FP, AP)

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Dutch celebrate second place in World Cup

The Netherlands' World Cup team has been honored by Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende at the start of a hectic day of celebrations for the tournament runners-up.

After the trip to Balkenende's official residence, coach Bert van Marwijk's team was heading to meet Queen Beatrix at her Noordeinde Palace in The Hague.

Later Tuesday, an Air Force helicopter was whisking the team to Amsterdam for a boat tour through the city's web of canals and an open-air party. Officials say they expect up to a million fans to descend on Amsterdam to cheer their team.

The Dutch lost 1-0 in extra time to Spain in Sunday's final - the third time the Netherlands had lost a World Cup final after defeats in 1974 and '78.

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Webber leads Red Bull to victory at Spanish GP

Mark Webber secured a comfortable wire-to-wire victory at the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday, while Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel filled out the podium after Lewis Hamilton crashed with one lap remaining.

Webber made it 10 straight winners from pole position at the Circuit de Catalunya after the Australian drove a flawless race for a 24-second victory over Alonso and his third career victory.

Hamilton was second for most of the race before his tire blew out to send the McLaren driver into the wall shortly before the finish. Vettel took advantage to finish third for Red Bull despite a late driving error.

Michael Schumacher of Mercedes was fourth after holding off McLaren's Jenson Button for the seven-time champion's best finish since his comeback to the sport this season.

Defending champion Button has 70 points to lead Alonso by three points in the standings, while Vettel improved to 60 points and Webber 53.

Although Webber eased to victory, a combination of driver error and mechanical faults made for a dramatic race for the two spots behind him.

Hamilton's front left tire blew out at turn 10 as he appeared to be cruising toward a second-place finish after overtaking Vettel during the first round of pit stops. Hamilton, who was set to move to within one point of Button, instead stayed stuck on 49 points.

Vettel nearly missed out on the podium after losing his brakes to go into the gravel with 10 laps to race and being overtaken by Alonso after having to come in to change his tires.

Webber jumped into the championship mix after Red Bull finally managed to convert a pole position to a victory. The team started first for the fifth straight race, but struggled with reliability problems in Bahrain and Australia, while Vettel overtook pole sitter Webber to win in Malaysia.

Webber made a perfect start this time while his three chasers weaved behind him looking for space to pass. The Australian driver held firm as Vettel, Hamilton and Alonso and the rest of the chasing pack got around the first corner without incident.

There were problems at the back of the gird, however, as Heikki Kovalainen of Lotus had to retire before the start with a gear box problem, and HRT driver Bruno Senna slid ito a tire wall for an early exit.

Schumacher's teammate Nico Rosberg was relegated to 17th after a botched pit stop that would ruin his day and see him finish 13th. The German driver has 50 points.

Webber and Hamilton pitted simultaneously, and the McLaren driver was then able to get in front of Vette - who had a slow tire change earlier - as he returned to the track, holding his ground at the first corner to split up the Red Bull cars.

Schumacher started behind Button but made a nice pass as the two engaged in a battle for fifth, with Felipe Massa eventually sliding into the mix. The Ferrari driver wold settle for sixth.

Schumacher showed little interest in battling for a podium spot, however, driving defensively the rest of the way to keep Button behind him. It was the first time Schumacher finished ahead of Rosberg this season.

Adrian Sutil was seventh for Force India ahead of Robert Kubica of Rnault, and Rubens Barrichello of Williams and Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari rounded out the top 10.

A moment of silence was observed for Juan Antonio Samaranch before the start of the 66-lap race. The former International Olympic Committee president died at age 89 last month.

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