Soccer-Ireland full back Kelly swaps Fulham for Reading

LONDON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Ireland full back Stephen Kelly joined Premier League strugglers Reading from mid-table Fulham on Friday on a two-and-a-half year deal.
"I'm delighted to have Stephen here," Reading manager Brian McDermott said in a club statement.
"He has played a lot of games in the Premier League and more than 30 times for his country. He's the kind of player I've been talking about - someone with great experience but at 29 still young in football terms and at a really good stage in his career."
Reading, in their first season back in the top flight, are second bottom after 21 of 38 games and five points from safety.

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Soccer-Thai forward Teerasil trains with Atletico Madrid

MADRID, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Forward Teerasil Dangda trained with Atletico Madrid for the first time on Friday as part of a two-week trial programme involving the Spanish club and Thai side Muangthong United.
The 24-year-old, who has scored 28 goals in 54 appearances for Thailand, worked with La Liga's second-placed team at their training ground just outside the Spanish capital.
"I am very proud and very happy," Teerasil told the Atletico website. "It is a great opportunity to be alongside players and stars that you watch every week on television in my country.
"I hope I will be able to play in Europe one day."
Teerasil, who had an ill-fated few months with Manchester City five years ago, is one of 11 players who have travelled to work with Atletico as part of a collaboration deal agreed between the two clubs in 2010.

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Soccer-Debuchy set for debut in Newcastle's stretched defence

Jan 11 (Reuters) - France right back Mathieu Debuchy is poised to make his Newcastle United debut at Norwich City on Saturday with the stuttering Premier League side hoping for some good news in defence after a period of woe.
The north east club finished fifth last term but are down in 15th this season and have been shipping goals, with a 4-3 loss at Manchester United and 7-3 defeat at Arsenal followed by a 2-1 reverse at home to Everton.
Last weekend they were eliminated from the FA Cup third round by second tier Brighton and Hove Albion and now media reports say influential centre back and captain Fabricio Coloccini wants to return to Argentina for personal reasons.
Boss Alan Pardew once compared Coloccini to England's 1966 World Cup-winning captain Bobby Moore but on Friday he was eulogising about Debuchy following his move from Lille.
"Mathieu has come in and been accomplished," Pardew, hit by injuries to his back line all season, told the club website (www.nufc.co.uk).
"He's not really ripped any trees up but he just looks like a proper, senior player who knows the game. I haven't had to give him too much information but a few of our wide players haven't had too much joy against him.
"I'm really looking forward to seeing him in a Newcastle shirt - I think he will add some real quality to us."
Debuchy's France team mate Yohan Cabaye is also in contention to return from a two-month injury layoff at Norwich along with fellow midfielder Jonas Gutierrez but striker Shola Ameobi is banned.

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Soccer-Benitez says time almost over for Chelsea "legends"

LONDON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Chelsea interim coach Rafael Benitez has heralded a changing of the guard at the Premier League club by saying that new players are needed for them to carry on winning.
The Londoners' joint-second top scorer of all time, Frank Lampard, looks unlikely to be offered a new deal with the 34-year-old's contract expiring at the end of the season, his agent says.
Media reports have said other fan favourites Ashley Cole and captain John Terry could also be sacrificed in the next two years after Chelsea showed they mean business by letting Champions League-winning hero Didier Drogba leave in May.
"I think it's always easy to talk about the legends and you have to have a lot of respect for them," Benitez told British newspapers ahead of Wednesday's Capital One (League) Cup semi-final first leg against Swansea City.
"What they've achieved for this club has been fantastic. But you have to have new players and carry on winning games. That's what the fans are expecting."
The European champions, fourth in the Premier League, also have an eye on big wage earners given the onset of UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules where they have to break even or risk exclusion from European competition.
"Everyone knows the legends who have been here and what they have achieved. That is the good thing about English football, you have good memories and respect people who achieve something for the club, which is very positive," the Spaniard added.

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Soccer-Australia's Rogic to train with Celtic

SYDNEY, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Promising young Australian midfielder Tom Rogic will take part in a training camp with Scottish club Glasgow Celtic but no offer has been tabled for the 20-year-old, his Central Coast Mariners club said on Wednesday.
Rogic won his first international cap in a friendly against South Korea last November and is rated is one of the most exciting young talents in the A-League.
A three-match suspension for a rash tackle in an A-League match last month will allow him to travel to Spain to join the Scottish champions in mid-season.
"This is a great opportunity for Tomas to train with Celtic's first team squad," said Mariners general manager of football Lawrie McKinna.
"Celtic are in their mid-season break and are busy preparing for their Champions League matches against Juventus in February, so Tom will undoubtedly learn a lot from the experience."
Rogic earned his call-up for the Socceroos after scoring twice in an A-League match against Sydney FC in early November.
"Technically he is very sound but he has that element of creativity, he does the unexpected, which can decide a game and can give a certain flavour to a game," Australia coach Holger Osiek said at the time.
"That is what I like, he is not an average player. Physically he has to mature, his endurance capacity has to improve and his mobility in tight areas needs to get better.

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Soccer-Man City send back 'expensive' tickets for Arsenal clash

Jan 9 (Reuters) - While Manchester City's wealthy Dubai owners continue to bankroll the club, the Premier League champions' supporters look to be adopting a more frugal approach.
According to local media reports, City have sent back 912 of the 3,000 tickets they were allocated for Sunday's league clash at Arsenal, with travelling fans unhappy at the 62 pounds ($100) cost for a seat at the Emirates.
"It's the most expensive amount I can ever remember paying for a ticket in my life," Kevin Parker, the general secretary of the Manchester City Supporters Club, was quoted as saying by British media on Tuesday.
"It just shows that football clubs are out of touch with reality. If City supporters are travelling on a supporters' club coach it will cost 30 pounds per person. That's 92 pounds before they have even done anything. Add in a programme, food, drink and you are looking at 125-130 pounds per person."
Widely regarded as one of the richest clubs in the world after they were bought by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan in 2008, they have forked out millions to sign the likes of Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Mario Balotelli in recent seasons.
Despite the massive outlay, the most expensive ticket prices at the Etihad Stadium are 58 pounds with the cheapest at 26 pounds, according to an October survey by the BBC.
Arsenal sold the Premier League's most expensive match day ticket at 126 pounds and, like City, also one of the cheapest available at 26 pounds.
"Some people cannot afford the price, especially as it is just after Christmas, and there are some who just refuse to pay 62 pounds," Parker said of the Arsenal cost.
"This is also the first time in a long while that I remember City fans saying to me they could pay the money but are refusing to do so.
"That is a brave decision to take. Soon, though, fans will vote more strongly with their feet and clubs like Arsenal will have to decide what to do about ticket prices."

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2012 sports year in review: records, achievements, and sundry feats and streaks from Brees and Bryant to Cain and Ko

In any given year, hundreds of sports records, both large and small, fall, barriers are broken, and other notable achievements provide texture to the countless games, matches, and tournaments. In 2012, for example, swimmer Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian ever, his four golds and two silvers in London giving him 22 medals overall, including 18 gold.In baseball, Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera won the first Triple Crown for hitting since 1967, when Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski led the American League in batting average, runs batted in, and home runs.In basketball, Jeremy Lin came set off a wave of “Linsanity” playing for the New York Knicks, while the long underachieving Los Angeles Clippers ended the year with a 17-game winning streak and only the third perfect month ever recorded in the NBA.In football, Drew Brees surpassed Johnny Unitas by completing a touchdown pass in 54 consecutive games and the University of Wisconsin’s Montee Ball set a college record with 82 career touchdowns.Women shone in numerous ways, including in sports where their presence was nonexistent. British flyweight boxer Nicola Adams took the very first gold medal in Olympic boxing, while Russian weightlifter Tatiana Kashrina hoisted 333 pounds on a single lift. Meanwhile the women’s gold-medal soccer match, in which the US beat Japan, attracted 80,203 spectators to London’s stored Wembley Stadium, the best attended women’s Olympic soccer match ever.Here are our 20 records and feats that caught our eye in 2012:

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SCENARIO-Major sports events in 2013

Jan 1 (Reuters) - Major sports events in 2013.
* Australian Open tennis, Melbourne Jan. 14-27
Rafa Nadal, one of four separate grand slam winners last year, will miss the opening tournament after illness disrupted his recovery from a chronic knee injury. The Spaniard has not played since he lost in the second round at Wimbledon last June.
Novak Djokovic, who defeated Nadal last year in the longest final in history, made a perfect start to his season by winning the World Tennis Championship exhibition in Abu Dhabi last weekend. Victoria Azarenka is the defending women's champion.
* African Cup of Nations Jan. 19-Feb. 10., South Africa
Didier Drogba leads an Ivory Coast team packed with talent and experience and determined to atone for the disappointments of this year's tournament where they did not concede a goal but still finished runners-up to Zambia.
Zambia, who defeated Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in the final, have kept faith with the squad who won them a first continental title.
* Champions League last 16, first leg fixtures Feb. 12-13 and 19-20. Return matches March 5-6 and 12-13. Final Wembley stadium May 25.
Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo returns to Old Trafford, home of his former club Manchester United, in the pick of the last-16 ties which will also pit United manager Alex Ferguson against former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.
Ferguson's team headed the Premier League standings at the close of 2012 but Mourinho, who has been frequently linked with the Old Trafford job when the 71-year-old Scot finally decides to retire, is under pressure.
Real are third in La Liga, 16 points behind Barcelona, and Mourinho's future at Madrid is uncertain if his side are knocked out of the Champions League.
British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, June 1-July 6.
The pride of the four home nations gather for their four-yearly expedition to the southern hemisphere, this time to Australia where the Wallabies host a three-test series.
Brian O'Driscoll, the great Irish centre and a veteran of three Lions tours, is a leading candidate to captain the tour party for the second time although he has yet to play this season after ankle surgery.
A Lions' tour is one of the last great romantic sporting ventures when the best players in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland subsume national rivalries in a greater cause. Although they have too little time to prepare after the Six Nations and club seasons, they have the talent to beat the twice world champions.
* Ashes cricket series, Australia tour England for a five-test series followed by five in Australia starting at the end of the year. First test Trent Bridge, Nottingham, July 10-14.
Alastair Cook, captain of Ashes holders England, and his opposing number Michael Clarke will lead from the front after both men enjoyed wonderful years with the bat in 2012.
Cook scored a record five centuries in his first five tests as captain and was instrumental in turning a 1-0 deficit in India into a 2-1 series win. Clarke tallied an Australian record 1,545 runs in the calendar year at an average of 106.33.
England lost more tests than they won in 2012 but in home conditions at least their bowling, headed by James Anderson who bowled magnificently in unfriendly conditions in India, should have the edge. Australia have also lost two middle-order stalwarts in Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey who retired during the current Australian season.
* World athletics championships, Moscow Aug. 10-18.
Usain Bolt, the only man to retain the Olympic 100 and 200 metres titles, has already set his goals for the 2013 season.
Bolt says he will concentrate on speed and on winning back the world 100 title he relinquished to Jamaican training partner Yohan Blake in Daegu in 2011 after false-starting in the final.
Another London Olympics double gold medallist, Britain's Mo Farah, plans to run both the 5,000 and 10,000 in Moscow before considering a possible move up to the marathon.

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UPDATE 1-Tennis-Sharapova pulls out of Brisbane International

* World No. 2 struggling with collarbone issue
* Heading straight for Melbourne ahead of Australian Open
BRISBANE, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Maria Sharapova withdrew from the Brisbane International on Tuesday due to inflammation around her collarbone and the world No. 2 is still unable to hit a serve just two weeks before the start of the Australian Open.
Sharapova, who spoke optimistically about the new season on Monday, was forced to withdraw from her second-round match against Australia's Jarmila Gajdosova in Brisbane, saying it was the "smart move" to make.
The French Open champion also pulled out of an exhibition match against Caroline Wozniacki at the end of December in Seoul because of a sore collarbone.
"That's why I had to pull out of the exhibition match I had in Korea," she said at a news conference on Tuesday.
"I had a bit of inflammation in my collarbone. My doctor in New York told me I couldn't really do much overhead training for about a week.
"So to be fair, I haven't really given myself a chance to pretty much hit any serves or anything over my head. Just been practicing groundstrokes.
"So I just kind of ran out of time here."
While the season's first grand slam is set to start on Jan. 14, Sharapova was not overly concerned about her preparations.
"I still have quite a bit of time to prepare for the Australian Open," she added. "I'm on the right track, been training really well, so I just don't want to jeopardise what I've gained in the off-season so far.
"I just have to make a smart move here."
'OUT OF TIME'
Sharapova said she expected to travel straight to Melbourne rather than make a late entry into the Sydney International next week.
"I have my own fair share of experience, and know that it's much more important to be healthy to go into a big tournament like the Australian Open than to go into something big with a lot of matches and feel like you're not prepared health-wise," she said.
"You never know with these things. I mean, there are so many parts of the body where I'm sure if every one of us did an examination we would find a lot things wrong with us.
"But when it started getting a little too painful, I had to do a few tests. The doctor said, 'You always want to train but it's the off-season. He said I just had to calm it down for like five days.
"When I started back here I was feeling much better, but just like I said, couldn't do much overhead stuff and ran out of time."
Brisbane tournament director Cameron Pearson said Sharapova had made every effort to play.
"We feel for Maria because we saw first-hand how badly she wanted to play for the people of Brisbane," he said.
"She has been fantastic since she got here and worked hard in the gym, on court and in the medical room to do everything she could to get herself right.

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