Middlesbrough and Sevilla reached their first Uefa Cup final on Thursday. English club Middlesbrough staged a remarkable comeback at their Riverside Stadium to beat Steaua Bucharest 4-2 and advance 4-3 on aggregate. In Spain, Sevilla needed an extra-time goal from Antonio Puerta to beat 1997 champion Schalke 1-0 on aggregate.
It’s training time on a drizzly morning in the impoverished Brazilian suburb of Los Angeles and 18 footballers huddle in circles. But this is no ordinary Brazilian football team. Nor is the team’s owner — the eccentric 86-year-old leader of the Unification Church, Reverend Sun Myung Moon.
Much as Frank Rijkaard and Arsene Wenger will talk of their keen anticipation of the showpiece to come at the Stade de France, the fact is that Barcelona and Arsenal were the best sides in the last four of the Champions League. There are no soft options now.
Inhibition makes you small. If you don’t believe, that’s the worst thing. Go out and be yourself. Those were the choice extracts from Arsene Wenger’s little book of footballing philosophical phrases before he sent Arsenal out for their historic Champions League semifinal second leg at Villarreal’s tiny La Madrigal stadium.
With three rounds remaining in the Super 14, the log has separated itself comfortably into three sections. The loser of this weekend’s South African derby at Loftus between the Bulls and Sharks will join the also-rans. The winner is dependent on the Hurricanes and Brumbies losing at least one of their remaining matches.
The redistribution of posts to black people was a dangerous model of transformation, as it pitted blacks against whites and entrenched racial divisions, businessman and political gadfly Moeletsi Mbeki argued recently. Mbeki, the brother of President Thabo Mbeki, has repeatedly raised eyebrows through his criticism of government policies and actions, notably on Zimbabwe
Black filmmakers and producers have complained that administrative bungling by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is driving them to financial ruin.
Disgruntled filmmakers say a lack of coordination between the creative hub of the SABC and the financial and legal departments was preventing them from receiving payment for commissioned work.
Bloomsbury was a small and well-respected independent publisher — until JK Rowling made it more money than it knows how to spend, writes Matt Seaton.
Shaun de Waal looks into the various controversies that have erupted around the movie version of Arthur Golden’s bestselling novel.
Namibia has suddenly gained immense popularity in the United States thanks to the visit by Hollywood golden couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, the country’s ambassador to the US said on Thursday. Jolie, who is eight months pregnant and is expected to give birth in Namibia, arrived with Pitt in the Southern African country in early April.