Ryan Giggs claimed Manchester United had been harshly treated in the FA Cup final after his extra-time effort was ruled not to have crossed the line. Sir Alex Ferguson’s side missed out on the double after Didier Drogba’s goal five minutes from the end clinched Chelsea’s 1-0 victory at Wembley on Saturday.
Sharks coach Dick Muir refused to blame a missed conversion for his side’s 20-19 defeat by the Bulls in the Super 14 final in Durban on Saturday. Wing Frans Steyn, who had celebrated his 20th birthday during the week, missed the conversion to Albert ven den Bergh’s try that would have given the Sharks an unassailable eight-point lead with only 80 seconds remaining.
Black Leopards and Santos played to a two-all draw in a season-ending Premier Soccer League game played at Thohyandou Stadium on Saturday. The half-time score was 1-1. Leopards dominated from the start and Solly Masango capitalised on a lapse in the Santos defence to open the scoring in the fourth minute with a low shot.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Denesh Ramdin ensured West Indies avoided the follow-on against England in the first Test at Lord’s on Saturday. But just when it looked the pair would both reach the close unbeaten, wicket-keeper Ramdin was caught by a diving Paul Collingwood at third slip off Durham teammate Liam Plunkett for 60.
A rabbit’s foot has long been deemed to be a lucky charm. But faced by the ominous threat of relegation before their final Premier Soccer League game of the season against Golden Arrows at Durban’s King Zwelithini Stadium on Saturday afternoon, Benoni Premier United were not taking any chances.
More than 30 rebel fighters were killed in southern Afghanistan early on Sunday, a police chief said, as the Nato force announced it had killed "a significant number" of Taliban leaders. The rebels were killed in a military sweep involving foreign forces in the southern province of Ghazni, provincial police commander Alishah Ahmadzai said.
Bafana Bafana head coach Carlos Parreira was released from hospital on Saturday after the internationally respected official was admitted to a Johannesburg clinic on Thursday — barely hours after announcing a second-string South African squad to play Cosafa Cup games in Swaziland.
George Gregan has been sacked as Wallabies captain for the 2007 international season, ending his record run as Australia’s longest-serving Test skipper. The 34-year-old scrumhalf was selected in a 30-man squad for Australia’s seven Tests leading up to this year’s World Cup, but not as captain.
Samoa beat Fiji 8-3 in a low-scoring match in Apia on Sunday to win the opening game of this season’s expanded Pacific Nations Cup. Open-side flanker Alapasa Cordtz scored the only try of the match. His teammate, Gavin Williams, and Fiji fullback Taniela Rawaqa traded penalties.
The crisis that brought down Paul Wolfowitz from the presidency of the World Bank has laid bare a chasm existing between the United States and European countries since the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Wolfowitz (63) was deputy defence secretary and one of the principal architects of the Iraq war in the administration of US President George Bush.