Iran Futsal Team captain Ali Reza Heidarian (c) flanked by his teammates lifts the AFC championship trophy after winning the final match against Japan at the Osaka Municipal Central Gymnasium on Saturday.

OSAKA, Japan,
May 20--Iran has dethroned incumbent champion Japan 4-1 at the Osaka Municipal Central Gymnasium on Saturday to return the AFC Futsal Championship trophy to the cabinet that has housed it for seven of the past eight years, reported AFC.
Inspired by the outstanding Vahid Shamsaee, Iran was simply irresistible in their quest to reclaim Asian futsal’s top prize throughout an absorbing encounter between the unquestioned giants of the five-a-side game in Asia.
As they say; cometh the hour, cometh the man.
Today in Osaka, the hour was signalled by the first whistle of referee’s Badrul Hisham Kalam and Mohammad Al Haddad and the man was Shamsaee.
The dominant player of Asian futsal since the dawn of the Championships in 1999, Shamsaee was at his best today--setting up two goals, scoring one and treating the 5,289 spectators on hand to an exhibition of unparalleled quality.
Shamsaee’s contribution to the scoresheet was the third of IR Iran’s goals for the match, following on from Majid Latifi’s match opener and Mohammad Taheri and Kazem Mohammadi Tirabadi’s second half strikes.
In response, an outclassed Japanese side could only contribute once--Rikarudo Higa’s long range thunderbolt in the final minutes a mere consolation for the hosts.
IR Iran’s triumph, their eighth from nine Championship attempts, sees Asian futsal’s most sought after trophy return to what has become its spiritual home, following a brief stint in Japan after last years edition in Tashkent.
“We were defending out of our own half and looking for spaces in behind the Japanese players and were using Shamsaee to disrupt their defense and separate their defense,“ said delighted Iran coach Hossein Shams after match.
“I believe that whatever Iran has done in Asian futsal, Japan has followed closely behind.
“Japan has made very good progress and when we both qualify for the 2008 FIFA Futsal World Championships in Brazil, I believe that Iran and Japan will perform much stronger than what we have previously and could quite easily qualify for the quarter finals.“
There was to be no respite to begin this most anticipated of matches.
Japan captain Kenta Fujii’s effort on goal after just five seconds exemplified the tone of an enthralling half where the all-star cast of Asian futsal were on show--and delivering on their promise of high quality sports entertainment.

PARIS, May 20--Chelsea, the last team to win the FA Cup at the old Wembley, became the first team to claim the trophy at the new stadium when a 116th minute Didier Drogba goal sunk Manchester United. With a penalty shootout just four minutes away, the Ivorian netted the only goal of the game to secure the Blues their fourth FA Cup triumph, which will go some way to atoning for the relinquishment of their Premiership crown to the Red Devils.
The result also completed a 2006/07 double for Jose Mourinho’s side, who edged out Arsenal to clinch the League Cup at the Millennium Stadium earlier this year, according to FIFA.com.
A capacity crowd, which included a who’s who of former FA Cup final heroes, were in attendance to witness the world’s oldest football competition return to its long-time setting. For only the third time in history, the traditional swansong to the English season pitted together the domestic league’s champions and runners-up, however, despite the presence of the heavyweight pair, the fixture got off to an insipid start.
Indeed, the first third of the encounter entailed Manchester United and Chelsea trading faint jabs. Ten years ago, Roberto Di Matteo scored with just 43 seconds on the clock, the fastest ever FA Cup final goal, to put the Blues en route to a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough, and although the stretching Didier Drogba had their first sight on goal after two minutes, his header did not come close to making Edwin van der Sar work.
For their part, United were reduced to speculative, long-range efforts, but neither Paul Scholes or Wayne Rooney troubled Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech. Midway through the first half, Chelsea managed to get the spectators’ pulses racing. Joe Cole’s incisive burst from the edge of his own box led to Drogba receiving the ball inside his opponents’ half. In turn, the Ivorian strode forward and unleashed a powerful, low drive which whizzed narrowly wide of Van der Sar’s right-hand upright.
On the half-hour mark, the contest was sparked into life. Chelsea full-back Paulo Ferreira made a probing run down the right, cut inside, and fed the onrushing Frank Lampard inside the area. The England midfielder did well fire his shot back across goal, but Van der Sar, diving low to his right, was equal to it. Within minutes, Drogba cleverly created space for himself inside the penalty area before teeing-up Shaun Wright-Phillips, but the diminutive winger, whose father Ian Wright won two FA Cup winners’ medals with Arsenal and was a losing finalist for Crystal Palace against Manchester United in 1990, skied his effort under pressure.

Jermain Taylor (l) connects with a left on Cory Spinks during their World Middleweight Championship fight at FedExForum on Saturday in Memphis, Tennessee.

MEMPHIS, USA, May 20--American Jermain Taylor kept his undefeated record intact, scoring a slow-paced 12-round decision over Cory Spinks in a world middleweight title fight on Saturday, said AFP.
This was the 27th consecutive win for the 28-year-old Taylor and may have set up a blockbuster middleweight fight with Kelly Pavlik who fought and won on the undercard at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.
Taylor was the heavy favourite and the fight failed to live up to its pre-fight billing. The World Boxing Council and World Boxing Organization champ is now 27-0 with 17 knockouts while Spinks drops to 36-4.
“He ran the whole time and I couldn’t get my punches right,“ Taylor complained of Spinks.
There was some confusion over the judges’ scoring as one scorecard was announced as being 111-107 for Spinks which was mathematically impossible. The other scorecards were 115-113 and 117-111 in favor of Taylor.
Taylor’s corner scolded him during breaks in the later rounds, trying to inspire him to looked more enthused and throw more punches. Spinks spent the majority of the fight backing up while Taylor looked for the knockout punch. Both fighters threw few punches but Spinks jumped for joy at the end of the 12th round happy to have simply survived in the distance with the champ.
Spinks, the son of former heavyweight champion Leon Spinks, is the International Boxing Federation junior middleweight champion and a former welterweight champion who was moving up to try and dethrone Taylor. Spinks had his father in the corner for the first time.
Spinks was the third consecutive natural light middleweight whom Taylor has beaten since claiming the title over two fights with fading former champion Bernard Hopkins in 2005.
Spinks was a replacement for former “Contender“ star Sergio Mora.
On the undercard, Pavlik posted a seventh round knockout over fellow American Edison Miranda.
Taylor said he would consider fighting Pavlik next but not if he could make more money fighting someone else.
“If Kelly is the best fight and the most money I will take it,“ Taylor said. “I will fight whoever else is out there if it is for more money. I want to fight for the most money.“

MADRID, Spain,
May 20--Joaquin Sanchez scored in the 89th minute and Valencia won 1-0 at Mallorca on Saturday to climb within a point of Spanish league leaders Real Madrid and Barcelona, reported AP.
Joaquin’s fourth goal of the season off an assist by midfielder Jorge Lopez improved Valencia to 65 points, moving it into third place one point ahead of Sevilla. Real Madrid and Barcelona, which play their 35th-round matches on Sunday, lead with 66 points. Sevilla also plays Sunday. Mallorca’s Serbian midfielder Bosko Jankovic hit the crossbar in the 79th minute.
In another game Saturday, Real Betis drew 1-1 with Gimnastic Tarragona. Zaragoza hosted Athletic Bilbao in a late match.
Javier Portillo gave Gimnastic the lead by converting a penalty in the 89th minute. Francisco Munoz “Xisco“ equalized in injury time.
In Sunday’s games, it’s Recreativo Huelva vs. Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid vs. Barcelona, Deportivo La Coruna vs.
Sevilla, Espanyol vs. Getafe, Levante vs. Osasuna, Real Sociedad vs. Celta Vigo and Villarreal vs. Racing Santander.

HAMBURG, Germany, May 20--Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal both rallied to win their semifinals Saturday and set up a showdown between the two top-ranked players for the Hamburg Masters Championship, reported AP.
Federer beat Carlos Moya 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 and Nadal defeated Lleyton Hewitt 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Nadal, No. 2 in the world, extended his winning streak on clay to 81 but not before fighting off a stiff challenge from Hewitt, a former No. 1.
“He is the best player on clay, no doubt,“ Hewitt said of Nadal. “There are no cheap points against him.“ Nadal appeared in trouble when he dropped his serve to allow Hewitt to level at 4-4 in the third. But he broke right back at love, whipping a tremendous crosscourt backhand winner.
Serving for the match, Nadal climbed out of a 30-0 hole, only to see Hewitt hit a forehand winner. Hewitt earned the break when Nadal’s forehand went wide and the match was tied again.
Nadal broke serve again and served out the match, but not before saving two break points. He hit a crosscourt forehand winner to end it. “I didn’t quite take my chances,“ Hewitt said.
Moya, a 30-year-old veteran who was ranked No. 1 in the world in 1999 but has now dropped to No. 36, had never beaten Federer in six previous meetings.
“Today was the day to beat him, I had a feeling I could beat him,“ Moya said. “But at important moments, he brings out his best.“
Moya troubled the Swiss early in the match. Federer saved three set points before giving up the first. Serving for the second at 5-3, Federer allowed Moya to save three set points and then dropped his serve. But a forehand winner in the next game put Federer level.
“It’s nice to come back from one set down,“ Federer said. “I came out of it but I am still missing too much.
You have to believe that you can come back.“ Federer broke serve for a 4-2 lead in the third and never looked back to reach his fourth final of the season. “I felt I was controlling the match but with Federer, you can’t expect to beat him until it’s over,“ Moya said. “I had some break points but he came up with some great shots.“
Federer has gone four straight tournaments without a title--his worst run since becoming the top-ranked player in February 2004--and he’s relying on his traditional success in Hamburg to end that run. Federer has won three Hamburg titles in his last four visits, and stretched his winning run here to 16 matches.

SCARPERIA, Italy, May 20--Alessandro Petacchi won the seventh stage of the Giro d’Italia on Saturday in a sprint finish, reported AP.
The Italian completed the 254-kilometer (157.8-mile) route--the longest of the 21-leg race--in 6 hours, 14 minutes, 44 seconds. It was Petacchi’s second victory in the 90th edition of the race.
The Team Milram rider, who also won the third stage, beat Thor Hushovd and world champion Paolo Bettini in a sprint finish at the Mugello motor racing circuit, home of the Italian MotoGP and test track for the Ferrari Formula One team.
“This is the longest race I think I’ve ever won,“ Petacchi said. “I’d like to dedicate this achievement to the entire team. They have believed in me since the
beginning of the season.“
Hushovd was second, followed by Bettini in third. Danilo Napolitano was fourth and Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil was fifth--all with the same time as Petacchi.
Marco Pinotti, who finished 95th, retained the overall leader’s pink jersey.
Following a short-lived breakaway by Salvatore Commesso and Jussi Veikkanen three kilometers (1.9 miles) from the finish, Petacchi edged Hushovd and Bettini over the final 200 meters (yards).
“It was a difficult stage,“ Petacchi said. “I went for it in the climb but I knew that by the end the other sprinters had used up more energy than me. I’m in good form.“
Saturday’s victory was the 21st Giro stage win of Petacchi’s career. The 33-year-old won six stages in 2003, nine in 2004 and four in 2005. He fell and withdrew with a broken knee cap in the third stage last year.
Pinotti, who rides for T-Mobile, holds a 3:30 lead over second-place Hubert Schwab in the overall standings.
Former race leader Danilo Di Luca is third, 4:15 behind Pinotti, followed by Liquigas teammate Franco Pellizotti, who is 4:47 off the lead. Race favorite Damiano Cunego is ninth, 5:06 adrift of Pinotti.
The flat stage set off from Spoleto. Four riders broke free of the peloton about nine kilometers (5.6 miles) in and were 8:40 ahead 41 kilometers (25.5 miles) later.
Rubens Bertogliati, Benat Albizuri Aransolo, Fabien Pantanchon and Elia Aggiano extended their lead to 10 minutes over the next 50 kilometers (31.1 miles) but at Arezzo, about halfway through the stage, they had dropped back to 8:30 ahead.
The leaders continued to lose ground and at the beginning of the 12.4-kilometer (7.7-mile) climb to Valico Croce A Mori--67.6 kilometers (42 miles) from the finish--they had conceded over three minutes to the chasing pack.

PARIS, May 20--Djibril Cisse’s seventh goal in as many matches and substitute Mathieu Valbuena’s late winner gave Marseille a 2-1 win at Saint-Etienne on Saturday and a berth in next season’s European Champions League, said AP.
Cisse’s fierce rising shot in the 53rd minute was matched by Guinea winger Pascal Feindouno, who equalized with a similar strike in the 69th. In the 86th, substitute Mickael Pagis touched on a pass from Mamadou Niang into Valbuena’s stride, and he scored easily.
The win gave Marseille 61 points from 37 rounds, four points ahead of third-placed Lens and fourth-placed Bordeaux with one match remaining. Lens leads Bordeaux on goal difference. Rennes is a point behind in fifth.
Lens failed keep pace when it drew 0-0 at home to Nice, while Bordeaux drew 1-1 at Le Mans.
Brazilian striker Grafite’s 12th goal of the season gave Le Mans the lead in the 59th, but Colombian forward Edixon Perea equalized in the 70th. Le Mans forward Ismael Bangoura had a goal ruled offside in the last minute.
Elsewhere, six-time champion Lyon was beaten 1-0 at Monaco on a goal from Jeremy Menez in the 57th. It was Lyon’s fifth loss of the year. At the other end of the table, Troyes lost 2-1 at Paris
Saint-Germain and was assured of relegation. Striker Pauleta scored both goals--the first with a penaltyÁ»to take the league lead with 14.
Nantes, which drew 0-0 at home to Toulouse, and Sedan, which tied with Valenciennes 1-1 at home, already were assured of relegation. Toward the end of their match, Nantes fans invaded the field in protest at their side’s performances.
In Saturday’s other matches, it was: Nancy 5, Sochaux 2, Rennes 4, Lorient 1, and Auxerre 2, Lille 1. Marc-Antoine Fortune scored two of Nancy’s goals, while Sebastien Puygrenier, Benjamin Gavanon and David Sauget accounted for the others.