Benitez joins Dalian for $20m a year
SHANGHAI • Champions League-winning manager Rafael Benitez said yesterday that he had joined Chinese Super League side Dalian Yifang, just days after his three-year stint at English Premier League club Newcastle came to an end.
The Spaniard tweeted that he was "starting a new challenge" and was "happy to begin this new project".
Benitez, 59, who guided Liverpool to Champions League glory in 2005, reportedly signed a contract worth £12 million (S$20.6 million) per year.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Arsenal sign Brazilian prospect Martinelli
LONDON • Arsenal have signed 18-year-old Brazilian forward Gabriel Martinelli from Ituano Futebol Clube for an undisclosed fee, the Premier League side announced yesterday.
Martinelli, the Gunners' first signing this summer, scored 10 goals in 34 appearances for Sao Paulo-based Ituano and was called up for Brazil's pre-Copa America training camp.
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Mane steers Senegal into Afcon round of 16
CAIRO • Liverpool forward Sadio Mane scored twice after having a first-half penalty saved, as Senegal beat Kenya 3-0 to join Group C winners Algeria in the last 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations on Monday.
Their second-half goals came from Ismaila Sarr, who scored the opener, and Mane while Kenya's Philemon Otieno was sent off for a second bookable offence.
Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha, in his first Cup start, struck as the Ivory Coast also clinched a place in the last 16, behind Morocco, with a 4-1 win over Namibia in Group D.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Cavendish not in Tour de France team
LONDON • Cyclist Mark Cavendish will be unable to chase Eddy Merckx's record of 34 Tour de France stage wins this year after the British sprinter was left out of Dimension Data's eight-rider squad yesterday.
The 34-year-old has won 30 stages and has not missed a Tour since his debut in 2007, but has suffered illness and injury in recent years.
The team did not give a reason for the 2011 world champion's absence.
REUTERS
