Co-Host Belgium Eliminated After 2-0 Loss to Turkey
With two of its cities battered by English soccer thugs, Belgium suffered another major blow Monday when upstart Turkey knocked it out of the European Championship it was co-hosting with the Netherlands.
Turkey’s 2-0 victory marked the first time a host had been eliminated in the first round.
Two goals by Turkish striker Hakan Sukur silenced the Belgian fans at King Boudouin Stadium in Brussels while thousands of Turkish fans celebrated.
The victory, Turkey’s first in a European Championship, was greeted by wild scenes back home as it put the underdog team into the final eight along with powerhouses France, the Netherlands and Italy, as well as Portugal.
Italy, which had already qualified, maintained its unbeaten record at the top of Group B with a 2-0 victory over Sweden in Eindhoven.
Over the weekend, Brussels and Charleroi were the scenes of violence created by English fans who smashed up shops and bars before and after their team’s 1-0 victory over Germany.
UEFA, soccer’s European governing body, issued a threat that England would be expelled from the competition if there was more violence. England plays Romania at Charleroi today.
Hockey
Jacques Lemaire, 54, who coached the New Jersey Devils to the Stanley Cup championship in 1995, has agreed to a multiyear contract to become the first coach of the NHL’s expansion Minnesota Wild.
Lemaire played with Wild General Manager Doug Risebrough in Montreal for eight seasons. He spent the past two seasons as a consultant to Canadien General Manager Rejean Houle.
Lemaire coached the Canadiens from 1983-85 and the Devils from 1993-98. He spent his 12-year playing career with the Canadiens, and is a member of the NHL Hall of Fame.
The Edmonton Oilers offered their coaching job to Craig MacTavish, who was an assistant with the team last season, a team spokesman said.
Tennis
Vincent Spadea of Boca Raton, Fla., who was once ranked 19th in the world, set an ATP Tour record in the Nottingham Open in England by losing his 21st consecutive match. He was beaten by fourth-seeded Sebastian Grosjean of France, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5. Also in the first round, top-seeded Cedric Pioline of France was eliminated by England’s Arvind Parmar, 7-5, 7-6 (3).
Alexandra Stevenson, a semifinalist at Wimbledon last year, was beaten by Luxembourg’s Anne Kremer, 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-4, at Eastbourne, England. This was the second straight tournament in which Stevenson was beaten in the first round. . . . Fourth-seeded Jennifer Capriati cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria, 6-3, 6-1, in the second round of the Heineken Trophy tournament at Den Bosch, Netherlands.
Pro Football
A group of Denver Bronco season ticket-holders has filed a class-action lawsuit, alleging they were charged excessive ticket prices over a 15-year period. The ticker-holders claim the team violated a lease agreement with the city. The Broncos said they intend to fight the suit.
Former Arizona Cardinal lineman Luis Sharpe, 40, was released from prison after serving a brief sentence on a drug charge. Sharpe, a Cuban citizen, was turned over to the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
The Miami Dolphins signed free-agent wide receiver Leslie Shepherd, who started eight games for the Cleveland Browns last season.
Swimming
Australia’s Michael Klim set a world short-course record of 23.11 seconds in the 50-meter butterfly over the weekend at a special time trial at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. Klim bettered the 50-meter short-course mark of Sweden’s Lars Frolander by .08 seconds.
Names in the News
UCLA redshirt freshman linebacker Asi Faoa II pleaded not guilty to charges of mayhem and assault. The charges were filed after an alleged attack at an off-campus fraternity party left a fellow student severely brain damaged. Superior Court Judge Richard Berry assigned a $25,000 bail for Faoa and ordered the 19-year-old to return to court July 10. . . . Ryan Walcott, a 6-foot-3 guard who led Shadow Mountain High of Phoenix to a state basketball championship, has announced he will play for UCLA. Walcott, a cousin of Mike Bibby, averaged 16.2 points and 5.4 assists a game as a senior. . . . Matt Irvin was named an offensive graduate assistant for the USC football team, replacing John Michels, who will pursue other opportunities.
Forward Brian McBride of the U.S. national team and Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew, will have surgery to repair a broken right cheekbone. McBride suffered the injury Saturday in the Crew’s game against Colorado. He’ll be out four to eight weeks. . . . Dean Demopoulos, a top assistant under John Chaney at Temple, was named coach at Missouri Kansas City. He replaced Bob Sundvold, who was fired last month. . . . JaRo Jones, who sued the U.S. Golf Assn. over the right to use a cart, failed to qualify for the U.S. Senior Open, shooting an 84 at Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas. . . . Florida Gov. Jeb Bush signed a bill that will allow Florida State to begin calling its football field “Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium” the day after Bowden retires as coach. It is now simply Doak Campbell Stadium. Campbell was the school’s first president.. . . Jack Payne, the public address announcer at the College World Series in Omaha the last 37 years, said he is stepping aside. Payne, 77, never missed a game in the event, a streak of 533.
