England boss Fabio Capello has admitted that the potential loss of Ashley Cole from his World Cup squad is a severe blow to his preparations for South Africa.
“It is sad news for me because he is a very important player,” Capello acknowledged. “He is good when he defending and really dangerous when we go forward.
Patrick Marleau scored the lone goal in a shootout to give the San Jose Sharks a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night.
Marleau ended it in the third round of the shootout.
Evgeni Nabokov made a career-high 50 saves, and Joe Thornton and Dwight Helminen scored in regulation for the Sharks.
Wes Johnson and Kris Joseph combined to make six straight free throws in the final 33 seconds, and No. 2 Syracuse held off Connecticut 72-67 on Wednesday night after squandering a 16-point lead in the second half.
It was the 11th straight victory for Syracuse (24-1, 12-1 Big East) and it snapped a six-game skid against the Huskies in the regular season.
Red Wings coach Mike Babcock says Niklas Kronwall will not play against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday and Tomas Holmstrom is questionable because of knee injuries.
Swede Johan Franzen had an assist in a shootout loss to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday, playing for the first time in four months since having surgery on his left knee.
Marcus Thames agreed Monday to a minor league contract with the New York Yankees, who also finalized a $1.1 million, one-year deal with Randy Winn to give themselves more left field options.
He spent the last six seasons with Detroit and hit .252 with 13 homers and 36 RBIs last year, down from 25 homers and 56 RBIs the previous season.
Randy Winn and the New York Yankees have finalized a $1.1 million, one-year contract.
The deal, reached Jan. 27 subject to a physical, pretty much eliminated any chance Johnny Damon had of returning to the World Series champions.
The outfielder can earn an additional $900,000 in performance bonuses based on plate appearances against left-handed pitchers.
Vince Carter led a 19-0 surge in the third quarter and finished with 20 points as the Orlando Magic beat Boston 96-89 on Sunday, moving ahead of the Celtics and into second place in the Eastern Conference.
The Magic turned a 51-40 halftime deficit into a 76-62 lead after the third and stayed in front by at least five points the rest of the way.
Luke Harangody hit a pair of free throws with 4 seconds left to finish with 19 points and Tory Jackson scored nine of his 18 points in the final 5:40, driving inside repeatedly, to lead Notre Dame to a 65-62 victory over South Florida on Sunday.
The Irish (17-7, 6-5) led by 15 in the first half, but by halftime the Bulls tied the game at 34.
Darren Collison scored a career-high 24 points filling in for Chris Paul, David West added 21 points, and the New Orleans Hornets gave Emeka Okafor a victory in his return to Charlotte, 104-99 over the listless Bobcats on Saturday night.
Okafor, the Bobcats’ first draft pick, had 16 points and seven rebounds as the Hornets shot 51 percent from the field.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 28 points and 13 rebounds and the Portland Trail Blazers rallied for a 96-93 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night.
After Manu Ginobili hit a jumper for the Spurs, Martell Webster’s 3-pointer narrowed it to 87-86 with 3:38 left.
The Spurs led by 10 points early in the fourth quarter but the Blazers made it 85-83 on Nicolas Batum’s layup.