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Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid 3-0, set record

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BARCELONA: Barcelona earned a record 16th straight win in the Spanish league by beating Atletico Madrid 3-0 with a Lionel Messi hat-trick on Saturday. The historic win provisionally lifted Barcelona 10 points clear of Real Madrid at the top of the table ahead of its fierce rival's match against Real Sociedad on Sunday. Messi decided the contest with two goals before the half-hour mark and added a third in the second half. Barcelona's streak surpassed the 15 wins by Alfredo Di Stefano's Real Madrid 50 years ago. Pep Guardiola's team has outscored its opponents 60-6 during the winning run that is the 10th longest in European history. Atletico Madrid coach Quique Sanchez Flores left striker Diego Forlan out of the starting 11 and reinforced his midfield with former Barcelona youth academy product Fran Merida. But the move did not pay off, as Barcelona controlled the ball from the opening whistle. Atletico resisted until Messi broke through for the t...
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Giraldo reaches first ATP final in Santiago

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SANTIAGO: Eighth-seeded Santiago Giraldo of Colombia reached his first ATP final by defeating No. 5 Potito Starace of Italy 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-1 in the semifinals of the Movistar Open on Saturday. Giraldo, past the quarterfinals for the third time this season, earned his first win against Starace after losing their first meeting in 2008. In the other semifinal, No. 6 Tommy Robredo of Spain met No. 7 Fabio Fognini of Italy. Robredo was trying to reach his 17th final and Fognini - like Giraldo - was trying to reach his first.
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FIFA rejects appeals by Temarii, Adamu

BERNE: FIFA has rejected appeals from Reynald Temarii and Amos Adamu, the suspended executive committee members who were at the heart of a corruption scandal which marred the contest to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Soccer's governing body said on Friday that Nigerian Adamu, who was found guilty of bribery, remained banned from all soccer-related activities for three years. A 10,000 Swiss franc ($10,444) fine was maintained. Temarii, head of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) at the time, remains banned for one year following this week's hearing by the appeals committee. A 5,000 Swiss franc fine was unaltered. "The FIFA appeal committee has confirmed the decisions taken on Nov. 17 regarding the bans on Reynald Temarii and Amos Adamu - who were at the time FIFA vice-president and FIFA executive committee member - for a breach of the FIFA code of ethics," said soccer's governing body in a statement. The pair allegedly offered to sell their votes i...
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