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The 35-year-old signed with Esbjerg in August but has been plagued by injury, only seeing a total of 55 minutes in the Danish Superliga. And the 109-times capped Netherlands international, who also played for Ajax, Hamburg, Real Betis and Midtjylland, feels he cannot play on. “I just have to stop now. I’m not here to rehabilitate, but to play football,” Van der Vaart, who played in his country’s World Cup final defeat to Spain in 2010, told De Telegraaf....

Struggling to find her best form so far this year, Venus caused an upset by eliminating Bertens at the WTA Premier event in Cincinnati. But Serena was unable to recover from her back injury in time to take her place at the tournament, withdrawing on a day that saw multiple upsets. VENUS ENDS BERTENS’ TITLE DEFENCE Venus claimed a thrilling 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-4) victory over Bertens, the Dutch fifth seed....

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Venus Williams continued her astonishing late-career revival by felling Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 7-6(3) on Tuesday to reach her first Australian Open semi-final in 14 years. The quarter-final will hardly be remembered as a classic, with both Williams and the 24th-ranked Russian surrendering serve with alarming regularity despite perfect conditions for tennis at Rod Laver Arena. In the end it was 36-year-old Williams’s experience that proved decisive when the pressure rose, and Pavlyuchenkova crumbled with a double-fault on match point to boost the American’s hopes of a maiden title at Melbourne Park....

With a pole position in Austin, Vettel recently surpassed Schumacher’s record of seven wins in a row and Schumacher said that reigning world champion is eligible to be called as a F1 great. “If you look at the consistency of his performances and how he achieves it, it is very unique. There are some really good drivers in the field, but someone who is able to pull together all the facets of the sport so efficiently is very unusual,” Schumacher said....

The German’s last gasp effort in a wet qualifying session was within a tenth of Lewis Hamilton’s pole time, setting up the mood high at Ferrari. And while much if it was down to treacherous conditions, Vettel feels the car felt equally good in dry conditions. “I think yes, we can,’’ Vettel said when asked whether he has a shot at top step of the podium tomorrow. “But it depends on a lot of things that I cannot tell you now....

Vampire Survivors: How to Unlock Secret Character In order to unlock Exdash, players must simply run Vampire Survivors and type “x-x1viiq” with no quotes as soon as they hit the game’s main menu. Indeed, speed is the key to unlocking the secret character in this cheap Steam game, and fans should make sure that they enter the code very quickly and without pressing any other inputs. If this is done correctly, players should find Exdash in the character select screen the next time that they visit it, and they can take them into battle from there....

Donny Van de Beek confirms Real Madrid talks Despite all the Paul Pogba and Neymar speculation, Real Madrid are most likely to sign Ajax midfield sensation Donny Van de Beek. It is being speculated that a formal agreement/announcement is being delayed until Ajax play their return leg against PAOK in the UEFA Champions League as they look to secure qualification. Ajax want to keep hold of Van de Beek as they strive for Champions League qualification after having already lost Frenkie De Jong to Barcelona and former captain Matthijs De Ligt to Juventus this summer....

The clash is expected to be more entertaining as it will be the first competitive match between the two teams to be played at Singida’s home soil. After being forced to draw 1-1 at home by Simba last Saturday in their eith game of the season, the Jangwani outfit will be looking for nothing but three points against their former coach. Pluijm told Goal, it is crucial for his side to win the game, because it is the first time his players will be playing in their home soil since the league has started after completion of stadium maintenance....

Liverpool, who also have a game in hand on nearest rivals Leicester City, beat Wolves 1-0 at Anfield on Sunday thanks to Sadio Mane’s first-half strike, which was awarded following a VAR review. As a result, Jurgen Klopp’s side have amassed a remarkable 55 points from a possible 57 at the halfway stage of the campaign, while their only league defeat in the calendar year came at Manchester City on January 3....

The Dutch ended their self-inflicted exile from major tournament football, having failed to reach Euro 2016 or last year’s World Cup, when a 0-0 draw away to Northern Ireland secured a top-two finish in Group C. Netherlands were without the injured Memphis Depay and carried little threat up front in his absence, while Northern Ireland’s Steven Davis missed a first-half penalty that would have ramped up pressure on Ronald Koeman’s men....

But for this edition of the world’s biggest cycling race, Van Garderen is tasked with doing all he can for teammate Richie Porte to fight for the title. “It’s different. It’s certainly less pressure, and when you have a leader like Richie it’s a role that is easy to jump into,” Van Garderen said on Thursday, two days before the race starts in western France. Van Garderen’s first job will be to do his part on the team time trial on Stage 3....

Mourinho: Ronaldo to Man Utd is impossible The midfielder makes his third temporary switch to the Eindhoven giants, and will team up with Phillip Cocu’s team in their training camp in Switzerland. Having previously spent periods on loan at AC Milan and Stoke City, the Dutchman first moved to PSV in January 2016, helping them lift the Eredivisie title. The Dutch side tried to sign him on a permanent deal last summer, but Chelsea rejected their offer before allowing him to return on loan at the start of 2017 after recovering from a knee injury....

The 33-year-old MLS veteran joined the club via trade on Sunday, with the New England Revolution receiving Vancouver’s 2019 natural first round SuperDraft pick and a conditional 2020 second round SuperDraft selection in exchange for his services. “Kei is a player that brings goals and experience to the table,” said Whitecaps FC head coach Carl Robinson in a team release. “He’s a big body and he thrives off crosses. Most importantly, he’s a good character and he’s driven to win....

Vardy and Sturridge came off the bench to score a goal each to help England beat Wales 2-1 on Thursday. “I think Roy Hodgson will start with Jamie Vardy and Daniel Sturridge up front against Slovakia – he has to,” Shearer was quoted as saying by BBC on Friday. “This is not the end of Harry Kane’s tournament and he still has a big part to play at Euro 2016....

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - England striker Jamie Vardy is a “genetic freak” like nine-times Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt, Leicester City’s head of sport science Kevin Paxton said. Vardy enjoys an unorthodox lifestyle in an era of increasing emphasis on marginal gains from advanced sports science, meaning his electric pace and immense stamina are largely natural. In his autobiography, the Leicester forward revealed his unusual warm-up methods which included drinking a glass of port the night before a game while on match days he consumed several cans of a popular energy drink as well as a cup of double espresso....

Lomachenko’s manager, Egis Klimas, described the extent to which his fighter was willing to go to secure the bout. As reported in a Twitter post by ESPN Ringside, this is what Klimas said: Ever since his dominant win over Richard Commey, Vasyl Lomachenko has made his intentions very clear. All he has on his mind currently is to win his belts back and then challenge for the undisputed title....

The economic collapse coincides with an unsuccessful 11-month battle to form a new government and ongoing recovery from last summer’s Beirut port explosion, putting the greatest strain on Lebanon’s stability since its civil war. The struggle “risks destroying the internal balance and Lebanon’s own reality, putting at risk the Christian presence in the Middle East,” Gallagher said. Pope Francis met with Christian patriarchs from Lebanon at the Vatican Thursday. Gallagher said Francis had invited them in recognition of the chaos’ effect on Lebanon’s Christian community as the country navigates intermittent violence, power cuts, fuel shortages and rising prices....

Sheila O’Leary, 38, whose family followed a strict vegan diet, was convicted in June on six charges—first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter, child abuse, and two counts of child neglect—in the death of Ezra O’Leary. Judge Bruce Kyle delivered the sentence on Monday. O’Leary’s sentencing in Lee County, Florida, had previously been postponed four times. Her husband, Ryan Patrick O’Leary, remains in jail while awaiting trial on the same charges....

The Seahawks’ improbable 43-8 blowout of the Broncos sent shockwaves through the Las Vegas valley, and helped the books to a huge day. "We're grading our props right now, but I can tell you already that we have never won as much in the Super Bowl since I've been here," Golden Nugget sports book director Tony Miller, who was booking his eighth Super Bowl for the downtown property, told The Linemakers on Sporting News Sunday night....