More sports in brief

 Sunshine Girls vs Barbados

The Sunshine Girls will play a three-game friendly series against Barbados from June 20-22 at G.C. Foster College. Both teams will be using the series to prepare for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, next month. The three-game series will be played over the weekend of June 20 (7:30 p.m.), 21 (5:30 p.m.) and 22nd (5:30 p.m.) at the G.C. Foster College.

Meanwhile, Jhaniele Fowler-Reid, who plays professionally in New Zealand and continues to impress and set records in the ANZ Championships, is due home today and will join the team for the series.

Fit-again Ronaldo arrives

CAMPINAS, Brazil (AP):

Cristiano Ronaldo strolled off a plane, lifted a hand and coolly pointed his finger to acknowledge a group of fans who were shouting out his name. The Portugal and Real Madrid star arrived in Brazil to excited yelps of "Ronaldo!" yesterday, showing no signs of the left-leg injuries that had troubled him in the lead-up to the World Cup.

Ronaldo and his Portuguese teammates flew in a day after a 5-1 win over Ireland in an international friendly in the United States. The victory was his comeback game after two weeks on the sidelines with tendinitis in the knee and a thigh problem.

Blatter's 'challenge'

SAO PAULO (AP):

FIFA President Sepp Blatter has proposed that football team managers should be allowed to challenge referee's decisions during games. Blatter's surprise announcement at FIFA's Congress yesterday reverses an earlier pledge that goal-line techno-logy was the only camera review of decisions that he would support. The FIFA boss suggested that managers could be given two challenges per match.

Russell explosion

LUCAS STREET, Barbados (CMC):

Jamaican allrounder André Russell wrecked Bangladesh A with a six-wicket haul to once again inspire West Indies High Performance Centre to a three-wicket win and an unassailable two-nil lead in the three-match one-day series on Tuesday. Russell took six for 28 from 8.5 overs as Bangladesh A stumbled to 179 all out in 46.5 overs at the Windward Cricket Club. An unbeaten top score of 45 from Chadwick Walton and 40 from Ashley Nurse led the run chase for HPC, which made 180 for seven in 38.4 overs to seal the series. The third and final match will be played today.

FIFA's $200m bonus

SAO PAULO (AP):

FIFA plans to pay out $200 million in total bonuses to its national members and confederations from its World Cup revenue of an estimated $4.5 billion. Each of the 209 member countries will get $250,000 this month and should get a further $500,000 early next year, FIFA's finance director Markus Kattner told the governing body's congress yesterday. The six continental bodies will get $2.5 million this month and $4.5 million more next year.

Scolari's nephew dead

SAO PAULO (AP):

Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has decided to stay with Brazil's national team despite the death of his nephew in an accident two days before the opening match of the World Cup. Scolari attended the official FIFA press conference in Sao Paulo yesterday and did not travel to be with his family in southern Brazil, where 48-year-old Tarcisio Joao Schneider died in a car accident on Tuesday. Brazil play Croatia at the Itaquerao Stadium in Sao Paulo today. Scolari said he was finding strength to keep working by seeing his players' dedication in their preparations for the World Cup.

He says "sometimes we have to deal with some difficulties, but you have to try to move on".

Klinsmann: US title unrealistic

SAO PAULO (AP):

American fans decked out in red, white and blue watched their team's lone public training session in Brazil, cheering and seeking autographs. Jurgen Klinsmann maintains they shouldn't expect the US to lift soccer's top trophy for the first time on July 13, even if that stance upsets some.

"I think for us now, talking about winning a World Cup is just not realistic," the American coach said yesterday during his first news conference in Brazil before the tournament. "First, we've got to make it through the group. So let's stay with our feet on the ground and say let's get that group first done and then the sky is the limit."

Subway threat

SAO PAULO (AP):

Subway workers in Brazil's biggest city threatened yesterday to walk out during the opening day of the World Cup unless union members fired during a strike are rehired.

"We do not accept the dismissals," said Rogerio Malaquias, a union spokesman. "Either all 42 are rehired or we will strike on Thursday."

World Cup organisers are counting on the subway system to carry tens of thousands of fans to the Itaquerao stadium, which is far from the hotel areas where most Cup tourists will stay. On Monday, the union suspended its strike for two days, but planned to vote again today to decide whether to renew it. If it does, the subway system could grind to a halt just as Brazil's national soccer team faces Croatia in the opening match.

Heat turn to video

MIAMI (AP):

LeBron James has learned an important lesson during his journey from a 19-year-old rookie to two-time NBA champion: Never talk back to the coach during a film session.

"Let him make his point, whether he's right or wrong, and you live with it and move on," James said.

Miami's defence didn't offer much resistance early in Game Three of the NBA Finals; the San Antonio Spurs played like they were on the court by themselves. San Antonio made 19 of their first 21 shots and shot a finals-record 75.8 percent in the first half of a 111-92 victory.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said watching themselves get clobbered on tape was "painful" and "frustrating," but necessary. He wouldn't reveal what he told his players, but whatever it was, James wouldn't have argued. That's a lesson he said he learned "quite a few years ago, when you realise that it wouldn't change anything."