WORLD OF SPORT
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Ronaldo set to make his Juventus bow
Juventus fans will get their first glimpse of superstar summer signing Cristiano Ronaldo in rarified surroundings today, when he makes his debut for the Italian champions at the foot of the Alps a week before the start of the new Serie A season. Ronaldo, who signed for Juventus from European champions Real Madrid in a shock €100 million (Dh419m) deal exactly a month ago, will wear the Juventus kit for the first time in the club’s traditional pre-season friendly between Juve’s first XI and a “B” team in Villar Perosa, a small town 40 kilometres west of Turin. Set in a valley at the foot of the Italian Alps, Villar Perosa (population: roughly 4,100) is the home of the family estate and summer retreat of the powerful Agnellis, who, apart from a brief period around the Second World War, have run Juventus since 1923 and established the traditional alpine curtain raiser. Ronaldo is set to make his Serie A debut next Saturday when Juventus start their title defence at Chievo.
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Iniesta gets off the mark in style in Japan ▷▷▷ NBA’s Curry struggles on the golf course
NBA star Stephen Curry shot a 16-over par 86 in the second round to finish in last place in the Web. com Tour’s Ellie Mae Classic tournament. The Golden State Warriors player finished at 17-over 157 after opening with a 71 on Thursday. Curry was making his second appearance in as many years at the event. Playing as an amateur, Curry placed a whopping 33 shots behind the 36-hole leader Alex Prugh, who shot a 10under 60 to lead the field by two shots. Curry missed the cut by 13 strokes and was 10 strokes behind the next closest player Kevin Lucas. Andres Iniesta scored his first goal for J League side Vissel Kobe in their 2-1 victory over Jubilo Iwata yesterday. The Spanish midfielder, who moved to Japan following an illustrious career with boyhood club Barcelona, opened his account in style, assisted by former Arsenal forward Lukas Podolski. The German slid the ball through to Iniesta in the penalty area and the 34-year-old displayed all his trademark intelligence to pirouette past an Iwata defender before rounding the goalkeeper and roll the ball into the net. Iniesta’s goal opened the scoring in the 16th minute and a further goal from forward Kyogo Furuhashi secured the victory. Kobe moved up to fourth place as they look to close the gap on J League leaders Hiroshima Sanfreece, who beat Nagasaki to maintain an eight-point lead over Tokyo FC in second.