Litmus test for Benfica

LISBON. — Benfica coach Rui Vitoria faces another test of his powers of improvisation as he tries to patch up a team without tops-corer Jonas against Bayern Munich tonight. The match kicks-off at 8:45pm. The Portuguese champions and league leaders were beaten 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League soccer quarter-final last week, a narrow enough margin to give them a chance of producing a major upset at the Stadium of Light.

But with Brazilian marksman Jonas suspended following three yellow cards, the likelihood of beating Bayern for the

Olympic boycott threat

LOS ANGELES. — The United States women’s football team could boycott the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August if demands to be paid the same as their male counterparts are not met, the World Cup winners said.

Sauerbrunn, a member of the USA team that lifted the World Cup in Canada last year and a gold medal-winning veteran of the 2012 Olympics, told ESPN that players would not rule out the possibility of a boycott.

The 30-year-old defender said a boycott would be discussed by the team if they believed no progress on the increasingly acrimonious dispute had been made. — AFP. first time after seven failed attempts and ending a 26-year wait since Benfica’s last semi-finals appearance looks more remote.

The 31-year-old has scored 30 goals in only 29 Portuguese league appearances this season, plus two in his nine Champions League outings including a crucial stoppage-time winner at home to Zenit St Petersburg in the previous round.

But Vitoria, in his first season at Benfica, has already proved he can produce a winning team from a squad which lacks the strength-in-depth of elite European teams such as Bayern.

Mexican forward Raul Jimenez,

Conte to be cleared

MILAN. — Future Chelsea manager Antonio Conte will be cleared of sporting fraud charges because he is “a total stranger” to the world of sports betting, his lawyers claimed on Monday.

Conte’s appointment as Chelsea manager last week was overshadowed when an Italian court called for the 46-year-old to receive a sixmonth suspended prison sentence over match-fixing allegations.

The former Juventus coach is accused of sporting fraud, having failed to expose an allegedly rigged second-division match in May 2011 when he was coach of one of the teams involved, Siena. — AFP. who usually starts on the bench, might get a chance to finally partner Kostas Mitroglou on Wednesday, although Vitoria could move midfielder Nicolas Gaitan into attack and reshuffle his midfield. But Vitoria was not fretting. “We’re not going to sit here and cry over something we cannot control,” he said. “This is just an opportunity for someone else and whoever plays will certainly do a great job.

“We are going to put out a competitive team to face them on equal terms, hand for hand, centimetre by centimetre.” — Reuters.

Johnson appeals

LONDON. — Former England footballer Adam Johnson has launched an appeal against his six-year prison sentence for sexual activity with an infatuated teenage fan, it was announced yesterday.

Johnson, once a winger with Sunderland and Manchester City, was jailed last month following an incident with a 15-year-old female supporter in his Range Rover in County Durham, north-east England, last year.

A statement on the Adam Johnson’s Appeal Fight page on Facebook, run by his sister Faye, said: “Adam’s appeal against his sentence has now been lodged!” — AFP.