BERLIN (AFP) - Bayern Munich's French 2010 jerseys¡¡star midfielder Franck Ribery vowed Monday to bounce back after a disastrous 2010, which saw him embroiled in scandal off the pitch and under-performing on it. Speaking to sports magazine Kicker, the 27-year-old attacking midfielder said he was "very happy" to put his annus horribilis behind him. "It was a very hard year with many difficulties. But now a new one is starting," Ribery told the magazine from Bayern's training camp in Qatar. "I will not be making again the mistakes I made in 2010. I learned a lot in 2010 and changed a few things," he said, citing, "the events of the World Cup, my injuries and my private life." Beset by injuries, Ribery's form for club and country took a hit in 2010, culminating in France's farcical World Cup in South Africa where they failed to win a single match, scoring just once amid internal strife and player strikes. For his club, Ribery clashed with coach Louis van Gaal, notably over a friendly game organised to help him regain fitness, where the Dutchman blasted him for a lack of effort. And away from football, he became entangled in a sex scandal, charged with soliciting an under-age call girl. But all that is behind him now, pledged the star. "I have changed. I have become more mature and have other priorities now. "My family is more important to me now. It became clear to me in the past year that the glittering world of football has little to do with real life." He has patched up his differences with van Gaal and said he ...

HUA HIN, Thailand (AP)—Asia gucci shoes swept all four points in the fourballs on Saturday to build a 6-2 lead over Europe in the three-day Royal Trophy match play golf tournament. Asia needs only 2 1/2 points from the eight singles matches on Sunday to win at the Black Mountain Golf Club. Locked at 2-2, Asia dominated the fourballs with Europe putting poorly. The Thai-Japanese team of Thongchai Jaidee and Yuta Ikeda beat Peter Hanson and Frederik Andersson Hed of Sweden in the day’s final game, leading by three strokes with one hole to play. Ikeda, who won four Japan Tour titles in 2010, hit four birdies in the first nine holes and also had birdies on Nos. 10 and 11. Ryo Ishikawa and Shunsuke Sonoda beat Italian teenager Matteo Manassero and Spain’s Pablo Martin 3 and 2. “We have good teamwork,” Sonoda said. “If I missed, he (Ishikawa) didn’t, and when he missed, I didn’t.” Jeev Milkha Singh recovered from a back injury for a 1-up win with new partner Kim Kyung-tae of South Korea over Swedish pair Henrik Stenson and Johan Edfors in the only match that went to the last hole. On the 17th Edfors missed a short putt, squandering a chance to even the match. Liang Wenchong of China and Noh Seung-yul of ...

SALT LAKE CITY (AP)—Joe ugg women's casual Johnson(notes) scored 28 points, making five of seven 3-pointers, and Jamal Crawford(notes) added 26 off the bench as the Atlanta Hawks beat the Utah Jazz 110-87 on Wednesday night. The victory was the third straight on the road for Atlanta, which avenged a 90-86 loss Nov. 12 at home to the Jazz. Deron Williams(notes) and Andrei Kirilenko(notes) each had 19 points to lead the Jazz, who were without second-leading scorer Paul Millsap(notes) because of a bruised hip. The Hawks hurt the Jazz with 3-pointers, hitting 14 of 25 on the night, including a halfcourt buzzer-beater that Crawford banked in for a 55-41 halftime lead. The Jazz got off to another slow start, trailing 12-3 and 20-6. Johnson opened the game with an uncontested 3 and Crawford hit Atlanta’s fourth of the quarter to give the Hawks a 14-point lead with 5:18 left in the first. The Hawks led 30-17 after one, with the Jazz shooting just 35.3 percent to 52.4 percent for the Hawks. Without Millsap, Utah coach Jerry Sloan opted to go big, giving Francisco Elson(notes) his first start in a Jazz uniform. But Elson was scoreless and did not have a rebound for the Jazz in the first quarter. He did not play in the second quarter and finished with one rebound, one steal and no points. Utah scored the first five points of the second quarter, but Atlanta bumped its lead back to 34-22 after back-to-back scores by Crawford and Jason Collins(notes). The lead was ...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP)—Jacksonville ED hardy clothes Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio’s job is safe for another year. His role as defensive play caller is over, though. Team owner Wayne Weaver talked with about 10 players Monday, then had a lengthy meeting with Del Rio. Del Rio explained what went wrong this season and outlined a plan to fix things. Weaver responded by asking Del Rio to give up control of the defense. Weaver also made it clear Del Rio needs to make the postseason in 2011 to keep his job. “If we’re not in the playoffs, it’s pretty apparent we’ll have a different coach,” Weaver said. Tight end Marcedes Lewis(notes) said players will embrace Weaver’s challenge. “Pressure either makes pipes burst or makes diamonds,” Lewis said. “We’re going to make diamonds. We’re heading in the right direction. We almost made the playoffs this year. We know how close we are. We know we can get it done.” Weaver declined to renew contracts for Del Rio’s assistant coaches, meaning they will be on one-year deals next season. So if Weaver fires Del Rio and his staff in 2011, it would only cost the small-market franchise a little more than $5 million. Only Philadelphia’s Andy Reid, Tennessee’s Jeff Fisher and New England’s Bill Belichick have been with their NFL teams longer than Del Rio. All of them have made the ...

SEATTLE (AP)—Charlie Whitehurst(notes) threw Nike Air Max a 4-yard touchdown pass to Mike Williams and the Seattle Seahawks took a 7-3 lead over the St. Louis Rams after two quarters of Sunday night’s game for the NFC West title. Whitehurst, starting in place of Matt Hasselbeck(notes), quickly got the Seahawks offense rolling. He connected with Ruvell Martin(notes) on a 61-yard pass play to the Rams 13-yard line. Four plays later, Whitehurst found Williams for the TD. Whitehurst was 5 for 5 for 85 yards on the opening drive. Whitehurst had 66 yards passing in three quarters in relief of Hasselbeck last week in Tampa Bay. He finished with 145 yards and a touchdown in the first half on Sunday night. Whitehurst was making his second career start. He also started for Hasselbeck against the New York Giants in Week 8 and threw for 113 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Hasselbeck missed the game with a concussion. The Rams’ offense under rookie quarterback Sam Bradford(notes) had two three-and-outs and just 23 yards of offense in the first 15 minutes. Bradford got the Rams going in the second quarter and led the Rams on a 13-play scoring drive culminating in a 32-yard field goal from former Seahawk Josh Brown(notes) to make it 7-3. Bradford had several passes batted down at the line of scrimmage in the first half. Steven Jackson was the Rams’ biggest offensive weapon accounting for 67 of the Rams’ 121 first half yards. St. Louis is trying to become the third division ...