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BARCELONA, Spain -- Neymar scored a Champions League hat trick in a 6-1 rout of Celtic on Wednesday to help Barcelona forget about Lionel Messi -- for one night at least. Will Montgomery . Gerard Pique, Pedro Rodriguez, and Cristian Tello also scored for Group H winners Barcelona, while Giorgos Samara added a late consolation goal for Celtic, which finished last in the group. With Messi sidelined by a hamstring injury, Neymar was finally able to take command of a Barcelona attack which has passed through the boots of the Argentina forward for so many years. On Wednesday at the Camp Nou, it was Neymars feet which did the talking as he finally scored in Europes elite competition. "I dont feel pressure but, still, I should score," Neymar said. After Piques seventh-minute opener got the Spanish champions going, Neymar used some masterful dribbling to throw off defender Efe Ambrose with his change of rhythm before cutting a pass back into the box for Pedro to direct home in the 40th. The Brazil forward was able to tap home his first goal since Nov. 10 four minutes later after Alexis Sanchez lifted a ball over Celtics defence to meet Marc Montoyas run, and the Spanish fullback slid it back for an easy goal. Neymar showed no problems handling Barcelonas slick combination capabilities as he backheeled to Xavi Hernandez who returned on to his run through the defence, and Neymar sent a rising shot into the corner as he slipped to the ground in the 48th. "I wouldnt say some players gave up but it certainly looked that way at times," said Celtic coach Neil Lennon. "A lot of half-hearted performances and, as a manager, that was the most disappointing aspect of the whole game." Ambrose was caught out again in the 58th. Neymars stepover created space before he used his other foot to slide the ball through the big defenders legs, get into the box and then beat Forster. Neymar nearly had a fourth in the 65th as he beat the offside trap to go in alone on Forster, only to dabble too long looking for a shot and his run collided with Pedro, who took a shot that was saved. Forster could only watch as Tello, who returned from injury to replace Sanchez, tried a shot that deflected high and into goal in the 72nd minute. "I hope, with this game tonight, that weve put to rest any doubts about our play," Pedro said. Barcelona, which rested Andres Iniesta, rebounded from a 2-1 loss to Ajax to finish top of the standings with 13 points. AC Milan also advanced after drawing 0-0 against Ajax to finish second. "Whats important is weve overcome two straight losses and that can change things for us as we concentrate on the league," Neymar said after taking his season goal tally to seven. DeMarcus Ware . Goran Dragic scored 32 points in 32 minutes and the Suns routed the Knicks 112-88 on Friday night for their season-high sixth victory in a row. Derek Wolfe .Y. -- It wasnt supposed to end this way for senior C.When the word finally came out that Japanese star pitcher Masahiro Tanaka was being posted, I was convinced he would sign with the Texas Rangers or New York Yankees, with the LA Dodgers and Boston Red Sox being outside possibilities. Now if I had to make a wager, Id say the Seattle Mariners or Arizona Diamondbacks. Over the weekend, Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports suggested the Diamondbacks might be willing to trade their former closer J.J. Putz to the Yankees for Ichiro Suzuki. Why, I wondered, would the Dbacks want a 40-year-old future Hall of Famer in the twilight of a great career? Then it hit me! What better way to convince Tanaka to sign with them than to offer him the chance to play with the greatest Japanese player of all time. But if its not just the money, Seattle is probably an even better choice for Tanaka. The Mariners have already shown a willingness to spend by luring free agent Robinson Cano away from the bright lights of New York and they already employ one of Tanakas best friends in baseball. Hisashi Iwakuma has quietly emerged as a star in Seattle the last two seasons. I say quietly because hell always be pitching in the shadow of "King Felix" Hernandez. In two years, though, hes put together a 23-11 record with a 2.84 ERA and 286 strikeouts. He made the American League all-star team last season but couldnt pitch in the mid-summer classic since he had made a start for Seattle on the Sunday, just before the Tuesday night game. He also finished third in Cy Young voting in the American League behind the Tigers Max Scherzer and the Rangers Yu Darvish. Tanaka and Iwakuma were teammates with the Rakuten Golden Eagles in Japan from 2007 through 2011 and are reportedly good friends. Though Iwakuma put together a 107-69 record with a 2.75 ERA in Japan, he went through his share of adversities. In 2006, pitching motion rules were put into effect that forced Iwakuma to alter his delivery. In past, Japanese hurlers had been allowed to momentarily stop in mid-delivery before throwing to the plate. This was designed to throw off a hitters timing but now would simply be ruled a balk. Iwakuma changed, but altering his delivery led to shoulder problems and then elbow surgery that would cost him the bulk of two seasons. Iwakuma bounced back, though, and won the ERA title in 2008 as well as the Eiji Sawamura Award; the Major League equivalent of the Cy Young. Brock Osweiler. Even Iwakumas move to the Majors didnt go smoothly. Oakland won the bidding rights for him prior to the 2011 season. The sides couldnt come to terms on a contract, though, and Iwakuma wound up spending one more year in Japan before finally earning free agency at age 30 and signing with Seattle. Iwakuma will be 33 years old in April and would seem to be the perfect one to show Tanaka the ropes in the Majors. The only complication might be Iwakumas contract. He will be make $6.5 million with the Ms in 2014 and has a club option for $7 million in 2015. Tanaka could get close to twice that amount per season. That could be difficult for the Mariners to rationalize and explain to Iwakuma, whos already given them two very good seasons. Still, Ive got a feeling Seattle will find a way to get this done. The Tanaka negotiations must be completed by January 24 at 5:00 PM. Darvish took until the day before this deadline to sign with Texas. With spring training rapidly approaching, I can see this one getting done in the next week to ten days. Once Tanaka has a new home, it will only serve to intensify the bidding for free agents Ubaldo Jimenez, Ervin Santana, Matt Garza and maybe even Bronson Arroyo. The Class of 2014 inductees for the Baseball Hall of Fame will be announced on Wednesday at 2:00 PM. Im sticking with the same three selections I talked about months ago; Braves pitching legends Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine and White Sox two-time MVP, Frank Thomas. I counted at least 10 other worthy Hall of Famers on this ballot, but thanks to PEDs and the sheer back-log of quality candidates, Im convinced only the aforementioned three will get in. As for Jack Morris, whos on the ballot for the 15th and final time, I dont care what his career ERA was; any man who was the staff ace on three World Series winners (84 Tigers, 91 Twins, 92 Blue Jays) belongs in the Hall of Fame - end of story. Check out Morriss numbers in 1992 with the Blue Jays at age 37. 240.2 innings pitched, 21-6 record, 4.04 ERA, six complete games and one shutout. Remember, the Blue Jays had Tom Henke and Duane Ward as the 1-2 punch in the pen. The onus wasnt on Morris to pitch that many innings or that many complete games. He just did, he was that good. ' ' ' |
