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INDIANAPOLIS — When Pacers forward Damjan Rudez returned to the Basketball Without Borders (BWB) camp earlier this month, there were some noticeable changes.

The long, gangly European kids he competed with and against in 2003 had been replaced by bigger, stronger, more polished teenagers.

Perhaps it’s just a natural progression for the programme designed to turn international prospects such as Rudez into NBA contributors and then bring back those graduates as teachers to work with the next generation of international stars. Or perhaps, the players are maturing much quicker — much like American players seem to be.

Either way, one thing is clear: BWB is helping to turn Europe into a fertile training ground for NBA hopefuls.

An indication of the programme’s success could come during Thursday night’s draft.

A record 101 foreign-born players began this season on NBA rosters, and three more — Emmanuel Mudiay of China, Kristaps Porzingis of Latvia and Mario Hezonja of Croatia — are potential top 10 picks.

“Honestly, the camp hasn’t changed a lot. The principles are the same,” said Rudez, who just completed his first NBA season with the Pacers. “The NBA has done a terrific job of organising the whole thing — great gear, great conditions for working. But it seems like these days, the kids are growing like crazy. They’re huge. I don’t remember us being that tall or that powerful or that big when we were here.”

The initial goals of BWB were simple — find the best players in the world, teach them skills that would make them productive pro players and continue to expand the talent pool. Since the inaugural 2001 camp in Treviso, Italy, more than 2,300 players from more than 120 countries have participated and the success stories have steadily increased.

Thirty-three grads have been drafted including Andrea Bargnani, the No. 1 overall pick in 2006, and Joel Embiid, the No. 3 overall pick last year. Two more players, Rudez and Boston’s Luigi Datome, have made rosters as undrafted free agents.

The Europeans “are pretty good”, Charlotte center and former Indiana University star Cody Zeller said after working his second international camp in two years. “I can see where there’s a couple that have that [NBA] potential, and even the ones that don’t make the NBA, I think, will have productive careers overseas.”

This global trend isn’t subsiding.

The last two No. 1 overall draft picks, Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett, grew up in Canada. The NBA’s European contingent includes Luol Deng, Marc and Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker and Ricky Rubio. Manu Ginobili, Nene and Anderson Varejao all honed their basketball skills in South America, while Andrew Bogut and Kyrie Irving were born in Australia.

Their once-subtle impact on the NBA is also growing.

“There’s a lot of pride in Europe in teaching the fundamentals,” Pacers assistant coach Dan Burke said after working the camp. “From what I’ve seen, we don’t get as much opportunity to see the 17-year-olds [in the US], but what we see coming in is a lack of fundamentals. There are a lot of different reasons for it. Some people say AAU just rolls the ball out and they play. They get by on athleticism and God-given talent. But the ones who really work, you do notice that, and the NBA game is getting to a point where you can’t just run over guys.

“I think the States are getting back to teaching fundamentals, but I don’t see those building blocks like you do here.”

In fact, the European style has even given American coaches new tools.

At a recent high school coaching clinic, Kentucky’s John Calipari demonstrated how he used the Euro step with his own team last season. He explained it improved his players’ efficiency ratings because they could either get to the basket cleanly, allowing them to play at a faster pace, or draw fouls, which allowed them to score with the clock stopped.

And now it’s time for the 20-something contingent of players like Wiggins and Rudez to reach out to the next wave of European prospects.

SPIELBERG, Austria — Having beaten his Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton in three of the past four races, Nico Rosberg is confident he has found the missing ingredient required to win the Formula One title this year: more aggression.

Rosberg, last year’s F1 runner-up to Hamilton in a close title race, now sits just 10 points behind his Mercedes rival after a convincing win at the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday, where he showed his steely streak to overtake Hamilton at the first corner.

“I think I have found what I needed to find last year in terms of in the races,” Rosberg said after his 11th career win. “That’s what is really working out for me this year.”

Hamilton has won five races to Rosberg’s three so far. But Rosberg will have gained huge confidence from wins in Spain and Monaco — where he was helped by surprising team orders to call Hamilton in for a pit stop — and his latest success at the Red Bull Ring.

Rosberg heads to the British GP in two weeks’ time in buoyant mood with the momentum seemingly swinging back his way.

“Now I’m really looking forward to Silverstone, where I have good memories with the pole last year and the win in 2013,” the 29-year-old German said.

Hamilton has concerns after being well beaten, especially seeing as he started from pole for the seventh time in eight races. Furthermore, he also carelessly picked up a five-second penalty after swerving off course when coming out of the pits after his tyre change.

“It was not the best way to start the race but it is something we will work on to improve on my side of the garage,” the Briton said, reflecting on his poor start. “When I came off the throttle, the revs stayed up. So, when I dropped the clutch, I had too much wheel spin and lost ground.”

Hamilton speaking about elements being out of his control will only boost Rosberg’s confidence, as they reveal the frustration that Hamilton must be feeling.

He stood glumly on the podium after the race and gave a curt response in the post-race news conference when asked to explain his five-second time penalty for swaying too far left, when exiting the pit lane and going over a designated white line.

“I have no idea what happened,” he said.

Mercedes will not be concerned who wins the races, however. The Silver Arrows drivers have clinched 23 of the past 27 races this season and last. Only Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel has beaten them this season, but that was in the second race in Malaysia and the four-time champion is drifting away, 49 points behind Hamilton.

In a further boost to Mercedes, Williams seems to be close to matching Ferrari for race pace, with Felipe Massa taking third place ahead of Vettel in Austria.

“It’s even more special because we have three Mercedes engines in the top three,” Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, said gleefully.

Last year, the F1 title went down to the wire in Abu Dhabi — but Rosberg was only in contention then because double points were on offer in the final race. Also, during the season, Hamilton lost a potential 75 points when retiring from three races, while Rosberg retired from two.

That unpopular double points rule has been scrapped, and Rosberg will want to be in a stronger position next time Abu Dhabi comes around on November 29.

“They are both under pressure because they keep pushing each other so much,” Wolff said. “It is going to go down to the wire.”

GENEVA — After years of waiting, Michel Platini’s destiny with FIFA is coming faster than he thought.

Platini had his 60th birthday on Sunday with much to celebrate and a big decision to take.

Long seen as the heir apparent to FIFA President Sepp Blatter, his former mentor now embattled adversary, it is open question if the elected leader of European football and former France great truly wants the duties that come with the top job.

The opportunity is certainly open like never before to Platini, whose path had seemed blocked until at least 2019.

“I will be 64, there is a last thing to do,” Platini said of his unfulfilled ambitions in March, when Blatter’s grip on the FIFA throne looked as inevitable as death and taxes.

All that changed on May 27 when the US Department of Justice unleashed a bribery and racketeering indictment on some of world football’s top officials, sending FIFA into near-meltdown.

Blatter has not been targeted — yet — and even won another four-year presidential term two days later, after ignoring Platini’s personal plea to resign for the good of the sport.

Still, the federal investigation has FIFA firmly in its sights, so the 79-year-old Blatter announced on June 2 that he would not be a candidate at a new election to be held within months.

Now Platini is expected to enter a presidential race one campaign later than some of his European voters thought was right. Either because they believe Blatter should have kept a 2011 promise to step aside this year, or that Platini should simply have gone head-to-head with him

“Now is not my time, not yet,” Platini said in Monaco last August when justifying his decision not to stand against Blatter. Instead, a UEFA proxy, HRH Prince Ali, was sent into gallant defeat.

It sounded to most observers then like a frustrated acceptance of Blatter’s mastery: Both of FIFA politics and loyal voters from countries far away from the elite European game that Platini dominated as a player and now leads as UEFA president.

Platini does not like to lose and, as one of the greatest No. 10s in football history, lifted two of the three biggest team prizes open to him.

He captained host nation France to win the 1984 European Championship — his nine-goal tally ranks among the finest individual tournament performances — and scored the winning goal for Juventus in the 1985 European Cup final.

Only FIFA’s World Cup eluded him. France lost semifinals to West Germany in 1982 and 1986.

Becoming FIFA president would neatly complete Platini’s achievements in football, and he clearly covets a job that Blatter once groomed him for before their falling out.

However, when Platini talks of being reluctant to walk away from UEFA it is more than just a politicians’ answer to deflect attention from his real ambition.

Platini would give up much involvement in actual football matches if installed at FIFA, which peaks only every four years at the World Cup.

As UEFA president since 2007, Platini has seen European teams win the past two World Cups and oversees a four-yearly European Championship, whose global TV ratings rival the Summer Olympics, plus the season-long Champions League which showcases the highest quality football played anywhere.

People familiar with Platini’s thinking have noted to The Associated Press that becoming FIFA president would take him away from the Euro 2016 hosted by France.

The tournament is even more personal as it is the first with 24 teams instead of 16 — a campaign promise that lifted Platini to the UEFA helm in a tight election against Blatter’s old enemy Lennart Johansson of Sweden.

In private conversations, people linked to UEFA have also questioned if Platini wants to trade relatively relaxed duties working in a French-speaking region of Switzerland for the greater global travel and scrutiny working from FIFA’s home in German-speaking Zurich.

Blatter has relished turning the FIFA presidency into a quasi-political role similar to a head of state. Platini is more at ease with his top shirt button undone and tie askew.

A FIFA election campaign, in the current anti-corruption climate, would also likely bring intense renewed questions on Platini’s links with Qatar, the 2022 World Cup host.

Platini has repeatedly said that a November 2010 meeting in Paris with then-state president Nicolas Sarkozy and Qatar’s crown prince, now Emir, Tamin Bin Hamad Al Thani did not influence his vote for Qatar less than two weeks later.

The fact that Platini’s lawyer son, Laurent, was later hired by sovereign wealth-backed Qatar Sports Investment is rarely mentioned in the context of UEFA meetings, but will surely be revived in a FIFA campaign.

Platini will not decide his plans before the FIFA Executive Committee meets on July 20 in Zurich to decide an election timetable, Platini’s spokesman Pedro Pinto said.

SPIELBERG, Austria — Nico Rosberg won the Austrian Grand Prix for the second year in a row on Sunday with his championship-leading Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton losing out at the start and having to settle for second.

Hamilton's lead in the Formula One standings was cut to 10 points after eight of 19 races, the Briton making a poor getaway from pole position and being beaten into the first corner by the determined German.

The victory was Rosberg's third of the season, to Hamilton's four, and left him on 159 points to his rival's 169.

Asked why he did not drive every race like that, Rosberg smiled: "I will try from now on," he told reporters. "It's an awesome feeling of course to win again here. The start made the race.

"It really worked out perfectly today," added the German, who turns 30 next weekend.

Any hopes of a chase to the end disappeared when Hamilton, who finished 3.8 seconds behind, collected a five-second penalty for crossing the white line as he left the pits on the 35th of the 71 laps.

The double world champion recognised that he was never close enough even without the penalty.

"Nico did a fantastic job today. He was quicker during the race, I had a bad start which lost me ground," said Hamilton in podium interviews conducted by former F1 racer Gerhard Berger. "I was pushing as hard as I could."

A small consolation for Hamilton was the fact that he led for three laps while Rosberg pitted, allowing him to equal triple champion Jackie Stewart's 45-year-old record of leading 17 successive races.

Brazilian Felipe Massa finished a distant third for Mercedes-powered Williams after holding off Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, who lost crucial seconds on his one pitstop when the right rear wheel gun jammed.

"I just managed to keep the line and not make any mistake and just use a little bit of experience," said Massa, who started on pole last year, after his 40th career podium.

Vettel's team mate Kimi Raikkonen and McLaren's Fernando Alonso collided and crashed into the barriers after the second corner, bringing out the safety car for five laps.

The McLaren ended up on top of the Ferrari, fortunately without hitting Raikkonen's head or hands, and perched on the barriers.

Stewards investigated after the race and decided to take no further action against either driver.

Scary moment

Alonso, who had started on the back row after collecting a 25-place drop following engine and gearbox changes, said the collision with his former Ferrari team mate was a scary moment.

"Kimi had a lot of wheel spin out of turn two. We were overtaking him and he lost the car on the left. I was on the left. I could not see anything. I looked in the mirror and saw a car under my car," he said.

The Spaniard waited for Raikkonen to get out of the car before they walked away together. Never one to waste words, the Finn described the incident as “not ideal”.

Williams's Valtteri Bottas finished fifth, ahead of 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours winner Nico Hulkenberg in a Force India and Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado seventh for Lotus.

Max Verstappen, the 17-year-old Dutch rookie, was eighth for Toro Rosso after struggling to control his car on worn tyres at the end and Mexican Sergio Perez made it a double points finish for Force India.

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo grabbed a consolation point for the unhappy hosts with 10th place.

Only 14 of the 20 cars finished, with both Honda-powered McLarens out of action after just 10 laps. 

SPIELBERG, Austria — Formula One Chief Bernie Ecclestone believes the dominance of Mercedes has made the sport “top heavy” and caused frustration for Red Bull as it struggles to keep up amid ongoing concerns it could pull out of the sport.

Mercedes on Saturday completed a calendar year of pole positions from its star drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, who have won seven of eight races between them this season after clinching 16 victories in 19 races last year.

“The product which we produce at the moment is a bit top heavy with one team winning a lot of races, probably too easy,” Ecclestone said on Saturday. “The winners never complain. The losers complain. All I’ve ever said is that it’s a pity that one team is dominating the sport. Nothing wrong with what Mercedes has done, it’ve done an incredible job.”

The once-dominant Red Bulls, who similarly crushed the competition from 2010-13 when Sebastian Vettel won four straight titles, is languishing way behind this season.

But Ecclestone, who was speaking to reporters at the Austrian Grand Prix after qualifying, does not believe Red Bull will pull out of F1 — despite ongoing threats from its exasperated owner Dietrich Mateschitz.

“I don’t think so. I know Mr Mateschitz very well,” he said. “There’d be more chance of him pulling out if he was winning than when he was losing.”

Red Bull’s ongoing problems with its Renault engine have prompted Mateschitz to blame the French supplier for his team’s inability to challenge Williams, Ferrari and Mercedes — which is 231 points ahead of Red Bull in the constructors’ championship.

Mateschitz said earlier this week that “besides taking our time and money”, Renault has “destroyed our enjoyment and motivation”. He repeated a threat made earlier this season to quit the sport.

“They’re disappointed, aren’t they?” Ecclestone said. “What they are saying is, ‘it’s not our fault.’”

Ecclestone hinted that, rather than leave F1, Mateschitz may seek a new engine supplier unless Renault puts things right.

“It doesn’t mean that because he’s falling out of love that he wants a divorce. He just needs a new girlfriend,” Ecclestone said. “He knows what he says and what the effects are.”

Renault has a contract as Red Bull’s supplier until the end of 2016.

“I think Renault understands,” Ecclestone said. “It’s no good a guy saying, ‘We need a doctor for our heart’ and the [other] guy says ‘I know a good dentist.’”

F1 has come in for increasing criticism in recent months, with fans frustrated at Mercedes’ dominance, but also over issues such as quieter engines, a lack of overtaking and a shift away from aggressive toe-to-toe racing toward fuel-saving and tire management.

Ecclestone agrees that fans deserve a better show and the time has come to “sort out the sporting regulations”.

Because of rule changes, teams are only allowed four engines per driver each season and drivers are punished with grid penalties when they change to a fifth engine.

At the Austrian GP alone four drivers got such penalties: McLaren pair Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button and the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo — the only driver to beat Mercedes last year when he won three races — and teammate Daniil Kvyat.

“I think we need to have a very, very good look at all our sporting regulations,” Ecclestone said. “It’s not what the public understand. They [the fans] don’t understand and when they do understand they don’t care basically.”

SPIELBERG, Austria — Lewis Hamilton can equal a 45-year-old Formula One record in Austria this weekend but the double world champion says the only thing he really wants is a third title.

The Mercedes driver has now led at least one lap of the last 16 races and Sunday’s race could see him equal the record of 17 successive races led, set by fellow-Briton Jackie Stewart between 1968 and 1970.

“It adds onto all the stuff that I’ve achieved in my life, I’m fortunate that I’ve been working with great people to enable me to even get to those points,” Hamilton told reporters when asked about the satisfaction of reaching milestones.

“But they are not things that I’m like ‘yeah, finally I’ve got it.’

“I just want to win championships. I want to get that next championship. That’s what I’d be excited about... No other record. Doesn’t matter the amount of wins you get, pole positions or fastest laps or amount of finishes on the podium. What matters is winning the world championship.”

Hamilton is already the most successful British driver in terms of poles and race wins, if not championships, with 37 victories and 44 poles to date.

In Canada two weeks ago he surpassed 1992 world champion Nigel Mansell’s British record of laps led. Hamilton now has 2,143 to his credit and ranks fifth in the all-time lists.

The champion has a long way to go to rival Michael Schumacher, whose career statistics of seven championships and 91 wins are expected by many to withstand the test of time even with an increased calendar.

“Michael is a legend and he was in the sport and successful for a long, long time. For me, I don’t know how many years I’ll have at the rate I’m going,” said Hamilton.

“The sport is always changing and you never know when you’re going to have a difficult year.

“Honestly since I’ve been in Formula One I felt like I could compete to win the world championship every year, but some years you have the car and some you don’t,” added the 30-year-old, who won his first title with McLaren.

“I’ve never ever set out to go to that goal,” Hamilton added of Schumacher’s title tally. “I’ve always wanted to emulate [triple champion] Ayrton [Senna], to do the same as he’d done. And that’s what I’m focusing on.”

Meanwhile, McLaren’s Jenson Button will have a 25 place grid penalty — on a grid of only 20 cars — after having a change of power unit ahead of Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix.

The penalty, Button’s second in a row after a 15 place drop in Canada, will translate in part into time penalties during the race due to the impossibility of the Briton dropping any further than 20th.

In a farcical turn of events, triggered by regulations that stipulate that drivers must make four engines last the entire season or pay a penalty, Button and team mate Fernando Alonso will theoretically be demoted 45 places between them.

The Spaniard was handed a 20 place penalty on Friday after McLaren changed his engine and two of the five components that make up the troubled Honda V6 turbo hybrid power unit.

Alonso, a double world champion who left Ferrari at the end of 2014, has yet to score a point in seven races this season.

Button had been resigned to penalties when the 2009 champion spoke to reporters after suffering a “massive” power failure in second Friday practice.

“I’m probably going to start at the back,” he said. “And then Sunday, who knows? With penalties, you sort of really need a safety car to bring you back into the game. Hopefully that will be the case and we can race.”

In a further complication for fans struggling to keep up with the engine implications, Red Bull’s Australian Daniel Ricciardo and Russian Daniil Kvyat also face 10 place grid drops from wherever they qualify.

The situation, at Red Bull’s home circuit, has ratcheted up the criticism of engine partners Renault from the frustrated former champions.

AMMAN — Jordanian ultra-marathon runner Salameh Al Aqra won second place at the Mozart 100 Ultra-marathon in Salzburg on Saturday.

Aqra completed the cross-country trail of 102.5km in 9h1m43s.

He was followed by German Marco Sturm with 9h15m28s who won third place while the winner Daniel Oralek of the Czech Republic completed the race in 8h45m50s.

Despite hail and heavy rain Aqra managed to clinch a better result than a year ago when he finished third on the same race. 

SANTIAGO, Chile — Taking advantage of a bad night by Neymar, Colombia defeated Brazil 1-0 in the Copa America on Wednesday, keeping its quarter-final hopes alive in the South American tournament.

Jeison Murillo scored a 36th-minute winner, and Neymar’s poor performance was capped by a red card after the final whistle because of an altercation with Colombian players.

Colombia’s Carlos Bacca, who shoved Neymar from behind, also was shown a red card. Bacca apparently was upset after the Brazilian seemed to head-butt teammate Murillo during a discussion.

Neymar’s yellow card earlier in the match was his second of the tournament, which was already enough to suspend him from the final group match.

Brazil could have secured a spot in the quarter-finals with a win over Colombia, but now it will decide its future against Venezuela on Sunday.

“Colombia showed that it is a very experienced team,” Brazil coach Dunga said. “Our players at times got caught in their provocations and forgot to play football. Brazil has to play football. Brazil can’t go to war, we have to focus on what we do best, which is play football.”

The result ended Colombia’s 24-year winless drought against the five-time world champion and left Colombia, Brazil and Venezuela tied atop Group C with three points each. 

If Peru beats Venezuela, all four teams will enter the final round with three points each. The top two teams in each of the three groups advance, plus the two-best third-place finishers. A loss on Wednesday would have left Colombia with zero points and in difficult position to advance.

“Colombia showed that it’s a team that has matured, that can play these types of matches,” Colombia coach Jose Pekerman said. “We couldn’t slip up today, we needed an almost-perfect match in all areas.”

With Neymar struggling, Brazil had difficulties getting near the goal and it was Colombia — led by James Rodriguez and Falcao Garcia — that created the most dangerous chances.

Murillo netted the winner off a free kick cross into Brazil’s area. He got to the loose ball near the penalty spot and fired a low shot through the legs of Brazil defender Thiago Silva.

Neymar had a chance to equalise with a close-range header in the 44th minute, but Colombian goalkeeper David Ospina made a good save to keep his team ahead. Off the rebound, the ball touched Neymar’s hand, prompting the referee to show him a yellow card.

Neymar complained, saying that the touch was involuntary. He had already received a yellow card in the opening game against Peru, when he played extremely well and led Brazil to a 2-1 come-from-behind victory.

“The referees have to respect Neymar because he is always getting hit,” Brazil midfielder Willian said. “It happened again today and he was the one ejected.”

Brazil had another great chance to score in the 58th minute, after Murillo misplayed a pass back to Ospina and the ball ended with Roberto Firmino inside the area, but the forward missed the open net, sending his shot over the crossbar.

The Copa America is Brazil’s first official competition since it was humiliated in a 7-1 World Cup semifinal loss to Germany last year. Brazil eliminated Colombia in the quarter-finals of the home tournament.

VIENNA — Nico Rosberg is still kicking himself for failing to pressure Lewis Hamilton in Montreal and now has to make up for it at this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.

Rosberg missed out on a hat-trick of wins after finishing second at the Canadian Grand Prix, as Hamilton won the race to extend his championship lead over his Mercedes teammate to 17 points.

With the form Hamilton has been in so far this season — four wins out of seven races — Rosberg has to make the most of any opportunity he gets.

The German driver gained good momentum after winning in Spain and Monaco, with Hamilton finishing second and third respectively, but his best form eluded him in Canada.

“Canada was really lost for me on the Saturday,” Rosberg said. “Not getting everything together in qualifying hurt my chances big time.”

Another pole position in Saturday’s qualifying would complete a calendar year of pole positions for Mercedes.

The last time either Hamilton or Rosberg failed to qualify in pole was at last year’s Austrian Grand Prix. Still, that did not hinder Rosberg, who won from third on the grid.

“My first race at this track last year couldn’t have been much better. Of course, we didn’t have the ideal start in qualifying but we nailed it on Sunday and it was great to get the win,” Rosberg said. “I’m sure we’ll have some tough competition here once again with Williams and probably some others too.”

Hamilton’s performance was arguably even more aggressive, driving brilliantly from way back in ninth spot on the grid to finish second.

The atmosphere around the Red Bull Ring track in Spielberg, nestled in the Styria region of Austria and surrounded by rolling hills, was among the most festive in F1 when it returned to the calendar last year. It gives drivers a welcome chance to connect more with the fans, amid a growing concern that the sport is lacking in excitement compared to previous years, with Mercedes crushing the competition, less noisy cars and a lack of overtaking some of the main sticking points.

“It’s a circuit I really enjoy driving and the crowds are unbelievable, so I’m looking forward to getting back out there and having a good battle,” Rosberg said.

The design of the track, with many long straights combined with some high-speed corners is similar to Montreal, which will no doubt please Hamilton.

“It was a great feeling to finally get back on top in Canada,” said Hamilton, who is eyeing a 38th career win. “Now, though, it’s time to move on and put things right at a circuit I had a tough introduction to last year.”

The race should also give an indication whether Red Bull is genuinely improving after a difficult start to the season underlined by problems with the Renault engines.

Daniil Kvyat finished fourth and Daniel Ricciardo finished fifth at Monaco — Red Bull’s best result so far. But Monaco’s circuit is the hardest to overtake on, and so this did not expose Red Bull’s relative lack of racing pace. The inconsistency resurfaced in Montreal, where Kvyat was ninth and Ricciardo 13th.

The days of Red Bull dominating with Sebastian Vettel winning four straight titles from 2010-13 seem a long way away, and the team’s motorsport consultant Helmut Marko is not optimistic that Red Bull can give their passionate home fans something to cheer about.

“As soon as there is a long straight we lose out. We know that we have a handicap on the engine side, horsepower-wise,” Marko said. “The next circuits that are similar to Monaco are Budapest and then Singapore. If you only have three venues where you are relatively competitive, that spells the end to any dreams of glory. That is annoying.”

Vettel, meanwhile, needs to bounce back after a disappointing fifth-place finish in Canada, a result that leaves him 43 points behind Hamilton.

However good the party turns out to be, Red Bull are feeling far from bullish as Formula One descends on their home Austrian circuit in search of excitement this weekend.

Last season, when Austria’s scenic Spielberg circuit returned to the calendar after an 11-year absence, the hosts revved up the fans by winning in Canada with Australian Daniel Ricciardo.

This time, with both their drivers sure to collect penalties in the next few races for exceeding the engine allocation, there will be a lot more criticism than optimism wafting around in the mountain air.

Neither Ricciardo, whose permanent smile has been tested to the full, nor Russian team mate Daniil Kvyat have come close to winning and former champions Red Bull, now fourth overall, have not been shy in blaming engine partners Renault.

“Unfortunately, the Red Bull Ring is a real power track so we won’t be with the front-runners,” Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko told the Formula1.com website.

“But even if our drivers will hardly see the podium this year, the fans will get entertainment at its best,” added the Austrian.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Brazil beat Senegal 5-0 to join Serbia in the final of the Under-20 World Cup and bury on Wednesday the nascent suspicion football’s great expressionists had embarked on a new, more sober course.

After its latest matches against Uruguay and Portugal were scoreless and decided in penalty shootouts, speculation grew that a new generation was ushering in a more defensive style.

A theory that Brazil’s 7-1 loss to Germany at least year’s senior World Cup forced a general reappraisal of its direction — a new emphasis on defence over attack — grew as goals dried up.

Brazil exploded that theory on Wednesday, striking three times in the first 19 minutes to earn its final place opposite Serbia, which beat Mali 2-1 in extra time.

While Brazil was a team transformed, Serbia continued its steady progress to the final; playing sound defence and showing an ability — rare at this tournament — to clinically convert a few scoring chances.

An early goal to Andrija Zivkovic set the tone early for an imposing Serbian performance but Youssouf Kone’s equaliser helped Mali regain its confidence.

The second half was played at a frantic pace and Mali had the best of it but neither side created the decisive goal. In extra time Milos Veljkovic’s header found Ivan Saponjic, who nodded the ball past Mali goalkeeper Djigui Diarra.

Kone received a second yellow card six minutes from time to all but end Mali’s hopes, and the team’s performance dissolved in bizarre scenes of petulance and recrimination.

Mali players including Kone and Diarra confronted referee Mauro Vigliano after Kone’s second yellow for a foul. As the scene became more heated, Vigliano tried to move away and Kone appeared to grab his shoulder from behind. Kone eventually left, but took the longest route possible around the field. Diarra received a yellow card for his dissent.

Five-time champion Brazil took all of its chances to advance to the final for the ninth time and to end the remarkable run of first-time qualifier Senegal.

Brazil rushed out to a two-goal lead after seven minutes, before adding a third in the 19th minute, all but ending Senegal’s challenge.

An attack down the right flank by Joao Pedro was followed by an innocuous pass into the middle which deflected off Senegal defender Andelinou Correa’s heel into goal.

Two minutes later, three Brazil players found themselves with an overlap on a fast break and Gabriel Jesus held his nerve while Marcus Guilherme found space and blasted home.

Another soft shot along the ground from the flank was only partially stopped by a sprawling Ibrahima Sy, the Senegalese keeper, directly into the path of Brazil midfielder Boschilia, who scored.

Brazil added a fourth in the 35th minute through Jorge.

The second half lost some structure but the South Americans added their fifth after clever interplay allowed Guilherme to tap in his second in the 78th minute.

As good as Brazil was on attack, its defence has been its real strength; it has played 8 hours, 22 minutes since it last conceded a goal. Coach Rogerio Micale was relieved, after two penalty shootouts, to see his team win so emphatically.

“We won those games in penalties and it was close but we’ve been creating plenty of chances,” he said. “Today we scored them.

“Everybody was perfect today. We have grown during the competition... we’ve reached the final with a huge game today and we expect to do it again in the final.”