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AMMAN — Wihdat Club on Saturday won the 64th Jordan Professional League despite a 3-1 defeat against Jazira, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Wihdat benefitted from Faisali’s loss in a decisive match against Baqaa that took place simultaneously at Prince Mohammad Stadium in Zarqa. Faisali’s points froze at 36, two below Wihdat’s total. 

After their 1-0 loss with Baqaa, Faisali missed the chance for a play-off game against Wihdat, and settled in the second place in the league. 

This is the third league title for Wihdat in a row and their 15th since they moved up to the first league in 1975.

Recently, Wihdat had a slim two-point lead over Faisali after ending three matches in draws and losing important points.

At the time, the team was just out of a crushing 6-2 defeat to Bahrain’s Hidd in Asian Football Confederation Cup which kept them in third place in Group A and nearly out of the competition.

Moreover, Ahli were in contention for runner-up and had technically lost the chance for the title that they won eight times before. 

Their slim chances for ending an excellent season with a title depended on defeats of both leading teams and them beating Shabab Urdun on Friday, but they were defeated by 2-0 and clinched the third place in the league with 35 points.

Last week, Faisali were held 3-3 with Hussein, Wihdat were held 0-0 with Ramtha, Baqaa improved their chances by beating Shabab Urdun 4-1, Jazira went up to fourth after a  4-0 win over That Ras, Sarih held Kufrsoum 1-1 while Ahli beat Asala 2-1.

When the Miami Heat needed someone to step up at crunch time Friday, Dwyane Wade delivered.

As a result, the Heat have forced a deciding Game 7 in their first-round Eastern Conference play-off series against the Charlotte Hornets.

Wade scored 23 points and hit two crucial baskets in the final minute as the Heat held off the Hornets 97-90 to even the series 3-3. Game 7 is scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Miami.

His 3-pointer with 46 seconds remaining gave the Heat a 93-88 lead, and after a Hornets basket he hit a fallaway 18-footer with 19.5 seconds left to push the lead back to five. He also hit a 3-pointer with 3:05 remaining to give the Heat a 90-81 lead, before the Hornets rallied and got as close as two.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra continued to call Wade’s number down the stretch, and for good reason.

“Dwyane feels most alive when the competition is at its highest, when games feel like this,” Spoelstra said. “He was brilliant on both ends. I’ve seen him enough over the years that it just becomes about winning plays, whatever those may be. It’s born out of great competition. It brings the absolute best out of him.”

The 13-year veteran guard had not hit a 3-pointer since December, but he was looking to step up in any way he could with the game — and the series — on the line.

“A lot of the games have been like this, the two teams are very equal,” Wade said. “It takes special performances and big shots to win. Coach put the ball in my hands and I had to make some tough shots. Tonight, in Game 6, I trust my teammates, I love them, but if we were going to lose I was going to go out shooting.”

Wade’s performance overshadowed a brilliant evening by Charlotte’s Kemba Walker, who finished with 37 points. Walker single handedly kept the Hornets in the game as he scored 12 straight Hornets points during their late comeback.

The Heat had been held to fewer than 90 points in each of the three previous games — all Charlotte wins. They came ready to play offensively Friday, shooting 60 per cent from the field in the first half and leading by as many as 13.

They cooled down in the second half and finished at 45.8 per cent, and Wade was partly responsible. He missed six straight shots in the third quarter.

Walker brought the Hornets as close as 90-88 as the Heat went three straight possessions without scoring.

Wade said the 3-pointer with 3:05 left was the catalyst for everything he did in the final minute.

“The first one, they gave me,” Wade said. “There were like four seconds on the shot clock and I was able to line it up and get it to go. Then once I saw the first one fall, it’s like with all scorers, the basket gets bigger. At that point, I was just playing basketball. It was about getting the first one to fall. After that went in, that was it.”

The Heat also got 21 points from Luol Deng, 14 from Goran Dragic, 12 from Hassan Whiteside and 11 from Joe Johnson.

Walker’s 37 points came on 14-of-30 shooting and 4-of-8 from 3-point range.

The Hornets had only two others in double figures, though. Jefferson scored 18, and Cody Zeller scored 12. Jeremy Lin, a star throughout the series, finished 1-of-8 from the field for two points and Marvin Williams went scoreless on 0-for-7 shooting.

Hornets coach Steve Clifford didn’t like his team’s defence in the first half, and he noted that the Heat seemed to get all the 50-50 balls. The Hornets were outrebounded 46-31.

Still, Clifford knew the biggest reason his team lost.

“With the game on the line, Wade did what he has done for years,” Clifford said. “He showed why he’s been one of the great competitors and great winners in the league for a long time. Hats off to them. They played better than we did.”

“It’s always tough to lose, obviously,” Walker said. “We made so many mistakes. We just have to be better. But they just made great plays down the stretch and they deserved to win.”

LEICESTER, England — When King Richard III was reinterred in Leicester in March last year 500 years after his death, fans of the English city’s unheralded football club might have thought it too was dead and buried.

Richard’s remains had been found beneath a municipal car park. Leicester City were also at a low point, bottom of the Premier League table having won just six games all season.

Then they embarked on an incredible run, winning seven of their last nine matches to comfortably avoid relegation.

Now are on the brink of becoming league champions for the first time in their 132-year history, with just three defeats all season.

Their exploits have thrust the provincial city into the global spotlight once again.

“It’s a remarkable coincidence,” Wayne Harding, a season ticket holder for 34 years, said of the link between Richard’s reburial and Leicester’s meteoric rise.

Rated 5,000-1 long shots by bookmakers last August, if “the Foxes” win at Manchester United on Sunday, the title will be theirs with two games still to go.

“Everybody’s buzzing. If they do it on Sunday, it will be an absolutely banging day,” said Harding, 53, standing by a new statue of King Richard outside the city’s cathedral.

Leicester, about 160km north of London, has become a sea of blue and white, the team’s colours.

Bunting with the club crest flutters from poles in the main shopping thoroughfares and shop windows are adorned with huge Leicester flags and blue and white balloons.

“It’s had a massive impact, everyone’s talking about it whether you’re a fan or not,” said Ian Derry, 51, who went to his first game in 1969.

In a league dominated for the last 25 years by a select few rich, glamour clubs such as Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal, neutrals and supporters from other clubs are also rooting for Leicester, said shop-worker Derry.

“The great escape surprised us all and then to push on to the top and possibly, possibly win it, is unbelievable. All the planets just seem to have aligned.”

All gone mad

The highest Leicester have previously finished was second, way back in 1928-9. The club has also been FA Cup runner-up four times but never triumphed, although it has won the less prestigious League Cup three times.

Just eight years ago, it was languishing in the third tier of English football.

“I’ve worked in Leicester for 10 years and never heard a word about Leicester football club until this year,” said Phil Wiley, 52, who hails from northeast England. “Now everyone is banging on about them. They’ve all gone mad.”

Billboards for the Leicester Mercury newspaper read “Biggest Game in Club’s History” and “Pubs Set For Big City Party”.

Bars and restaurants are offering blue-themed food and drinks, a butcher is selling sausages named after Italian manager Claudio Ranieri, and pubs are pouring beer named in honour of top scorer Jamie Vardy.

One restaurant is planning to give away 1,000 free curries to season-ticket holders if Leicester win the title.

Where is Leicester?

Like its football team, Leicester itself has rarely found itself in the headlines.

The city, which dates back to Roman times some 2,000 years ago, is one of Britain’s most ethnically diverse areas, with about half its 330,000 citizens non-white British, according to a 2011 census.

The tourist office’s list of famous residents past and present has few household names, featuring the likes of psychedelic rock band Gaye Bykers On Acid and crooner Engelbert Humperdinck.

“It’s not a high-profile city. We’re not really on the tourist map. When we went abroad and said we’re from Leicester, they didn’t know where it was,” said Bev Danson, 56, who has lived in Leicester all her life.

The discovery and reburial of Richard’s body was estimated to have brought an extra £59 million ($86 million) to the local economy, attracting an extra 600,000 visitors to the city.

Residents’ believe the club’s success will have a far greater impact, with English football avidly followed by millions of fans across the globe and the team certain to play in Europe’s most prestigious competition, the Champions League.

“It seems as though all eyes are on Leicester,” said Pratik Master, the managing director for Lilu Restaurant which is serving up dishes renamed after the team’s manager, who came in for a meal last week, and players.

The fact that the club has a Thai owner, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, and a Japanese striker, Shinji Okazaki, has also ensured an eager following in Asia.

“We’ve had a great 18 months in Leicester with Richard III but now with the Foxes it’s brought the world even closer,” Master said. 

Bells to ring out

After a season straight out of the fevered imagination of a movie scriptwriter, Ranieri is asking his men to seal their “once in a lifetime” Premier League triumph on Sunday with a Hollywood flourish at Old Trafford.

At the storied home of Manchester United, fittingly also known as “The Theatre of Dreams”, unsung Leicester, whose story has captured a nation’s imagination, will lift their first-ever top flight title with a win.

“Now is the real chance to win the title. Once in the life,” said a smiling Ranieri, who knows that three points in their three remaining games would be enough but that winning at one of football’s great cathedrals would make it storybook perfect.

“It is important for us to make a perfect game,” he added.

“It is important to finish the story like an American movie. Always in the final it is okay. Happy ending!”

Ranieri hardly sounded like a man under pressure as he joked with journalists who had come from all over the world to Leicester to hear his comical pearls of wisdom.

It prompted a familiar cheeky grin. “I have a lot of choice. I have 24 players. Maybe I’ll change them all!” he said with a laugh. “The Tinkerman never changes!”

Only come Sunday night, he may no longer be known as the Tinkerman but the Miracle-man. 

MADRID –– After watching Pep Guardiola fail to inspire Bayern Munich to victory over Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid in their Champions League semifinal on Wednesday, Manchester City may wonder if they have hired the wrong man to lead them for the next three years.

Saul Niguez's splendid individual goal gave Atletico a 1-0 first-leg win and leaves Guardiola's side needing a huge performance next week in Munich to prevent a third consecutive Champions League semifinal exit at the hands of a Spanish team.

Guardiola is on track to lead Bayern to a third consecutive Bundesliga title but his three-year spell there will ultimately be judged on whether he can win Europe's elite club competition with them.

Guardiola won the Champions League twice in four years with Barcelona, celebrating the first triumph in 2009 with club executives Txiki Begeristain and Ferran Soriano, who left the Spanish side for Manchester City.

City, who drew 0-0 with Real Madrid in the other semifinal, named Guardiola as their new manager in February, like Bayern, viewing him as the man to lead them to European glory.

However, unless he can work out a way to overcome Simeone's resilient side, Guardiola will have to watch the Milan showpiece on television on May 22.

His new club may even be there without him.

Guardiola conceded that Atletico overpowered and outran Bayern, pressed them all over the pitch and defended well in numbers to limit them to efforts from distance.

"We have to play at a different pace in the second leg," said Guardiola.

Bayern had chances — David Alaba smashed the underside of the bar from way out — but they rarely controlled the game and lacked the hunger of Atletico's all-action unit.

"It was a great goal, but we were at fault, it was a consequence of our low intensity," added Guardiola.

Atletico coach Simeone had drilled into his side the importance of shutting down Bayern's attacking options, and his players responded by pulling off an eighth clean sheet in 11 Champions League games this season.

Having knocked out tournament holders Barcelona in the quarter-finals, the Argentine is well place to book Atletico a second Champions League final spot in three seasons.

If he can mastermind another success in Munich, his growing reputation as a sharp strategist will be enhanced further, and perhaps have Manchester City casting envious glances in Atletico's direction.

AMMAN – Teams head into the final week of the 64th Jordan Professional Football with standings still undetermined: three teams are technically in contention for the title and three teams are in danger of relegation.

Wihdat have a slim two point lead over Faisali after ending three matches in draws and losing important points that could have secured their title for the third consecutive year. Now they have to beat Jazira in their final match on Saturday to win the title.

The team is just out of a crushing 6-2 defeat to Bahrain's Hidd in Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup which kept them in third place in Group A and nearly out of the competition. 

Faisali will play Baqa'a on Saturday and will aim for a win while hoping Wihdat lose to win the title. If Wihdat draw, there will be a need for a title- deciding match. 

Ahli are in contention for runner-up and have technically lost the chance for the title which they won 8 times before. Their slim chances for ending an excellent season with a title depend on defeats for both leading teams and them beating Shabab Urdun on Saturday. 

Last week, Faisali were held 3-3 with Hussein, Wihdat were held 0-0 with Ramtha, Baqa'a improved their chances by beating Shabab Urdun 4-1, Jazira went up to fourth after a 4-0 win over That Ras, Sarih held Kufrsoum 1-1 while Ahli beat Asala 2-1. After these results, at the other end of the standings, Sarih, Baqa'a, That Ras but moreover Kufrsoum are all in danger to join Asala who have been relegated.

MANCHESTER – Manchester City are set up to land Real Madrid a knockout blow at the Bernabeu next week and earn a place in the Champions League final, Joe Hart said after his saves helped earn a 0-0 draw in Tuesday's first leg.

The England goalkeeper produced two incredible late stops at the Etihad Stadium to leave the tie hanging in the balance for next week's second leg in the Spanish capital.

Ten times winners Real have won six out of six at home in this year's competition, racking up 18 goals without conceding, but Hart said he was relishing the challenge.

"We've set it up for a good, old-fashioned rumble at the Bernabeu," said Hart, who made a superb point-blank save from Pepe late on shortly after sticking out a foot to block a goalbound Casemiro header. "Bring it on."

"We are not disappointed with the result. We are ready. We have a brilliant squad who are coming to fruition.

"Big game next week, simple as."

City have already won at Sevilla in the group phase and in Kiev in the last 16 and also drew at Paris St Germain on their way past the French champions into the semifinals.

Real, who should have their injured top scorer Ronaldo back next week after he was forced to sit out Tuesday's opener with a thigh strain, will be a formidable hurdle, but City captain Vincent Kompany said the Spanish giants will be wary.

"0-0 is a very dangerous scoreline. From the moment we manage to score in Madrid, it will be very different," he said.

Real manager Zinedine Zidane said he felt his side deserved to be heading home with their noses in front.

"It was difficult. We defended well, we had more of the ball in the second half and we had chances to score," he said. "I'm a bit disappointed because in the second half we deserved to win."

Explaining why Ronaldo was not even on the bench, the Frenchman said the Portuguese had aggravated a thigh strain during a training session.

With striker Karim Benzema failing to come out for the second half, Zidane has some striking worries.

"Benzema's situation was different, he got worse the more the game went on and we didn't want to risk him. I hope they both are in the next game," Zidane told reporters.

RIO DE JANEIRO – Visa Inc. is forecasting 400,000 to 500,000 international visitors to Rio de Janeiro in August, a projection one of its top marketing executives called "reassuring" given economic and health issues swirling around the August games in Brazil.

Chris Curtin, Visa's chief brand and innovation officer, said those figures are based on an "enormous amount of transactions" in Visa's network in the region ranging from hotel nights, entertainment to transportation, as well as third-party historical data.

Visa's projections are higher than a 2014 prediction from Brazil's tourism agency of 380,000 foreign visitors while they are lower than the 590,000 foreign visitors who went to the United Kingdom for the last summer Olympics in 2012, according to UK government statistics.

The Rio Games run from August 5-21. Brazil was awarded the Olympics in 2009 when it was enjoying a period of strong economic growth, but has since fallen into its worst recession in decades, dragged down by a collapse in commodity prices.

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff is also almost certain to be forced from office well before the Olympics, after losing an impeachment vote which has paralysed her government.

At the same time, the country is waging a battle against the Zika virus, which is linked to birth defects in newborns.

It is the first time that Visa is projecting Olympic travel attendance. The company has a unique vantage point on such plans because, as a sponsor of the International Olympic Committee since 1986, it is the only form of payment accepted besides cash for Olympic tickets and travel packages.

Its data, combined with historical attendance and spending, shows "a lot of demand for getting to Brazil" to participate in or watch the Olympics, Curtin said in an interview.

About 45 per cent of travellers will come from Latin America and the Caribbean, 30 per cent from Europe and only 15 per cent from North America, Visa predicts.

Based on data from the 2012 Summer Olympics, travellers to those games were younger, more male and come from more emerging markets than average travellers.

Travel to Brazil will increase by 1.2 million travellers in 2016 compared with the average amount of tourists between 2010 and 2015.

Visa did not make a prediction of how much an average visitor to the games will spend. It said, however, that travellers to the London 2012 Olympic games spent an average of $1830, twice as much per visit as a typical tourist to the United Kingdom that year.

"[The Olympics] will bring the best of the world to Brazil at a time when Brazil could clearly use support and assistance," Curtin said. 

RIO DE JANEIRO — If the Rio de Janeiro Olympics were held today, the US would win the most medals — and the most golds. And American swimmer Michael Phelps would collect five more gold medals and a bronze, bringing his overall total to 28 with a career gold-medal haul of 23.

Simon Gleave has been crunching the Olympic numbers for four years, putting them through a data-processing programme as the head of analysis for US-based Gracenote, a sports and entertainment data provider.

"In terms of medal-count and order, it's going to be close to what we have," said Gleave, who in 2012, using a less sophisticated programme, predicted within four medals the results of 16 of the top 20 teams.

Gleave will issue updates again in June, July and August, just days before the August 5 opening. He expects a few minor changes, but nothing major.

Gleave is picking the United States to top the table with 42 gold and 102 overall. China will be second with 31 gold and 78 overall, which is the same 1-2 order as London four years ago. The next teams in order of gold are: Russia (22), Australia (18), Britain (17), Germany (15), Japan (12), South Korea (12), France (10) and the host-country Brazil (9).

"You could look at this as if these are the stories before they happen," Gleave said in an interview with The Associated Press.

For years, Italian Luciano Barra has predicted the medal count, basing his results on world-championships results leading up to the games.

Gleave has gone several steps beyond. He tracks world championships, Grand Prix events, Grand Slams and even some continental championships — then gives more weight to the most recent events, and the most important events.

Although Gleave has Russia placing third in the gold-medal and overall standings, some Russian athletes could be banned from the games over a doping scandal.

"It's a bit difficult to know with Russia at the moment," Gleave said. "We don't know the sports they are going to be competing in with all the stuff that's been going on around Russia."

Gleave also has Phelps down for six more medals — five gold. He's picking him to win gold in the 100- and 200-metre butterfly and the 200-metre individual medley. He's had to guess on which relays Phelps will swim, but he picks him for gold in the 4x100 medley and 4x200 free-style. And he figures he'll get bronze in the 4x100 free-style.

"We are speculating to an extent on the relays," Gleave said. "But I don't think that it's a wild thing to guess."

BARCELONA –– Bayern Munich destroyed Atletico Madrid’s dreams of winning the European Cup in 1974 and are out to wreck their hopes of reaching a second Champions League final in three years when they visit the Spanish capital for the semifinal first leg.

In the final in Heysel 42 years ago, an equaliser from defender Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck in the final minute of extra time cancelled out Luis Aragones’ opening goal and forced a replay, in which Bayern ran out 4-0 winners.

That outcome led to contrasting fortunes for both clubs — Bayern went on to win three consecutive European Cups and are now bidding for their sixth triumph in manager Pep Guardiola’s last season in charge before taking over at Manchester City.

Atletico are still haunted by the memory of Schwarzenbeck’s goal, which prompted the nickname “el pupas” (the cursed ones).

History repeated itself 40 years later when Atletico led Real Madrid 1-0 in the Champions League final and Sergio Ramos headed in a 93rd-minute equaliser to force extra time before going on to thrash the Rojiblancos 4-1.

Four decades after Schwarzenbeck robbed them of glory, Atletico are still chasing their first European Cup, yet are emboldened in their bid to go all the way this year after knocking out holders and favourites Barcelona in the quarter-finals.

They beat Malaga 1-0 on Saturday thanks to substitute Angel Correa’s second-half strike to stay level on points with Barcelona, who top La Liga due to their superior head-to-head record.

Bayern maintained their seven-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga by winning 2-0 at Hertha Berlin with second-half goals from Arturo Vidal and Douglas Costa. A victory at home to Borussia Monchengladbach next week will see Bayern clinch a third successive title under Guardiola.

Bayern have also reached the German Cup final yet many believe the former Barcelona coach will have under-achieved at the club should he fail to win the Champions League.

Midfielder Xabi Alonso rejected that suggestion, however, highlighting the Catalan’s positive influence.

“I’ve no doubt his time here will leave an important base, independently of whether we have a fantastic end to the season or not. Our memories of him will be brilliant, and he won’t be a failure if we didn’t win the Champions League,” said Alonso.

Atletico are the third Spanish team Bayern have met in as many years in the semifinals, having been knocked out by Real Madrid in 2014 and Barcelona last year.

Atletico are without influential centre back Diego Godin due to a hamstring injury, while Bayern will be missing forward Arjen Robben and defender Jerome Boateng.

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Clippers did not just lose Game 4 of their first-round play-off series with the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday at the Moda Centre. They lost their point guard, leader and best player, too.

Chris Paul left the game in the third quarter of the Trail Blazers’ 98-84 victory with a right hand injury and did not return. X-rays showed a fractured third metacarpal.

He might be sidelined for the remainder of the play-offs.

Al Farouq Aminu scored 30 points — a career high for both the regular season and the playoffs — as the Blazers evened the best-of-seven series at two games apiece. Aminu made 11 of 20 shots from the field, including six of 10 from 3-point range.

The 6-foot-9 forward also had 10 rebounds and three blocked shots.

CJ McCollum scored 19 points, and Mason Plumlee contributed two points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists for Portland.

Clippers forward Blake Griffin had 17 points and seven rebounds before leaving the game in the fourth quarter with a sore left quad. Jeff Green added 17 points off the bench for Los Angeles, and Paul scored 16.

Aminu scored 13 points and Plumlee had two points, nine rebounds and five assists to stake Portland to a 47-43 half-time lead.

Paul scored 14 points and Green added 10 for the Clippers, who shot 33.3 per cent from the field and were outrebounded 31-21 in the half. He left with his injury with the Clippers trailing 58-52.

Green nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to narrow Portland’s advantage to 66-64 after three quarters.

The Blazers outscored the Clippers 11-4 to start the fourth quarter go ahead 77-68. The difference was 84-72 with 5 1/2 minutes to play. The Clippers got no closer than seven points the rest of the way.

Portland jumped to a 12-4 lead, with Aminu scoring eight of the points. The Blazers led 20-12, with Paul scoring all of the Clippers’ points.

To that point, Paul was 6-for-6 from the field, his teammates 0-for-13. The first non-Paul field goal by the Clippers came on a DeAndre Jordan dunk with 1:43 left in the first quarter.

The Blazers took a 24-20 advantage into the second quarter despite 6-for-22 shooting and four combined points from Damian Lillard and McCollum.

Allen Crabbe’s 3-pointer gave Portland a 34-26 lead midway through the second quarter. The Clippers countered with a 10-3 run to get to within 37-36. The Blazers intentionally fouled Jordan, who airballed both free-throw attempts.

Portland scored the next five points to go on top 42-36, and the Blazers carried a four-point advantage into the half.