RIO DE JANEIRO -- When Hungarian native Szandra Szogedi steps onto the judo mat at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, shell be making history as the first-ever female judoka to represent Ghana.Born in Budapest, Szogedi started judo at age 11, after a friend of her fathers recommended the sport. With a background in gymnastics, Szogedi adapted quickly to the dynamic flips and groundwork characteristic of the Japanese martial art.After just six months, Szogedi won a silver medal at Hungarys national championships.I was hooked, she told the Associated Press in a recent interview. I loved winning medals and started to think this might be the sport for me. Szogedi began attending a specialized sports school and qualified for the national judo squad.But after her parents divorced in 2007, money was tight and Szogedi was forced to drop judo. She moved to the U.K. shortly afterwards and began working as a waitress in a London hotel. One afternoon, as she watched the opening ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics with friends at a pub, she saw one of her former Hungarian judo teammates walk into the Birds Nest stadium.I had the feeling that I had some unfinished business, Szogedi said. She soon started training again at a London judo club, where she met her future husband, a Ghana-born engineer.After securing her Ghanaian passport through him, Szogedi began competing for the West African country at major judo tournaments and narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 2012 London Olympics. Szogedi has been to Ghana once to meet her husbands family and says she was overwhelmed by the welcome she received.The people are so lovely and so kind that it doesnt feel weird to me to be representing Ghana. I feel very proud to be able to fight for them, she said, recalling when she won a bronze medal at the African Championships last September. I was on the bus when some random Ghanaian athletes came on, saw my medal and just started singing and dancing, she said. That would never happen in Europe.Szogedi is now based in Camberley, 32 kilometers (20 miles) south of London, where she trains alongside several members of Britains national team. In preparation for Rio, Szogedi is working to sharpen her fight strategy and in particular, is working on being more aggressive in controlling her matches by getting a dominant grip on her opponents uniforms.Although she is among the shorter competitors in her 63-kilogram weight division, her coach says that could work to her advantage.She has a great ability to get underneath other players and score some big throws, said Luke Preston, Szogedis coach at the Camberley judo club and also a national coach for the British team.Though Szogedi is ranked 40th in the world, Preston said that matters little in the combat sport.The beauty of judo is that world champions can get knocked out in the first round, he said. It just takes somebody to step up and seize the moment. Theres no reason that cant be Szandra.Los Angeles Angels Pro Shop . -- Al Jefferson found a groove just in time for the Charlotte Bobcats. Fake Angels Jerseys . 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Yankees manager Joe Girardi says hes thinking about allowing Rivera to do it this weekend, when the Yankees finish their season with a three-game series at the Houston Astros.ROME -- After all the hype about Pep Guardiola returning to face his former club, Lionel Messi made sure it was no contest.Messi scored a hat trick to deal a humbling defeat to his former mentor on Wednesday, leading Barcelona to an emphatic 4-0 victory over Manchester City in the Champions League.Messi sped through Citys defense and around former Barcelona goalkeeper Claudio Bravo before giving the hosts the 17th-minute lead in a Group C match that both teams finished with 10 men.It only got worse for Bravo, who was sent off in the second half for using his hands to block a shot outside the area after his poor pass gifted the ball to Luis Suarez.Messi struck again in the 61st and 69th to take his total to 89 goals in Europes top club competition. The Argentina forward is second only to Cristiano Ronaldos 98.Barcelonas substitute defender Jeremy Mathieu was sent off in the 73rd minute for a second yellow card.Neymar rounded off the win from a pass by Messi, moments after the Brazil striker had missed a penalty that Messi had earned.Guardiola lost for the second time upon returning to Camp Nou where he established himself as one of the worlds top managers by leading Barcelona to 14 titles from 2008-12. The former Barcelona midfielder coached Bayern Munich when the German side lost 3-0 at the Catalan side in the Champions League semifinals two years ago, when Messi scored twice.Barcelona leads Group C with a perfect nine points, City has four and Borussia Moenchengladbach three after its 2-0 win at last-place Celtic, which has one point.Heres a look at what else happened in the Champions League on Wednesday:---GROUP AMesut Ozil fired a second-half hat trick as Arsenal took a big step toward the knockout stage with a 6-0 rout of Bulgarian champion Ludogorets.The north London side, which is now unbeaten since the opening game of the season two months ago, tops the group with seven points.Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had put Arsenal up 3-0 before Ozil took over.Paris Saint-Germain also has seven points after its 3-0 home win over Basel, which is level on one point with Ludogorets.Angel Di Maria ended his goal drought at just the right moment and striker Edinson Cavani continued his scoring streak as PSG overcame a poor start at the Parc des Princes.Having gone 17 games without a goal for club and country, Di Maria pounced five minutes before halftime and Brazilian winger Lucas slotted in his seventh ggoal of the season in the 62nd before Cavani added a late penalty.dddddddddddd---GROUP BVincent Aboubakar scored twice as Besiktas beat Napoli 3-2 to deny the Italian club a chance of advancing from the group stage in record time.Aboubakar, a Cameroon international on loan from Porto, scored the winner four minutes from time after having also restored Besiktas lead late in the first half.It was the Turkish sides first win in the competition since 2009.If Napoli had won, it could have become the first team in Champions League history to advance from its group after just three matches.Now, Napoli has just a one-point lead over Besiktas, with Benfica two points back after its 2-0 win at Dynamo Kiev.After Adrianos opener for Besiktas, Dries Mertens and Manolo Gabbiadini scored temporary equalizers for Napoli.In Kiev, Eduardo Salvio converted a penalty and Franco Servi also scored in Benficas first win of the campaign.---GROUP CIn Glasgow, Borussia Moenchengladbach capitalized on two defensive errors by Kolo Toure to beat Celtic 2-0, earning the German team its first points.Toures first error came when he tried to shepherd the ball over the byline for a goal kick in the 57th. Andre Hahn wrapped his foot around the defender and hooked the ball back into the area, where Lars Stindl drove a shot through goalkeeper Craig Gordons legs from an acute angle.Hahn doubled the lead in the 77th after Toures pass near the halfway line was intercepted. Hahn sprinted through the middle and toe-poked a finish high into the net from just inside the area, just as Toure got back to attempt a lunging tackle.---GROUP DBayern Munich dispelled any doubts about its commitment by ending a three-match winless run with a comfortable 4-1 victory over PSV Eindhoven.Thomas Mueller opened the scoring in the 13th, Joshua Kimmich doubled the lead in the 21st, before Luciano Narsingh pulled one back for the visitors.Robert Lewandowski scored in the 59th, just as PSV seemed to be making a comeback and Arjen Robben provided the insurance in the 84th.Bayern has six points, three behind group leader Atletico Madrid, which won 1-0 in Rostov. PSV and FC Rostov have one point each.In Rostov, Yannick Ferreira Carrasco fired in the winner shortly after the hour mark for Atletico, last seasons runner-up.---Joseph Wilson in Barcelona contributed. ' ' '