Page 1622 - Sports
Mancini given 'dream' job of rebuilding Italy
Roberto Mancini will hold his first press conference on Tuesday a day after being handed his "dream" job as Italy head coach with the task of reviving Azzurri fortunes six months after their shock failure to qualify for the World Cup. Italy have been without a permanent coach since Gian Piero Ventura was sacked after the four-time world champions failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1958. Mancini -- former coach of Manchester City and Inter Milan -- will meet the media for the first time as Italy boss at 12:00 (1000GMT) at the national team's training centre at Coverciano near Florence. "Roberto is the new coach of Italy, it's done," Italian FA commissioner Roberto Fabbricini declared after Mancini signed his new deal in Rome on Monday night. "There is satisfaction, also on the part of Mancini - his enthusiasm was decisive in the choice. Roberto had a great desire to sit on the Azzurri bench, he proved that in a concrete way." The two-year contract reportedly ..
Carrick makes immediate switch to coaching role at Man Utd
Michael Carrick is making an immediate switch from Manchester United's playing squad to the coaching team in time for Saturday's FA Cup final against Chelsea. The former England midfielder hung up his boots on Sunday after United's final Premier League game of the season against Watford. The following day he began his new job as a member of manager Jose Mourinho's coaching staff, with this weekend's clash against Chelsea at Wembley his first assignment. "It changes overnight," Carrick said. "I am not training this week. I am going to jump on the staff." The 36-year-old had other options as he approached the end of his playing career but the chance to work under Mourinho was too good to refuse. "A couple of years ago I thought maybe it would be a good thing to spend time with the family, but then it's about timing and opportunities," said Carrick, who made 464 appearances for United over 12 years after earlier spells with West Ham and Tottenham. "You never know what is going to be ...
19 years on, Bangladesh bury hatchet with ex-coach Greenidge
Bangladesh have finally buried the hatchet with West Indies batting great Gordon Greenidge -- nearly two decades after unceremoniously sacking him as head coach in the middle of the 1999 World Cup. The Bangladesh Cricket Board hosted a reception for Greenidge late Monday in Dhaka, reuniting the coach with his former players and the executives who dumped him. Greenidge led Bangladesh to the ICC Trophy title in Malaysia in 1997, and also steered the cricket minnows to their first World Cup. He was awarded honorary citizenship of Bangladesh in recognition of his achievements. But his relationship with cricket officials soured after he opposed Bangladesh's bid for Test status, a move he considered premature. Greenidge, who was sacked as Bangladesh prepared to play Pakistan in a World Cup fixture in England in 1999, had returned to Bangladesh just once since his sudden exit -- until Monday's function. "The parting was disappointing. I would have liked to spend more time with Bangladesh ...
AFC Cup: Bengaluru hope to ride luck against Abahani (Preview)
Bengaluru FC will hope for the rub of the green to go their way at more than one venue when they take on Abahani Limited Dhaka in their final Group E game at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Wednesday.
Uncapped keeper Arboleda named in Colombia's provisional squad for World Cup
Colombia head coach Jose Pekerman on Monday named uncapped goalkeeper Ivan Arboleda to his provisional 30-man football squad for the FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Gear up for 'Suits' spinoff
The title of the highly-anticipated 'Suits' spinoff has finally been revealed.'Second City' is all set to follow lawyer Jessica Pearson (aka Gina Torres) as she enters the dirty world of Chicago politics, reports Deadline.The series is executive produced by Aaron Korsh, showrunner Daniel Arkin, Torres and 'Suits' executive producers Doug Liman, David Bartis and Gene Klein of Hypnotic.Soon after the news was out, Twitterverse expressed their excitement over the spinoff."@akorsh9 Beyond excited for #SecondCity Gina Torres is a BOSS! Can't wait to see what you and the team come up with!" wrote one user."suits spin off name....meh gina torres/jessica pearson will be there so..." tweeted another user..
Icardi, Martinez named in provisional Argentina World Cup squad
Inter Milan captain Mauro Icardi and young Racing Club striker Lautaro Martinez were among 35 players named in Argentina's provisional World Cup squad.
Our spinners will challenge Indian batsmen: Afghanistan captain Stanikzai
Afghanistan captain Asghar Stanikzai believes the 'world-class' spinners in his team will pose a serious challenge to the much-vaunted Indian batting line-up in the historic one-off Test in Bengaluru from June 14. Afghanistan will make their much awaited Test debut at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and Stankizai said the aim is to give a good fight to India, who will be without their regular skipper Virat Kohli. "With or without Kohli, India are a top team and even stronger at home. Kohli is a very big player and we would have enjoyed playing against him," Stanikzai told PTI. "Irrespective of who is playing, everyone knows how tough it is to face India in India. It will be a great learning experience but we are surely not overawed by the challenge. We will be playing to win. We have world-class spinners in our team and they can trouble India." Afghanistan are currently training in Greater Noida but would be travelling to Dehradun later this week ahead of the three-match T20 series against ...
Peru's Guerrero barred from FIFA World Cup
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has extended the doping sanction against Peru national football team captain Paolo Guerrero to 14 months total, which means the veteran striker will miss the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Costa Rica head to World Cup with veterans of 2014
The squad to represent Costa Rica in the 2018 World Cup witnessed very few changes from the unit that reached the quarter-finals of the 2014 tournament in Brazil.
Tsonga withdraws from French Open
French tennis player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has announced his withdrawl from French Open this year due to insufficient recovery from left knee meniscus surgery.
I-League 2nd Division: Final Round to kick off on May 24
Following the completion of all the preliminary round matches at the 2017-18 2nd Division League, Real Kashmir FC, Ozone FC, TRAU FC and Hindustan FC will battle it out in the final round for the coveted I-League berth.Interestingly, none of these four teams featured in the final round last season.Real Kashmir FC, who finished at the bottom of their group last season, showed miraculous turn-around to top the Group A with 22 points from 10 matches and remained unbeaten throughout the preliminary round.On the other hand, Group B witnessed some drama on the final day as FC Kerala who led the group for most of the preliminary round lost 2-4 against Fateh Hyderabad which saw Ozone FC making it to the final round with 19 points despite finishing behind Kerala Blasters reserves.Tournament debutantes TRAU FC dominated the competition in Group C from the onset and finished the preliminary round campaign with 23 points and qualified for the final round.Meanwhile, Delhi-based Hindustan FC ...
Stuttgart sign five footballers
VfB Stuttgart have reinforced their first team with the signing of five youngsters for the next football season.
Danilo, Fagner named in Brazil's 23-man World Cup squad
Danilo and Fagner were selected to replace injured right-back Dani Alves as Brazil coach Tite announced his 23-man football squad for the FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Banned Bancroft cleared to play for WA grade cricket
Tainted Australian cricketer Cameron Bancroft, who is currently serving his suspension for his involvement in a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa, has been given the go-ahead to feature in Premier Cricket in Western Australia.The 25-year-old opener was handed a nine-month suspension by Cricket Australia after he was found to tamper with the ball during the third Test of the four-match series against South Africa in March this year.Besides Bancroft, former skipper Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner were given one-year ban each from both domestic and international cricket for their involvement in the scandal that sent shock waves through the cricket world.While Smith and Warner can continue to play for New South Wales even as they serve their suspensions, any Cricket Australia ban is automatically extended to club ranks under Western Australia Premier Cricket rules.However, Bancroft was given special dispensation to play for his club side Willetton following an extraordinary
Mark Waugh stands down as Australian selector
Former Test batsman Mark Waugh has stepped down from the post of Australian national selector after serving almost four years at the job.The 52-year-old will continue to remain on the Cricket Australia panel for the upcoming tours to England and Zimbabwe as a part of his current deal, but he will not renew his contract when it runs out on August 31.Announcing the news, Waugh said it was a really tough decision to opt to not continue at his role, adding that he had thoroughly enjoyed his time with the national selection panel."I've thoroughly enjoyed my time with the National Selection Panel, and it has been a tough decision to choose not to continue in my role," cricket.com.au quoted Waugh as saying."Working alongside my fellow selectors, the coaching staff and players over the past four years has been a privilege, and I'm proud of the achievements of the Australian teams across all formats in this time," he added.Waugh seems to have resigned from his role as his career as a ...
With play-off hopes hanging by a thread, MI take on KXIP
Hosts Mumbai Indians will fancy beating a floundering Kings XI Punjab when both sides face-off in a must-win match in the Indian Premier League here tomorrow. After a string of losses initially, Mumbai's hopes of making it to the last four were revived after three straight wins, but their eight-wicket defeat against Rajasthan Royals on Sunday has again put them on the back foot. While Mumbai are in sixth position with five wins from 12 games, a stuttering KXIP have slumped to the fifth spot with 12 points having suffered their fourth defeat yesterday in five games. Mumbai, with an excellent net run-rate, need to put behind the humiliation by the Royals and come out with all guns blazing against an equally jittery KXIP, who have lost their way in the second half of the tournament after starting strongly. Mumbai's middle order was yet again exposed in the last game when their batsmen, including skipper Rohit Sharma, failed miserably. Only Suryakumar Yadav has been among the runs on a .
AIFF U-18 Youth League Finals to begin tomorrow
The national finals of the AIFF U-18 Youth League gets underway in Shillong on Wednesday and fierce competition is expected, with teams bring forth their best talent to the stage.The round features a total of 16 teams split into four groups and after a round-robin that will see each team play three games, the top teams of each group will advance to the knockout stages, which culminates with the final which will be held on May 26, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.The current edition of the competition should be more wide open than usual as the reigning and three-time back-to-back champions AIFF Academy will not feature at the tournament. The last edition in 2017 was held in Kolkata.The teams have been divided into four groups which are as follows:- Group A: Sudeva FC, SAI Kolkata, Sporting Clube de Goa and Tata Football Academy-Group B: East Bengal, Minerva Punjab, FC Pune City and SAI Thiruvananthapuram-Group C: Bengaluru FC, DSK Shivajians, Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools and Kerala
Mark Waugh steps down as Australian selector
Australian cricket great Mark Waugh today quit as a national selector to take up a television commentary role as broadcasters jockey for top talent after a new rights deal was agreed. Waugh will not renew his contract when it expires on August 31 but will remain on the panel for the upcoming Australian tours of England and Zimbabwe. "Working alongside my fellow selectors, the coaching staff and players over the past four years has been a privilege, and I'm proud of the achievements of the Australian teams across all formats in this time," he said. "I firmly believe Australian cricket has a wealth of talented players in its ranks right now, and I look forward to watching the team continue to go from strength to strength in the years to come." No replacement has been announced with his departure, leaving the panel consisting of Trevor Hohns, Greg Chappell and new coach Justin Langer. Waugh, who played 128 Tests and 244 one-dayers for Australia, has been a selector since 2014, focusing ..
Ball-tamperer Bancroft cleared to play club cricket
Cameron Bancroft has been cleared to play club cricket in Western Australia while serving his ban for ball-tampering in South Africa, as he looks for redemption over a scandal that tarnished his name. The 25-year-old opening batsman was suspended for nine months from state and international cricket over a plot to try and alter the ball with sandpaper during the third Test in Cape Town in March. Then captain Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner were both banned for a year. Under WA Premier Cricket rules, any Cricket Australia suspension is automatically extended to club ranks, unlike in New South Wales state where Smith and Warner are able to play while serving their bans. At an extraordinary meeting of the 16 WA Premier Cricket clubs to discuss the issue on Monday evening, Bancroft was granted special dispensation to turn out for his club side Willetton. "It was strongly debated across a number of areas, but ultimately approved. It's great news for Cameron," Western Australia ...