Page 2175 - Sports

Mourinho hits back at Conte, raises match-fixing

Jose Mourinho intensified his war of words with Chelsea manager Antonio Conte in bizarre fashion after his team's FA Cup victory over Derby yesterday, apparently referencing a match-fixing scandal in Italy. The Manchester United manager was responding to comments made by Conte earlier in the day in which he appeared to make disparaging statements about Mourinho. The Italian was even interpreted as suggesting that the United manager may be suffering from "dementia" after Mourinho had made a reference, 24 hours earlier, to his own behaviour and the fact that he no longer acts "like a clown". Initially, Mourinho appeared to be backing Conte following the furore caused by his words on Thursday -- only then to make the reference to match-fixing. "I was asked about my passion and, you know, I was speaking about myself and then the question to the Chelsea manager was that I said he behaved like a clown," said Mourinho. "Probably the journalist wanted to say that but didn't have

Sydney, Jan 6 (AFP) - Scoreboard at the close on day

- Scoreboard at the close on day three in the fifth Ashes Test between Australia and England in here today: England first innings 346 Australia first innings (overnight 193-2) C. Bancroft b Broad 0 D. Warner c Bairstow b Anderson 56 U. Khawaja st Bairstow b Crane 171 S. Smith c and b Ali 83 S. Marsh not out 98 M. Marsh not out 63 Extras (b2, lb3, w1, nb2) 8 Total (4 wickets; 157 overs) 479 Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-86, 3-274, 4-375 Bowling: Anderson 30-11-52-1, Broad 23-2-70-1, Ali 37-9- 125-1, Curran 20-2-71-0 (1w), Crane 39-3-135-1 (2nb), Root 8- 3-21-0.

Dutch star Sneijder close to joining Qatar club Al Gharafa

French football club Nice has permitted Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder to go to Qatar for a medical examination prior to joining Al Gharafa Sports Club.

Everton sign Turkish forward Tosun

English Premier League (EPL) club Everton has signed Turkey international Cenk Tosun in a deal worth $36.6 million.

Vitorino Fernandes to captain Goa in Santosh Trophy

A 20-member Goa squad led by Sporting Clube de Goa striker Vitorino Fernandes today left for Ahmedabad to participate in the West Zone qualifying round of the Santosh Trophy 2017-18. Goa, who are placed along with Rajasthan and Gujarat, will play their first match against Rajasthan on January 10. They will lock horns with Gujarat on January 12. Goa Football Association president Elvis Gomes said the team to be captained by Vitorino Fernandes was announced last evening. The other members of the squad are Mathew Gonsalves, Ozen Silva, Melroy Fernandes, Agnelo Gomes, Nickson Catanha, Shallum Pires, Peter Carvalho, Jessel Carneiro, Mackroy Peixoto, Kingslee Fernandes, Nestor Dias, Kapil Hoble, Beevan D'Mello, Velito D'Cruz, Joaquim Carvalho, Clinton Niasso, Marcus Mascarrenhas, Clive Miranda and Joaquim Abranches. "This is one of the most formidable squads in recent times. We have also appointed Armando Coalco as the coach and Mateus Costa as the assistant coach," Gomes said.

Striker Tevez leaves Shanghai Shenhua for Boca Juniors

Argentine striker Carlos Tevez has rejoined his former football club Boca Juniors after parting ways with China's Shanghai Shenhua.

Mexico's America sign French forward Menez

Mexico's America have announced the signing of French forward Jeremy Menez and Colombian winger Andres Ibarguen for the 2018 football season.

Barca must pay more to get Mina sooner: Palmeiras

FC Barcelona will have to pay more than $10.8 million for defender Yerry Mina if they want him to join the Spanish football side in January, Brazil's Palmeiras said.

Midfielder Hernanes to return to Hebei China Fortune

Brazilian fottball club Sao Paulo have confirmed that former Juventus midfielder Hernanes will return to Hebei China Fortune this month after a successful loan spell.

Liverpool, Man United advance to FA Cup 4th round

New acquisition Virgil van Dijk had the winning goal as Liverpool edged Everton 2-1 in the third round of the FA Cup here, while Romelu Lukaku returned from injury to score for Manchester United in 2-0 win over Derby County.

Fiorentina salvage a point against Inter Milan

Argentine striker Giovanni Simeone's goal in the 91st minute saw Italian football club Fiorentina pull out a 1-1 draw with Inter Milan here.

New Zealand beat Pakistan by 61 runs in 1st ODI

New Zealand ended Pakistan's run of nine consecutive wins in one-day internationals when they beat the Champions Trophy holders by 61 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis system today to open the five-match series. Captain Kane Williamson made 115 to lead New Zealand to 315-7 as they batted first after losing the toss. Pakistan were 166-6 after 30.1 overs when rain brought the match to an early end. Opener Fakhar Zaman was 82 not out and Faheem Ashraf 17 was not out but Pakistan were well short of the 227 runs it needed to win the match under the Duckworth-Lewis system when rain finally set in. New Zealand swing bowler Tim Southee captured two wickets in the first over of the Pakistan innings to place the tourists under immediate pressure in reply. Southee trapped both Azhar Ali (6) and Babar Azam (0) lbw within his opening over, then took a catch from Trent Boult's bowling to dismiss Mohammad Hafeez (1) to leave Pakistan's innings in disarray at 13-3. Fakhar batted superbly ..

Hockey India names 33 players for junior men's national camp

Hockey India today named a 33- member core probables for a junior men's national camp, to be held in Bengaluru from January 7 to March 15. The players will train under coach Jude Felix. The camp includes Mandeep Mor, Pratap Lakra, Pankaj Rajak, Harmanjit Singh, Vishal Singh, Raushan Kumar, Dilpreet Singh, Maninder Singh, Sanjay, Senthamizh Shankar, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Rabichandra Moirangthem and Shilanand Lakra who were part of the 18-member Indian junior men's team that won the bronze medal at the recently-held Sultan of Johor Cup in Malaysia. The group will be looking at the overall development during the camp and will also get an opportunity to closely watch their senior compatriots go about their preparations for an all-important year that features the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and men's World Cup in Bhubaneswar. "It is a long camp and we will be looking at different ways to bring in overall development. While our primary focus will be to ...

Australia 365-3 at tea on day 3; lead England by 19 runs

Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh batted watchfully against some tight England bowling to guide Australia to 365-3 at tea, establishing a first-innings lead of 19 runs on day three of the fifth Ashes Test. After earlier reaching his first test century in more than a year, Khawaja continued his revival to be 166 not out at the interval. Shaun Marsh unbeaten on 54, sharing a 91-run fourth- wicket partnership as England bowled with good discipline after lunch to restrict Australia's scoring opportunities. Khawaja raised his 150 off 333 balls, with 16 fours and a six, with consecutive boundaries off Moeen Ali. His milestone drew warm appreciation from a capacity Sydney Cricket Ground cloaked in pink to support the McGrath Foundation breast cancer charity fundraiser, which is in its 10th year. It was the 31-year-old Khawaja's second time past 150 in his 29 test matches and he needs 10 more runs to pass his highest Test score of 175. Australia took the lead 15 minutes before tea ...

Smith shouldn't criticize his players in public: Waugh

Veteran Australian cricketer Steve Waugh was taken by surprise on captain Steve Smith's remarks about Glen Maxwell's exclusion from the national team.The former skipper also said that he does not think that Maxwell deserved to be axed from the 14-man squad against England for the upcoming Gillette ODI Series."I found it all a bit strange. There must have been a reason why Steve Smith said that but I'm not sure it needs to be a public comment," Waugh told, according to cricket.com.au."Just looking at the way he trains, I think he could train a little bit smarter," Smith had said in a press conference in Sydney.The captain had further said that Maxwell should ditch the "funky stuff" and stick to the basics if he wants to get back in the national one-day team."We've all seen the way he can come out and play and do all his funky stuff and be pretty cool with that, but when he puts his head down he's actually a really good batsman," Smith concluded.However, Waugh strongly believes that ...

Hosts Bengaluru eye top spot against ATK

Having regained form with a convincing win in their last game, Bengaluru FC would look to continue the momentum when they lock horns with a struggling ATK in an Indian Super League (ISL) match here tomorrow. Bengaluru FC beat Kerala Blasters 3-1 win in their last outing. The hosts are placed third on the standings with 15 points from five wins in eight games, while ATK are seventh with nine points following two wins. Bengaluru coach Albert Roca would like to have a win before playing two games on the road - against Delhi Dynamos and Mumbai City. Roca would be hoping for some fireworks from skipper Sunil Chhetri and the prolific Miku, who bulged the Blasters' net twice. ATK would like to forget the 1-1 draw against FC Goa after a day-long ordeal of playing a delayed match, which finished well past midnight at the Salt Lke Stadium in Kolkata. The Goan team had arrived at the airport after its chartered flight got delayed following a technical snag and later due to a crash

Anderson to meet Simon in Maharashtra Open finals

South African tennis ace Kevin Anderson will face off against Frenchman Gilles Simon in title clash of the Maharashtra Open, here on Saturday.World no. 14 Kevin Anderson advanced to the finals of the tournament after he defeated France's Benoit Paire in the second semifinal of the tournament held at the Mhalunge Balewadi Stadium.The South-Africans defeated Benoit Paire in three sets 6-7, 7-6, 6-1.Earlier in the day, Gilles Simon had sprung a surprise in the first singles' semifinal as he came back from a set down to defeat the top-seed and world no. six Marin Cilic in three sets 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.The second semifinal was a well-matched contest as both the players were equally potent with their skills. Anderson was serving well as he hit 10 aces inside the first set, while Paire was equally good with his service points, winning 20 out of 26 off his first serve. However, in the tie-break of the first set, it was Paire who kept his nerve to take it at 7-6However, Anderson came out on top in .

Tevez leaves China, signs for Boca Juniors for 3rd time

Former Manchester United and Juventus striker Carlos Tevez agreed a move back to boyhood club Boca Juniors after 12 months in Chinese football with Shanghai Shenhua, the Argentine team announced. "Tevez is coming home! He joined the team today and is already training with his teammates," Boca said on its various social media accounts alongside a photo of the player working out in a gym. It will be the 33-year-old's third spell at Boca Juniors. He was pictured in the gym wearing a Boca team shirt although the club did not reveal the value of the transfer. Argentine news agency Telam had said earlier that Tevez had already negotiated what jersey he will wear at the Buenos Aires club -- number 32. Tevez joined Shenhua in January last year on an estimated 730,000 euros a week salary, making him one of the world's highest-paid players. A spokesman for Shenhua confirmed to AFP Friday that the club had been in talks with the globetrotting Argentine to end his contract. Tevez ...

Van Dijk scores winner on Liverpool debut

Virgil van Dijk scored a dramatic late winner on his debut as Liverpool clinched a 2-1 victory over Everton in a heated Merseyside derby FA Cup tie at Anfield. Liverpool had led 1-0 at the break after James Milner converted from the penalty spot but Everton looked to have secured a replay when Gylfi Sigurdsson equalised midway through the second half. But Van Dijk, who became the world's most expensive defender when he joined the Reds from Southampton, headed home six minutes from time in the 230th meeting between the sides. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp handed a debut to record 75 million signing Van Dijk as he selected arguably his strongest available starting line-up, in contrast to the 1-1 draw in the Premier League played out by the sides in December. Brazil playmaker Philippe Coutinho was again ruled out with a thigh injury as speculation continues to mount over his future amid interest from Barcelona, while top-scorer Mohamed Salah was missing with a groin ...

Khawaja century leads Australia to 277-3 at lunch, day 3

Usman Khawaja scored his first Test hundred in over a year and Steve Smith just missed yet another Don Bradman record as Australia reached 277-3 at lunch on the third day of the fifth Ashes Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Resuming at 193-2, Smith and Khawaja extended their partnership to 188 runs before Moeen Ali got the prize breakthrough of Smith moments before lunch, to leave the hosts 69 runs behind England's first-innings total of 346. At lunch today, Khawaja was 132 not out, with Shaun Marsh unbeaten on two. Khawaja's sixth Test century was timely given the 31- year-old hadn't scored a hundred since his 145 against South Africa in Adelaide in November 2016, and questions around his spot in the team had begun to arise after only scoring two 50s in six innings this series. Resuming on 91, the left-hander answered those doubts emphatically as he calmly guided his way through the 90s to raise his century in the eighth over of the day with a cut off Moeen Ali to ...