Arsenal fans vocally urged the club to give Vivianne Miedema a new contract as she gave a farewell speech after the Women's Super League's climax.
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The coach firmly believes that he's done a decent job in difficult circumstances in Turin – but both the results and performances have been dire
Massimiliano Allegri had insisted all season long that Juventus' primary goal was Champions League qualification. "It doesn't matter if we seal it with the last minute of the last game," he argued on in March, "the important thing is that we get it."
As it transpired, Juve wouldn't have to rely on any final-day drama to get back in the big time. A top-five finish was sealed on Sunday, and with two rounds remaining, but the manner of the qualification has done absolutely nothing to ease the pressure on Allegri.
The Bianconeri didn't even manage to get over the line themselves; they were inadvertently nudged over it by Atalanta. After Juve had been held to a humiliating 1-1 draw at home by already-relegated Salernitana, who picked up just their 16th point of the season in Turin, the Bergamaschi boosted their own Champions League bid by beating sixth-placed Roma.
However, the very same Atalanta side that did Allegri a massive favour on Sunday night could kill off any lingering hope he has of holding onto his job in Wednesday evening's Coppa Italia final at the Stadio Olimpico.
Jason Behrendorff hasn’t arrived in India yet, while Lasith Malinga and Adam Milne are already unavailable for the two-time champions
The Preview by Karthik Krishnaswamy23-Mar-20195:33
Yet to talk to SLC about Malinga’s unavailability – Jayawardene
After 11 seasons of disappointment, disillusionment, and discarding countless players who have gone on to become superstars in other teams, Delhi Daredevils have put their faith in the power of the makeover, and rebranded themselves – they are now Delhi Capitals. Give them some time if that name rolls a little awkwardly off your tongue right now, but they will not want to take too much time to get into gear on the field.Their opponents on Sunday, Mumbai Indians, are renowned for their slow starts, but Delhi have been no better. The two teams have the joint-worst win percentage (36.40) of all the current IPL teams in season-opening matches, having each won four out of 11 so far. Mumbai are known for rebounding spectacularly from sluggish starts, but they couldn’t quite manage it last season, finishing fifth on the points table. Delhi did even worse, ending up rock bottom with only five wins. Both teams, therefore, are looking for a fresh start.With the World Cup squad announcement deadline (April 23) exactly a month away, the players will also want to begin the IPL brightly, particularly those whose ODI spots aren’t entirely certain. Among India players, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya, the latter mostly for fitness reasons, belong in that category, and a great start to the IPL could be just the push they need.
Mumbai Indians: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Quinton de Kock (wk)/Evin Lewis, 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4, Ishan Kishan (wk), 5 Krunal Pandya, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Ben Cutting, 9 Mitchell McClenaghan, 10 Mayank Markande, 11 Jasprit BumrahDelhi Capitals: 1 Colin Munro, 2 Prithvi Shaw, 3 Shikhar Dhawan, 4 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 5 Colin Ingram, 6 Rishabh Pant (wk), 7 Axar Patel, 8 Sandeep Lamichhane, 9 Kagiso Rabada/Trent Boult, 10 Avesh Khan/Amit Mishra, 11 Ishant SharmaRishabh Pant completes a stumping of Evin Lewis•BCCI
Liverpool legend shared a pint with Borussia Dortmund fans before Champions League clash against Paris Saint-Germain.
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Bowlers, led by Lockie Ferguson, set up the eight-wicket win by shooting Bangladesh out for 226
The Report by Mohammad Isam15-Feb-2019Martin Guptill’s second consecutive century led New Zealand to a series-clinching eight-wicket win over Bangladesh in the second ODI at Hagley Park on Saturday. The 227-run chase, set up by their bowlers again, was reduced to a stroll when Guptill and captain Kane Williamson added 143 runs for the second wicket.Guptill, who made 118 off just 88 balls, continued in Christchurch from where he had stopped in Napier. Two fours in the second over and two sixes in the sixth over of the chase signalled his intentions, and he reached his half-century – off just 33 balls – in the 11th over, soon after Henry Nicholls was caught at the deep square-leg boundary.
Guptill on his century in Napier v century in Christchurch: “I was able to get off to a quicker start here than I was at Napier. It was a nice wicket to bat on, so I was able to get a few away over the top early, and carried on from there. The Napier wicket was a bit slower and holding, but today only the odd ball was holding and you could hit through the line and have the confidence of being able to do that.”
On his form: “Getting there. Today felt a bit more like me a couple of years ago, which is pleasing. Hopefully I’m able to keep pushing on from here.”
On the Bangladesh bowling: “I think they’ve got some really good bowlers. (Mashrafe) Mortaza is obviously a very experienced bowler and he can be quite difficult to get away. But I think if you put them under pressure, they just don’t have the experience here to be able to holding in there for long periods of time.”
He played all around the ground – slashes through the off-side field, pulls and straight drives, and then a tuck off the hips got him to his century in the 25th over. Guptill, who struck three of his four sixes back past the bowler, eventually fell in the 29th over with New Zealand needing just 39 to win.The remaining runs were duly knocked off by Williamson, who finished unbeaten on 65, and Ross Taylor in 36.1 overs, pointing to the gulf between the two teams in these conditions. Williamson’s was a steady hand compared to Guptill’s marauding effort, as he struck just three fours in his 86-ball knock.Earlier, New Zealand’s bowlers were clinical in shooting out Bangladesh for 226 despite seeing their fielders drop four catches. Lockie Ferguson took three wickets including that of Mushfiqur Rahim, while Matt Henry employed his variations to good effect in ten tight overs. Todd Astle and Jimmy Neesham picked up two wickets each, while Trent Boult, Henry and Colin de Grandhomme got one apiece.For the second game in a row, Bangladesh lost half their batsmen before reaching three figures, as Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das fell early, Soumya Sarkar threw away a good start (again), Mushfiqur chopped one on to his stumps, and Mahmudullah poked at an away-going delivery.It was only a 75-run sixth-wicket stand between Mohammad Mithun and Sabbir Rahman that gave the Bangladesh total some respectability. They played some sparkling shots and Mithun, who was the second batsman to get a reprieve from Ross Taylor in the slips, got stuck into Astle by hitting him through the off-side field, and even hitting a four past short third man with a reverse-paddle. His best shot, though, was a push through the covers for four off the pacy Ferguson.
Readers from the US can watch the 3rd ODI LIVE here, on ESPN+
But soon after he had hit that boundary, Mithun pulled a hamstring while taking a single. The discomfort affected his batting as he began relying on boundaries, and although he struck Astle for a slog-swept six and an inside-out four in the 33rd over, he didn’t last much longer. Astle castled him in the next over for 57 – back-to-back half-centuries – ensuring Bangladesh’s lower order had to get involved for the last 14 overs.Sabbir’s was a fortuitous stay, with the bails refusing to fall when his inside-edge off Astle brushed the leg stump. Later, he did call for an excellent review, when Henry struck his pads in line but replays showed the ball going over the stumps. He timed the ball well, but Mehidy Hasan’s dismissal at the start of the 41st over slowed him down and eventually the Bangladesh innings.
U.S. men's national team star Malik Tillman scored a sensational 13-minute brace against Heerenveen – edging PSV closer to the Eredivisie title.
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They put on an unbroken 158 for the opening stand to consolidate the Hurricanes’ position at the top of the table
The Report by Daniel Brettig21-Jan-2019Matthew Wade and D’Arcy Short dismantled Adelaide Strikers to record only the second ever 10-wicket victory in the eight-year history of the Big Bash League, at the same time extending their lead at the top of the competition table.Perth Scorchers had done the trick over Melbourne Renegades via the innings of Shaun Marsh and Michael Klinger in December 2015, getting to a target of 171 with eight balls remaining. But Wade and Short continued to lead the way for the Hurricanes, the captain working as the initial aggressor before Short began to catch-up, reeling in the Strikers with a yawning 19 balls to spare.They had been given a more than manageable task by the excellence of the Hurricanes’ attack, Jofra Archer and James Faulkner keeping the Strikers very quiet, even if Colin Ingram was able to find the range of Riley Meredith late in the hosts’ innings.Archer hits the mark
A strength of the Hurricanes this tournament has been the sheer depth of their attack, with Archer, Faulkner, Meredith and Johan Botha all playing key roles at varying times – the first three all having topped 10 wickets for the BBL so far. So when the Strikers got a hold of Meredith at Adelaide Oval after his early dismissal of Jake Weatherald, others were ready to take up the strain, namely Archer.Matthew Wade lifts one over the leg side•Getty Images
Across four overs, all bowled non consecutively, Archer conceded only one boundary while at the same time picking up the more than useful wickets of Matt Short and Rashid Khan. More so than the wickets, it was Archer’s sheer discipline that maintained pressure and opened up avenues for others, including Faulkner, who picked up a pair of victims of his own during a spell in which he conceded only one more run than Archer.Ingram holds it together
At 3 for 50 in the 10th over after the loss of Alex Carey, the Strikers were staring at a total well short of 150 on what appeared an excellent Adelaide pitch. In the absence of Travis Head, Colin Ingram has proven himself to be a creditable captain with the bat and in the field, leading his team’s run-makers in the process. This night he provided another indicator the Strikers had made a wise choice, as he produced a salvaging innings of quality.Starting with a clean blow over midwicket off the bowling of Botha, Ingram found a useful ally in Jon Wells, building up to the 19th over from Merddith in which he piled up 22 runs to ensure the Strikers made it past the 150 mark. If he was unable to be quite as damaging to Clive Rose in the final over of the innings, Ingram had still given what looked to be a potentially defensible total. Looked to be.Wade goes off
Hobart’s ascendancy has often been started by the way that Wade and Short have been able to dictate terms, and it wasn’t long before the captain had Strikers fans starting to think about making an early exit from Adelaide Oval. The usually excellent Rashid Khan dropped short to be pulled for four in the second over, and the Hurricanes scarcely looked back from there.Wade took a particular liking to his erstwhile Australia team-mate Billy Stanlake, hammering the tall Queenslander for 26 from 12 balls faced, while Ben Laughlin and Michael Neser also conceded strike rates of more than 200 runs to Wade. For a time it appeared as though Wade might get as far as three figures, before a previously conservative Short took over.Short finishes off
A criticism of Short during his international career so far has been a tendency to soak up too many balls before getting out. But with a confident and aggressive partner in Wade, he has been able to pace himself this BBL, with often devastating effect.As the Hurricanes closed in on the win, Short crashed 28 runs from his final nine balls, including 17 off Rashid’s last over. With the finals beckoning, the Hurricanes could scarcely be rolling along any better.
Ricky Ponting has answered the call from his great mate to help ease the burden on Australia’s head coach
Alex Malcolm10-Feb-2019Ricky Ponting is probably the only person in Australian cricket who could call national coach Justin Langer a “control freak” and get away with it.Not only because the pair are such close friends, but also because of the deep empathy and understanding that Ponting holds for difficult task Langer has guiding Australian cricket through an unprecedented phase.Ponting’s care for both his great mate and Australian cricket is a huge part of the reason he’s accepted a part-time role as Langer’s assistant for Australia’s World Cup campaign.”I think it’s been as hard on him as it possibly could be just because of the situation Australian cricket has found itself in with some senior players being out, a lot of changes happening internally,” Ponting said.”Knowing what Justin is like as well, I’m not . . . well I will say it, he’s a bit of a control freak. He wants to make sure that everything is exactly how he wants it to be and that’s the way it should be as the head coach of the Australian cricket team. You should have everything lined up the way you want it. He’s just come into the job at a really difficult time.”That’s what makes it even more exciting for me to get in and get my hands dirty and help him out as much as I possibly can. We are great mates. We know each other really well. We’ll work really well together, I’m sure, if he can put up with me. But no doubt it’s been a tough, but I think I’ll be able to take a bit of that workload away from him when I get involved as well.”The job of Australian cricket coach has escalated to a point where it is becoming almost impossible to manage for one man. Darren Lehmann, who vacated the position post the Cape Town scandal, outlined the enormity of the role while commentating on on Saturday night.”The hardest thing is you’re away 300 days a year,” Lehmann said. “You don’t sleep. Three hours a day was about all you got. You’re worried about the players. You’ve got selection issues going on all the time. You’ve got media, you’ve got board meetings, you’ve got high performance meetings, all these other things going on and you’ve got to try and cater for the six state coaches, the 66 players playing around [the country], the 25 contracted players, three different formats and then you’ve got to keep your family going okay.”Justin, I think, will be a fantastic coach for Australia. He’s got to find out what works for him. At the moment he’s probably not sleeping and not getting the results he would like but he’ll get there.”The bans of Australia’s two best players in Steven Smith and David Warner and one of Langer’s young talents in Cameron Bancroft, the loss of public trust, and the vast fallout that followed only added to the extraordinary pressure and stress levels.Selection during a staggeringly packed summer has also been a hot topic. Something that Lehmann identified as an enormous challenge. “I reckon I watched one Shield game a year for my five years as Australian coach,” he said. “You physically can’t because you’ve got so much going on with the Australian team.”Nothing exemplified this challenge better than January 17 this year. Langer was at the MCG all afternoon helping prepare the ODI team for a series deciding match against India. It meant he was unable to watch newly selected Test aspirants, who were playing Sri Lanka in a tour game Hobart ahead of a Test match a week later, and possible World Cup candidates and 2020 T20 World Cup candidates who were also playing in a BBL game in Brisbane.The addition of Ponting to Langer’s coaching team, albeit for the World Cup only, comes at a critical time. He is the godfather of Australian cricket and his presence, if only for a short time, will unburden the coach and energise the players.It is understood Langer has already used Ponting as a sounding board over the summer but Ponting’s many commitments as a commentator with and coach of the IPL franchise Delhi Capitals meant his council was not always available at short notice. Those lucrative commitments are also unable to be matched by Cricket Australia for Ponting’s services full-time.The challenge for Cricket Australia is how to get Ponting involved more permanently. There was a possibility of the Australian coaching jobs being split towards the end of Lehmann’s tenure with Ponting rumoured to take full control of the T20I side in the lead-up to 2020 before Cape Town scuppered all best-laid plans. But for Ponting the door remains ajar.”There’s a chance to do more, especially around white-ball cricket,” he said. “I don’t think I’d do much around Test cricket for the fact it’s through the summer and obviously my commentary commitments through the summer it makes it hard, but with the World T20 coming up as well, I think I might be able to do a bit more work around the group with that as well.”
Al-Ahli are preparing a massive transfer offer for Vinicius Jr amid ongoing concerns regarding his contract extension at Real Madrid.
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This has been a year for both the elite tactical masterminds and man-managers, but who achieved the most relative to the resources at their disposal?
So there we have it! The five champions of Europe's major leagues have all been confirmed: Liverpool, Barcelona, Napoli, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain. Arne Slot, Hansi Flick, Antonio Conte, Vincent Kompany and Luis Enrique all made a piece of history at those respective clubs, and each of them now holds a special place in the hearts of supporters as a result.
However, those five men were by no means the only coaches in Europe to impress over the last 12 months. Oliver Glasner, Eddie Howe, Vincenzo Italiano and Sebastian Hoeness ended agonisingly long trophy droughts for Crystal Palace, Newcastle, Bologna and Stuttgart, respectively, as the so-called lesser clubs got one over on the elite for a change in the domestic cups.
Some of the standout managers didn't even lift any silverware, they simply made fans believe again. Nuno Espirito Santo falls into that bracket after bringing Nottingham Forest back into Europe, and so too do Claudio Ranieri and Nico Kovac, who were both tasked with daunting mid-season salvage jobs and ended up exceeding all expectations.
The question is: who should go down as the best manager of the 2024-25 European season? GOAL ranks the top 10 contenders below…