Mumbai: Mumbai City FC and Jamshedpur FC lock horns in a crucial Hero Indian Super League battle for a “prize worth winning” at the Mumbai Football Arena, on Thursday. Jamshedpur and Mumbai City are placed fifth and sixth respectively on the points table and know that a win for either team will boost their chances of qualification and significantly reduce the chances of the other from moving ahead. It’s a straight battle for the semi-final slot and nobody wants to leave anything to chance. “You saw how in Jamshedpur, we had a 2-2 result. Both teams wanted to win and the same will be true tomorrow. The prize is worth winning tomorrow and both sides will be very much trying to win,” said Jamshedpur FC coach Steve Coppell.
Jamshedpur are placed fifth with 19 points from 13 matches and can displace FC Goa from their fourth spot, even though the Goan club would have played two matches less. Coppell disagreed with suggestions that it’s a do or die clash but agreed that a win can work wonders. “I don’t think so it’s a do-or-die match for either team. We have five games left. Can you lose the game and still be part of the playoff? Yes. But it will be more difficult. There is lots to play for. It’s not quite do-or-die but almost do-or-die,” said Coppell. Mumbai City FC managed a fantastic 4-3 victory over FC Goa in an away game with a late winner from Balwant Singh. The victory threw them a lifeline and with 17 points from 12 matches, they are still in the running for a place among the top four. “In these kind of games, every detail will make the difference. Jamshedpur is not a team which concedes too many goals. We have to be very much accurate to convert the chances that we have. Our defence has to be very alert. In the last games, they have changed their approach. This is one of the tough matches,” said Mumbai City coach Alexandre Guimaraes. Mumbai City lost their last two matches at home against Kerala Blasters (0-1) and Bengaluru FC (1-3). Guimaraes is aware of the shortcomings that led to their defeats and has now taken measures to overcome those problems. Mumbai City missed out on the services of their injured captain Lucian Goian and Brazilian midfielder Leo Costa in the earlier match. Guimaraes will be hoping he can count on their services, particularly in a game with so much at stake.
MADRID: Football clubs across the world splashed out a record $6.37 billion on players during 2017 with English teams again the biggest spenders, FIFA’s Global Transfer Market Report said. The total paid out was about 33 percent more than in 2016 as English clubs led the way with a net spend of $988 million on squad improvement. Deals such as Romelu Lukaku’s 75 million-pound move from Everton to Manchester United and Alvaro Morata’s 60 million-pound switch from Real Madrid to Chelsea put English teams at the top of the list. But those individual deals were eclipsed by Brazilian forward Neymar’s move from Barcelona to Paris St Germain in a world-record transfer worth 222 million euros ($263 million).
The fee was over double the previous record which took France midfielder Paul Pogba to Manchester United from Juventus for $126 million. “Spending growth is driven by a relatively small group of clubs,” the report said, with over two-thirds of the total amount spent by 50 clubs in 13 different countries. The average transfer fee for a player in the top 50 most-expensive moves was $48.4 million, up from $35.2 million in 2016. The report shows that only 15.8 percent of transfers involved fees being paid from one club to another. Fees paid to agents also increased significantly. English clubs forked out a reported $125.7 million on intermediary payments and $447 million was handed over worldwide – up from $387 million in 2016. Brazil was the country most involved in international transfers with 1,755 of their players switching teams in 2017. Two hundred and fifty four Brazilian clubs conducted international transfer deals with Germany (143), England (132), Argentina (111) and Spain (98) making up the top five. Spanish clubs received the most money in transfer fees ($840.4 million), but Portuguese ones posted the highest net receipts of $707.5 million.
PARIS: Holders Paris St Germain reached the League Cup final with a 3-2 victory at Stade Rennes on Tuesday although their France striker Kylian Mbappe was sent off just past the hour mark. PSG, aiming for a fifth straight League Cup triumph, had taken a 3-0 lead through Thomas Meunier, Marquinhos and Giovani Lo Celso when Mbappe was shown a straight red card. Rennes reduced the arrears thanks to late goals by Diafra Sakho and Sanjin Prcic but it was too late to stop PSG.
They went ahead in the 24th minute when full back Meunier struck a spectacular volley before Rennes’ Wahbi Khazri was denied an equaliser on the stroke of halftime for handball. The visitors doubled their advantage nine minutes into the second half when Marquinhos scored from close range. Four minutes later, Lo Celso scored PSG’s third goal when his shot was poorly handled by keeper Abdoulaye Diallo. Mbappe was sent off in the 63rd for a rough tackle on Ismaila Sarr and the 10 men allowed Sakho and Prcic to pull two goals back in the last five minutes but it was too late.
source: news agency
SEOUL:South Korea will begin a joint training programme at the Masikryong ski resort in North Korea on Wednesday as had been initially planned, the South’s Ministry of Unification said, with a 45-person delegation engaging in a two-day trip. The South Korean delegation, which includes roughly 30 athletes, flew in a chartered Asiana Airlines (020560.KS) plane at 0140 GMT on Wednesday from Yangyang International Airport in northeastern South Korea to Kalma Airport in Wonsan, the ministry said. The charter had been set up in order not to conflict with existing sanctions imposed against North Korea by the United States, spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told a regular briefing. Baik said he could not say how Asiana was selected for the charter flight. According to U.S. unilateral sanctions against North Korea, no ship or aircraft can visit the United States within 180 days of going to North Korea. “Negotiations were made (with the United States) to avoid conflict with sanctions for this time only,” said Baik, adding Washington had given its consent for the flight.
The South Korean delegation will be joined on their return trip by North Koreans who will visit the South to prepare for the Pyeongchang Olympics that begin on Feb. 9. North and South Korea launched rare talks early in January to bring North Koreans to the Winter Olympics after the North’s leader, Kim Jong Un, said in a New Year’s address he was willing to open discussions with Seoul. The two Koreas have since agreed on several things, including cultural performances by North Korea in the South and a unified women’s ice hockey team for the Olympics. They were also scheduled to hold a joint cultural performance in North Korea’s Mount Kumgang resort but Pyongyang decided to call it off late on Monday, blaming South Korean media for encouraging “insulting” public sentiment about the North. [nL4N1PP2QG] Asked why South Korea or North Korea had not called off Wednesday’s joint training, Baik said it was “inappropriate” to try to assess Pyongyang’s intentions while the South was only carrying out its agreements made with the North.
Arsenal suffered another painful Premier League defeat as Swansea City capitalised on some glaring errors to win 3-1 on Tuesday, boosting their survival hopes and denting the visitors’ top four chances. Swansea’s Sam Clucas struck either side of Jordan Ayew’s strike to give Swansea the points after Arsenal had taken the lead through full back Nacho Monreal. The visitors scored after 33 minutes but their advantage lasted just seconds as Mesut Ozil gave the ball away and Clucas equalised for the Welsh side. Worse was to come for Arsenal in the second half as keeper Petr Cech sliced an attempted clearance, leaving Ayew to fire home after 61 minutes before Clucas finished right-footed to grab his second of the night with four minutes remaining. “I felt defensively we were very poor and made big mistakes,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. “It’s better not to talk about the second or third goals.”
The defeat leaves Arsenal in sixth place, eight points adrift of Liverpool in fourth after the Merseysiders won 3-0 at Huddersfield Town, and they were left licking their wounds after one win in their last five league games. They have three wins and six defeats in their 13 league matches on the road this season and have gone five successive away games without a victory in all competitions. Swansea, however, have been rejuvenated by new manager Carlos Carvalhal and climbed out of the bottom three with the win, moving above Stoke City on goal difference. Having also beaten visitors Liverpool in the league last week, Swansea have won four and lost one of eight games in all competitions under the Portuguese coach. “We have a chance (of staying up). We are not in intensive care,” said Carvalhal. “We are not far away from the doctor saying we can go home.” Arsenal started with new signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan on the bench following his move from Manchester United as part of the deal that took Chile forward Alexis Sanchez in the other direction, but it was not long before they were ahead. Ozil’s superb ball over the defence found Monreal sliding in at the back post to score his fourth goal of the season. That lead was wiped out in a flash, however, as Ozil went from hero to villain, giving the ball away under pressure to Alfie Mawson, who slid it through for Clucas to score. Mkhitaryan came on to make his debut after an hour but moments later the hosts stunned the visitors by taking the lead thanks to another error, this time from Cech. Arsneal defender Shkodran Mustafi rolled the ball back to the keeper but he made a mess of his clearance, presenting a gift for Ayew to score before Clucas wrapped up the win by firing home after another superb run from Ayew.
London:India Test batsman Cheteshwar Pujara will warm up for India's tour of England by playing county cricket for Yorkshire. "It goes without saying that Cheteshwar is a highly-driven individual and very skilled batsman," Yorkshire's director of cricket Martyn Moxon was quoted as saying by espncricinfo website. "We're delighted to have him on board. The plan is for him to relieve some of the pressure on the top order that we struggled with at times in 2017. Just as he did in 2015, Pujara will relish the challenge of performing in English conditions."
Pujara previously had two spells at Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Pujara has amassed 816 runs in County cricket with three fifties and as many hundreds.
source: news agency
Kochi: Kerala Blasters came back from behind to register a 2-1 win over Delhi Dynamos FC at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi, on Saturday. The home side desperately needed the three points to keep their hopes for a top-four place alive in the Hero Indian Super League and are now placed fifth with 17 points. Kalu Uche gave Miguel Angel Portugal's side the lead from the spot but Kerala Blasters found an unlikely hero in 19-year-old teenager, Deependra Singh Negi, who scored one and played a big part in his team’s second after the change of ends. Delhi Dynamos started on the front foot and after testing Kerala Blasters goalkeeper Subhasish Roy Chowdhury a couple of times early on, they deservedly took the lead in the 35th minute.
Deependra Singh Negi
Prasanth Karuthadathkuni's clumsy push on Seityasen Singh in his own box gave the referee a good reason to point to the spot. Kalu Uche took the responsibility and calmly slotted the ball past Chowdhury. Even after going a goal down, there was little reaction from the home side, and Delhi could have doubled their lead but Chowdhury came to his side’s rescue with a fingertip save to keep Mathias Mirabaje’s dipping shot out. Not happy with his team's performance, Kerala Blasters coach David James introduced 19-year-old teenager, Deependra Singh Negi early in the second half. It turned out to be a masterstroke. Barely minutes after coming on for his ISL debut, Negi brought the home side on level terms. In the 48th minute, Jackichand Singh’s corner was met by the youngster at the near post and it took a deflection of a Delhi player before going into the net. The goal gave Kerala a much need boost and they pushed on. Negi could have given the home side the lead 10 minutes later when Lalruatthara Lalruatthara’s cross from the right found him in the box. But he could only direct the ball wide of the post under pressure from defenders.
As the game progressed, there were chances created at either ends as both sides pushed for a winner. For Delhi, a couple of those chances fell to their main man Kalu Uche, but the big Nigerian failed to make them count. At the other end, Negi again stepped up for his side and won a penalty in the 75th minute. Pratik Chowdhary’s lunging tackle brought the youngster down inside the box and the referee had no hesitation in awarding a penalty for the second time in the game. Iain Hume did the rest from the spot to give the home side the lead much to the delight of their supporters.
MELBOURNE: An emotional Caroline Wozniacki finally lifted her first Grand Slam title at the 43rd attempt as she beat Simona Halep in three energy-sapping sets to win the Australian Open on Saturday. The Dane, who will become the new world number one, burst into tears as she secured the championship 7-6 (7/2), 3-6, 6-4 against the battling Romanian top seed on her first match point of a gruelling, epic encounter. "I've dreamt of this moment for so many years," said second seeded Wozniacki after becoming the first player from Denmark to win a Grand Slam. "My voice is shaking. I never cry, but this is a very emotional moment.
"I want to congratulate Simona, I know it's a tough day," she added after receiving the trophy from Billie Jean King. "I'm sorry that I had to win today but I'm sure we'll have many matches in the future and it was an incredible match and an incredible fight and again, I'm sorry." Wozniacki, 27, had to overcome bouts of nerves throughout the long match. She wobbled when serving for the first set at 5-3 and had to come through a tiebreak. "I want to thank my fiance," she said, looking up to American basketball player David Lee in her box. "I was a nervous wreck this morning, I wanted to win so bad, but you calmed me down." Both players needed medical attention on court before the Dane prevailed in 2hr 49min on Rod Laver Arena. For Wozniacki, victory meant shedding at last the unwanted moniker of best player never to win a major, having reached the US Open final in 2009 and 2014, and first becoming number one in 2010. For Halep, who surrendered her number one status to Wozniacki in defeat, the wait goes on. "It's not easy to talk now but first of all I want to congratulate Caroline," said Halep, who was also appearing in her third Grand Slam final and first in Australia. "She played amazing. It's been a great tournament for me. Of course I'm sad I couldn't win today but Caroline was better than me. "But I will fight and hopefully I will face another challenge like I did today. I'm sad that I couldn't make it the third time, but maybe the fourth time will be with luck." Wozniacki started the stronger, breaking Halep's opening service game with the early evening temperature still above 30 Celsius (86 Farenheit) before racing into a 3-0 lead. She had not won a set in either of her previous two Grand Slam final appearances and tightened visibly serving for this one, and the set headed for a tiebreak. The Dane went 4-1 up before a second mini-break and two solid serves gave her the tiebreak 7-2. Wozniacki was growing in confidence and Halep needed to save four break points at 1-1 in the second set in a brutal game that lasted 11 minutes. Soon after Halep signalled to her coach Darren Cahill that she wasn't feeling well and there were worrying scenes as she had her blood pressure taken and an ice towel applied in the next changeover. She re-emerged with her energy drained and needed the luckiest of net cords to hold for 4-3. Cramping, she decided to stand and deliver in the next game, keeping the points short. Incredibly the tactic paid off as she broke Wozniacki with a ripping drive up the line to level the match. The tournament's extreme heat policy was invoked meaning the players took a 10-minute break before the start of the third set. When they resumed neither of them could hold their serve until Wozniacki, after having a timeout to have her left knee strapped, held for 5-4 to force Halep to serve to stay in the match.
New manager Ernesto Valverde deserves credit for FC Barcelona's improved performance, Lionel Messi has said. Under Valverde, who joined the club last summer, Barça have built a 11-point lead at the top of La Liga, reached the Champions League round of 16 and qualified for the semifinals of the Copa del Rey, Efe news report. "Since the new coach's arrival, he was very clear from the beginning about what he expected from the squad and we adapted fast to his instructions, ...," Messi said at a promotional event. "We became defensively stronger and in the attacking line we have high quality players," the Argentine superstar said.
Messi said that he was optimistic about Barcelona's season, noting that the club is still alive in all competitions. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner said that the squad was delighted with the arrival of Philippe Coutinho and Yerry Mina, who joined the club during the winter transfer window. Asked about the possibility of winning another Ballon d'Or, he said: "Individual awards are not my aims.
Jakarta : Rio Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal will face Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand in the semi-finals of the Indonesia Masters here on Saturday. Former world No. 1 Nehwal has an 8-5 head-to-head record against fourth-seeded Intanon. Nehwal made it to the semi-finals by defeating P.V. Sindhu in straight sets 21-13, 21-19 in an all-Indian clash.
Meanwhile, in the men's doubles, Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will lock horns with Indonesian pair of Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo in the last four. The Indian duo earlier stunned fourth-seeded Denmark pair of Mads Conrad-Petersen and Mads Pieler Kolding 23-21, 15-21, 21-19.
Bengaluru: England's Ben Stokes has once again made the headlines as he has been sold for a whopping Rs 12.5 crore to the Rajasthan Royals in the much-awaited Indian Premier League (IPL) player auction for the 11th edition of the tournament here on Saturday. Stokes, who was on the marquee list, had a base price of Rs 2 crore. He played the last season with the Rising Pune Supergiant and has been the top-priced overseas player in the competition's history. Meanwhile, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has been sold to Kings XI Punjab for Rs 7.6 crore, departing ways with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). West Indies' Chris Gayle, who played last season with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), has remained unsold.
Australia's Mitchell Starc has been sold to Kolkata Knight Rider (KKR) for Rs 9.4 crore. Rajasthan Royal's used the Right To Match (RTM) to retain India's Ajinkya Rahane for Rs 4 crore. Meanhwile, Shikhar Dhawan with a base price of Rs 2 crore has been sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 5.20 crore. Sunrisers Hyderabad used the Right To Match (RTM) to retain Dhawan. West Indies's Kieron Pollard with a base price of Rs 2 crore has been sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs 5.4 crore. Up to 578 players, out of the 1,122 players, have been kept for the final two-day auction, which includes 244 capped players (62 from India), 332 uncapped players (34 from overseas), and two players from Associate countries.
Bengaluru : In a bidding war for Australian superstar Glenn Maxwell, Delhi Daredevils snapped up the right-handed batsman for Rs 9 crore in the Indian Premier League (IPL) player auction for the 11th edition of the tournament here on Saturday. Daredevil also bought left-handed batsman Gautam Gambhir for Rs 2.8 crores. Gambhir had earlier led the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to their two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014 but the franchise did not retain the Indian this time. Yuvraj Singh was welcomed by the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) as they bought him for Rs 2 crore, also his base price. He played the last season with the Sunrisers Hyderabad. The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) bought Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh for Rs 2 crore, not a penny more than his base price, and retained West Indies' Dwayne Bravo for Rs 6.4 crores.
Harbhajan last played the league with the Mumbai Indians. New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson was sold for Rs 3 crore to the Sunrisers Hyderabad while England captain Joe Root, who was making an IPL auction debut, remained unsold. Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan was sold to the Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 2 crore. Up to 578 players, out of the 1,122 players, have been kept for the final two-day auction, which includes 244 capped players (62 from India), 332 uncapped players (34 from overseas), and two players from Associate countries.
