Celtic manager Gordon Strachan paid tribute to his players after they clinched the Scottish Premier League (SPL) title on Thursday, an achievement he hailed as one of the best experiences of his life.
Dutch striker Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink scored the only goal of the game as the Parkhead side won 1-0 away to Dundee United.
The result meant Celtic finished three points ahead of Glasgow rivals Rangers after they lost 2-0 at Aberdeen. And Strachan became the first Celtic manager since the legendary Jock Stein to win three successive Scottish League titles.
At the end the Hoops boss was proud of his players but refused to answer questions from the media.
Strachan said: “I would just like to say this has been one of the most fantastic occasions of my life with a bunch of guys who believed in me and I believed in them.”
“We had a challenge, we accepted it and got on with without complaining,” he said. “I really do believe this is one of the most satisfying experiences of my life, not for me but for the players who have come under a lot of pressure over the season.”
“What I’m going to do now, and it’s only fair, is to go away and be with people who have supported and believed in us the whole season,” Strachan said. “It’s been such a momentous occasion that I’m going to enjoy it and speak to people and thank people who had belief in us, trusted us and supported us.”
Celtic’s Australian striker, Scott McDonald, had famously deprived the Parkhead club of the SPL title three years previously by scoring twice for Motherwell to defeat the Hoops on the final day of the season and hand Rangers the championship.
This time round he was delighted to have helped Celtic win the SPL.
“After scoring those goals in 2005 it’s great to finally put that right and it makes it even more special for me,” McDonald said.
The Aussie striker also paid tribute to Tommy Burns, the former Celtic player, manager and first team coach who had lost his battle with cancer the previous week.
McDonald said: “Everyone at the club loved Tommy. He was an absolute gentleman, god rest his soul. We did it for you Tommy, God bless.”
There was only misery for Rangers after their season, which once promised so much, continued to unravel.
The previous week the Ibrox side had still been on target for an historic quadruple before they lost the UEFA Cup Final against Zenit St Petersburg.
Now they will aim to beat First Division side Queen of the South in today’s Scottish Cup Final to complete the domestic cup double — after they won the League Cup in March.
Both Celtic and Rangers had started their matches level on 86 points, although Celtic had a goal advantage of four.
In the 63rd minute Aberdeen took a shock lead against Rangers when Barry Nicholson’s free-kick was headed home by Lee Miller from 8m.
The destination of the title was now firmly in Celtic’s hands and they took an even stronger grip in the 72nd minute when the took the lead.
Paul Hartley’s inswinging corner was met by Vennegoor of Hesselink, who leapt to power a header beyond United’s Polish goalkeeper Lukasz Zaluska.
The championship was over when Aberdeen scored their second goal in the 77th minute when Darren Mackie drove the ball past Rangers goalkeeper Neil Alexander from close range. Rangers’ misery continued shortly after when Nacho Novo was sent off for a horrific tackle on Stuart Duff.
The Spaniard will now miss the today’s game against Queen of the South.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was