■ ENGLAND
Allardyce set to quit
Sam Allardyce will quit as manager of Premier League Bolton Wanderers at the end of the season, newspapers reported on Saturday. The 52-year-old, in charge at Bolton for eight years, has two years left on his contract but has told chairman Phil Gartside he wants some time off, according to the reports in the Sun and the Daily Mail. The Daily Mail said Allardyce, beaten by Steve McClaren to the job of England manager last year, could oust McClaren if England fail to qualify for the European Championship later this year.
■ SCOTLAND
Gretna go all the way
Gretna completed a remarkable climb through the ranks of Scottish soccer on Saturday when they clinched promotion to the Premier League with a last-gasp 3-2 win over Ross County. James Grady's second goal of the match ensured that Gretna topped Division One by a point from St Johnstone and enjoyed a title party for a third successive season. The club, based in a village close to the border with England, were admitted to senior football in Scotland in the summer of 2002 having previously played in a semi-professional league in the north of England. Their success has been bankrolled by millionaire Brooks Mileson.
■ FRANCE
Nantes facing drop
Eight-times champions Nantes are on the verge of being relegated for the first time after losing 2-0 at home to Stade Rennes in Ligue 1 on Saturday. Nantes, who have spent a record 44 consecutive years in the top flight since being promoted in 1963, are now eight points from safety with four matches left. John Utaka and Jimmy Briand scored in quick succession in the second half to decide the Brittany derby. While Nantes seem doomed, Paris St Germain look almost certain to escape the drop after winning 3-1 at Toulouse. PSG are 15th on 41 points, six points clear of the relegation zone.
■ ARGENTINA
Diego not dead: daughters
The daughters of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona expressed disappointment at reports that their father had died and said he was doing well after entering a clinic for alcohol abuse. The daughters dismissed as "lies" rumors of Maradona's death that spread on Wednesday. "Clinically he is perfectly fine, a little weak, splendid. Everything they have said is lies," Dalma Maradona, 20, told a popular Argentine television program late on Friday. "Fortunately papa is much better, everything they have said has no foundation," said her sister Giannina, 17.
■ AFRICA
Authorities get tough
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has handed out one-year bans to four players and kicked out Angolan and Rwandan sides from continental club competition, a statement said on Saturday. Three Libyan players were suspended for a year after attacking a referee at a hotel after their team lost a cup game in February, CAF said. APR FC of Rwanda were banned from competing in continental club competition for three years after walking off the pitch before the end of a match in Togo last month. Defender Sadou Boukary was banned for a year for an attack on a referee in Nigeria. Angolan side Benfica Luanda were kicked out of the African Confederation Cup for using a suspended player in their tie against Astres Douala of Cameroon earlier this month.
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
Chris Wood has fired Nottingham Forest into surprise UEFA Champions League contention and now the striker wants to score the goals to help New Zealand make history at the FIFA World Cup. New Zealand are strong favorites to qualify out of the Oceania region over the next week and reach the World Cup for only the third time. At the country’s two previous appearances at the finals, in 1982 and 2010, they have failed to win a match in six attempts. With Wood captaining the side and leading from the front, he told local media yesterday that the current squad can finally deliver
Paolo Banchero on Sunday scored 24 points as the Orlando Magic overturned a 13-point deficit to end the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 16-game unbeaten streak with a gutsy 108-103 road victory. Cleveland, the runaway Eastern Conference leaders, had looked poised to extend their franchise-record winning run after surging clear of Orlando early in the third quarter, but after a season where they have staged hefty winning comebacks of their own, the tables turned on Cleveland in the face of a furious burst of Orlando scoring. The Magic outscored Cleveland 35-23 in the third quarter, with Franz Wagner leading the charge with nine points and
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