■ENGLAND
Canaries sack Bryan Gunn
Norwich City sacked manager Bryan Gunn on Friday less than a week into the new League One season. Gunn paid the price for his side’s humiliating 7-1 home defeat to Colchester United in their first match of the season last weekend. The Canaries, relegated from the Championship last term, bounced back with a 4-0 League Cup win at Yeovil Town in midweek, but it was not enough to save Gunn, a legendary figure at Carrow Road from his days as the club’s goalkeeper. Gunn’s assistant manager Ian Butterworth has been placed in temporary charge for this weekend’s match at Exeter City.
■ENGLAND
Wigan sign Antonio Amaya
Premier League club Wigan Athletic signed Spanish defender Antonio Amaya from Rayo Vallecano on a three-year contract on Friday. Amaya was not expected to be available for the season-opener at Aston Villa as the deal cannot be completed until international clearance is secured. Wigan manager Roberto Martinez said: “Antonio is someone I have admired from a distance for a long time and I am very happy we have convinced him to come to us. He is a really powerful lad, technically excellent, with good pace and he will fit in well to our system. I have no doubts about him adjusting to English football.”
■SWITZERLAND
Basel’s Costanzo banned
FC Basel captain and goalkeeper Franco Costanzo has been banned for three matches after attacking a teammate at the end of a match. A Swiss league disciplinary panel found the Argentina international guilty of “gross unsportsmanlike conduct” on Friday in Basel’s 1-1 draw with main rivals FC Zurich last Sunday. Costanzo grabbed the hair of teammate Beg Ferati and wrestled with him after a heated exchange of words as the teams left the St Jakob Park pitch. He blamed the defender for poor marking when Zurich took an 87th-minute lead.
■UNITED STATES
Donovan catches swine flu
US forward Landon Donovan has contracted swine flu, but is not contagious. The Galaxy announced on Friday that Donovan had tested positive for swine flu and that the midfielder, coming off the US’ 2-1 World Cup qualifying defeat in Mexico, would not practice on Friday. England midfielder David Beckham, criticized by Donovan in a book published last month, was also set to skip the workout after being recalled for international duty in the Netherlands. Donovan, who has scored nine goals this season for the Galaxy, has been ill since joining the US squad last Sunday in Florida ahead of the Mexico match, but there is no danger of infection. “It’s not infectious. We’re well past that stage,” coach Bruce Arena said.
■ENGLAND
Schmeichel rejoins Eriksson
Sven-Goran Eriksson has overseen his first major acquisition as Notts County’s new director of soccer by signing Manchester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel for a club record transfer on Friday. The 22-year-old son of former Manchester United star Peter played under Eriksson at Eastlands and has now moved to the League Two side for a fee which is believed to eclipse the £685,000 (US$1.1 million) County paid to buy Tony Agana from Sheffield United in 1991. Manager Ian McParland told the club’s official Web site: “We’re very pleased that Kasper has chosen to come to Meadow Lane. He is a significant part of the jigsaw puzzle we’re trying to complete before the transfer window closes.”
Fenerbahce on Thursday earned a rare 2-1 win in England, but were still knocked out of the UEFA Europa League by Nottingham Forest in the playoffs. Forest entered the second leg with a healthy 3-0 lead from the opener in Istanbul — where Vitor Pereira made an impact in his first game in charge — and that proved enough to advance to the round-of-16 with a 4-2 aggregate score. The result was a boost for Forest, struggling at 17th place in the Premier League, in their return to Europe after three decades. They next face Real Betis Balompie or Kerem Akturkoglu gave Fenerbahce
Soccer officials yesterday offered “full support and assistance” to the Iranian team in Australia for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup after the US and Israel launched massive attacks on their homeland. Iran’s 26-strong squad arrived on the Gold Coast days before the strikes on Saturday killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Washington and Tel Aviv seek to topple the Islamic republic. They are due to open their tournament today against South Korea. The AFC in a statement said it “continues to closely monitor the recent developments in the Middle East during this challenging period.” “The AFC’s foremost priority remains the welfare, safety and
ROAD RASH: Marc Marquez retired after a crash, marking the first time after 88 consecutive races stretching back to 2021 that a Ducati bike failed to make the podium Marco Bezzecchi yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening grand prix in Thailand from pole position as defending world champion Marc Marquez retired late with a buckled wheel. Aprilia’s Bezzecchi led from start to finish to top the podium in Buriram, with KTM’s Pedro Acosta second and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez third. Ducati’s Marquez is chasing a record-equaling eighth world title this season, but he exited the race in dramatic fashion while in fourth place with five laps to go. The Spaniard, who started from second on the grid, took a corner wide, with the jolt to his bike dislodging the rear tire, badly damaging his
EVERY DAY A VICTORY: Players on the women’s team faced pressure from society just getting out onto the field as they prepare for their first Women’s Asian Cup game today Bangladesh’s national soccer team face daunting odds at their first-ever Women’s Asian Cup, but have already scored a major victory by qualifying. In the South Asian nation of 170 million, social stigma, family expectations, poverty and religious hardliners have long relegated women and girls to sports sidelines. The first women’s soccer league matches took place in 2011 and the squad, known to fans as the Red and Green, have kept pressing forward despite deeply embedded prejudices. “Many more girls would have joined us if the community had been even slightly supportive,” captain Afeida Khandaker told AFP ahead of her side’s March 3
RSS