BRAZIL
Ancelotti joins national team
Real Madrid’s Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti is set to become the first foreigner in almost 60 years to coach Brazil’s national team, Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) president president Ednaldo Rodriguez said on Tuesday. Ancelotti, 64, has a season remaining on his contract with Real, which he has said he would like to honor, would take over Brazil in time for the Copa America in the US from June next year. The CBF had earlier announced that Fluminense coach Fernando Diniz would take charge of the team for the coming year. “This guy [Diniz] is a coach who has a nice style of play,” Rodriguez told CNN Brazil. “His style is similar to the coach who will assume the role at the Copa America, Ancelotti.”
LA LIGA
Scandal haunts Osasuna
UEFA yesterday removed Spanish club CA Osasuna from the UEFA Europa Conference League, because former club officials were implicated in fixing matches a decade ago. Osasuna said in a statement that it would appeal the ruling at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. By finishing seventh in La Liga last season, Osasuna earned a place in the playoff round of the third-tier European club competition. UEFA’s verdict lifts eighth-place Athletic Bilbao into the competition instead. Osasuna officials who are no longer with the club were implicated in fixing matches between 2012 and 2014. However, UEFA’s competition rules state that teams implicated in fixing any game played since April 2007 can be removed from the next competition for which they qualify.
BRAZIL
Neymar fined US$3.3m
Brazilian soccer star Neymar was fined about 16 million reals (US$3.3 million) for contravening local environmental rules during renovations at his mansion in the city of Mangaratiba outside Rio de Janeiro. Mangaratiba City Hall said in a statement on Monday night that it had issued four fines. “Among the dozens of infractions that were noticed at the player’s property are the start of an unauthorized construction which requires environmental control; capture of a river course and detouring it without authorization; moving rock and sand; suppressing vegetation without authorization and non-compliance of an embargo,” the statement said. A city hall document said that the latter charge is related to Neymar’s decision to swim in the artificial lake despite local authorities showing up to forbid him from that area due to environmental consequences.
BRAZILIAN SERIE A
Luan hurt in fan attack
Midfielder Luan was attacked by angry fans in Sao Paulo, Sport Club Corinthians Paulista said on Tuesday. Local media reported that the 30-year-old Luan, an Olympic gold medalist with Brazil in 2016, sustained minor injuries after he was assaulted at a party he threw for about 10 guests in a hotel. “Corinthians received with sadness and indignation the information that our athlete Luan was assaulted by alleged fans in the early hours of this Tuesday morning,” the club said in a statement. “After another repugnant case of violence, Corinthians regrets the current moment of intolerance that dominates Brazilian soccer.” Luan, once regarded as one of the best players in South America, joined Corinthians in 2020, but has not delivered for the club. Many fans want him to leave.
After letting another big lead slip with an error-strewn performance at the French Open on Wednesday, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka felt like getting as far away from the courts as possible. “Just want to quit tennis right now,” Sabalenka said after wasting a lead of a set and two breaks in a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 loss to Diana Shnaider in the women’s singles quarter-finals. “We’ll see in few days. Hopefully I’ll get back on track mentally.” Sabalenka’s wait for a first French Open title continues despite the four-time major winner leading 4-1 in the second set and being two points from victory while
BIG NAMES GONE: Zverev is the clear favorite for a maiden Grand Slam title, reaching semi-finals for the fifth time in six years and finishing second on three occasions Alexander Zverev on Tuesday breezed past Rafael Jodar to stay on course for an elusive Grand Slam title at the French Open, while Jakub Mensik halted Joao Fonseca’s scintillating run in the quarter-finals. Zverev, the highest-ranked player left in the men’s draw, put an end to Spanish teenager Jodar’s impressive Roland Garros debut, easing into the semi-finals with a 7-6, (7/3), 6-1, 6-3 win. The 29-year-old Zverev is the clear favorite for a maiden Grand Slam title. He has finished runner-up on three occasions, including at the 2024 French Open. “I want to win the matches that are ahead of
For some, Cristiano Ronaldo remains the essential spearhead for Portugal’s FIFA World Cup bid, while others believe his presence would prevent Roberto Martinez’s strong side from flourishing. The debate around the five-time Ballon d’Or winner rages on, as it did at UEFA Euro 2024 and four years ago in Qatar — yet Ronaldo endures, ready to play in a record sixth World Cup. The 41-year-old remains a global superstar despite swapping the European elite for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr, and is the leading men’s international goalscorer with 143 strikes. With 25 of those coming in 30 games under Martinez, the coach
Taiwanese sprinter Chen Yi-cen on Friday won the silver medal in the women’s 400m final at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships in Hong Kong, with a time of 53.16 seconds. Chen, 15, was the youngest among the eight finalists, and her performance also met the qualifying standard of 53.50 seconds for the Nagoya Asian Games in Japan in September and October. Chen first made her mark at the National Games in Tainan in 2023, at the age of 13, winning the women’s 400m final in 55.55 seconds to become the youngest gold medalist in the history of the event. Meanwhile,
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