FOOTBALL
Falcons hire Raheem Morris
The Atlanta Falcons have hired Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris as their head coach, a person familiar with the decision told reporters on Thursday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not made an announcement. The 47-year-old Morris is a familiar name in Atlanta, having served as the Falcons’ interim head coach for the final 11 games of the 2020 season after the firing of Dan Quinn. He previously coached the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Photo: AP
SOCCER
Klopp to leave Liverpool
Juergen Klopp yesterday announced that he will step down as Liverpool manager at the end of this season. Klopp has led Liverpool to a UEFA Champions League title and Premier League championship in his tenure after being hired in October 2015. “I have to,” he said. “I will leave the club at the end of the season. I can understand that it’s a shock for a lot of people in this moment when you hear it for the first time, but obviously I can explain it or at least try to explain it. I love absolutely everything about this club, I love everything about the city, I love everything about our supporters, I love the team. I love the staff. I love everything. That I still take this decision probably shows you that I’m convinced it’s the one I have to take. It is that I’m — how can I say this? — that I’m running out of energy.”
MOTORSPORTS
Rebrand stumps Button
Jenson Button appeared to miss the news that Red Bull’s junior Formula One team had been rebranded as he prepared for the Rolex 24 at the Daytona International Speedway in Florida on Thursday. Asked his thoughts on the team known as AlphaTauri for the past four years being renamed to Visa Cash App RB F1 — a moniker that has been widely panned by fans as the worst in F1 history — he asked: “What is the new name?” When the 2009 F1 champion and Sky Sports commentator heard it again, he tried to repeat it. “Visa Cash App ... what comes after that?” he asked. “So it is Visa. Cash App. RB. What?” Button said he had no idea what he would call the team while commentating this year. “Exactly what we’re told to call it,” he said. He had a rosier view of the rebrand than people on social media. “Visa Cash App RB is the worst team name in Formula 1 history and is an embarrassment to Red Bull and Formula 1 as a whole,” said Edd Straw of The Race podcast.
GOLF
Taiwan’s Yu falls back
First-round leader Kevin Yu of Taiwan on Thursday fell off the pace in the second round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego, California. Yu shot a two-over-par 74 on the South Course to end the round on six-under. Stephan Jaeger of Germany made a 35-foot eagle putt on his final hole for an eight-under 64 and a one-shot lead over Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
Crowds descended on the home of 17-year-old Chinese diver Quan Hongchan after she won two golds at the Paris Olympics while gymnast Zhang Boheng hid in a Beijing airport toilet to escape overzealous throngs of fans. They are just two recent examples of what state media are calling “toxic fandom” and Chinese authorities have vowed to crack down on it. Some of the adulation toward China’s sports stars has been more sinister — fans obsessing over athletes’ personal lives, cyberbullying opponents or slamming supposedly crooked judges. Experts say it mirrors the kind of behavior once reserved for entertainment celebrities before
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
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