Claudio Ranieri on Thursday waved goodbye to Cagliari and brought the curtain down on a near four-decade club coaching career with their 3-2 defeat to ACF Fiorentina cruelly inflicted in the 13th minute of stoppage-time.
Arthur stroked home Fiorentina’s winning goal from the penalty spot after Luca Beltran earned the away side, who trailed 2-1 in the 85th minute, a soft spot-kick given after a long video check.
Fiorentina won and ensured their place in European competition with the last kick of Ranieri’s final match in charge of Cagliari.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Former Premier League winner Ranieri has now effectively retired, even if he said in an interview with Sky in Italy that he would be interested in a national team job.
However, Thursday’s defeat made little difference to Ranieri or Cagliari as last weekend he saved from relegation the same club he brought up from Serie B last season and with whom he rose to prominence in the late 1980s.
Ranieri began his managerial career in amateur soccer in 1986, but turned heads by guiding Cagliari to Serie A with two successive promotions in 1989 and 1990.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“What we managed to do, we did together,” Ranieri said in a short post-match speech on the pitch. “I asked for your help a year and a half ago because only with you could we do what we did.”
Ranieri welled up on the sidelines ahead of kick-off as fans chanted his name and a standing ovation rolled around the stands, while a banner was unfurled that read: “Eternal gratitude to a great man.”
Afterward he hugged his players and family in front of a crowd that roared in appreciation of one of Italian soccer’s most beloved figures.
The 72-year-old said that his decision to quit had been made with a “heavy heart,” worrying that he would tarnish two brilliant spells nearly 40 years apart with Cagliari by staying on.
Ranieri had offered to quit following just three points from the first nine matches of the season, but the club and players convinced him to stay, and survival was dedicated to Ranieri, who has been frequently hailed by his team as an inspiration.
“He’s taught us things that are valuable not just on the pitch, but in life in general,” Gianluca Lapadula told DAZN pre-match. “If you don’t fight for your teammate, the man next to you, you’ll never go anywhere.”
Chinese soccer fans have poured their love — and money — into a Singaporean goalkeeper’s food stall after his performance in a game this week indirectly helped China advance to the third qualifying round for the FIFA World Cup in 2026. Hassan Sunny, a 40-year-old goalkeeper on the national team, became an overnight celebrity on Chinese social media after Singapore’s 3-1 loss to Thailand on Tuesday. China would have been eliminated if Thailand had won by three goals. Sunny made enough saves to prevent that from happening. Chinese fans have been lining up and buying out all the food at the stand
China squeezed into the third round of Asian qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup despite a 1-0 defeat at South Korea on Tuesday, with Indonesia also progressing on a night of drama. Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in scored just after the hour in Seoul for South Korea, who were already into the next qualifying phase as group winners. The damaging loss left China’s World Cup hopes hanging by a thread, but Thailand failed to take advantage as their dreams of progressing fell agonizingly short. They needed to beat basement side Singapore by three goals in Bangkok to leapfrog China into second place in
GOLDEN BOY: With Italy’s president watching, Tamberi was given a standing ovation when he walked onto the track, and he did not disappoint, jumping a record 2.37m Norway’s Karsten Warholm on Tuesday fired out a broadside at Olympic contenders in the run-in to the Paris Games by winning a third successive European Athletics Championships title in Rome as a galaxy of global stars showcased some scintillating form. Warholm, the Olympic champion and a three-time world gold medalist, timed 46.98 seconds for the victory. “I felt strong and I was in control,” Warholm said. “Now it’s back to training and keep on pushing.” “This is a good step on the road, but this is more to build confidence and get the gold medal. In Paris I’ll try to be as sharp
Poland’s Nicola Zalewski on Monday scored a 90th-minute goal to snatch a 2-1 win over Turkey in the final warm-up match for both sides before Euro 2024, but the hosts will be worried over injuries to strikers Karol Swiderski and Robert Lewandowski. Swiderski opened the scoring in the 12th minute, slipping his shot under the legs of goalkeeper Mert Gunok, but as the forward celebrated he came down awkwardly on his ankle and went off injured shortly afterward. “Karol has sprained his ankle and only after the tests will we know what the situation looks like. There will certainly be no changes