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Barcelona say Xavi will not return as coach next season

Barcelona say Xavi will not return as coach next season
Barcelona sacked coach Xavi Hernandez on May 24, 2024 after the Catalan giants failed to win a trophy this season. (AFP)
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Updated 24 May 2024

Barcelona say Xavi will not return as coach next season

Barcelona say Xavi will not return as coach next season
  • The club said Laporta “has informed Xavi Hernández that he will not be continuing as first team coach in the 2024-25 season”
  • His departure comes a month after Xavi had reversed a previous decision made in January to leave the club this summer

BARCELONA: Barcelona say coach Xavi Hernandez is leaving the club at the end of the season.
The Spanish club made the announcement Friday after a meeting between club president Joan Laporta, Xavi and several other senior figures at the team’s training ground.
The club said Laporta “has informed Xavi Hernández that he will not be continuing as first team coach in the 2024-25 season.”
Xavi’s last game in charge will be Sunday’s away game against Sevilla on the final day of the league season.
His departure comes a month after Xavi had reversed a previous decision made in January to leave the club this summer. In April, the 44-year-old Xavi said that he had changed his mind after his players showed him that they believed in the team’s potential and had improved their performances.
But Laporta had reportedly been displeased by Xavi’s recent comments in a news conference that Barcelona’s poor financial situation would make it nearly impossible to compete against Real Madrid and Europe’s other top clubs.
The former midfielder led Barcelona to the Spanish league title last year, but the team are eight points behind already crowned champion Madrid going into the last round.
As a player, Xavi left Barcelona in 2015 after helping the club win 25 titles, including four Champions Leagues and eight Spanish leagues in 17 seasons while forming a formidable trio with Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta. He was also key to Spain’s streak of titles when they won the 2010 World Cup and European Championships in 2008 and 2012.
Laporta brought Xavi back from his only prior coaching job in Qatar in November 2021 to lead his rebuilding project of a club that had just lost Messi amid a financial crisis.
The following summer the club sold off future television revenues and other club assets, which Laporta dubbed financial “levers,” to sign Robert Lewandowski and other players. Xavi was able to win the club’s first titles since Messi’s departure and the future looked bright.
This season, however, Barcelona lost all three ‘clasico’ matches against Madrid and were thumped twice by upstart Catalan rival Girona, losing both of their league matchups 4-2. They also lost in the quarterfinals of both the Champions League and the Copa del Rey.


Kosovo FA say they warned UEFA about possible provocation by Romania fans

Kosovo FA say they warned UEFA about possible provocation by Romania fans
Updated 16 November 2024

Kosovo FA say they warned UEFA about possible provocation by Romania fans

Kosovo FA say they warned UEFA about possible provocation by Romania fans
  • The match was initially suspended before being abandoned when the Kosovo team refused to return to the pitch
  • UEFA had said it would communicate “further information in due course“

BUCHAREST: The Football Federation of Kosovo (FFK) said it had repeatedly warned European soccer’s governing body UEFA about potential provocation from Romania fans ahead of Friday’s Nations League match, which was abandoned when Kosovo’s players walked off.
The game in Bucharest was abandoned in stoppage time after the visiting players left the field with the score at 0-0 when they heard pro-Serbia chanting from the home fans.
The match was initially suspended before being abandoned when the Kosovo team refused to return to the pitch. UEFA had said it would communicate “further information in due course.”
“Cries such as ‘Kosovo is Serbia’ and ‘Serbia, Serbia’, whistling during the singing of the national anthem of Kosovo, throwing hard objects ... and other offensive and provocative actions were present throughout the match, creating an unacceptable atmosphere not safe for our players,” the FFK said in a statement.
“FFK had warned the relevant UEFA bodies more than twice in writing about the possibility of such actions, once a few days before the match and then a few minutes before it started.
“Despite these warnings, the Romanian fans continued with irresponsible and discriminatory behavior, forcing the Kosovo national team to leave the field due to the lack of safety and dignity.”
The FFK also alleged that a Romania official “threatened and assaulted” a Kosovo player in the corridors of the stadium.
“For all these serious violations, FFK has immediately reported the incidents to the match delegate and has started preparing a full complaint with facts and evidence that will be submitted to UEFA’s disciplinary bodies,” it added.
Reuters has contacted UEFA for comment.
The Romanian Football Federation was fined by UEFA last year over pro-Serbia chanting and the display of a banner reading “Kosovo is Serbia” by supporters during a Euro 2024 qualifier between the countries at the National Arena.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and has been recognized by more than 100 countries, but not Romania.


Japanese football player Kazuyoshi Miura says he will play next season at age 58

Japanese football player Kazuyoshi Miura says he will play next season at age 58
Updated 16 November 2024

Japanese football player Kazuyoshi Miura says he will play next season at age 58

Japanese football player Kazuyoshi Miura says he will play next season at age 58
  • Miura will turn 58 in February
  • He intends to play next season for his fourth-tier Japanese club, Suzuka

TOKYO: Japanese football player Kazuyoshi Miura is several generations older than his teammates. His contemporaries retired decades ago. Lionel Messi is 37, and Cristiano Ronaldo is 39 — mere youngsters compared to Miura.
Miura will turn 58 in February, and the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported this week that he intends to play next season for his fourth-tier Japanese club, Suzuka. It will be his 40th season playing in professional football.
Miura is widely listed as the oldest active professional football player.
Miura scored 55 goals in 89 appearances and was a star with Japan’s national team in the 1990s.
He has played professionally in Brazil, Italy, Croatia, Australia and Portugal. He made his debut in 1986 with Brazilian club Santos, a side made famous by Brazilian star Pele.


Japan beat Indonesia 4-0 to extend group lead in Asian World Cup qualifying

Japan beat Indonesia 4-0 to extend group lead in Asian World Cup qualifying
Updated 16 November 2024

Japan beat Indonesia 4-0 to extend group lead in Asian World Cup qualifying

Japan beat Indonesia 4-0 to extend group lead in Asian World Cup qualifying
  • Japan tops the group on 13 points with five games remaining in the round.
  • Australia, Ƶ and China all have 6 points, followed by Bahrain with five and Indonesia with 3

JAKARTA: Japan defeated Indonesia 4-0 on Friday to move seven points clear at the top of Group C in the third round of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
Two goals in each half mean the Samurai Blue stays on course for an eighth successive World Cup appearance.
After a bright start from the home team, the 78,000 fans at a sold-out Gelora Bung Karno Stadium were silenced after 35 minutes as Daichi Kamada broke down the left and sent a cross which defender Justin Hubner put into his own net from close range.
Takumi Minamino then scored from inside the area off Kaoru Mitoma’s pass to extend the lead five minutes before the break.
Hidemasa Motira took advantage of an errant pass from Indonesia’s goalkeeper to make it 3-0 early in the second half and Yukinari Sugawara rounded out the scoring in the 69th minute.
Japan tops the group on 13 points with five games remaining in the round. Australia, Ƶ and China all have six points, followed by Bahrain with five and Indonesia with three.
The top two from each of the three groups will be guaranteed a place at the World Cup, with the third- and fourth-place teams progressing to the next stage.
 


Pogba and Juventus end contract mutually before he returns from doping ban

Pogba and Juventus end contract mutually before he returns from doping ban
Updated 15 November 2024

Pogba and Juventus end contract mutually before he returns from doping ban

Pogba and Juventus end contract mutually before he returns from doping ban
  • The Serie A club never seemed overly enthusiastic about welcoming Pogba back
  • “Juventus Football Club and Paul Pogba announce that they have reached a mutual agreement for the termination of their contract as of Nov. 30, 2024,” the Bianconeri said

TURIN, Italy: Paul Pogba will no longer be a Juventus player from next month.
Juventus announced on Friday they came to “a mutual agreement” with Pogba to cancel his contract despite the France World Cup winner having a ban for doping slashed last month.
The Serie A club never seemed overly enthusiastic about welcoming Pogba back after his four-year ban for doping was reduced to 18 months following an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The 31-year-old Pogba, who will be free to resume his career in March 2025, had said he was ready to give up money to play for Juventus again.
“Juventus Football Club and Paul Pogba announce that they have reached a mutual agreement for the termination of their contract as of Nov. 30, 2024,” the Bianconeri said in a brief statement. “The club wish Paul the very best for his professional future.”
Pogba tested positive for testosterone in August last year and the Juventus midfielder was handed the maximum punishment by Italy’s anti-doping court.
But CAS judges cut Pogba’s ban as they acknowledged a lack of intent and said his positive test was the result of erroneously taking a supplement prescribed to him by a medical doctor in Florida.
Pogba’s contract with Juventus was set to expire in June 2026.
“My time at Juventus has come to an end. It has been a privilege to pull on the shirt of the Bianconeri and to share so many special memories together,” Pogba said in a statement.
“I cherish the memories we made. They live on. Even in the most difficult moments over the past year, your support was crucial and I want to thank Juve fans around the world for their compassion.”
Pogba was the most expensive soccer player in history when he joined Manchester United from Juventus for a fee of 105 million euros ($113 million) in 2016.
He starred in France’s World Cup triumph in 2018 and returned to Juventus as a free agent in 2022. But injuries limited him to just eight Serie A appearances in his second spell at the club before his ban last year.
“I am looking forward to the next chapter of my career and to stepping out on the pitch with my next club,” Pogba added.


Ruben Amorim has declared his mission for Man United

Ruben Amorim has declared his mission for Man United
Updated 15 November 2024

Ruben Amorim has declared his mission for Man United

Ruben Amorim has declared his mission for Man United
  • Amorim said on Friday, “I will try to do everything to put this club in the place that it belongs. And I believe a lot that we are going to succeed”
  • “We know that we need time, but we have to win time. To win time is to win games”

MANCHESTER, England: Ruben Amorim has told Manchester United fans he will do everything to bring the good times back to the 20-time English champion.
United’s new coach has been charged with ending more than a decade of decline at Old Trafford since former manager Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 and their Premier League dominance fizzled out.
Amorim — hired from Sporting Lisbon this month — is embracing the challenge and said on Friday, “I will try to do everything to put this club in the place that it belongs. And I believe a lot that we are going to succeed.”

The 39-year-old Portuguese is the sixth permanent manager/coach since Ferguson retired after winning his 13th league title.
David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag all failed to return United to the summit of English and European soccer in a period when Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have dominated domestically.
It is unlikely Amorim will change that after coming in partway through a season in which United made their worst league start since 1986.
“We know that we need time, but we have to win time. To win time is to win games,” Amorim told United’s in-house channel. “But the most important thing for me is identity. So, since day one we will start with our identity.”
Asked what could be expected from his team in the first weeks of his reign, he added: “I want to say beautiful things to you, but I’m really honest. But what I can say is that I think you will see an idea.”