Other Sports

Saturday, 04 February 2012 00:00

Author / Source : Agencies

Chievo edge out Novara in Serie A
MILAN, FEB 3: Novara coach Emiliano Mondonico’s return to Serie A proved disappointing as he witnessed his new team lose 2-1 to Chievo Verona on Thursday and look even more certain of relegation. Sergio Pellissier grabbed his 100th goal for Chievo shortly after the half-hour mark and it looked all over when Cyril Thereau doubled its lead 12 minutes from time. But Giuseppe Mascara pulled one back less than a minute later to set up a nervy finish.
Mondonico, who had not coached in the top division since being fired by Fiorentina seven years ago, replaced Attilio Tesser on Monday in the 12th coaching change in Serie A this season. Novara remains bottom of the standings, seven points below Siena, which has a game in hand. “I’m happy to be back on the bench, but I’m upset to have lost,” Mondonico said. “I saw a team which can play in Serie A, it’s not here by chance and its not clearly inferior to its opponents. “I saw a team which can fight to remain in Serie A. I don’t think people saw a team which are resigned to relegation or without talent.” The first half got off to a bright start and Novara goalkeeper Samir Ujkani was forced into two smart saves to deny first Pellissier and then Luciano.
Novara’s first real chance came in the 15th minute when it won a free kick in a dangerous position just outside the area. Ivan Radovanovic drilled it in and Stefano Sorrentino’s save went straight back to the Serbia midfielder but his second shot was well held by the Chievo goalie. Chievo should have taken the lead in the 26th minute as Boukary Drame put in a perfect cross for the onrushing Thereau. However, the Frenchman for some reason decided to leap and attempt to score with his knee, and he blazed over.
The visiting side did take the lead minutes later as chaotic defending in the box saw the ball fall to Pellissier-Chievo’s highest ever goalscorer-and as the Novara defenders watched the ball bounce the Chievo captain muscled his way past them and tucked it past Ujkani. Novara almost immediately equalized but Mascara was a whisker away from making contact at the far post. It had another decent opportunity in first-half stoppage time as Sorrentino could parry Marco Rigoni’s cross only out to Andrea Caracciolo, who headed just wide of the left upright.
Chances were few and far between in the second half, although Radovanovic did fire narrowly over the crossbar shortly past the hour.
Thereau appeared to have sealed the points when he doubled Chievo’s lead.      AP

Joe Cole ponders coaching role

PARIS, FEB 3: Joe Cole has expressed his admiration for Lille coach Rudi Garcia and revealed that working under the Frenchman has prompted him to consider a career in management himself.
Cole is on a season-long loan at the French champions from Liverpool and despite his considerable experience, the 30-year-old said he has learnt a great deal from Garcia on the training pitch.
“When I was playing at Liverpool or elsewhere, sometimes you’d ask yourself why the other team had so much possession against you,” the midfielder said in an interview published in Thursday’s edition of sport daily L’Equipe.
“In the England team, we had (Steven) Gerrard, (Frank) Lampard, (David) Beckham, (Wayne) Rooney and we were playing against, for example, Macedonia, and they had 60 percent of possession against us. And we didn’t know why.
“For me, it depends on the way the team is put together. The way that Rudi instructs the team has opened my eyes about playing high up the pitch, with the full-backs pushing up and the movement of the central midfielders and the defenders.
“When you look at the relationship between (Florent) Balmont and (Mathieu) Debuchy, it’s very fluid. But it doesn’t just happen like that. You have to work on movement and that way of attacking.
“It makes me want to become a coach, even if I hope that that doesn’t happen for a while. But maybe I’d be rubbish!”
Cole has become a popular figure with Lille’s fans, having scored eight goals in all competitions since the start of the season, but he admits he is still having problems picking up the language.
“The only thing I miss (about England) is in the changing room,” he said. “I can’t understand all the jokes (at Lille) and it’s frustrating. French is more difficult than I thought.
“I’m trying to take my lessons very seriously. I listen to them for at least half an hour each day.”
Cole also revealed that he had been pleasantly surprised by the quality of football in the French top flight.
“The stadiums aren’t as nice as in England, but if you take away Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea or Tottenham, the level is the same,” he said.
“The only difference is that England has the money to buy David Silva, (Mario) Balotelli, (Sergio) Aguero etc. “But I really like the atmosphere in the French championship, the proximity between the television and the players. The interviews just before the match, at half-time and at the end is really nice.      AFP

K-force lead Mali from front

LIBREVILLE (GABON), FEB 3: Mali owe their appearance in the Africa Cup of Nations in no small part to ‘oldtimers’ Cedric Kante and Seydou Keita.
“With Cedric we’re the two veterans in the side, the rest are youngsters,” conceded Keita, who like Kante is aged 32 and who like the captain has seen their international return rewarded with a last eight place.
Mali face co-hosts Gabon here on Sunday after taking the runners-up spot in Group D with Wednesday’s 2-1 defeat of Botswana.
And despite all his club silverware Keita went beserk with joy when the final whistle finally blew on the other Group D match being played simultaneously up in Franceville on Wednesday night signalling Mali’s certain qualification.
Keita, competing in his fifth Nations Cup, has won the Champions League, Spanish Cup, French Cup, and the World Club Championship.
Now he wants to seize his chance of adding this major international title.
“It’s no contest (between the feeling of playing for club or country). “Your country is something else, I never felt like that with Barcelona, Sevilla or Lens. It’s not comparable.
“I’ve won everything, I’ve also lost everything...but I was under enormous pressure (on Wednesday). “I can’t explain how I felt after the game.”
Keita, who scored the winner against Botswana, is aiming to match or better Mali’s performance in 2004 when he helped the Eagles make it to the Nations Cup semi-finals in Tunisia.
Keita and Kante are the two most vulnerable members in the Mali squad on account of their age and the fact that they returned to the international fold after a summons from coach Alain Giresse.
“I’m not going to say that we had everything to lose in returning, but....” conceded Kante, who is attached to Greek side Panathinaikos.
“We came back to the squad in order to bring something to it, to help the young players and to help the country but it has to result in something concrete.
“We were relieved to qualify. We’ve invested in this and we would be truly frustrated if we’d gone out in the first round.”
Keita added: “I want to succeed in this with these young players something that I didn’t succeed in doing with the others! It’s huge to qualify. I didn’t want to go home like that. I’m happy for the team and the country.”
Reflecting on the role of his two talented thirtysomethings, Giresse said: “Kante and Keita have a role which represents their experience. The team needs experienced players...”
Mali’s special Ks hope to make it to the last four and equal the performance Mali achieved in 2002 and in 2004 which Kante missed with injury.
Looking ahead to Sunday’s clash with Gabon, Keita said: “They are playing in front of their fans. They’ll have pressure but also the motivation with their supporters behind them. We have our chance.”
Kante commented: “The advantage is that we know them well (Giresse coached Gabon before Gernot Rohr took over in 2010). The disadvantage is that they’re playing at home and we’ll have to be very strong to beat them.”
He conceded that up to now Mali haven’t produced a performance to match the enthusiasm of their fans.
“We haven’t played like we would have wanted but we’re in the quarter-finals and lots of big teams who thought they would make it have been knocked out. “We’ve displayed good spirit and it’s that which can help us make it to the semi-finals. We have to play with our hearts.”     AFP

Second-tier pro-league from Feb 6

Sports reporter

DHAKA, Feb 3: The second tier of the Professional Football League named as Premier Bank Champions League will get underway on Monday. Uttara Baridhara Sporting Club will take on Beani Bazar of Sylhet in the opening match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium. A total of seven teams are taking part in the Champions League while the matches will be held on double league system. The first phase will take place in Dhaka and second phase will he held in Cox’s Bazaar Stadium. The chairman of the Professional Football League committee and the senior vice-president of the BFF Abdus Salam Murshedi stated this at a press conference at the BFF Bhaban on Thursday. Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) detailed all in a press conference on Thursday at the BFF Bhaban. He said that Premier Bank came forward to become the title sponsors while the Destiny Group would be the co-sponsors along with Grameenphone, the BFF’s main sponsors. Premier Bank will provide Taka 20,00,000 and the Destiny Group will give Taka 12,00,000 while the Premier Bank also signed a one year deal with the BFF.
Meanwhile, the 50 percent of the sponsor money will distributed among the seven participating teams while the champions team of the league will receive Taka three lakhs and runners-up team will get Taka two lakhs. The logo unveiling ceremony of the league was also held during the press conference. Apart from Salam Murshedi, BFF president Kazi Mohammad Salahuddin, BFF executive members, Harunur Rashid, Anwarul Haque Helal and vice-president Shawkat Ali Khan Jahangir were present along with Imran Iqbal, managing director and Majidur Rahman, director of the Premier Bank .

Tremlett targets April return
LONDON, Feb 3: England paceman Chris Tremlett has targeted late April for a return to action after being forced out of the ongoing Test series against Pakistan by a back problem. Tremlett had to fly home before the second of two successive defeats to date, having added just one appearance since the same problem ruled him out of last summer’s Trent Bridge Test against India and then for five-and-a-half months afterwards.
The 6ft 7in fast bowler, who took 17 wickets in three Tests in England’s historic Ashes victory in Australia last winter, is suffering with a back problem which has been described as “chronic” by medical specialists and may require surgery.      AGENCIES