Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka beats Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3 6-7 7-6 6-4 to reach the French Open final for the first time. The 30-year-old will face the winners of the other semi-final between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray which begins in the next few minutes.
Watford confirm the appointment of Quique Sanchez Flores as the newly promoted Premier League side’s head coach on a two-year deal. The ex-Atletico Madrid boss becomes Watford’s fifth manager in a year. The former Real Madrid, Valencia and Spain right-back took charge of Getafe in January, but quit after only 11 games, citing personal reasons. Flores’s managerial achievements include winning the Europa League and UEFA Super Cup in 2010 with Atletico, and the Portuguese League Cup with Benfica in 2009.
Juventus and Barcelona players have arrived in sunny Berlin ahead of Saturday’s Champions League final. The fever is on.
A new leaked letter appears to show South African authorities seeking an indirect route for the transfer of $10m (£6.5m) to FIFA, BBC reports. The letter carried by South African media was purportedly written by then SA FA president Danny Jordaan three weeks before the first amount was paid. US prosecutors say the money was a bribe to FIFA officials to help secure South Africa’s 2010 World Cup bid. South Africa says it was a legitimate payment to fund Caribbean football. The $10m payment is a key plank in the wide-ranging US criminal inquiry that has engulfed world football’s governing body. Seven top FIFA officials, including two vice-presidents were arrested last week in Switzerland as they awaited FIFA’s congress. They were among 14 new indictments in the US investigation, which alleges they accepted bribes and kickbacks estimated at more than $150m over a 24-year period. Four other people were charged earlier. One of them, ex-FIFA official Chuck Blazer, has pleaded guilty in the US to taking bribes related to South Africa’s bid.
Real Madrid have re-signed midfielder Casemiro from Porto. The 23-year-old Brazil international had been on a season-long loan at the Portuguese side from Real, with Porto having the option to buy the player. However, Rafael Benitez’s side have exercised their option to pay a buy-out clause to keep him at the Bernabeu.
Barcelona too are on their way to Berlin for the Champions League final against Juventus tomorrow. Lionel Messi is pictured travelling with his team mates. Barcelona are looking to complete a treble – winning La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League. Same also for Juventus who have won the Italian league and Cup.
Outgoing FIFA president and Olympic member Sepp Blatter will not attend an International Olympic Committee meeting in Lausanne next week. The 79-year-old Swiss became football’s representative on the IOC in 1999, shortly after first becoming FIFA boss. “In April, the FIFA president informed the IOC that he would not be taking part at the meeting in Lausanne. He has not changed those plans,” a FIFA spokesman says.
Juventus are on their way to Berlin. The Serie A champions, led by manager Massimiliano Allegri, are pictured before their flight to Germany for Saturday’s Champions League final with Barcelona.
Ghana beat Panama 1-0 to make it through to the last-16 of the Under-20 World Cup as Group B winners. The result also knocked out the Central American side, who missed a late penalty. Emmanuel Boateng scored the only goal of the game in the 74th minute, the substitute driving home a 20-yard effort after beating his marker. Panama almost levelled when Jesus Araya hit the bar and in the 89th minute Escobar missed a spot-kick. Ghana will play one of the best third-placed teams fro Group A,C or D in the next round on 10 June.
The 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup which is the seventh FIFA Women’s World Cup will begin in Canada tomorrow (6th June) and will end on 5th July 2015. This tournament saw the World Cup expanded to 24 teams from 16 in 2011. The tournament will use the Hawk-Eye system as goal-line technology for the first time and will also be the first Women’s World Cup to be played on artificial turf. Players expressed concerns over potential injuries from the artificial turf, and a legal case asking for matches to be moved was dropped in January 2015. The cities of Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal and Moncton have been selected to host tournament matches.
The Super Falcons of Nigeria, who have attended all editions of the world cup so far, will be competing in Group D with Sweden, Australia and USA in that order. The Nigerians will play their first two games in Winnipeg and then play their last group game in Vancouver.
Friday 5 June 2015:
Austria 0 – 0 Argentina
Panama 0 – 1 Ghana
Myanmar 1 -5 New Zealand
Ukraine 3 – 0 USA
AC Milan manager Filippo Inzaghi will be sacked this week after just a year in charge. The Serie A side told BBC Sport that Inzaghi, 41, will “not be in charge of the team next season”. The Rossoneri finished 10th in the league this season as they failed to qualify for the Champions League. Carlo Ancelotti has turned down the chance to return to his former club while ex-Sampdoria boss Sinisa Mihajlovic is favourite for the job. Milan said they were still “looking to find a new coach” and an official announcement is expected on Friday. Mihajlovic, 46, said on Monday that he was leaving Sampdoria after guiding the Genoa club to seventh, with former goalkeeper Walter Zenga reported to be in talks to take over. Ancelotti, 55, who was sacked by Real Madrid, had held talks with Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani but said he needed a “rest” after two seasons in charge at the Bernabeu. Under former Italy striker Inzaghi, Milan had their worst league finish in 17 years.
Did he copy form our Naija trekkers? Well, Nicolo De Marchi made a promise to Juve on Twitter that he would walk from Turin to Berlin should the Old Lay beat Real Madrid in the semi-final. They did – and he’s doing it. The Oyibo trekker will cover about 683 miles. #oyibotrekstoo.
Juventus will face Barcelona in the Champions League final in Berlin on Saturday.
FIFA paid the Football Association of Ireland 5m euros (£3.6m) to stop legal action after France controversially beat Ireland in a World Cup play-off, BBC reports. FAI chief executive John Delaney said he believed they had a case against FIFA after French striker Thierry Henry’s handball in the 2009 match. Delaney said a “legitimate agreement” was made to drop the claim after Ireland missed the 2010 World Cup. FIFA president Sepp Blatter is quitting with the organisation in crisis. Delaney’s claim comes after a turbulent nine days for football’s world governing body amid claims of “systemic and deep-rooted” corruption. FIFA is facing two criminal investigations by both the US for widespread bribery allegations and Swiss authorities over the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding processes. The Republic of Ireland were 16 minutes away from a penalty shootout for a place in the 2010 finals in South Africa before Henry handled in the build-up to William Gallas’s extra-time equaliser in the second leg of the play-off in Paris. The 2-1 aggregate win sent France to the 2010 tournament, where they were knocked out of the group stages amid a player strike.
Lucie Safarova describes reaching her first Rolland Garros final as a “dream come true” after defeating Ana Ivanovic 7-5 7-5. The Czech 28-year-old adds: “I still can’t believe it. “I started a little slowly but I tried to keep up the level and started to play really aggressive because that was only the way to win. It’s unbelievable.” Safarova will face Serena Williams in the final on Saturday. Williams defeated Timea Bacsinszky 4-6 6-3 6-0 to reach French Open final.
Juventus will be without experienced defender Giorgio Chiellini for Saturday’s Champions League final against Barcelona. The Italy international has torn a calf muscle in training and will not feature in Berlin. It means Chiellini will not come up against Luis Suarez – you may remember there was a little incident between the pair at the World Cup.
Ex-Portugal winger Luis Figo, 42, has been blocked by the club from playing in a combined Juventus and Barcelona legends team to face a World XI on Friday. Figo’s inclusion prompted anger from fans of the club, still unforgiving of his move to Real Madrid in 2000. Barcelona took the issue to UEFA, who agreed to withdraw Figo from the team. Barca have not fully explained the reasoning for the move to stop Figo from taking part in the fixture, which takes place 24 hours before the club meet Juventus in the Champions League final in Berlin. Edwin van der Sar, Alessandro Del Piero and Fabio Cannavaro are just three of the names who will feature for the combination team, which will be managed by Brazil legend Zico. Figo, who joined Barcelona in 1995, won two La Liga titles with the club but joined Real for £37m in July of 2000, winning Fifa’s Ballon d’Or award four months later as a result of much of his performances for Barca over the year. On his return to the Nou Camp, banners were in place to taunt him and objects were thrown in his direction including a pig’s head. Former Real full-back Michel Salgado famously said: “By the second or third corner I turned to Luis Figo and said ‘Forget it, mate. You’re on your own’. I used to offer Luis the chance to take the short corner, drawing up close to him near the touchline, but not this time. Missiles were raining down from the stands.”
Juventus have confirmed the signing of Palermo striker Paulo Dybala in a €32m (£23m) deal that could rise to €40m (£29m). The 21-year-old Argentine has signed a five-year contract.
Dick Advocaat has performed a U-turn and will stay as Sunderland head coach after accepting a new one-year deal. The 67-year-old Dutchman said in May he no longer wished to continue a career in club management, having led the Black Cats to Premier League safety. Advocaat joined the club in March until the end of the season, replacing the sacked Gus Poyet, with the side one point above the relegation zone. He told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf: “The club kept calling.” Advocaat was offered a new deal at the end of the 2014-15 season, but had told the club “it is better to stop now”, before being persuaded to change his mind. The former Netherlands boss, who managed Scottish club Rangers between 1998 and 2002, lost his first Premier League game in charge of Sunderland at West Ham. But they went on to record three wins and three draws in the remaining eight games to pull clear of relegation, including a 1-0 win over North East rivals Newcastle. Prior to joining Sunderland, Advocaat won the league title and cup double twice at Ibrox, and league titles in his homeland with PSV Eindhoven and in Russia with Zenit St Petersburg. He also led Zenit to victory over Rangers in the 2008 Uefa Cup final and Manchester United in the Uefa Super Cup later that year.
Liverpool have announced that a deal has been agreed to sign midfielder James Milner from Manchester City, subject to a medical. The Reds have agreed personal terms with the England international, who will officially complete his move to Anfield when his City contract expires on 1 July. Milner will arrive at Anfield having lifted two Barclays Premier League titles, an FA Cup and a League Cup during his five-year spell with City. The 29-year-old is also firmly established as a regular for England and has notched 53 caps to date. Having also represented Leeds United, Newcastle United and Aston Villa, Milner has lined up against Liverpool 24 times in total during the course of his career.
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