Category sport-news

With a 2-0 victory over Napoli on Thursday, Manchester City capitalized on Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s early red card to defeat Napoli, making Erling Haaland the fastest player to score 50 Champions League goals.

Before Jeremy Doku’s men started their quest for Champions League glory with a winning start, Haaland only made 49 appearances before scoring his half-century in the elite competition in Europe.

Kevin De Bruyne’s fairytale comeback to the Etihad was halted after only 26 minutes as a result of Di Lorenzo’s dismissal.

De Bruyne returned to the team as a hero just months after leaving as one of City’s greatest players in the club’s history.

Before kick-off, a number of banners emblazoned the Belgian’s name, which paid homage to the man who scored nearly 300 goals or assists in 422 games for Manchester.

Read more about the Premier League’s end-months-long dispute over rules on commercial deals in READ HERE.

Antonio Conte sacrificed the 34-year-old to add more depth to his defense with the addition of Mathas Olivera, but he showed no signs of sentiment.

Napoli’s ability as an attacking force was also neutered by Di Lorenzo’s dismissal and De Bruyne’s departure.

The visitors had a chance to equalize with only 11 men on the field when City’s new goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma surpassed his best efforts to parry Sam Beukema’s header from a corner.

At 21 minutes, Di Lorenzo made a desperate lunge to stop Haaland from running clear on goal and eliminate the Norwegian.

Referee Felix Zwayer initially believed the defender had touched the ball, but VAR gave him the go-ahead to look at and correct his error.

Napoli held on until the break thanks to some outstanding goalkeeping from Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.

The Serbian, who only played for Manchester United for a short time in his career, made some impressive saves to deny Rodri, Nico O’Riley, and Josko Gvardiol.

Matteo Politano resisted Milinkovic-Savic’s goal-bound effort even when the match’s stoppage came to an end when the match was over.

After the final eleven minutes of the second half, the Napoli rearguard finally broke free.

Haaland scored from the penalty spot for his 12th goal of the season for club and nation, which was a loop over Milinkovic-Savic.

Doku then delivered the decisive blow by smashing a brilliant individual run past three Napoli goalkeepers before coolly slotting his effort under the onrushing goalkeeper.

With two defeats in their first three Premier League games against Tottenham and Brighton, City’s season got off to a mediocre start.

After a consoling 3-0 derby win over Manchester United at the weekend, Guardiola’s men have steadied the ship for the entire two-thirds of a great week.

Guardiola could afford the luxury of resting Rodri and Haaland during the final few minutes, which resembled a training session as City whipped the ball around at will ahead of a trip to title rivals Arsenal on Sunday.

In what is likely to be their most difficult game of the season, the Italian champions were content to limit the damage.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the second-fastest woman to ever claim gold at the world championships on Thursday, ran the second-fastest time ever.

The 26-year-old American broke Jarmila Kratochvilova’s previous championship record of 47.98 seconds set in 1983 on a rain-stricken Tokyo track.

Marileidy Paulino, the reigning champion and Olympic gold medalist, took silver in a time of 47.98 seconds, the third-fastest ever for the Dominican Republic. Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain won bronze in 48. 19 seconds.

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McLaughin-Levrone, who won two Olympic golds and holds the world record, said, “It was really about trying to stay as relaxed as possible.”

She said, “At the end of the day, this wasn’t my title to hold onto; it was my gain.”

Bobby frequently uses boxing expressions. He said, “You have to go out there and take the belt; it’s not yours, and you have to work for it.”

I’m grateful that we were able to accomplish that, because it really was just about doing the best race possible.

McLaughlin-Levrone looked poised to break Marita Koch’s 40-year-old world record of 47.60sec in the semi-final, which set off a new record for the semi-final.

It was proved by this.

In lane five, McLaughlin-Levrone was drawn inside Britain’s world indoor champion Amber Anning and Cuba’s Roxana Gomez.

The National Stadium’s temperature had dropped significantly from recent, sultry weather and persistent rain.

McLaughlin-Levrone drove out of her blocks, but the wet track was irrelevant.

By the halfway point, she had already passed Anning and made a good home straight turn.

Paulino appeared to be making a threat from the outside lane a few moments ago, but McLaughlin-Levrone used every muscle to veer off the track while keeping her eyes fixed on the clock.

She broke the championship record, but she suffered a terrible blow, falling far short of Koch’s 1985, one of the oldest records ever set in the books, by capturing it in Canberra.

The US track and field’s golden girl was reportedly shocked and gasped for oxygen.

She sat on a chair and a bottle of water away from the attention of the public for a brief moment while enjoying the break.

But then she returned to the track, to rapturous cheers, to adorn the American flag, and to kiss her husband Andre in the stands.

An event that has lost momentum in recent years has been revived by McLaughlin-Levrone’s presence in the 400-meter race, as opposed to the 400-meter hurdles.

And her victory will help to silence those who criticized her for reversing her decision to focus on the flat race instead of the 400-meter hurdles, an event she had won for six seasons.

She said, “I know there was a lot of doubt about me making this switch, and I just wanted to show myself I can do it.”

I look up online things. I observe what other people say, which is ultimately acceptable. That, in my opinion, is what makes the sport great. They want to see excellent matchups, in my opinion.

They “want to see people be uncomfortable,” and today’s track and field race was no exception.

When Tokyo hosted the Covid-delayed Olympic Games in 2021, McLaughlin-Levrone was one of the stars.

In one of those Games’ standout performances, she won the 400-meter hurdles gold and set a world record of 51.46 seconds.

Jose Mourinho was appointed as Chelsea’s coach on Thursday, with the Portuguese making his first appearance since leaving Porto for Chelsea.

After Benfica defeated them in the Champions League play-offs in August, the 62-year-old was fired by Turkish side Fenerbahce. He also previously worked for Real Madrid and Manchester United.

According to a statement from Benfica, Mourinho has agreed to stay in the club until the end of the 2026/27 season, with the option for either party to terminate it at the end of the current campaign.

After a shock defeat in their Champions League opener against Azerbaijani minnows Qarabag on Tuesday, the two-time European champions fired Bruno Lage.

READ ALSO: Guardiola and Man City’s “Apparently” Not Champions League Contenders.

In the Champions League on September 30 and in the Primeira Liga on October 5, Mourinho will soon face reunions with former clubs Chelsea and Porto, respectively.

Mourinho made the transition to become the head coach at Benfica in September 2000 after beginning his coaching career with Bobby Robson and Louis van Gaal as assistant.

After only 11 matches, he left and then impressed at Uniao de Leira, joining Porto, who won back-to-back league titles and the Champions League title in 2004.

Before his fortunes sank when he joined Manchester United in 2016, he began a successful career coaching Chelsea, Inter Milan, and Real Madrid.

Tottenham, Roma, and Fenerbahce then had more modest stints.

Nigeria’s Super Eagles have slipped further in the latest FIFA Men’s World Rankings, falling to 45th globally and once again dropping out of Africa’s top five.

The three-time African champions were ranked 43rd in April and 44th in July, but have now dropped another spot in the September update.

This latest decline places Nigeria sixth on the continent, trailing behind several long-standing rivals.

Africa

Morocco remain Africa’s highest-ranked team, sitting 11th in the world after securing an early qualification for next year’s FIFA World Cup. Senegal follow as the continent’s second-best side at 18th globally, with Egypt (35th) and Algeria (38th) rounding out the top four.

Côte d’Ivoire, buoyed by a consistent run of results, have climbed to 44th in the world, overtaking Nigeria to claim fifth place in Africa. Tunisia also made gains, rising three spots to 49th. Cameroon, South Africa, and Mali complete Africa’s top ten.

READ ALSO: &nbsp, South Africa Hold Nigeria To 1-1 Draw As Super Eagles ‘ World Cup Hopes Wane

Nigeria’s continued slide is closely tied to their recent form, with the team managing just two wins in their last five matches, alongside two losses and a draw.

The results have left them struggling in Group C of the Africa World Cup qualifiers, where they currently sit third behind South Africa and Benin Republic, with just two matches remaining.

Globally, Spain have returned to the top of the FIFA rankings for the first time since 2014, following their UEFA EURO 2024 triumph. They have overtaken world champions Argentina, who drop to third, while France move up to second place.

Germany suffered one of the steepest drops in the rankings, falling to 12th after a shock World Cup qualifier defeat to Slovakia, a result that propelled the Slovaks ten places up to 42nd.

Movers

Other notable climbers in the latest rankings include Paraguay (37th, up 6), Uganda (82nd, up 6), The Gambia (115th, up 8), and Madagascar (108th, up 7). Morocco (11th, up 1) remain just outside the global top ten, buoyed by an impressive run of eight wins in their last nine matches.

Canada (26th) and Kosovo (91st) also reached new all-time highs, continuing their steady rise.

Bjorn Borg, a legend of Swedish tennis, talks about his struggles with cocaine addiction and prostate cancer in an autobiography that was released on Thursday.

The 69-year-old former tennis player reveals in his memoir, Heartbeats: A Memoir, that he battled “his demons” for a number of years of addiction.

He described his first encounter with cocaine at the renowned New York nightclub Studio 54 as “the first time I tried cocaine,” describing a rush as strong as what tennis had previously given him.

The early 1990s, when he married Italian singer Loredana Berte, were the worst of his difficulties.

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“We had bad influences, and there were drugs and pills nearby. He relates how he was plunged into the darkest place there.

Just before a tournament for an exhibition, he fell on a bridge in the Netherlands in 1996.

His father was standing next to him when he awoke in the hospital.

While appearing on the interview program Skavlan on SVT, Borg recalled that he had spoken no, that it was embarrassing.

“I felt incredibly sorry.”

He also details his diagnosis of prostate cancer in his book in September 2023.

According to Borg, “I will have to deal with the risk of it coming back for a while with the anxiety of not knowing… if the cancer was caught in time.”

To prevent the cancer from returning, he needs to have his annual checkup every six months.

He admitted that he hadn’t “played tennis in six years” in his Skavlan appearance, insisting that he was getting exercise every day.

Before retiring from tennis at the age of 26, he won the Wimbledon five times and the French Open six times.

When asked about doping in the sport, he responded, “I know it exists among juniors.”

Despite the fact that the two had parted ways after the Italian world number two tested positive for an anabolic steroid that resulted in a three-month suspension, Borg explained how he had resumed working with his former fitness instructor, Umberto Ferrara.

He fired his fitness instructor, one of his trainers. Then he hired the same fitness instructor again once things started to settle down. That is incredibly strange to me. Borg continued, “I don’t know more.”

The first US man and the first track and field athlete to sign up for the Enhanced Games, where competitors will be given the option of using performance-enhancing drugs, has been Fred Kerley, a two-time Olympic 100m medallist who is currently serving a suspension.

On Wednesday, The Enhanced Games announced Kerley’s participation on social media, saying in a post on X that the competition’s first edition allowed “performance-enhancing substances” with a protocol they called “safe, legal, and science-driven.”

In a statement posted on the Enhanced Games website, Kerley stated that he believes the Enhanced Games will give him a chance to challenge Usain Bolt’s 9.58-second 100-meter world record.

The ultimate goal of my career has always been the record, Kerley said. “I now have the opportunity to put all of my energy into pushing my limits and surpassing all previous human records.”

Any competitor who breaks the record at the event will receive a $1 million bonus.

At the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Kerley won 100 meters and bronze at the Paris Games last year.

Also Read: Olympic 100m medalist Kerley denies battery and accepts “altercation.”

He won 100 meters at the World Championships in 2022, but he is currently serving a provisional suspension for breaking anti-doping test location restrictions.

James Magnussen, Ben Proud, and Kristian Gkolomeev are the first track and field experts to commit to the Enhanced Games.

The World Anti-Doping Agency described the project as “dangerous and irresponsible,” with Australian entrepreneur Aron D’Souza launching it in 2023 with the backing of the country over fears it could harm athletes’ health.

The first event, which will feature swimming, sprinting, and weightlifting, is scheduled for May 21 through May 24, 2026 in Las Vegas.

Steroid and human growth hormones, which are prohibited in all other international sports, will be available to athletes competing in the Enhanced Games.

The top three teams each receive $250,000.

World Aquatics became the first international organization to forbid athletes, coaches, and officials from competing in the Enhanced Games in June.