Juergen Klinsmann has been fired as head coach of the US men’s national team yesterday.
Klinsmann was under contract through 2018 but his future with the team had been in doubt after a pair of recent losses left their hopes of qualifying for the next World Cup in serious peril.
“Today we made the difficult decision of parting ways with Juergen Klinsmann, our head coach of the US Men’s National Team and technical director,” US Soccer president Sunil Gulati said .
“We want to thank Juergen for his hard work and commitment during these last five years.
Napoli’s Milik is back in training
Napoli forward Arkadiusz Milik joined his team-mates for training on Sunday and is expecting to make a comeback in January.
Milik suffered a cruciate ligament injury in October but the Poland international took to social media yesterday to report that he had his first run with the ball during the weekend.
“I continue to strive to return to the pitch. This was my first contact with the ball… thanks to all who are supporting me in this difficult journey,” the 22-year-old wrote.
Helsingborg IF condemn trouble
Helsingborg IF are investigating crowd trouble that saw manager Henrik Larsson’s son attacked on the pitch after the club’s relegation was confirmed.
Video footage posted on social media showed 19-year-old Jordan Larsson being confronted by a group of hooded Helsingborg supporters at the end of the 2-1 defeat to Halmstad on Sunday and forcibly having his shirt removed.
A statement from director Mats-Ola Schulze on the club’s website read: “The events that took place after the game were unacceptable. Helsingborgs IF strongly reject this because it is contrary to our values.”
Buerki sidelined with broken hand
Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Buerki is set to be out of action for at least two months after breaking his hand during the side’s 1-0 league win over Bayern Munich on Saturday.
The 26-year-old Buerki will miss the remaining Bundesliga fixtures up until the start of the winter break in December as well as his club’s two remaining Champions League group matches.
The Swiss would undergo surgery in the coming days and was expected to be ruled out for at least eight weeks, Dortmund said.
Dortmund, who have already qualified for the knockout stage of Europe’s elite club competition, climbed to third spot in the Bundesliga, three points behind champions Bayern and six off leaders RB Leipzig.
Kane says he is happy at Spurs
Harry Kane insists he is not holding Tottenham to ransom over his new contract and is happy to stay at the club for a “long, long time”.
Spurs have opened talks with the striker about extending his current deal, which is worth around £50,000 a week and due to expire in 2020.
The 23-year-old underlined his importance to Spurs on Saturday when his double snatched a 3-2 win over West Ham United.
“I’m happy at the club. A lot of people are going to speculate about contracts but I am happy – you saw me out there (on Saturday),” he said.
“There’s not many better feelings than being at White Hart Lane and scoring in a London derby. So yeah, I am happy at the club and want to be here for a long, long time.”
Goal celebration sparks brawl
Rosario Central forward Teo Gutierrez sparked a brawl which led to himself and an opponent being sent off during his side’s match at Boca Juniors in the Argentine league.
The Colombia forward scored in the 20th minute of Sunday’s match and went to celebrate in front of Boca supporters by drawing an imaginary diagonal stripe across his shirt.
Gutierrez used to play for Boca’s arch-rivals River Plate and the gesture was a clear reference his former club’s white shirts with red diagonal stripe.
Furious Boca players surrounded Gutierrez and knocked him to the ground. Rosario players then leapt to his defence, causing a brawl which lasted several minutes before Gutierrez and Boca’s Ricardo Centurion were both sent off.
Gervinho faces six months out
Ivory Coast captain Gervinho has had successful surgery on ruptured cruciate ligaments but faces up to six months on the sidelines and will miss the African Nations Cup finals, the country’s football federation said.
Gervinho was hurt during training with his Chinese club Hebei Fortune last month but only underwent surgery last week.
“The operation was successful but his recovery will be between four to six months which means he is out of the Nations Cup,” a statement said.