Manchester United have not given up on their Premier League title hopes yet despite dropping eight points behind leaders Liverpool, midfielder Michael Carrick said.
United have made a mixed start under manager Jose Mourinho and have drawn criticism for their lack of killer-instinct in front of goal, having scored 16 times in 11 league games.
“We want to be at the top challenging. We’ve had some ups and downs along the way, it’s not to say that we’ve given up on winning things just yet,” Carrick said.
“We just don’t feel we’ve got the results our performances have warranted; we know it can change... there’s still so much to play for and we believe that when it counts we’ll be right up there.”
Barcelona sign new shirt sponsorship
Barcelona have agreed a new four-year deal for their shirt sponsorship with Japanese internet retailer Rakuten worth €55 million a year excluding potential add-ons.
Barcelona – once renowned for never having had a sponsor on their shirts – will earn an additional €1.5 million for each time they win La Liga and an additional €5 million each time they win the Champions League.
The deal, which has an option to extend into a fifth season, will begin from the 2017-18 season.
Klinsmann hurt by US dismal showing
Jurgen Klinsmann did not even attempt to sugarcoat his reaction to the performance of his United States team after their 4-0 humiliation in a World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica on Tuesday.
The normally upbeat Klinsmann admitted the performance of his side, which mustered only one shot on goal in the Costa Rica capital of San Jose, had been unacceptable.
“This is the defeat that hurts the most in my five years here, there’s no doubt about it,” he said after a result that leaves the U.S. without a point from two matches in the qualifying group.
“It is a bitter pill to swallow.”
Speculation over Klinsmann’s tenure as head coach was already rampant before the game, even as US Soccer president Sunil Gulati remained supportive.
Congo fire coach after WCup defeat
Congo have fired coach Pierre Lechantre, making him the fourth coaching casualty since last month’s start of the group stages of Africa’s World Cup qualifiers.
Congo’s 1-0 loss at Uganda on Saturday followed a home defeat to Egypt in October and left the country bottom of Group E without any points.
Congo also failed to qualify for January’s African Nations Cup finals in Gabon.
Lechantre had been in the job for almost one year in which time Congo won just once in seven outings.
Pirlo regrets not playing for Guardiola
New York City midfielder Andrea Pirlo wishes he had played under Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola when the Spaniard was coach of Barcelona.
Guardiola had wanted to sign Pirlo for Barca from Milan in the summer of 2010 but the Serie A club did not want to sell their playmaker.
“Pep as a coach? He’s No. 1, without a doubt,” Pirlo said in an interview with Marca Plus.
“Look at what he did with Barcelona and also Bayern Munich. Above all, he’s a person I’ve had the pleasure of knowing, I admire and respect. We speak quite often now, because we have mutual friends in Brescia.
“It would have been great to play for him.”
Balotelli makes title promise
Mario Balotelli has vowed to “fly a helicopter over Nice” if the club pull off a shock Ligue 1 title triumph this season.
Nice surprisingly lead the French top flight by three points and Balotelli, 26, has contributed six goals in as many league games since his summer arrival from Liverpool.
Paris Saint-Germain have won the Ligue 1 crown in each of the last four seasons, and with Unai Emery’s men just three points back in third place, they remain favourites.
However, should Nice upset the odds, Balotelli already has his celebration planned.
“I’m happy here at Nice. I’ve settled in very quickly in this fantastic place,” he said. “There’s still a long way to go, but if we do win the title, I’m going to fly a helicopter over Nice.”
Al-Mohannadi gets one-year FIFA ban
FIFA’s ethics watchdog has banned Saoud Al-Mohannadi, vice-president of the Qatar Football Association and a vice-president of the Asian Football Confederation, from soccer for a year for failing to cooperate as a witness, it said yesterday.
The adjudicatory chamber of world soccer body FIFA’s ethics committee also fined him 20,000 Swiss francs ($19,940.
Qatar’s FA said in August it fully backed Al-Mohannadi after a FIFA investigator recommended he be banned from the game for at least 2-1/2 years over allegations of non-cooperation with an inquiry.