Month: July 2019

Tata Martino’s side is one match away from lifting the Gold Cup. Who will the manager start in the midfield and on the right wing?

It all comes down to this.

Mexico is yet to lose in the Tata Martino era, and while the manager says a loss would be just a bump in the grand plan toward the 2022 World Cup, Sunday night’s Gold Cup final is not the game he wants to lose first. We’ve seen a typical XI emerge during the Gold Cup, but he does have a couple of decisions to make – particularly on the right-hand side of his team.

As we do before Mexico game each game, Goal has three projections for how El Tri may look from the opening whistle against the United States. Curious about the U.S.? Click here to see the potential XI. Click back an hour before the game to see what the managers have decided to put on the field.

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Most likely XI

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There are two major doubts in Martino’s XI: Right interior midfield and right winger. Jonathan dos Santos and Carlos Rodriguez have been switching off in the midfield spot during most of the Gold Cup, and Martino clearly likes what he sees from both players. However, look for Dos Santos to get the nod. He’s simply a more experienced player than the 22-year-old Rayados player and also went back-to-back, starting against Haiti after starting against Costa Rica in the quarterfinals.

On the right wing, Uriel Antuna may win the starting role back from Roberto Alvarado. Alvarado hasn’t locked in this tournament, struggling to make a difference in the knockout rounds. Antuna was the hot hand coming in, having scored four goals in the group stages, and his speed may be what Martino wants to see against the Americans.

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Elsewhere, Guillermo Ochoa in goal is as much of a lock as you can get on this team. So too is Jesus Gallardo playing at left back. With Hector Moreno and Carlos Salcedo healthy, look for them to be the starting center-back pairing with Nestor Araujo staying on the bench. Luis “Chaka” Rodriguez is Martino’s first choice at right back.

In the midfield, it’s a big day for Edson Alvarez, who will be the lone holding midfielder. Andres Guardado will wear the captain band and help him when dropping back from the left.

In attack, Raul Jimenez has started every game up top and is looking to score again to become the tournament’s top scorer. Now fit, Rodolfo Pizarro should go on the left hand side, floating into the middle to create for Jimenez at times.

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Switch in the midfield

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Dos Santos cramped up in the quarterfinal, but he should be good to go for this game. Even if healthy, Martino may like the precise passing Rodriguez can bring. He entered both the Costa Rica and Haiti games as a substitute and helped with the possession portion of the game. It wouldn’t be a shocking decision to see him get the start Sunday night.

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Keeping something in reserve

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This team would be unchanged from the semifinal against Haiti.

Uriel Antuna’s chief weapon is his speed, and that speed can be useful on the bench. We saw Martino turn to the LA Galaxy attacker in the 68th minute of the semifinal as he looked to stretch a tired Haitian back line and create chances in the attack. Alvarado could get the start once again, with Antuna kept in reserve to provide that special spark off the bench if needed.

 

GUANGZHOU, China – Chinese Super League giants Guangzhou Evergrande on Friday denied the report that Jose Mourinho would take charge of the club.

A Source close to the Evergrande Group chairman Xu Jiayin told Xinhua on Friday that Xu did meet Mourinho but never talked about offering a coaching job at Evergrande.

“They did meet in last December and this May,” The source said.

According to the source, Xu met Mourinho during his two trips in Europe for acquiring a Swedish Auto company Koenigsegg and a British automotive technology company Protean last December.

“But those meetings were personal and there was nothing about the coaching job at the Guangzhou Evergrande club,” he added.

English media reported on Friday that Mourinho had a conversation with Xu talking about coaching the richest club in China. The report posted a photo in which Xu and Mourinho smiled and posed with a glass of wine.

“The photo was not taken recently as you can see Xu’s hair style was very different from nowadays,” the source said.

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“Xu and Mourinho know each other for quite a long time and they have a good relationship.”

Mourinho has not managed since being sacked by Manchester United last year and has been hoping to join a new club this summer.

Xu founded the Evergrande Group in 1996 and now the group becomes one of Chinese largest real estate developers. Evergrande bought the Guangzhou club in 2010 and the team has won seven consecutive domestic league titles and two AFC Champions League titles since then.

Guiding by Italian coach Fabio Cannavaro, Guangzhou Evergrande are now leading the Chinese super league after beating Tianjin Tianhai on Friday. The team also reached the final eight of AFC champions league.

SHENYANG – More than 28,600 people were affected after a strong tornado hit a city in Northeast China’s Liaoning province on Wednesday, causing an economic loss of over 1 billion yuan ($145 million), the local government announced on Saturday.

The tornado, packing winds up to 23 meters per second, struck the city of Kaiyuan around 5:15 pm Wednesday. It touched down at the Jingouzi township, rampaged through an industrial park and churned south. It lasted around 15 minutes.

The tornado, packing strong showers and hailstones, wreaked havoc on apartments, factory buildings and electricity poles.

Six people were killed and more than 190 were injured.

Sixty-three injured people have been discharged from hospital, while those who remain hospitalized are in stable conditions, authorities said.

Power and water supply have recovered in most of the affected areas, and the damaged houses are expected to be fixed in 10 days.

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For more than 30 years two photographers, in their own distinctive ways, have been chronicling China. Of course, much has changed, but in many ways life just goes on.

Even before he turned up for the event, Xie Hailong knew getting in and seeing it all was going to present problems.

It was the first day of the second National Games for the Disabled in Tangshan, Hebei province in August 1987 and Xie had his own particular disability to contend with: a lack of a ticket or any official credentials that might get him through the gate that day.

Then, as he waited in the summer heat an official shouted: “Anyone here from China Daily?”

Without hesitation Xie shouted, “Yes, here.”

“Name, please,” the official demanded.

“Wang Wenlan.”

The coach came to Leo’s defence after he accused CONMEBOL of setting up the Copa in Brazil’s favour following a contentious sending off

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni has admitted he is baffled by the decision to send off Lionel Messi during the Copa America third place play-off and questioned the use of VAR in two key games for his side. 

Messi lasted just 36 minutes of Saturday’s clash against Chile before he saw red along with Gary Medel when the pair clashed on the field . 

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Medel showed more aggression during the stand-off, striking the Barcelona star with his head and shoulders while Messi stayed motionless – but despite Argentina’s protest referee Mario Diaz de Vivar had no hesitation in expelling both of the players. 

Argentina went on to win 2-1, scoring through Sergio Aguero and Paulo Dybala before Arturo Vidal cut the deficit with a penalty after the red card incident. 

But Messi refused to return to the Arena Corinthians pitch after full time to receive his medal for third place, and in heated comments to reporters hit out against alleged “corruption” and claimed the Copa is “all set up for Brazil” . 

And while Scaloni did not go quite as far as his captain, he nevertheless had some harsh words for the standard of refereeing on Saturday and in the Albiceleste’s semi-final defeat to hosts Brazil. 

“I still don’t understand what it is Messi did to get sent off,” he fired in a press conference. 

“I feel that we should be playing the final right now, but we got the consolation prize of winning the third-place game, which is the least we had to do. 

“We believe that when one of us is hit we all are, in a football sense. You cannot look away when a team-mate is mistreated. 

“We saw it with Leo and with others too. We built a team through our unity.” 

Scaloni also turned his attention on VAR, after suggesting before the match Argentina played “against eight men in black” in reference to the officials during the Brazil match. 

“The sensation from the game today is even stranger than the other day. I still don’t get the criteria for VAR in this Copa,” he added. 

“Either the criteria is wrong, or [the referees] cannot agree on anything. I think that they still are unsure about the VAR system.”

The Chile forward was replaced inside the opening 20 minutes of the Copa America third-place play-off

Alexis Sanchez may have created an injury headache for Manchester United ahead of the 2019-20 season after pulling up injured for Chile in Saturday’s Copa America third-place play-off.

The striker started for his nation against Argentina in the curtain-raiser to Sunday’s final between Brazil and Peru after Chile were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by the Inca to surrender their continental title in the last four. 

But he lasted barely 15 minutes of the encounter before pulling up with an apparent muscular injury, having appeared in all of the Roja’s matches to date in Brazil. 

Alexis was forced to hobble off the Arena Corinthians pitch, and was replaced by Junior Fernandes with his nation already a goal down after Sergio Aguero converted early. 

Chile’s misery was compounded within a matter of minutes when Paulo Dybala pulled off a sublime finish to make it 2-0 to Argentina, seemingly hungry for revenge after losing the last two Copa finals to their neighbours in 2015 and 2016.

While the news is a blow to his national team, those in charge at Old Trafford will also be anxiously waiting to find out the severity of the injury as they continue to plan for the coming season. 

Having endured a torrid 18 months at United since moving from Arsenal at the start of 2018, Alexis is among those who could be seeking a new club this summer. 

A string of impressive Copa displays would have been welcomed therefore by the Reds as they look to offload the star, whose elevated salary poses an issue when it comes to a sale. 

Alexis went into the third-place play-off as one of the candidates for the Copa Golden Boot award, as one of a gaggle of players currently leading the competition scoring charts on two goals.

So far precious little interest has been shown in the 31-year-old forward, with some reports suggesting that only two tentative enquiries from China and South America have been fielded. 

And the chance of a sale would take a further hit if a serious injury is now confirmed that would leave the Chilean laid up for most of the pre-season period or even longer.

Alexis has played 45 games for United in his season and a half at the club, scoring on just five occasions.

This teenager has announced himself on the international stage with an almighty bang

Heading into the Gold Cup final on Sunday, a relatively unknown Canadian teenager by the name of Jonathan David stands to collect the tournament’s Golden Boot. 

Despite his nation’s untimely exit from the competition following a shock 3-2 loss to Haiti in the quarter-finals, David’s stunning six-goal haul currently leaves him as the Gold Cup’s top scorer.

Though Mexico’s Raul Jimenez and Uriel Antuna are hot on his heels heading into their final against the U.S. national team, Golden Boot or not, this has been a breakout few weeks for the 19-year-old.

It has in fact been a whirlwind 18 months for David, who was still playing for his local side Ottawa Internationals in late 2017. 

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But, after signing for Belgian club Gent in January 2018, the US-born attacker hasn’t looked back.

From scoring an injury-time equaliser on his professional club debut to striking a winner just days later in a Europa League qualifier, David has a profound knack for hitting the ground running. 

After netting five goals in his first five games for Gent, the Canadian was quickly handed a contract extension that ties him to the club until 2022. 

David’s first season of top-flight professional football ultimately ended with him striking 12 times across 33 appearances. 

Breaking out at club level, the striker was given the chance to shine for Canada’s senior side in August 2018 and he once again made the most of it by scoring a brace on his debut against Virgin Islands in an 8-0 win. 

He followed that up a month later with another goal against Dominica, with his place in his nation’s Gold Cup side all but secured in March this year when he struck again against French Guyana. 

Handed a start in Canada’s opening match against Martinique, David didn’t let coach John Herdman down as he netted a brace in a 4-0 win.

Kept quiet in a 3-1 loss to Mexico, the teenager roared to life against Cuba as he bagged his first career hat-trick in a 7-0 rout. 

David then set Canada on course for a routine victory against Haiti in the quarter-finals with an 18th minute opener, only for the nation he spent the early part of his life in, to storm back and claim a 3-2 upset. 

The match was always going to be a significant one for David, who after being born in New York, spent the first six years of his life in Haiti before moving to Canada. 

“Definitely, it’s a special game,” David told CBC Ottawa. 

“It’s not every day you get to play against the country where you lived when you were younger. But I still need to go there with the mindset that I have to do a job for my country and play for my country and try to do my best.” 

While David did that with an early strike, Canada capitulated in embarrassing fashion but their young striker can still hold his head high after a terrific tournament where he was involved in eight of his side’s 14 goals. 

After just eight senior international appearances, David already has 10 goals to his name – just 12 shy of Canada’s all-time top scorer Dwayne De Rosario. 

Canada’s coach is all too aware he’s got something special on his hands in the young attacker. 

“He’s like an iceman,” Herdman said. 

“He’s able to slow it right down in the box, wait for the keeper to sit down, and pick his moments. That’s a real special quality in a striker.”

Iceman appears to be a very good description for the teenager, whose cool finishing makes up for a lack of lightning pace. 

Off the pitch, David also appears to have ice running through his veins, showing no signs of worry ahead of Canada’s crunch quarter-final match. 

“I’m feeling good because, you know, I love playing football and that’s what I’m doing,” David said. 

“So for me it’s not about pressure – it’s more about enjoying the moment.”

From playing park football in Canada to the cusp of playing in the Europa League, David admits his move to Genk has had a lot to do with his brilliant form on the international stage.

“Before that I was still playing in Ottawa for just a local club. So, of course, that was a massive step for my career,” David told CBC Ottawa.  

“I had to grow up faster and learn things on my own. I just had to adapt quicker and learn the game. Because over there, they don’t wait for you to get better. 

“You just have to get better on your own. And I think that really helped me develop as a player and get to where I am today.” 

Depending on how things go on Sunday, David could well go from relative unknown to a Golden Boot winner and that looks to be just the start of this Canadian’s rise to the top. 

The Reds icon is currently in charge at Scottish giants Rangers and Ibrox legend Barry Ferguson believes success in that role will land his dream job

Steven Gerrard is setting himself up to walk into a managerial post at Liverpool “the moment Jurgen Klopp decides he has achieved all he can”, says Rangers legend Barry Ferguson.

The iconic figure at Anfield decided to cut his coaching teeth in Scotland during the summer of 2018.

His debut campaign at Ibrox is considered to have been a success, with Rangers suggesting that they are once more ready to close the gap and ultimately overtake Old Firm rivals Celtic.

If Gerrard is able to complete that task, adding more major silverware to an already enviable CV, then a return to his roots on Merseyside is a given.

There is no role for him to fill at present, with Klopp having turned Liverpool into Champions League winners, but Ferguson can see Gerrard following the lead of new Chelsea boss Frank Lampard in time by retracing his steps to a club that means so much to him.

The former Rangers captain told the Daily Record: “Let’s be honest, we’ve all known from day one that Steven Gerrard hopes to go back to his own spiritual home at Anfield the way Lampard has returned to Stamford Bridge.

“But I just hope he has to wait an awful lot longer than his old England team-mate. And the good news is if his dream is to manage Liverpool one day, first he’s going to have to take Rangers back to the top of Scottish football.

“If he can do that and win the title he’ll walk straight back to Merseyside the moment Jurgen Klopp decides he has achieved all he can in England.

“But that all depends on the job he does right now. Gerrard has to make Rangers successful or it will throw a massive spanner in his works.

“If he can then, like Lampard, he won’t have to make the journey back home in steps or stop off along the way to cut his teeth a bit more with a West Ham or a Wolves. No, he’ll be fast-tracked directly into the one job he wants above all others.

“And in the meantime he can focus entirely on finishing the job he has started with Rangers because he has made some humongous strides up here over the last 12 months.”

With Rangers having finished nine points behind Scottish Premiership champions Celtic in 2018-19, Ferguson added: “Gerrard won’t want to move on until he has achieved what he set out to do when he took this job on.

“You can tell when you listen to the guy he is as desperate to get Rangers back to the top of the Scottish game as any of the diehards in the stands.

“So what he has to do now is lead the club to some cup finals and make Rangers properly competitive in the title race by taking it down to the wire.

“Any thoughts the manager might have of following Lampard’s lead will have to wait. There’s a huge job for Stevie G to be getting on with and the most important part of this entire project is just about to begin.”

Beijing’s Chaoyang Theatre has for decades been the capital’s go-to destination for electrifying and awe-inspiring Chinese acrobatics performances, entertaining audiences from all over the globe.

Located in the city’s Chaoyang district, the theater, which opened in 1984, has evolved from being a venue for dance dramas and opera to a must-visit destination awarded as a national center of culture in 2001.

After years of refinements, acrobatics was eventually designated as the theater’s permanent theme. Chinese acrobatics is a spectacular performance art characterized by amazing physical feats and gravity-defying stunts, inspired by the struggle between humans and nature.

Acrobatics has a rich history in China. In ancient times, the art form was inspired by hunting and going to war. Historical documents show acrobatics first appeared during the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC). It was refined during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24), when pole climbing and tightrope walking debuted on stage. The most famous performance at that time, Guang Chang Bai Xi, saw a rich variety of acrobatic acts performed simultaneously in a public square.

Chaoyang Theatre currently stages about 1,000 dazzling performances every year, including up to four daily shows in its 1,300-seat performance hall during peak season from May to October.

Many renowned acrobatics troupes have graced the stage at the theater, among them Deyang Acrobatic Troupe from Southwest China’s Sichuan province, which has performed its acrobatics show Flying in Chaoyang Theatre for almost 20 years.

The show celebrates the ancient worship of the sun and birds by the people of Sichuan thousands of years ago. Its name was inspired by the notion that one day the human mind and body would be able to fly freely.

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The storytelling mixes flips, falls, dance and high-wire spectacle with the latest in high-tech sound and lighting, to whisk the audiences away to the world of Sichuan some 3,000 years ago. At the show’s climax, live peacocks and macaws from Sichuan fly over the audience to land and perch on the hands of the performers on stage.

Over 60 celebrities from film, sport and entertainment circles will take part in this year’s basketball-themed Super Penguin Celebrity Game, according to its host Tencent Sports.

This year marks the fourth edition of the annual event taking place in Sanya, Hainan province,organized by the internet giant. The glittering lineup will include actors Li Chen and Zheng Kai, basketball coaches Ganon Baker and Li Chunjiang, and Sunnee and Lai Meiyun from pop group Rocket Girls 101.

Starting from July 2, the game will be broadcast every Tuesday at 8 pm via online platforms, including Tencent Sports, Tencent Video and Tencent News.

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With China hosting this year’s annual FIBA Basketball World Cup in late August, the celebrity tournament will help make basketball the focus of China’s sports industry this summer, says Guo Xin, a marketing professor at Beijing Technology and Business University.

As well as acting as a warm-up event for the FIBA World Cup, she says, this year’s Super Penguin will also serve as a way to promote Chinese national sports generally.

With the launch of the program, Tencent Sports hopes to bring basketball to a wider audience, promote it as a lifestyle sport and highlight the sportsmanship of Chinese players.