Graham Arnold has quit as coach of the Socceroos, Football Australia said Friday, following a poor start to the third round of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. "After careful consideration I believe it's time for fresh leadership to guide the team forward," said the 61-year-old, who had been in charge since 2018. Arnold departs after a shock 1-0 home defeat to Bahrain earlier this month then a goalless draw at Indonesia left Australia with one point from their opening two matches in the decisive third round of qualifying for 2026. In post-match interviews following the draw with Indonesia, the under-pressure Arnold had struggled to hide his frustration after his team squandered a string of opportunities. Bayern Munich teenager Nestory Irankunda hit the post with Australia's best chance as the Socceroos had 19 shots but failed to score for the second consecutive match. "I said after our game against Indonesia that I had some decisions to make, and after deep reflection, my gut has told me it's time for change, both for myself and the programme," he said. "I've given absolutely everything I can to the role and I am immensely proud of what has been achieved during my tenure." Also Read: IND vs BAN 1st Test: Bangladesh all out for 149 in first innings, trail India by 227 runs The former Australia international had coached the team since August 2018, taking over from ex-Netherlands boss Bert van Marwijk. Arnold guided Australia to the last 16 of the 2022 World Cup, where they tested eventual champions Argentina before losing 2-1 after goals by Julian Alvarez and Lionel Messi. The Socceroos beat Denmark and Tunisia in the group stages for their best-ever showing at a World Cup, but Arnold had his critics with some saying the team lacked style and were too defensive. Arnold's six-year tenure was his second stint in charge having also been interim boss in 2006-7. Under his stewardship, Australia set a new record in winning 11 consecutive matches to qualify for the last World Cup, a feat unmatched in FIFA history. Arnold's win ratio of just over 60 percent makes him one of Australia's most successful coaches. "Graham Arnold's departure marks the end of an era for Australian football," said James Johnson, chief executive of Football Australia. "Under Graham's leadership we achieved remarkable milestones that elevated Australian football on the global stage." Australia are now searching for an interim coach ahead of next month's qualifiers at home to China and away to Japan, as they look to reach a sixth consecutive World Cup. "With critical FIFA World Cup qualifying matches approaching, it's crucial that we identify the right candidate to lead our talented squad now and into the future," Johnson said. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
20 September,2024 04:09 PM IST | Sydney | AFPBengaluru FC (BFC) eased past Hyderabad FC (HFC) 3-0 at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Thursday, securing their second consecutive win in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 season. Rahul Bheke scored in the first half, and Sunil Chhetri added two more goals in the second half to seal a comfortable victory, propelling Gerard Zaragoza's team to the top of the table. Coming off the bench in the 57th minute, Chhetri's brace made him the joint-highest goal-scorer in ISL history, tied with Bartholomew Ogbeche on 63 goals. The home team maintained steady control right from kick-off, stretching Hyderabad FC's backline and creating numerous scoring opportunities. In the fifth minute, Bengaluru FC earned a corner kick, with academy graduate Vinith Venkatesh, who had scored in their previous win against East Bengal FC, stepping up for the set-piece. The 19-year-old delivered a curling ball to the far post for defender Rahul Bheke. Also Read: IND vs BAN 1st Test: Fans gather in huge numbers to cheer Team India Bheke, one of Bengaluru FC's notable summer acquisitions, received the pass, created space, and calmly slotted the ball past Hyderabad FC goalkeeper Arshdeep Singh with his side foot. This was Bheke's first ISL goal since February 2022, when he scored against Jamshedpur FC. It was also his fifth goal in the ISL, all from corner kicks. Bheke is now the fifth-highest goal-scorer from corners in the competition, behind Bartholomew Ogbeche (10), Mourtada Fall (10), Roy Krishna (8), and Peter Hartley (6). Hyderabad FC responded strongly, with Parag Shrivas curving a ball in for Devendra Murgaonkar from the left flank. Murgaonkar did well to get to the end of the pass but his shot was off target. The game really sprung to life with Chhetri coming onto the field in the 57th minute. Roshan Singh drew a foul off Hyderabad FC defender Leander D'Cunha inside the 18-yard box, and upstepped Chhetri to convert the penalty and bag his first goal of the season. As clever as ever from the spot, the striker sent Arshdeep Singh the wrong way by delicately kicking the ball into the bottom right corner to double Bengaluru FC's lead. Admirably, they didn't take their foot off the pedal afterwards, regularly exploring opportunities up front. Spanish striker Edgar Mendez cut inside from the right and delivered a cross that was met by Chhetri with a diving header, comfortably finding the back of the net. Chhetri's brace highlights a trend in the ISL 2024-25 season, with eight goals already scored past the 85th minute, demonstrating that games are frequently going down to the wire this campaign. Chhetri played a pivotal role in the second half, completing all nine of his attempted passes, scoring twice, and creating one goal-scoring opportunity. These goals added to his record, placing him as the joint-highest goal-scorer in ISL history. Bengaluru FC will play their next match against the Mohun Bagan Super Giant on September 28, whereas Hyderabad FC return to action on September 25 against Punjab FC. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
20 September,2024 03:10 PM IST | Bengaluru (Karnataka) | ANIBarcelona's perfect start to the season ended with a 2-1 loss at Monaco in the revamped Champions League on Thursday, a defeat which happened after defender Eric Garcia was sent off after 11 minutes. Garcia pulled back Takumi Minamino when the Japan forward intercepted a panicky pass out from Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen. Barca won its first five league games in the Spanish league under new coach Hansi Flick but saw Monaco take the lead in the 16th through midfielder Maghnes Akliouche. Akliouche, who represented France at the Paris Olympics, scored from the right side of the penalty area with national team coach Didier Deschamps watching. Deschamps was not the only well-known face in the crowd at Stade Louis II. Basketball great Michael Jordan was there, too. Jordan watched teenage superstar Lamine Yamal equalize for Barca in the 28th with a fine left-footed strike from the edge of the penalty area. It was his fourth goal of the season but the first of the European Championship-winning Spain forward's career in the Champions League. According to UEFA, Yamal became the second-youngest scorer in Champions League history at 17 years and 68 days " just 28 days older than teammate Ansu Fati when he netted against Inter Milan in December 2019. In July, Yamal became the youngest player ever to score at a Euro when he netted a stunning goal in Spain's semifinal victory over France. George Ilenikhena showed equally good composure to restore Monaco's lead in the 71st. The 18-year-old forward latched onto a pass over the top and confidently beat Ter Stegen with Prince Albert of Monaco among the celebrating fans. It was his first goal for Monaco and his second in the Champions League, with the other also coming against Barca last season when he played for Antwerp. "I'm happy, we played really well together and we deserved the victory," Ilenikhena said. "If we play like this we can go far." Fati, meanwhile, recovered from a foot injury and came on as a substitute in the 88th minute. The 21-year-old forward, who returned from a loan to English Premier League club Brighton, had not played for Barca since 2023. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
20 September,2024 12:12 PM IST | Monaco | AP | PTIAleksey Miranchuk scored late to give Atlanta a 2-2 Major League Soccer draw against Inter Miami on Wednesday, with Lionel Messi unable to conjure any magic as a late substitute for the visitors. Also Read: Spurs register come-from-behind win Eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi had dazzled in his return from a lengthy injury absence on Saturday, scoring two goals in the space of four minutes in Miami’s 3-1 victory over Philadelphia. But coach Gerardo Martino said he would be careful not to overwork his superstar in a three-match week, and Messi was held out of the starting line-up. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
20 September,2024 08:27 AM IST | Miami | AFPTottenham needed two late goals from Djed Spence and Brennan Johnson to beat second-tier Coventry 2-1 and avoid a shock League Cup exit on Wednesday. Also Read: Arsenal’s Odegaard faces lengthy injury absence Spurs were headed to a third consecutive defeat when Brandon Thomas-Asante fired the Championship side into a deserved lead after 63 minutes. Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou had responded to criticism after Sunday’s 0-1 defeat to Arsenal in the north London derby by insisting he will continue his record of winning silverware in his second season at multiple clubs. As Postecoglou was facing up to a second consecutive early exit in this competition, his blushes were spared when Dejan Kulusevski linked up with Spence, who prodded home for his first Spurs goal in the 87th minute. Tottenham sensed their moment and in the second minute of stoppage time Rodrigo Bentancur played in Johnson, who rolled home the winner. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
20 September,2024 08:25 AM IST | London | AFPArsenal captain Martin Odegaard will be out “for a while” with an ankle injury he suffered on international duty with Norway, manager Mikel Arteta said on Wednesday. Also Read: Jhingan slams age fraud issue in Indian sport Odegaard twisted his ankle in Norway’s Nations League match against Austria earlier this month. His national team doctor had suggested he would be sidelined for a “minimum of three weeks”. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
20 September,2024 08:23 AM IST | Bergamo (Italy) | AFPIndia and FC Goa defender Sandesh Jhingan opened up about his experience with age fraud and the challenges it brought. He termed as damaging to players’ confidence since it stems self-doubt at a critical stage of their overall football development. Also Read: It was a very intense game: City’s Dias after 0-0 Inter draw Jhingan recounted personal experiences to highlight the negative impact of playing against overage footballers during the inaugural Stay Your Age U-15 football tournament, which took place between September 12 to 18 in Navi Mumbai. “This needs to stop. Age fraud has been the elephant in the room for so many years. During my younger days, in the U-15 and the U-17 levels, we always knew there was someone older playing in our age group. I have many times felt that I was not good enough, because that boy was stronger, faster, and more mature than me, but it was only because he was older than me,” Jhingan said. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
20 September,2024 08:21 AM IST | Mumbai | IANSManchester City made a sluggish start to their Champions League campaign as they drew 0-0 against Inter Milan on Wednesday. Pep Guardiola’s side have won all four of their Premier League games this season, but failed to break down Italian champions Inter in a repeat of the 2023 final won by City. City lost Kevin De Bruyne to injury at half-time and Phil Foden fired straight at Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer with their best chance as Erling Haaland was kept quiet on a night he was chasing his 100th goal for the English club. Also Read: Gittens scores brace as Dortmund win “It was a very intense game against a strong opponent. We knew what was coming, they are a top team as well and they are used to winning, so we were not going to have an easy job,” City defender Ruben Dias told TNT Sports. Henrikh Mkhitaryan could have won it for Inter when he blazed over 15 minutes from time, allowing City to extend their unbeaten run in the competition to 24 matches—one off the record set by Manchester United between 2007 and 2009. It is just the second time in 42 home Champions League games under Guardiola that City have failed to score. “Our plan was to show that we’re not scared to play here,” said Inter midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu. Meanwhile, Bologna drew 0-0 at home to Shakhtar Donetsk in the Italian team’s first ever Champions League match. Lukasz Skorupski saved an early penalty from Shakhtar’s Georgiy Sudakov. Sparta Prague swept Red Bull Salzburg aside 3-0 with goals from Kaan Kairinen, Victor Olatunji and Qazim Laci, as the Czech champions won for the first time in the competition proper since 2003. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
20 September,2024 08:19 AM IST | Paris | AFPEnglish winger Jamie Gittens came off the bench to score twice in the final 15 minutes to seal Borussia Dortmund a 3-0 win at Club Brugge in their UCL opener on Wednesday. Last year’s finalists, who lost to Real Madrid at Wembley in June, got off to a fast start in the new-look league stage. New Dortmund coach Nuri Sahin brought Gittens on as a substitute with 22 minutes remaining and the game goalless. Also Read: ‘Got lucky with that goal’ The 20-year-old scored shortly after, his right-foot shot looping over the head of Club Brugge goalkeeper Simon Mignolet with the aid of a deflection. Again coming off the left flank, Gittens blasted a low shot into the net to score his second with four minutes remaining, snuffing out Brugge’s chance of a comeback. Serhou Guirassy won and converted a penalty in injury time to add gloss to the final score. “We won the game and [scoring] two goals is really good,” said Gittens. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
20 September,2024 08:17 AM IST | Bruges (Belgium) | AFPParis Saint-Germain were grateful to a last-minute howler from goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga as they snatched a 1-0 win over European debutants Girona in their opening game of the new-look Champions League on Wednesday. PSG had over 60 per cent possession and 24 attempts on goal but looked set to be left frustrated by their opponents at the Parc des Princes until a low Nuno Mendes cross squirmed under Gazzaniga and into the net in the 90th minute. It was a harsh ending to their Champions League bow for Girona, who qualified for Europe for the first time in their history after a historic third-place finish in La Liga last season. Also Read: Golkuldham boys defend to win! Luis Enrique PSG missed chance after chance in the second half and looked set to draw another continental blank, just like in their semi-final defeat by Borussia Dortmund last season when they somehow failed to score in either leg. However, the late goal allowed Luis Enrique’s team to continue their perfect start to the campaign as they aim to go further than last season’s run to the semis and win European football’s biggest prize for the first time. ‘Girona defended very well’ “Girona defended very well and showed why last season they led La Liga for so long. They are a better team than many in the second or third pot of seeds, even in the first pot,” said Luis Enrique. “But we were much better in the second half. We got a bit of luck with the goal but I think we deserved the victory.” The Champions League has been radically changed by UEFA, with all clubs in the new league phase now playing eight matches against eight different opponents. The top eight will advance to the last 16, with clubs finishing from ninth to 24th in the standings going into a play-off round to decide the remaining last-16 spots. PSG’s next game will be away to Arsenal, while later opponents include Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester City, with Luis Enrique insisting his team have the toughest fixtures of any in the competition. Girona, meanwhile, will go on to a home clash against Feyenoord with reason to believe they can make an impact after a battling performance here. “The goal at the end hurts but I think we gave a good account of ourselves,” said Michel, the Girona coach. “I am sad about the result, but we are a humble club, this was our first Champions League game and we showed that we were up to it.” Post Mbappe era Paris had enjoyed a smooth start to life since the departure of talisman Kylian Mbappe during the close season, winning their first four Ligue 1 outings and scoring 16 goals in the process. But a Girona side that was well beaten last weekend by Barcelona and lost several key players after last season made life difficult for long spells. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
20 September,2024 08:14 AM IST | Paris | AFPDefying pre-match predictions, Gokuldham High School (Goregaon) showed great character and fighting qualities in a resolute defensive performance as they stunned an in-form Holy Family High School (Andheri) 5-4 via tie-breaker to win the boys U-16 second division MSSA inter-school football title at the St Francis D’Assisi ground, Borivli, on Thursday. Gokuldham did well to keep a clean sheet in regulation time despite playing second fiddle for to their much superior opponents for a large part of the game. Golkuldham however, showed their prowess in the tie-breaker, having won their semi-final match in identical fashion. Both teams earn promotion Gokuldham’s Shubham Sahoo, Dhanush Nair, Sanidhya Pawar, Aarav Lad and Neil Vardam were on target in the final shootout. For Holy Family, who enjoyed the better of the exchanges throughout and had more possession, Dhairya Tank, Aarav Karale, Rachit Madhav and Zac Pinto converted in the tie-breaker. Both teams qualified for the first division next season. Also Read: Playing against Rafa is a nightmare: Alcaraz It was a cagey start for both teams but soon Holy Family began to control the midfield and looked the more threatening of the two with their build-up play, but their work in the final third was not clinical enough. The Gokuldham defence meanwhile were well organised, kept it simple and quickly cleared their lines whenever their opponents neared the danger area. Holy Family were unlucky not to snatch the winner in the closing stages when Dhairya’s fine strike from inside the box found the crossbar. Holy Family coach unhappy “I’m happy with the way my team played today, but we could have attacked a lot better. Overall, our defence was very disciplined and stuck to the game plan,” Gokuldham’s Nigerian coach Constantine Egbele told mid-day. Holy Family coach, Lindon Pinto rued his team’s missed chances. “We had our chances in the game, both in open play and in set-piece situations, but were not able to take them. Our passing needed to be much sharper, especially in the final third. We were also unlucky to hit that post towards the end of the match,” said Pinto.
20 September,2024 08:12 AM IST | Mumbai | Neeraj AnandADVERTISEMENT
