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Sports FRIDAY, AUGUST 15, 2014 Five managers with a point to prove LONDON: With the new Premier League season set to get his steep learning curve at Feyenoord, Ajax and Benfica MAURICIO POCHETTINO (Tottenham) underway tomorrow, AFP Sports takes a closer look at five amongst others is unlikely to have prepared him for the Any manager willing to sit in the White Hart Lane hot managers under pressure to deliver success over the next chaos of his first weeks in England. seat must accept that longevity isn’t part of the job descrip- nine months: Southampton have been ripped apart by the departures tion. Since becoming Spurs chairman in 2001, Daniel Levy of Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw, Dejan Lovren, Calum Chambers has parted company with nine managers and he showed JOSE MOURINHO (Chelsea) and Rickie Lambert-a £92 million fire sale that leaves morale his ruthless side once more at the end of last season when When Roman Abramovich buried the hatchet with at the club at an all-time low and Koeman is charged with he sacked Tim Sherwood, a long-time servant of the club in Mourinho and agreed to end the Portuguese coach’s six-year somehow picking up the pieces in time to avoid relegation. various roles, just six months after ushering Andre Villas- exile from Stamford Bridge, he did so on the proviso that his Boas to the exit door. old sparring partner would swiftly restore Chelsea to the sum- SAM ALLARDYCE (West Ham) Against that background, Pochettino knows he must hit mit of English football. Instead, the first season of Mourinho’s Already installed as the favourite for the sack with the the ground running to avoid becoming Levy’s latest victim, second coming was something of a damp squib, with the bookmakers, Allardyce is fighting a rearguard action to save a task which hasn’t been made any easier by the club’s lack Blues finishing third in the Premier League and failing to win his job as last season’s troubled campaign threatens to spill of transfer activity to date, with Eric Dier, Michel Vorm and any of the cup competitions. over into the new season. Ben Davies the only new signings. That made it two consecutive seasons without a major Subjected to vicious abuse last term from Hammers fans trophy for Mourinho, including his time at Real Madrid, and angry with Allardyce’s route one tactics, the former Newcastle ALAN PARDEW (Newcastle) the demanding Abramovich is unlikely to take kindly to boss has already had to cope with yet another injury to star With fan unrest a major problem for Pardew last season, another season of failure. striker Andy Carroll and a dismal run of friendly performances the Magpies chief desperately needs his raft of new sign- that featured just one victory. ings to produce quickly to avoid another season in the RONALD KOEMAN (Southampton) Co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold have both pub- stocks at St James’ Park. Even taking part in the club’s end- Still lauded as one of the finest players of his generation, licly questioned his tactics and signings, and they even of-season lap of honour was deemed a bad idea for Pardew the Dutchman arrives at St Mary’s facing the biggest chal- appointed Teddy Sheringham as a ‘attacking coach’ to offer at the conclusion of a turbulent campaign that saw lenge of his managerial career. The former Barcelona star has more entertainment, adding to the feeling that Allardyce is Newcastle once again fail to live up to their supporters’ struggled to replicate his playing success as a coach, but even on borrowed time in east London. lofty ambitions. —AFP San Lorenzo wins Copa Libertadores BUENOS AIRES: Nestor Ortigoza scored the most important penalty in San Lorenzo’s 106-year history as the Argentine side won South America’s Libertadores Cup for the first time with a 2-1 aggregate victory over Paraguay’s Nacional on Wednesday. Midfielder Ortigoza’s first-half spotkick gave San Lorenzo a 1-0 home win after the teams, who had never before reached the final, drew 1-1 in the first leg in Asuncion last week. ‘The Saints’, who qualified for the Club World Cup with the win, have finally managed to shake off the tag of being the only one of Argentina’s ‘Big Five’ never to have won the trophy. “They put their trust in me and I thank them for that,” Ortigoza told Fox Sports of his coach and team mates. The victory also gave Argentina a record 23rd title in South America’s top club competition since it was first played in 1960. It was also the first time in five years that it was not won by a Brazilian team. A Paraguayan side finished runners-up for the second year in a row after three-times champions Olimpia lost to Atletico Mineiro in 2013. BUENOS AIRES: Argentina’s San Lorenzo players hold up the Libertadores Cup after winning the second leg final foot- “We played a very poor first half, the team were very nervous, tense, ball match against Paraguay’s Nacional, at the Pedro Bidegain stadium in Buenos Aires, on Wednesday. —AFP they were affected by the expectations of the crowd, but luckily we won,” Edgardo Bauza told Fox Sports. It was Bauza’s second Libertadores success after steering LDU Quito to Ecuador’s first title in 2008. That success persuaded the San Lorenzo board to appoint Bauza CAS upholds Suarez’s after league-winning coach Juan Antonio Pizzi quit in December to take charge of Valencia. Nacional scare 4-month playing ban The competition, which began with a preliminary knockout round at the end of January, ended with the new season already underway having been held up for two months between the quarter-finals and semi-finals BARCELONA: The Court of Arbitration for Sport ing, promotional activities and administrative Swiss francs ($112,000). of the World Cup in Brazil. It had been a struggle for San Lorenzo to keep upheld Luis Suarez’s four-month ban for biting matters),” the court said. Banning Suarez from CAS will publish its reasons for the verdict in key players in their squad as some of them were out of contract by the an opponent at the World Cup, but cleared him training would have meant the ban “would still the coming weeks. Suarez, who was supported end of June. Attacking midfielder Ignacio Piatti was granted permission yesterday to train with Barcelona. CAS said have an impact on his activity after the end of in his appeal by Barcelona and the Uruguay by his new club, Montreal Impact of the MLS, to play up to the first leg of FIFA’s sanctions against Suarez are “generally the suspension,” the panel ruled. football federation, could challenge the ruling the final but he was absent for the second leg on Wednesday. Nacional proportionate to the offence committed.” Suarez, who left Liverpool for Barcelona at the Swiss Federal Tribunal. That is a much started brightly and came close in the first minute when San Lorenzo Suarez can next play for Barcelona on Oct. after the World Cup, appeared at the court’s longer process, and the court only intervenes if midfielder Juan Mercier lost the ball inside the box and Derlis Orue fired 26, which could be the day the team faces Real fast-track hearing last Friday in an effort to legal process was abused. against the post. Madrid in the Spanish league. He remains reduce his ban. FIFA had also fined him 100,000 Suarez is also set to miss three of Barcelona’s San Lorenzo replied with a long range drive from right back Julio banned for Uruguay’s next eight competitive six Champions League group matches. After Buffarini that went over the bar before Nacional midfielder Silvio Torales matches and will miss next year’s Copa America being sent home from the World Cup before forced Saints goalkeeper Sebastian Torrico into a difficult save in the and some World Cup qualifying matches. Uruguay’s second-round loss to Colombia, 18th minute. San Lorenzo were struggling to find some rhythm in the Suarez bit Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini’s Suarez has eight matches of his competitive face of Nacional’s quick counter-attacks but were awarded a penalty in shoulder during Uruguay’s 1-0 win at the World internationals ban still to serve. He would be the 36th minute when defender Ramon Coronel handled the ball. Cup on June 24. He denied it at first, but later allowed to play in non-competition friendly admitted it and apologized within days. matches. Ortigoza made no mistake from the spot, blasting the ball home as “The sanctions imposed on the player by Suarez has bitten opponents on other occa- Nacional goalkeeper Ignacio Don dived the wrong way. The goal, cele- FIFA have been generally confirmed,” the court sions as well, when playing for Ajax in 2010 and brated wildly by the Saints fans in a crowd of more than 40,000 at a said in a statement. The court described the ban Liverpool last year. “I deeply regret what packed Nuevo Gasometro, gave San Lorenzo the impetus and they imposed by FIFA on Suarez from taking part in occurred,” Suarez wrote in a Twitter message pinned Nacional back for the remainder of the first half. any football activity as “excessive.” shortly after his ban at the World Cup was The home side began finding more space in the second half as “However, the 4-month suspension will announced.

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