SUNDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2016 SPORTS Allardyce takes charge at Palace

LONDON: Premier League strugglers can help it go forward. Crystal Palace appointed Sam Allardyce as “With my experience, I think I can us get their new boss on Friday in a swift return to a few more results on the board.” Pardew the dugout for the former England manager. was sacked on Thursday following a miser- The former Bolton and West Ham man- able run of results, with the Eagles winning ager’s one-match reign in charge of the just four of their 17 league matches this national side ended in September follow- season and only one of their last 11. ing a newspaper sting. “We are delighted Palace are 17th in the Premier League, to be able to make an appointment so one point above the relegation zone and quickly and fortunate that someone of three points off the foot of the table. Sam’s calibre and experience was available,” Allardyce has been out of the game Eagles chairman Steve Parish said, a day since being ditched by England after just after sacking Alan Pardew. After agreeing a 67 days in charge following ill-advised two-and-a-half-year contract, Allardyce will remarks to undercover journalists. have his first game in charge on Monday Allardyce gave advice on how to circum- with an English Premier League match at navigate transfer rules, criticised the FA’s Watford. He was set to take his first train- decision to rebuild Wembley and mocked ing session on Saturday and has the oppor- his England predecessor Roy Hodgson tunity to remodel the squad once the while being secretly filmed by reporters January transfer window opens. “I hope I from The Daily Telegraph posing as East can bring some joy, particularly over Asian businessmen. Christmas and New Year, and over the long Though he has never won a major tro- term between now and the end of the sea- phy, Allardyce, 62, has proved adept at son,” he said. “The club seems to be very keeping smaller sides in the Premier ambitious, certainly the chairman and the League. “Big Sam” has integrated sports owners seem to be taking the club forward science and technology into his training in the right direction. “I like the look of the techniques and made his teams difficult squad and that’s the probably the reason to beat, often proving a thorn in the side DOHA: AC Milan team celebrates with the trophy after winning the Italian Super Cup soccer match between Juventus and AC Milan, at the Al that I’m here, because I feel that the club of the top flight’s more glamorous Sadd Sports Club in Doha, Qatar, Friday. AC Milan won 5-4 following a shootout. — AP can go forward from here and hopefully I clubs.— AFP AC Milan win the Italian Super Cup on penalties

DOHA: AC Milan celebrated wildly after beating Juventus to win the Italian Super Cup in a penal- ty shoot-out to win their first trophy since 2011 Barton back in trouble on Friday. Mario Pasilic blasted home the final spot kick to give AC Milan a 4-3 victory on penalties after a for breaking betting rules hard fought match was locked at 1-1 on 90 min- LONDON: English footballer Joey Barton is Burnley career. The 34-year-old Barton has utes and after extra time in Doha. back in disciplinary trouble after being until Jan. 5 to respond to the FA charge. Mario Mandzukic and Paulo Dybala missed charged with misconduct for placing 1,260 Barton only left Rangers after having his their spot kicks for Juventus, with Gianluca bets on matches or competitions over a 10- contract terminated last month, seven Lapadula the only Milan player not to convert his penalty. It is the second time Milan have year period. The English Football weeks after being suspended by the Association said Friday the bets were made Glasgow club over a training-ground row SUNDERLAND: File photo shows Sunderland’s Adnan Januzaj, centre, talks to manager beaten Juventus, who lead Serie A by four David Moyes, during the English Premier League soccer match between Sunderland points, this season. In October, they won 1-0 in from March 2006 to May 2016. with his manager and a teammate. and Watford, at the Stadium of Light, in Sunderland, England, Dec 17, 2016. — AP the San Siro. A delighted Milan coach Vincenzo Barton this week signed a short-term That was the latest episode in a contro- Montella said he hoped the victory would serve deal with Premier League team Burnley versial career, which has included spending as a springboard for his side. after cutting short his contract at Scottish 77 days in jail in 2008 after a street fight in Moyes back at Old Trafford “I would like to think that this match is the club Rangers, where he was handed a one- Liverpool. beginning of a new era, we would like to consid- match suspension for breaking Scottish In 2012, while playing for Queens Park MANCHESTER: The “Chosen One” banner squad left behind by Ferguson? Moyes er it a starting point,” he said. Football Association rules by placing 44 Rangers, Barton was suspended for 12 has gone from the Stretford End. The team signed two first-team players - Marouane “I am sure that this win will give us confi- bets on games between July 1 and Sept. matches for violent conduct during a has been overhauled through three con- Fellaini and Juan Mata - at a cost of about dence.” The victory was just about merited by 15. That suspension will carry over into his Premier League game. — AP secutive offseasons of lavish spending. 65 million pounds, which is nothing com- Milan who responded well after early Juventus Alex Ferguson’s shadow no longer looms pared to the amount successors Louis van dominance. quite so large. Gaal and Mourinho have spent. Moyes said Juve, Italian league and cup double winners Yet, when David Moyes returns to Old he targeted Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale last season, had taken the lead in 18th minute Trafford on Monday for the first time since and Cesc Fabregas, and had finalized a deal after Giorgio Chiellini prodded home a Miralem his abrupt firing by Manchester United in for Toni Kroos but was fired before it could Pjanic corner. April 2014, he’ll find things haven’t go through. At that stage it was all Juventus and it was changed that much at England’s biggest “I was definitely unfairly treated,” Moyes not until the 36th minute that Milan had their club since his ill-fated 10-month spell there said in his pre-match news conference. first shot on target, a tame effort from midfielder three seasons ago. “Other managers have come and gone and Juraj Kucka. But they drew level just before half- In the fourth year of the post-Ferguson it’s been difficult for them as well. I actually time when Giacomo Bonaventura beautifully era, 20-time champion United is still think whoever followed Alex Ferguson, glanced home a Fernandez Suso cross. yearning for its former glories, still search- whether it be Jose Mourinho then or Carlo Suso was a constant irritant to the Juve ing for that attacking spark of old, and Ancelotti or Juergen Klopp, Pep Guardiola defence and set up several fine chances includ- still languishing outside the Champions or David Moyes, I think it would have been ing an 83rd minute header for Carlos Bacca, who League qualification positions they once the same. “I think it would have taken who- was denied by a great save by evergreen took for granted. ever it was time to change the squad Gianluigi Buffon, making his 600th appearance Recent results may have been encourag- around. It was going to be a rebuilding job for Juventus. ing for United’s latest manager, Jose and never get done immediately.” Romagnoli also went close, hitting the bar Mourinho, but a run of three straight wins Moyes said he was given “plenty of reas- with a header. Juventus also had their chances, has only left the team in sixth place head- surances” he would have longer to carry most notably in extra time. In the 111th minute ing into the match against Sunderland, the out the rebuilding job - “I didn’t believe I Patrice Evra put the ball in the net only to be relegation-threatened northeast club had to do it in nine months, or even 12 ruled offside, then Dybala missed a great coached by Moyes. A top-four finish - and months” - but is still happy to have experi- chance, spooning a shot over when unmarked therefore a place in the Champions League enced managing such a big club. from just eight yards with only four minutes - is far from guaranteed for United this sea- “Disappointed I didn’t get to see out my remaining. son. So Moyes returns to United with a feel- contract, that’s for sure,” he said, “but I’ll A “very angry” Juventus coach Massimiliano ing of “What if?” look back knowing I was really fortunate to Allegri said he was upset at the way his team What if he’d been allowed to see out the have the chance to work with some great had lost control of the game and become nerv- six-year contract he was given after being players, and to see how, at the real top lev- ous. “The match started well for us, the first 30 hand-picked as a replacement by Ferguson el, things are. I enjoyed being at minutes Juventus were at their best,” he said. (hence the “Chosen One” moniker)? Instead, Manchester United.” “We should have been more focused.” as soon as United could no longer finish in Since leaving Old Trafford, Moyes spent He added that Dybala should have scored the top four in that 2013-14 campaign, he a year at Real Socieded before getting fired towards the end of extra time. The match, the was fired . and has been in charge of Sunderland since second time the Super Cup has been played in What if he’d been given more than two July. The team is in 18th place in the 20- Qatar, was watched by a near capacity crowd of Joey Barton transfer windows to reshape an aging team standings after 17 games.—AP 11,356. — AFP Chinese parents shy away from World Cup dreams

BEIJING: Beijing’s dream of making China a an emphasis on sports... or should you nurture career opportunities. That makes it difficult to Brazil and others have to ensure that football While President Xi is a soccer fan, he is expect- football powerhouse depends on millions of your child to be better academically?” stimulate a mass craze for football, as the is an activity at home as well as at school, he ed to step down in 2022 and his successor children taking up the sport, but even coaches To assuage concerns, Byer tells Chinese par- structure “leaves very little space or time for added. “It will take a couple of decades,” he may have entirely different priorities. say tradition-minded parents view the game ents that studies suggest kids who are physi- sports”, said Mary Gallagher, associate profes- said. “When you’re dealing with youth devel- “Can they stay the course? It’s possible,” said as a wasteful distraction from school. cally active do better academically. But par- sor of political science at the University of opment, we won’t know if we’re going to reap Dreyer. “But in five, 10 years, who knows? If Xi China’s President Xi Jinping, an avowed fan ents online ask whether it is “irresponsible” for Michigan. “Will parents risk points on the the benefits for 10 years.” Jinping goes, and the next guy doesn’t like of the game, has declared three goals for the children to play soccer. gaokao for the chance to play soccer every The question is whether the Chinese gov- football, then maybe it’s basketball and Yao country: to host, qualify, and win a World Cup. day?” The world’s most populous nation has ernment’s footballing push can last that long. Ming is going to lead the way.”—AFP But the team are ranked a lowly 83rd in the ‘JUST A HOBBY’ 25 times more people than England, but lags world by FIFA-just below the Caribbean island At a practice session for a children’s football far behind its 37,000 football clubs, says nation of Antigua and Barbuda, population club in Beijing, parents praised the sport for Rowan Simons, a football author and founder 86,295 — and are bottom of their qualifying giving seven-year-olds the experience of over- of a private football club in the capital. group for the next World Cup, despite the coming challenges and defeat, but said they recent hiring of Italian coach Marcello Lippi. were wary of letting it interfere with studies. LONG GAME The Asian giant has made improving youth Song Feng, 41, said soccer was “just a hob- Without grassroots teams and a deep pool football programmes a national priority, with by, an exercise” for her 11-year-old son, and of players, he said, “It’s irrelevant how much an official plan promising 20,000 academies that studies would always have to come first money the government puts into it-football and 30 million elementary and middle school “because China’s education system is just that can never flourish unless people love it.” pupils playing the sport within four years. way now”. Gao Fei, father of another boy, said “In Chinese there’s just no history of civic The goal is to make China one of the he “won’t let him become a footballer because society, that’s really at the heart of it,” Simons world’s top sides by 2050, the document said, China’s professional soccer scene is no good”. told AFP. “That’s why top-down national fund- to bring to life “the sports-superpower dream”. Chinese media have weighed in to try to ing will never work.” But it faces steep social barriers, with train- reassure them. An article on internet portal One challenge to developing players is ers saying traditional attitudes towards educa- Sohu cited French philosopher Albert Camus China’s traditional training methods, says Mark tion and children’s responsibility to support and Danish physicist Niels Bohr, who both Dreyer of China Sports Insider, in which the their parents in retirement make it difficult to played in goal for club sides, as proof that coach “is still the military drill sergeant where secure recruits. sporting and academic pursuits were compati- he’s barking orders and having them do repet- “The big challenge is that mindset in gener- ble. “Playing soccer means falling behind in itive drills. What kid enjoys that?” al, that football is a distraction to education,” studies? Teachers and parents wake up, don’t In other countries, he said, “they play foot- said Tom Byer, a Japan-based football consult- waste your child’s future!” it said. ball with a smile on their face”. Chinese Super ant hired by the Chinese education ministry to While Beijing’s plans should see more foot- League clubs are splashing vast sums on for- design pilot programmes for young children. ball played in school, China’s education system eign coaches and players, many of them from BEIJING: This photo taken on December 14, 2016 shows boys practicing during a training “If you look at families that have just one still revolves around the highly competitive, Latin America, where Byer says children learn session at a football club in Beijing. Beijing’s dream of making China a football power- child it’s kind of a no-brainer. If you’re thinking all-important gaokao graduation exam, which basic ball-handling skills at a very early age. house depends on millions of children taking up the sport, but even coaches say tradition- about the future of your child, should you put determines university placement and many Countries that want to emulate the success of minded parents view the game as a wasteful distraction from school. — AFP