ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19-20, 2021 SPORTS 14

‘There’s a clause in my contract to extend the deal’ Moyes rebuilds reputation, fronts culture change at West Ham LONDON, Feb 18, (AP): It was with a strong sense of conviction – some would say misplaced arrogance, given the way his managerial career had stagnated - that David Moyes breezed Gut-Behrami wins again, pips back into English soccer in late 2019 with a message to West Ham’s oft- maligned owners. “There’s a clause in my contract to extend the deal,” the Scot said bull- ishly at the start of his second spell at Shiffrin in world giant slalom the London club. “I’m going to make it impossible that that clause can’t be activated.” Moyes has backed up those words. In a year that has gone a long way to rebuilding his reputation in the Pre- mier League, Moyes has transformed West Ham from a relegation candidate to a contender for Champions League qualifi cation. West Ham’s manager David Moy- es walks on the pitch before the SOCCER start of an English Premier League soccer match between West Ham After nearly two-thirds of the sea- and Sheffi eld United at the London son, West Ham is in fi fth place - level Stadium in London, England, on on points with Chelsea in fourth and Feb 15. (AP) above the likes of Liverpool, Totten- coaches. It earned him a once-in-a- ham and Arsenal. lifetime opportunity to take over at The success of his tenure runs deeper Manchester United, as the hand-picked than on-fi eld results and the club’s lofty replacement for Alex Ferguson. position in the standings, however. Just He lasted 10 months in a job that al- as importantly, Moyes - ever the real- ways felt too big for Moyes, who natu- ist - is helping to change the culture of a rally felt he deserved longer to effect club that has long been associated with a post-Ferguson rebuild. Underwhelm- chaos and overindulgence. ing spells with Real Sociedad (2014- Gone, it seems, are the days when 15) in Spain and with Sunderland West Ham would throw money at a (2016-17) back in England strength- big-name player past his best or ill- ened a belief that his failure to succeed suited to the dynamic of the team. In at United had hit his confi dence hard. 2018, the club broke its transfer record Even his next job – a fi re-fi ghting in successive months in a $100 million mission that rescued West Ham from spending spree. relegation in the second half of the Gone, too, are the days of West 2017-18 season – didn’t change the Ham regularly folding during matches, widely held view that Moyes had been showing no appetite for the battle. overtaken by a new generation of man- Moyes’ West Ham is a well-organ- agers. As it turned out, he was simply ized team built on an obdurate defense, warming the seat for a more high-pro- set-piece strength and hard-working fi le alternative: Manuel Pellegrini. players in defi ned roles. Moyes, now aged 57, is proving he Not dissimilar, then, to the Everton can still cut it after putting his own side Moyes steered to fi ve top-six fi n- stamp on West Ham in his second ishes from 2002-13, establishing him spell in charge, showing his methods as one of Britain’s most respected still work. Switzerland’s Lara Gut-Behrami speeds down the course on her way to win a women’s giant slalom, at the alpine ski World Championships, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, on Feb 18. (Inset): Gut-Behrami shows her gold medal after winning the women’s giant slalom. (AP) Inter full of confi dence Liensberger of Austria finishes third Ibrahimovic and Lukaku meet CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 18, (AP): After go- up a defi cit on the fi rst-run leader with a blistering fi nal leg to beat the American by two-hundredths of a second. again in derby after spat ing her entire career without a major championship title, After Shiffrin had completed her run, Gut-Behrami hugged the American and Lara Gut-Behrami added a second gold medal to her bur- stormed through the fi nish area to celebrate with her coaches. MILAN, Feb 18, (AP): Less than a match to reach the semifi nals but there geoning collection from this year’s skiing world champi- “GS has always been so important for me in my entire career,” the Swiss skier month after their heated spat, Zlatan is arguably much more at stake this said. “I always knew that if I’m skiing well in GS then it’s easy to be fast even in Ibrahimović and meet weekend. onships. the other disciplines.” again in the highly-charged Milan derby It will be fi rst against second when Mikaela Shiffrin, meanwhile, earned a silver medal to give her one of However, Gut has been struggling in GS in recent years and failed to win a race on Sunday, with the stakes higher than leader Inter visits Milan, with each color - and with her best event still to come. in the discipline since triumphing in the season-opening World Cup race in 2016. they have been in the past 10 years. just one point separating the teams. Gut-Behrami edged Shiffrin for gold in the giant slalom on Thursday, making “This year I was coming back step by step,” she said. “Coming to the fi nish There was a huge argument – The last time the two went into the line, I had already on my mind it’s the and head-to-head clash – between Derby della Madonnina occupying the fi rst time I’m winning a medal in GS. Ibrahimović and Lukaku just before top two spots in the table was in 2011, Bayern prepare to play Eintracht To win the gold here is unbelievable.” halftime of the Italian Cup quarte-fi nal when Milan was above Inter. The Ros- Katharina Liensberger of Austria on Jan 26 and both players were given soneri won that match and went on to was 0.09 behind in third in what was yellow cards. The row between the win the league title – the last team other the closest fi nish ever of a women’s former Manchester United teammates than Juventus to do so. Dortmund gear up for rivals Schalke giant slalom at the worlds. American continued after the halftime whistle “It’s much better to go into the derby skier Nina O’Brien was 0.02 behind and a visibly furious Lukaku had to be ahead of them. It’ll be a great game be- DÜSSELDORF, Germany, Feb 18, Ousmane Dembele and Christian Puli- in second after the opening run but restrained. tween two teams with big ambitions,” (AP): Borussia Dortmund’s win over sic, and made money for Dortmund. dropped to 10th after a costly mistake The confrontation is currently under Inter coach Antonio Conte said. Sevilla in the Champions League came With the club six points off the Cham- shortly before fi nishing her fi nal run. investigation by the Italian soccer fed- Milan won the league match earlier at just the right time. pions League places, it could miss out eration. in the season, with Ibrahimović scoring Erling Haaland’s two goals and Mo- on its European shop window next sea- A spectacular mural depicting the twice and Lukaku netting for Inter in a hamed Dahoud’s long-range curler in son for only the second time in the last SKIING clash was painted just outside the Sta- 2-1 victory for the Rossoneri. the 3-2 win on Wednesday reminded 10 years and the fi rst since 2015-16. dio . It appeared on They are again likely to take center everyone, not least the Dortmund play- The title is long gone. Bayern Mu- Many pre-race favorites, including Valentine’s Day, with the message: stage at . Lukaku – and Inter – ers, that they can still be an exciting nich is 16 points ahead of sixth-place defending champion Petra Vlhova and ‘Face to Face, Heart to Heart.’ will be full of confi dence after the Bel- team capable of challenging Europe’s Dortmund as it prepares to play Eintra- Italian duo Marta Bassino and Fed- Lukaku’s beat gium forward scored twice last week- best. cht Frankfurt on Saturday. erica Brignone, struggled with course Ibrahimović’s AC Milan 2-1 in that end to take his tally to 300 career goals Now to do it in the Bundesliga. Jadon Sancho could easily have left conditions as the snow surface varied and help the Nerazzurri beat Lazio 3-1. Saturday brings the Ruhr Derby last summer amid lengthy talks between between grippy, icy and soft. Lukaku also set up Lautaro Martínez against Schalke. Once German soccer’s Dortmund and Manchester United. A Gut-Behrami became the fi rst GS for Inter’s third, sparking scenes of must-watch rivalry, it threatens to be transfer at the end of this season looks world champion from Switzerland wild celebration with Conte enveloped far more likely, and would help the club since Sonja Nef won the title 20 years in a group hug. SOCCER make up for lost earnings because of ago. Gut-Behrami also won gold in the the coronavirus pandemic. Others like super-G and bronze in the downhill at SOCCER Haaland or Gio Reyna will have more this year’s worlds. compelling for a different reason. incentive to move on if they don’t qual- Dortmund’s Erling Haaland con- Shiffrin extended her American Dortmund is teetering on the brink ify for the Champions League. record with her 10th career medal at “We celebrated like that and all of a crisis if it can’t get back into the trols the ball during the Champi- Dortmund’s local rival Schalke of- ons League, round of 16, fi rst leg worlds. She won the combined event hugged together because we really feel Champions League qualifying places fers a cautionary tale of what happens this and we’re a team,” Martínez said. while Schalke is facing relegation. soccer match between Sevilla and when an ambitious club starts missing on Monday and took bronze in the Borussia Dortmund at the Ramon super-G a week ago. “We’re united, we showed great char- The Sevilla win was a valuable mo- out on European qualifi cation. acter and played well. This is who we rale-booster since Dortmund has won Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium in Se- A decade ago Dortmund and Schalke Shiffrin dropped 0.14 seconds be- just one of its last six in the league and ville, Spain, on Feb 17. (AP) were teams with solid working-class hind Gut-Behrami halfway through are.” was this week beaten to announcing its roots building global brands, capable her fi nal run but made up time in the There were contrasting scenes the as interim coach in charge of a squad of fl at fi nal section. Settling for silver, she previous day when the Milan players own coach. young, hungry players who could push of challenging Bayern Munich. By its When Borussia Mönchengladbach said she was still “happy.” trudged off the fi eld with their heads for transfers if they don’t get Champi- own admission, Schalke made over- said Monday that Marco Rose would ambitious bets on signings and wages “The fi rst thing I saw was the red, down after a shock 2-0 loss at Serie A move to Dortmund in the summer, all ons League games next season. in the hope Champions League money but I felt good with my skiing. I was newcomer Spezia. Dortmund could do was issue a grudg- Even more than usual, Dortmund would cover them. pushing. It was not a perfect run, but it But Milan coach is ing confi rmation of a deal it had hoped faces a fi ght to keep its squad together. When performances in the Bundes- was aggressive,” said Shiffrin, who has In this Jan 26, 2021 fi le photo, AC confi dent that was just an anomaly. to keep quiet. The club’s appeal to Europe’s bright- liga dipped and new contenders such as now won 10 medals from 12 events at Milan’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic, (left), “I think the worrying thing would In a sign Dortmund was blindsided, est teenage talents is simple - top-class Leipzig increased the competition for the worlds since her debut in 2013. and Inter Milan’s Romelu Lukaku have been if we’d played like Milan there was none of the club-branded so- training to unlock their potential, and the coveted Champions League spots, “I have never been shooting for a argue during an Italian Cup round and we lost the match,” he said. “See- cial media fanfare that accompanies a Champions League games to showcase Schalke’s spending eventually pitched number of medals or those records or of 8 soccer match between Inter ing as we didn’t play like Milan, we’ve modern hiring. their skills to buyers. the club into a fi nancial crisis made something,” she said. “Just every time Milan and AC Milan at the San Siro turned the page and we’re thinking It also left Edin Terzic a lame duck It’s the model that made stars of worse by the pandemic. I race, I want to win.” Stadium, in Milan, Italy. (AP) about the next match.”