THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2017 SPORTS

FIFA president Infantino says time to reform transfer rat race

GENEVA: FIFA president Gianni which are somewhere in the air but teams could strengthen their squads euro move from Barcelona to Paris St movement into a negative light. From Infantino appealed to European foot- which have never been addressed... in a after a poor start to the season, he Germain, plus 18-year-old French for- a perception point of view, it doesn’t ball bosses yesterday to help reform the significant way.” added: “When you run a marathon, you ward Kylian Mbappe’s move to the feel right.” sport’s transfer system and described Later, Infantino told reporters from don’t run for 10 kilometres and then same club. The Swiss, who previously told the current set-up as a “rat race” which international news agencies of his ideas take a bike.” He also said that the transfer market Reuters in an interview last November had cast football in a negative light. for new regulations governing the roles Infantino, who was elected FIFA “doesn’t necessarily reflect very well” on that he wanted to reform the transfer “It is the responsibility of all of us to of agents, limits on the sizes of club president in February of last year, said the sport, although he still believed it system, said that leagues and clubs felt tackle the transfer system,” Infantino squads and the co-ordination of trans- that spending on international transfers played an important role in redistribut- the same way. “I see it from the discus- said in a speech at the extraordinary fer windows so they closed before had totalled around 4.6 billion euros ing resources. sions I had with players, clubs, leagues, congress of European soccer body major championships start. ($5.5 billion) during the northern hemi- “What is worrying is the inflation associations,” he said. UEFA. “We have to come up with some “We have to make sure that transfers sphere summer compared to 3.6 billion that these transfers trigger and the rat “I have never felt it is as strongly as I positive solutions for agents, transfer don’t affect the integrity of the compe- euros for the same period the year race that this entails with all the other do now. It’s not limited only to Europe regulations, for loans and transfer win- titions, they should indeed stop before before. These included Brazilian forward clubs,” he said. “All these negative and we need to have a framework at dows, (salary) caps and all these items the start,” he said. Referring to the way ’s record-shattering 222 million headlines bring the whole football worldwide level.” — Reuters

Klopp angry as Liverpool eliminated from League Cup

LONDON: Liverpool failed to finish off a fringe players for what is regarded as the slew of chances and conceded a sloppy inferior cup competition on the English cal- goal in a 2-0 loss at Leicester in the English endar, compared to the FA Cup. League Cup, arousing the ire of its frustrat- ed manager Juergen Klopp on Tuesday. It is SPURS EDGE THROUGH becoming a familiar narrative for the Reds In another unconvincing domestic dis- in a disappointing month when they play at its temporary home of Wembley haven’t won any of their four matches. Stadium, Tottenham beat second-tier Questions are now being asked the team’s Barnsley 1-0 thanks to Dele Alli’s close- efficiency at both ends of the field. range goal in the 65th minute. Liverpool over-ran Leicester in a domi- Tottenham hasn’t won any of its three nant first-half display, with Philippe Premier League games at Wembley this Coutinho orchestrating the attacks from season, but has beaten Borussia Dortmund midfield. But the visitors struggled after the in the Champions League. Brazil playmaker was substituted at half- time of the third-round match in a pre- HODGSON’S FIRST WIN planned move from Klopp. Crystal Palace scored its first goal since In another game-changing substitution, Aug. 22 to earn a 1-0 win over Huddersfield Shinji Okazaki came on in the 53rd minute and a first victory under new manager Roy for Leicester, scored 12 minutes later with a Hodgson. Bakary Sako was the scorer from deflected shot after Liverpool’s defense a corner. was beaten to two headers, and then laid Palace has started the Premier League the ball on for Islam Slimani to drive home season with five straight losses and no a stunning second goal at King Power sta- goals, the first time that has happened in dium. “Second ball from a corner and a goal the history of England’s top flight. Hodgson from a throw-in - I’m sick of goals like this, replaced the fired Frank de Boer last week. to be honest. Unbelievable,” Klopp said. Defender Pape Souare came on as a substi- Referring to the first goal, Klopp added: tute for Palace for his first appearance since “We didn’t push up together - I say it one breaking his jaw and thigh, and picking up time, I say it a thousand times. It’s not nice other injuries, in a car crash a year ago. to concede these goals.” Since beating Arsenal 4-0 in the Premier STOKE, BURNLEY ELIMINATED League before the international break, Stoke lost 2-0 at Bristol City and Burnley BARCELONA: FC Barcelona’s Denis Suarez, right, duels for the ball during the Spanish soccer match between FC Barcelona and Eibar at Liverpool has been thrashed 5-0 by was eliminated on penalties by Leeds after the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday. — AP Manchester City and drawn 1-1 at home to a 2-2 draw, as two second-tier League Burnley in the league, conceded late to Championship teams got the better of SOCCER draw 2-2 with Sevilla in the Champions Premier League sides. Bristol City also League, and has now been eliminated from knocked out a Premier League team in the League Cup. Watford in the second round. Klopp is easing Coutinho back to full Bournemouth, West Ham and Swansea Messi nets four goals to keep match sharpness after the midfielder were Premier League teams to advance to missed Liverpool’s first six games of the Round 4. — AP season - officially because of injury and ill- Barcelona with perfect record ness - while he was the subject of three transfer bids from Barcelona. MADRID: added to his impres- Leicester couldn’t handle Coutinho’s Matches on TV sive start to the season by scoring four goals passing and movement in the first half, and James stars for Bayern Munich (Local Timings) and helping Barcelona rout Eibar 6-1 to only came into the game when he was off extend its perfect record in the Spanish the field. “They’ve got a world-class player SPANISH LEAGUE league on Tuesday. Messi converted a penalty in Bundesliga win at Schalke in Coutinho,” Leicester manager Craig in the first half and scored three more goals in Shakespeare said. Villarreal v Espanyol 21:00 the second to give Barcelona its fifth straight BERLIN: James Rodriguez starred on his first and Robert Lewandowski duly converted from “I was very relieved when he went off.” beIN SPORTS HD 3 victory in the league. Bundesliga start for Bayern Munich, scoring the spot. It got worse for the home side four one goal and playing a role in the others for a minutes later, when Bayern scored after a Liverpool finished the game having had 21 Celta de Vigo v Getafe 22:00 The Argentina playmaker took his tally to 3-0 win at Schalke on Tuesday. James, who Schalke throw-in. Thomas Mueller, shots, but only three on target. Against beIN SPORTS HD 2 12 goals in eight matches this season, includ- Burnley on Saturday, the Reds only scored switched from Real Madrid in the offseason, Lewandowski and worked the Levante v Real Sociedad 23:00 ing nine in the five league games. Messi had earned a penalty and then scored in the first ball to the unmarked James, who wrong-foot- once from 35 shots. Tottenham was among already scored a hat trick in Barcelona’s 5-0 half, before brilliantly setting up Arturo Vidal ed Ralf Faehrmann to score his first Bundesliga the other Premier League teams to win on beIN SPORTS HD 3 rout of Espanyol in the Catalan derby two to wrap up the win in the second. goal. Mueller hit the post with a header from a a night when top-flight sides mostly fielded rounds ago. “James played very well, very much for the cross by James after the break, before substi- The result gave Barcelona a five-point lead team with good combination-play, but physi- tute Yevhen Konoplyanka went close at the over Sevilla, which hosts Las Palmas today. cally he is not yet at 100 percent,” Bayern other end. Schalke coach Domenico Tedesco Real Sociedad, six points back, is at Levante coach Carlo Ancelotti said. While the brought on Swiss forward Breel Embolo for Real dominate FIFPro today. Defending champion Real Madrid, sev- Colombian midfielder made his first league McKennie with just over half an hour remain- en points behind Barcelona, hosts Real Betis. start for Bayern, American teenager Weston ing. Any hopes of an equalizer ended when award nominations It has been a rather unexpectedly good start McKennie did likewise for the home team. James eluded two defenders and delivered a to the season for Barcelona, which began the Despite the efforts of the 19-year-old Texan perfect ball for Vidal to strike with a volley to MADRID: Real Madrid is the best repre- Giorgio Chiellini (Italy/Juventus), Diego league amid turmoil after seeing Neymar midfielder - who covered more ground than the top corner. “Altogether there’s no denying sented club with a record 13 names on Godin (Uruguay/Atletico Madrid), Mats leave for Paris Saint-Germain and losing the any other player in the first half - Schalke had that Bayern had a very good day. Then it’s hard the international players’ association Hummels (Germany/Bayern Munich), Spanish Super Cup match to Real Madrid. no answer to James’ individual brilliance. for any team,” Schalke general manager “We created the goals very well, so we Christian Heidel said. FIFPro’s shortlist of 55 contenders for its Phillipp Lahm (Germany/Bayern Munich It is the best start to the league for Messi, deserved to win,” said Bayern’s reserve goal- World XI Player Awards. The Spanish retired), David Luiz (Brazil/Chelsea) who in 2011-12 had scored eight goals after five matches. He is the league’s leading scorer, keeper Sven Ulreich, playing in place of WOLFSBURG FRUSTRATION, giants, who won both the La Liga and Marcelo (Brazil/Real Madrid), Javier Germany No. 1 Manuel Neuer. Neuer has been AUGSBURG ELATION Champions League titles last season, also Mascherano (Argentina/Barcelona), Pepe with four goals more than Simone Zaza of Valencia, who had a hat trick in a 5-0 rout of ruled out until January with another hairline Fin Bartels’ second-half header earned held the previous club record of having (Portugal/Real Madrid/Besiktas), Gerard fracture of the metatarsal in his left foot. Werder Bremen a 1-1 draw at Wolfsburg and Malaga earlier Tuesday. 12 players on the list in both 2014 and Pique(Spain/Barcelona), Sergio Ramos The home side was first to have the ball in denied Martin Schmidt a winning start as 2015. (Spain/Real Madrid), Thiago Silva “He is one of the smartest players I’ve ever the net, but Amine Harit’s goal was ruled out coach. Schmidt was appointed Monday when Nine Spaniards have made the short- (Brazil/Paris St-Germain), Samuel Umtiti seen on a field,” Barcelona coach Ernesto as Bastian Oczipka was offside. Ulreich had Wolfsburg fired Andries Jonker after the team list, making Spain the most well-repre- (France/Barcelona), Antonio Valencia Valverde said of Messi. “You don’t really know done well with two saves beforehand. Bayern had claimed just four points in its opening four sented country, with France and Brazil (Ecuador/Manchester United), Raphael how, but he is always in good position. He is got the penalty after referee Marco Fritz con- games. Michael Gregoritsch’s fourth-minute close behind on seven nominations Varane (France/Real Madrid) extraordinary.” It was the fourth time Messi sulted his video assistant to see if Naldo had strike was enough for Augsburg to beat visit- each. England, who dominated the inau- Midfielders: Thiago Alcantara has scored four goals or more with Barcelona. handled the ball when James cut it back. The ing Leipzig 10 for its third win from five games. gural shortlist back in 2005 with 10 nom- (Spain/Bayern Munich), Brazil midfielder Paulinho and Denis Suarez Brazilian defender was going to ground but Two goals from Brazilian midfielder Raffael inations, have just one representative (Spain/Barcelona), Casemiro (Brazil/Real also scored for the Catalan club, while Sergi had his arms raised when the ball struck. gave Borussia Moenchengladbach a 2-0 win at this year in Tottenham Hotspur striker Madrid), Enrich netted Eibar’s goal. Protests by Schalke players had no effect home over promoted Stuttgart. — AP Harry Kane, who has made the list for the (Brazil/Liverpool), Barcelona was without Ousmane Dembele, first time. (Belgium/Chelsea), Andres Iniesta who injured his left thigh at the weekend and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo (Spain/Barcelona), Isco (Spain/Real is expected to be sidelined for up to four and Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Madrid), N’Golo Kante (France/Chelsea), months. The young France forward, Buffon are also included, making them Toni Kroos (Germany/Real Madrid), Barcelona’s top signing during the transfer the only two players to make every Nemanja Matic window, traveled to Finland to undergo sur- shortlist since the first World XI in 2005. (Serbia/Chelsea/Manchester United), gery on a ruptured tendon. He made only About 25,000 professional footballers Luka Modric (Croatia/Real Madrid), three appearances after arriving to replace took part in the poll, which this year cov- Mesut Ozil (Germany/Arsenal), Paul Neymar. ers performances by players from August Pogba (France/Manchester United), Valverde left Luis Suarez on the bench and to June, aligned with the majority of club Marco Verratti (Italy/Paris St-Germain), started with Gerard Deulofeu, Denis Suarez competitions. Previous editions covered Arturo Vidal (Chile/Bayern Munich) and Messi as a false “9” in the attack. Paulinho, player performances in a calendar year. Forwards: Gareth Bale (Wales/Real the Brazil midfielder who came off the bench The final World XI will be announced Madrid), Karim Benzema (France/Real to score the winner against Getafe on at an awards ceremony in London on Madrid), Edinson Cavani (Uruguay/Paris Saturday, also made it to the starting lineup. Oct. 23. Full shortlist (home country/club St-Germain), Paulo Dybala “Today we have been able to rest certain in 2016-17): (Argentina/Juventus), players and give playing time to others who Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (France/Atletico Madrid), Zlatan needed to play and it turned out well,” (Italy/Juventus), David de Gea Ibrahimovic (Sweden/Manchester Valverde said. (Spain/Manchester United), Keylor Navas United), Harry Kane (England/Tottenham (Costa Rica/Real Madrid), Manuel Neuer Hotspur), Robert Lewandowski LOSING AGAIN (Germany/Bayern Munich), Jan Oblak (Poland/Bayern Munich), Romelu Lukaku Valencia won 5-0 with a hat trick by (Slovenia/Atletico Madrid) (Belgium/Everton/Manchester United), Simone Zaza to hand Malaga its fifth Defenders: David Alaba Kylian Mbappe (France/Monaco/Paris St- straight loss to start the season. Zaza scored (Austria/Bayern Munich), Germain), Lionel Messi his three goals eight minutes apart early in (Spain/Barcelona), Dani Alves (Argentina/Barcelona), Neymar the second half to give Valencia its first vic- (Brazil/Paris St-Germain), Jerome (Brazil/Barcelona/Paris St-Germain), tory after three straight draws and move the GELSENKIRCHEN: Schalke goalkeeper Ralf Faehrmann, right, catches a ball alone in front Boateng (Germany/Bayern Munich), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Real Madrid), club into third place. Forward Santi Mina of Bayern’s Thiago during the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Schalke 04 Leonardo Bonucci (Italy/Juventus/AC Alexis Sanchez (Chile/Arsenal), Luis and Rodrigo also scored for the hosts at and Bayern Munich at the Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Tuesday. —AP Milan), Dani Carvajal (Spain/Real Madrid), Suarez (Uruguay/Barcelona). — Reuters Mestalla Stadium. — AP