■RUSSIA
Hiddink to quit national job
Guus Hiddink will leave as coach of Russia’s national team when his contract expires on June 30. He guided Russia to the semi-finals of the 2008 European Championships but the team fell short of qualifying for this year’s World Cup. Hiddink wrote in a Dutch newspaper column that he had spoken with new Russian federation president Sergei Fursenko and “it was decided that we will part ways after the expiration of my contract on June 30.” “We decided this now in order to give the federation enough time to look for a successor,” he wrote in De Telegraaf. The 63-year-old Dutchman did not mention future plans but has been linked with major clubs in Europe and even with taking up a job at short notice coaching one of the teams at the World Cup. Hiddink was reportedly in the running for jobs at Juventus and Liverpool, while he also has close links to Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and coached the team on an interim basis last season, winning England’s FA Cup. There had also been reports that Hiddink was being lined up by Nigeria to lead the team at the World Cup.
■GERMANY
Borussia beat Nuremberg
Substitute striker Rob Friend scored with his first touch of the ball to give Borussia Moenchengladbach a 2-1 win over next-to-last Nuremberg in the Bundesliga on Friday. The Canadian had just come on for Roberto Colautti, who scored Moenchengladbach’s first goal in the 27th, when he hit the winner in the 74th after Karim Matmour had robbed goalkeeper Raphael Schaefer of the ball from a cross. Nuremberg’s goal came from Albert Bunjaku in the 47th, his 11th of the season. The win took Moenchengladbach up to 11th place.
■SPAIN
Real Madrid sign Canales
Real Madrid have completed the signing of teenage forward Sergio Canales from Racing Santander for next season. The 18-year-old signed a six-year contract after rejecting offers from many other major European clubs. Madrid did not disclose financial terms of the deal, which begins July 1. Canales has scored numerous goals that have caught the attention this season, leading Spain coach Vicente del Bosque to say he has a chance of making the World Cup squad later this year. Neither club said whether Canales would stay on loan next season at Racing, which wanted that condition as part of any deal.
■ITALY
AC Milan snap winless run
Klaas Jan Huntelaar scored either side of half-time on Friday to lead AC Milan to a 3-2 win over Udinese that snapped a four-match winless run. Huntelaar opened the scoring early on and Leonardo’s side appeared in control when Alexandre Pato scored a second later in the half. Antonio Floro Flores pulled a goal back for Udinese just before half-time, but Huntelaar’s second in the 57th appeared to have wrapped up the match. However, Antonio Di Natale scored his 17th of the season with four minutes remaining, but Udinese were unable to find the equalizer. The result means that Milan are back up to second, on 45 points, eight behind league leader Inter and one point ahead of AS Roma. “It was an important win for us,” Huntelaar said. “We had to win to keep up with Roma because there was a difference of two points. Now we have a game in hand, against Fiorentina.” The Dutch striker’s second was his fifth of the season and shows his improving confidence after a slow start to the season. “I have to do my job and score goals,” Huntelaar said. “I was happy to play today and score twice.”
BUMRAH WATCH: Captain Jasprit Bumrah left the SCG for scans for back spasms and although he returned to the ground, there was no word on if he would play Rishabh Pant’s blistering counterattack yesterday capped a chaotic second day of the fifth and final Test between Australia and India, with 15 wickets falling and the star bowler of the series leaving the Sydney Cricket Ground with an ambulance escort. Yet the Border-Gavaskar trophy still remains very much in the balance as India reached 141-6, holding a 145-run lead over Australia with three days remaining. “Low-scoring games like this, it just heightens the pressure within it, so long way still to go,” Australia coach Andrew McDonald said. “There’s gonna be plenty of cricket, so we’ll see what happens.” Australia were bowled out for
Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan yesterday dumped defending champions Germany out of the United Cup with world No. 2 Alexander Zverev sidelined by an arm injury barely a week away from the Australian Open. The upset in Perth sent the Kazakhs into the semi-finals of the 18-nation tournament. In Sydney, women’s world No. 2 Iga Swiatek led Poland into the last eight by winning a rematch of her 2023 French Open final against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic. Britain also progressed to the quarter-finals with Katie Boulter’s dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory over Australia’s Olivia Gadecki enough to guarantee they won their group. The US and
Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek yesterday beat Elena Rybakina in straight sets to take Poland into the final of the mixed-teams United Cup with victory over Kazakhstan. Last year’s runners-up face the US today for the title in Sydney after they beat the Czech Republic in the other semi-final. “This win makes me really proud,” Swiatek said after seeing off Rybakina 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to give Poland an unassailable 2-0 lead in the tie. It was a statement of intent from the world number two with the first major of the year to start on Jan. 12. “It is perfect preparation for the
Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and Jiang Xinyu of China yesterday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, while Naomi Osaka retired from the women’s singles final with an abdominal injury. Second seeds Wu and Jiang defeated Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US 6-3, 6-4 on ASB Tennis Centre’s Stadium Court in 1 hour, 5 minutes. The WTA 250 victory was 25-year-old Wu’s second WTA Tour title, after winning the 2023 Hua Hin Championships in Thailand with Taiwanese partner Chan Hao-ching. Later that year, Wu and Taiwan’s Hsu Yu-hsiou won the mixed doubles gold at the World
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