Ronaldo museum opens with space for another ‘Ballon d’Or’
FUNCHAL: Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo opened a museum in his honour in his birthplace on Sunday, which he said had extra room for the Ballon d’Or and many other trophies to come. Standing next to his 2008 Ballon d’Or and 125 other individual and team awards dating back to his Madeira childhood, Ronaldo, 28, told reporters the CR7 Museum was a gift to his fans. “Of course it’s a special day,” the Portugal forward, who has scored 33 goals so far this season, said. “I have room for more trophies. I don’t really want to mention specific ones. All I want is to win more awards and if the Ballon d’Or comes, there is extra room here”. Soccer’s world governing body named him, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi of Argentina and Bayern Munich’s French winger Franck Ribery as the three finalists for the 2013 Ballon d’Or award formerly known as FIFA World Player of the Year. Ronaldo, this year’s World Soccer magazine’s player of the year, said he was not desperate to win the most prestigious individual award in the sport. “The World Soccer magazine’s player of the year award was another important trophy but it does not mean I will win the Ballon d’Or. I hope that happens but I am not obsessed about it.” The Ballon d’Or results will be announced on January 13. (Agencies)
Md Sporting fire Nigerian coach
Kolkata: Alarmed by their team’s non performance in the I-League, Mohammedan Sporting on Sunday sacked their Nigerian coach Abdul Bola Moshood Aziz bringing back Sanjoy Sen. “He (Abdul) has failed to put in the side together, be it in formation or controlling the game. We have asked him to part ways in a message sent to him in Goa,” club president Sultan Ahmed told PTI soon after the team’s 1-3 away loss to Churchill Brothers on Sunday. Having suffered two consecutive losses on the back of three goalless draws, Mohammedan have slipped close to the relegation zone, lying 11th with 13 points in the 13-team table. The Trinamool MP said the club management had warned the coach for the last five matches but they were helpless now. “We have given him so many opportunities. We’d been patient with him. But he has failed again. It’s high time that we react to the situation. We feel Sanjoy is the best person to take charge,” Ahmed said. Highlighting the Nigerian’s drawbacks, he said, “We have such a good side with Joshimar (d’Silva Martins) who is the leading scorer at the moment, while (Orji) Penn is doing well. But the coach has failed to bring out the best.” It was Sen who had guided the team to the top tier I-League after four years but the club had made a change in guard, roping in the 44-year-old Nigerian in June before the season began. Under Abdul, Mohammedan Sporting had kicked off the season in style by winning the Durand Cup for the first time in 73 years. (PTI)
East Bengal end Bangaluru FC’s unbeaten home record
Bangalore: East Bengal dealt a blow to Bengaluru FC’s ambitions of consolidating their position on the top of the I-League table with a 2-0 win at the Bangalore Football Stadium here on Sunday. The AFC Cup semi-finalists went into the game six points adrift of the home side but moved into the striking distance of storming into the top three spots by claiming the spoils in a crucial match for the visitors. James Saeed Moga gave East Bengal the lead with a 17th minute strike on a passing shot given by Raju Eknath Gaikwad before Edeh Chidi added another in the 78th as the visitors produced a dominant display over Bengaluru. East Bengal became the first team to beat Bengaluru in their backyard, as the home side have not lost any game played here so far in this year’s league before Sunday’s match.