'Balotelli's career at a crossroads'
Mario Balotelli's career is in the balance after Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp told the striker he has no future at Liverpool, Italy's
new coach Giampiero Ventura has said.
Leicester’s Morgan signs new deal
Towering Leicester City captain Wes Morgan has signed a new contract with the club to June 2019, the Premier League champions said on Tuesday.
Conte plans to keep hold of Costa
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte insisted on Tuesday he has no intention of letting Spain striker Diego Costa leave the Premier
League club.
Ibrahimovic to miss United's China tour
Zlatan Ibrahimovic will miss Manchester United's pre-season tour of China as the Sweden striker takes an extended break
following Euro 2016.
Ronaldo vows to come back stronger
Cristiano Ronaldo said on Monday that he intends to come back stronger for the upcoming season despite the injury he
sustained while playing for Portugal in their victorious Euro 2016 final.
New Italy coach Ventura aims to entertain
New Italy coach Giampiero Ventura pledged to continue the good work of his predecessor
Antonio Conte and "entertain" fans on their way to securing a place at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Ba's horror leg-break 'could end career'
Former Chelsea striker Demba Ba's career could be over after the 31-year-old suffered a horrific broken leg in the Shanghai derby
at the weekend.
The Senegalese marksman tangled with SIPG defender and captain Sun Xiang in the 63rd
minute of his side's 2-1 Chinese Super League victory.
As the pair fell, Ba’s left leg was caught between the turf and his opponent’s boot, bending at a sickening angle and then appearing to snap gruesomely below the knee.
Shenhua's medical team raced on to the pitch without waiting for the referee's signal and the match was stopped for eight minutes while the Chinese Super League’s top scorer, with 14 goals, was treated on the pitch before being taken to hospital.
Speaking after the match, a visibly shaken
Shenhua coach Gregorio Manzano said the
incident was potentially career-ending.
“In my 33 years as a coach I have won, drawn and lost games, but today is the most bitter victory because what happened to Demba Ba is what no one ever wants to see,” Manzano said.
"Football is unfair sometimes to let such a terrible thing happen to such a good man. That could end a player's career."
Shenhua, who won the match 2-1, described the injury as a broken leg and said the incident – for which Sun was not booked – was "unfortunate" in a statement released on Monday.
Manzano told local media that Ba, who also
played for Newcastle and West Ham in England, would be out for at least seven months.
"If I can choose, I’d rather lose the match than lose Demba Ba," Manzano told the Shanghai Daily newspaper.
TEMPESTUOUS DERBY
SIPG's coach, the former England boss Sven-
Goran Eriksson, expressed sympathy, according to Shanghai Daily, saying: "It was a bad injury. I’m very sorry for Ba."
Ba's former club Chelsea posted a message of support on their official Twitter feed.
"All at Chelsea FC send our best wishes to former striker @dembabafoot. Get well soon Demba." it said.
The incident took the gloss off a pulsating and tempestuous Shanghai derby watched by more than 24 000 fans that saw 10 yellow and two red cards as both sides finished with 10 men.
Chinese international forward Wu Lei put SIPG ahead in the 55th minute with a stunning strike from outside the box.
Shanghai-born playmaker Cao Yunding equalised for Shenhua with just three minutes of the 90 left, before a Freddy Guarin penalty five minutes into added time sealed a dramatic 2-1 win for the
home side.
Elsewhere big-spending Jiangsu Suning lost 3-0 away to newly-promoted Yanbian Fude in the shock result of the Chinese Super League
weekend action.
And a late double from Chinese international
midfielder Zheng Long in the last 10 minutes saw Luiz Felipe Scolari's table-topping Guangzhou Evergrande beat Changchun Yatai 2-1 away from home to extend their lead over second place Suning to 13 points.
Tanks
