SOCCER:A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Green injury worse than thought
DERBY COUNTY midfielder Paul Green now looks set to miss the rest of Ireland's European Championship campaign after club manager Nigel Clough confirmed his knee injury is worse than was thought, writes Emmet Malone.
“It’s probably as bad as it could be in terms of his knee ligaments,” he said. “We’re looking at a lay-off of about nine months, which brings us up to Christmas. It was a freakish incident, there wasn’t anyone near him, he just seemed to bend back a bit but unfortunately these things happen in football.” Asked if the injury involved the player’s medial or cruciate ligaments, Clough replied: “I think he’s just about done them all. We’ve got to wait now for a period of time for part of his knee to heal before they feel comfortable operating.”
Ankle operation to keep Best out for rest of season
LEON BEST will head to London tomorrow for an opration on the ankle injury that kept him out of the recent European Championship qualifier against Macedonia after Newcastle United gave up hope of getting him ready to play competitively again this season, writes Emmet Malone.
The striker has been sidelined since the start of March when he scored in the club’s 2-1 defeat by Everton to bring his tally for what was already an injury ravaged season to six goals.
It will be his second operation of the campaign and the timing would appear to rule him out of Ireland’s trip to Skopje and the team’s remaining Nations Cup games against Northern Ireland and Scotland.
Best made his debut for Ireland in London against Nigeria in May 2009 but he hasn’t featured for Giovanni Trapattoni since the friendly against Brazil back in the same city in March of last year.
Old Firm game set for Easter
THE FINAL Old Firm derby of the season will take place on Easter Sunday, the Scottish Premier League has announced.
The SPL confirmed the game would kick off at Ibrox at 12.30pm on April 24th “following consultations with Strathclyde Police and the heads of security from Rangers and Celtic”.
Police in Scotland are normally keen to avoid the match going ahead on a bank holiday weekend, but the first two weekends after the split are both holiday weekends.
The match is the first after the split, therefore ruling out the added tension if the match could potentially decide the title.
- Russian championsZenit St Petersburg were fined €7,400 yesterday for a racist incident targeting former Brazil fullback Roberto Carlos in a league match last month.
A fan was seen offering a banana to the Anzhi Makhachkala captain at St Petersburg’s Petrovsky stadium before Zenit’s home league opener. Zenit won the game 2-0.
Agger out for rest of season
LIVERPOOL MANAGER Kenny Dalglish finds himself facing a defensive injury crisis after Daniel Agger’s season was ended prematurely and Glen Johnson was ruled out for a month. Agger injured a knee tendon in Saturday’s defeat at West Brom and will not play again this campaign, while Johnson’s hamstring strain in the same match will sideline him for four weeks. “Daniel has a problem with the tendon behind his knee and won’t be involved again this season,” said Dalglish.
Hooper brace puts Celtic back on top
GARY HOOPER claimed a double as Celtic reclaimed top spot in the Scottish Premier League with a comfortable 3-1 win over Hibernian last night at Celtic Park.
Rangers had leapfrogged their Old Firm rivals to the summit 24 hours earlier but their lofty status was short-lived as Celtic eased to victory. Anthony Stokes set the ball rolling before Hooper converted from the penalty spot and claimed his second shortly before half-time.
Liam Miller pulled a goal back from the spot before Hooper passed up the chance of a hat-trick from another penalty. Celtic could have ended any small hope Hibs had of a comeback when Stokes stood over a free-kick on the edge of the box but Brown saved well to tip the swerving effort past the post. Kris Commons and Freddie Ljungberg were thrown into the action late on. Ljungberg had an impact when he was felled by Paul Hanlon in the area with 84 minutes gone but Hooper fired wide from the spot.
Moratti backs Leonardo after defeat
INTER MILAN president Massimo Moratti insists he has faith in coach Leonardo despite Tuesday night’s stunning 5-2 home defeat by Schalke which all but ended their hopes of defending their Champions League title.
The defeat, during which Cristian Chivu was sent off for the hosts, followed a 3-0 loss to AC Milan which saw Inter slip five points behind their city rivals in the Serie A standings.
Moratti believes fatigue was a major factor in Tuesday’s result but he has confidence in Leonardo’s ability and insists the club is unified.
He said: “I can say he is an intelligent person who is doing a job that certainly isn’t easy, and he makes some intelligent reasoning. Football is connected to many things like luck and timing, and this is a moment that can be overcome. We are all very united. Everyone together.”
