Global diary
A comprehensive record of recent events around the world
ARGENTINA: Two days after he resigned as coach of Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata, Diego Maradona returns, demanding: “I hope that they will provide the reinforcements promised to me.”
HOLLAND: Excelsior and Volendam players stand still for the first minute of their secondtier game to protest against racism following the abuse directed at Excelsior’s Ahmad Mendes Moreira by Den Bosch fans the previous Sunday. Every match in the country’s top two divisions will follow suit over the weekend.
Saturday November 23
AFCON UNDER-23 CHAMP: Egypt beat Ivory Coast 2-1 in the Final and they will be joined at next year’s Olympics by South Africa.
COPA LIBERTADORES: Flamengo come from behind with two goals from Gabriel Barbosa to beat River Plate 2-1 in the Final.
TURKMENISTAN: Altyn Asyr win 2-1 away to nearest challengers Sagadam to claim their sixth successive league title.
Sunday November 24
AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal complete a 3-0 aggregate victory over Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan in the Final.
BRAZIL: A day after winning the Copa Libertadores, Flamengo are crowned Brazilian champions as Gremio beat Palmeiras 2-1.
GUINEA: Eight years after the construction work was finished, the Chinese-built 50,000-capacity General Lansana Conte Stadium in Conakry hosts its first match as Guinea beat Mauritania 2-0 in the West African Football Union Zone A Under-20 Championship.
JAPAN: Kenyan striker Michael Olunga scores eight goals on the final day of the league season as J2 champions Kashiwa Reysol thrash Kyoto Sanga 13-1.
TAJIKISTAN: Istiklol complete a second successive double with a penalty shoot-out victory over Regar-TadAZ in the cup Final.
Monday November 25
HOLLAND: Ex-international striker Marco Van Basten is suspended from his role as a TV pundit for two weeks after using the phrase “Sieg
Heil” on the Dutch edition of Fox Sports after a German coach was interviewed by one of the channel’s reporters on Sunday.
Tuesday November 26
EGYPT: Zamalek confirm they will not travel to Qatar for February’s African Super Cup game against Esperance of Tunisia. “We are two African teams, why should we play in Asia?” explains club president Mortada Mansour. “I don’t understand why CAF wants to play the Super Cup in a country who is an enemy to Egypt.”
SWEDEN: Former international Zlatan Ibrahimovic becomes coowner of top-flight side Hammarby.
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE:
Robert Lewandowski scores the competition’s fastest quadruple, getting four goals in 14 minutes and 31 seconds as Bayern Munich thrash Red Star 6-0 in Belgrade.
Wednesday November 27
SPAIN: National coach Luis Enrique says former assistant Robert Moreno – who took over when he stepped down in June to look after his daughter, Xana, who died from bone cancer in August aged nine – will not be returning to the national set-up. Enrique says: “He told me he wanted to take charge of the team at the Euros and that, if I wanted, he would have gone back to being my assistant afterwards. I understand, he’s ambitious and he worked very hard to become head coach of the national team but he’s been disloyal and I think this is a big flaw. I don’t want people like this in my staff.”
VENEZUELA: Zamora claim the Copa Venezuela for the first time as an 87th-minute goal from Pedro Ramirez sees them beat Monagas 1-0 in their home leg of the Final to draw 3-3 on aggregate and win on away goals.
Thursday November 28
INDIA: Manchester City’s owners, the City Football Group, buy a 65 per cent stake in Indian Super
League side Mumbai City, making them the eighth club in the group’s network, along with New York City (USA), Melbourne City (Australia), Yokohama F Marinos (Japan), Torque (Uruguay), Girona (Spain) and Sichuan Jiuniu (China).
SCOTLAND: Alfredo Morelos’ double in a 2-2 draw at Feyenoord in the Europa League sets a new record of 13 goals for a Scottish club in a European campaign.
Friday November 29
ENGLAND: Arsenal sack manager Unai Emery after 18 months in charge and put assistant Freddie Ljungberg in temporary control following a run of seven games without a win, culminating in the previous evening’s 2-1 loss at home to Eintract Frankfurt.
NIGERIA: A bus carrying Premier League side Ifeanyi Ubah to a game against Jigawa Golden Stars in the north of the country is attacked by armed robbers, leaving several
players “critically injured” according to the club.
Saturday November 30
WALES: The New Saints win 12-0 away at Airbus UK Broughton to equal the top flight’s record score.
Sunday December 1
CHINESE TAIPEI: Tatung claim their third successive league title with a 2-0 victory over Taipower.
SOUTH KOREA: Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors leapfrog Ulsan Hyundai on the last day of the season as Son Jun-ho’s goal against Gangwon, coupled with Ulsan’s 4-1 home loss to Pohang Steelers, sees them win the title by virtue of goals scored.
Monday December 2
BALLON D’OR: Lionel Messi wins the men’s award for a record sixth time, while Megan Rapinoe is the women’s player of the year.
ITALY: Bottom of Serie A, Brescia sack Fabio Grosso after just three games and bring back Eugenio Corini, who they axed less than a month ago. Grosso lost all his games as coach and fell out with Mario Balotelli, who he dropped for a perceived lack of desire in training
USA: MLS put Inter Miami in the Eastern Conference, with Nashville in the Western Conference.
Tuesday December 3
FRANCE: Bordeaux’s Ligue1 game against Nimes is suspended for 25 minutes as fans protest against the club’s ownership. They go on to win 6-0 when play resumes.
Wednesday December 4
CECAFA SENIOR CHALLENGE
CUP: South Sudan and guest team DR Congo join Ethiopia in pulling out of the East African regional championship just three days ahead of the kick-off in Uganda as the competition is reduced from 12 teams to nine.
UZBEKISTAN: Pakhtakor add the inaugural League Cup to their Uzbek Cup and Super League successes, beating AGMK 6-2 in the Final.
Friday December 6
CHINA: Shanghai Shenhua score three second-half goals to overturn a first-leg deficit, beating Shandong Luneng 3-1 on aggregate to win the Chinese FA Cup for a fifth time.
ENGLAND: Chelsea can sign players in January after the Court of Arbitration for Sport halves their FIFA transfer ban to one window, which they served during the
summer. Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers ends speculation over a move to Arsenal by signing a new five-and-a-half-year contract.
Saturday December 7
ITALY: Juventus lose for the first time this season in Serie A, going down 3-1 at Lazio.
QATAR: FIFA is forced to switch the Club World Cup Final venue as the Education City Stadium in Doha is yet to hold any test events. Its games will now be staged at the city’s Khalifa International Stadium.
SPAIN: Lionel Messi breaks Cristiano Ronaldo’s record with a 35th La Liga hat-trick as Barcelona beat Mallorca 5-2.
Sunday December 8
PARAGUAY: Olimpia clinch the Clausura title with a 2-2 draw at home to Guarani.
SCOTLAND: Celtic have a man sent off as they win 1-0 in the League Cup Final against Rangers.
VENEZUELA: After the Clausura play-off Final first leg finished 1-1, Caracas draw 2-2 at Deportivo Tachira to win on away goals.
Monday December 9
RUSSIA: The World Anti-Doping Agency bans Russia from all major sporting events for four years, including the 2022 World Cup.
Tuesday December 10 AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE:
Holders Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia are drawn in Group B and will face Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor and Al Ahli of the UAE next year as they set out to win a record fourth title.
BELGIUM: Genk’s 17-year-old Maarten Vandevoordt becomes the youngest goalkeeper to start a Champions League game but has a torrid night as Napoli win 4-0.
FRANCE: World Cup-winning coach Didier Deschamps extends his contract with the national side until the end of the 2022 tournament in Qatar in a deal that will make him France’s longest-ever serving boss.
NORTHERN IRELAND: Carrick Rangers defender Jerry Thompson passes away suddenly aged 24.
SOUTHEAST ASIAN GAMES: Sixty years after South Vietnam won gold in 1959, Vietnam claimed a first SEA Games men’s football title since unification, beating Indonesia 3-0 in the Final in the Philippines.
SPAIN: At 17 years and 40 days, Ansu Fati becomes the youngestever goalscorer in the Champions League with Barcelona’s winner in a 2-1 win away to Internazionale.