Referee halts match to spray Alex De Souza's name onto pitch

The official used vanishing spray to spell out the name of the former Brazil international.

It is rare to see a referee grab the headlines for something amusing and innovative, let alone touching.

But that's exactly what has happened after the referee in Alex De Souza's Palmeiras testimonial used his vanishing spray for creative purposes.

The spray, normally used for keeping order and ensuring that free-kicks are taken in an appropriate manner, was in this case responsible for the name 'Alex' being written across the pitch.

De Souza, a former Brazil international, called upon a host of his footballing friends to join him for his farewell fixture - and clearly the referee was touched to have been selected himself as he made the gesture.

The official, after awarding a free-kick, bent down to spray the player's name onto the turf, to the delight of the crowd and other players.
The 37-year-old De Souza enjoyed the gesture too, smiling broadly as the referee marked his 19 years in the professional game with the crowd-pleasing move.
De Souza played 48 games for Brazil and scored a staggering 136 goals in 245 games as an attacking midfielder for Fenerbahce after having played for Parma in Serie A.

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Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg beware! Sebastian Vettel is back

Original posting at www.yahoo.co.uk

How glorious to see some racing at the front of the F1 pack!

Everyone expected the Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg to dominate the field once more this season – and why would they not? They crushed the opposition last year, and testing indicated that nothing would change in 2015.

But Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari have given them something to think about.

[Sebastian Vettel wins Malaysian Grand Prix ahead of Lewis Hamilton]

It was tremendous to see Vettel separate the two Silver Arrows on the grid; and incredible, in all senses, to see and hear just how rattled Hamilton and Rosberg were.

When Vettel was in third, Rosberg in second sent frantic messages to his team about the Ferrari’s speed; in the end, the overtaking was simple. Then it was Hamilton’s turn to panic, exclaiming that his tyres were disintegrating and he couldn’t hold off Vettel.

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The Ferrari driver made his move at the end of Lap 24, easing into the lead, and Hamilton made the immedi aate decision to pull into the pits, regroup, don fresh tyres and chase the race.

Indeed, the reigning champion proceeded to record a succession of fastest laps – but his own final pit stop added additional drama to the closing stages, as his technicians switched him on to the slower, hard tyres rather than the quicker compounds he was expecting.

Still, Hamilton managed to make some headway into Vettel’s lead – but not enough. The Ferrari cruised through the last ten laps – overtaking the field as far as the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat, in ninth and tenth – to grab a well-deserved victory.

Vettel and Ferrari combined to shock the favourites – and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen clung on for fourth, despite running for an entire lap on only three tyres early in the race after a puncture.

Even the Williamses of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa have reasons to be cheerful, duking it out until the end and taking fifth and sixth respectively.

One race does not a season make – but this sparkling, gripping race in Malaysia has given F1 fans some hope that 2015 will not be another Silver Arrows stranglehold.

Cricket - Michael Clarke: We won for 'little brother' Phillip Hughes

Australia captain Michael Clarke dedicated his side's World Cup success to his former team-mate Phillip Hughes.

 

Clarke led his side to a seven-wicket victory over New Zealand in the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, scoring 74 as he bowed out of one-day cricket in style.

[Australia beat New Zealand to win Cricket World Cup]

The 33-year-old said the win was dedicated to Hughes, who died aged 25 in November after being struck on the head by a bouncer.

Speaking about the black armband he was wearing on his left arm, Clarke said: "As you can see it's got PH on it. I'll wear it every game I play for Australia.
"I think for everybody in Australian cricket it's been really tough few months.
"I'm sure I don't just speak for myself, I'm sure everybody standing on this stage tonight will say that we've played this World Cup with 16 players and tonight is certainly dedicated to our little brother and our team-mate Phillip Hughes.
"Hughes used to party as good as any of them so I'll make sure we drink two (beers) at a time tonight, one for Hughesy and one for us."
Clarke, who struck 10 fours and one maximum off 72 balls, and Steve Smith (56 not out) put on a third-wicket partnership of 112 as the hosts made light work of reaching their 184-run target with 101 balls remaining.
Grant Elliott had earlier top-scored with 83 off 82 balls for New Zealand, but his team-mates only managed to muster 100 further runs between them as a powerplay began their collapse in the 36th over and they lost three wickets for just one run.
Mitchell Johnson claimed figures of three for 30 and James Faulkner three for 36 in Australia's attack.

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Australia's captain Michael Clarke (C) lifts the winning trophy of 2015 Cricket World Cup

Clarke said: "We're really proud, it's a wonderful achievement. It's a great thing just to make a World Cup final, but to be able to win in your own back yard in front of your family and friends is extremely special and I guarantee we'll celebrate hard tonight.
"Obviously I'm over the moon. What a tournament.
"The New Zealand team deserve a lot of credit. They're always a tough team to beat it seems in any sporting event. Australia v New Zealand is always an exciting contest and tonight was no different."
Clarke, who announced his retirement from one-day cricket on Saturday, praised the fans and his team for getting them through to the final.

"To the Australian fans, to all the fans of the game of cricket, I think it's been an amazing turnout this tournament. To the support we've had over the tournament, thanks to every Australian and cricket supporter out there.

"Thanks, most importantly to that amazing team including support staff. I couldn't have asked any more than for the support I've received since coming back into the team.

"The way they've stood up and played they certainly deserve to stand here tonight and hold that trophy up."

He added: " It's been an honour and a privilege to represent my country in both Test and one-day cricket and Twenty20 cricket.

"The time is right for me to walk away from one-day cricket, but I'll keep playing Test cricket."

Football - Sao Paulo pair surprised on day of low crowds

 Two of Sao Paulo's biggest clubs suffered shock setbacks on Sunday in what was a day of pitifully low attendances in Brazil's biggest state championships.

Palmeiras lost 2-0 to Red Bull Brasil in front of just 7,355 fans in Campinas, while Santos could only draw 2-2 with Sao Bento at home. Only 5,149 people watched the game at the Vila Belmiro stadium.

The results were a shock for both teams, with Palmeiras' defeat coming just days after they demolished city rivals Sao Paulo 3-0.

Santos's draw, meanwhile, was their second game without a win in a week and came after five successive victories for new coach Marcelo Fernandes.

The results mean that both teams trail Corinthians, who won 1-0 and have five points more than their nearest challengers.

Their win over Bragantino came thanks to Vagner Love, who scored his first goal for the club. Only 6,612 people watched the game in Braganca Paulista.

In Rio de Janeiro, just 861 people paid to see Fluminense beat Barra Mansa 4-2.

The game, which was played three hours from Rio in Macae due to scheduling conflicts, was halted for 12 minutes in the first half when the floodlights failed.

The biggest crowd of the day came at the Maracana, where 25,047 people saw local rivals Botafogo and Vasco share the points in a 1-1 draw.

The draw allowed Flamengo, who beat Bonsucesso 2-0 on Saturday, to leapfrog to the top of the state championship table.

Cricket - NZ coach Hesson not pushing anyone out the door

Cricket - NZ coach Hesson not pushing anyone out the door

New Zealand coach Mike Hesson has said he will not put pressure on any of his players to make up their minds about their playing futures in the wake of the team's disappointing World Cup final loss to Australia.

 New Zealand media have speculated that captain Brendon McCullum and spinner Daniel Vettori may be set to announce their retirements from one-day international cricket to allow the team to rebuild for the 2019 tournament in England.At 36, pace bowler Kyle Mills may also be set to hang up his boots.

"I won't be twisting anyone's arm," Hesson told reporters in Melbourne on Monday. "I think it's important to have people who really want to play. I have no doubt we'll find out in the next wee while who those (players) are."

McCullum was bowled for a duck in the first over of New Zealand's seven-wicket loss at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, but otherwise led his side with aplomb into a first World Cup final.

Inspiring with his swashbuckling batting and aggressive field-setting, McCullum turned New Zealand from strugglers into one-day heavyweights in two years and will be hard to replace.

The former wicketkeeper has long complained of back problems and said throughout the New Zealand summer that he was treating every game as his last.
Batsman Kane Williamson is being groomed to take the reins but Hesson said he hoped McCullum would stick around.
"He's huge for us, he sets the tone, the guys love to play for him, so I certainly hope he's around.
"Let's cross that bridge when we come to it. I'm not even contemplating it, to be fair.
"Now is the time just to reflect on the World Cup and in due course we'll look at the future."

New Zealand exited the tournament justifiably proud of their achievements, and their attack-at-all-costs approach to the one-day game may well be emulated by a number of sides over the next four-year cycle.
McCullum said after the final he hoped his team's breathtaking run to the final might inspire up and coming cricketers to emulate their aggressive mind-set.
"Hopefully that will the filter down to our domestic cricket as well and we'll get some youngsters start to play the game, and try and play it the same way we've tried to operate in this World Cup," he said.

"Once you're in the final you give yourself an opportunity to win it. If we can keep making finals we'll win one at some point."

 

Football - Barnes: My colour counts against me

John Barnes claims he is struggling to get a job in management because he is black.

 Original Posts at www.yahoonews.co.uk

The former Liverpool star's last managerial job was at Tranmere in 2009. He lasted four months before being sacked. The 51-year-old has previously been in charge of Celtic and the Jamaica national team.

Barnes insisted that had he been white he would have got another job.

"A white manager loses his job and gets another job, he loses his job, he gets another job. Very few black managers can lose their job and get another job," he told John Barnes: Sports Life Stories, to be broadcast on ITV4 on Tuesday.

"What I can judge it from is by looking at society. How many black people are there in the higher echelons of any industry? We can talk about journalism, we can talk about politics. So why should football be any different?"

Barnes' first job in management, at Celtic for the 1999-2000 season, ended in the wake of an embarrassing Scottish Cup defeat to Inverness.

But he denied that job was too much too soon.

He said: "Well, if it comes now at 51, I don't think it will be any different. It's more to do with the perception of my ability to do the job, because there's a certain perception of who can make a good manager."

Barnes' former England team-mate Ian Wright agreed that the colour of his skin was counting against Barnes.

The former Arsenal man said: "With someone of John Barnes' ability and stature, to not have worked more in the game with something that he's desperate to do. I don't know what else it can be?"

Barnes also talked about the guilt he felt after the Hillsborough disaster in 1989.

Barnes, who attended the funerals and met the families of victims following the tragedy, said: "I felt this guilt that they were coming to watch me.

"I know that they were coming to watch everybody else, and it's Liverpool Football Club. It's an irrational thought.

"So I felt this guilt. And I wasn't sure how they would react because had that been my loved one, I wouldn't want to go and meet footballers or the football team, or ever watch football again."

O'Neill: Lafferty will be in demand

Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill expects match-winner Kyle Lafferty to be a wanted man this summer after his first-half double downed Finland at Windsor Park.
Lafferty scored twice in five first-half minutes to see his side to a 2-1 victory in Belfast, the first a brilliantly executed volley, the second a neat cushioned header.
That took his tally inEuro 2016 qualifying to five in as many games, and it is his goals that are driving Northern Ireland towards a first major championship in 30 years.
But he has struggled to have the same impact in domestic football.
A summer move to Norwich failed to deliver regular game time up front and in January he moved to Turkish side Rizespor on loan - the 27-year-old's fourth team in three years.
And O'Neill thinks he might be on the move again after turning heads with another man-of-the-match display.
"Kyle was outstanding again with two fantastic goals. He's going on the pitch for Northern Ireland at the minute believing he's capable of scoring every time he plays," said O'Neill.
"Anyone who watched this game, with Kyle in that kind of mood, on that kind of form, has to think if he's not at your club how can you get him at your club.
"There'll be a lot of managers who will look at that performance and be very keen to explore the opportunity of bringing Kyle to their club if his future is not at Norwich."
Lafferty's latest brace puts him second on his country's all-time list with 14, behind only David Healy.
Healy was another whose international record far outstripped a stop-start career in the leagues, going on to score 36 times for Northern Ireland despite a moderate record elsewhere.

Healy was another whose international record far outstripped a stop-start career in the leagues, going on to score 36 times for Northern Ireland despite a moderate record elsewhere.
O'Neill is well aware of those parallels but would be delighted to have his very own Healy after searching long and hard for a regular scorer.

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He said: "It's difficult for Kyle because he's a bit in the David Healy situation where things at club level maybe aren't going as well as he'd like, but when he's pulled on the green shirt in this campaign he's been outstanding.
"He's showed what he's capable of on this kind of stage. I'm delighted for Kyle because I think there's so much potential in him as a player and it's nice to see him start to fulfil that.
"I can't comment on why club managers in recent times haven't stuck with him but he is showing what he's capable of against top-class European defenders."
As well as taking his side to the lofty heights of 12 points from a possible 15, there was a personal aspect to the result for O'Neill.
It came at the expense of opposite number Mixu Paatelainen, who gave O'Neill his coaching break as his number two at
"I can't comment on why club managers in recent times haven't stuck with him but he is showing what he's capable of against top-class European defenders."
As well as taking his side to the lofty heights of 12 points from a possible 15, there was a personal aspect to the result for O'Neill.
It came at the expense of opposite number Mixu Paatelainen, who gave O'Neill his coaching break as his number two at Cowdenbeath.
It was the Finn who came off second best on this occasion and he wished his friend well on the road for the rest of the campaign.
"I hope Northern Ireland qualify now, certainly for Michael's sake," he said.
"I think they will. They are a very powerful team with seasoned professionals in their side.
"They have a good style - quite direct, but it plays to their strengths.
"I must also praise Lafferty. He's a powerful striker, he's tall, he made a fantastic finish with the volley and he's always a willing runner."