BARCELONA: Xavi Hernández, the player who personified the attacking style popularized by Barcelona and Spain’s national team, is close to returning to Camp Nou as coach.
Xavi’s current employer, Qatari club Al-Sadd, said Friday that the former midfielder would be freed from his coaching contract once his release clause is paid. His current contract runs into 2023.
Barcelona declined to comment on the cost, but Spanish media reports say Xavi’s buyout clause is 5 million euros ($5.7 million).
“Xavi informed us a few days ago of his desire to go to Barcelona at this particular time, because of the critical stage his hometown club is going through, and we understand this and decided not to stand in his way,” Al-Sadd CEO Turki Al-Ali said in a posting on the club’s Twitter account. “We’ve agreed on cooperation with Barcelona in the future. Xavi is an important part of Al-Sadd’s history and we wish him success.”
Xavi is set to replace Ronald Koeman, who was fired last week following a series of losses for a club that failed to re-sign Lionel Messi. Sergi Barjuan has been coaching Barcelona since, overseeing a draw in the Spanish league and a victory in the Champions League. He will return to coaching the reserve team.
Faced with a barrage of questions about Xavi in a regular pre-match news conference, Barjuan repeated that Barcelona had yet to announce the signing of a new coach. Even so, he spoke of Saturday’s match at Celta Vigo as his last in the dugout.
“Barcelona has not made anything official, but we all hope this can be worked out,” Barjuan said. “If Xavi comes, I will be happy to help him in any way I can.”
The 41-year-old Xavi left Barcelona in 2015 after helping the club win 25 titles, including four Champions Leagues and eight Spanish leagues in 17 seasons. He was also key to Spain’s streak of titles when it won the 2010 World Cup and European Championships in 2008 and 2012.
He has been at Al-Sadd since leaving Barcelona, first as a player and then as coach.
Xavi’s vision, passing and ability to maintain the ball under pressure made him critical to leading both Barcelona and Spain’s national team to their most successful eras.
Barcelona club president Joan Laporta now hopes that, as coach, Xavi can rekindle Barcelona’s beloved attacking style based on suffocating ball possession and intricate passing moves.
But Xavi will arrive with no experience coaching in a major league and will face the same daunting challenge that led to Koeman’s downfall: Barcelona is no longer the Barcelona he left behind as a player.
The team’s depleted finances have stripped it of Messi and other top players like Antoine Griezmann and Luis Suárez, and limited it to signing free agents in the offseason.
Xavi will inherit a team that is struggling in the Spanish league and has yet to guarantee that it will get through the group stage of the Champions League.
It will also be seen if Xavi’s personal relationship with veterans Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba, all former teammates, will help or hurt him as he continues the necessary rebuild started by Koeman.
In his favor, Xavi can benefit from the work started by Koeman, who brought several young players into his starting lineup. Above all, Pedri González, who has also had a superb year with Spain, and Gavi Páez seem perfect to fit Xavi’s playing style. Striker Ansu Fati has also emerged as a possible star.
Xavi turned down the chance to coach Barcelona in January 2020 when Laporta’s predecessor fired Ernesto Valverde in the middle of the season.
“When they offered me (the job), it had barely been three months since I was coaching,” Xavi said recently. “But now it is different. I have more experience and I am learning a lot here (with Al-Sadd).”
Qatari club agrees to let Xavi become Barcelona coach
https://arab.news/5a2yw
Qatari club agrees to let Xavi become Barcelona coach
- Xavi’s current employer, Qatari club Al-Sadd, says that the former midfielder would be freed from his coaching contract once his release clause is paid
Mfiondu Kabengele becomes Dubai Basketball’s 8th signing of the summer
- Canadian center arrives from Italian club Reyer Venezia, where he starred last season in the EuroCup and the Italian League
DUBAI: Canadian center Mfiondu Kabengele joins Dubai Basketball for the next two seasons after reaching an agreement with the club starting this September. The Canadian arrives from Reyer Venezia (Italy), where he starred last season in the EuroCup and the Italian League.
He is the eighth new signing following the announcement of Musa, Avramovic, Wright, Kamenjas, Jaiteh, Bacon, and Anderson joining Dubai’s head coach Jurica Golemac.
Kabengele had a fantastic season in the EuroCup with Reyer Venezia. He was the top rebounder of the competition, averaging 9.7 rebounds per game. He added 15.4 points, 1.5 assists, and 1 steal per game in 18 matches. His impressive performance earned him a spot on the All-EuroCup First Team.
In the Italian League, he was one of the best players on court. He averaged 15.2 points and 9.8 rebounds and had one of the best efficiency ratings in the competition (20.7).
Before moving to Europe, Kabengele played in the NBA from 2019 to 2022. The Canadian played for the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics. In total, he appeared in 55 NBA games. In the G League, he had strong performances and helped the Rio Grande Valley Vipers win the title in 2022.
Kabengele is set to play a key role for Dubai Basketball in their debut EuroLeague season. Looking to improve on their third-place finish in the ABA League in their inaugural season, the Dubai side have assembled a roster to compete at the highest level in Europe.
Newcastle boss Howe confident Isak will stay on amid transfer speculation
- British media reported earlier this week that Premier League champions Liverpool were interested in signing the 25-year-old Sweden international
- Alexander Isak bagged 23 Premier League goals last season, only behind Liverpool talisman and Golden Boot winner Mohamed Salah
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe said he is confident that striker Alexander Isak will be at the Premier League club at the start of the 2025-26 season, after leaving the Swede out of their 4-0 friendly loss to Celtic due to transfer talk.
British media reported earlier this week that Premier League champions Liverpool were interested in signing the 25-year-old Sweden international, who has three years left on his Newcastle contract.
Isak bagged 23 Premier League goals last season, only behind Liverpool talisman and Golden Boot winner Mohamed Salah (29). Isak, capped 52 times for his country, joined Newcastle from Spanish side Real Sociedad in 2022 and has since netted 62 times in 109 appearances for the Magpies across all competitions.
“It was my decision. He traveled back to Glasgow with us but I decided to send him home due to the speculation around him,” Howe told reporters after Saturday’s match.
“The last thing he wanted is to be sat in the stand watching, that wasn’t fair to him. But I’m confident he will be a Newcastle player come the end of the window.
“It’s difficult for me to give 100 percent clarity on any player. Alex is happy at Newcastle, he loves the players, the staff, the team. I’m confident he’ll be here at the start of the season.
“Yes, I’ve had discussions with him but that’s not abnormal. I respect a player’s career and how short it is. Alex has been really good, he’s trained really well and I realize there’ll be noise around him.”
Newcastle, who qualified for Champions League football after finishing fifth in the Premier League last season, will next be in action against Arsenal in a friendly match in Singapore next Sunday.
Lionel Messi’s 6th brace in 7 games seals Inter Miami’s win over Red Bulls
Lionel Messi had two goals and two assists to lead Inter Miami to a bounce- back 5-1 victory over the host New York Red Bulls on Saturday night in Harrison, N.J.
Messi and Inter Miami (12-4-5, 41 points) erased a 1-0 first-half deficit with a flurry of goals late in the first half — two of them coming off the foot of Telasco Segovia — that staked the Herons to a 3-1 halftime lead.
Miami won its sixth MLS match in its past seven after having a five-game winning streak snapped at FC Cincinnati on Wednesday. Messi saw the end of his MLS-record streak of five matches scoring multiple goals, only to record a brace on Saturday.
The Red Bulls (9-9-6, 33 points) failed to string together consecutive wins at home and lost to Inter Miami for the second time this season.
New York scored its lone goal in the 15th minute when Emil Forsberg lifted a corner kick in front of Miami goalkeeper Rocco Rios Novo’s line of sight. Alexander Hack then kicked it home for the score despite having defender Federico Redondo draped all over him.
Rios Novo made his second start this season for Oscar Ustari, who sat out with an injury.
Jordi Alba, who exited the game in the 84th minute with what appeared to be a leg cramp, scored his first goal of the season in MLS league play off a cross from Messi in the 24th minute to tie the game1-1.
Inter Miami took the lead for good in the 27th when Luis Suarez, who assisted on the first goal, sent a ball ahead to Messi, who then directed it quickly to Alba, who then crossed it back to Segovia for an easy shot into the back of the net.
In the third minute of first-half stoppage time, Redondo advanced the ball into the Red Bulls’ box but could not fire off a shot. Segovia, though, surged in and fired a shot off a rebound past Carlos Miguel Coronel for a third goal.
Messi followed with goals in the 60th and 75th minutes to seal the outcome.
Messi increased his total goals in MLS games to 18 this season and has contributed on 27 scores.
The Red Bulls mustered nine shots in the match, but they were outshot 8-1 in shots on target.
Barrios holds off Pacquiao to retain WBC welterweight crown
- Mario Barrios holds onto his belt despite being dominated by Filipino icon for several rounds
LAS VEGAS: Mario Barrios held off a battling Manny Pacquiao to retain his WBC world welterweight crown with a fight ruled a majority draw on Saturday.
Barrios, 30, held onto his belt despite being dominated for several rounds by 46-year-old Filipino icon Pacquiao, returning to the ring for the first time after a four-year retirement.
Barrios was awarded the fight 115-113 by one judge, with the other two cards scoring it 114-114.
The result drew a subdued reaction from the MGM Grand Garden Arena crowd, who had roared on Pacquiao as he attempted to make a spectacular return to boxing.
At times, it seemed as if Pacquiao was poised to write another improbable chapter in his 30-year professional career as he used all of his guile and experience to frustrate Barrios.
But Barrios rallied furiously over the final three rounds – he was deemed the winner of those rounds on all three cards – to do just enough to force a result that sees him retain his title.
“I thought I won the fight,” Pacquiao said afterwards. “I mean, it was a close fight. My opponent was very tough. But it was a wonderful fight.
“I was trying to find a way to finish the fight but my opponent was so tough. He threw punches in combination and with defense, so it was hard.”
Barrios, meanwhile, felt he had done enough to deserve the draw.
“I thought I pulled it out,” Barrios said. “But I still tip my hat to Manny. It was an honor to share the ring with him, somebody with so much experience who has accomplished so much in this sport. We left everything in the ring, nothing but love and respect.”
Barrios admitted he had been awed by Pacquiao’s remarkable reserves of energy and stamina.
“That’s crazy – his stamina, he can still crack and he’s still strong as hell. His timing, his rhythm, everything. He was still a very awkward fighter to figure out.”
WNBA All-Stars make statement with warmup shirts over CBA
- The idea was hatched Saturday morning at a players meeting
- The players and the league failed to reach a new CBA
INDIANAPOLIS: The WNBA All-Stars wanted to send a clear message to the league on the game’s brightest stage.
All of the players on Team Clark and Team Collier warmed up for Saturday night’s WNBA All-Star Game in shirts that read “Pay us what you owe us.”
“We get a very tiny percentage of all the money that’s made through the WNBA, which obviously is made through the entertainment we provide,” said Napheesa Collier on the decision to wear the shirts. “So we want a fair and reasonable percentage of that.”
The idea was hatched Saturday morning at a players meeting.
The demonstration comes after the players and the league failed to reach a new collective bargaining agreement at an in-person meeting Thursday. The league’s players opted out of their last CBA in October, and are looking for a better revenue-sharing model, increased salaries, improved benefits and a softer salary cap.
After the failed negotiations, many players said there was a large discrepancy between what they wanted and what the league was offering. If a new CBA is not reached by October some players, including All-Stars Napheesa Collier and Angel Reese, have mentioned the potential of a walkout.
At the end of the game, chants of “Pay them!” broke out in the arena. Some fans held signs that read “Pay the players,” during the game.
“We had no idea that they were in solidarity with our demonstration,” said Nneka Ogwumike, president of the WNBPA. “I’ve been hearing it all weekend at the fan events, supporting us and wanting us to get our fair share of the value.”
This was potentially the last time that so many players would be together in one place before the season ends — a fact not lost on the union leadership.
“This is a perfect opportunity to raise awareness for what we’re doing and do it together,” Collier said.
The players aren’t decided whether they’ll wear the shirts on their own teams over the course of the second half of the season which begins Tuesday. They hope that fans will wear them as the union announced on social media during the game that the shirts were on sale.
Ogwumike was unaware that the shirts were already on sale.
“You put it out there, and you stand on business,” said Courtney Williams about the shirts. “And we’re standing on business.”
