MILAN, Italy: Monza soccer player Pablo Mari faces around two months out of action after an operation on Friday on wounds sustained when he was stabbed along with five other people in a supermarket near Milan.
One person was killed in Thursday’s attack, a 47-year-old Bolivian national who worked at the supermarket in a shopping mall in the town of Assago, Italy’s Carabinieri police said. Another employee was injured along with four customers, including Mari.
Milan’s Niguarda hospital said on Friday its trauma team had carried out surgery to reconstruct two injured muscles in Mari’s back.
The surgery went well and the defender is expected to remain in the hospital for two or three days, it said, adding he will be able to start a rehabilitation process immediately after.
“This type of muscle injury usually requires two months of rest before one can resume physical activities,” it said.
A 46-year-old suspect was detained after the attack in a Carrefour supermarket but the motive was not clear, the Carabinieri said.
They said late on Thursday the suspect had mental health disorders and was under guard in a psychiatric ward.
According to Il Corriere della Sera newspaper, one of the first people to intervene to block the attacker was former Napoli, Inter Milan and Bologna soccer player Massimo Tarantino, who was also in the supermarket.
Monza have asked the Italian football league to postpone their Serie A match at home to Bologna scheduled for Monday as the team is “in a total state of shock,” Monza Chief Executive Adriano Galliani said.
Newly promoted Monza, owned by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, are currently 15th in the 20-team league.
Mari, a 29-year-old Spanish center back, is on loan at Monza from Premier League club Arsenal.
Monza soccer player Mari faces two months out after supermarket stabbing
https://arab.news/y9hgf
Monza soccer player Mari faces two months out after supermarket stabbing
- Milan's Niguarda hospital said on Friday its trauma team had carried out surgery to reconstruct two injured muscles in Mari's back
- One of the first people to intervene to block the attacker was former Napoli and Inter Milan player Massimo Tarantino
Morocco part company with coach Regragui as World Cup looms
RABAT: Morocco parted company with coach Walid Regragui on Thursday, three months before the World Cup, with the country’s football federation naming Mohamed Ouahbi as his replacement.
Regragui leaves despite having led the Atlas Lions to the World Cup semifinals in 2022 and to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations at the beginning of this year.
“I leave my post with loyalty, gratitude, and the certainty that I have served my country,” he declared during a ceremony broadcast live on television, confirming weeks of persistent rumors that he was on his way out.
Ouahbi, 49, is promoted to the role having overseen Morocco’s triumph at the Under-20 World Cup in October, with the federation describing the move as “a strategic transition” in the run-up to the World Cup in North America in June and July.
“It’s a desire not to waste time and to take a different direction,” a source close to the Moroccan Federation told AFP.
“By appointing Mohamed Ouahbi and welcoming top-tier reinforcements, we are raising our standards and our demands,” the source said.
Morocco will be in Group C at the World Cup along with five-time winners Brazil, Scotland and Haiti.
They begin their campaign against Brazil at the MetLife Stadium just outside New York City on June 13 and will be hoping to make a big impression at the tournament before co-hosting the 2030 edition with Spain and Portugal.
“Our ambition is to consolidate our place among the best nations in a sustainable way and to perform well from this summer, as well as in 2030,” the leader of the Moroccan federation, Fouzi Lekjaa, said recently.
Regragui was hailed in 2022 after Morocco became the first African nation in World Cup history to reach the semifinals, beating Spain and Portugal along the way.
However, Regragui likely paid the ultimate price for the manner in which Morocco lost the recent AFCON final to Senegal.
His team were beaten 1-0 after extra-time at the end of a match marred by the Senegal team’s decision to walk off the pitch in protest at the award of a controversial late penalty to the hosts.
The penalty award with the game goalless sparked trouble in the crowd involving Senegal fans, 18 of whom were jailed following the disruption.
Real Madrid star Brahim Diaz eventually took the penalty after a long delay but his kick was saved and Senegal went on to win the game.
