Balotelli completes Marseille move
Paris: Marseille have completed the signing of Italy striker Mario Balotelli from their French rivals Nice, the Ligue 1 club confirmed on Wednesday. Balotelli, 28, has signed for the former European champions until the end of the season after being released from the remainder of his contract by Nice and passing a medical at the Velodrome earlier in the day. The impending arrival of the former AC Milan, Inter and Liverpool forward, who has scored 14 goals in 36 games for Italy. Marseille coach Rudi Garcia said this week that signing Balotelli was his "number one priority". OM are currently seventh in Ligue 1 and have struggled for goals after failing in an attempt to bring Balotelli to the club last summer. Their main strikers, Valere Germain and Kostas Mitroglou, have scored just three league goals each so far this season.
Chelsea closing on Higuain deal
London: Chelsea are in final talks to sign Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain, head coach Maurizio Sarri said on Wednesday as he looks to bolster his team's firepower. Sarri previously coached Higuain at Napoli when he scored a Serie A record 36 goals in a league campaign in 2015/16. That sort of goalscoring prowess is what Chelsea have been badly missing in recent months, with Sarri's lack of confidence in Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud forcing Eden Hazard into an unfamiliar centre-forward role. "They're a few hours into signing a contract today," Sarri said. Chelsea play Tottenham in Thursday's League Cup semi-final second leg at Stamford Bridge, bidding to overturn a 1-0 deficit to reach the February 24 final.
Dussen leads SA to series-levelling win
Durban: Hendrick 'Rassie' van der Dussen and Andile Phehlukwayo guided South Africa to a series-levelling win in a roller-coaster second one-day international against Pakistan at Kingsmead on Tuesday. The pair came together when South Africa were 80 for five in reply to Pakistan's 203. They put on an unbeaten 127 as South Africa won by five wickets with eight overs to spare. Van der Dussen, playing in his second one-day international, made an unbeaten 80 after scoring 93 on debut. Phehlukwayo was named man-of-the-match after two career-best performances. He took four for 22 in Pakistan's innings and then scored 69 not out. Earlier Hasan Ali, batting at number ten, hit a career-best 59 off 45 balls and helped captain Sarfraz Ahmed (41) put on 90 for the ninth wicket to enable Pakistan to reach 203.
Sarfraz caught passing comments
Durban: Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed could find himself in trouble after he was caught by stump mics of making what seemed to be racist comments against a South African player during their second one-dayer. According to reports, Sarfraz made these comments against Andile Phehlukwayo in the 37th over of South Africa's run chase on Tuesday. Phehlukwayo inside-edged a Shaheen Afridi delivery for a single. He was on 50 at the time and as he ran off to the non-striker's end, Sarfraz was caught on the stump mics passing some comments in Urdu. "Abey kaale, teri ammi aaj kahaan baitheen hain? Kya parwa ke aaye hai aaj (Hey black guy, where's your mother sitting today? What have you got her to say for you today)?" Sarfraz was quoted as saying by ‘ESPNcricinfo' website.
Anand plays draw with Rapport
Wijk Aan Zee: Viswanathan Anand played out an easy draw as black with Richard Rapport of Hungary to stay in joint lead on six points after the end of the ninth round of Tata Steel Masters chess tournament. Tackling his first of the two back-to-back black games in a row with ease, Anand had a level position on board for the major part and is now in a three-way tie with four rounds still remaining in the first super tournament of the year. Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia joined Anand and world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the lead following a fine victory over Indian Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi. Ding Liren of China played out a draw with tailender Vladimir Kramnik to be joint fourth along side Dutchman Anish Giri who was held to a draw by compatriot Jorden Van Foreest.
tim howard to retire after 2019
New York: Former United States goalkeeper Tim Howard announced on Tuesday that he will retire from the sport after his 2019 Major League Soccer season with the Colorado Rapids. The 39-year-old former Manchester United and Everton stopper, a veteran of three World Cup campaigns, confirmed his decision to hang up his gloves in a statement on Twitter. "I'm greatly looking forward to kicking off the 2019 MLS season, as it will be my LAST," Howard wrote. "There will be plenty of time for sentiment later. For now, I am going to enjoy every minute. And as I've always done, compete hard and help lead the Rapids with the sole purpose of winning." Howard is the most capped goalkeeper in US national team history with 121 appearances.