Former AEK Athens defender Traianos Dellas has been appointed as the club’s new coach until the end of the season, the Greek Super League team said yesterday.
The 37-year-old, a Euro 2004 winner with Greece, takes over from German Ewald Lienen, who left the club on Tuesday.
“AEK Athens FC announces the start of its co-operation with the coach Traianos Dellas,” said AEK in a statement.
“Mr Dellas is a player who has written his own page in the history of AEK during his time with the club and he has agreed to take over the coaching role until the end of the season.”
Aussie FFA Cup to start next year
Australia aim to introduce a new knockout tournament for up to 700 teams based on England’s prestigious FA Cup model by next year.
FFA chief executive David Gallop said that work was still to be done on the planning for the tournament but that he had made it a priority since he joined the football federation in November.
“The first day on the job when someone told me about it I said ‘what are we doing about it’?” Gallop told an AAP Sports Conference.
“There will be six or seven hundred teams involved and we all know about the FA Cup, we all get up for it, the chance for those (lesser) teams to come through.
“The FFA Cup will happen.”
Mourinho salutes ‘incredible’ fans
Real Madrid coach Jose Mou-rinho saluted the passion of the Galatasaray fans after his team scrambled past the Turkish side into the Champions League semi-finals on Tuesday.
Mourinho’s men had to weather a second-half storm to go through 5-3 on aggregate even though Galatasaray scored three second-half goals in quick succession to win the second leg 3-2.
“I had no time to be nervous,” Mourinho told reporters.
“I don’t have time to feel nervous on the sidelines.
“I know Galatasaray are strong. They did not play with 11 men... they played with 50,000 incredible supporters. It was hard for us and they deserved to win.”
Gomes injury blow
Heurelho Gomes’s season is over after he broke his left hand, Hoffenheim said.
Tottenham keeper Gomes had impressed for Hoffenheim on a six-month loan deal in January, conceding nine goals in nine games.
But the 32-year-old will not play again this season after he broke his hand last week.
Gomes underwent surgery to have four pins inserted in his index finger. He will remain at Hoffenheim for his rehabilita-tion, Tottenham confirmed.
Balotelli considered walking off pitch
Mario Balotelli considered walking off the pitch during Milan’s 2-2 draw at Fiorentina because of racist abuse, Il Corriere dello Sport reported.
Milan’s friendly with Pro Patria at the start of the year was abandoned after Kevin Prince Boateng left the pitch in anger after being subjected to racist jeers.
Balotelli, who remained on the field for the whole 90 minutes on Sunday, was on Tuesday handed a three-match ban following his booking at the weekend and after verbally abusing an official.
Milan have confirmed they will be appealing the judgement.
Cahill and Cole closer to fitness
England defenders Gary Cahill and Ashley Cole are recovering well from their recent injury setbacks, Chelsea interim boss Rafael Benitez has confirmed.
Cahill (knee) and Cole (hamstring) are stepping up their recoveries, but both are still likely to miss crucial matches before the end of the season, including today’s Europa League quarter-final second leg at Rubin Kazan.
“The feeling from both is really good,” Benitez said.
Cahill has had a knee operation after being ruled out of England’s World Cup qualifiers with San Marino and Montenegro last month.
No bail for refs
Three Lebanese referees pleaded not guilty to the charge they accepted sexual bribes in return for fixing a regional match but had their request for bail rejected by a Singapore judge yesterday.
Kamala Ponnampalam dismissed the claims, citing a 2012 match-fixing case where a Malaysian referee absconded Singapore despite his passport being impounded.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Christopher Ong said prosecutors had made a written submission to the judge requesting bail be denied, arguing the Lebanese trio could be involved in an international match-fixing syndicate.
FIFA-recognised referee Ali Sabbagh and assistants Ali Eid and Abdallah Taleb will next appear in court on April 18.