Jamaica College and Mona High both scored big wins as action in the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup continued Tuesday.
30-time champions Jamaica College got their 2022 campaign off to the best possible start with a 13-0 hammering of St. Mary’s College at home to take the early lead in Group B.
St. Jago High secured a 2-0 win over Cedar Grove at the Spanish Town Prison Oval while at the Bell Chung Oval, St. Catherine High came away 3-0 winners over Holy Trinity High in the other Group B fixtures on Tuesday.
At the Mona High School field, the hosts were 9-0 winners over Kingston High to kickstart their season.
Other Group E results saw Hydel go into Papine High and secure a 3-0 victory while Wolmer’s Boys secured a 2-0 win over Camperdown High at home.
STATHS, Tarrant and Jonathan Grant were all winners in Group D. STATHS got the better of Norman Manley 2-0 at Maxfield Park. At Tarrant, the hosts got a 2-1 win over Spanish Town while Jonathan Grant beat Dunoon Technical 1-0 at home.
In a Group F double header at Excelsior High, Campion College and Clan Carthy played out a 2-2 draw in the first game. The second game between Excelsior and Kingston Technical ended in the same score-line. Cumberland secured a 1-0 win over Jose Marti in the lone Group F fixture on Monday.
The tournament began with a double-header at Sabina Park on Saturday with defending champions Kingston College beating Calabar 5-1 and 22-time champions St. George’s College securing a 6-0 win over Ardenne High in Group A. On Monday, Waterford beat Meadowbrook 3-0 at home in the other Group A fixture.
Monday also saw three Group C fixtures as Vauxhall suffered a 0-3 loss at the hands of Tivoli High. Bridgeport went to Edith Dalton James and got a 3-2 victory and Charlie Smith played out a 0-0 draw with Haile Selassie.
Action continues Thursday with nine matches. In Group A, Ardenne will host Kingston College, St. George’s College will visit Meadowbrook while Waterford will host Calabar.
Group C action will see Charlie Smith and Bridgeport locking horns at the Tony Spaulding Sports Complex, Edith Dalton James hosting Tivoli High and Vauxhall visiting Haile Selassie.
In Group F, Campion College will host Jose Marti, Clan Carthy will battle Kingston technical at the Alpha Institute and Excelsior will host Cumberland.
Bradley Jacks is a budding journalist and an avid sports fan. His love of research and sports has led him to SportsMax.tv, a place where those passions work hand in hand to allow him to produce content.
Sweden 0-3 Belgium: Lukaku hat-trick gets Tedesco tenure off to flying start
Romelu Lukaku scored a hat-trick as Belgium kicked off a new era under Domenico Tedesco with a 3-0 win over Sweden on Friday in their opening Euro 2024 qualifier.
The Red Devils replaced Roberto Martinez with Tedesco after exiting the World Cup at the group stage, while a number of big names also retired from international football.
Tedesco's tenure got off to a flying start at Friends Arena in Stockholm, where Lukaku's header and a close-range finish either side of half-time had the visitors in control.
Sweden brought on 41-year-old striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but Lukaku completed his treble in the 82nd minute to round off a comfortable victory.
Dejan Kulusevski almost gave Sweden the lead when his shot trickled towards goal after Thibaut Courtois got a hand to it, only for Wout Faes to clear off the line.
It was the visitors who opened the scoring 10 minutes before the interval when Dodi Lukebakio's right-sided cross was glanced in by the head of Lukaku.
The on-loan Inter striker doubled his tally with a tap-in from a yard out after Lukebakio burst into the box, got away from his man and once again picked out his team-mate.
Sweden struggled to ask any real questions of Courtois, despite the introduction of Ibrahimovic, and Lukaku made certain of the win when given a simple finish by Johan Bakayoko.
Yaya Toure confident of managerial opportunities despite Vieira sacking
Yaya Toure is "very positive" about having opportunities in management despite seeing Patrick Vieira recently sacked by Crystal Palace.
Toure was disappointed to see his former Manchester City team-mate lose his role as manager of the Eagles, who replaced Vieira with 75-year-old Roy Hodgson until the end of the season.
Speaking at a Football Black List event, the former Barcelona and City midfielder paid tribute to Vieira, whose dismissal meant there are no black managers in the Premier League.
"Patrick Vieira is a great person, and a great coach as well. I think it's a sad part of it," Toure said.
"It's a concern because if you have 50 per cent of the black players playing Premier League, and maybe one or two per cent of managers or coaches are black, it's quite strange."
Toure has taken up coaching since retiring from playing in 2019, with short-term assistant roles at Ukrainian side Olimpik Donetsk and Russia's Akhmat Grozny, before returning to England to work for Tottenham's academy in August.
He has designs on becoming a manager himself one day, and still believes the opportunities will be there for him.
"I think the Premier League and the FA are working hard to get it right, because for us it's very important," he said.
"And as well, for me, I can say, I'm confident, to be honest. I'm confident, I'm looking forward, I'm very positive [about] how the opportunities are going to come for me and I'm going to be ready for it."
Morata's pride at Spain captaincy as De la Fuente seeks strong start
Alvaro Morata has been named Spain's new captain ahead of Luis de la Fuente's first match in charge, with the new coach seeking the "security and confidence" of a strong start.
It is all change for Spain following the 2022 World Cup, with previous skipper Sergio Busquets retiring and De la Fuente replacing Luis Enrique as boss.
Morata is left as the most experienced player in the former Spain Under-21 coach's first squad and was confirmed as captain ahead of their first Euro 2024 qualifier against Norway on Saturday.
"It's a pride and a joy," Morata said in a news conference. "I'm looking forward to things going well and winning. I'm here to help the younger ones."
The Atletico Madrid striker has been enthused by what he has seen from De la Fuente so far – and he believes he is not alone in that sense.
"I have been with different coaches and I see everyone very excited," Morata added. "He likes to give affection to his players and work hard.
"We all have to win from playing and competing. The ticket for a European Championship and a World Cup is not easy, and we are all clear about what is important for us and that we have to always be at these tournaments."
De la Fuente is "enjoying and living an incomparable experience", but he knows the importance of the result against Norway.
"Any project has to start well," the coach said. "It's not all about getting off to a good start, but I'd like to.
"It would give us more security and confidence. We are sure of that."
Spain's hopes of that first win have been boosted by the absence of Norway's superstar striker Erling Haaland, out with a groin injury.
De la Fuente added: "I'm very sorry for any footballer's injury. It is the ugly face of this sport. We also have injuries.
"That said, to say I'd like to see Haaland on the field tomorrow would be lying."
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