22 Wednesday August 21, 2019
SPORTS
u At Liverpool, Carroll used Google to fi nd out who his teammates were
Newcastle striker admits low soccer IQ
Andy Carroll has admitted his soccer IQ
was so low he had to use Google to fi nd
out who Luis Suarez was when he joined
Liverpool in 2011.
Carroll moved to Merseyside for a re-
cord fee for a British player of 35 million
pounds ($42 million) and teamed up
with the Uruguayan superstar in attack.
The 30-year-old former England in-
ternational striker excused his ignorance
by saying he meant no disrespect to Liv-
erpool or Suarez.
He said he was just much more inter-
ested in going out with his friends than
following soccer off the pitch when he
was making his name at his fi rst club
Newcastle United.
Carroll, who has returned to New-
castle on a one-year deal after being re-
leased by West Ham over the summer,
had to Google Suarez while he was fl y-
ing by helicopter to Liverpool to com-
plete the transfer on the fi nal day of the
January 2011 transfer window.
Suarez had signed just days be-
fore from Ajax for just over 22 million
pounds but Carroll told the Newcastle
United team website he had no idea who
his future teammate was.
“When I was here [at Newcastle], I’d
go home, mess about with my mates,
play football, go out, whatever, but I’d
never watch football. I never knew any
players,” said Carroll, who earned his re-
cord move to Liverpool after scoring 31
goals in 80 appearances for the Magpies.
“I’d come in on the Friday or wake up
on the Saturday morning saying, ’Who
are we playing?’
“I was completely oblivious to all the
football that was going on.
“When I was in the helicopter to Liv-
erpool, I was like, ‘I know Stevie G [Ger-
rard], I know [ Jamie] Carragher. Who
else?’ My agent at the time had to tell me
and I would get it on Google and fi nd
out the team.
“It’s bad because it’s Liverpool play-
ers, but it’s not disrespectful – I just liter-
ally didn’t watch football.”
Carroll whose career has beenwrecked by injuries – even his Liverpool
debut was delayed due to an injury he
had suff ered at Newcastle – also assured
the Newcastle faithful that he is no lon-
ger the wild man he was in his fi rst spell
at the club.
“I was daft when I was here before
and no doubt I was daft for a couple of
years after as well,” said Carroll.
“But I met my missus [Billi Mucklow]and we’ve got four kids at home now.
There’s no more behavior like before.
“I was stupid, I was young, and I was
carried away with the lifestyle.
“Now it’s completely diff erent. I’m a
dad, I’ve grown up and got responsibili-
ties.
“I’ve got a purpose.”AFPSmith ruled out of third Murray falls again as singles comeback continues
Ashes Test after concussion
uTENNIS
Andy Murray on Monday fell in
the fi rst round of the ATP Win-
ston-Salem Open, where the
three-time Grand Slam cham-
pion was giving his surgically
repaired hip just its second test
in singles.
Britain’s Murray, who feared
in January that his hip trouble
would end his career, accepted
a wild card into this week’s tour-
nament in North Carolina after
falling in his singles comeback
in Cincinnati last week.
He again showed glimpses
of his once-dominant self,
but was inconsistent in a 7-6
(10-8), 7-5 loss to 73rd-ranked
American Tennys Sandgren in
a match lasting two hours and
10 minutes.
“Some things were a bit bet-
ter today I think,” Murray said.
“I was hitting the ball a bit
cleaner than I did maybe in
Cincinnati... I feel like I moved
fairly well to some drop shots,
which maybe last week I wasn’t
running to.“So there’s some good
things in there but also some
stuff I would like to do better.”
Murray did not even reach
the court until after 10 pm,
thanks to a lengthy rain delay
that pushed back his start time
by more than three hours.
Sandgren gutted out a tough
service hold in an opening
game that went to deuce nine
times, saving one break point
as they went to the fi rst-set de-
cider without a break of serve.
The American needed four
set points – and saved one – in
taking the tiebreaker.
A defl ated Murray was
quickly down 3-0 with two
breaks of serve in the second.
He clawed one back, and
broke again when Sandgren
coughed up two double faults
while serving for the match at
5-4.
But Sandgren broke Mur-
ray again in the next game and
then took full advantage of his
second chance, capping the
match with a forehand winner
on his fi rst match point.“Physically, [I’m] OK consid-
ering – no pain, no discomfort.
Just a little bit more tired than
usual,” Murray said.
Having said in Cincinnati
he would discontinue doubles
to focus on returning to peak
singles form, Murray said he
might consider playing an ATP
Challenger Tour event before
heading to Asia, where he is
entered in September’s Zhuhai
Championships and the China
Open.
“Maybe I need to play a level
down to get some matches and
build my game up a little bit be-
fore I start playing on the tour
again,” he said. “My expecta-
tions are pretty low. I’m not
thinking about winning events
like this, I’m just trying to get
matches. Hopefully with each
match I’ll feel better and gain
confi dence.”AFPuCRICKET
Australia’s star batsman Steve
Smith has been ruled out of the
third Ashes Test beginning on
Thursday after suff ering con-
cussion, Cricket Australia an-
nounced Tuesday.
The 30-year-old – who has
scored two centuries and 92
in his three innings in the fi rst
two Tests – was felled by a Jofra
Archer bouncer on Saturday in
the fi rst innings of the second
Test at Lord’s.
The team doctor Richard
Saw had the fi nal say on wheth-
er Smith played or not and he
was seen speaking with him
during team training Tuesday.
Smith, whose two centuries
in the fi rst Test were pivotal
in Australia taking a 1-0 lead,
returned to bat on Saturday de-
spite the blow to the side of the
head that felled him. He added
12 runs before being out.
However, he was unable to
play on the fi fth and fi nal day
on Sunday as he awoke feeling
“groggy.” Australia held on to
draw the Test with his concus-
sion substitute Marnus Labus-
chagne playing a key innings.
The Ashes series is the fi rst
being played under the Inter-
national Cricket Council’s new
concussion substitute regula-
tions, as part of the inaugural
World Test Championship.
The regulations allow play-
ers who have suff ered head or
neck injuries to be replaced
fully by a substitute, who was
previously restricted to fi elding
alone.
During Saturday’s play
Smith was wearing a helmet
without the additional stem
guard neck protection intro-
duced following the death of
his former Australia teammate
Phillip Hughes who was hit by
a bouncer in a domestic Shef-
fi eld Shield match in Sydney in
2014.AFPAndy Carroll (left) of Newcastle United looks
on from the stands during the match between
Newcastle United and Arsenal on August 11 in
Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Photo: VCGPage Editor:
wanghuayun@
globaltimes.com.cn