leaders Loubha Telimele.
Thursday January 2
GHANA: All of the country’s
national coaches, at all levels of the
international game for both male
and female teams, are removed by
the Ghana Football Association.
ITALY: Juventus make Atalanta
midfielder Dejan Kulusevski the
second-most expensive teenager in
Serie A history – after Matthijs De
Ligt at €75m – as they pay €35m
plus €9m in add-ons for the Swede.
Friday January 3
FRANCE: Guingamp’s 23-year-old
striker Nathael Julan dies in a car
crash after training.
Saturday January 4
FRANCE: An amateur side from the
island of Reunion, JS Saint-Pierroise
travel 6,000 miles to beat second-
tier Niort 2-1 and reach the last 32
of the Coupe de France. No team
from Reunion, off the east coast of
Africa, has reached the knockout
stage of the competition before.
Sunday January 5
FRANCE: Toulouse sack Antoine
Kombouare the day after a 1-0 loss
to amateur club Saint-Pryve Saint-Hilaire in the Coupe de France. His
side were are also bottom of Ligue
1 following nine straight defeats.Monday January 6
ITALY: Cristiano Ronaldo scores a
hat-trick in Serie A for the first time
as Juventus win 4-0 at home to
Cagliari, taking his tally to eight
goals in his last five league games.
It is the 56th treble of his career
and means that he has now scored
against every team in Serie A in less
than two years at Juve.
Tuesday January 7
GREECE: Ex-Serbia & Montenegrostriker Darko Kovacevic is shot at
outside his home in the Athens
suburb of Glyfada as he gets out of
his car. The 46-year-old suffered
minor injuries to his wrist and knees
as he dived for cover.
SPAIN: Segunda Division Malaga
suspend coach Victor Sanchez after
an explicit video of the 43-year-old
is posted on social media. Sanchez
said he had been blackmailed over
the video prior to it being published.
Wednesday January 8
ITALY: Paolo Dal Pino is elected
president of Serie A, ending more
than a month of interim leadersChina, ways to make it happen may still be found.
These new cost-cutting rules are not just an end
in themselves, designed to make clubs a little more
financially responsible. Just as foreign players have
commanded big salaries in recent years, the take-
home pay of local talent has also risen dramatically.
China has concluded that high domestic salaries are
a barrier to exporting talent and it wants to follow in
the footsteps of Australia, Korea and Japan and see
its players in action all over the world. These three
nations qualify for every World Cup and they are
also the continent’s top exporter of players.
At the moment the best Chinese players are paid
much more at home than they could ever earn
elsewhere. As the country – which has only ever
qualified for one World Cup and lost all three matches
once there – is not exactly seen as a hotbed of talent,
European clubs are not going to pay massive salaries
to bring in little-known players from a country that
consistently struggles on the international stage.
Wu Lei, whose recent goal for Espanyol against
Barcelona was hailed by new national coach Li Tie as
an honour for Chinese football, is the sole Chinese
player operating in the big European leagues. But,
according to reports in China, he took a pay cut of
around 50 per cent to go to Spain.
Many of Wu’s compatriots may not want to make
the same short-term financial sacrifice. However, if
they are paid less at home then going overseas – and
it does not have to be the top leagues of Europe, as
authorities want to see Chinese players in action all
over Asia – may become more attractive.WORLD SERVICE
Historic... Espanyol’s Wu Lei (left) gets the better of Sergio Ramos and Real Madrid