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Rediff.com  » Sports » Sports Shorts: Maradona head coach of UAE's Al-Fujairah

Sports Shorts: Maradona head coach of UAE's Al-Fujairah

May 08, 2017 10:39 IST
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A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Monday.

Maradona appointed head coach of UAE's Al-Fujairah

Diego Maradona

IMAGE: Diego Maradona. Photograph: Philipp Schmidli/Getty Images

Former Argentina captain Diego Maradona has ended a five-year absence from football to return as coach of Al-Fujairah FC, the United Arab Emirates club announced on Sunday.

"I want to tell you that I am the new coach of Al-Fujairah SC, in the second division of the United Arab Emirates," Maradona added on his Facebook page.

The club posted a picture of the former Boca Juniors, Napoli and Barcelona striker holding their red and white shirt with his name and No. 10 on the back.

It marks a return to management after a five-year gap for the 56-year-old Argentina great, who as a player led his country to a 1986 World Cup title and runners-up spot four years later.

Maradona, who took charge of Argentina in 2008 and led them to the World Cup two years later, last managed at another UAE club, Al Wasl in May 2011 but was sacked just over a year later.

He was named a FIFA ambassador in February by the world governing body's president Gianni Infantino.

The news of his return to management came on the day that Jorge Cyterszpiler, Maradona's first agent and friend for many years, died in Buenos Aires after a fall, Argentine news media reported.

Spartak Moscow end 16-year wait for Russian title

Spartak Moscow ended a 16-year wait when they won the Russian Premier League on Sunday thanks to Zenit St Petersburg's shock 1-0 home defeat by Terek Grozny.

Third-placed Zenit had needed a win to keep alive any hopes of catching Spartak, the most successful team in the post-Soviet era, but their hopes ended when Ablaye Mbengue scored for Terek in the 65th minute.

With three games left to play, Spartak, in their first full season under Italian coach Massimo Carrera, have 63 points, 10 ahead of CSKA Moscow with Zenit a further point back.

Spartak played on Saturday when a penalty converted by Dutchman Quincy Promes gave them a 1-0 win over Tom Tomsk while CSKA's 2-0 win over Amkar turned out to be in vain.

Spartak won the Russian league nine times in its first 10 years after it started in 1992, but that run came to an abrupt end after their last title 2001.

Since then, it has been shared by CSKA Moscow, Lokomotiv Moscow, Zenit and Rubin Kazan.

Carrera, 53, was previously assistant and caretaker coach at Juventus and then assistant to Antonio Conte with the Italian national side.

He joined Spartak as an assistant coach after Euro 2016 and was quickly promoted to his first senior coaching role after Dmitri Alenichev resigned in August 2016.

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