Take Two! Naples Gears up Again for Huge Title Party

Football - Serie A - Napoli v Salernitana - Naples, Italy - April 30, 2023 General view of a Napoli banner hung from an apartment building before the match. (Reuters)
Football - Serie A - Napoli v Salernitana - Naples, Italy - April 30, 2023 General view of a Napoli banner hung from an apartment building before the match. (Reuters)
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Take Two! Naples Gears up Again for Huge Title Party

Football - Serie A - Napoli v Salernitana - Naples, Italy - April 30, 2023 General view of a Napoli banner hung from an apartment building before the match. (Reuters)
Football - Serie A - Napoli v Salernitana - Naples, Italy - April 30, 2023 General view of a Napoli banner hung from an apartment building before the match. (Reuters)

Napoli will open up the Diego Armando Maradona stadium on Thursday night for a live screening of their away game with Udinese when they hope to clinch the league title, local authorities said on Tuesday.

Napoli also expect as many as 10,000 fans to make the long trek to northeast Italy for a match when a point will be enough to claim their first league title since Maradona was in his pomp in 1990.

Extra police will be on duty in Udine for the game, with Napoli supporters taking up around half of the capacity of the Stadio Friuli.

The result may even be academic: Napoli could be crowned champions the previous night if Lazio fail to win their Wednesday home match with Sassuolo. Lazio, who are in second spot, trail Napoli by 18 points with six games to play.

Hundreds of thousands of Napoli fans had flooded into the center of the southern Italian port city on Sunday expecting their team to beat local rivals Salernitana and secure the Serie A championship for only the third time in their history.

But a late equalizer by the visitors put one of the largest street parties Italy has seen in years on hold for a few days.



Struggling Valencia Hires West Brom Manager Carlos Corberan as Its New Head Coach

15 December 2024, United Kingdom, Watford: West Bromwich Albion coach Carlos Corberan, reacts during the English Football League championship soccer match between Watford and West Bromwich Albion at Vicarage Road. (Mike Egerton/PA Wire/dpa)
15 December 2024, United Kingdom, Watford: West Bromwich Albion coach Carlos Corberan, reacts during the English Football League championship soccer match between Watford and West Bromwich Albion at Vicarage Road. (Mike Egerton/PA Wire/dpa)
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Struggling Valencia Hires West Brom Manager Carlos Corberan as Its New Head Coach

15 December 2024, United Kingdom, Watford: West Bromwich Albion coach Carlos Corberan, reacts during the English Football League championship soccer match between Watford and West Bromwich Albion at Vicarage Road. (Mike Egerton/PA Wire/dpa)
15 December 2024, United Kingdom, Watford: West Bromwich Albion coach Carlos Corberan, reacts during the English Football League championship soccer match between Watford and West Bromwich Albion at Vicarage Road. (Mike Egerton/PA Wire/dpa)

Relegation-threatened Valencia has hired West Bromwich Albion manager Carlos Corberan as its new head coach through June 2027.

Valencia fired Rubén Baraja on Monday after another setback in La Liga left the Spanish club stuck in the relegation zone and sparked renewed protests against Singaporean owner Peter Lim.

"Carlos Corberan has been appointed as coach of Valencia CF, signing a contract through to 2027," a statement on Valencia’s website said early Wednesday. "A buy-out option in his contract with West Bromwich Albion was taken up to allow him to leave."

No official figure was given but the compensation for the former Valencia youth player was reported to be in the region of $3 million.

The Spaniard, who also briefly coached Greek side Olympiakos, led West Brom to its current seventh place in England's second-tier Championship. He worked in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ittihad and Al-Nassr before making his debut as a first-team manager with Doxa Katokopias of Cyprus.

West Brom earlier said in a statement that the 41-year-old Corberan "is set to return to his homeland with the club’s gratitude and best wishes following a two-year tenure at The Hawthorns."

Chris Brunt, Damia Abella and Boaz Myhill "will oversee first-team duties until further notice."

Valencia’s next Spanish league match will be against Real Madrid at home on Jan. 3 in a game postponed from October because of the deadly floods that hit Valencia.

Valencia is winless in its last four matches.

Corberan wrote on X that "the decision to leave (West Brom) has been the hardest of my life."

"There will ALWAYS be a place in my heart for this special club and I hope one day I can return to thank you all for your incredible support," he said.