Corinthians Knocked Out by Argentina's Racing in Copa Sudamericana Semifinal

Players of Racing celebrate after a Copa Sudamericana second leg semifinal match between Racing Club and Corinthians, at the Presidente Peron stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 31 October 2024. EPA/Juan Ignacio Roncoroni
Players of Racing celebrate after a Copa Sudamericana second leg semifinal match between Racing Club and Corinthians, at the Presidente Peron stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 31 October 2024. EPA/Juan Ignacio Roncoroni
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Corinthians Knocked Out by Argentina's Racing in Copa Sudamericana Semifinal

Players of Racing celebrate after a Copa Sudamericana second leg semifinal match between Racing Club and Corinthians, at the Presidente Peron stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 31 October 2024. EPA/Juan Ignacio Roncoroni
Players of Racing celebrate after a Copa Sudamericana second leg semifinal match between Racing Club and Corinthians, at the Presidente Peron stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 31 October 2024. EPA/Juan Ignacio Roncoroni

Argentina's Racing beat Brazil's Corinthians 2-1 on Thursday and advanced to its first Copa Sudamericana final. The first leg in Sao Paulo last week ended 2-2.
Racing's rival at the Nov. 23 decider in Asuncion will be another Brazilian team, Cruzeiro, which reached the final after beating Argentina's Lanus 1-0 on Wednesday.
Corinthians opened the scoring in Buenos Aires with a back heel assist by Dutch striker Memphis Depay to Yuri Alberto. But Racing turned its fortunes around by converting a penalty kick in the 36th minute and three minutes later after a quick counter. Both goals came from Juan Fernando Quintero, The Associated Press reported.
Racing avoided a full field of Brazilian teams in the South American club soccer finals. The Copa Libertadores final will be contested by Atletico Mineiro and Botafogo in Buenos Aires on Nov. 30.
The 30-year-old Depay, who looks to continue playing for the Dutch national team, has a contract at Corinthians until the 2026 World Cup. His team is currently fighting against relegation in the Brazilian championship, which has seven more rounds to go this season.



Amorim Says Future ‘Hasn’t Been Decided’ as Man United Shows Interest in Sporting Lisbon Coach

 Sporting's coach Ruben Amorim attends a training session on the eve of their UEFA Champions League football match against SK Sturm Graz at the Cristiano Ronaldo Academy in Alcochete, outskirts of Lisbon, on September 21, 2024. (AFP)
Sporting's coach Ruben Amorim attends a training session on the eve of their UEFA Champions League football match against SK Sturm Graz at the Cristiano Ronaldo Academy in Alcochete, outskirts of Lisbon, on September 21, 2024. (AFP)
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Amorim Says Future ‘Hasn’t Been Decided’ as Man United Shows Interest in Sporting Lisbon Coach

 Sporting's coach Ruben Amorim attends a training session on the eve of their UEFA Champions League football match against SK Sturm Graz at the Cristiano Ronaldo Academy in Alcochete, outskirts of Lisbon, on September 21, 2024. (AFP)
Sporting's coach Ruben Amorim attends a training session on the eve of their UEFA Champions League football match against SK Sturm Graz at the Cristiano Ronaldo Academy in Alcochete, outskirts of Lisbon, on September 21, 2024. (AFP)

Sporting Lisbon coach Ruben Amorim said Tuesday his future "hasn’t been decided yet" amid interest from Manchester United.

"Nobody knows if this was my farewell match, or if there will be a farewell match," Amorim said in quotes reported by Portugal’s sports daily A Bola after Sporting’s 3-1 win over Nacional in the Portuguese League Cup quarterfinals.

Hours earlier, Sporting released a statement to the Lisbon Stock Exchange, saying it has told United that Amorim has a release clause worth 10 million euros ($10.8 million) in his contract.

The Portuguese champions said United "has shown interest" in paying that amount for Amorim.

United is looking to replace Erik ten Hag, who was fired on Monday with the team languishing in 14th place in the Premier League.

Ten Hag was the 20-time English champions' fifth permanent manager since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. United hasn't won the league since Ferguson's departure.

The 39-year-old Amorim has coached Sporting since 2020, leading the team to Portuguese league titles in 2021 and last season.

Sporting leads the league this season, too, having won all nine of its games, bolstering Amorim's reputation as one of Europe's most talented coaches.

"We have to wait a little bit more to explain everything I need to explain. It will be very clear," he said.

Amorim said he expects to still be in Lisbon on Sunday, when United hosts Chelsea in the Premier League, but when pressed he laughed and said: "I don't know."

He reportedly held talks with West Ham last season and was linked with replacing Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool before Arne Slot was hired.

Amorim is a former Portugal midfielder who spent the majority of his club career at Benfica.

His contract at Sporting expires in 2026.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was asked earlier Tuesday if he thought Amorim has what it takes to succeed in the Premier League.

"All I can talk about is the experience of playing twice against Ruben’s Sporting Lisbon team (in the Champions League's round of 16 in 2022), and the pressure was really, really good," Guardiola said.

"I spoke with (current City player) Matheus Nunes, and he was his player, and he speaks highly about him. And look this season, he is unbeaten and winning all the games in the Portuguese league and (in) the Champions League, (they have) the same points as us. So a high manager. I have the feeling that Man United, what I hear, that they are thinking about him, it’s because he’s a good manager."

Ten Hag's assistant at United, Ruud van Nistelrooy, will take interim control of the team for Wednesday's English League Cup match against Leicester at Old Trafford.