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McLaren's Piastri Takes F1 Chinese Grand Prix Win Ahead of Teammate Norris

Formula One F1 - Chinese Grand Prix - Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, China - March 23, 2025 McLaren's Oscar Piastri celebrates on the podium after winning the Chinese Grand Prix REUTERS/Edgar Su
Formula One F1 - Chinese Grand Prix - Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, China - March 23, 2025 McLaren's Oscar Piastri celebrates on the podium after winning the Chinese Grand Prix REUTERS/Edgar Su
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McLaren's Piastri Takes F1 Chinese Grand Prix Win Ahead of Teammate Norris

Formula One F1 - Chinese Grand Prix - Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, China - March 23, 2025 McLaren's Oscar Piastri celebrates on the podium after winning the Chinese Grand Prix REUTERS/Edgar Su
Formula One F1 - Chinese Grand Prix - Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, China - March 23, 2025 McLaren's Oscar Piastri celebrates on the podium after winning the Chinese Grand Prix REUTERS/Edgar Su

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri has cruised to his maiden Chinese Grand Prix win from pole position with the Australian untouchable ahead of his teammate Lando Norris as the pair completed McLaren's milestone 50th one-two placing in Formula 1.
Piastri, who took his maiden pole position on Saturday, got a great start in Sunday's race to lead into the first corner, as Norris passed Russell for second, The Associated Press reported.
The Australian then slowly stretched his legs in an untroubled drive for his third career win.
Norris had a trickier afternoon to earn his runner-up spot - with the Brit having to pass Mercedes’ George Russell and Williams’ Alex Albon after his stop. He then trailed his teammate to the checkered flag, though in the closing stages had to deal with a worsening brake pedal issue that threatened him finishing the race.
Russell completed the podium, his second-straight for the season.
Last year's race winner, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took fourth from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the closing laps, with the Monégasque’s race compromised by lap one contact with his Scuderia teammate Lewis Hamilton that sheared the left-front endplate from his front wing which hampered his car's aerodynamics throughout the race.
Hamilton, who took Saturday's Sprint race for his first victory for Ferrari, was in sixth place.

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After Travel Ordeal, Iraq Faces Bolivia for World Cup Spot

Iraq's coach Graham Arnold gestures during a training session ahead of a World Cup 2026 qualifying soccer match against Bolivia in Monterrey, Mexico, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Iraq's coach Graham Arnold gestures during a training session ahead of a World Cup 2026 qualifying soccer match against Bolivia in Monterrey, Mexico, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
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After Travel Ordeal, Iraq Faces Bolivia for World Cup Spot

Iraq's coach Graham Arnold gestures during a training session ahead of a World Cup 2026 qualifying soccer match against Bolivia in Monterrey, Mexico, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Iraq's coach Graham Arnold gestures during a training session ahead of a World Cup 2026 qualifying soccer match against Bolivia in Monterrey, Mexico, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Earlier this month, Iraq coach Graham Arnold was stranded in Fujairah, on the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates, due to the Mideast war. He wondered if his national team would even be able to compete for one last chance to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

After traveling a long and winding road to reach Mexico, Arnold and Iraq will seek to return to a World Cup after an absence of 40 years when they face Bolivia in the final of their intercontinental playoff in Monterrey in northern Mexico on Tuesday.

“It’s been very difficult being stranded, I’d rather not talk about it, I try to remove all of that from the players' brains because a lot of things are going on in the Middle East,” Arnold said Monday in a media conference. “But players know what they’re doing, they seem very relaxed and ready to go.”

Arnold was with his wife in a hotel in Fujairah after a series of Iranian missiles hit nearby when the war between the United States and Iran began. The Australian coach was able to move to Dubai, but he was unable to join the team for several days.

Iraqi players were also stranded because the country's airspace was closed, preventing the team from using commercial flights to leave the country. Team officials officially asked FIFA to postpone the playoff match.

“I came from Europe directly to Monterrey, but for the rest of the players who play in the Iraqi local league, they had a long trip, but we had a lot of time to recover from that,” said Merchas Doski, who plays as a left back for Viktoria Plzen, in the Czech first league. "We are fully prepared."

The team also faced visa complications because Mexico does not have an embassy in Iraq and players struggled to obtain the necessary visas to enter the country. But the issue was resolved when the Mexican foreign affairs ministry facilitated visas at other regional embassies, The Associated Press reported.

The team finally arrived in Monterrey on March 21 after a 25-hour journey that included navigating travel restrictions and a stopover in Portugal.

“It has been very tough 20 days for us, but it is an honor and a privilege to be here — I lived in Australia for a long time and I know that qualifying for a World Cup can change a nation," said Arnold, who guided the Socceroos to the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup.

Since arriving in Mexico, the team has had plenty of time to adjust to the climate and players have practiced without incident. They have also been able to fraternize with children from local schools who have visited them during their training sessions.

“They (Mexican fans) have been amazing. It’s really fun to see that they cheer us,” said Aimar Sher, who plays for Sarpsborg 08 in Norway. “We talked about it a couple of days ago that their support means a lot to us and we’re very happy to have them by our side.”

To qualify for its second World Cup, their first since Mexico in 1986, Iraq must defeat Bolivia, which eliminated Suriname 2-1 in the intercontinental playoff semifinals last week.

“It has been fantastic, it is an absolute honor to get Iraq to his part of the playoffs after 40 years and with just one more game to go,” Arnold said. “I am confident that it will be a very special night for Iraq.”

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Italy Pushing Youth Reform as Ailing Football Nation Eyes World Cup Return

Italy's supporters cheer during the play-off FIFA World Cup 2026 European qualification semifinal against North Ireland in Bergamo on March 26, 2026. (AFP)
Italy's supporters cheer during the play-off FIFA World Cup 2026 European qualification semifinal against North Ireland in Bergamo on March 26, 2026. (AFP)
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Italy Pushing Youth Reform as Ailing Football Nation Eyes World Cup Return

Italy's supporters cheer during the play-off FIFA World Cup 2026 European qualification semifinal against North Ireland in Bergamo on March 26, 2026. (AFP)
Italy's supporters cheer during the play-off FIFA World Cup 2026 European qualification semifinal against North Ireland in Bergamo on March 26, 2026. (AFP)

As Italian football fans worry that their national team might miss out on a third straight World Cup in Tuesday's play-off decider with Bosnia and Herzegovina, moves are afoot to take the Azzurri back to the top.

Announced earlier this month, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has launched a project for youth football in a country which once produced some of the world's very best players but hasn't done so for a generation.

The team that will line-up in Zenica lacks the star power of years gone by, such as Alessandro Del Piero, Andrea Pirlo, Fabio Cannavaro or Francesco Totti who won Italy the World Cup in 2006.

The feeling of being left by the wayside was exacerbated by dreadful performances on the continent this season by Italy's top clubs and the continuation of a golden age for the country in a host of other sports.

On Sunday tennis star Jannik Sinner cruised to victory at the Miami Masters, yet another win for the four-time Grand Slam champion who at the age of 24 is the dominant force in men's tennis alongside Spanish rival Carlos Alcaraz.

Kimi Antonelli and Marco Bezzecchi lead the Formula One and MotoGP championships, while alpine skier Federica Brignone's double gold at the Winter Olympics the highlight of a record-breaking medal haul of 30.

Even the rugby union team is more a source of national pride than the footballers thanks to a historic win over England in the Six Nations.

So the FIGC, after years of criticism from media and fans alike, has decided for grassroots reform and deeper involvement in youth football across the country.

"Everyone who's played for the national team started out in neighborhood clubs. That means that every coach in charge of these kids has to be trained," former Italy midfielder Simone Perrotta tells AFP.

Now 48 years old, Perotta, who spent the majority of his club career at Roma, played alongside Del Piero and Totti in that talent-packed Italy team two decades ago.

- Football culture -

Alongside another World Cup winner in Gianluca Zambrotta, Perrotta now reports to the FIGC's new head of development Maurizio Viscidi, the long-time head of the national youth team set-up who now oversees every aspect of youth football.

The FIGC wants to harmonize as much as possible training across a vast number of clubs which coach around 700,000 kids aged between five and 15, with the aim of teaching coaches to prioritize young players developing individual skills so that a new generation of stars can come through.

"There isn't a shared methodology that says 'let's try to develop this way of playing football'," says Perotta, who added that he believes there has been an "impoverishment" of technical ability among Italian footballers.

The project provides free online courses for coaches while small groups of FIGC training staff based around the country will visit youth football clubs every fortnight, with Perrotta saying that the idea is "to get the federation inside the clubs".

The experimental phase will be rolled out, Perrotta hopes, by this October and will be centered on the 162 clubs in Serie D, Italy's regional fourth tier and the highest level of amateur football in the country.

One of the frequent talking points in Italy is that youngsters no longer play football unaccompanied in the streets as Perrotta says he did as a child, while the cost of sending children to football clubs is a barrier to kids from poorer backgrounds.

The FIGC is aiming to increase base participation by working with local councils to try and create more spaces where young people can play without having to pay.

"We want to work with institutions here to help increase the number of hours kids play because one of the things we've noticed is the difference between here and other countries in how much they train and how much contact they have with the ball," says Perrotta.

"It's systemic. It can't just be the federation's project, it can't just be down to us."

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World Cup-bound Ghana Fires Coach after 4 Straight Losses in Friendlies

Head coach Otto Addo of Ghana reacts during the friendly soccer match between Germany and Ghana in Stuttgart, Germany, 30 March 2026. EPA/ANNA SZILAGYI
Head coach Otto Addo of Ghana reacts during the friendly soccer match between Germany and Ghana in Stuttgart, Germany, 30 March 2026. EPA/ANNA SZILAGYI
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World Cup-bound Ghana Fires Coach after 4 Straight Losses in Friendlies

Head coach Otto Addo of Ghana reacts during the friendly soccer match between Germany and Ghana in Stuttgart, Germany, 30 March 2026. EPA/ANNA SZILAGYI
Head coach Otto Addo of Ghana reacts during the friendly soccer match between Germany and Ghana in Stuttgart, Germany, 30 March 2026. EPA/ANNA SZILAGYI

Otto Addo has been released from his contract as head soccer coach of Ghana, just 2 1-2 months before the team plays its first match at the World Cup.

“The Ghana Football Association (GFA) have parted ways with the head coach of the senior men’s national team (Black Stars), Otto Addo effective immediately,” it said in a statement Monday on its website.

It gave no further details on a replacement for Addo, or the reasons for the termination.

The firing came after a 2-1 loss to Germany in Stuttgart on Monday. Ghana ⁠also lost 5-1 in Austria last Friday and has lost four friendlies in a row.

Addo was on his second spell as coach of the team after Borussia Dortmund agreed to release him from his role in talent development at the end of the season in March 2024. Addo already coached Ghana on an interim basis for much of 2022, including at the World Cup in Qatar, when Ghana beat South Korea but was still eliminated in the group stage.

During his playing career, the Hamburg, Germany-born Addo won the Bundesliga with Dortmund and played for Ghana at the 2006 World Cup.

Ghana, which ⁠reached the World Cup for the fifth time, is in Group L with Croatia, England and Panama. It plays its first match on June 17 against Panama at Toronto.