Pirlo’s farewell to Lucescu: ‘You raised me like a son’

Italy legend Andrea Pirlo bids farewell to his former Brescia and Inter coach Mircea Lucescu: ‘You raised me like a son, I’ll never stop thanking you.’

Lucescu, a former coach of Pisa, Inter, Reggiana, and Brescia, died on Tuesday, aged 80.

Italian legend Pirlo made his Serie A debut at Brescia in 1995, aged 16. Lucescu had been sacked by the Rondinelle a few months earlier but remained at the club as the technical director.

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Pirlo made his Serie A debut under Lucescu’s assistant Adelio Moro with Brescia already relegated to Serie B.

“Thank you for everything, mister. I will never stop thanking you,” Pirlo wrote on Instagram, posting a picture of him hugging Lucescu.

Official: Andrea Pirlo is the new head coach of the Dubai-based United FC of the UAE first division.

“You raised me like a son, giving me the opportunity to challenge myself with others when I was very young. You taught me what it means to love this sport in all its details. I will never stop thanking you. Have a good trip, mister. Thank you, Mircea.”

A few years later, Pirlo played under Lucescu at Inter, making 16 appearances in the 1998-99 campaign.

The Nerazzurri have also paid tribute to their former coach with a message on social media.

GELSENKIRCHEN, GERMANY – FEBRUARY 25: Mircea Lucescu manager of Shakhtar Donetsk looks on prior to the UEFA Europa League round of 32 second leg match between FC Schalke 04 and Shakhtar Donetsk at Veltins-Arena on February 25, 2016 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. (Photo by Martin Rose/Bongarts/Getty Images)

Lucescu’s last game was just a few days ago, as he took charge of the Romanian national team in the World Cup play-off semi-final against Turkey, one of his former teams.

Pirlo’s social media message for Lucescu

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Good news for Real Madrid ahead of next Wednesday’s second leg against Bayern Munich. Ferland Mendy has returned to training as normal, working at the same pace as his teammates at Real Madrid City.

Mendy’s presence is vital to the team’s defensive setup, especially with the second leg of the quarter-finals in Munich in mind. His solidity in one-on-one situations will be one of the team’s biggest assets in stopping the Bavarian attack at the Allianz Arena.

However, the coaching staff now face an immediate dilemma. With the league match against Girona on the horizon, the question is whether the defender will get minutes to regain match sharpness or whether extreme caution will be preferred to avoid a setback.

Álvaro Arbeloa, who is looking to keep his side from falling out of the domestic title race for good, will have to decide whether to take a risk with the Frenchman or give him a rest.

Tomorrow’s training session will be key in determining the squad list. What is certain is that the Madrid faithful can breathe a sigh of relief: their “wall” is back for the big European night.

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Oklahoma City (63-16) defeated Los Angeles (50-29), 123-87, Tuesday at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California.

Former Vol Dalton Knecht totaled five points and four rebounds in 19 minutes for Los Angeles. He converted 2-of-6 field goal attempts and 1-of-2 three-point attempts.

Rui Hachimura scored 15 points, while Drew Timme totaled 11 points for the Lakers. LeBron James and Luka Doncic were inactive for Los Angeles.

Knecht was selected in the first round of the 2024 NBA draft (No. 17) by the Lakers.

He transferred to Tennessee from Northern Colorado and played for the Vols during the 2023-24 season under head coach Rick Barnes.

During his one season at Tennessee, Knecht averaged 21.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. He led the Vols to a SEC regular-season championship and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight for a second time in school history.

Los Angeles will next play Thursday versus Golden State. Tipoff is slated for 10 p.m. EDT at Chase Center in San Francisco, California.

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This article originally appeared on Vols Wire: Dalton Knecht by the numbers for Lakers in loss to Thunder

Last week, Bosnia and Herzegovina secured its spot in the 2026 World Cup with a dramatic win over Italy in the UEFA play-in tournament. The game, which came down to a penalty shootout, ended on a thrilling made penalty from an unlikely hero: 21-year-old American-born forward Esmir Bajraktarević.

Bajraktarević, who was born and raised in Appleton, Wisconsin to Bosnian parents, successfully slipped the ball past Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and into the goal to give Bosnia a 1(4)-1(1) win in the shootout.

After the penalty, Bajraktarević quickly tore off his jersey and sprinted for the sideline, holding the shirt up for the roaring crowd as he was mobbed by his teammates.

The shootout win sends Bosnia to its second World Cup, following following an appearance in Brazil in 2014. (Prior to 1990, Bosnia and Herzegovina was part of the Yugoslavian national team.)

As a United States citizen, Bajraktarević initially started playing for the U.S. on the youth international level, putting up caps with the U-19 and U-23 national teams. The forward started his professional career with the New England Revolution before moving to play for Dutch club PSV last year.

Bajraktarević had one U.S. men’s national team, getting called up for a friendly against Slovenia in January 2024 under Gregg Berhalter. The USMNT lost the game 1-0, with Bajraktarević entering the game in the 63rd minute.

But later that year, Bajraktarević opted to make his one-time international switch and represent Bosnia — a change that has paid off big.

(Fox Sports, by the way, claims that Bajraktarević has earned the nickname “Milwaukee Messi” after his penalty goal — though Appleton is significantly closer to Green Bay than to Milwaukee.)

Bajraktarević is not the only member of the Bosnian team with players born in other countries. Forward Kerim Alajbegović, who scored Bosnia’s third PK goal of the shootout, was born in Germany, as was midfielder Dženis Burnić; backup goalkeeper Osman Hadžikić is Austrian by birth, while midfielder Armin Gigović was born in Switzerland. All opted to represent Bosnia at an international level.

In February, Bajraktarević told ESPN Netherlands in an interview that he was “very proud” to play for Bosnia.

“It’s a different feeling. It’s where my parents come from, and it’s what I’ve always of myself as, as a Bosnian,” Bajraktarević said. “Every time you’re on the field it’s just like, you would do anything to win the game for the team. It’s like that every time I play, but for Bosnia, it’s your own people. It’s obviously a smaller country so everything kind of feels like a family … I had to play for Bosnia at the end of the day.”

Now, Bajraktarević will be back stateside with the Bosnian team, playing in Toronto, L.A. and Seattle as part of Group B.

The 1-2 defeat to Bayern Munich at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium did more than just put Real Madrid on the back foot in the tie, it revealed a worrying trend that cannot be ignored ahead of the second leg.

On the surface, the result keeps Madrid alive, as a one-goal deficit is far from decisive, especially for a club with their European history.

But dig a little deeper, and a far more concerning picture emerges, one that has nothing to do with tactics or finishing, but with intensity.

What’s the story?

According to Mundo Deportivo, Real Madrid covered a total of 101.9 kilometres over the course of the match, while Bayern, in contrast, clocked an impressive 110.9 kilometres.

Simply put, a nine-kilometre gap at this level is alarming, to say the very least.

What makes this even more striking is the comparison with previous performances.

Against Manchester City earlier in the competition, Madrid showed a completely different physical profile, covering 113.7 kilometres in the first leg and 114.5 in the second.

Real Madrid could not match Bayern Munich’s intensity. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

That level of intensity is what carried them through, but it was nowhere to be seen against Bayern.

As per the outlet, on an individual basis, Federico Valverde once again led by example, covering 10.05 kilometres and topping Madrid’s charts.

However, as many as five players from the German side outperformed him, namely, Aleksandar Pavlovic (11.80 km), Joshua Kimmich (11.76 km), Michael Olise (10.66 km), Luis Díaz (10.39 km), and Josip Stanisic (10.09 km).

For Real Madrid, this raises serious questions heading into Munich for the second leg.

This is because overturning the deficit will demand a level of intensity that simply was not there in the first leg.

If that physical gap remains, history and reputation alone will not be enough to save them.