An independent investigation has concluded that a system to manipulate the outcome of boxing matches by officials was in place at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Professor Richard McLaren, the head of the investigation commissioned by the sport’s world governing body AIBA, said the “seeds had been sown” years before.
Two bouts were highlighted, these featuring defeats for Great Britain’s Joe Joyce and Ireland’s Michael Conlan.
Joyce took silver in the men’s super heavyweight division, losing to France’s Tony Yoka in the final on a split decision – while bantamweight Conlan was dubiously beaten by Russian boxer Vladimir Nikitin in his quarter final.
The AIBA said it had “concern” over the findings.
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All is not well in the House of Maranello according to several sources in Italy reporting mounting tensions between Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto and Charles Leclerc.
During the weekend at Monza, earlier this month, witnesses at the Italian Grand Prix recall Binotto and Leclerc arguing heatedly in the team garage, so much so that the Monegasque driver was taken ill during FP2 with nausea and a headache that forced him to go to the medical centre for a check-up.
In other words, this was not a mere disagreement but rather a verbal altercation which was described by those there as “poisonous digs aimed at each other with tones that were gradually rising eventually requiring Nicholas Todt [Leclerc’s manager] to intervene and cool things down between them.”
Clearly, an unpleasant incident appears to have physically affected the driver at the most important Grand Prix for the Reds. No matter how spin-dottoris tried to sugarcoat it they were always in for an embarrassing home race due to the inefficiency of the woeful package they have for their drivers this year.
Despite this, Leclerc typically gives it his best shot, now pushed by teammate Carlos Sainz, who in the end, inadvertently or not, is an extra source of friction between his teammate and his boss.
Furthermore, by all accounts, although this was the first ‘public’ fall-out between the pair, it has been an issue for a few months now, brewing since the start of the season when Leclerc realised, with the car they built for him, he was in for another season of pain.
And pain it has been, as Ferrari are again no match for Red Bull and Mercedes and they’ll be lucky to beat a resurgent McLaren team in this year’s F1 constructors’ title race, which means a fourth place for the sport’s most successful team.
Unacceptable of course as F1 needs a strong Scuderia, while the current team Binotto built has not delivered yet. It is Italy’s demand as well.
Adding fuel to the fire is that, during the course of this season, Binotto has regularly piled on praise for developments to the car and power unit, but the results have not been seen on track. And this is where Leclerc has taken exception.
While the boss trumpets performance developments, the drivers have to drive the car, a lethargic car, that requires risks and hard-driving which invariably leads to mistakes, but also prompts the questions: If the car is improving why is Leclerc not delivering podiums or wins on a regular basis? Or Sainz for that matter?
The harsh reality is that, relative to the Mercedes W12 and Red Bull RB16B, the team have a below-par-package in the Ferrari SF21, a concept no one understands how to make go quicker after two years of trying.
But Binotto and his engineers are refusing to accept or acknowledge that it is a dud of a car that induces over-driving, mistakes and shunts by both their drivers; both considered among the best of the new generation.
Of course, all this has been negative to the team dynamic, which before this season was all about Leclerc. The Little Prince, the answer to the team’s prayers when he was walloping Sebastian Vettel on a regular basis and winning with a decent car to drive.
Remember how the Monaco Kid could do no wrong? Ferrari, Italy, Binotto were in awe of their Prince Charles whom they signed until the end of 2024. History shows, Seb walked and in came Carlos.
Sainz is an ambitious lad, with a legend of a father – Carlos Senior – whose advice is priceless and evident in how Junior has won over the hearts and minds at Maranello. He did not go to Ferrari to play second-fiddle and is swiftly doing away with the perception that the Reds are Leclerc’s team.
So much so that Sainz, according to various reports, has become the team’s point of reference for technical development because the consensus among their engineers is that the Spaniard provides more reliable feedback than Leclerc.
That amounts to a major power shift within the Ferrari garage, which sickened Leclerc who is obviously aggrieved about the new development and has further aggravated his increasingly fragile relationship with Binotto.
Needless to say, the decision to go the Carlos way went down like a lead balloon when Charles was told in Italy, which triggered the bust-up and required a Monza medical centre lie-down for the driver as he processed the harsh reality that he had just been demoted to number two by the team.
Until now Leclerc has played the team game, taking it on the chin when the car was no match for their rivals (most weekends) and doing with it what few can do without real complaints.
But it is evident that those days are coming to an end as the 23-year-old adjusts to the ever-shifting affections of an extremely volatile team led by Binotto’s whose incompetence, as an F1 team principal, is evidenced by what is Ferrari’s worst spell in the top flight.
At Sunday’s Russian Grand Prix, Leclerc opted to stay out when the rain came down during those final laps around Sochi and paid the price by finishing 15th, while teammate Sainz, who pitted on time, was third.
On 22 September 2021, it was two years since Ferrari won a Grand Prix and 14 years since Kimi Raikkonen won Ferrari their last F1 Drivers’ World Championship title.
One of the reasons many of us love Formula 1, is how it always moves forward. Yet whilst we celebrate one of the most competitive seasons in a long time, the way it is over-regulated from a sporting perspective is inconsistent and even unnecessarily complicated.
Before I start my rant for today let me preface it with an empirical comparison. In a dusty corner of my bookshelf (remember those things called books), was a small yet quite thick yellow covered book, the 1992 FIA Handbook. Sure, as I mentioned it was thick, but the thing is, it included the technical and sporting regulations for F1, F3000, Group C, the World Rally Championship, Group A Touring Cars, and the list goes on, along with all the usual appendices that included the International Sporting Code.
I know, books were needed back then because we didn’t have the internet like now, but that’s not my point. The most remarkable observation that became obvious was how less descriptive things were back then. Nevertheless, as I mentioned earlier, one of the attractions of F1 is that it keeps developing, especially from a technical perspective, and so it is understandable that the 1992 F1 Tech Regs might have less passages and pages in comparison to those of today.
However, what really did confuse me was how much smaller the International Sporting Code was in 1992, specifically Appendix L which relates to things like driving conduct, but I guess I wasn’t too surprised.
To me, whilst it seems rational that as technology and design evolve, there is a need to regulate certain technical aspects more rigorously, I simply am unable to reason how the manner with which the competitive driving of the modern evolved F1 has changed so much, that it needs such a more complicated regulative matrix.
It makes me wonder whether the rationale is simply to regulate it for the sake of it.
In recent times F1 Race Director Michael Masi and his constantly changing team of Race Stewards have applied the Sporting Regulations in a manner that for me is confusingly inconsistent and not limited to the following:
Fernando Alonso using the loophole in the regulations to use the run-off chicane at Turn 2 at the start of the Russian Grand Prix. After the race, Masi admitted that because Alonso had followed the letter of the law, he was entitled to do what he did. This is an example of a regulation so poorly worded that a loophole exists that allows a blatant action contradicting its intent to be completely acceptable.
Nikita Mazepin’s extremely dangerous blocking of Yuki Tsunoda at Sochi resulting in a warning, but being passed off by Masi, once again, as simply Mazepin’s driving style.
The consistent near misses in qualifying as drivers slow to make a gap for their fast lap as those already on their own fast lap unwittingly approach.
It being acceptable for Mercedes to add another power unit to Valtteri Bottas’s available pool and openly admitting that it was for tactical reasons, even though the intent of the regulation is operational and financial.
The continual debate about track limits and how they are only applied at specific sites at each circuit and not just the circuit in total.
How a driver knocking over a crew member in the pit lane does not even need reviewing by the Stewards.
That drivers are apportioned blame for causing a collision in seemingly 50-50 situations even though the regulations do not mandate that blame necessarily needs to be apportioned at all.
The indecisive way wet races are conducted, such as at Spa.
Of course, lamenting on days gone by and pretending that everything was perfect back then is naïve at best and often annoying, but the reality is that exciting, fair, and ultra-competitive championships have been contested in those same days, with far less prescriptive sporting regulations.
As the 2021 F1 season is turning into one for the history books, and the intent of the new technical era beyond is to manicure closer competition between the contestants. Don’t we want to remember them for their skills and close battles rather than the rules and who was rightly or wrongly pinged for this or that?
Mattia Binotto must have a guardian angel on his shoulder, able to keep his job as Ferrari team principal amid dismal times, perhaps even with tensions mounting at Maranello which in the past has had a revolving door for underdelivering bosses.
But times have changed, obviously, as Binotto remains in his post talking up the future and explaining why “being Ferrari” is more important than winning for the team under his captaincy.
After Stefano Domenicali departed the Ferrari revolving-door in 2014, Marco Mattiacci entered for a season before being replaced by unpopular and brash Maurizio Arrivabene, who was comparatively far more effective as team manager than Binotto but was dismissed (by the late Sergio Marchionne) at the end of 2018, as the team made a choice between the pair.
Since Binotto’s promotion to the helm in 2019, Ferrari has won thrice (with a questionable engine) and scored 25 podiums, during almost a similar period under Arrivabene the Scuderia won 13 times and 88 podiums.
However, this seems not to matter to the invisible powers above Binotto’s head and the man himself, as long as they are Ferrari… Yes, do things the Ferrari way, which is not all about winning according to the engineer turned team boss.
In an interview with The Guardian, Binotto explained his philosophy: “To identify ourselves. It is something unique, it is Ferrari, it includes all our values and everyone working at Ferrari. It’s most important that we understand it’s a unique family, a unique thing.
“I always say to my guys it’s more important to be Ferrari than winning because winning will be a simple consequence. If we are capable of being Ferrari and working well, winning will be the consequence.
“I use the example of Gilles Villeneuve as being a fantastic driver but actually he really won very little. The way he was behaving, the way he was driving, his passion made the difference,” recalled Binotto of the Ferrari legend, admired for his spirit and tenacity no matter what contraption they gave him to drive.
Alas, the great Gilles was killed in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, in the wake of a nasty feud generated by Didier Pironi ignoring team orders a couple of weeks earlier to steal victory from his teammate Villeneuve at the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, ignoring a team order to hold station.
Ironically Binotto brings up an example of atrocious driver management by the bosses of Ferrari at the time.
Nevertheless, the spirit of Villeneuve lives forever in the hearts of Tifosi for his bravery and his no-compromise driving style. The essence of that spirit is clearly more important for Binotto than actually delivering the big silverware to the trophy room at #4 Via Abetone Inferiore.
Historically when things do not go well for the sport’s most successful team on track, it gets pretty hectic off it as the blame game goes into full swing, and that revolving door becomes busy, not only for team principals but also the fall guys forced to walk the plank of culpability.
That culture is changing insists Binotto: “It’s not by sacking people that you make a car go faster.”
And added: “It’s something on which we have worked very hard and we are still working very hard because it is the worst that may happen. If you fear being blamed you are not progressing so it is something, a behaviour, a culture, we are trying to address.
“At times of such difficulties in 2020 the team being united, no blame internally, no criticism but working together trying to react was something I was very happy with,” he said, in reference to one of the worst seasons in the great team’s illustrious history.
The most glorious of which was the incredible succession of titles won by Ferrari during the Jean Todt era, with Michael Schumacher delivering legendary results for the team, so many wins and so many titles too. However, it did take five years for the Dream Team to make it happen.
But Binotto, who was a Test Engine Engineer for the Scuderia at the time, has deja vu: “There are similarities with now. It was a long time since Ferrari had won in 1995 and Jean Todt was building the foundations for the future to set up a winning cycle, employing young engineers. Twenty-five years later we are in a similar position.”
“I have been lucky to work with these guys, Jean Todt, Michael Schumacher, who was a leader not only in the car but outside the cockpit, Ross Brawn, Stefano Domenicali… There were plenty of people at the time setting really good examples which are very useful to me today.”
For now, those examples have not served Binotto too well at all yet he can rest assured he will keep his job despite not winning, as long as they do it the Ferrari way, namely drive a very bad F1 car until all the bits fall off it, including a wheel or two, Gilles style and leave the winning to Mercedes, Red Bull and others.
The Denver Nuggets and forward Michael Porter Jr. have agreed on a five-year designated maximum extension that could be worth up to $207 million, Porter’s agent Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Porter will hit that $207 million number if he makes one of the three All-NBA teams this season. Otherwise, he will get the five-year rookie max of $172 million.
Porter and the Nuggets have spent the offseason working on the deal — a complicated one due to the combination of Porter’s talent and his history of back issues. It’s a situation reminiscent of the one the Philadelphia 76ers went through with superstar center Joel Embiid, who missed the first two seasons of his career due to injury but has gone on to become one of the NBA’s best players, and this offseason agreed to a supermax contract extension to remain in Philadelphia for the long term.
Now Porter — a 6-foot-10 forward with elite scoring skills, having averaged 19 points while shooting 54.2% from the field and 44.5% from 3-point range last season — has done the same with Denver.
The agreement with Porter means Denver’s top four players — reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Porter and Aaron Gordon — are all signed to long-term deals to stay with the Nuggets, who are hoping they can form the core of the first NBA Finals team in Nuggets history.
Porter will play an especially important role this season as Murray recovers from the torn ACL he suffered last March in a game at Golden State.
The extension is a testament to Porter’s remarkable comeback story. He was one of the top prep prospects in the country prior to enrolling at the University of Missouri in 2017. A back injury, however, forced him to miss all but three games of his lone season with the Tigers. The same issue caused him to slip all the way to the 14th pick in the 2018 NBA draft, when Denver Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly decided the opportunity to add a talent like Porter was worth the risk.
Porter would go on to miss the entire 2018-19 season after undergoing another back surgery shortly after Denver drafted him. But after returning to the court for the 2019-20 season, Porter quickly began to show the talent that made him such a highly touted prospect in the first place, helping Denver reach the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2009. He then took a significant step forward last season after moving into the starting lineup on a full-time basis.
Rajasthan Royals looked good for a big score with Evin Lewis going strong, but his wicket triggered a terminal collapse
Royal Challengers Bangalore 153 for 3 (Maxwell 50*, Bharat 44, Mustafizur 2-20) beat Rajasthan Royals 149 for 9 (Lewis 58, Jaiswal 31, Harshal 3-34, Shahbaz 2-10, Chahal 2-18) by seven wickets
Rajasthan Royals were in sight of a tall total when they were 100 for 1 in 11 overs, on the back of Evin Lewis‘ breakneck half-century. However, his dismissal triggered a terminal collapse as Royals lost 8 for 49 – and their heads – to be restricted to under 150 on a fresh Dubai track. Royal Challengers Bangalore then hunted down the target with ease to consolidate their position in the top half of the points table, with seven wins in 11 matches.
Royals, on the other hand, subsided to their seventh defeat in 11 games. Despite the loss on Wednesday, Royals could still qualify for the playoffs if they win their remaining three games.
0:38
WATCH – Maxwell takes Morris for plenty
They might have still harboured hopes of a comeback when Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli fell either side of the powerplay, but KS Bharat and Glenn Maxwell forged a 69-run partnership to dash all of that. Royal Challengers ultimately sealed victory with seven wickets and 17 balls to spare, also giving their net run-rate a leg-up.
Heavin’ Lewis With Royals having two left-handers at the top, Kohli matched them up with Maxwell’s offspin. Maxwell had won a similar match-up against Krunal Pandya at the same venue on Monday, but this time Lewis and Yashasvi Jaiswal immediately dumped him out of the attack by taking 13 off his first over. Lewis then cranked up to top gear, lining up debutant George Garton for two sixes and a four. In the next over, he heaved a slower ball from Harshal Patel over mid-on to rush Royals past fifty within five overs.
Jaiswal rode in Lewis’ slipstream, making 31 off 22 balls in a 77-run opening partnership before Dan Christian had him scooping a catch to extra-cover. Even that didn’t slow down Lewis as he heaved his way to a 31-ball half-century – his first in the IPL and his fifth fifty-plus score since the start of CPL 2021.
The cataclysmic collapse It was Garton who began the collapse in the 12th over when he bowled a 106.3kph slower ball into the pitch. It kicked up from back of a length and drew a top edge from Lewis, with Bharat snagging the catch. Legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal and left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed then took over, messing with Royals’ middle order.
Chahal had Mahipal Lomror stumped with a wrong’un before having Liam Livingstone hole out to long-on with his trademark wide, loopy legbreak. Sanju Samson and Rahul Tewatia tried to target Shahbaz, Royal Challengers’ seventh bowling option, but both picked out the boundary riders in the 14th over. Patel, who had earlier taken a pasting from Lewis, tricked the lower order with his assortment of slower balls.
Bharat and Maxwell step up With the ball sliding onto the bat nicely in the early exchanges, Kohli and Padikkal held nothing back, hitting four fours each in a powerplay that produced 54 runs. Mustafizur then shook up the Royal Challengers briefly with his skillful change-ups. After he bowled Padikkal in the sixth over of the chase, Riyan Parag effected a direct hit in the seventh to leave Royal Challengers at 58 for 2.
Bharat then combined with Maxwell to settle the chase. He slog-swept Chris Morris for six, pumped Lomror down the ground for four, and even reverse-swept Rahul Tewatia for four, which had Kohli up on his feet and cheering wildly from the dugout. As for Maxwell, he laid into Morris, smashing 24 off nine balls from him. Bharat holed out for 44, but Maxwell glided to his fifty and wrapped up the chase along with AB de Villiers.
Deivarayan Muthu is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
Sports Minister, Sunday Dare (right) and winner of Girls’ 16, Ohunene Yakubu, who was also named most outstanding player (girls) at the Sapetro Futures Tennis Championship… yesterday
Thrilled by the performance of the country’s junior stars at the maiden Sapetro Futures Tennis Championship, Sports Minister, Sunday Dare, has promised to put the Yakubu sisters, Oiza and Ohunene, and Marylove Edwards on the ministry’s sponsorship list and also reach out to the governors of Oyo and Ekiti states to send the two most outstanding junior tennis talents in the country, Ganiyu Mubarak (Oyo) and Seun Ogunsakin (Ekiti) to tennis academies abroad.
Edwards (16) and Oiza (16) are already ranked No. 2 and No. 5 in the seniors and have been precluded from playing in the ITA Junior Tennis Circuit.
Dare, who watched Ohunene (13) overcome some spirited effort from 14-year-old Success Ogunjobi to win the Girls 16s event 9-2, commended the partnership by the sponsors, Sapetro and the International Tennis Academy (ITA), adding, “this sponsorship, if it continues, will have tremendous impact on the development of tennis in Nigeria.”
The minister’s wish was immediately granted by the Executive Vice Chairman of Sapetro, Senator Daisy Danjuma, represented by the GM Finance, Mr Amos Garga. The EVC expressed Sapetro’s pleasure with the performance of the players and the organisation of the weeklong event by ITA and pledged the company would continue the sponsorship.
Also present as a special guest of honour was former Minister of Foreign Affairs and of Petroleum, Odein Ajumogobia.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the matches,” he said, adding: “I am amazed at the skill level of these junior players. I am sure that if we can find a way to send the best 10 to academies abroad, Nigeria will make significant impact in the tennis world in the near future.”
Seun Ogunsakin had turned his match against Damilare Awe from Oyo State in the boys 14s into an exhibition of his prodigious talent, as he completely overran his opponent 9-0, while Mubarak (14) promoted to play the 16s, met the expectation of the organisers by beating his older opponent, Basit Ajao from Lagos, 9-6.
In other finals, Khadijat Mohammed from Abuja beat Mary Iorlumun of Benue, 9 – 1 to win the girls 14s; Ndidi Osaji (Lagos) defeated Vanessa Inyang (Lagos) 9-7 in the girls 12s; Onyekachi Ogumjiofor from Oyo beat Seyi Ogunsakin (Ekiti) 9-3 in the boys 12s and Murewa Egbeyemi of Lagos continued his domination of an emerging rival with Malcolm Osaji, also of Lagos, winning 9-4 in the boys 10s event.
The Sapetro Futures Championship is now part of the ITA Junior Tennis Circuit, which provides the platform for juniors from all over the nation to showcase their talent.
TORONTO – It’s the dream of every aspiring young basketball player to be drafted by their hometown team, according to Dalano Banton.
And his dream was no different.
Banton made history this summer as the first Torontonian — and first Canadian — drafted by the Raptors when they selected him with their 46th pick, a night the 21-year-old rookie said was like double the pleasure.
“It’s just been a dream come true just to wake up and come to the Raptors facility. . . being drafted is definitely a blessing, but (to be drafted) by where you’re from is definitely like two dreams coming true at once.
“Everybody has been so welcoming and seeing people and them recognizing who I am . . . it’s just everybody embracing me and being able to show out for the city has been a blessing.”
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Playing in his hometown can come with extra demands, but Banton said his friends and family — including a solid support team of his parents, grandmother and uncles — have given him space while he adjusts to life as a professional basketball player.
“They understand just not having the access to me, just to be able to stay focused, coming into the gym two to three times a day, I don’t have time to hang out and do all the other stuff that people might want to do,” Banton said after Day 2 of camp at OVO Athletic Centre. “Everybody understands the situation that I’m in . . . . They know I’ve been focused on just grinding and am focused on the future and what the future holds for me.
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Banton grew up in Mount Olive, an area inside the hardscrabble Rexdale neighbourhood which sits northwest of downtown Toronto and was also home to hockey star P.K. Subban.
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His basketball dreams sprouted both on a Mount Olive parking lot court and the nearby North Kipling Community Centre and Rexdale Community Hub, which conveniently operated at staggered times.
“They kind of worked together to keep kids indoors and playing sports,” Banton said. “That was where I built the dream of becoming an NBA player, for sure.”
Banton will wear No. 45 as a nod to the Kipling 45 bus, a transit fixture in that area of town. He said he was blessed to have the neighbourhood community centres, which provided a safety net and a space to dream.
“They played a part in . . . building my character,” he said. “I feel like having hard times and going to these community centres and sharing those hard times with a bunch of other kids and a bunch of other people helped build a tight-knit family in the community that I lived in and grew up in. It helped build me into the person I am today.”
Banton recalled attending neighbourhood camps hosted by former longtime Raptor DeMar DeRozan.
“Growing up and feeling like the dream of being an NBA player was far-fetched, just seeing guys that play for the Raptors come to your neighbourhood, your area, and show love and give back was definitely a blessing and something I look forward to doing,” he said.
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As the lone Torontonian on the Raptors, Banton has played tour guide for some of his new teammates.
“Knowing the good food spots away from downtown, little spots, little cultural restaurants that I give these guys references to so they can go to, some of them went already and they loved it,” he said.
Banton, who played at Western Kentucky and Nebraska in the NCAA, was touted pre-draft for his court vision and pick-and-roll passing.
A couple of Banton’s immediate challenges in camp, he said, are putting some weight on his six-foot-nine, 204-pound frame. He also need to works on his shooting — he’s among the Raptors who attend extra nightly shooting practices.
Head coach Nick Nurse has liked what he’s seen so far.
“He’s good, he’s improved a lot since we first saw him join us,” Nurse said. “Another guy who is in the shooting program and it’s paying off, his numbers are going way up, he’s made some good adjustments.
“We’ve got him trying to play at a faster pace and it’s really helping him. He’s really a point guard, he brings the ball and has good vision, we’re trying to get him to get into the paint as quick as he can and he can see everybody out there so that’s good.
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“Interesting because at the other end he blocks shots and rebounds like a 6-9 guy would,” he added.
Banton could spend a lot of time in the team’s G League affiliate Raptors 905, simply to make sure he’s got the ball in his hands somewhere, Nurse said, adding the same goes for sophomore guard Malachi Flynn.
With the G League operating a shortened season in a bubble in Florida, Flynn didn’t have the same opportunity in the developmental league that benefited players such as Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam. They were able to get their NBA feet wet with the 905s a short drive away in Mississauga, Ont., while still practising with and playing games for the Raptors.
The Raptors open the pre-season Monday against the visiting Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto’s first game at Scotiabank Arena since Feb. 28, 2020.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2021.
Real Madrid’s French forward Karim Benzema looks at the celebration of Sheriff’s Brazilian midfielder Bruno Felipe Souza da Silva (R) the UEFA Champions League first round group D footbal match between Real Madrid and Sheriff Tiraspol at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, on September 28, 2021. (Photo by JAVIER SORIANO / AFP)
Sheriff Tiraspol pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Champions League history on Tuesday by beating Real Madrid 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Sebastien Thill smashing a stunning 89th-minute winner.
“For us this is a dream come true to have won here. We’re so happy, and just enjoying it,” said Frank Castaneda, the Sheriff captain.
“We came here to win,” said the Colombian. “We didn’t just come here to sit around. We know how good our players are and luckily for us Madrid weren’t able to take their chances and we took ours.”
Madrid fell behind to Jasurbek Yakhshiboev’s header in the first half but Karim Benzema’s penalty appeared to have spared the blushes of the Spanish giants, only for Thill to snatch an incredible victory.
“It’s the best and most important goal of my career, that’s for sure!” Thill said.
“The side were so brave with how we played and luckily enough I was able to score a bit of a stunner.”
The result will go down as one of the most surprising in the history of the competition and delivers a significant boost to Sheriff’s chances of qualifying for the last 16.
They have six points out of six in Group D, having already beaten Shakhtar Donetsk.
“This type of game when you have total control is decided by the small details and that has cost us the game,” said Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti.
“A corner kick, a stupid foul — they cost you and now we talk about a defeat we didn’t deserve.
“We’ve missed out on three points and the group is wide open. We need to win our next game.”
Sheriff, founded in 1997, have dominated Moldovan football but this is their first season in the Champions League group stage.
“We are dreaming of getting into the last 16 and that’s our objective,” said Castaneda. “Our attention now turns to Inter and we’ll work hard in order to ensure we keep getting positive results.”
Thill, Sheriff’s match-winner, was last year playing on loan at Russian club FC Tambov, who in May were dissolved after declaring themselves bankrupt.
“After this match we all went crazy. There are a lot of foreigners in the club, we come from all types of countries. It’s our strength,” Thill, a Luxembourg international, told Canal+.
– ‘One you dream of’ – For Real Madrid it was an unexpected setback for what has otherwise been an encouraging start under Ancelotti.
Real were the more authoritative early on, but Sheriff scored with the first opportunity they got.
Yakhshiboev headed in a perfectly weighted cross from Cristiano.
Madrid improved towards the end of the half but not before Sheriff could have made it two, Thibaut Courtois coming out to clear a ball over the top, only to sidefoot it straight to Frank Castaneda. He fed Yakhshiboev, who curled just wide.
Vinicius chipped past the post for Madrid after a smart dummy by Eden Hazard, who then had a go himself from the angle but his shot was parried away.
The Madrid pressure kept coming in the second half as Vinicius appealed for two penalties in quick succession, the second given after a check from VAR.
Benzema banged in the penalty and carried the ball back to the halfway line but it was Sheriff who had the ball in the net next, Bruno Souza diverting in at the near post, only to see it ruled out for offside.
Luka Modric’s shot hit Giorgos Athanasiadis in the face and the Sheriff goalie then recovered to deny Eder Militao. Athanasiadis was named player of the match.
Sheriff appeared to be hanging on for a draw but instead delivered a knock-out blow. A throw-in was hooked back to the edge of the area, where Thill unleashed a wonderful shot into the top corner.
“Thill’s goal is out of this world. It’s one you dream of. I thanked him at the end of the game,” said Castaneda.
However, Usyk came on strong to close out the fight, almost putting his man down in the final seconds as Joshua just about saw the final bell.
Following the fight, Hearn said: “For me, that was an average performance from Anthony Joshua. He can do so much better in that fight, but he’s facing a pound-for-pound great.
“It was a tough defeat. I had it reasonably close in the eighth and then Usyk ran away with it. If that happens again, he will get beat again.
“Usyk’s confidence will be sky high. He has to impose himself but when you get to the level of AJ, there are no 10-round comeback fights or warm ups. You are straight into the fight.
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