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Juventus face AC Milan for fourth Italian Cup title in row

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Holders Juventus booked their ticket to the Italian Cup final for the fourth year in a row to set up a meeting with AC Milan after a 1-0 win over Atalanta in a semi-final second leg tie played in the snow in Turin on Wednesday.The first leg ended 1-0 in Bergamo thanks to an early Gonzalo Higuain goal, and Juventus also won the second when Miralem Pjanic slotted in a 75th-minute penalty awarded after Blaise Matuidi was fouled in the box.

The three-time holders will play AC Milan who battled past Lazio 5-4 on penalties in the Stadio Olympico after their semi-final remained goalless after extra time.

Nikola Kalinic almost scored the winner after 117 minutes but sent the ball over the bar when alone in front of goal, sending the game to penalties.

AC Milan could thank the saves of teenage goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma for a spot in the final in Rome on May 9 with centre-back Alessio Romagnoli scoring the winning penalty.

“It was a night of suffering. This is a very young team, we must get them back to being the team that made the fans dream,” said Milan coach Gennaro Gattuso.

The win extends Gattuso’s unbeaten streak with AC Milan to 13 games, with six straight wins.

But the former AC Milan midfielder insisted there was too much talk about him and how he has turned around the team.

“I’m not a tactical guru. I’m just a lucky guy.”

Five-time winners Milan last won the Cup in 2003, with their last final in 2016.

Earlier Juventus took on Atalanta, whose Serie A game Sunday was snowed off, with light snowfall still in the Allianz Stadium.

“Compliments to the lads for what they did tonight and are doing this season,” said coach Massimiliano Allegri.

‘Not an obsession’
It will be a record 18th final for Juventus with Allegri’s side bidding for a 13th Cup in total.

“We will play in a historical stadium, but it must not become an obsession,” continued the Juventus coach of their bid for a record fourth Cup crown.

“In the first half we had difficulty closing them down, after the break Douglas Costa started playing in a centre-forward role and that broke the game open.”

Higuain missed out as he recovers from a sprained ankle.

Atalanta had come out firing with Alejandro Gomez sending over the bar with Gianluigi Buffon tested as he latched on to Josip Ilicic’s deflected cross pushing over the top.

Gomez thought he had scored the equaliser for Atalanta after the break with Buffon off the line, lobbing the Juventus captain, only for the ball to bounce off the outside off the post.

The breakthrough came when Juventus were awarded a penalty when Matuidi went down under pressure from defender Gianluca Mancini, with Pjanic slotting in to the fury of Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini.

“That penalty was non-existent,” blasted Gasperini as his side missed out on their bid for just a second Cup title after 1963.

AC Milan and Lazio battled for 220 minutes in total between the San Siro and the Stadio Olympico in a tie between two ambitious sides who have rediscovered their form in Serie A and the Europa League.

Lazio threatened early with AC Milan staying in the game thanks to Donnarumma who tipped over a Ciro Immobile shot within the first five minutes and then denied Sergej Milinkovic-Savic with his legs.

Lazio goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha also did well to clear off Suso after a quarter-of-an hour, but almost created an own goal by badly clearing Hakan Calhanoglu freekick.

Both sides had their chances in the second half with Milinkovic-Savic again missing in the final minute.

After their gruelling match both sides face tough weekends in Serie A with Lazio hosting Juventus and AC Milan a derby against city rivals Inter Milan.

 

SPORTS

World Cup Africa Announces New Qualification Format

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The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has introduced a revamped format for the qualification process leading up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, aiming to elevate African football.

The new format includes a single stage of qualification that will span almost two years and involve all 54 African nations divided into nine groups of six teams each. The group winners will qualify automatically, while the four best second-placed teams will enter a playoff stage for an additional spot.

Argentina wins World Cup on penalty kicks over France: Live updates

The qualification campaign will begin in November 2023 and conclude in November 2025, lasting a total of 23 months. This extended timeframe allows for a more comprehensive and competitive qualifying process. African nations, including Uganda, see the increased slots as a golden opportunity to make history, as no team from the CECAFA region has ever participated in the World Cup.

The 2026 World Cup, hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, will feature 104 matches instead of the usual 64, with the final taking place on July 19. The new format will have 12 groups instead of the previous eight, and the knockout round will include the top two teams from each group, as well as the eight best third-placed teams.

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Victor Osimhen Seals Napoli’s First Serie A Crown In 33 Years

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Victor Osimhen made history on Thursday night powering Napoli to win a Serie A title after 33 years.

The Nigerian forward scored the decisive goal in the second half as Napoli came back from trailing to Sandi Lovric’s opener at half-time.

Transfer Talk: Scudetto stars who could leave Napoli this summer | LiveScore

Osimhen’s title-deciding strike against Udine was his 22nd goal in 28 league appearances and rightly caused bedlam among the massed ranks of away fans who took over Udine.

The Nigerian striker has had the best season of his career and been key to Napoli’s historic charge to glory, becoming, in the process, one of the most devastating centre forwards in European football, clattering in goals left and right.

Injury slowed down the 24-year-old striker’s scoring rate but between returning from a thigh injury in mid-October and the recent round of African Cup of Nations qualifiers last month, he averaged a goal a game.

Over that period, Osimhen scored 23 times in 23 matches in all competitions, propelling Napoli to the brink of a historic Scudetto and becoming a bona fide fan idol even before he scored the goal that secured the title on Thursday.

Napoli’s Thursday win saw an end to a 33-year title drought, thanks to Osimhen’s title-winning strike which powered the team to glory, one that was last won in 1990.

Napoli are leading second-placed Lazio with 16 points, leaving them with a month-long parade between now and the end of the season which will allow their long-suffering supporters to fully unload more than a generation of frustration.

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Lampard Told To Leave Chelsea After Latest Defeat

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