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COACH

AC Milan sack Filippo Inzaghi as coach

AC Milan on Tuesday sacked coach Filippo Inzaghi after what has been a bitterly disappointing season, immediately replacing him with Serbian Sinisa Mihajlovic.

AC Milan sack Filippo Inzaghi as coach
Filippo Inzaghi has been sacked as AC Milan coach. Photo: Carlo Hermann/AFP

Milan will not compete in Europe next season after finishing down in midtable alongside city rivals Inter, spelling the end for Inzaghi, who failed to lift the club out of the gloom after taking over from former team-mate Clarence Seedorf last season.

“AC Milan announces that it has sacked first team coach Filippo Inzaghi, whom it thanks for the work done,” the Serie A giants said in a statement. Former Sampdoria coach Mihajlovic has signed a two-year deal with Milan, the seven-time European champions added.

Inzaghi, nicknamed Superpippo, made his name as a player with Milan, scoring 126 goals in 300 games and winning 10 titles including the Champions League twice.

But the 41-year-old was widely seen as having been out of his depth since stepping up from coaching the youth team to replace Seedorf in June 2014.


Milan's billionaire owner Silvio Berlusconi had admitted to having “different visions” to Inzaghi on the club. The media tycoon, who is seeking outside investors to help him revive the club's fortunes, said Inzaghi had ignored his request for players emerging from the club's academy to be given a chance.


Milan went on to finish 10th in this season's Serie A, their worst season since Berlusconi acquired the club three decades ago. 

Minutes after announcing Inzaghi's departure, Milan released a second statement: “After spells in charge of Bologna, Catania, Fiorentina, the Serbian national team and his last experience at Sampdoria, Sinisa Mihajlovic is officially the new coach of the rossoneri.

“Good luck and welcome coach!” it said of the Serb who steered Sampdoria to a seventh-place finish in Serie A and to the brink of qualification for the Europa League.

The 46-year-old former Red Star Belgrade, Lazio and Inter player has overseen 156 matches as a coach in Serie A and 11 in the Italian Cup, whilst he was also Serbia coach in nine World Cup qualifiers.

Mihajlovic will be hoping that club president Berlusconi's plans with Thai businessman Bee Taechaubol towards welcoming a possible 48 percent investment in the club come to fruition.

If the deal is confirmed, it could provide a huge shot in the arm to a club that has slipped spectacularly since Berlusconi sold a number of top stars at the same time as a number of ageing players left the San Siro in the summer of 2012.

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FOOTBALL

Germany coach Jogi Löw taken to hospital after accident

Germany coach Joachim Löw has been taken to hospital after suffering an injury while exercising, and will miss upcoming games against Belarus and Estonia, the German Football Association (DFB) said Friday.

Germany coach Jogi Löw taken to hospital after accident
Germany coach Jogi Löw. Photo: DPA

In a statement, the association confirmed that Löw was receiving treatment for a crushed artery and would not be in the dugout for the upcoming internationals.

Bild newspaper reported that Löw had checked into the university clinic in Freiburg with circulatory problems after dropping a dumbbell on himself several weeks ago, but said that he had not undergone an operation. 

“I feel better, but I just have to look after myself for a few weeks,” said Löw in a statement.

“I am in constant contact with my coaching team and I will be speaking to them on the phone around the two games.”

READ ALSO: Löw to stay on as Germany coach after World Cup humiliation 

The DFB confirmed that assistant coach Marcus Sorg would take over managerial duties in the European Championship qualifiers, with support from goalkeeping coach Andy Koepke and national team director Oliver Bierhoff.

“The most important thing is that Jogi is back to full fitness in a few days,” said Bierhoff.

“Even though I can tell he wants to be back on the training pitch, he is right to take care of himself.”

“Marcus Sorg and Andy Koepke know the drill and the team very well, and they will discuss everything with Jogi anyway.”

The German squad will meet up in the Dutch town of Venlo on Sunday before facing Belarus in Borisov on June 8th and Estonia in Mainz on June 11th.

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