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Red Bull’s second Formula 1 team launched its 2024 F1 car and revealed that the brand is now known as the Visa Cash App RB team. In the realm of tennis, Iga Swiatek and Marketa Vondrousova practiced together during a media interaction ahead of the 2024 Qatar Open. In the world of football, Chinese officials stated that Beijing doesn’t plan to organise the match in which Lionel Messi was going to participate after he skipped a game for Inter Miami against a Hong Kong XI in the East Asian country.
Read below to learn details about these top stories and other happenings in the sporting world in the last 24 hours.
Chinese officials cancel two Argentina friendlies after Lionel Messi skipped Inter Miami game in Hong Kong
After Lionel Messi didn’t play for Inter Miami in a friendly against a Hong Kong XI in the East Asian country due to a groin injury, the Chinese officials have cancelled two friendlies of Argentina, which were scheduled to take place against Nigeria in Hangzhou and Ivory Coast in Beijing in March. The criticism of Lionel Messi was rampant in China after he took the football pitch as a substitute against Vissel Kobe in Japan, which led to the Beijing Football Association’s announcement, “Beijing does not plan, for the moment, to organise the match in which Lionel Messi was to participate.”
FA keen to have Gareth Southgate remain England’s manager after UEFA Euro 2024
The Football Association (FA) is keen to have Gareth Southgate remain as the manager of England after the completion of the UEFA Euro 2024, because he has changed the perception of the national team both on and off the pitch, as per the report from the BBC. Although Gareth Southgate was reportedly expected to stand down from the England job after the Euros, he didn’t discount the possibility of staying in the top job until the FIFA World Cup 2026, and his recent comments about the matter read, “You've got to see how the summer goes. It's as simple as that.”
Enzo Fernandez wants to leave Chelsea to join Barcelona: Reports
The Argentine midfielder Enzo Fernandez reportedly wants to leave Chelsea to join Barcelona despite his contract at the West London club runs until 2032. According to the report from Sport, the 23-year-old, who is a regular starter for Chelsea, isn’t getting the desired results on the football pitch this season, and that’s why he could be looking for a way to leave Stamford Bridge.
Bayern Munich shortlist Joao Palhinha as new midfield target for summer: Reports
Bayern Munich have reportedly shortlisted the Fulham star Joao Palhinha as their new midfield target for the upcoming summer transfer window. As per the report from BILD, some of the other names on their shortlist for midfield players are Federico Redonado of Argentinos Juniors, Adrien Rabiot of Juventus, and Martin Zubimendi of Real Sociedad.
Some major results in football are as under:
La Liga 2023-24
Cadiz 0-2 Real Betis
Bundesliga 2023-24
Borussia Dortmund 3-0 SC Freiburg
Serie A 2023-24
Salernitana 1-3 Empoli
Ligue 1 2023-24
Marseille 1-1 Metz
Eredivisie 2023-24
RKC Waalwijk 2-0 NEC
AIFF Secretary opens up on accepting decision to share SAFF U19 Women's Championship title
All India Football Federation secretary opened up on agreeing to the decision to share the SAFF U19 Women’s Championship title with Bangladesh. M Satyanarayan was quoted by News 18 as saying, “Despite being declared winners after the spin of the coin, we decided to accept the officials’ request for sharing the trophy as the situation was simmering and a section of the home fans was creating disturbances. Since the security of the players and other team officials is our utmost priority, the AIFF decided to agree to the request of the organisers.” He added, “With regards to a formal protest, we will wait for a thorough report from our team manager and head coach on their return before we take a call on the matter.”
Formula One
AlphaTauri rebrand Visa Cash App RB reveals 2024 season car
Red Bull’s second Formula 1 team launched its 2024 F1 car and revealed that the brand is now known as the Visa Cash App RB team. The team that was earlier also known as Alpha Tauri and Toro Rosso issued images of its VCARB 01 2024 car in a private launch event in Las Vegas. The car has been designed in closer collaboration with Red Bull and has used more shared pages to improve the performance of the team. For the 2024 season car, RB went with a blue and white livery, resembling to the liveries from the 2017 to 2019 season.
Tennis
Iga Swiatek and Marketa Vondrousova practice together ahead of Qatar Open
Iga Swiatek and Marketa Vondrousova practiced together during a media interaction ahead of the 2024 Qatar Open. The tournament will be held from February 11 to 17 at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha. Swiatek is the defending champion and top-seeded player in Doha, where she will take the court to mark her third consecutive win. Vondrousova, on the other hand, is the reigning Wimbledon champion and sixth-seeded player in Doha. This will be her first appearance since 2020.
Anand Piramal plays pickleball with Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna
Industrialists Anand Piramal played a pickleball match with Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna. Pickleball is similar to tennis and one can play it both indoors and outdoors; however, hollow paddles and plastic balls are used in the game. After the match, Piramal posted a story on Instagram and wrote, “What a dream playing pickleball with my buddy and tennis legend #puravraja against two of the world's greatest tennis players @mirzasaniar and @rohanbopanna0403 (For Bops it was as big as his Australian Open Final)”
Sumit Nagal reaches Chennai Open 2024 semifinal, Mukuns bows out
Indian tennis star Sumit Nagal made his way through to the semifinals of the Chennai Open ATP Challenger. Nagal registered a 6-3, 6-3 win over Czechia’s Dominik Palan to move closer to the coveted title. World-ranked 110 Nagal needs to lift the trophy to become the first Indian man since Prajnesh Gunneswaran in 2019 to crash into the top 100. He will lock horns with Dalibor Svrcina, another Czech player, on Saturday to reserve his final berth. Svrcina came on the back of a win over S. Mukund 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-4 in a quarterfinal that lasted for almost three hours. In doubles, the Saketh Myneni-Ramkumar Ramanathan pair will lock horns with the Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli-Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha duo in an all-Indian final.
