12/09/2025

SPORTS FRIDAY | SEPT 12, 2025

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Vardy ready to silence doubters Leicester City veteran excited ahead of Serie A adventure with Cremonese J AMIE VARDY is determined to prove he’s not at Cremonese for a retirement party as the former Premier League winner prepares to start a new adventure at the newly promoted Serie A club. magnate Giovanni Arvedi. And Vardy said yesterday he wants to bring to Cremonese the same desire and commit ment that he had in 13 years at Leicester City, where he arrived from non-league Fleetwood Town in his mid-20s and in 2016 was an inte gral part of one of the most romantic stories in recent football history. Leceister’s Jamie Vardy celebrates after scoring against Ipswich Town. – REUTERSPIC

in the top flight, and he was open about his intention to have a new experience in a foot ball culture he admires. He told the largely Italian press pack of how as a child he would watch Serie A matches on British terrestrial television, citing Alessandro Del Piero as a particular inspira tion. “The one thing that’s always constant is football is its own language. “You can always talk through football,” said Vardy. “So being able to train with the lads and being able to feel welcome has been a great start and definitely a great first week.” Vardy most famously won the Premier League under Claudio Ranieri but it was another Italian former Leicester manager in Enzo Maresca who convinced him to move to Cremonese. “There’s only one of those I’ve been speak ing to for the entire summer, we still keep in touch as much as possible, which is Enzo,” he said. “I managed to have a really good chat with him once we knew it was going to be a possi bility, and he did nothing but sing the praises of the club itself and the surrounding areas. “It was his advice for me to come here and that was it. “I managed to sit down with my family and talk about it, it was the only one place I was going to go.” – AFP

At 38 years old Vardy is one of a clutch of veteran stars to move to Italy this summer, alongside Napoli’s Kevin De Bruyne and Luka Modric, who plays for AC Milan and turned 40 on Tuesday.

“Throughout my career I’ve been doubted. Always have, probably always will. What I’ve always managed to do is turn that around and prove them all wrong,” Vardy told reporters in the ornate surroundings of Cremona’s violin museum. “Speaking with the manager (Davide Nicola), there was a lot of doubt in Italy about Cremonese being able to stay in the league. “With how the manager is and the passion he’s got and his work ethic, that’s not what he wants. “With how the lads have started, it’s been unbelievable. “We know it’s a long season but that’s the road he’s wanting to go down”, he said. “It’s wanting to be the underdogs that are overachieving.” Vardy added: “Being able to be a part of that and prove people wrong and fight for this badge, that was definitely one of the reasons (for the move).” The ex-England forward joined Cremonese last week on a one-year deal with an option for another season should they manage to stay

Vardy has arrived at a team surpris ingly level on a perfect six

points at the top of Serie A with reigning champions Napoli but one likely to be fighting against relega t i o n c ome the sea son’s end, even with the backing of local billionaire steel

Alcaraz marks US Open triumph with striking new look

Proteas beat England in rain marred 1st T20 MARCO JANSEN and Corbin Bosch took two wickets apiece as South Africa beat England by 14 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis Stern method in a rain-marred first T20 in Cardiff yesterday. Bad weather reduced what should have been a 40-over contest at Sophia Gardens to just 12.5 in total. England chasing a revised 69 in five overs for victory, finished on 54-5 as they failed to keep pace with a daunting run rate of nearly 14 an over against a quality attack. Jansen (2-18) and Bosch (2-20) did the bulk of the damage in an England innings where only Jos Buttler (25) passed 20. Earlier, several South Africa batsmen made quickfire 20s in a total of 97-5 in 7.5 overs after Brook won the toss. South Africa captain Aiden Markram struck 28 off 14 balls, with two fours and two sixes, although he was dropped in the deep by Phil Salt. Donovan Ferreira, the player of the match, hit three sixes in his 25 not out and Dewald Brevis made 23. “It feels like madness, but you can think about things. It was swinging about with the new ball, but you need one or two guys to make a cameo and you can reach a good score,“ said Markram who led the Proteas to a 2-1 ODI series win, at the presentation ceremony. England captain Harry Brook added: “We can’t read into that too much. We didn’t execute as well as we could have done.”– AFP

the headlines for the foreseeable future, perhaps by growing it back out. Alcaraz has now opted for another drastic change to catch the eyes of all, courtesy of his barber Victor. Alcaraz has buzzed and bleached his hair after sharing teasers of the style switch on Instagram , where he posted pic tures of him trying out a luscious blonde wig and showed his head covered in foil mid-transformation. Alcaraz kept to his promise of cele brating his second triumph at

Ű BY WILL CASTLE

Carlos Alcaraz’s new platinum hair after the US Open. – Instagram/ @victorbarbers5

NEWLY-CROWNED US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz has unveiled a striking new look follow ing the haircut-gone-wrong that had everyone talking. Alcaraz set the tennis world alight when he emerged for his first-round match against Reilly Opelka with an unrecognisable buzzcut, having ditched his trademark short, back and sides after what the Spaniard revealed was a botched trim by his brother Alvaro. “My brother misunderstood with the machine he cut it,” Alcaraz said after beating Opelka. “And the only way to fix it is to shave it off. To be hon est, it’s not that good. Its not that bad, I guess.” Among those critical of the new trim was American world No. 29 Frances Tiafoe, Alcaraz’s friend and rival, who despite sporting a close cropped style himself described Alcaraz’s new haircut as “horrendous”. The fresh style did not impact his exploits on the court, though, with Alcaraz dropping just a solitary set throughout the entire US Open as he beat long-term foe Jannik Sinner in the final to claim his sixth grand slam at the age of just 22. But instead of opting to keep his hair out of NICO ROSBERG admits McLaren were left in an “impossible” situation ahead of their call ordering Oscar Piastri to let Lando Norris ahead of him at the end of the Italian Grand Prix. A slow pit-stop from Norris, originally in second, meant he re-entered the race behind championship leader Piastri with a handful of laps remaining. Piastri, who had a 34-point lead in the title race over Norris before the race, was then told to let Norris by given the team’s slow stop. Piastri initially voiced his disagreement before obeying, sacrificing a six-point swing in the championship. The gap is now 31 points with eight races Ű BY KIERAN JACKSON

Flushing Meadows in style, something he hinted at ahead of last weekend’s final. When asked what he

might do to his hair to mark a landmark vic tory, the Spaniard smiled and said: “(Something) even better. Even better. You will see. Surprise.” – The Independent

McLaren’s pit-stop call impossible scenario: Rosberg

Piastri insisted post-race that he was satisfied with his decision to let Norris pass, despite the fine margins at play as both drivers eye their first F1 world championship. Rosberg added: “It’s a hard one because if you’re Oscar, it will drive you nuts because it’s never been done before and until then, I think internally, pit stop speed is part of racing. “If one guy’s pit stop is a second slower and that results in a win, that’s always going to be part of racing historically. That’s always how it’s been. “So, of course, in Oscar’s view, you would not like it very much. But he wasn’t given a choice. Once the team calls him out, he’s obliged to let him pass.” F1 next heads to Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sept 19-21. – The Independent

remaining and Rosberg – himself involved in an intra-team title battle with Lewis Hamilton in 2016 at Mercedes – admits McLaren had a tough call to make but believes it was “good” they allowed Norris to regain second place. “A lot of people will not like it, a lot of people will think it makes sense,“ 2016 world champion Rosberg told Sky’s F1 Show podcast. “I was happy they did that because with my hat that I have on, I want a super-exciting Formula 1 championship until the very end. “So, I was happy that in that case Lando had the opportunity to get the deserved points since he personally did a better job than Oscar in the Monza weekend. “So, I thought it was good that they did that. But it’s impossible. There’s no right or wrong.”