Juventus

Juventus

Newcastle United want to sign Nicolo Barella from Inter Milan in the summer transfer window, identifying him as a replacement for Sandro Tonali.

I think Gio was fantastic in November with us. I think everyone praised him in his game against Paraguay, and then in the way that he was involved and committed with the team. And with the national team, I think I was really happy with the aspect and the factor that he was involved.

Willi Castro connected for a leadoff homer off Sam Aldegheri on the fourth pitch of the game. That lead didn't last long, however, as Seth Lugo struggled on the mound from the get-go. He walked two of the first three Italian batters, and then a couple of soft singles through the infield turned things around into a 2-1 game.

After securing the biggest victory in their program's history, beating the superpower United States and going undefeated in Pool play, Italy continued its dominance, punching its first-ever ticket to the World Baseball Classic semi-final. In a do-or-die game, the Italian bats were simply too much to handle for a potent Puerto Rican pitching staff that had been the best in the tournament heading into play on Saturday.

The 63-year-old will leave his current managerial role with Cypriot club APEA Akrotiri to take up the position on 16 March. Constantine had a spell in charge of Rwanda from May 2014 to January 2015 before he left to manage India.

Martin Johnson, England's World-Cup winning skipper, believes there is no huge mystery to being a great captain. If you haven't got a good team it doesn't matter how good a captain you are. To suggest that calm, sure-footed leadership is irrelevant in top-level sport, however, is another matter. Even the greatest sides need decisive, intelligent direction, regardless of who supplies it.