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Zola replaces Rowett
at St Andrew’s

GIANFRANCO ZOLA has been appointed Birmingham manager after the club sacked Gary Rowett and his backroom staff earlier on Wednesday, writes Alex Hilton.

The shock move by the St Andrew’s hierarchy came despite their 2-1 win over Ipswich in the Sky Bet Championship on Tuesday.

That result was preceded by drubbings against Barnsley (3-0) and Newcastle (4-0), but they did little to damage Birmingham’s playoff hopes with the club sitting pretty in seventh place. The Blues are 11-2 for a top-six  finish and 20-1 for promotion.

Zola was immediately odds-on favourite for the role and the markets proved justified.

Japan’s Kashima Antlers qualified for the Club World Cup final with a 3-0 win over Colombia’s South American champions Atletico Nacional yesterday and will face either Real Madrid or Mexico’s Club America in Sunday’s showpiece.

The game was the first ever to see a penalty awarded using video evidence.

Madrid are 1-5 to win this morning’s semi-final and 1-8 to lift the trophy.

Genoa and Fiorentina will attempt to bring their Serie A clash from September to a long-awaited climax this evening after the first attempt was abandoned after 28 minutes due to a hailstorm with the scoreline at 0-0.

Genoa are 9-5 with BetBright for victory at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium, while Fiorentina are 21-10 and the draw is a 9-5 chance.

 

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