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21 Sport maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 18 MAY 2016 FOOTBALL FORMULA 1 Boca Juniors tear up Dani Osvaldo's contract over poor discipline Liverpool's Lallana pours cold water on Spurs switch Future Chelsea coach Conte cleared in match-fixing case BOCA and Osvaldo agreed to end the former AS Roma, Inter Milan, Juventus, Southampton and Porto striker's deal after a fruitless stay, the state news agency Telam said. The club was not available to comment. Osvaldo, who has had several run-ins with the soccer authori- ties, including the English FA when he played for Saints in 2013/14, had already been kicked out of the Boca first team squad by coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto last Thursday. The 30-year-old was caught smoking in the changing rooms at the Centenario in Montevideo after Thursday's 1-1 draw at Uru- guayan champions Nacional in the first leg of their Copa Libertadores quarter-final. "It's a subject I don't need to talk about because it ended on Thurs- day," Barros Schelotto, who con- sidered Osvaldo's behaviour a lack of respect towards him and the team, told reporters on Sunday. Argentine-born Osvaldo, who returned to Boca four months ago, had played the last five min- utes, having just come back from a long foot-injury layoff, and went straight to the changing rooms without shaking hands with team mates or opponents and saluting the travelling fans. Boca, captained by former Ju- ventus striker Carlos Tevez, are aiming to win a record-equalling seventh Copa Libertadores, South America's elite club competition. Dani Osvaldo LIVERPOOL midfielder Adam Lallana has denied reports that he could move to Tottenham Hotspur for a reunion with his former manager Mauricio Po- chettino. Lallana, who played under Po- chettino at Southampton, said he was enjoying the best football of his career under German boss Juergen Klopp, whose team face Sevilla in the Europa League final on Wednesday night. "I've got three years left on my contract," Lallana told British media when asked about reports that Tottenham could bid for him in the close season. "It was only last season that peo- ple might have read I was leaving and thought, 'Yes, let's get him out.' But football changes very quickly and I'm really enjoying my football under this manager. "I have always had a good rela- tionship with Pochettino. I am delighted he has had a very good season and I wanted him to win the league. But it is going to be very difficult (to leave Liverpool). "I am at a massive club here and playing some of my best football for the club, getting to cup finals; it is definitely just speculation." Adam Lallana ANTONIO Conte, future coach of English Premier League club Chel- sea, was cleared on Monday of any role in a 2011 match-fixing scandal while he was in charge of Italian second division football team Siena. Conte, who will coach Italy's na- tional squad during this summer's European Championship before taking up his new post at Chelsea, was acquitted by a court in the northern Italian city of Cremona. He was accused of being aware of, but not having intervened to pre- vent, the alleged fixing of a game between Siena and relegation- threatened AlbinoLeffe, which Siena lost 1-0. The judge in the case, Pierpaolo Beluzzi, said the charge of sporting fraud against Conte was "ground- less." "Those close to me know how much I have suffered at the very idea my name could be associated with the shame of match-fixing," Conte wrote on his Facebook page, saying the four years since he had been implicated in the case had been a "nightmare." "I want to thank all those who have never doubted me and assure them that I have come out of this experience stronger and even more motivated," he said. Conte played more than 400 games for Juventus and went on to manage the club to three succes- sive Serie A titles from 2012 to 2014 before taking over Italy's national squad. The inquiry followed alleged at- tempts to manipulate matches in Serie B, the Italian second division, and the third-tier Lega Pro dur- ing the 2010-11 season, with some Coppa Italia matches also involved. Also on Monday, the Cremona court ordered some 90 others to stand trial in the same match-fixing case, setting Dec. 6 as the start date for the hearings. Conte and five others had chosen a fast-track trial. England capable of matching anyone at Euro 2016, says Rooney ENGLAND have what it takes to get the better of any opponent but need to be consistent if they are to win their first European Champi- onship in France, captain Wayne Rooney has said. Manager Roy Hodgson an- nounced his provisional England squad for the tournament on Monday and will hope to guide the country to their first major trophy since winning the World Cup in 1966. A confident England side will head to France with a 100 percent record in the European qualifiers Group E, having won all their 10 games. "I feel we've got a very good squad. It's probably the first time I've felt the squad is capable in any given game of matching any team," Rooney, the team's all- time leading goalscorer, told Sky Sports. "But obviously it's one thing hav- ing that, and another being able to do that consistently throughout a tournament. "We've got players who can play anywhere across that front line. Myself, Jamie Vardy, Raheem Sterling, Daniel Sturridge can play out wide too. It's always difficult for opponents as well. "We've had a good European Qualifiers campaign, but we need to make sure that we don't slack, that we keep going and keep push- ing forward, and give ourselves every possible chance." Rooney, who prefers playing as a striker, has acknowledged he might have to drop deeper into midfield where he has also been used by Manchester United man- ager Louis van Gaal this season. With younger and faster talents coming through England's ranks, such as United teenager Marcus Rashford, Rooney was confident he can cope with any role in the squad. "As a player you are always adapt- ing. You adapt to your team mates, you adapt to the different coaches you are working under. It depends what the coaches want from you," said the 30-year-old, who scored seven goals in the qualifying cam- paign to overtake Bobby Charlton as England's top goalscorer. "Throughout my career I've adapted to different situations and different teams I've played in, and I have no problem doing it. In football you need players who can play in different positions. "I've always felt like I can play in different positions." England face Russia, Slova- kia and Wales in Group B of the 24-team tournament in France that starts on June 10. Wayne Rooney Max Verstappen plays down Monaco expectations MAX Verstappen has played down expectations for next week- end's Monaco Grand Prix, insist- ing his primary target is to "stay out of the walls," despite claiming his maiden Formula 1 triumph in Spain. Verstappen, 18, profited from Mercedes' intra-team collision at the start of the race and managed a two-stop strategy to resist Fer- rari's Kimi Räikkönen and secure his first Grand Prix victory. Verstappen starred on his Mona- co debut last year before he erred on the approach to Sainte Devote while battling Romain Grosjean and crashed out at high speed. "We'll see what happens in Mo- naco," he said. "The car should be quite fast, we'll have to wait and see. "The target for Monaco is to stay out of the walls, if you can stay out of the walls then hopefully we can be close to or on the podium." Verstappen revealed that he had to keep thoughts about potentially securing victory out of his mind during the closing stages of the Spanish Grand Prix. "I thought with five laps to go 'okay now we have to win this race' as I saw Kimi struggling with his tyres as well, from there I was make no mistakes, make sure the exit from the last corner, and that will get you the win. "The thing is you start to think about and you're like 'don't think about it, don't think about it, just focus on what you have to do at that moment.'" Max Verstappen