Former Milan and Italy great Gennaro Gattuso has completed a surprise move to Hadjuk Split, taking over as head coach in Croatia.

Gattuso, a World Cup winner with Italy in 2006, has signed a two-year deal with the Croatian giants.

The 46-year-old will be officially welcomed at Poljud next week after Split announced his appointment on Wednesday.

Gattuso's coaching career began as player-coach of his final club, Sion of the Swiss Super League, and he also had short spells in charge of Palermo and OFI Crete.

The former midfielder then led Pisa to Serie B promotion before taking charge of old club Milan and subsequently joining Napoli, where he won the Coppa Italia in 2020.

Short tenures followed with Fiorentina, Valencia and Marseille before his sacking from the Ligue 1 side in February.

Joe Root has no doubts over Jos Buttler's England captaincy, backing the white-ball skipper to continue despite T20 World Cup struggles.

Matthew Mott's side are on the brink of an early elimination this month, with their 20-over title defence seemingly crumbling without escaping the group stage.

England struggled before rain washed out their opener with Scotland, who are the favourites to progress after Australia overcame Buttler's side on Saturday.

The defending champions must beat Oman and Namibia, while needing Australia to overcome Scotland by a less-than-narrow margin to have any hopes of going through on net run-rate.

That has brought questions over Buttler's tenure as England captain, though Root placed his backing in the 33-year-old, a former international team-mate and good friend of his.

"Jos is one of my good friends," the England Test star said. "I think he's a brilliant captain, so I don't think there's any question.

"I think they'll be absolutely fine, they've got a wonderful squad of players. They know exactly what they need to do.

"When it's all laid out and they've got their backs to the wall, which they have in this situation now, is when they play their best cricket.

"It could really bring the best out of them, so I've got no worries whatsoever.

"If they go out and do what they all know that they're capable of doing, we'll be finding ourselves in the Super 8s and the back-end of the tournament where it really matters to play our best stuff."

England face Oman on Thursday before meeting Namibia on Saturday, when Scotland go against Australia later in the day, boasting the advantage of knowing what result is required to progress.

That is on the minds of Australian players, too, with bowler Josh Hazlewood weighing up the options of helping send England out of the competition.

England coach Mott hopes the Australia quick's comments were in jest, though matters could be out of his side's hands come the weekend in the United States and West Indies.

England have started to plan for life after Gareth Southgate but Football Association executive Mark Bullingham insists no approach has been made for the manager, nor has his future been decided.

The Three Lions boss raised questions over his future after German media outlet BILD published an interview this week from Southgate, who suggested Euro 2024 this month is his last chance with England.

Manchester United were reportedly interested in the 53-year-old as well before reaffirming their commitment to under-fire manager Erik ten Hag.

As the European Championship awaits in Germany, Bullingham sought to ease any fears over the future of Southgate, though reiterated the FA has already thought through a succession plan.

"Gareth has been really, really clear that he wants to talk about that after the tournament," Bullingham said.

"And I don't want to provide any distraction for him and the team, and I want to respect the fact that he wants to talk about the future after the tournament.

 "I've seen some things about, 'Have we got a plan, haven't we?' Any organisation has a succession plan in place for their top employees, and we are no different to that.

"A succession plan normally includes everything from what you do for the short-term cover, through to a process you follow, through to [drawing up] a candidate pool. We have that for all our top employees."

Bullingham also assured that Southgate's future will not be dictated by success at Euro 2024, with the manager's contract set to expire in December.

"[The team] could go further but be playing poorly or have a really unlucky result where you get a couple of red cards and hit the woodwork three times," the FA chief added.

"I think setting an arbitrary figure isn't the right way to go. I think we step back and look at everything after the tournament."

In a staunch defence of Southgate, Bullingham lauded the job the former England international has done, guiding the Three Lions to the Euro 2020 final and World Cup semi-finals in 2018.

"I would say I think the world of Gareth, I think he has done a phenomenal job," Bullingham said.

"I think he has transformed the fortunes of our team, and that's not just off the pitch, and you can see the culture, but also the performances on the pitch.

"Since 1966, he has won about half of our knockout games, which is a measure we really use, so we value him massively."

Should Southgate leave, Bullingham remains open to bringing in another homegrown talent to manage England.

"We have two senior coaches," he continued. "One of them is English, one of them [England women's boss Sarina Wiegman] is not.

"Any federation in the world would always want to have a pool of top homegrown talent playing and managing at any time."

Joshua Zirkzee is reportedly drawing interest from Milan, Juventus and Manchester United, and will have the chance to further his stock after a late call-up for the Netherlands at Euro 2024.

Oranje boss Ronald Koeman has lost Frenkie de Jong and Teun Koopmeiners, as well as midfielder Marten de Roon, in the build-up to the tournament in Germany.

Koeman criticised former club Barcelona for their handling of the injured De Jong before Koopmeiners' absence was also confirmed this week in another blow for the Netherlands.

Ajax forward Brian Brobbey is another said to be struggling for fitness, forcing the Dutch to act swiftly with reinforcements.

Zirkzee's inclusion was confirmed on Wednesday as the Netherlands added the striker to their international camp ahead of their tournament opener against Poland on Sunday.

The 23-year-old does not have a single senior cap under his belt for the Netherlands, but did score seven goals in 19 caps for the Under-21 side.

Zirkzee found the net 12 times in 37 appearances for Bologna in the 2023-24 campaign as the Serie A side qualified for next season's Champions League.

That form has reportedly drawn interest from Erik ten Hag's Man Utd, Juventus – who appointed Thiago Motta as their new head coach on Wednesday – and Milan.

Ian Maatsen, who reached the Champions League final with Borussia Dortmund this year, is the other man brought in for the Netherlands to fill the void left by De Jong and Koopmeiners.

The Netherlands also face Austria and France in Group D at Euro 2024, where Germany open the tournament against Scotland on Friday.

Kylian Mbappe hopes to avoid any hangover from World Cup disappointment as the France forward searches for his elusive final international crown at Euro 2024.

The Real Madrid-bound forward scored a hat-trick in the final of FIFA's global tournament in 2022, though that was not enough to stop Argentina from winning on penalties in Saudi Arabia.

Another major tournament is on the horizon as the European Championship awaits in Germany, where Didier Deschamps' side rank as the favourites alongside Gareth Southgate's England.

Euros success is the only glory missing from Mbappe's glittering resume, having won the World Cup in 2018 and the Nations League as well, though the 25-year-old hopes to end that this time around.

The former Paris Saint-Germain told CNN Sport: "I want to win the Euros. I have to be honest. I won the World Cup. I won the Nations League.

"That's the only one that missed me with the national team after I did everything with the national team. I really want to win this.

"My first competition as captain, so it's really important for me and it's always important for the country and we want them to be proud of us.

"[It's] another opportunity to write the history of my country."

Mbappe endured a woeful tournament at Euro 2020, failing to score from chances amounting to 1.7 xG in four games, before missing the vital penalty as France lost to Switzerland in a last-16 shoot-out.

Coming into this tournament on the back of a 44-goal season with PSG and with his long-term future decided, few would back a repeat from Madrid's newest Galactico. 

France open their group-stage campaign against Austria on Monday before facing the Netherlands and Austria in a testing pool.

Mbappe believes Les Bleus can take the learnings from the last World Cup into their next quest for the European crown.

"I think we have to move forward," the world-class forward added. "Of course, we were hurt, to see that you're close to something...

"Close to the back-to-back. Something amazing. Something historic. Everybody loved the game except for us.

"We didn't like that, but it's part of the game. Now, when I watch the video of the game, I watch with a smile because it's part of the history and we know what we have to do if we go again in the final.

"We have to play all the game and have no reaction."

Italy great Alessandro Nesta has been appointed as the new head coach of Monza.

The 48-year-old comes in as the successor to Raffaele Palladino, who switched Monza for Fiorentina last week.

Nesta, a World Cup winner in 2006, has enjoyed a modest managerial career compared to his remarkable playing days.

The former defender will embark on his first Serie A season as a coach after spells with Perugia, Frosinone and Reggiana.

Nesta led promoted Reggiana to an 11th-place finish in Italy's second tier and has now resolved his contract issues with the club in order to take over at Monza.

His new club finished 12th last season in what was just their second campaign in Serie A.

World golf remains split on the divide between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, yet United States Golf Association chief executive Mike Whan hopes to create a pathway for the breakaway players at the U.S. Open.

No permanent deal appears on the cards in the near future as the PGA and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), which funds the LIV circuit, held further talks last week.

Tiger Woods described the meeting as "productive" but just 12 LIV players will be in action when the U.S. Open starts on Thursday at Pinehurst.

Jon Rahm would have been the 13th if not for his withdrawal due to a troublesome foot injury as LIV representation remains sparse at golf's major events.

Whan wants to change the dynamic between the two competitions, however.

"I think we are serious about that," USGA chief Whan said when asked about creating a link between LIV and the U.S. Open. 

"Exactly what that looks like, I'm not just being coy, we haven't done that yet.

"I also think, if I'm being perfectly honest with you, we've always felt like for the last year and a half that we're always three months away from kind of understanding what the new structure is going to look like.

"So before we kind of react, what is LIV going to be, what's the PGA Tour? We always felt like we were just about to know that answer, so let's figure that out.

"Now, I think the reason we're being more vocal about looking at that [pathway] for next year is maybe this is the new world order, and if that's the case we wanted to take a look at that.

"I think it's feasible. I don't think it's a huge pathway, but we do offer other pathways through DP World Tour or Korn Ferry Tour, so we know that there's an option to get there."

Past U.S. Open champions Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Martin Kaymer are among the LIV golfers to feature at this week's major.

LIV rookies Dean Burmester, David Puig and Eugenio Chacarra all made the field through final qualifying, while veteran Sergio Garcia was added to the list of players on Monday.

UEFA is preparing for a landmark moment at Euro 2024 as Europe's governing body revealed plans to communicate VAR decisions on stadium screens in Germany.

The organisation had already announced last month that refereeing calls would be explained in detail to international captains, who should be the only players to speak to the officials.

Any team-mate ignoring their captain's role and approaching the referee showing any sign of disrespect or dissent will receive a yellow card.

Yet UEFA confirmed another refereeing initiative at the upcoming tournament as officials will explain decisions to the crowd via stadium screens across June and July.

"This is something new. I think it's very, very, very interesting," UEFA's managing director for refereeing Roberto Rosetti said on Wednesday.

"So we want to give, after the opinion of VAR, a technical explanation for the public.

"In live, simultaneously, the UEFA expert will prepare the explanation, a technical explanation about what happened in the specific situation.

"For example, on-field review, the referee awards a penalty for handball...

"Technical explanation: Germany number nine touched the ball with his left arm in an unnatural position above the shoulder and making his body bigger."

Rosetti has already been leading the way in reaching out to teams and players to inform them of the new protocols at the European Championship.

That includes reinforcing the message that dangerous tackles will be greeted with serious disciplinary punishment.

"One of the most important priorities in refereeing guidelines is to protect the players," Rosetti added.

"To protect the image of the game, but in particular to protect the safety of the main actors of the games.

"We showed them a couple of clips that we are asking to the referees to be very strong in these kinds of situations.

"So for such situations, we asked the referees to be zero tolerant because this is something that we cannot accept."

Germany open the Euro 2024 tournament in their curtain-raiser against Scotland in Munich on Friday.

Adam Wharton does not expect age to be a barrier to his England hopes at Euro 2024 as the midfielder revelled in a "surreal feeling" ahead of the major tournament.

Crystal Palace's Wharton was playing Championship football with Blackburn Rovers until his January move to the Premier League.

The next step on his seismic rise comes this month after making Gareth Southgate's final squad for the upcoming European Championship.

That reward followed after a remarkable second half to the season for Wharton, who is already attracting interest from Europe's elite clubs following his impressive showings for Oliver Glasner's Palace.

Wharton, aged just 20 for this UEFA tournament in Germany, wants to leave his mark and believes chances are there to be taken, despite his relative inexperience compared to his team-mates.

"There are still players that have been in the team for a long time and some top young players in the team... I think it's good to have that little mix," Wharton said on Wednesday.

"If you're good enough, you're old enough.

"It's a surreal feeling. Honestly, I wasn't expecting it. Just a dream come true. Every kid who grows up playing football wants to play in the Premier League, and play for their country.

"I got to play for the team I supported to begin with, really enjoyed that and then it has continued since. Moving to the Premier League, now here, so it's all been very fast but I wouldn't want it any other way.

"I have really enjoyed the last six months and I just want to keep playing, getting better."

Wharton will battle with Declan Rice, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Conor Gallagher and Kobbie Mainoo for a role in Southgate's midfield, while Jude Bellingham remains an option if moved deeper.

That does not concern the 20-year-old, however, as Wharton realises his dreams on the international scene.

"I am just absolutely delighted," he added. "I get to do what I love on the top stage, you can't beat it."

Rohit Sharma was left with an overwhelming sense of relief after India staved off a spirited United States to reach the Super 8s at the T20 World Cup.

Rahul Dravid's white-ball side progressed through the group stages with a game to spare after Wednesday's seven-wicket victory over the co-hosts in New York.

Having already overcome struggling Ireland and fierce rivals Pakistan, a third straight win in Group A was enough to send India through as Rohit's team prepare for the latter stages of the tournament.

Suryakumar Yadav's unbeaten half-century proved the difference against the USA, helping his country chase down a 111-run target with 10 balls remaining.

It could have been a different story, however, as India lost Rohit (three) and Virat Kohli to a golden duck in the start to their chase.

That stark warning left a lasting imprint on Rohit's memory as the India captain credited the battling USA showing.

"We knew it was going to be a tough task, scoring that many," Rohit said at his post-match interview. "Credit to us for chasing it down.

"SKY and [Shivam] Dube did well in the end. We knew our bowlers had to take the lead as scoring is tough on this pitch.

"Arshdeep [Singh] started off magnificently. We want options with us. As and when we feel like we could use them, we should be and that's what Dube allowed.

"Being in the Super 8s is a big relief. Playing here wasn't easy, it could've been anyone's game."

USA still have a chance of progressing to the next round after back-to-back victories over Canada and Pakistan.

"The boys were disciplined today, pleased that the game got close," USA captain Aaron Jones said. "We've wanted fans, talked about it for a couple of years.

"We'll come hard against Ireland for sure."

Matthew Mott is hopeful Josh Hazlewood's comments about wanting England eliminated from the T20 World Cup were "tongue in cheek", with the reigning champions' title defence hanging in the balance.

After their opening match against Scotland was rained off - and defeat by Australia - Mott's England must now beat Oman and Namibia in their remaining Group B games - while significantly boosting their net run-rate - to stand any chance of advancing to the Super 8s.

However, England would be knocked out on Sunday if Scotland were to beat Australia, who have already qualified for the next phase after winning each of their first three matches, while a narrow Australian win could also dethrone them.

Hazlewood acknowledged it would be in Australia's "best interest" if England were eliminated, and discussed the possibility of his side attempting to benefit the Scots' net run-rate at the defending champions' expense.

"Having grown up in Australia and with the will to win every game, I am sure they will come to the fore," Mott told BBC Sport. "I am very much hoping it was an off-hand remark by a really good bloke who is having fun.

"Knowing Josh, he has got a pretty dry sense of humour. I am hoping it was very much tongue in cheek."

With their 100 per cent record intact, the reigning Cricket World Cup winners and World Test champions are full of confidence as they look to complete the sweep of global international honours.

Adam Zampa played a starring role in the commanding victory over Namibia last time out, with an impressive 4-12 making him the first Australian to claim 100 T20I wickets.

He has also now claimed the most wickets for his nation at the T20 World Cup (31) - surpassing Mitchell Starc (29), and skipper Mitchell Marsh paid tribute to the spin bowler.

"If you look at his career, especially over the last five years, he's probably our most important player," Marsh said.

"He loves the big moment, loves the pressure, and that comes with experience. He's bowling beautifully at the moment, so we're lucky to have him."

Step aside Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, tennis has a new world number one on the block in Jannik Sinner.

The 22-year-old, born in San Candido, ended a 51-year wait for Italy to boast the ATP's best player in the world rankings after moving to top spot this month.

Sinner overtook Djokovic at the summit of the men's game after his French Open performance, reaching the Roland-Garros final before falling in a five-set thriller to the battling Alcaraz.

Having already secured his first major at the Australian Open earlier this year, Sinner's remarkable rise continued in Paris – but how has the Italian managed to do so?

Here, we unpack the best of the Opta data to delve into Sinner's surge to world number one.

Major champion in Australia

Sinner was crowned a grand slam champion for the first time in his career back in January, defeating Daniil Medvedev in the final after overcoming a two-set deficit in Melbourne.

Sweeping aside Djokovic in the last four and Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals, his route to glory was far from straightforward, too.

Aged 22 years and 165 days at the time of his Melbourne Park triumph, Sinner became the youngest-ever player to achieve successive ATP top-five wins in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final of a major, surpassing Michael Stich – 22 years and 262 days at Wimbledon in 1991.

That Medvedev victory, at the time, also marked Sinner's fourth top-five scalp of 2024.

Since 1973, Sinner is the only fourth player aged under 23 to claim four such wins in the opening three months of a season, after Bjorn Borg (1978-79), Miloslav Mecir (1987) and Andy Murray (2007 and 2009).

Special 2023 sets tone for this year's success

Sinner enjoyed a remarkable campaign last year, winning his first Masters 1000 title at the Canadian Open and finishing the season by reaching the showpiece of the ATP Finals.

He finished with a win-loss record of 64-15 in 2023, breaking the Open Era record previously held by Corrado Barazzutti (55, 1978) for most ATP match wins by an Italian in a calendar year.

En route to the Indian Wells semi-final defeat to Alcaraz, Sinner also claimed a 19th consecutive ATP match win after overcoming Jiri Lehecka, breaking Adriano Panatta's record for the longest winning streak at ATP level of any Italian in the Open Era.

It is hard to argue with his position at the top, too.

Sinner became only the fifth player before turning 23 to defeat the men's world number three times in a calendar year, having overcome Alcaraz and Djokovic (twice) in a remarkable 2023 season.

The Italian also helped his country lift the Davis Cup, though major individual honours were always around the corner for the excellent right-hander.

The best in the world

Australian Open successes and a fine 2023 campaign brought Sinner to his crowning moment in June as he became the first Italian to reach world number one since the ATP rankings started in 1973.

Sinner is one of four players in the past two decades to hold the ATP's number-one ranking before the age of 23, along with Roger Federer, Nadal and Alcaraz.

Since 2000, Sinner is also just the third male player taller than 188 centimetres to reach the summit of tennis before turning 23, along with Andy Roddick and Marat Safin.