NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Georgian coach Temur Ketsbaia lost his job with the Cyprus national team, the national federation said Friday, days after a 4-0 home loss against Kosovo in the UEFA Nations League.
The former Newcastle, Wolverhampton and AEK Athens player was in his third year with the Cyprus team now ranked No. 127 by FIFA, a drop of 20 places while he was in charge.
The president of the Cypriot football association, George Koumas, lauded Ketsbaia for his “professionalism, seriousness and proven love" for the national team after accepting in a meeting Friday that his departure is the “drastic change” that's likely needed.
“His stance honors him and comes as no suprise to those who know him,” Koumas said in a written statement. “Unfortunately, neither Mr. Ketsbaia nor the Federation managed to achieve the wished-for results through this collaboration.”
Cyprus lost all eight games and finished last in its European Championship qualifying group last year, which included eventual title winner Spain, Scotland, Norway and his home country Georgia. Through his 20-game coaching term, Ketsbaia logged six wins, two draws and 13 losses with 19 goals for and 49 against.
Ketsbaia coached Georgia for five years though 2014, and later worked for AEK and Cypriot clubs APOEL and Anorthosis where he led the team to the Champions League group stage for the 2008-09 season — a first for any Cypriot side.
The Cyprus federation did not announce an interim coach to take over for Nations League games next month hosting Romania and the return game in Kosovo.
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FILE - Georgia's coach Temur Ketsbaia, who lost his job with the Cyprus national team. gestures during a World Cup 2014 group I qualifying soccer match France against Georgia at the Stade de France stadium in Saint Denis, north of Paris, on March 22. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Nearly two months after an explosion sent flaming debris raining down on the Turks and Caicos, SpaceX launched another mammoth Starship rocket on Thursday, but lost contact minutes into the test flight as the spacecraft came tumbling down and broke apart.
This time, wreckage from the latest explosion was seen streaming from the skies over Florida. It was not immediately known whether the spacecraft's self-destruct system had kicked in to blow it up.
The 403-foot (123-meter) rocket blasted off from Texas. SpaceX caught the first-stage booster back at the pad with giant mechanical arms, but engines on the spacecraft on top started shutting down as it streaked eastward for what was supposed to be a controlled entry over the Indian Ocean, half a world away. Contact was lost as the spacecraft went into an out-of-control spin.
Starship reached nearly 90 miles (150 kilometers) in altitude before trouble struck and before four mock satellites could be deployed. It was not immediately clear where it came down, but images of flaming debris were captured from Florida, including near Cape Canaveral, and posted online.
The space-skimming flight was supposed to last an hour.
“Unfortunately this happened last time too, so we have some practice at this now,” SpaceX flight commentator Dan Huot said from the launch site.
SpaceX later confirmed that the spacecraft experienced “a rapid unscheduled disassembly" during the ascent engine firing. "Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses,” the company said in a statement posted online.
Starship didn't make it quite as high or as far as last time.
NASA has booked Starship to land its astronauts on the moon later this decade. SpaceX’s Elon Musk is aiming for Mars with Starship, the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket.
Like last time, Starship had mock satellites to release once the craft reached space on this eighth test flight as a practice for future missions. They resembled SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites, thousands of which currently orbit Earth, and were meant to fall back down following their brief taste of space.
Starship’s flaps, computers and fuel system were redesigned in preparation for the next big step: returning the spacecraft to the launch site just like the booster.
During the last demo, SpaceX captured the booster at the launch pad, but the spacecraft blew up several minutes later over the Atlantic. No injuries or major damage were reported.
According to an investigation that remains ongoing, leaking fuel triggered a series of fires that shut down the spacecraft’s engines. The on-board self-destruct system kicked in as planned.
SpaceX said it made several improvements to the spacecraft following the accident, and the Federal Aviation Administration recently cleared Starship once more for launch.
Starships soar out of the southernmost tip of Texas near the Mexican border. SpaceX is building another Starship complex at Cape Canaveral, home to the company’s smaller Falcon rockets that ferry astronauts and satellites to orbit.
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The booster of SpaceX's mega rocket Starship is recaptured during a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
The booster of SpaceX's mega rocket Starship is recaptured during a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
SpaceX's mega rocket Starship lifts off for a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
SpaceX's mega rocket Starship makes a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
The booster of SpaceX's mega rocket Starship is recaptured during a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
SpaceX's mega rocket Starship lifts off for a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
SpaceX's mega rocket Starship makes a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
The booster of SpaceX's mega rocket Starship is recaptured during a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
SpaceX's mega rocket Starship lifts off for a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
SpaceX's mega rocket Starship makes a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
SpaceX's mega rocket Starship is prepared for a test flight in stiff winds from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
SpaceX's mega rocket Starship is prepared for a test flight in stiff winds from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
