Urawa Red Diamonds will fire their German coach Gert Engels at the end of the season following their failure to defend their AFC Asian Champions League title, it was reported on Thursday.
I was told that I will have no contract for next season. I must just accept it because of the differences in how we think, the Sports Nippon daily quoted Engels as saying after meeting club president Mitsunori Fujiguchi on Wednesday.
Urawa were knocked out of the AFC Champions League last month in the semi-finals, losing 3-1 to Gamba Osaka after a 1-1 draw, leaving the German coach s future at the club in doubt.
Urawa s 2-1 loss to Shimizu S-Pulse in the J-League on Sunday apparently sealed his fate.
The club, in fourth place on 53 points four points behind leaders …
In the hunt to replace sacked Bayern Munich coach Jurgen Klinsmann, club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge insisted on Sunday experience and personality would be key attributes for potential candidates.
When one looks at the current trend in Europe, it s notable that many of the successful coaches are personalities with a huge amount of experience and of advancing age, Rummenigge told Sunday s edition of Die Welt.
Klinsmann was sacked last Monday as Bayern head coach after just ten months in charge following a string of poor results with Jupp Heynckes appointed as caretaker coach for the rest of the season.
Dutch coaches Louis van Gaal, Frank Rijkaard and Martin Jol have all been linked to the vacant job at the defending Bundesliga champions, as well as German Foo…
Monaco have sacked head coach Robert Moreno.
The 42-year-old was appointed by the principality club last December and led them to a ninth-place finish in the 2019-20 Ligue 1 season, which was ended early due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Former Bayern Munich boss Niko Kovac had already been heavily linked to the Monaco job before Robert s departure was confirmed.
A club statement read: AS Monaco announce that the club has launched a procedure leading to the departure of Robert Moreno. The Spanish coach was informed of this in a preliminary meeting on Saturday.
Monaco vice-president Oleg Petrov said: Our paths parted sooner than expected but I would like to thank Robert Moreno for accepting the challenge.
Together with his staff, Robert has done …
New Sevilla coach Gregorio Manzano enjoyed a winning league debut as his side cruised to a 3-1 home win over rivals Atletico Madrid on Sunday.
Goals from Alvaro Negredo, Diego Perotti and Frederic Kanoute clinched the spoils for Sevilla, who move above Atletico into fifth place.
Manzano, who took over from the sacked Antonio Alvarez, has won both of his first two matches in charge, with a 1-0 Europa League win at Borussia Dortmund on Thursday followed up by triumph against Atletico.
Atletico had hoped to enact revenge for their 2-0 loss to Sevilla in last season s King s Cup final, but it was not to be.
Negredo opened the scoring in the 28th minute with a beautiful curling shot into the top corner.
Seven minutes later Argentine Perotti was fortun…
Former Italy international Fabio Cannavaro said he is eyeing a coaching career in his homeland.
A World Cup winner in 2006, Cannavaro has begun his career in the technical area with an assistant role at UAE Pro-League outfit Al Ahli.
The veteran of 136 international caps, the 40-year-old Cannavaro is preparing to launch himself into a career as a tactician.
The role of coach and sporting director really suits me now. I sense the drive to put my ideas into practice, the Naples-born Cannavaro told the FIFA Weekly.
Will I end up coaching in Italy one day? Definitely.
I m Italian and the privilege of working in my home country would fill me with pride. However, the opportunity to work in a variety of countries, learning new cultures and footballing mentalities,…
Competition: Champions League
Market: APOEL to win against TNS
Odds:
Cypriot title-winners APOEL Nicosia travel to Park Hall to face Welsh Premier Division champions The New Saints in the first leg of the second round of the Champions League qualifiers, and are favourites to come out on top given their superior European pedigree in.
The New Saints have only made it past the second qualifying round of the Champions League just once post-millennium, but have fallen short at this stage in each of the last four seasons. They made this summer’s qualifiers after winning the Welsh title, but failed to win 44% of their games.
And with opponents APOEL Nicosia winning 20 of their 26 league games to win the crown last season, booking their place in the Champ…
Market: Leicester win
Odds: 1/2 @
Looking to make it three Championship victories on the bounce this weekend, Leicester will welcome Cardiff to the King Power on Saturday afternoon.
Starting with the hosts, while Leicester might have come under a huge amount of scrutiny as they lost their Premier League status, the Foxes have opened the 2023/24 campaign with a real flurry. Putting in another eye-catching performance as they claimed a 1-0 victory away at Huddersfield, Enzo Maresca’s men have won each of their first three appearances across all competitions. Extending on their EFL Cup adventure with a routine 2-0 win away at Burton on August 9th, the one-time Manchester City coach will be calling on his high-flying squad to make another statement here. Excited t…
Stefano Pioli said he respects the opinions of Milan s supporters after thousands of fans carried out a silent protest during Sunday s 3-3 Serie A draw against Genoa at San Siro.
With Milan enduring a second straight trophyless season, trailing champions Inter by 18 points, Pioli has come under pressure amid suggestions the Rossoneri have held talks with former Spain and Real Madrid boss Julen Lopetegui.
Irritated fans unfurled banners demanding improvements to the team during Sunday s match, while the club s ultras stayed silent in protest throughout the game.
Fans then left behind a banner which read the sound of silence as they filed out en masse from the Curva Sud shortly after Olivier Giroud had put Milan 3-2 ahead in the 75th minute.
By the time Gen…
Manchester United and Netherlands goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar is currently preparing for his fourth European Championship.
Fresh from his match – winning save from Chelsea’s Nicolas Anelka on Wednesday night in the UEFA Champions League final in Moscow, van der Sar is eagerly awaiting the European Championship competition to be held jointly by Austria and Switzerland.
The thirty seven year old goalkeeper sees this as his last opportunity to lift a trophy for his national team.
He began his career at Ajax Amsterdam in 1993 when he broke through the ranks to become the clubÂ’s number one keeper.
He won his first international cap against Belarus in 1995.
He had since played for Juventus and Fulham before joinin…
Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez will be hoping his Liverpool renaisance can continue, while Portsmouth will continue what looks to be an impossible battle to stay in the Premierleague.
Liverpool have finally started to show some form this season and now find themselves just a point behind Manchester City in 6th place. They really have some work to do to reach that crucial fourth placed spot in order to gain champions league football, but it s only in recent weeks that the have looked like being able to put a run of results together. A lot is down to the returning form and fitness of Steven Gerrard and Fernndo Torres. Any team stripped of its two prize assets will struggle, and Liverpool are no different. However, now they have both players back with a few games under their belts, I…