Benitez fired as Real Madrid coach, replaced by Zidane

MADRID — Real Madrid fired coach Rafa Benitez after only seven months on Monday and replaced him with its former star player Zinedine Zidane.

Club president Florentino Perez announced the decision at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium on Monday, a day after Madrid’s 2-2 draw at Valencia deepened a crisis that started with an embarrassing 4-0 home loss to rival Barcelona in November.

“We have to do our best so that the team is able to win something,” said Zidane. “I’m going to put all my heart into Real Madrid.”

Madrid has won seven of nine matches since the demoralizing defeat to Barcelona but fans continued to demand the departure of Benitez, whose Liverpool side won the Champions League in 2005.

Real Madrid is third in the Spanish league, four points behind leader Atletico Madrid and two behind Barcelona, which has a game in hand.

France soccer great Zidane, who was Carlo Ancelotti’s assistant in 2014 when Real Madrid won the Champions League, has been coaching Madrid’s “B” team in the third division.

Zidane was at the Bernabeu with his wife and four kids.

“I’m more emotional now than when I signed as a player,” said Zidane, who ended his career at Madrid in 2006.

It will be the first major coaching job for the former playmaker, whose career was marked by greatness on the field but also by his head-butting of an Italian defender in the 2006 World Cup final.

“He is clearly conscious of how tough this job is,” Perez said. “Zidane doesn’t know the word impossible.”

Zidane leaves Real Madrid Castilla in second place in the third division, with 37 points from 19 games.

Perez had supported Benitez since the Barcelona loss, saying the Spaniard “was the solution, not the problem,” to Madrid’s crisis. But fans kept showing their discontent even in an 8-0 win over Malmo in the Champions League and a 10-2 rout of Rayo Vallecano in the Spanish league. They also were not happy with the team’s embarrassing elimination from the Copa del Rey for using an ineligible player.

Zidane’s name was mentioned by Spanish media every time Real Madrid struggled. The 43-year-old former playmaker kept dismissing the possibility of taking over Benitez, but always made it clear that his ultimate goal was to coach the main team. Perez recently praised Zidane and said that naturally he would become Madrid’s coach one day.

There had been speculation about former Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho taking over at Madrid, but Perez said the Portuguese coach’s return wasn’t in the team’s plans for now.

Madrid’s next match is at Granada on Sunday in the 22nd round of the Spanish league.

Zidane said he would begin training for the Madrid squad on Tuesday, the first session of the year and one that is traditionally open to the public.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Madrid climbs above Barcelona; Chelsea wins again

BARCELONA, Spain — Cristiano Ronaldo scored again to help Real Madrid take the lead in the Spanish league after Barcelona surprisingly lost at home to Celta Vigo on Saturday.

Other top European teams avoided any upsets, with Bayern Munich and Chelsea both needing late penalties to earn 2-1 home victories.

Juventus took advantage of Roma’s loss to open up a three-point lead in Serie A, while Paris Saint-Germain pulled within a point of leader Marseille in the French league.

Here is a look Saturday’s games in the main European leagues.

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SPAIN

Luis Suarez’s home debut with Barcelona was spoiled by Celta Vigo as Joaquin Larrivey scored in the second half to deal the hosts a 1-0 loss.

Larrivey headed home the winner in the 55th-minute, while Neymar and Lionel Messi were both denied twice by the goal frame. Celta goalie Sergio Alvarez also made two reflex saves to deny Messi the goal he needs to equal the all-time Spanish league scoring record.

It was Celta’s first away win against Barcelona since 1942, and it came against former coach Luis Enrique.

Madrid had no such troubles as Ronaldo helped put his team provisionally atop the standings, two points ahead of Barcelona, by scoring for a 12 straight game in a 4-0 win at Granada.

Ronaldo slotted in Karim Benzema’s pass put the visitors in control from the second minute. James Rodriguez played his best match for Madrid with goals, while Karim Benzema scored after an assist from Ronaldo.

Atletico Madrid climbed into second place, one point behind Madrid, after Antoine Griezmann scored his first two league goals this season to fuel a 4-2 victory at home over Cordoba.

Sevilla is two points behind Madrid and can take the lead with a win over Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.

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ENGLAND

Eden Hazard converted a second-half penalty as Chelsea beat Queens Park Rangers 2-1 to remain four points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Arsenal and Southampton also won, but Liverpool’s inconsistent start to the season continued with an away loss to Newcastle.

Oscar put Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea side ahead after 32 minutes with a delicate finish across the goal, but Charlie Austin put QPR level with a clever back-heeled flick.

Hazard was then fouled by Eduardo Vargas, and the Belgium international won the game from the penalty spot.

Southampton won 1-0 at Hull to remain in second place from Victor Wanyama’s goal in the third minute.

Arsenal beat last-place Burnley 3-0 after two goals by Alexis Sanchez, while Liverpool slumped to a 1-0 loss at Newcastle.

Substitute Ayoze Perez scored the decisive goal in the 74th for Newcastle’s fourth straight win in all competitions.

Also, Everton drew 0-0 with Swansea, West Ham drew 2-2 at Stoke, and West Bromwich Albion won 1-0 at Leicester.

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GERMANY

Arjen Robben’s late penalty gave Bayern Munich a hard-fought 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund to leave the visitors in the Bundesliga’s relegation zone.

Robben converted from the spot in the 85th minute, completing Bayern’s comeback 13 minutes after Robert Lewandowski scored the equalizer against his former side.

Marco Reus gave Dortmund a 31st-minute lead with a header from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s deep cross.

Dortmund, the 2011 and 2012 champion, has made its worst start to a season after losing seven of the opening 10 games.

Earlier, Rafael van der Vaart’s first-half penalty earned Hamburger SV a 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen to move out of the relegation zone.

Hamburg moved two points above Dortmund, which is level on seven points with Werder Bremen, which won 2-1 at Mainz in Viktor Skripnik’s first league game as coach.

Wolfsburg moved provisionally second with a 4-0 win at Stuttgart, and Hannover beat Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 thanks to Alexander Madlung’s own goal in the 88th minute.

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ITALY

Andrea Pirlo scored his first goal of the season as defending champion Juventus beat Empoli 2-0 to move three points clear of Roma atop the Serie A standings.

The 35-year-old Pirlo broke the deadlock with a trademark free kick on the hour mark and Alvaro Morata added the second.

It was Pirlo’s 26th free-kick goal in Serie A, putting him one behind Sinisa Mihajlovic’s record.

Earlier, Gonzalo Higuain scored again to help Napoli beat Roma 2-0 at the Stadio San Paolo.

Higuain, who hadn’t scored in the opening seven rounds, netted his fifth goal in six days and then set up Jose Callejon for the second goal late on.

Also, Paolo De Ceglie scored both goals give last-place Parma a surprise 2-0 win against Inter Milan.

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FRANCE

Edinson Cavani and Jean-Christophe Bahebeck helped defending champion Paris Saint-Germain rally for a 2-1 win over Lorient in the French league.

Bahebeck came on as a substitute to net the winner when he beat Lorient goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte to a long ball to score into an empty net in the 68th minute.

Lorient midfielder Raphael Guerreiro had opened the scoring by firing home a low strike in the 42nd, but Cavani converted a rebound to level in the 61st.

In the race for a Champions League spot, Lyon stayed one point behind PSG by defeating Nice 3-1.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Cristiano Ronaldo wins FIFA best player award

ZURICH—Cristiano Ronaldo couldn’t hide how much it meant to him, finally being voted the world’s best player again.

Having spent four years in the shadow of his great rival Lionel Messi, Ronaldo broke down in tears after being elected the Ballon d’Or winner for 2013 on Monday (Zurich time)—a rare display of emotion that showed just how important it was for the Portugal winger to lay his hands on the trophy again.

Ronaldo first won football’s biggest individual prize five years ago, but then watched as Messi found a way of upstaging him each year despite consistently scoring at an unprecedented rate for Real Madrid.

“There are no words to describe this moment,” said Ronaldo, crying openly while his 3-year-old son, also named Cristiano, stood at his feet. The little boy had just been hoisted by Brazil great Pele to touch the golden trophy as dad gathered himself to speak.

“People who know me know how many people helped me,” Ronaldo said in Portuguese. “If I have forgotten anyone, I do apologize because I am deeply moved.”

Earlier Monday, Ronaldo was cautiously diplomatic at a news conference, facing media who mostly predicted his prolific 69-goal tally in 2013 would end Messi’s four-year victory run.

Ronaldo’s stunning hat trick against Sweden in a decisive World Cup playoff in November also appeared to stand out as the year’s defining individual performance.

“If I win, fine. If I don’t, life goes on,” he said, acknowledging that Messi’s sustained excellence for Madrid nemesis Barcelona had pushed him to improve.

Ronaldo also said he has made peace with FIFA President Sepp Blatter, whose ill-judged comments in October stating a preference for Messi seemed to confirm a long-held belief in Portugal and Madrid that their player was destined to lose.

“We talked over the telephone and everything was cleared,” Ronaldo said before the ceremony. “This is no longer an issue, neither for us nor for football.”

In a tight race, Ronaldo received 1,365 points, Messi had 1,205 and Franck Ribery, the France and Bayern Munich winger, got 1,127. Voting was done by national team captains and coaches, plus selected journalists in each FIFA member country.

On hearing his name called—finally delivered by Pele after a dramatic pause and smile—Ronaldo closed his eyes, grinned and dipped his head, then turned to kissed his girlfriend, model Irina Shayk, before walking to the stage.

Pele greeted Ronaldo with a hug minutes after he also cried on stage when collecting an honorary Ballon d’Or for his own outstanding career.

Ronaldo’s victory was fitting on an evening when FIFA paid tribute to another great Portugal forward, Eusebio, who died last week.

FIFA also stressed that Ronaldo’s win owed nothing to an extension of the initial balloting deadline beyond the World Cup playoff. His display in Stockholm was so impressive it seemed certain to sway voters when Messi was sidelined by his third injury of the year.

Still, FIFA spokesman Walter De Gregorio said Monday the standings were unchanged by the voting rules adjustment.

Though Ribery lost, Bayern got one victory as Jupp Heynckes won the coaching award for leading the team to a Champions League, Bundesliga and national cup treble last season before he retired. Heynckes defeated Juergen Klopp of Borussia Dortmund and Alex Ferguson, who retired after winning another Premier League title for Manchester United.

European champion Germany swept the women’s awards.

Goalkeeper Nadine Angerer was player of the year ahead of United States forward Abby Wambach, last year’s winner, and Marta of Brazil. Sylvia Neid won the women’s coaching award, beating Sweden’s Pia Sundhage and Ralf Kellermann, who led Wolfsburg to the Champions League title.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic won a fans’ online vote to get the Puskas Award for best goal, a long-range bicycle kick for Sweden against England in a November 2012 friendly.

Blatter gave his presidential award to Jacques Rogge, the International Olympic Committee president for 12 years until reaching his term limit last September. The Afghanistan football federation got the fair play award.

Pele received an honorary Ballon d’Or trophy, which he could never get during his career when the original prize created by France Football magazine in 1956 was restricted to European players.

“I promised my family I would not cry but I am emotional,” said Pele, the only player to win the World Cup three times.

source: sports.inquirer.net