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Wednesday, May 27, 2015

EXTRATIME

Real Madrid set to unveil Benitez

afa Benitez is already “99 percent” Real Madrid’s new coach, according to the agent of departing Blancos boss Carlo

Ancelotti. Ancelotti was fired by Madrid president Florentino Perez on Monday evening, with the Italian having paid for a 2014-15 campaign which brought no major trophies despite winning the

Champions League and Copa del Rey titles in his first season in charge the year before. Current Napoli and former Valencia, Liverpool and Chelsea manager Benitez is widely seen as the frontrunner with his agent saying the Spaniard would be “delighted” to take the job, especially with Perez having intimated that he wanted a Spanish speaker in the role. Reporters have been told that no

confirmation would be given until next week, perhaps because Benitez still has his final Serie A game as Napoli coach on Sunday evening. This chain of events seems even more likely after Ancelotti’s agent Ernesto Bronzetti told RAI that he had heard that Madrid-born Benitez a previous youth and assistant coach at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, was returning to the club as first team boss.

Neuer, Muller, Kroos out of Germany-US friendly

Asisat Oshoala wins BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year award

igeria and Liverpool forward Asisat Oshoala has been named as the BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year. The 20-year-old forward is the first player to win the new award from the BBC World Service, voted for by football fans around the world. She beat Spain’s Veronica Boquete, German Nadine Kessler, Scot Kim Little and Brazilian Marta to the honour. “I would like to say thank you to the BBC, to my fans around the world and to everyone who voted,” she said. The award is the first of its kind hosted by a global broadcaster. Oshoala, who was the youngest player

to be shortlisted, was the leading scorer at the Under-20s World Cup in Canada last summer and was voted the tournament’s best player. Her performances led Nigeria to the final, where they were narrowly beaten by Germany, and she was also a major influence in the senior Nigeria team who won the African Women’s Championship in October. That ensured their qualification for this summer’s World Cup in Canada, which

“Rafa Benitez is 99 percent Real Madrid coach,” Bronzetti said. Ancelotti had been linked with an immediate return to his former club Milan, although the 55-year-old said he will undergo a minor back operation and then take some time off -- a plan which his representative appeared to confirm. “At the moment, Ancelotti wants to take a years’ rest,” Bronzetti said. “That is his intention.”

begins on 6 June with full coverage on the BBC. Oshoala said the honour was a big lift for Nigeria before the World Cup and would help inspire young players in her homeland. “It’s a really good thing for us as a team because we now know that we have something great and now we want to go at the trophy,” she said. “We can do it, we did it in 2014 we can also do it this year as well.

Bayern Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger marked his 500th appearance for the Bundesliga champions and Jurgen Klopp said goodbye to Borussia Dortmund. Manuel Neuer, Thomas Muller and Toni Kroos have all been left out of Joachim Low’s Germany squad for a friendly against the USA on June 10 and a Euro 2016 qualifier at Gibraltar three days later. Thirteen World Cup winners have been called up to the squad for Germany’s final two games of the post-World Cup season, but Bayern duo Muller and Neuer -- along with Real Madrid midfielder Kroos and injury-prone Borussia Dortmund attacker Marco Reus -- will not take part in the friendly against Jurgen Klinsmann’s U.S. side in Cologne. “I could bank on Thomas and Toni in the past, and both have them have abundant merits for DFB and the Nationalmannschaft,” Low told the official DFB website. “They have deserved a break.

BRIEFS Blatter shrugs off Figo ‘dictatorship’ claims Fifa president Sepp Blatter has brushed aside claims from Luis Figo that he runs football’s governing body as a “dictatorship” and is confident of winning a fifth term in office. Last week Figo joined Michael Praag in pulling out of the upcoming presidential elections, leaving Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein as Blatter’s sole challenger. Figo, a former Real Madrid, Inter and Barcelona star, stated in a lengthy statement that he would not put himself forward for consideration until “it is proven to me that we are not living under a dictatorship”. The Portugal legend also claimed the upcoming vote was about the “delivery of power to one man”. Responding to Figo, Blatter told Sky Sports: “Luis Figo is free to say what he wants to say. You can ask him why he called me a dictator. “I have received so many titles, but I am still the president until Friday.

Man Utd eye Karim Benzema

arim Benzema is being monitored by Louis van Gaal, with the Real Madrid player viewed by the Manchester United manager as an answer to their goalscoring problems. If he does decide to make a move for the striker, who would cost in the region of £40m, they may have to fight off interest from Arsenal. The United goalkeeper David De Gea, who is valued at up to £30m, could well be used as a makeweight in any deal. Although Benzema signed a five-year contract last summer there is widespread uncertainty at Real now that Carlo Ancelotti has been sacked as head coach. Rafael Benítez, who is leaving Napoli at the end of the season, is expected to replace the Italian at the Bernabéu and several Real players’ futures are in doubt, which may make it easier for Van Gaal to land Benzema should he firm up his interest.