Feyenoord coach Ronald Koeman believes Ruud Gullit is more than qualified to take charge of the Netherlands national team.
The Dutch are on the lookout for a new coach following Bert van Marwijk s resignation in the wake of the team s early exit at Euro 2012.
Koeman admitted his attraction to the post but expects to remain in Rotterdam next season, instead backing Gullit as a quality solution.
It is not a secret that I have the ambition to coach Netherlands, Koeman told voetbalzone.nl. But I have a contract with Feyenoord and there is a not a clause that will allow me to leave.
I will coach Feyenoord next season, that is for sure.
Ruud Gullit? He would be a good choice.
Former Liverpool attacker Dirk Kuyt, who will play for Fenerbahce…
Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack and Bayern Munich striker Lukas Podolski fired first-half goals to give Germany a 2-1 win over Russia in Saturday s World Cup qualifier here.
Germany remain a point clear at the top of Group Four on seven points with two wins and a draw after their win over Guus Hiddink s Russia team who are fourth in the table with three points from last month s 2-1 win over Wales.
Podolski and captain Ballack scored within the first half hour to give the home side a 2-0 lead at the break before Russian play-maker Andrei Arshavin put his side on the scoreboard early in the second-half.
Injuries meant striker Roman Pavlyuchenko, defender Denis Kolodin and midfielder Dmitry Torbinsky were all missing from Hiddink s selection.
The onl…
Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty as Juventus were held to a 1-1 Serie A draw by Atalanta in Turin on Wednesday.
Andrea Pirlo s side had looked well on their way to a fifth consecutive win in all competitions when Federico Chiesa scored his first league goal for the club since joining on loan from Fiorentina after 29 minutes.
Remo Freuler pulled the visitors level with a sumptuous strike in the 57th minute, though, before Ronaldo s dismal spot-kick was kept out by the impressive Pierluigi Gollini four minutes later.
A point lifted the champions up to third, but they could finish the day six points behind leaders Milan should Stefano Pioli s men overcome Genoa. Atalanta, meanwhile, moved up to eighth ahead of Wednesday s late fixtures.
Juve start…
Pep Guardiola felt Manchester City forgot to attack in the second half against Basel as his side suffered a first home defeat since December 2016.
Despite losing 2-1 in Wednesday s Champions League last-16 second leg, City progressed to the quarter-finals for the second time in the club s history thanks to a 5-2 aggregate victory.
Guardiola s men set a new passing record in the competition, but having made nine changes from the first leg City lacked invention and penetration at the Etihad Stadium.
And the Catalan was critical of a flat performance that saw the Premier League leaders slip to their second Champions League loss of the season – they suffered a 2-1 defeat in a group stage dead rubber away to Shakhtar Donetsk.
From tomorrow we will be happy …
Ryan Giggs has hailed retiring Manchester United team-mate Paul Scholes as amazing.
Scholes played his final game in United s 2-1 victory over Swansea City at Old Trafford on Sunday, after almost 20 years playing in United s first-team.
And Giggs, who will play into his 40th year next season, was full of praise for the midfielder s impact at the club.
You ve seen him today he s not played for I don t know how long and he comes in and his little five-yard passes and 30-yard passes, plus his range of passing, was just unbelievable, he said.
He s just a pleasure to play with someone who, as a forward player, you knew if you made a run, he would play you in.
You wouldn t even have to break stride as you knew the pace of the pass would be perfect a…
Porto took advantage of a host of defensive errors to stun Bayern Munich and prevail 3-1 in their UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg.
Bayern, winners in 2013, came into Wednesday s clash at the Estadio do Dragao as favourites, but a trio of mistakes at the back leaves them with it all to do at the Allianz Arena next week.
In a dramatic start to proceedings, Ricardo Quaresma took full advantage of two glaring errors from Bayern in the opening 10 minutes, first converting from the penalty spot after Jackson Martinez had dispossessed Xabi Alonso and then been felled by Manuel Neuer inside the box.
Quaresma then robbed Dante and produced a calm finish to double his tally and leave visiting coach Pep Guardiola standing aghast on the touchline.
…
Hansi Flick rued a timid Germany performance as Belgium took full advantage to seize an unassailable early lead in Tuesday s 3-2 friendly triumph in Cologne.
Yannick Carrasco and Romelu Lukaku fired Domenico Tedesco s new-look Belgium into a 2-0 lead inside nine minutes at RheinEnergieStadion.
A Niclas Fullkrug penalty, his sixth goal in as many international appearances, brought Flick s side back into it before Kevin De Bruyne – who created Belgium s first two goals – put the game out of reach.
Serge Gnabry managed a late consolation but Flick acknowledged there was no way back after Tedesco s visitors punished a woeful start to earn Belgium s first win against Germany since 1954.
We were too cautious, too passive and weren t able to put our opponen…
Karel Bruckner, former coach of the Czech and Austrian national teams, said Wedensday he is retiring from the game.
My career as head coach is ending, the 69-year-old Bruckner told Sport daily.
This week I ll officially join the ranks of the retired. I will benefit from reductions on the railways and the tramways, joked Bruckner, who coached the Czechs from 2001-2008 and then the Austrians until the beginning of this month.
After 37 years work my brain is completely impregnated with football, said Bruckner, who had intended to quit after Euro 2008 but changed his mind after the Czechs lost to Turkey in a thrilling encounter which left him wanting more.
The end of that match was quite brutal I wanted to chase off that memory so it would no longer haun…
Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho feels he is at the best club in the world, the best, the biggest in the world ahead of facing old side Chelsea and Frank Lampard.
Mourinho had two spells at Stamford Bridge, winning the Premier League during each period with the Blues, and Spurs host Chelsea in the Premier League on Sunday.
Tottenham have recovered some form since Mourinho replaced Mauricio Pochettino last month, and they are now only three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea in the race for Champions League qualification.
The Portuguese is not worried about handling his emotions ahead of taking on Chelsea again, with Mourinho also siding with Glenn Hoddle after he recently claimed Spurs are a bigger club than the Blues.
I am 100 per cent Tottenham, he…
Real Madrid will provide Eden Hazard with the platform he needs to reach the highest level, according to Fernando Torres.
Chelsea this month sold Hazard, who had one year left on his contract at Stamford Bridge, to Madrid in a deal said to be worth €130million.
Luka Jovic, Eder Militao, Ferland Mendy and Rodrygo have also arrived at the Santiago Bernabeu as Zinedine Zidane bids to rejuvenate Los Blancos after a dismal 2018-19 season, in which they finished third in LaLiga and only won the Club World Cup.
Torres believes Madrid offers his former Chelsea team-mate Hazard with the perfect stage to raise his game, though the Belgium international will need to ensure he has the appropriate mindset.
[Madrid] have got the brand where every player in the worl…