Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa on Monday returned to his home country two days after his surprise resignation from French Ligue 1 side Olympique de Marseille.
Bielsa, 60, who has been linked to the Mexico national team manager’s role in recent weeks, arrived at Buenos Aires’ Ezeiza airport and traveled immediately by road to his hometown of Rosario, 300km from the capital.
Bielsa, who had only been in charge at the Stade Velodrome since May last year, announced he was quitting the French club immediately after their lackluster 1-0 season-opening defeat to Stade Malherbe Caen on Saturday.
Photo: AFP
Bielsa insisted he was not leaving Marseille to sign another contract, but blamed disagreements with club management.
Marseille got off to a flying start last season — winning eight of their opening 10 games — before fading to fourth, 14 points adrift of champions Paris Saint-Germain.
Bielsa, who guided Chile to the last 16 at the 2010 World Cup, said he had been patient with the club, despite uncertainty in the way they had conducted themselves in the close-season transfer market.
For their part the club accused El Loco (mad man) of holding them to ransom over his contract.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two