Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal has described the fitness tests for national team players organized by Germany coach Joachim Loew next week as “madness.”
Loew has summoned 29 players, five from Bayern, for four days of tests in Stuttgart that will assess the condition of likely national squad players prior to this summer’s World Cup in South Africa.
“I think it’s madness,” said Van Gaal yesterday, the day before his side’s league meeting with Werder Bremen. “For the clubs, paying our players and then making them available to the national team for four days is not right.”
Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Mueller, Mario Gomez and Miroslav Klose represent the Bayern contingent in Loew’s selection.
“We could have given them the results of our own physical tests. I’ve never experienced something like this and I’ve coached some big clubs,” added Van Gaal, a former manager of Barcelona, Ajax and the Dutch national side.
Loew responded to his critics by pointing out that the dates for the fitness tests had been agreed in advance.
“This get-together was organized a long time ago with the league and the clubs,” he told the SID German news agency.
“I understand the sporting priorities of Louis van Gaal, but we’re in a World Cup year and it’s in the interest of everyone in German football that the team is well prepared,” he said.
“That’s why I expect all the clubs to give all their support to the Nationalmannschaft [German national team] until, and during, the World Cup,” Loew said.
Germany skipper Michael Ballack will not attend the tests in Stuttgart because his club Chelsea require his services for a Premier League match at home to Birmingham on Wednesday.
Van Gaal, meanwhile, will not participate in a seminar for Bundesliga coaches organized by Loew in Stuttgart on Monday, in which the national boss will outline his program for the run-up to the World Cup.
The Dutchman will be in Portugal for a charity match raising funds for the victims of the Haiti earthquake.
Santiago Castro on Tuesday had an immediate impact off the bench as he scored the goal to send Bologna into the Coppa Italia semi-finals for the first time in 26 years. Bologna won 1-0 against last year’s runners-up, Atalanta BC, and are to play either holders Juventus or Empoli in the final four. Juventus are to host Empoli in their quarter-final on Feb. 26. The last time Bologna reached the semi-finals was in 1999, when they lost 4-2 to ACF Fiorentina. There were chances for both sides in a high-tempo match in Bergamo, but it was Bologna who broke the deadlock 10 minutes from
After nearly six years away from the NBA, New Taipei Kings player Jeremy Lin (林書豪) is set to participate in the 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend’s Rising Stars mini-tournament as the coach of Team G League. The NBA announced Monday (U.S. time) that the Taiwanese-American player will join a trio of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famers – Tim Hardaway Sr., Chris Mullin, and Mitch Richmond – as honorary coaches for four teams featuring 28 rising talents. "See you soon in the Bay," Lin wrote in an Instagram story sharing the news. As the All-Star Weekend will take place at
The former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani on Thursday was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for bank and tax fraud after he stole nearly US$17 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers player’s bank account. Ippei Mizuhara, who was supposed to bridge the gap between the Japanese athlete and his English-speaking teammates and fans, was sentenced in federal court in Santa Ana to four years and nine months after pleading guilty last year. He was ordered to pay US$18 million in restitution, with nearly US$17 million going to Ohtani and the remainder to the US Internal Revenue Service. He was
The 40-year-old LeBron James on Thursday became the oldest player to score 40 points in an NBA game, putting up a season-high 42 in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 120-112 victory over the Golden State Warriors. James passed the record held by Michael Jordan, his idol and the only other NBA player to score 40 after his 40th birthday. “I’m old, that’s my take,” James said when asked about his latest achievement. “I need a glass of wine and some sleep, that’s what I think.” Jordan did it for the Washington Wizards just three days after turning 40 in February 2003. James is 38