Al-Ahram Weekly | Sports

		Al-Ahram Weekly Online 29 Nov. - 5 Dec. 2001 Issue No.562
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Current issue \| Previous issue \| Site map

Zagallo's farewell
MARIO ZAGALLO, a world football champion as a player and a coach, has said his resignation as coach of Flamengo marks his exit from the sport.
The 1970 World Cup champions captain Carlos Alberto Torres will head the team through the three games remaining in the first phase of the Brazilian season and the Mercosur Cup quarter-finals.
Team officials said they still had faith in Zagallo, who reconsidered his decision after stating that he would prefer "remaining on board until I've steered the ship away from the shoals." The "Old Wolf" announced at the time that he planned to retire from soccer in December, after guaranteeing Flamengo's tenure in the first division and capturing the Mercosur Cup. "Unfortunately, I didn't finish the year on the job, but my career, which began as a player with Flamengo, finished here as coach," Zagallo told reporters Friday.
Asked if there were any chance he might return to coaching, a position he also held for World Cups in West Germany in 1974 and France in 1998, Zagallo declared insistently, "Don't even think about it. Only if it's to cheer them on."
The 70-year-old Brazilian football legend won World Cups as a player in Sweden in 1958 and Chile in 1962, as a coach in Mexico in 1970 and as an adviser in the United States in 1994.

Zidane satisfied
FRENCH playmaker Zinedine Zidane feels he has weathered a slow start with Real Madrid and has now settled in with the Spanish champion.
"I'm glad about my physical condition and the way I play with Real," Zidane told the French sports daily l'Equipe.
"That's what I'm really satisfied about. I simply hope to carry on like this," he added.
The world's best player and former European Footballer of the Year, who is among the favourites for this year's award, has vastly improved in his last two outings with Real, against Sevilla in the Liga and Sparta Prague in the Champions League.

Future FIFA boss?
FIFA President Sepp Blatter has said Franz Beckenbauer has what it takes to be boss of soccer's ruling body one day.
"Franz Beckenbauer is an extraordinary personality," Blatter told the German Sunday newspaper Bild am Sonntag in an interview released the day before publication. "He has been brilliant in every role in football and he could do this (rule FIFA) as well in the future," he added.
Beckenbauer lifted the World Cup as captain in 1974 and coach in 1990 before heading Germany's successful bid to host the 2006 finals. The legendary defender is now the chairman of the organising committee of the 2006 World Cup as well as vice president of the German Football Association (DFB) and the president of Bayern Munich.
Blatter, who stands for re-election at the FIFA congress next May in Seoul, said he was confident ahead of the vote. His candidature for another term has received support from the DFB.
The FIFA chief was asked about the German national team, who had to survive a playoff against Ukraine to make next year's finals in South Korea and Japan. "Germany remain a great football nation," he said. "They were world champions three times and reached three other finals. That reputation alone makes them one of the favourites."

Ghana, Nigeria cleared
FIFA has cleared Ghana and Nigeria of any wrongdoing after a Nigerian state governor gave the visiting Ghanaian team $25,000 following the loss of a key World Cup match. But both national associations have been warned of the "considerable ethical problems and legal uncertainties" over such gifts and were urged there be no repeat.
The money was handed over after Ghana were beaten by Nigeria for the first time for 17 years in a World Cup qualifying match last July. The result sent Nigeria to next year's World Cup finals and eliminated West African rivals Liberia.
Ghana's parliamentary opposition had demanded a full inquiry into the payments, accepted by players and officials, while the Liberian Football Association petitioned FIFA, alleging bribery.
But FIFA's disciplinary committee has ruled the cash was not bribery as it was offered after the match at a public event, adding that gifts for opposing national teams seemed to be a local custom.
Ghana's team coach Osam Duodu had blamed the defeat on foreign based players failing to turn up. Ghana had no chance of qualifying even if they had won.

Kabylie again
JS KABYLIE of Algeria won their second successive Confederation of African Football (CAF) Cup, beating Etoile Sahel of Tunisia 1-0 in Algiers to take the title on the away goals rule.
Defender Brahim Zafour scored after 28 minutes to level the aggregate score at 2-2 after Etoile won the first leg 2-1 two weeks ago. Kabylie had also taken the title on the away goals rule over Ismailia of Egypt last year and Friday's win this week gave it a fifth triumph in an African club competition. Zafour's goal came from a header in a goalmouth scramble following a corner that the Tunisian team's goalkeeper Hamid Baba barely managed to parry.
The visitors, who were chasing a record third CAF Cup title, twice had the ball in the net but both attempts in the second half were disallowed.
Abdelkader Keita, Etoile's Ivorian international striker, was sent off for a head butt on Kabylie's defender Noureddine Drioueche six minutes from time. Keita had scored both goals for Etoile Sahel in the first leg.
Compiled from wire services

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