Italy coach Cesare Prandelli has called for the introduction of drink breaks during next year’s World Cup finals in Brazil to counter the debilitating effects of heat and humidity at venues in the tropical northeast.
“You can’t even give players water because FIFA want the bottles near the goalposts, which can only be of use when there are corner kicks,” he said.
“You are risking a situation where teams will kick the ball out for a corner just to drink something. It sounds like a joke but in fact it is really serious.
“We will make this request in the next few days.”
Fernandez quits
Montpellier coach Jean Fernandez has resigned after overseeing a run of seven Ligue 1 games without victory that has left the 2012 champions flirting with relegation.
Wednesday night’s 2-0 defeat to Lorient at the Stade de la Mosson was a fourth reverse in seven matches while Montpellier have won only twice this season under the supervision of 59-year-old Fernandez.
The former Marseille and Auxerre coach replaced Lille-bound Rene Girard in the summer and delivered a 2-1 home win over Sochaux in his third league game in charge. MHSC beat Lyon 5-1 on October 6 but have not won since.
Livorno standing by their coach Nicola
Livorno president Aldo Spinelli has handed under-pressure coach Davide Nicola a vote of confidence.
Nicola’s job is reportedly under threat after Sunday’s 3-0 Serie A defeat at Chievo marked the Tuscan outfit’s third straight loss and their eighth of the campaign.
The team have won just once in their last 11 matches, but a club statement read: “Regarding reports in the media of an eventual coaching change at Livorno, club president Aldo Spinelli wants to clarify that the Amaranto club has never thought of contacting other coaches.”
Livorno are currently 18th in the 20-team Serie A.
Mutu to return with Romania’s Petrolul
Romania’s joint top international goal-scorer Adrian Mutu will return to his homeland in the January transfer window after agreeing to leave second from bottom Ligue 1 club Ajaccio for Petrolul Ploiesti.
“Everything is agreed, I’ll play for Petrolul for 18 months,” the former Chelsea and Juventus striker said.
Much-travelled Mutu, 34, scored 35 times in 77 internationals, the same goal tally as the great Gheorghe Hagi, but has yet to find the net in the French league this season and was dropped for recent World Cup qualifiers.
Keeper Reina keen on Barcelona move
Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina would welcome a return to Barcelona next summer.
Reina, who is on a season-long loan at Napoli, has been strongly linked with a move to Barca at the end of the campaign to replace the outgoing Victor Valdes.
Reina said: “To play at Barca is a privilege. But I imagine that my name is on a list with others.
“Barca is a top club and Valdes’s departure will have alerted other candidates so a return will be very difficult.
“Right now I’m not thinking about it as I want to continue to do well at Napoli.”
Reina has three years remaining on his contract with Liverpool.
Pele not taking part in World Cup draw
Pele will not be taking part in today’s World Cup draw but he will be in the audience.
“President Dilma (Rousseff) suggested that I represent Brazil when it came to pulling the balls out of the pots, which I’ve done several times before,” Brazilian media quoted the former great Brazil striker as saying at an event in Sao Paulo.
“I preferred to turn down the offer because I wouldn’t feel comfortable in picking out balls which are not favourable to Brazil.”
Draw organisers said that Pele would make an appearance in some shape or form, adding that he would provide the “wow factor.”
Man. United appeal
Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward insists the club do not need to keep winning trophies to re-main attractive to sponsors.
United’s vastly reduced debt has been a direct consequence of their increasing number of sponsorship deals and Woodward outlined the reasons for his optimism.
“There’s still a lot of affinity with the club and interest,” he said.
“The reality is that you can’t always win. Take Liverpool. They still sell an incredible number of shirts and have the second biggest shirt deal in the Premier League.
“They have one of the biggest technical partner deals – and they haven’t won the league since 1990. If we have a bad year we have the financial strength to change the team.”