Former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola insisted that he is happy living the family life in New York for now as he kept the guessing game about his future in football wide open.
Speculation is rife about the next job of the man who won everything at Barcelona since he decided to take a break from the sport after coaching his last game in May.
Asked whether he would coach the Spanish national team one day, he said: “You never know. It’s just that New York is so nice.”
Would his next destination be Manchester United or Milan? “I don’t know... I said I wouldn’t coach this year,” he responded.
Brazil’s Ronaldo in TV reality show
Brazil football great Ronaldo who, like half of his country’s population, is overweight, is to star in a television reality show that will chronicle his battle against the bulge.
For three months the portly ex-striker, now a member of Brazil’s 2014 World Cup organising committee, will submit to a series of physical exercises and dietary re-education which will be aired every Sunday.
“I have problems with the weighing scales. It’s a real trauma,” the 35-year-old said.
“I have already tackled many challenges and this one will not be easy. Those who have already tried to lose weight know that.”
Valencia stadium project hits snag
Valencia president Manuel Llorente sought to reassure fans of the cash-strapped La Liga club after problems emerged in the financing plan for the project to build a new stadium.
Valencia were forced to halt construction of the “Nueva Mestalla” in early 2008 but reached an agreement with Spanish lender Bankia last year that appeared to put the project back on track.
“The latest events do not affect the foundations of this club,” Llorente said.
The club was “working with Bankia to seek solutions” and “the goal is still to restart and complete the new stadium”, he added.
UEFA fine Levski for racist abuse
Levski Sofia have been fined 30,000 euros by UEFA for racist behaviour by fans during a Europa League second qualifying round match against Sarajevo.
Fans of the 26-times Bulgarian champions brandished a racist banner and insulted the visiting team’s players during the July 19 game which Levski won 1-0, before losing the tie 3-2 on aggregate.
The banner also praised Ratko Mladic, ex-commander of the Bosnian Serb army, and Zeljko Raznatovic, the commander of Serb paramilitary unit “The Tigers”, who participated in wars in Bosnia and Croatia in the 1990s.
Hungary pays tribute to Kocsis
Hundreds of football fans, including Hungary’s President Janos Ader, paid homage Friday to legendary footballer Sandor Kocsis, whose ashes were repatriated to his homeland.
Kocsis, who died in 1979, was part of the “Magnificent Magyars” who memorably beat England 7-1 in a friendly game in May 1954 and was also top goal-scorer at the World Cup that same year in Switzerland, when Hungary finished second behind Germany.
Kocsis’s ashes were taken to their final resting place in the crypt, alongside his former team-mate and Hungarian legend Ferenc Puskas.
Kocsis played most notably in Spain with Barcelona from 1958 to 1966. Diagnosed with leukaemia, he died after falling from the fourth floor of his Barcelona hospital in 1979.
Maradona’s partner pregnant
Diego Maradona is set to become a father again for the fourth time, his partner Veronica Ojeda revealed.
“I’m four months pregnant,” Ojeda, 34, told reporters.
The 51-year-old Maradona has two daughters – Dalma, 25, and Giannina, 23 – from his marriage to Claudia Villafane, and a 26-year-old son, Diego Jnr, born following an affair with Italian Claudia Sinagra when he was playing for Napoli.
Henry banned for headbutting
French striker Thierry Henry, of the New York Red Bulls, was suspended by Major League Soccer for one match for a headbutting incident last week.
The 35-year-old was fined an undisclosed sum for violent conduct over his striking Sporting Kansas City forward Kei Kamara in a 2-0 Red Bulls’ home loss on Wednesday.
During a late-match substitution, Henry ran at Kamara and slammed his head into that of Kamara, sending both men falling to the field and clutching their heads in pain.
Henry has scored 13 goals in 21 matches this season.