Zidane promises 'beautiful football' at Real Madrid

Real Madrid head coach Zinedine Zidane has promised the club's fans "beautiful football" after being appointed on a two-and-a-half year deal at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Club great Zidane was promoted from coaching the Castilla side to replace Rafael Benitez on Monday after the Spaniard was dismissed following a mixed seven months in charge in the capital.

The World Cup-winning former midfielder took training for the first time on Tuesday and, at his first news conference, promised to stick to Madrid's traditional attacking brand of football. More after the cut

Pic of the day

When two legends meet...

Zinedine Zidane takes charge of his first training session as Real Madrid coach

Zinedine Zidane took charge of his first training session as Head Coach on Tuesday in front of a large crowd of people at the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium.
I hope Zidane does really well. Continue to listen to his first press conference

Rooney named England player of the year

Wayne Rooney has retained his England Player of the Year award after a record-breaking 2015.

Three Lions captain Rooney scored five times in eight appearances last year, breaking the national team goalscoring record previously held by Bobby Charlton when he scored his 50th international goal against Switzerland in September.

Manchester United forward Rooney claimed 37 per cent of the vote carried out by the England Supporters Club.

Stoke City goalkeeper Jack Butland took the young player gong, scooping 54 per cent of the vote, after captaining Gareth Southgate's Under-21 side to the European Championship finals in the Czech Republic.

Eden Hazard worth more than Ronaldo - CIES

Chelsea star Eden Hazard is now worth more on the transfer market than Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo, according to the CIES Football Observatory.

The research group published the bi-annual list on Monday which listed Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi, 28, as football's more valuable player at ¬250.7 million.

Messi's Barca teammate Neymar, 23, is second in the ranking at ¬152.7m, a large increase from his value of ¬94m back in June's edition of the study.

Hazard, 24, is considered to be worth ¬130.5m which is more than Ronaldo, who is fourth in the list at ¬114m -- the Portugal international moved for a then-world record fee of £80m (¬94m) when he signed for Real from Manchester United in 2009.

The values are estimated using an "exclusive algorithm" which considers "performance and personal characteristics of players (age, position, contract duration, etc.), as well as to the competition level and results of their employer club and national team represented (if any)."

Hazard was named PFA and Football Writers' player of the year after he helped Chelsea to the Premier League title last season.

Ronaldo scored 54 goals in all competitions for Los Blancos in 2015 but CIES cite his upcoming 31st birthday in February as reason for his decrease in value from ¬119m in June.

Brad Jones joins NEC Nijmegen on six-month deal

Australia international goalkeeper Brad Jones has joined Dutch club NEC Nijmegen for the rest of the season.

Jones, 33, has signed a six-month deal with the club after passing a medical on Monday. He had been a free agent since being released by league One Bradford in October.

He will join his new teammates at a training camp in Spain during the Dutch Eredivisie's winter break.

Jones provides cover for goalkeepers Hannes Halldorsson and Joshua Smits, who are currently injured.

Pep Guardiola: I want to coach in the Premier League

Pep Guardiola has confirmed he wants to manage in England when he leaves Bayern Munich in the summer.

Bayern confirmed last month that the former Barcelona coach had decided not to extend his three-year deal with the Bundesliga champions and have already named Carlo Ancelotti as his successor. Continue

Jordon Ibe desperate for Liverpool silverware

Jordon Ibe says he is desperate to win silverware with Liverpool as the Reds prepare for the first leg of their League Cup semi-final against Stoke on Tuesday.

Jurgen Klopp's men saw off Southampton in the fifth round in some style, winning 6-1 at St Mary's Stadium. 

And Ibe hopes the Merseyside giants can get a good result at the Britannia Stadium on Tuesday to boost their chances of capturing silverware. Continue

Arsenal fan tricks his wife and names his daughter after club

Sometimes, one’s unbridled love of the game can be a little excessive.

One devoted Arsenal supporter took his love for the Gunners to new heights when he christened his daughter after the club – without his wife realizing it for two years!

Clare Smith, the unsuspecting mother, ungrudgingly gave the nod to name her daughter ‘Lanesra’ thinking it was a “unique and romantic” name. Um, that’s actually ‘Arsenal’ spelled backwards, Mrs. Smith.

It’s got a nice ring to it, to be perfectly honest.  Lol

Leicester City star set for surgery

Leicester have confirmed star striker Jamie Vardy will undergo surgery on a minor groin complain, the club has confirmed.

The 28-year-old has been in sensational form this season and set a new Premier League record earlier in the campaign for scoring in 11 consecutive matches.

Vardy’s form in front of goal and his tireless running have been instrumental in Leicester’s meteoric rise into the top three but he will now undergo surgery on his groin to correct a minor problem that he has carried in recent weeks.

The England international will now miss Leicester’s FA Cup clash with Spurs at the weekend, although this doesn’t come as a significant blow to Claudio Ranieri as he had planned to rest his No.9 this weekend anyway.

Since the start of the season, no player has scored more goals in the Premier League than Vardy (15).

Statistical best XI after the weekends matches

Go Diego!

                                              source: whoscored.com

Meet Real Madrid's 23 managers since 1992

Rafa Benitez has been dismissed by Real Madrid after a tempestuous time in charge of the club which was plagued by leaks of player unrest and fan disapproval.

But in spite of his problems, the ex-Liverpool manager leaves having won 17 of his 25 competitive matches in charge of the side, and with Real in third position in La Liga with 37 points from 18 games - just four off table-toppers Atletico Madrid.

He has become Real's 23rd managerial casualty since the Champions League's inception at the start of the 1992-1993 season; let's takes a look through the former bosses and their records at the Bernabeu outfit's helm.

Meet the Zidane family, filled with footballing potential

Zinedine Zidane (centre, left) with wife Veronique and Real Madrid club president Florentino Perez (centre, right) pose alongside the Frenchman's sons (L-R) Theo, Elyaz, Enzo and Luca on Monday night 

Zinedine Zidane was announced as Real Madrid manager on Monday night, replacing the sacked Rafa Benitez.

At his presentation at the Santiago Bernabeu, he was accompanied on stage by his four sons and wife, who watched as he gave a speech on what he described as an 'emotional day'.

Here's all you need to know about Zidane's family, stood by his side, as he took the reins of the club he played for between 2001 and 2006 - with all his boys potentially stars of the future at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Former goalkeeper named USA U-19 manager

Former Premier League goalkeeper Brad Friedel has been hired as coach of the new USA Under 19 national team.

The 44-year-old made 82 appearances for USA between 1992 and 2005 and started at the 2002 World Cup, where the American team reached the quarter-finals in their best showing at the tournament since the initial World Cup in 1930.

Friedel joined Liverpool from Columbus Crew in 1997 and went on to have spells at Blackburn, Aston Villa and Tottenham, setting a record for appearing in a Premier League record 310 consecutive games. 

Friedel holds a UEFA 'A' coaching license, has assisted at USA national team camps and also has worked as an analyst in the States for FOX Sports.

The first event for the Under 19 team will be the Copa del Atlantico tournament at Las Palmas in the Canary Islands from January 27 to February 6. The squad will include players from last year's American Under 17 team.

Former Iran assistant coach Omid Namazi, meanwhile, has been hired to coach the American Under 18 team.

Boateng officially rejoins Milan

AC Milan have re-signed midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng on a free transfer.

Boateng's return the San Siro - believed to be on a six-month contract until the end of the season - was confirmed via the Serie A on Monday.

The 28-year-old German-born Ghanaian, who first represented Milan between 2010 and 2013, had been training with Sinisa Mihajlovic's men with a view to a deal since September, though his Schalke contract was not terminated until last month.

He did not make a single appearance for Schalke in 2015-16, having been suspended following May's 2-0 Bundesliga defeat to Cologne.

In his first spell at Milan, Boateng won the Scudetto in his debut season and amassed 10 goals in 74 league appearances.

Milan are sixth in the Serie A standings this term, eight points adrift of leaders Inter, as they prepare to host Bologna on Wednesday.

Valdano: Zidane a risky appointment

The appointment of Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid is a "risky" one, according to their former general manager Jorge Valdano. 

Zidane was announced as the club's new manager on Monday following the sacking of Rafael Benitez, who lasted just seven months in the job. 

The Frenchman spent six years as a player for the Spanish giants and began his coaching career at the club, taking over the Real Madrid Castilla side in 2014. 

However, Valdano believes Zidane's lack of experience makes it a risky appointment. 

"Zidane taking over is such a risky move because of his lack of experience," he told El Larguero. 

Valdano also gave his thoughts on why he believes the Benitez and Madrid relationship did not work out. 

"Benitez had troubles to implement his precise ideas in a squad with too many attacking midfielders," he said.

"Benitez also made more of an effort to accommodate club than the club made to accommodate Benitez."