Celta coach red-faced after mixing up new club with rivals

MADRID: Celta Vigo coach Miguel Cardoso got off to an embarrassing start at the struggling Liga club after mistakenly declaring he was taking over at their fierce local rivals Deportivo La Coruna.

The Portuguese worked as an assistant at Celta’s Galician neighbours Depor from 2012 to 2013 and got muddled up in his first news conference on Tuesday after being named as successor to Argentine Antonio Mohamed, who was sacked on Monday.

“I want to thank the president and the sporting director for showing faith in me and my coaching staff to start a new era at Deportivo. I mean Celta,” said Cardoso, causing sporting director Felipe Minambres, who sat next to him, to grimace.

Cardoso, who was coach at French side Nantes until Oct 1, takes over a Celta side who are 14th in the Liga standings, having lost 4-2 at home to Real Madrid on Sunday. — Reuters