Photograph: Getty
FIf La Roja triumph tonight, they will complete the set and become reigning champions in the game’s three major international competitions. If Brazil do it, Scolari will get a major vote of confidence in the build-up to the World Cup itself.
And, of course, there will be one heck of a party. But make no mistake about it, folks will be out on the streets to protest the following day. Because, contrary to what s o me patronising commenters back in Europe argue, they’re capable of loving their national game and questioning their leaders. ROM one extreme to another. The worstkept secret in European c l ub f o o t bal l was “revealed” last week when Carlo Ancelotti took t he helm at Real Madrid. The former Chelsea manager takes over from Jose Mourinho but, compared to his fellow Stamford Bridge alumnus, the Italian’s approach could not be more different.
Where the Special One thrived on ratcheting up the intensity and pulling up the club’s drawbridge, Ancelotti promises diplomacy and conviviality. No more jibes at the opposition or referees. Director of football? Yes, please. It’s not us against the world, it’s us versus them for 90 minutes and then we move on.
Ancelotti knows full well the drill at Madrid. Right now, after three years of Mourinho, it’s all smiles. But he’ll have to deliver on the pitch and, however badly things may have ended with Mourinho, the bar remains set very high, while the patience of the Madrid media remains rather thin.
Plus, there are plenty of issues to resolve. Cristiano Ronaldo has entered the final two years of his contract and its renewal – or possible sale – may turn into a major distraction. Xabi Alonso, the hub of the midfield in the Mourinho era, is physically shot and will need to be replaced. The arrival of Isco is a boost, but now there’s an abundance of attacking midfielders.
Nothing he’s not used to from his time at his previous clubs. Still, there’s a lot of work to do. What you can be sure of is that it will be done with a smile rather than a frown.
ANCELOTTI’S move was made possible by Paris S a i n t - G e r ma i n – after being linked to everyone this side of Joe Kinnear – appointing Laurent Blanc. Which is where things get rather curious. A month ago, Blanc was the frontrunner for the Roma job.
He was passed over for two reasons. The club preferred Rudi Garcia’s more attack-minded football (the Lille manager ultimately got the job) and were uncomfortable with Blanc’s agent, Jean- Pierre Bernes, who, years ago, was sentenced to time in prison over the Marseille match-fixing scandal.
What this suggests is that a month ago PSG hadn’t even thought of Blanc as an option (with all due respect to Roma, if he knew he was in the running for the Parc des Princes, he wouldn’t have considered the Giallorossi). And that they’re not just bringing Blanc on board, they’re getting the controversial Bernes as part of the package.
Which is the only club that both Alex Ferguson and David Moyes played for in their careers? 5 Who were the only two players to score two hattricks in the SPL in 2012/2013? 6 Apart from Celtic and Rangers which two Scottish sides have played in qualifying matches for the Champions League? 7 Which player was capped by Scotland while playing football for Twente Enschede and FC Utrecht in The Netherlands? 8 Who was the last player to captain a team in successive Scottish Cup finals? 9 Who in 1995/96 became the record signing for Aberdeen when he joined the Pittodrie club for £1 million? 10 Which were the last two sides to play in a major European final at Hampden Park?