France Roster Missing Many Top Players
European champion France followed the lead of world champion Brazil on Monday and left several of its leading players off the roster for the FIFA Confederations Cup later this month.
French Coach Jacques Santini purposely excluded midfielders Zinedine Zidane and Claude Makelele, saying both were needed by Real Madrid, which is in a close battle with Real Sociedad and Deportivo La Coruna for the Spanish league title.
“It was not sensible to call them up,” Santini said at a news conference in Paris where his 23-man roster was announced. “It would have put extra pressure on their shoulders as they have two crucial games to play in the coming weeks.”
France, which is staging the eight-nation event June 18-29, plays Colombia, Japan and New Zealand in the first round. Also missing will be injured midfielders Emmanuel Petit of Chelsea and Patrick Vieira of Arsenal, and Juventus striker David Trezeguet, who has chosen not to play.
Brazil’s Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira also left key players off his Confederations Cup squad, omitting the Real Madrid duo of Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos, as well as AC Milan’s Rivaldo and Arsenal’s Gilberto Silva. He wants to keep them fresh for 2006 World Cup qualifying, which begins in September.
Brazil, which also will be missing Roque Junior, who was injured in AC Milan’s European Cup final victory last week, plays Turkey, Cameroon and the United States in the first round.
Club America Swoops
Leo Beenhakker, the 60-year-old former coach of the national teams of the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia, quit as technical director of Ajax Amsterdam on Monday for what he said were personal reasons.
Within hours, however, Club America in Mexico City announced that it had rehired Beenhakker to take over as coach from Manuel Lapuente, who was fired last month when the team failed to reach the Mexican league playoffs.
“Let it be clear that I have enjoyed my time at Ajax,” Beenhakker said on the Dutch team’s Web site. “The club is doing well and its future looks bright. I have had some setbacks in my private life that would be difficult to overcome here [in Amsterdam].”
Beenhakker’s previous stint as Club America’s coach ended in 1995.
Ardilles Returns
Osvaldo “Ossie” Ardilles, a World Cup winner with Argentina in 1978, has agreed to return to Japan to take over as coach of the J-League club Tokyo Verdy.
Ardilles, 50, stepped down as coach of Argentina’s Racing Club last month when it was knocked out of the Copa Libertadores tournament. He has previously coached two other J-League clubs, Shimizu S-Pulse and Yokohama F-Marinos.
Quick Passes
Galaxy players and coaches will give fans a preview of the Major League Soccer team’s new Home Depot Center stadium on the campus of Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson today when the Los Angeles Sports Council and the L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce sponsor an 11:30 a.m. reception and luncheon that is open to the public. Tickets are $65 apiece.
Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., is making a pitch -- literally -- to stage games in the fourth FIFA Women’s World Cup. New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority stadium manager Tim Hassett told Associated Press that the stadium would lay a natural grass surface over the existing synthetic surface if it could have the opening games on the weekend of Sept. 19-21.
Goals by Francesco Cozza and Emiliano Bonazzoli earned Regina a 2-1 victory over Atalanta in a relegation playoff and prevented the club from being demoted to Serie B in Italy.... Goalkeeper Igor Akinfeyev, 17, was named to Russia’s roster for Saturday’s European Championship qualifying game against Switzerland.
