OBITUARIESCarlos FLORES (1974-2018)
The youngest of 11 children who were
effectively abandoned by their parents
and left to cope for themselves, the
midfielder won just two caps despite
being described as “the best player in the
history of Peruvian football” by former
Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli.
According to Sampaoli: “He was
Maradona, but the truth is that he didn’t
know how to be Maradona.”
However, problems with cocaine and
alcohol meant the player – who was “a
complex case” and “damaged goods” in
the words of Sampaoli – never fulfilled
his potential.
“He couldn’t stand any kind of system,”
said a former coach, Cesar Gonzales. “No
one ever managed to impose rules on him.”
Spells in Saudi Arabia, Greece, Brazil,
Argentina and Colombia were invariably
brief, and before long he was always
back in Peru, usually with the Sport Boys,
where he started his professional career
and played for eight separate spells
between 1991 and 2010.
Tim VickeryEUROPE
Serie B side Venezia dismissed former
Italy keeper WALTER ZENGA as coach
after a run of four defeats in five games.
MAROUANE FELLAINI, who now
plays for Shandong Luneng in China,
announced his international retirement
at the age of 31. He won 87 caps for
Belgium and appeared at two World Cups.
SOUTH AMERICA
Colombian coach LEONEL ALVAREZ
was sacked by Libertad despite guiding
the Paraguayan side into the Libertadores
Cup group stage. Alvarez denied reports
that his departure was connected to
allegations of an affair with the wife
of star midfielder Edgar Benitez.
CONCACAF
Real Salt Lake goalkeeper NICK
RIMANDO – who will turn 40 in June
and holds MLS records for wins, clean
sheets and games played – will retire
at the end of the season.
AFRICA
Appointed in July 2017 for his fourth
stint as national coach, Botswana sacked
DAVID BRIGHT following the team’s poor
run in qualification for the African Nations
Cup, while Belgian coach SVEN
VANDENBROECK parted company with
Zambia after they failed to make the finals.
Appointments, sackings and loans
Eric CALDOW (1934-2019)
Former Rangers skipper who made 407 appearances for the club and was capped 40
times by Scotland, captaining his country on 14 occasions. He won five Scottish league
titles, plus two Scottish Cups and three Scottish League Cups.“For football, I gave a lot. Thanks to football,
I received a lot. I did not do everything perfectly
but I did it with heart, passion and kindness”
Lassana Diarra calls time on a career ravaged by injuryGLOBAL FOOTBALL INTELLIGENCE
Rumours...
Leonel AlvarezCaptain...Eric CaldowDiarra calls it a day
Ex-France midfielder LASSANA DIARRA announced
his retirement after reaching agreement with Paris
Saint-Germain to release him from his contract.
The 33-year-old made only
three Ligue 1 appearances this
season after struggling with
injuries throughout his career.
He began with Le Havre
and then played for Chelsea,
Arsenal, Portsmouth, Real
Madrid, Anzhi Makhachkala,
Lokomotiv Moscow, Marseille
and UAE’s Al Jazira.
He made 34 senior
appearances for France.