Cristian Chivu is one of the celebrated names in Romania football after the defender went on to make it big with the likes of Roma and Inter Milan. The defender recently retired from football after failing to recover from a spate of injury problems in the last few years. However, he has not done so without winning major titles in his career. In fact, Chivu may just be the most remembered name in recent football history of Romania after the star lifted several titles including the Champions League and at least five Italian Serie A titles.
Chivu was a regular in the Romanian national team when he played for them between 1999 and 2010. This helped him get 75 caps and also three goals from these matches at international level. The celebrated success came in the club football. After representing Ajax, Roma, and Inter Milan, he lifted a whopping 13 different titles. He was also named in the Romanian footballer of the year on three occasions. Following the conclusion of his stellar playing career, the possibility of getting into football punditry or management beckoned the 33-year-old. It seems that he has chosen the managerial route.
He says that he would be willing to become a coach in the near future and is currently looking at the prospects of doing so. “I had been thinking in these recent months of becoming a coach because I miss certain things like the locker room and the smell of the field. I’ll see what I want to do in the future, but the idea of becoming a coach has been teasing me a lot,” said the defender, who can recall the experience from working with some of the top managers in the world like Jose Mourinho and Roberto Mancini. It remains to be seen if he will start his coaching career in Romania.
Real Madrid will be taking on Sevilla in highly anticipated UEFA Super Cup clash on Tuesday. The match will take place at Cardiff City’s Millennium Stadium where Madrid winger Gareth Bale has played on several occasions for the national team. As a Welshman, return to the stadium is highly emotional for the 24-year-old winger. However, he has been backed by several pundits to deliver. Ahead of the match, he has spoken about the desire to win all six trophies on offer this campaign. He has been included in the squad for the match as has been Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portuguese superstar will be looking to put behind his disappointment at the World Cup 2014. Portugal were knocked out of the group stages with Ronaldo much criticised for his poor performances. The 29-year-old managed only one goal in the three group matches. Ronaldo is no stranger to winning UEFA Super Cups after having done so at Manchester United in 2008. Along with Ronaldo and Bale, manager Carlo Ancelotti has also include a new marquee signing James Rodriguez in the squad. The Colombian international was signed by Real Madrid for £ 71 million to make him the fourth most expensive player in the world.
It is expected that Madrid will use a unique formation to harness their attacking potential. “These matches at the start of the season are different, neither team is at full fitness and we’ll certainly see more chances than there are in a European final. I hope it’s an attractive match and that Madrid win,” said Madrid defender Arbeloa. Ahead of the match, manager Carlo Ancelotti also dismissed transfer rumours surrounding midfielder Sami Khedira, only has 12 months left on his contract. The German international has been linked with Arsenal and Chelsea, although Arsene Wenger said that he did not know the origin of these transfer rumours.
AC Milan manager Clarence Seedorf has stated that his future at the club will become clear at the end of the season. Seedorf was appointed as the replacement for Massimiliano Allegri a few months ago, but results have failed to improve even after the Dutchman came to the club. Seedorf was given the ultimatum of securing Europa league football at the end of the season, but Milan failed to do that as well after a 2-1 defeat against Atalanta during the weekend.
As result, the club will be without any form of European competition for next season, which will be a huge blow to their finances. As a result of this failure, it has been speculated that Seedorf will step down from his post at the end of the season. The club are preparing the former striker Filippo Inzaghi to become their new manager according to rumours. Former club midfielder, Seedorf, though, has reacted to the speculation by saying that one should ask owner Berlusconi in order to get news about his future.
Seedorf announced his retirement from playing football back in January 2014 in order to take over as the manager of Milan. His time at the club has been overseen by inconsistent results throughout his regime.
“You’d have to ask the club. That isn’t a question for me. [Silvio] Berlusconi’s words from yesterday? I don’t have anything to say as I didn’t understand them well. Everyone can give their personal interpretation and I can say that I only thought about the squad because it is easy to deal with this group. The players are used to these things. They are professionals and therefore they give their best through their work. They give 100% and the results are proof of that,” said Seedorf.
Milan are set to finish lower than fifth in the table.