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Liverpool 'Not The Right Option' For Alonso, Says Matthaeus

Liverpool’s captain Virgil van Dijk and head coach Jurgen Klopp and teammates celebrate after winning the EFL Carabao Cup final match between Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC at Wembley Stadium in London, Britain, 25 February 2024. EPA/ANDY RAIN
Liverpool’s captain Virgil van Dijk and head coach Jurgen Klopp and teammates celebrate after winning the EFL Carabao Cup final match between Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC at Wembley Stadium in London, Britain, 25 February 2024. EPA/ANDY RAIN
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Liverpool 'Not The Right Option' For Alonso, Says Matthaeus

Liverpool’s captain Virgil van Dijk and head coach Jurgen Klopp and teammates celebrate after winning the EFL Carabao Cup final match between Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC at Wembley Stadium in London, Britain, 25 February 2024. EPA/ANDY RAIN
Liverpool’s captain Virgil van Dijk and head coach Jurgen Klopp and teammates celebrate after winning the EFL Carabao Cup final match between Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC at Wembley Stadium in London, Britain, 25 February 2024. EPA/ANDY RAIN

Ballon d'Or winner Lothar Matthaeus said Wednesday a move to Liverpool in the summer was "not the right option" for in-demand Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso.

Alonso has been linked with moves to Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, clubs where he all spent time as a player, having so far done a stunning job at runaway Bundesliga leaders Leverkusen.

Alonso has the unbeaten side 10 points clear of Bayern Munich and on track for a first-ever German title with eight games remaining this season.

In an interview with AFP and other media on Wednesday, Matthaeus said following outgoing manager Jurgen Klopp would be difficult for any coach and that the in-demand Alonso should stay with Leverkusen.

"Liverpool is not the right option for Xabi Alonso after this season. He has better options."

Matthaeus spent the majority of his career at Bayern and said he would welcome Alonso as the replacement for outgoing coach Thomas Tuchel in the summer but admitted in Munich "(Alonso) would have to build a new team for the future, with new players".

Leverkusen have won 34 and drawn four of 38 games this season. With the club in the final four of the German Cup and the quarter-finals of the Europa League, Alonso has Leverkusen on course for a treble.

"Why move to Liverpool? Why should he leave this beautiful team which makes us happy with their beautiful football, like Barcelona 12 years ago?"

Klopp shocked the football world in January by announcing he would leave Liverpool at the end of the season after nine years at the Reds, citing exhaustion.

Matthaeus said Klopp's success at Liverpool made him a hard act to follow.

"To coach at Liverpool after Jurgen Klopp is not easy because Jurgen is a hero, he's fantastic. What he was doing is great and what could you do that was much better?"

The 1990 World Cup winning captain praised current Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann and said the side was "on the right path" after returning to form with wins over France and the Netherlands in the last week.

However, Matthaeus did add: "In Germany, our dream and wish was that Jurgen Klopp would be the next national coach."

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Sports

Costa Rica Appoint Former Captain Ruiz as Head Coach

Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Costa Rica Press Conference - Main Media Center, Doha, Qatar - November 22, 2022 Costa Rica's Bryan Ruiz during a press conference REUTERS/John Sibley/File Photo
Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Costa Rica Press Conference - Main Media Center, Doha, Qatar - November 22, 2022 Costa Rica's Bryan Ruiz during a press conference REUTERS/John Sibley/File Photo
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Costa Rica Appoint Former Captain Ruiz as Head Coach

Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Costa Rica Press Conference - Main Media Center, Doha, Qatar - November 22, 2022 Costa Rica's Bryan Ruiz during a press conference REUTERS/John Sibley/File Photo
Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Costa Rica Press Conference - Main Media Center, Doha, Qatar - November 22, 2022 Costa Rica's Bryan Ruiz during a press conference REUTERS/John Sibley/File Photo

Costa Rica have appointed former captain Bryan Ruiz as head coach to lead the national team's campaign to qualify for the 2030 World Cup, the Costa Rican Football Federation (FCRF) said on Wednesday.

Ruiz, 41, takes the job after two wins as ⁠interim coach, with ⁠Costa Rica beating Nicaragua 3-0 and Haiti 2-0 in the CONCACAF Nations League earlier this month, Reuters reported.

He succeeds Argentine Fernando Batista, ⁠who was dismissed in September, while Costa Rica missed out on the 2026 World Cup under former coach Miguel Herrera.

Former attacking midfielder Ruiz captained Costa Rica at three consecutive World Cups before retiring in 2022.

His ⁠coaching ⁠staff includes former Costa Rica internationals Wilmer Lopez, Christian Bolanos and Wardy Alfaro, the FCRF said.

Sports

Arsenal Manager: Saka Injury Doesn't Look Good

21 October 2026, Bavaria, Munich: Arsenal's Bukayo Saka receives treatment during the UEFA Champions League soccer match between Bayern Munich and Arsenal at Allianz Arena. Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa
21 October 2026, Bavaria, Munich: Arsenal's Bukayo Saka receives treatment during the UEFA Champions League soccer match between Bayern Munich and Arsenal at Allianz Arena. Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa
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Arsenal Manager: Saka Injury Doesn't Look Good

21 October 2026, Bavaria, Munich: Arsenal's Bukayo Saka receives treatment during the UEFA Champions League soccer match between Bayern Munich and Arsenal at Allianz Arena. Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa
21 October 2026, Bavaria, Munich: Arsenal's Bukayo Saka receives treatment during the UEFA Champions League soccer match between Bayern Munich and Arsenal at Allianz Arena. Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said he is worried about the severity of Bukayo Saka's quadriceps injury after the winger left the pitch in the 10th minute of Wednesday's 2-2 Champions League draw at Bayern Munich.

The 25-year-old clutched his left ⁠thigh after falling ⁠while attempting a pass and was replaced by Eberechi Eze.

"When a player has to come off with sharp pain ⁠it is never good news. We have to wait and see," Arteta told TNT Sports, according to Reuters.

"He doesn't look good at all, but we'll have to wait and see."

Saka missed seven games last season with an Achilles ⁠problem ⁠and had hamstring surgery in December 2024 which sidelined him for more than three months.

Arsenal can ill afford to lose another winger after Christos Tzolis picked up a hamstring injury on international duty.

Sports

Title Beckons for Antonelli but He May Have to Wait a Week or Two

Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy takes part in the drivers parade ahead of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix race in Singapore, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP)
Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy takes part in the drivers parade ahead of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix race in Singapore, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP)
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Title Beckons for Antonelli but He May Have to Wait a Week or Two

Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy takes part in the drivers parade ahead of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix race in Singapore, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP)
Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy takes part in the drivers parade ahead of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix race in Singapore, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP)

Kimi Antonelli is set to become Formula One's youngest champion, and Italy's first in 73 years, but the 20-year-old Mercedes driver will have to win and hope the stars align if he is to convert his first "match point" in Texas on Sunday.

Four years old when Sebastian Vettel became the hitherto youngest champion at 23 with Red Bull in 2010, the racer from Bologna has a mighty 102-point lead over teammate George Russell ahead of the US Grand Prix in Austin.

There will be a maximum 125 points remaining to win after the chequered flag drops at the Circuit of the Americas, meaning Antonelli -- in his second season at the pinnacle of motorsport -- will clinch the title if he extends his lead by 23.

Only a win would give him that margin, but the ‌Italian will still ‌need Russell and Ferrari's seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton to finish no higher than ‌ninth ⁠or fifth respectively. ⁠Otherwise, the wait to become Italy's first champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953 rolls on to at least Mexico City a weekend later.

"I know it's very close, I know it's there, but I just need to make sure that I keep doing the best I can. You know, the mindset is always the same, to go out there and win and perform the best way I can," Antonelli said after finishing third in Singapore, the race before Austin.

That result was his 14th podium of the season.

ONE-IN-25 CHANCE OF TAKING TITLE IN AUSTIN?

"We're in that very uncomfortable phase ⁠of the season where you have to navigate the Thursday media with everyone ‌saying 'Oh, you could do it... you've got a first match point'," said ‌deputy principal Bradley Lord in a team podcast.

"People love this tennis comparison of match points, don't they? But I think ‌there's something like a one-in-25 chance of that being remotely possible in Austin.

"Our focus is how can we ‌get the car in its sweet spot and then go and score as many points as possible?"

Russell, who crashed in the Singapore sprint and then started the main race at the back of the grid due to an engine penalty, will be thinking exactly that.

Antonelli has won eight of 17 rounds so far, but the momentum has been more with Red ‌Bull's four-time champion Max Verstappen, winner of the last two races in Malaysia and Singapore and also last year's winner in Austin from pole position.

"You look ⁠at the recent races and ⁠Red Bull have been very much best. In Baku, Max was a similar level to me. We go to Malaysia, a totally different track, and Singapore another different track, and he's dominated the last two weekends," said Russell.

Verstappen is 119 points behind Antonelli and has said he just wants to have fun for the remaining races, given the championship pressure is off.

Both Mercedes drivers will have the latest upgrade package for the first of three successive race weekends in Texas, Mexico and Brazil.

McLaren's reigning champion Lando Norris was runner-up in Austin last year with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc third and both could be in the mix again while Hamilton's record in the United States is second to none.

"The last few races have not been great for us, but I think we're getting stronger again and Austin is probably a better circuit for our car," said McLaren's chief technical officer Rob Marshall, whose team will also have some upgrades.

The weekend will also see a novel crossover, with four MotoGP riders set to take to the track for a demonstration ride on Saturday. The two-wheeled series and Formula One have a common owner in US-based Liberty Media.