Bundesliga Straggler Bochum Fires Coach after 8 Games in Charge and No Wins

Bochum coach Peter Zeidler gestures on the sidelines, during a German Bundesliga soccer match between TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and VfL Bochum, in Sinsheim, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)
Bochum coach Peter Zeidler gestures on the sidelines, during a German Bundesliga soccer match between TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and VfL Bochum, in Sinsheim, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)
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Bundesliga Straggler Bochum Fires Coach after 8 Games in Charge and No Wins

Bochum coach Peter Zeidler gestures on the sidelines, during a German Bundesliga soccer match between TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and VfL Bochum, in Sinsheim, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)
Bochum coach Peter Zeidler gestures on the sidelines, during a German Bundesliga soccer match between TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and VfL Bochum, in Sinsheim, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)

Last-place Bundesliga club Bochum has fired coach Peter Zeidler after he failed to win any of his first eight games in charge.

Bochum said late Sunday it was releasing Zeidler and sporting director Marc Lettau from their roles because “conviction is lacking” that the team could avoid relegation from the German top division under their management.

Zeidler, who was hired in June, lost six of the seven Bundesliga games during his tenure and his last game was a 3-1 loss at Hoffenheim on Saturday. Zeidler's only point came in a 2-2 draw with Holstein Kiel, the only other winless team in the league. Bochum also lost to second-division Jahn Regensburg in the German Cup.

Zeidler, who had never previously coached in the Bundesliga, had a tough task from the start with a team which only survived in the Bundesliga last season in a penalty shootout in last season's relegation-promotion playoff.

Bochum has yet to name a replacement for Zeidler. Whoever takes over is likely to have a tricky start as Bochum faces Bayern Munich on Sunday before games against Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayer Leverkusen and Stuttgart.



Brazilian Football Player Sent off after 3 Seconds of Play

Fans of Cruzeiro celebrate a goal during the Copa Sudamericana semi-final first leg football match between Brazil's Cruzeiro and Argentina's Lanus at the Mineirao stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on October 23, 2024. (AFP)
Fans of Cruzeiro celebrate a goal during the Copa Sudamericana semi-final first leg football match between Brazil's Cruzeiro and Argentina's Lanus at the Mineirao stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on October 23, 2024. (AFP)
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Brazilian Football Player Sent off after 3 Seconds of Play

Fans of Cruzeiro celebrate a goal during the Copa Sudamericana semi-final first leg football match between Brazil's Cruzeiro and Argentina's Lanus at the Mineirao stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on October 23, 2024. (AFP)
Fans of Cruzeiro celebrate a goal during the Copa Sudamericana semi-final first leg football match between Brazil's Cruzeiro and Argentina's Lanus at the Mineirao stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on October 23, 2024. (AFP)

A Brazilian striker was sent off in a top flight division match on Saturday after hitting a rival with his elbow just three seconds into a match.

Cruzeiro's Rafa Silva left his team one man down in what ended as a 3-0 defeat at Athletico Paranaense.

Silva hit Athletico's Kaique Rocha slightly below his neck as they challenged for the ball shortly after kick off.

Referee Rodrigo José Pereira de Lima duly sent the 32-year-old Cruzeiro player off for one of the earliest red cards in football history.

Athletico is fighting against relegation in the Brazilian league.

Cruzeiro is seeking one of the top positions to secure a direct berth in the next edition of the Copa Libertadores.

The team from Belo Horizonte rested some of its players for the match in the city of Curitiba so they can recover for the second leg of the Copa Sudamericana at Argentina's Lanus next week. The first leg ended 1-1.