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Why Inter will not announce Chivu as new coach yet

Why Inter will not announce Chivu as new coach yet

Yahoo14 hours ago

Why Inter will not announce Chivu as new coach yet
Cristian Chivu has signed the two-year contract to become the new coach of Inter, but there will probably not be a formal announcement until next week.
The Romanian was spotted entering the club headquarters this morning, then President Beppe Marotta left three hours later.
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He put pen to paper on the two-year deal, believed to be worth €2.5m per season plus bonuses.
Chivu has signed the Inter contract
epa12012060 Parma's coach Cristian Chivu during the Italian Serie A soccer match Parma Calcio vs FC Internazionale at Ennio Tardini stadium in Parma, Italy, 5 April 2025. EPA-EFE/ELISABETTA BARACCHI
According to Calciomercato.com, there is no need to wait for a statement today or even over the weekend.
The reason is that Chivu is still technically under contract with Parma, having taken over that role on February 18, and needs to finalise that paperwork first.
He oversaw three wins, seven draws and three defeats in Serie A, which proved enough to escape relegation on the final day of the season.
MILAN, ITALY – MAY 18: Yann Aurel Bisseck of FC Internazionale celebrates scoring his team's first goal with teammate Marcus Thuram during the Serie A match between FC Internazionale and SS Lazio at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on May 18, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by)
Chivu is still expected to hold his first training session at the Appiano Gentile ground on Monday, as preparations begin for the Club World Cup in the USA.
He is no stranger to the complex, having been a player there from 2007 to 2014, then working as a coach in their youth academy from 2018 to 2024.

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Club World Cup team guide – Inter Miami: Messi's star power, slow start for Mascherano
Club World Cup team guide – Inter Miami: Messi's star power, slow start for Mascherano

New York Times

time41 minutes ago

  • New York Times

Club World Cup team guide – Inter Miami: Messi's star power, slow start for Mascherano

The inaugural Club World Cup starts on June 14, with its 32 teams split into eight groups of four in the opening phase. As part of our guides to the sides that will feature in the tournament, Felipe Cardenas gives you the background on Inter Miami. This is year five of Inter Miami's existence as a professional football club. The Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based team has been both the laughing stock of MLS and the premier club of North America's top flight. It has been a topsy-turvy start for David Beckham's pet project. Inter Miami enters the Club World Cup with battered hopes and a bruised ego following a difficult start to the 2025 MLS season. Captain and global football icon Lionel Messi will lead an underperforming squad into the tournament that hopes to advance out of Group A, which includes Porto from Portugal, Brazil's Palmeiras and Egyptian side Al Ahly. A place in this first playing of the expanded Club World Cup is a dream come true for Miami's owners, but will the tournament fulfil their wishes or turn into a nightmare experience? Since Messi's arrival in July 2023, Miami has tasted some competitive success while becoming a commercial behemoth in the U.S. The 2022 World Cup winner's presence has helped Miami become one of the most valuable clubs in MLS, currently valued at $1.19billion (£878m), according to a May report by Sportico. Messi's first full year saw Miami win the MLS Supporters' Shield, the trophy that goes to the team which earns the most points in the regular season. In that 2024 season, under former manager Tata Martino, Miami also set a new league record for points earned (74) in a campaign that crowned Messi as the league MVP. The year ended on a sour note, however, when they were eliminated by Atlanta United in the first round of the MLS title playoffs. Martino abruptly resigned due to personal reasons and Miami hired Messi's long-time friend and former Barcelona and Argentina team-mate Javier Mascherano as head coach. After a hot start to 2025, Mascherano's side has struggled to play consistently well, and aside from an over-reliance on Messi, who turns 38 this month, the team is devoid of a tactical identity. Funny you should ask. FIFA's convoluted qualification criteria handed Miami a ticket to the big dance. Miami didn't win the MLS Cup final to be crowned its champions, and hasn't come close to winning the Concacaf Champions Cup, either. But FIFA has always reserved one host slot for the Club World Cup, even before the competition was expanded to 32 teams from seven and moved from being an annual event to one staged every four years. Advertisement When Miami won that Supporters' Shield at the close of last year's regular season, FIFA president Gianni Infantino had the loophole he needed to invite Messi and company to this summer's competition in the United States. 'Miami loves football. The world loves football, and the world loves Miami,' Infantino said from Miami's home pitch last October. 'You're the best team of the season in America,' Infantino added. 'You can start telling your story to the world.' Miami will also open the tournament, against Al Ahly at 65,000-capacity Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens next Saturday night. If Infantino was dead-set on having Messi in this first edition of the new-look Club World Cup, he succeeded. How Miami fares in it is another story. The side is short on depth and the ageing legs of Messi and his former Barcelona team-mates Luis Suarez (38), Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba (both 36) won't be enough to make a deep run, even if Miami advances from the group stage. Give the ball to Messi and hope he creates a moment of magic. That sounds cynical, but unsurprisingly, everything goes through the Argentine No 10. And one can't blame his team-mates, if we're being honest. Messi remains highly effective around the penalty area and decisive when it matters most. He finished the 2024 MLS season with 21 goals and 17 assists (including the playoffs), but ran out of gas against Atlanta in the post-season. Miami wants to press high and force opponents to play narrowly. When it comes together, Miami can be formidable in transition. The problem is with the back line and overall defensive structure. Miami leaks goals and tends to play so open that a spell of good play is consistently undone by poor defending. It wouldn't be a shock to see Mascherano dial back the high press and play a more pragmatic style in this competition. Mascherano is in his first job as a professional head coach. Before succeeding Martino in November, he had managed Argentina's under-20 and under-23 men's squads, and also coached Argentina's team at the 2024 Olympics, losing to hosts France in the quarterfinals. That was considered a massive disappointment, which led to widespread criticism of Mascherano's acumen as a manager. Having played under both at Barcelona, Mascherano has spoken publicly about his appreciation of Pep Guardiola's tactics and how Luis Enrique influenced him as both a player and a coach. Still, there is little evidence to suggest Mascherano's philosophy will resemble that of an elite coach. His close relationship with Messi, Suarez, Busquets and Alba suggests he was given the job for reasons other than his resumé. 'People can have their opinion, and those opinions are valid, clearly,' he said in December. 'But I'm convinced that I'm qualified to coach this team. I'm very excited to do so. Experience in football doesn't always make sense.' Less than three weeks from turning 38 years old, Messi doesn't have the same burst off the dribble that saw him embarrass defenders throughout the pitch when he played for Barcelona. These days, he tends to position himself as close to the goal as possible, where he can create and finish plays without expending too much energy. Advertisement But late-stage Messi is still a joy to watch, even if purists may want to hold onto memories of his dominant 20-year run as the world's best player rather than see him carrying an MLS team. He still walks about the pitch and sometimes stands motionless as the game goes on around him. Today, Messi picks his moments more cautiously than ever. 'Leo has turned into a complete player who plays all over the field,' Mascherano told The Athletic last year. 'When you have a player like that, the most important thing is to give him the freedom to move where he believes the team needs him and for his team-mates to understand his movements.' Messi has grown increasingly frustrated with Miami's up-and-down form, though. Many of his young team-mates struggle to match his advanced football IQ, which has irritated this winner of 10 La Liga titles, three Champions Leagues, two Copas America and the most recent World Cup three years ago — more so when the team loses games. His patience is thinner, as well, with MLS referees taking the brunt of Messi's anger. This Club World Cup could be a breaking point. Venezuela international Telasco Segovia is Miami's young player to watch. The 22-year-old attacking midfielder is a goal threat with a high ceiling. Segovia was signed this winter after spending two seasons in Portugal with Casa Pia. He has quickly become one of Miami's key players and an on-field ally of Messi and striker Suarez. Segovia is a versatile player, which allows him to roam the midfield and attacking areas and contribute both in possession and in transition. He tends to make the right decisions around the opponent's penalty area and is not shy about taking his chances. There's a maturity to him that stands out. On a team of veteran superstars who have won nearly everything in football, Segovia's self-confidence and clean technical play have been a boon for Miami. He's a regular for Venezuela's national team, but if he performs at a high level at the Club World Cup, the competition could be the showcase Segovia needs to reach his full potential. In-state rivals Orlando City can be considered Miami's rivals, but the truth is, every team Messi and company face plays with a knife between its teeth. Miami has become both a media darling and a hated club by rival MLS supporters. That's a sign that things are going as planned in South Florida, though. With Messi and his mates, Miami has sold out huge NFL stadiums and other neutral venues. Messi fans have run onto the pitch to take a selfie with him. On the road, opposing teams' supporters have congregated outside Miami's team hotel, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Argentine superstar. Advertisement All of that attention has turned Miami into an MLS villain, a nemesis that fans outside of Fort Lauderdale enjoy watching suffer. I don't think Miami would have it any other way. 'A lot of people are jealous of Inter Miami,' club managing owner Jorge Mas told FDP Radio in April. Enough said. Miami has plenty of detractors, but Messi boasts legions of fans worldwide. The team's pink kit is seen across the globe these days, and Messi, even in the twilight of his career, still conjures emotions and fanfare usually reserved for a mega pop star. Miami won't be a favorite at this tournament. We've established that. But the presence of Messi will bring eyeballs to FIFA's new baby. Neutrals will tune in to see if he still has any magic left in him. Romantics will watch in the hope he'll turn back the clock to November and December of 2022, when he finally led Argentina to World Cup glory. And that's precisely what Infantino had in mind when he gave them that hosts' spot. (Top photos: Getty Images; design: Kelsea Petersen)

Club World Cup team guide – Bayern Munich: A powerhouse progressing under Kompany
Club World Cup team guide – Bayern Munich: A powerhouse progressing under Kompany

New York Times

timean hour ago

  • New York Times

Club World Cup team guide – Bayern Munich: A powerhouse progressing under Kompany

The inaugural Club World Cup kicks off in the United States on June 14, with its 32 teams split into eight groups of four for the opening phase. As part of our guides to the sides who will feature in this summer's tournament, Seb Stafford-Bloor gives you the background on Bayern Munich. Bayern are the 34-time German national champions. Only one of those titles was won before the domestic league's current Bundesliga structure came into place in 1963. In the years since, they have won the title in 33 of the 62 league seasons contested (53 per cent), including 12 of the last 13. They are also six-time European champions and won the Club World Cup twice in its former guise as an annual event. They are on their way back. Bayern's imperial era ran from 2012 to 2023, when they won 11 straight Bundesliga titles. They also won the Champions League in 2020, but had been in decline for a few years before Bayer Leverkusen ended their domestic dominance in 2024. 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First-year head coach Vincent Kompany inherited a weak defensive group full of issues he is yet to cure and the centre of his midfield lacks the muscularity and definition that the club had there under some of his predecessors. So, this is still a team between eras. Bayern are good, but they are not as outstanding as they were. Through their placement in European football governing body UEFA's four-year ranking, having got as far as the Champions League quarter-finals three times and the semis once in that time. They want the ball, and they want control. A feature of their attacking play under Kompany has been to use attackers Jamal Musiala and Kane in deeper positions, often receiving passes well inside their own half, and then deploying their respective playmaking attributes at the start of moves, rather than just at the end of them. The wide forwards, particularly Michael Olise, are especially important and provide a lot of movement and thrust in the attacking third. With influential and incendiary full-back Alphonso Davies unavailable through long-term injury, Bayern will be even more reliant on Olise at this tournament. Elsewhere, Joshua Kimmich is the heart of the midfield and will want to orchestrate the possession phases from the middle of the pitch. Leon Goretzka, who will likely start alongside him, is a more vertical, physical player who will occupy a deeper No 8 role and arrive late into the opponents' penalty box. Advertisement One of Kompany's successes has been to vastly improve his players' work without the ball. Bayern are a high-pressing team who will try to lock opponents into their own third or force them to play long to get out of it. Are they always good at doing this? No. It's a work in progress, and that could still be a weakness. Kompany, the former Manchester City captain and one of the finest central defenders of his era, was a surprise choice when he was appointed in 2024. He came to Bayern directly from a Premier League relegation with Burnley and without any major trophies on his managerial record. The now-39-year-old Belgian was seen as lacking the credentials for the role, and his arrival was met with plenty of doom prophecies. But he has exceeded expectations. The players like him, and the younger ones have enjoyed his communication style and the instructive, detailed nature of his coaching. Off the pitch, he has adapted well to the environment. Bayern are always fraught with political issues and Kompany has navigated them smartly, staying away from the public arguments and media rucks that so undermined his predecessor Thomas Tuchel. Olise was Bayern's best player last season and Kane their top scorer, but Musiala is the star. The 22-year-old is a doubt for this tournament having not played since a hamstring injury in April, but at his best he is a fabulously gifted playmaker and one of the most elusive ball-carriers in European football. He had already equalled his best goalscoring season before that injury, too, a measure of not just his form but also the evolution in his game under Kompany. Olise is one of them. He was signed from Crystal Palace of the Premier League last summer, and even though he cost €50million, a big fee in Bundesliga terms, there was a sense he was coming in as a two- or three-year project, rather than as an immediate difference-maker. As it happened, Olise was outstanding almost from the get-go. He was one of the reasons Bayern were more watchable, more subtle and ultimately more dangerous than their 2023-24 team had been. The London-born France international is right on the cusp of stardom. Advertisement Bayern fans would also point to Aleksandar Pavlovic. The 21-year-old is a deep midfielder with a lovely feel for the game. His season was disrupted by a series of minor injuries and a bout of glandular fever, but when fit and healthy he passes the ball as well as anyone at the club and seems likely to be at the heart of their team for the next decade. And he's homegrown, too. Pavlovic was born in Munich and developed by Bayern's youth academy — something that already makes him extremely popular with their supporters. There are different answers to this. Locally, Munich is a two-club city, comprising Bayern, the Reds, and 1860 Munich, the Blues. However, 1860 have been plagued by financial dysfunction during the modern era and have fallen on hard times, currently playing in the German football's third tier. As a measure of how dormant the rivalry is, the two teams have not faced each other since 2008 — a year before Thomas Muller, who will leave Bayern this summer as their record appearance-maker with 751 (so far), had even made his competitive debut. Borussia Dortmund are a rival of sorts, even though Der Klassiker, as games between the two are called, is more of a marketing construct than a reality. Dortmund, a six-hour drive from Munich, would certainly consider neighbours Schalke to be their biggest rivals, though they are in Germany's second division. Bayer Leverkusen's rise under Xabi Alonso has made them a rival, with recent seasons breeding animosity among the respective players and even some rival board members, but that is very new and likely to disappear as quickly as it appeared with Alonso now gone to manage Real Madrid and Leverkusen selling star players. Bayern and Borussia Monchengladbach had a fascinating back-and-forth in the 1970s. Advertisement It was a political rivalry in a sense. In public perception, Bayern were the established power and Gladbach the younger, free-spirited challenger. The latter's informal nickname, 'the foals', is a reference to those teams and their coltish youth. But those dynamics have been embellished and do not bear much scrutiny at all — Bayern's teams of that era scored lots of goals and were full of rebellious, counter-culture characters. The rivalry was real enough, though, and games between the two have a habit of producing strange results, even today. Bayern were formed in response to pejorative attitudes towards competitive football. The club's 11 original members had originally belonged to Manner-Turn-Verein 1878 (MTV) and were the footballing department of what was principally a gymnastics club. At the beginning of the 20th century, organised gymnastics — 'turnen' — was wildly popular in Germany, and seen as a way of fostering collective, nationalistic spirit. By contrast, football was a game imported from England which bred competitive instincts many saw as vulgar. So, in February 1900, when MTV's football players moved to start playing competitive games and indicated their desire to join the local football association, their fellow members were aghast. In response to an impasse over the issue at a club meeting, the footballers walked out, went down the street to a nearby restaurant, and founded Football-Club Bayern Munchen. You can still visit the place in the city where it happened. The restaurant itself is long gone and most of the area looks very different, having been rebuilt after the bombing during the Second World War, but there's an obelisk marking the spot just a few yards from Odeonsplatz square, upon which the club's founding document is mounted. They are still majority-owned by their members. Business-world giants Audi, Adidas and Allianz each owns an 8.33 per cent stake in Bayern's football division, but the club's fans retain voting control. Bayern are a commercial powerhouse and hardly an underdog, but in a football world of sovereign wealth funds, sports washing and troubling morality, they manage to exist as a superclub without ethical quandaries. (Top photos: Getty Images; design: Kelsea Petersen)

Club World Cup team guide – Monterrey: Ramos, a former Guardiola assistant and a rising star
Club World Cup team guide – Monterrey: Ramos, a former Guardiola assistant and a rising star

New York Times

timean hour ago

  • New York Times

Club World Cup team guide – Monterrey: Ramos, a former Guardiola assistant and a rising star

The inaugural Club World Cup kicks off in the United States on June 14, with 32 teams split into eight groups of four. The Athletic is providing comprehensive insight into each team, with Felipe Cardenas guiding you through the background on Monterrey. Monterrey is a big club with big aspirations at this summer's Club World Cup. The Mexican side have well-known names on the squad and the expectations that are normally reserved for elite clubs. Can they navigate a difficult group and advance to the knockout stage? Or will Monterrey suffer another letdown in 2025 — this time on a much bigger stage? Monterrey is considered a perennial Liga MX contender. Along with city rivals Tigres UANL Monterrey is a big-spending team with title aspirations that go beyond Mexico's borders. Rayados ('stripes') have won the Mexican league title five times and have also lifted the Concacaf Champions Cup on five occasions. Advertisement Club America (16 titles) and Chivas de Guadalajara (12) are Mexico's most successful clubs, so in that sense, Monterrey has plenty of work to do in terms of name recognition. Their recent campaigns have been full of hype but low on results. Their last league title came in 2019. Last month, Monterrey crashed out of the Liga MX playoffs in the quarter-finals, which cost manager Martin Demichelis his job. Monterrey earned a berth by winning the Concacaf Champions Cup in 2021; it's a cup competition in which they have fared quite well. This will be their sixth appearance in a FIFA Club World Cup, although they have never finished better than third place. Monterrey has employed four head coaches since 2023, with Spaniard Domenec Torrent set to debut at the Club World Cup. Philosophies have shifted over the past few years but Monterrey is primarily a one-striker team that plays in a 4-2-3-1 formation and prioritizes possession. The strength of their side lies in the midfield, where former Real Madrid N0 10 Sergio Canales, 34, is constantly on the ball. Colombian midfielder Nelson Deossa, a tricky left-footer, helps Canales drive the team forward. Argentine-born centre-forward German Berterame is typically Monterrey's lone No 9. Torrent, 62, spent many years as an assistant to Pep Guardiola. The two were close allies at Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Torrent followed Guardiola to Manchester City, so one can expect Monterrey to gradually adopt Guardiola-inspired tactics that focus on positional play. Torrent is a very experienced coach and a bit of a tactical hardliner. He has held head coaching positions with Flamengo, Galatasaray and Mexican side San Luis. Torrent led San Luis, a modest club, to the Liga MX playoffs in 2024. Monterrey eliminated them in the semifinals, but it was the club's best-ever finish. Torrent won't have much time to fine-tune his ideas with Rayados. He was hired after their Liga MX Clausura campaign had ended. Sergio Ramos is the obvious choice. The 39-year-old has the titles and the pedigree to stake that claim. The problem is that Ramos, a World Cup and four-time Champions League winner, has only played in nine games for the club since making a highly publicised move to Liga MX. Unfortunately for Monterrey fans, his injury history has followed him to Mexico. Outside of Ramos, Monterrey has other former European-based players such as Canales, Lucas Ocampos, Oliver Torres, and Jesus Corona. Iker Fimbres, 20, is Monterrey's young prodigy, and he is widely regarded in Mexico as a future star. The former academy player has forced his way into the senior team's starting XI, doing so in a position often reserved for more experienced professionals. Fimbres is a central midfielder who can play as a No 8. He is given the freedom to play in between Monterrey's two centre-backs and progress the ball upfield. Fimbres is a highly technical and astute player. He became a club hero after scoring a brace in a 4-2 win over rivals Tigres during a hotly contested derby match in October. His second was an absolute pearl of a goal, setting off complete bedlam at Monterrey's iconic Estadio BBVA, known as 'The Steel Giant'. Fimbres will no doubt be a focal point of Monterrey's possession approach this summer. Known as the Clasico Regiomontano, the Monterrey vs Tigres derby in the northern state of Nuevo Leon is among the more combative city rivalries in Mexico. The derby doesn't have the global recognition that the Clasico Nacional carries (that rivalry between Club America and Chivas is difficult to match) but in the city of Monterrey, the only thing that matters is earning the right to be crowned the kings of the north. Advertisement The Athletic travelled to Monterrey in 2024 to experience the Clásico Regio. It was a colorful and tense affair that could be felt throughout the city on matchday. 'Tigres fans, it's the team of the people,' one of the club's supporters told The Athletic in the build-up to the game in April of last year. 'Traditionally, it was the team of the industrial workers. Monterrey was the team of the upper class — people who were already comfortable.' Both clubs, though, are owned by wealthy backers who spent on the first-team squad quite liberally. Tigres and Monterrey are glamour clubs in Mexico that are entangled in a race to sign the best players from Liga MX and abroad. Despite Monterrey's standing in Mexico, they'll be overshadowed in Group E by Inter Milan and Argentina's River Plate. Monterrey has the opportunity to be a spoiler in the group that also includes J-League side Urawa Red Diamonds. This group may also feature some of the best kits at the tournament, so if the blue and white striped shirt of Monterrey is to your liking, you'll become a Rayado supporter this summer. Real Madrid fans will certainly track how well Ramos and Canales do, so perhaps stray fans of Los Blancos will develop an affinity for Monterrey, as well. (Top photos: Getty Images; design: Kelsea Petersen/The Athletic)

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