Antonio Conte, the new Italy coach, has vowed to restore World Cup flops Italy to their traditional status as major powers in international football.
Conte, who quit his job as Juventus coach last month after leading them to three consecutive Serie A titles, has inherited a squad that was left reeling from a shock first-round exit in Brazil.
But the 45-year-old successor to Cesare Prandelli believes he can revive the fortunes of the Azzurri just as he did those of Juve.
“We are going through a difficult moment,” Conte said in his first news conference on Tuesday since being appointed on a lucrative two-year contract that will keep him in charge up to Euro 2016.
“I have never been afraid of challenges. I am convinced that we will succeed in picking ourselves up because Italy’s place is among the top teams in the world.”
Queens Park Rangers
Chilean striker Eduardo Vargas is to have a medical at Queens Park Rangers on Wednesday ahead of a season-long loan move from Italian Serie A side Napoli.
The London side, promoted last season, began their English Premier League campaign with a 1-0 loss at home to Hull City, and manager Harry Redknapp has moved quickly to bolster his squad.
He also is looking to bring in midfielder Leroy Fer from Norwich City as the Vargas deal is set to be completed.
Netherlands international Fer was to have a medical at the club yesterday after QPR had agreed a fee of £7 million (Dh42.7m).
Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger will be out for at least two weeks with a knee problem, chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge confirmed on Tuesday.
Schweinsteiger, who has been nursing a patella tendon injury in his left knee for months and needed treatment during Germany’s victorious World Cup campaign in June and July, has not yet played this season.
“Our doctor is confident this will not be a long-term issue,” Rummenigge said. “But obviously this is not an issue of one or two weeks. It may last a little more than that and we just have to be a bit patient.”
Bayern start their bid for a third successive Bundesliga title on Friday when they play host to Wolfsburg.
Aston Villa
Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert criticised Ronald Koeman on Tuesday after the Southampton coach expressed an interest in signing Villa captain Ron Vlaar.
Koeman, who managed Vlaar at Feyenoord, has revealed that he would “really like” to bring the Netherlands centre-back to St Mary’s, and Lambert said Koeman was wrong to go public with his admiration of the Dutchman.
“I think he is disrespecting when talking about other team’s players when they are still their players. I think that’s wrong,” the Villa manager told Sky Sports.
“I wouldn’t mind if he picked up the phone, but you don’t go public on it. That’s the thing that annoyed me the most and the stance is still exactly the same with Ron.”
Colombia
Colombia coach Jose Pekerman has signed a contract extension that will keep him with the team until 2018.
The Colombian football federation announced the 64-year-old Argentine signed the four-year deal following a successful World Cup campaign in Brazil that saw the team reach the quarter-finals.
A statement said: “The executive committee expresses its pride in continuing with this great group of people that brought great results to the country.”
Rwanda
The Rwanda Football Federation on Tuesday appealed against its disqualification from 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers for fielding a player with double nationality.
The Confederation of African Football imposed the sanction after an investigation into Rwandan striker Dady Birori, who plays for Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) club Vita as Agiti Tady Etekiama.
The Rwandan federation has since contested the disqualification on grounds that the player acquired Rwanda nationality before that of DRC.
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