Magath returns to Wolfsburg

The coaches merry-go round in the German Bundesliga reached a new climax after rumours came out last night that Felix Magath could make a shock return to former club VfL Wolfsburg. And today that rumour was confirmed by the north German club who are funded and supported by car giants Volkswagen, but are fighting against relegation this season.

The club in a simple statement said, "VfL Wolfsburg has hired Felix Magath as director of sport and coach. The official presentation will take place on Friday at midday."

Struggling Wolfsburg could never recover from their 2008/09 Bundesliga championship season under Magath. Thereafter coaches Armin Veh, Steve McClaren and stand-in Pierre Littbarski all failed and the Wolves are now second from bottom in a very tight relegation battle.

With the surprise appointment of 57 year old Magath the club will hope that the champion coach can steady the ship before rebuilding the club and squad next season. Magath has signed a contract until 2013 and sports manager Dieter Hoeness would also have to leave the club with all powers back to Magath, who only had been sacked at Schalke on Wednesday after differences with the board.

Chopra out for the remainder of the season

Promotion chasing English Championship side Cardiff City FC will miss the services of their striker Michael Chopra for the rest of the season after Chopra suffered a hamstring tear over the weekend in the match against FC Barnsley.

An official club statement said, "Scan results have confirmed the worst. Michael has suffered a grade three hamstring tear and will be out for a period expected to be between 10 to 12 weeks, effectively ending any chance of his involvement in the 2010/11 Championship season run-in."

It actually started as a good day against Barnsley for Chopra as he completed 200 matches in the English leagues, but his injury hit season continued as he had to be taken off after only 25 minutes. So far it has been about ankle injuries, but this time it was a hamstring tear. And it ends Chops season in which he scored 11 goals in all competitions for the Bluebirds.

Chopra said via Twitter, "Totally devastated my season is over out for 10/12 weeks with grade 3 tear in my hamstring all about getting fit for next season."

For Cardiff City the loss of Chopra in the crucial season end is a big blow. And one will have to see in which division Cardiff play next season, which might also decide Chopra's future. Stay with Cardiff or move on to another side.

Schalke 04 dismiss Magath

The supervisory board of German Bundesliga side FC Schalke 04 met early yesterday and decided to relieve Felix Magath of his positions as coach, director of sports and management board member within the club. Originally it had been planned that Magath would meet the supervisory board, but Magath called off his attendence as he seemed to know what was in store for him.

And the timing does surprise many as Schalke have reached the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League, the German Cup final, but are only tenth in the Bundesliga. But off field matters were behind the sacking.

Schalke chairman Clemens Tonnies said after the meeting there were "very good reasons" for the move, but he did not specify what they were. And added, "We will not make these public as a legal battle is now ahead of us. But we are very relaxed about this process. What we have decided is a good result for Schalke."

And now the whole story could get murky with the club trying to frame their coach in such a way that they will not have to make the necessary pay-off as Magath had a contract running until 2013 with the Ruhr valley team. Magath meanwhile has resigned from the club citing differences of opinion, while he is said to have a clause in his contract that he can resign and still get paid compensation in the region of 12 million Euros.

The club has meanwhile named a new coach in former Schalke coach Ralf Rangnick, who'll join the club on Monday and will sign a contract until summer 2014. Rangnick had earlier coached Schalke from September 2004 to December 2005 and many thought at the time that this was a wrong decision.

I-League Division 2: Fixtures released

The AIFF has released the fixtures of the three preliminary groups of the I-League Division 2. 21 teams will be seen in action, if BEML (EM) from Bangalore are cleared to take part.

The Group A matches will be played from March 27 to April 9 in Guwahati, while Group B games will be held from April 2 to April 18 in Ranchi, and Group C matches will be played from March 31 to April 17 in Madurai.


I-League Division 2 - Groups/Fixtures

Group A - Guwahati (Assam)
NISA (Manipur), United Sikkim FC (Sikkim), Langsning FC (Meghalaya), Guwahati Town Club (Assam), Southern Samity (West Bengal), Golden Threads FC (Kerala), Simla Youngs FC (Delhi)

Round I
27/3/11: NISA - Golden Threads FC
27/3/11: Simla Youngs FC - Guwahati Town Club
27/3/11: Langsning FC - United Sikkim FC

Round II
29/3/11: Golden Threads FC - Langsning FC
29/3/11: Guwahati Town Club - NISA
29/3/11: Southern Samilty - Simla Youngs FC

Round III
31/3/11: United Sikkim FC - NISA
31/3/11: Golden Threads FC - Simla Youngs FC
31/3/11: Guwahati Town Club - Southern Samity

Round IV
02/04/11: Langsning FC - Simla Youngs FC
02/04/11: United Sikkim FC - Southern Samity
02/04/11: Golden Threads FC - Guwahati Town Club

Round V
04/04/11: NISA - Southern Samity
04/04/11: Langsning FC - Guwahati Town Club
04/04/11: United Sikkim FC - Golden Threads FC

Round VI
06/04/11: Guwahati Town Club - United Sikkim FC
06/04/11: Southern Samity - Langsning FC
06/04/11: Simla Youngs FC - NISA

Round VII
09/04/11: Southern Samity - Golden Threads FC
09/04/11: Simla Youngs FC - United Sikkim FC
09/04/11: NISA - Langsning FC


Group B - Ranchi (Jharkhand)
Mohammedan Sporting Club (West Bengal), Denzong Boyz (Sikkim), Josco FC (Kerala), Kenkre FC (Maharashtra), Sesa Football Academy (Goa), Malabar United FC (Kerala), Ar-Hima FC (Meghalaya)

Round I
02/04/11: Mohammedan Sporting Club - Sesa Football Academy
02/04/11: Denzong Boyz - Josco FC
03/04/11: Ar-Hima FC - Malabar United FC

Round II
04/04/11: Kenkre FC - Josco FC
05/04/11: Mohammedan Sporting Club - Malabar United FC
05/04/11: Denzong Boyz - Ar-Hima FC

Round III
07/04/11: Sesa Football Academy - Malabar United FC
07/04/11: Kenkre FC - Ar-Hima FC
08/04/11: Mohammedan Sporting Club - Denzong Boyz

Round IV
09/04/11: Josco FC - Ar-Hima FC
10/04/11: Sesa Football Academy - Denzong Boyz
10/04/11: Kenkre FC - Mohammedan Sporting Club

Round V
12/04/11: Malabar United FC - Denzong Boyz
12/04/11: Josco FC - Mohammedan Sporting Club
13/04/11: Sesa Football Academy - Kenkre FC

Round VI
14/04/11: Ar-Hima FC - Mohammedan Sporting Club
15/04/11: Malabar United FC - Kenkre FC
15/04/11: Josco FC - Sesa Football Academy

Round VII
17/04/11: Denzong Boyz - Kenkre FC
17/04/11: Ar-Hima FC - Sesa Football Academy
18/04/11: Malabar United FC - Josco FC


Group C - Madurai (Tamil Nadu)
Techno Aryan Club (West Bengal), Vasco SC (Goa), Chandni FC (Kerala), Royal Wahingdoh SC (Meghalaya), Eagles FC (Kerala), PIFA Colaba Youngstars (Maharashtra), BEML (EM) (Karnataka) *subject to clearance

Round I
31/03/11: Eagles FC - Techno Aryan Club
31/03/11: Chandni FC - Vasco SC
01/04/11: Royal Wahingdoh SC - PIFA

Round II
02/04/11: BEML - Vasco SC
03/04/11: Eagles FC - PIFA
03/04/11: Chandni FC - Royal Wahingdoh SC

Round III
05/04/11: Techno Aryan Club - PIFA
05/04/11: BEML - Royal Wahingdoh SC
06/04/11: Eagles FC - Chandni FC

Round IV
07/04/11: Vasco SC - Royal Wahingdoh SC
08/04/11: Techno Aryan Club - Chandni FC
08/04/11: BEML - Eagles FC

Round V
10/04/11: PIFA - Chandni FC
11/04/11: Vasco SC - Eagles FC
11/04/11: Techno Aryan Club - BEML

Round VI
14/04/11: Royal Wahingdoh SC - Eagles FC
14/04/11: PIFA - BEML
15/04/11: Vasco SC - Techno Aryan Club

Round VII
16/04/11: Chandni FC - BEML
17/04/11: Royal Wahingdoh SC - Techno Aryan Club
17/04/11: PIFA - Vasco SC

Germany extends Loew contract until 2014

The German Football Association (DFB) has extended the contract of coach Joachim Loew, assistant coach Hansi Flick, goalkeeping coach Andreas Koepke and manager Oliver Bierhoff until the end of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The contract extension came as a surprise and at a time when Loew was being considered as a potential replacement for Louis van Gaal at Bayern Munich, but Loew stated he never was contacted by Bayern.

The DFB wanted to avoid the problems that failed talks in February 2010 had created ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. This time around everything was done in harmony and with the Loew system showing its results in Team Germany the federation wanted to keep their coach for another term and avoid contract talks around the 2012 European Championships in Poland & Ukraine.

"Joachim Loew and his team have left their mark on the team in recent years," said DFB president Theo Zwanziger. "The smooth contract talks have once again shown clearly how great the mutual trust is. These respectful, open dealings with each other is the best way to ensure the successful co-operation of the past will continue to work in the future."

With Loew extending his contract until 2014 he will try and fulfill the unfinished business by bringing the 2014 FIFA World Cup trophy back to Germany.

After the signing Loew said at the DFB headquarters in Frankfurt, "I am pleased that we were able to agree quickly to a continuation of our co-operation up to the 2014 World Cup. We believe in the quality of our players and see good prospects for our team. So we were pleased to accept the offer from the DFB's senior management to sign an extension early."

And with further young talent coming out of Germany the future under Loew looks bright.

Lehmann could return to Arsenal

It would be the comeback of the season if former German international goalkeeper Jens Lehmann does join English Premier League club FC Arsenal London for the remainder of the season. Lehmann's former coach Arsene Wenger send an SOS to the German after injuries to the clubs two Polish keepers Lukasz Fabianski and Wojciech Szczesny, which left the club with only Spanish goalkeeper Manuel Almunia with no serious back-up.

Wenger has been on the lookout for a free agent after deciding not to bring back Italian Vito Mannone, who is on loan at Championship side Hull City and then the idea to reactive Lehmann came about who is a former Arsenal fans favourite.

Lehmann had left Arsenal for VfB Stuttgart in 2008 and last summer ended his playing career, but a call by his former coach and the German is looking to prove his fitness to rejoin the Gunners. Lehmann would could as back-up for Almunia, the keeper to whom he had lost his place a few years ago.

Lehmann was part of the 'Invincibles' team along with Henry, Ljungberg, Pires and others which won the Premier League title in 2003/04, and has been in regular touch with Arsenal during his recent stay in England working on his coaching degree.

Speaking to German newspaper Bild, Lehmann said: "Arsenal currently have a goalkeeping crisis and I jumped at the chance to help them."

India to play Women's Olympic qualifiers

India have been drawn in Group I of the 2012 London Olympics Women's Football Tournaments Asian qualifiers. Our women would face hosts Bangladesh on March 18 and Uzbekistan on March 22 with only the winner of the three team group moving into the next round of Asian qualifiers.

20 players have been named in the final squad which will be coached by Mohammed Shahid Jabbar and they leave for Bangladesh tomorrow. The team should be able to beat Bangladesh, but Uzbekistan could be a very tough opponent.


INDIA WOMEN

Goalkeepers
Aditi Chauhan (Delhi), Sita Sharma (Orissa)

Defenders
Ansha (Bihar), K. Rebika Devi (Manipur), Tuli Goon (Orissa), Rashmita Patra (Orissa), Suparva Samal (Orissa), Alochana Senapati (Orissa)

Midfielders
N. Montesori Chanu (Manipur), O. Bembem Devi (Manipur), Amoolya Kamal (Karnataka), Manpreet Kaur (Haryana), Pinky Bompal Magar (Orissa), Gayatri Mallick (Orissa), Lochana Munda (Manipur), Swati Rawat (Delhi)

Strikers
L. Naobi Chanu (Delhi), N. Bala Devi (Manipur), T. Tababi Devi (Manipur), Raju Sugnaya (Tamil Nadu)

Officials
Mohammed Shahid Jabbar (Coach), Pratima Biswas (Assistant Coach), Chitra Gangadharan (Assistant Coach), Shanta Gopinath (Manager), Sangeeta Sharma (Head of Delegation), Kruti Maroila (Physiotherapist)