Sports

BERLIN — Joachim Loew announced on Tuesday that he will step down as Germany head coach in July, but discussions about who will replace the 61-year-old have long been underway.

Loew’s decision to quit after the European championships, which ends on July 11, gives the German football association (DFB) “the necessary time to calmly appoint a successor,” said its President Fritz Keller.

AFP sports looks at potential candidates:

Hansi Flick 

The Bayern Munich boss is the logical choice having been Loew’s assistant coach when Germany won the 2014 World Cup.

The 56-year-old knows the German FA inside out, having spent three years as sports director from 2014 until 2017, before joining the coaching staff at Bayern two years later.

Despite having initially been appointed caretaker coach in November 2019, Flick’s reputation was boosted after he led Bayern to the Champions League title last season.

However, he has played down interest in German football’s top job.

“I know what it means to work at FC Bayern and see no reason to think about anything else,” he said.

Ralf Rangnick

The 62-year-old is the architect of RB Leipzig’s stunning rise from the fifth tier of German football.

Lothar Matthaeus, who captained West Germany to the 1990 World Cup triumph, sees Rangnick as the ideal candidate.

“He is available. He is someone who can build something,” Matthaeus, 59, told Sky on Tuesday.

Rangnick ruled himself out of the running but he is currently out of work and open to new employment having most recently been head of soccer at Red Bull.

On paper, Rangnick has an impressive record but his reputation as a reformer could put him in potential conflict with Germany team director Oliver Bierhoff.

Rangnick’s obsession with detail could also rub Germany’s stars the wrong way.

Julian Nagelsman

The vacancy has probably come too soon for the 33-year-old who is regarded as one of Germany’s brightest rising star coaches.

Nagelsmann is under contract at RB Leipzig until June 2023 and is building a reputation having already steered them to the Champions League semi-finals last season.

He has ruled himself out of contention, saying he is “excited to see who will follow in the footsteps” of Loew, but as the poster boy of German football, his name will be in the mix.

Stefan Kuntz

The 58-year-old is head coach of the national Under-21 side and highly regarded by the German FA.

According to Loew, Kuntz does “excellent work” and has “a very good approach to the team”.

Kuntz was part of the Germany team which won the European championships in 1996, and he won the Under-21 European championships as coach in 2017.

However, there are concerns he Kuntz lacks the necessary experience to manage Germany’s star players.

Jurgen Klopp

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp would be the dream choice for most German fans and the DFB’s top brass.

But the 53-year-old who led Liverpool to their first Premier League title for 30 years almost immediately said he was not interested in replacing Loew at the moment.

“I have three years left at Liverpool, that’s a simple statement, a simple situation,” he said at a press conference. “You sign a contract and you normally try to stick to that contract don’t you?”

His time might still come. World Cup winner Rudi Voeller said recently that Klopp was “one of the few coaches who can decide for themselves when they want to become national coach”.

TURIN, Italy — Andrea Pirlo brushed aside talk his Juventus future would be in the balance in Tuesday’s second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie with Porto, with the Italians trailing 2-1 heading into the must-win clash in Turin.

Pirlo’s predecessors Maurizio Sarri and Massimiliano Allegri both paid the price for the club’s failure to win Europe’s top football competition.

“If I thought my [future on the] bench depended on it I wouldn’t be here,” Pirlo told a press conference in Turin.

“For me it’s a match like other important matches. I continue to work day after day knowing mine and the club’s plan.

“Tomorrow it is decisive to move forward, but for [my] future the club will always decide based on the results.”

The pressure is on Juventus great Pirlo to keep the club in the running for the trophy they last won 25 years ago.

“We know we’re under pressure, we’ll not underestimate Porto,” continued the 41-year-old.

“We know the importance and the beauty of playing the Champions League, it’s a very important match for the team, the club.

“When you play these games you have a different energy.”

Record Champions League goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo carries Juventus’ hopes and was rested for most of Saturday’s win over Lazio as in-form Spaniard Alvaro Morata, with six European goals this season, spearheaded the 3-1 success over the Romans.

“These are his matches, he has always shown it,” said Pirlo of Ronaldo. “He is energised, he is rested, and he can’t wait to play.”

‘Like a final’ 

Pirlo is also hopeful of bringing back players from a long injury list which includes Italy defenders Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci, as well as Arthur and Matthijs de Ligt.

Forward Paulo Dybala remains injured while full-back Danilo is suspended and midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur is recovering from coronavirus.

“Everyone trained today, except De Ligt who only warmed up,” said Pirlo.

“Not everyone is at 100 per cent but it is already a lot to be able to choose among them.

“Chiellini only trained today but can be available for tomorrow.

“[Arthur] is not at his best but with Danilo out he could start from the beginning.”

Pirlo took over at Juventus with no senior coaching experience, after a playing career that brought a host of trophies to AC Milan and Juve, as well as the 2006 World Cup for Italy.

Juventus finished top of their Champions League group ahead of Barcelona and also won the Italian Super Cup, his first trophy as a coach.

They are also into the final of the Italian Cup and are third in Serie A, as they target a 10th consecutive Scudetto.

“For us it’s as if it were a final,” he added.

“We have to overturn the result of the first leg with all our strength, being clear-headed and managing the game.”

For Porto coach Sergio Conceicao, the Champions League is also a crucial test as they sit 10 points behind rivals Sporting Lisbon in the league.

“We’ll keep the same spirit as the first leg,” said Conceicao.

“They’ve recovered some important players and have the strength to afford to leave the best player in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo, on the bench and beat Lazio.

“Juventus have recently played Champions League finals, it’s a team that has invested in order to win the competition.”

“They are used to the pressure of these matches, but we have to think about ourselves and be well-prepared.”

Conceicao said there were doubts over the fitness of defender Pepe and midfielder Jesus Corona, with Marko Grujic, on loan from Liverpool, struggling with a foot injury.

AMMAN  — Traditional rivals Wihdat and Faisali come head-to-head on Tuesday in the semifinals of the 34th Jordan Football Association Shield — the first of the 2021 season competitions.

 The other semifinal will see newcomers Jalil take on Jazira in the late match at Prince Mohammad Stadium in Zarqa.

Jalil and Baqa’a joined the 12 club  Pro League this season and the former was the surprise team of the Shield, which kicked off the football season.

While Jazira, Wihdat and Jalil won their matches, Faisali advanced to the semifinal on points leaving Ramtha behind as the top team from each group moved  to the March 9 semis. The group leaders came as follow 

Group A: Wihdat eliminated Ma’an and Sahab.

Group B: Faisali eliminated Ramtha and Baqa’a.

Group C: Jazira eliminated  Hussein and Shabab Urdun

Group D: Jalil eliminated Salt and Aqaba

The final will be played on March 13 with the winner taking JD 15,000  and the runner up JD10,000.

Looking back at the history of the Shield tournament, Wihdat are a record 10 time winners, Faisali 7, Ramtha 5 , Hussein three, Jazira and Amman and Shabab Urdun twice, Kufrsoum and Yarmouk once. Hussein were finalists 7 times. Amman, have since scrapped football while Qadissieh were relegated and have since merged with Shabab Urdun.

Last season, Wihdat took home their 17th Pro League title while Jazira finished runner-up, Ramtha third, and Salt fourth ahead of former champs Faisali who settled for fifth. Sarih, who were promoted last year, dropped alongside veterans Ahli after a disappointing season.

Wihdat defeated Ramtha to win the  club’s 1oth title and the 33rd edition of the JFA Shield  while Faisali overcame Jazira to win the club’s 17th title in the 37th edition of the Jordan Super Cup. The Jordan Cup was scrapped from the agenda for the first time since the competition kicked off in 1980.

PARIS — Novak Djokovic will on Monday set a new landmark of 311 weeks as World No. 1, surpassing Roger Federer whose hold on a record-equalling 20 Grand Slam titles is now firmly in the Serb's sights.

The 33-year-old Djokovic, already the winner of 18 majors, has time on his side with Federer turning 40 in August.

He is also a year younger than Rafael Nadal who also has 20 majors.

"Now that I've become the historic No.1, I'm relieved," said Djokovic after sweeping to a ninth Australian Open last month which guaranteed his extended stay at the top.

"Now, I'm going to be able to focus mainly on the Grand Slams."

Djokovic reclaimed the top ranking from Nadal in February 2020 and finished as year-end number one for the sixth time, tying the mark set by Pete Sampras.

He is currently in his fifth different spell atop the rankings.

Nadal, currently at number two, has been at the top for “only” 209 weeks in total although the 13-time Roland Garros champion can boast being a top 10 ever-present since April 2005.

He will, however, lose his world number two spot to Daniil Medvedev a week on Monday.

Federer, who returns to action in Doha next week after more than a year out of action to recover from two knee surgeries, will slip out of the top five on Monday.

Djokovic made his top 100 debut in July 2005, just weeks after Nadal had won his first Roland Garros.

He was top 50 in June 2006, top 20 for the first time in October 2006 and top 10 by March 2007.

He first became World No.1 at the age of 24 on July 4, 2011, the day after winning Wimbledon for the first time, beating Nadal in the final.

Brief dip and swift return 

Only a six-month injury absence in 2017 saw his ranking plunge, all the way to 22 the following summer.

It was just a blip — Djokovic was back at number one again by November and with the exception of November 2019 until January last year, when Nadal reclaimed pole position, he has been rock solid.

Few would bet against Djokovic, who in 2016 was the first man to break the $100 million prize money barrier, ending his career with more Slams than Federer and Nadal.

In head-to-heads, he leads Federer 28-23 and has won all six of their last meetings at the majors, including 2019's epic Wimbledon final where he saved two match points.

Federer hasn't beaten Djokovic at the Slams since Wimbledon in 2012.

Against Nadal, he has a 29-27 lead and is still one of only two men to have beaten the Spaniard at Roland Garros since 2005.

At least Nadal, however, can boast comfortably seeing off Djokovic in the 2020 Roland Garros final, denying the Serb the opportunity to become the first man in half-a-century to win all four Slams more than once.

Djokovic, whose lone French Open title came in 2016, has comfortably more Australian Opens than Federer (six) and Nadal (one).

His Wimbledon total stands at five to Federer's eight and Nadal's two.

At the US Open, he has three to Federer's five and Nadal's four.

"Obviously I have in my mind to win more Grand Slam titles and to break records.”

"Until I retire from the tour, I will be devoting most of my attention and energy to winning the other major titles," Djokovic said.

BERLIN — Robert Lewandowski scored a hat-trick to leave him on 31 Bundesliga goals this season and seal Bayern Munich's 4-2 comeback home win over Borussia Dortmund on Saturday in Germany's “Klassiker”.

Dortmund raced into a 2-0 lead as Erling Braut Haaland netted twice in the first nine minutes behind closed doors at the Allianz Arena.

However, Lewandowksi then struck twice, the second from the penalty spot, to haul Bayern level before the break.

Leon Goretzka put Bayern ahead for the first time with two minutes left before Lewandowski completed his hat-trick on 90 minutes.

"The quality is certainly there, that's our DNA," said Thomas Mueller of Bayern's fightback.

"But it is not part of our match plan to always be behind. It's humbling to be 2-0 down," he added as Bayern have had to fight back on several occasions in recent weeks.

The win leaves Bayern two points clear of RB Leipzig at the top of the table.

The match delivered on its billing as the battle of the Bundesliga's star strikers.

Haaland scored with just two minutes gone when his shot clipped the heel of Jerome Boateng.

Bayern were reeling after nine minutes when Thorgan Hazard flicked the ball back inside for Haaland to again smash the ball home.

Dortmund could have been 3-0 up on 25 minutes but Thomas Meunier squandered the chance to shoot.

A minute later, Bayern pulled a goal back when Leroy Sane squared the ball for Lewandowski to score.

Bayern went into the break level when Mahmoud Dahoud brought down Kingsley Coman in the area and Lewandowski converted the penalty.

After a frantic first-half, the tempo dropped in the second as both teams suffered key injuries.

Haaland came off after an hour gone with a cut on the back of his ankle, but Dortmund coach Edin Terzic said he should be fit to face Sevilla in the Champions League on Tuesday.

With ten minutes left, Boateng had to be helped off in clear discomfort with an ankle injury.

Bayern settled the matter when Goretzka pinged his shot in off the post before Lewandowski completed his hat-trick with an outstanding low drive.

With ten games left, Lewandowski threatens to break Gerd Mueller's all-time record of 40 Bundesliga goals in the 1971/72 season.

Leipzig romp 

Earlier RB Leipzig briefly climbed top of the table with a 3-0 romp at Freiburg thanks to goals by Christopher Nkunku, Alexander Sorloth and Emil Forsberg.

Leipzig impressed in their final tune-up before facing Liverpool in Budapest next Wednesday in the last 16 of the Champions League having lost the first leg 2-0.

Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann said goal-scoring left-back Angelino will "probably" miss the Liverpool game with a leg injury.

Third-placed Wolfsburg are now ten points adrift of Bayern having stumbled to a 2-1 defeat at mid-table Hoffenheim whose striker Andrej Kramaric scored the winning goal just before half-time.

Eintracht Frankfurt stay fourth after Filip Kostic equalised for the home team in a 1-1 draw against Stuttgart.

A late goal by Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick sealed their 1-0 win at Moenchengladbach, who drop to 10th as their miserable run continues.

Gladbach have now lost all fives games since it was announced head coach Marco Rose will take charge of Dortmund next season.

The away win eases the pressure on Leverkusen coach Peter Bosz. His fifth-placed side had failed to win any of their five previous games in all competitions.

Dodi Lukebakio converted a late penalty to seal Hertha Berlin's 2-1 home win over Augsburg.

It was Hertha's first victory in 10 games which pulled them up to 14th and away from the relegation fight.

MADRID — Barcelona needed extra-time to reach the Copa del Rey final on Wednesday, with a 3-2 aggregate win over Sevilla coming just two days after a police raid on the club and the arrest of their former president.

Having trailed 2-0 from the first leg, Danish international Martin Braithwaite hit the crucial goal in the fifth minute of extra-time with a diving header off a Jordi Alba cross.

Gerard Pique had equalised in the fourth minute of stoppage time with virtually the last play of the game to save Barca.

The veteran international headed in at the near post after a fine cross from Antoine Griezmann.

That was after Ousmane Dembele, who scored in the 2-0 win at Sevilla in La Liga at the weekend, had given the 30-time Spanish Cup winners a 12th-minute lead in the second leg with a right-foot drive from outside the area.

Sevilla could have killed the game off in the 73rd minute to deny Barca their place in the final for a 42nd time.

They were awarded a penalty when Lucas Ocampos was brought down by Oscar Mingueza.

However, Ocampos saw his tame right-foot effort from the spot saved by Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Flagging Sevilla were then reduced to 10 men in injury time when Brazilian Fernando was red-carded for a foul on Francisco Trincao.

"The team deserved to qualify," said Barca coach Ronald Koeman.

"For their work and honesty. We are more aggressive, we've always created chances, the team has improved enormously. 

"This is a very important result for the club, for the players, and for me of course as well. This is an important step in earning a title." 

It was a much-needed win for Barcelona after former president Josep Maria Bartomeu, current chief executive Oscar Grau, head of legal services Roma Gomez Ponti and Bartomeu's advisor Jaume Masferrer were arrested by Catalan police, who searched the club's offices on Monday morning.

They were all questioned in relation to last year's "Barcagate" scandal.

The club holds its presidential elections later this week.

The search of Barcelona's stadium was part of a probe into allegations the club carried out a defamation campaign against current and former players who were critical of Bartomeu.

Spanish radio station Cadena Ser claimed in February 2020 that Barca covered up inflated payments to a company called I3 Ventures which it had hired to boost the image of the club on social media.

Part of the social media campaign included criticising current and former players like Lionel Messi and Xavi Hernandez, and iconic coach Pep Guardiola.

Barcelona will face either Athletic Bilbao or Levante, who are 1-1 in their semifinal, in the final on April 17 in Seville.

Before that, however, Barcelona will attempt another comeback effort when they take on Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie next week.

Barca trail 4-1 from the first leg.

Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui admitted Wednesday's defeat was a "bitter pill to swallow".

"We are disappointed and sad to be deprived of a final.

"We experienced the most crushing feeling in football, conceding with the last kick of the game [in normal time]."