The Hindu : Sport / Football : Luxemburgo's oversees Real Madrid's training

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Sunday, Jan 02, 2005

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Luxemburgo's oversees Real Madrid's training

MADRID, JAN. 1. Real Madrid's new head coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo oversaw his first training session with the team on Friday at the club's training complex of Las Rozas on the outskirts of Madrid.

The conditions could not have been better for Luxemburgo, who limited himself to watching from the sidelines as his players, including David Beckham, worked out in sunlight and 15 degrees centigrade (59 Fahrenheit).

Sporting the club's black tracksuit for the first time, Luxemburgo watched as Francisco Garcia Hernandez, who had been second trainer under former coach Mariano Garcia Remon, and Jose Luis San Martin, physical trainer, organised the workouts.

Luxemburgo spoke individually to fellow Brazilians Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos during the session. He spent over 15 minutes talking with Ronaldo and left the field with Madrid's fullback after more than an hour of training exercises.

Roberto Carlos later told reporters that Luxemburgo would bring Brazilian flair to Madrid's style.

``This coach can win the match in two minutes, never mind six,'' said Roberto Carlos, referring to Luxemburgo's first match in charge of Madrid next Wednesday, a resumption of the Dec. 12 match with Real Sociedad, which will last only seven minutes.

It is expected that Luxemburgo will introduce morning and afternoon training, a feature of Brazilian soccer, to toughen up the Madrid squad physically.

Luxemburgo is Madrid's third coach this year, having replaced Garcia Remon, who had taken over from Jose Antonio Camacho just three weeks into the season.

Garcia Remon will remain with Madrid as part of the management team, working under new soccer director, Arrigo Sacchi.

Camacho resigned amid reports he found the team's underachieving superstars too hard to manage.

Real Madrid is languishing 13 points behind leader FC Barcelona in the Spanish league despite a line-up that boasts star players like Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane and Beckham and it struggled to qualify for the second round of the Champions League.

Under Luxemburgo, Santos won its second Brazilian championship in three years earlier this month.

The 52-year-old has won the title a record five times — also with Palmeiras in 1993 and '94, Corinthians in 1998 and Cruzeiro last year.

He served as Brazilian national coach from 1998 to 2000 and coached Ronaldo at Cruzeiro.

In Nov. 2000 Luxemburgo was at the centre of a Brazilian congressional investigation into malpractice in soccer. — AP

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