Van gaal

Jurgen Klopp:  The list of candidates to take over as Germany head coach might have become slightly smaller, after Jurgen Klopp, Lothar Matthaus and Matthias Sammer called off their interest in the vacancy.

But the German football association still seems to be able to choose from a wide range of prominent names as successor to Hansi Flick, who was sacked on Sunday following a series of poor results, and with nine months to go until UEFA Euro 2024 begins in Germany, reports Xinhua.

2014 World Cup winners Bastian Schweinsteiger and Philipp Lahm have thrown their weight behind Dutch icon and former Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal, while association president Bernd Neuendorf spoke of an ongoing process with "us looking for a coach with assertiveness".