Capello staying on, Khedira tears ligament and Hamren and Sweden frustrated after first leg

Fabio Capello will stay on as head coach of the Russia national team. Karim Sahib / AFP

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RUSSIA

Fabio Capello is staying on as Russia coach and is expected to soon sign a contract extension that will take him through to the 2018 World Cup finals, Vitaly Mutko, the country’s sports minister, said yesterday. “I can say that an agreement in principle between the coach and the RFU [Russian Football Union] has been reached,” Mutko said. The 67-year-old Italian Capello was appointed on a two-year contract in July last year and has already successfully guided Russia to the World Cup finals next summer in Brazil. “As far as I know, his lawyer [his youngest son Pierfilippo Capello] will come to Moscow on November 21-22 and everything should be settled,” Mutko said.

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GERMANY

Midfielder Sami Khedira’s World Cup hopes hang in the balance after he was ruled out for around six months with a torn cruciate ligament suffered in Friday’s 1-1 draw against Italy. Khedira, who tore another ligament in his right knee during the incident, will undergo surgery this week, although the national team doctor was optimistic the Real Madrid player could recover in time to take his place in Brazil. “He will need to be operated on, but we are hopeful he could be fit in time for the World Cup,” Hans-Wilhelm Mueller-Wohlfahrt said.

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ICELAND

Lars Lagerback paid tribute to his Iceland side after they held on for a goalless draw in the first leg of their World Cup qualifying play-off with Croatia, despite being down to 10 men for the last 40 minutes. Olafur Ingi Skulason was dismissed after bringing down Ivan Perisic. But Iceland held out to go into Tuesday’s second leg in Croatia with the scores level. Lagerback said: “To defend for almost 45 minutes with one less man on the pitch ... I can’t describe in words what these players have done.”

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SWEDEN

Eric Hamren, the Sweden coach, voiced his frustration at seeing his side lose the first leg of their World Cup qualifying play-off to Portugal 1-0. Cristiano Ronaldo scored the only goal of the game with just eight minutes remaining to give Portugal the advantage going into Tuesday’s return leg in Stockholm. “We would have been very happy with a draw,” Hamren said. “We played a good game defensively, the goal was unnecessary, we were careless with that cross.”

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GREECE

Fernando Santos said he is looking to keep his Greek players focused on the job in hand after they won the first leg of their World Cup qualifying play-off 3-1 against Romania on Friday. Kostas Mitroglou scored twice for Greece to give them the edge ahead of Tuesday’s second leg in Bucharest, and Santos said: “Nothing has been decided yet. We need to keep a clear mind. We’re halfway there. The players worked a lot and managed to seize the opportunities we had.”

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ARSENAL

Poland international Wojciech Szczesny has signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal, the Premier League club said yesterday. The 23-year-old goalkeeper, who joined Arsenal’s academy in 2006 from his hometown club Legia Warsaw, made his debut in 2009 and has played 121 times for the club. He also has played 15 times for Poland. Szczesny told Arsenal’s website: “I am very pleased to have signed a new contract. Arsenal is like my family and I’m so happy to be committing my long-term future here. I’ve been at this club for over seven years now and I’d just like to take the opportunity to thank everyone for their support.”

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