Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo, May 28, 2010
Match starts at 07:30 GMT
Preview:
With the Twenty20 World Cup debacle still fresh in the mind, a new-look Indian team would look to test its bench strength when it faces Zimbabwe in the opening match of a triangular ODI series, also involving Sri Lanka, here tomorrow.
With big names rested for the series, the tournament comes as an opportunity for the youngsters to prove their worth at the international level, especially with the 50-over World Cup just over nine months away.
It will also be a test of character for the young Suresh Raina, who will make his captaincy debut after as many as eight senior players including regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, were rested for the tournament.
But what might work in Raina's favour is that he will lead a bunch of young, fresh and fit players who are eager to perform at the international arena and be in the reckoning for a place in the Indian team.
Raina has an aggressive deputy in Virat Kohli, who would be keen to prove his worth to the selectors after being ignored for the Twenty20 World Cup.
Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha and leg-spinner Amit Mishra also have a point to prove after the Twenty20 World Cup snub while Yusuf Pathan, Rohit Sharma and Dinesh Karthik along with Raina will form the core of the Indian line-up during the series.
Other rookies who will be looking to make a mark are off-spinner R Ashwin and aggressive wicket-keeper batsman Naman Ojha.
However, an area which will be a matter of concern for Raina is the pace department. With the likes of Ashok Dinda, R Vinay Kumar, Pankaj Singh and Umesh Yadav, the Indian seam attack lacks experience and it remains to be seen how the quartet fairs in pressure situations.
Incidentally, the Raina-led side has a fair idea about Zimbabwean conditions as players like Pankaj Singh, Pragyan and Rohit were part of the A team that toured the African country in 2007. India last sent a full side to Zimbabwe way back in 2005-06.
On the other hand, the absence of so many international stars have irked the cash-strapped Zimbabwe Cricket which was banking on this series to revive the game here.
With very little international cricket scheduled here, the tri-series is also seen as Zimbabwe's last chance to test their abilities before the next year's World Cup.
After hosting Sri Lanka in 2008, Zimbabwe have played minnows like Kenya, Bangladesh and Afghanistan at home and the successful hosting of this series will portray a positive image of cricket there.
Teams:
India (From): Murali Vijay, Dinesh Karthik, Suresh Raina
(c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Naman Ojha(w), Yusuf Pathan, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Pankaj Singh, Vinay Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ashok Dinda, Umesh Yadav.
(c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Naman Ojha(w), Yusuf Pathan, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Pankaj Singh, Vinay Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ashok Dinda, Umesh Yadav. 
Zimbabwe(From): Hamilton Masakadza, Vusi Sibanda, Tatenda Taibu(w), Brendan Taylor, Charles Coventry, Andy Blignaut, Elton Chigumbura(c), Graeme Cremer, Prosper Utseya, Chris Mpofu, Ray Price, Chamu Chibhabha, Craig Ervine, Gregory Lamb, Ed Rainsford
A British couple kidnapped by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean last year said in a videotaped message they "desperately need" new British Prime Minister David Cameron to clarify whether he will work to secure their release.
Paul and Rachel Chandler, from Kent in southern England, were taken from their yacht near the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean in October.
A local journalist interviewed the couple in a rural location in Somalia last week, according to CNN affiliate ITN. The journalist paid no money to the pirates, who stood behind the camera during the interview, ITN reported.
"As you can see, we've lost a lot of weight and a lot of fitness, but otherwise we're not physically ill," Paul Chandler said.
"We're coping and we're resigned to our situation, and we're trying to make the best of it and keep ourselves well," Rachel Chandler said.
The couple said they were separated from each other earlier this year but reunited seven weeks ago. They are able to listen to a radio, they said, so they know about the recent British election that brought Cameron into office.
"We desperately need him to make a definitive public statement of the governments attitude to us," Paul Chandler said. "We're two British citizens, we've been kidnapped in the Seychelles -- it was a perfectly safe place to be. If the government is not prepared to help, then they must say so because the gangsters' expectations and hopes have been raised."
The British Foreign Office released a statement late Wednesday saying consular officials are in close touch with the Chandlers and urging the kidnappers to let them go.
"Paul and Rachel Chandler are innocent tourists," the statement said. "The U.K. government's policy of not making or facilitating substantive concessions to hostage-takers, including the payment of ransoms, is long-standing and clear. This has been the policy of successive governments and has not changed."
The captors initially demanded a ransom of $7 million, but the British government refused to pay. Paul Chandler said it is not correct to call their kidnappers pirates.
"This is absolutely not piracy. It mustn't be reported as such. It's kidnapping and extortion and even torture," he said. He didn't elaborate on the torture claim other than to say the separation from his wife of 30 years had been "real torture."
Said Rachel Chandler, "Simply not knowing what was happening and whether we would be together again, when, where each other was, was real torture -- mental torture."
She said the kidnappers regard the pair as "just animals."
"We've been kept caged up like animals," she said. "They don't care about our feelings and our family and our lives, and what they've taken. They don't care whose lives they ruin. They just want the money."
British Royal Navy ships and other military vessels patrolling the dangerous waters off East Africa have become a "laughing stock" because they "can't do anything" to stop the piracy, Paul Chandler said.
His wife said they take strength thinking about their family back home.
"We are being strong for them because they keep us going, knowing that they are there supporting us," Rachel Chandler said. "We know that they are doing their best. It's been seven months and we know that they must have been suffering alongside us, and we care about them very much."
Paul and Rachel Chandler, from Kent in southern England, were taken from their yacht near the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean in October.
A local journalist interviewed the couple in a rural location in Somalia last week, according to CNN affiliate ITN. The journalist paid no money to the pirates, who stood behind the camera during the interview, ITN reported.
"As you can see, we've lost a lot of weight and a lot of fitness, but otherwise we're not physically ill," Paul Chandler said.
"We're coping and we're resigned to our situation, and we're trying to make the best of it and keep ourselves well," Rachel Chandler said.
The couple said they were separated from each other earlier this year but reunited seven weeks ago. They are able to listen to a radio, they said, so they know about the recent British election that brought Cameron into office.
"We desperately need him to make a definitive public statement of the governments attitude to us," Paul Chandler said. "We're two British citizens, we've been kidnapped in the Seychelles -- it was a perfectly safe place to be. If the government is not prepared to help, then they must say so because the gangsters' expectations and hopes have been raised."
The British Foreign Office released a statement late Wednesday saying consular officials are in close touch with the Chandlers and urging the kidnappers to let them go.
"Paul and Rachel Chandler are innocent tourists," the statement said. "The U.K. government's policy of not making or facilitating substantive concessions to hostage-takers, including the payment of ransoms, is long-standing and clear. This has been the policy of successive governments and has not changed."
The captors initially demanded a ransom of $7 million, but the British government refused to pay. Paul Chandler said it is not correct to call their kidnappers pirates.
"This is absolutely not piracy. It mustn't be reported as such. It's kidnapping and extortion and even torture," he said. He didn't elaborate on the torture claim other than to say the separation from his wife of 30 years had been "real torture."
Said Rachel Chandler, "Simply not knowing what was happening and whether we would be together again, when, where each other was, was real torture -- mental torture."
She said the kidnappers regard the pair as "just animals."
"We've been kept caged up like animals," she said. "They don't care about our feelings and our family and our lives, and what they've taken. They don't care whose lives they ruin. They just want the money."
British Royal Navy ships and other military vessels patrolling the dangerous waters off East Africa have become a "laughing stock" because they "can't do anything" to stop the piracy, Paul Chandler said.
His wife said they take strength thinking about their family back home.
"We are being strong for them because they keep us going, knowing that they are there supporting us," Rachel Chandler said. "We know that they are doing their best. It's been seven months and we know that they must have been suffering alongside us, and we care about them very much."
North Korea reacted to a South Korean anti-submarine exercise early Thursday by saying it would meet "confrontation with confrontation" and war with "all-out war," according to North Korean state-run media.
"Now that the puppet group challenged the DPRK [North Korea] formally and blatantly, the DPRK will react to confrontation with confrontation, and to a war with an all-out war," according the KCNA news agency.
The news agency referred to South Korean leaders as a "group of traitors" and said they would experience "unheard of disastrous consequences" if they misunderstand North Korea's will.
The response comes amid high tensions on the Korean peninsula, after Seoul blamed Pyongyang for the sinking in March of a South Korean warship. An official South Korean report has accused the communist North of firing a torpedo at the ship, killing 46 sailors.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, visiting Seoul on Wednesday, called the sinking "an unacceptable provocation by North Korea" and said the international community should respond.
Also Thursday, the general staff of North Korea's military -- the Korean People's Army, or KPA -- said it was enacting new measures to deal with any "all-out confrontation."
The steps would "retract all measures for providing military guarantees for the North-South cooperation and exchange, and the promise of a physical strike.
"The KPA will make a prompt physical strike at the intrusion into the extension of the Military Demarcation Line under our side's control in the West Sea of Korea," the army said, according to the KCNA news agency.
The steps would "retract all measures for providing military guarantees for the North-South cooperation and exchange, and the promise of a physical strike.
"The KPA will make a prompt physical strike at the intrusion into the extension of the Military Demarcation Line under our side's control in the West Sea of Korea," the army said, according to the KCNA news agency.
More UK bathing beaches have excellent water quality than last year, but pollution has worsened since 2006, the Marine Conservation Society says.
It rated 421 of 769 beaches as excellent - 33 more than 2009, but below the 505 rated highly in 2006.
It blamed heavy rainfall during the past three summers for overloading sewage systems and washing fertiliser and pollutants onto beaches.
It also warned that several popular beaches would fail EU rules from 2015.
The annual Good Beach Guide is published on Friday and lists results of water quality tests conducted from May to September 2009.
It has four grades: "MCS recommended" for the highest water quality and good sewage treatment; "guideline" for good water quality only; "basic pass" means the water passed the European Commission statutory minimum; and "fail".
It blamed heavy rainfall during the past three summers for overloading sewage systems and washing fertiliser and pollutants onto beaches.
It also warned that several popular beaches would fail EU rules from 2015.
The annual Good Beach Guide is published on Friday and lists results of water quality tests conducted from May to September 2009.
It has four grades: "MCS recommended" for the highest water quality and good sewage treatment; "guideline" for good water quality only; "basic pass" means the water passed the European Commission statutory minimum; and "fail".
Sewage overflow
The latest guide recorded fewer failures than last year - 41 as opposed to 66.
Water quality had steadily improved from 2001 to a peak in 2006, but has declined ever since, the marine society said.
Based on Met Office data, the summers 2007 to 2009 combined were the wettest period since 1914.
The society said this caused overloaded sewer systems to discharge raw sewage on to some beaches, and pollutants such as animal waste, fertilisers and refuse to be washed from farm land and city streets into rivers and the sea.
"The regional pattern to this rainfall means that some regions such as north west England and Scotland fared worse in this year's guide whereas others like the Channel Isles did markedly better," a spokeswoman said.
The latest guide recorded fewer failures than last year - 41 as opposed to 66.
Water quality had steadily improved from 2001 to a peak in 2006, but has declined ever since, the marine society said.
Based on Met Office data, the summers 2007 to 2009 combined were the wettest period since 1914.
The society said this caused overloaded sewer systems to discharge raw sewage on to some beaches, and pollutants such as animal waste, fertilisers and refuse to be washed from farm land and city streets into rivers and the sea.
"The regional pattern to this rainfall means that some regions such as north west England and Scotland fared worse in this year's guide whereas others like the Channel Isles did markedly better," a spokeswoman said.
Tougher rules coming
It warned that stricter EU regulations, due to come into force in 2015, will see 83 beaches fail even the minimum water quality standard unless improvements are carried out.
The list included Rock in Cornwall, Paignton Sands, Robin Hood's Bay, Bridlington South, Chalkwell Bay at Southend, Plymouth Hoe and the main beach at Weston super Mare, it said.
Sewer overflow pipes, which transport raw sewage into rivers and the sea, were a cause of concern, said the society's coastal pollution officer, Thomas Bell.
"MCS knows of at least 500 UK beaches with one or more of these pipes.
"There are many places where they don't cause a problem but 45% of tested beaches aren't recommended by MCS because of pollution.
It warned that stricter EU regulations, due to come into force in 2015, will see 83 beaches fail even the minimum water quality standard unless improvements are carried out.
The list included Rock in Cornwall, Paignton Sands, Robin Hood's Bay, Bridlington South, Chalkwell Bay at Southend, Plymouth Hoe and the main beach at Weston super Mare, it said.
Sewer overflow pipes, which transport raw sewage into rivers and the sea, were a cause of concern, said the society's coastal pollution officer, Thomas Bell.
"MCS knows of at least 500 UK beaches with one or more of these pipes.
"There are many places where they don't cause a problem but 45% of tested beaches aren't recommended by MCS because of pollution.
BP's much-anticipated attempt to cap its undersea gusher in the Gulf of Mexico, a spill now estimated at twice the size of the Exxon Valdez disaster, was suspended for more than 16 hours before it was restarted late Thursday afternoon, a BP executive said Thursday.
"This whole operation is very, very dynamic," Doug Suttles, the company's chief operating officer.
"When we did the initial pumping (Wednesday), we clearly impacted the flow of the well. We then stopped to monitor the well. Based on that, we restarted again. We didn't think we were making enough progress after we restarted, so we stopped again."
The light-brown material that was seen spilling out of the well throughout Thursday was the previously pumped fluid from the "top kill" procedure mixed with oil, he said.
"I probably should apologize to folks that we haven't been giving more data on that," Suttles said when asked why it took so long for BP to announce it had suspended the top kill. "It was nothing more than we are so focused on the operation itself."
Suttles said part of the problem is that too much mud is leaving the breach instead of going down the well. "So what we need to do is adjust how we are doing the job so that we get more of the drilling mud to go down the well," Suttles said.
He said one solution would be to introduce solids -- known as "bridging material," or its variant "junk shot" -- into the mix.
BP officials say the procedure could take another 24 to 48 hours to complete, though whether the top kill will successfully stop the flow of oil is uncertain.
Enormous brown plumes of drilling "mud" billowed from the damaged well during the process, which BP Managing Director Bob Dudley called "a "titanic arm-wrestling match" a mile below the surface.
Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, who is leading the government's response to the oil spill, earlier said the work "is moving along as everyone had hoped."
"They're pumping mud into the well bore, and as long as mud is going down, hydrocarbons are not going up," Allen told reporters Thursday afternoon. The work could take another night, he told reporters in Venice, near the mouth of the Mississippi River.
"I think we just need to let that run its course, and we will see what happens," Allen said. However, asked about reports the procedure had been halted, Allen said he hadn't talked to BP officials yet.
Stopping the leak took on even more urgency after government scientists released spill estimates that far exceed the previous 5,000-barrel-a-day number given by BP.
The burst well is spewing oil at a rate of at least 12,000 to 19,000 barrels a day, U.S. Geological Survey Director Marcia McNutt told reporters Thursday, meaning 260,000 to 540,000 barrels had leaked as of 10 days ago -- larger by far than the 250,000 barrels spilled when the tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989.
The 38-day-old spill was beginning to take its toll on Louisiana's sensitive coastal marshes, where heavy oil has been killing plant life and fouling local wildlife and fisheries. On Thursday, the eve of the Memorial Day holiday weekend, the beaches of Grand Isle were empty.
"If only it gets stopped, if what they did yesterday works, that's the beginning of the end," Grand Isle Tourism Commissioner Josie Cheramie said. "We can clean up what's already been put out there, but we just really need to get it stopped. That's the main thing."
The spill claimed a job in Washington, as the head of the scandal-plagued federal agency that oversees offshore drilling resigned.
Rescue workers are trying to free survivors from the wreckage of a train in eastern India after a blast on the line killed at least 25.
The blast hurled a passenger train into the path of a goods train speeding in the opposite direction in West Midnapore, a railway spokesman said.
The number of dead was expected to rise after the incident early on Friday.
The area is known to be a Maoist stronghold but officials say it is too early to say if rebels were to blame.
The passenger train was travelling from Mumbai to the eastern city of Kolkata, in the West Midnapore district of West Bengal state.
The number of dead was expected to rise after the incident early on Friday.
The area is known to be a Maoist stronghold but officials say it is too early to say if rebels were to blame.
The passenger train was travelling from Mumbai to the eastern city of Kolkata, in the West Midnapore district of West Bengal state.
Railway official Manoj Kumar told Reuters: "At this stage I can confirm 25 deaths. The toll will be much higher."
A doctor quoted by AFP said there had been 30 deaths.
A local government official said the toll could go up to "anywhere around 50-60" because many passengers were trapped inside mangled coaches.
"We can give a final figure only after rescue operations are complete. We have to cut open the compartments and bring out bodies."
Another railway spokesman, Soumitra Majumdar, said: "The blast derailed 13 coaches of the Gyaneswari Express. These coaches then fell on the other track where a goods train rammed into some of them." 'Super de luxe' express
Among the 13 carriages of the "super de luxe" express were 10 sleeper coaches and an unreserved coach, sources told The Times of India.
A reporter at the scene, Naresh Jana, said: "I can see at least four passenger coaches completely mangled. I am seeing many bodies crushed under the goods train.
"People are crying. Rescuers are struggling to save the survivors and get the bodies out."
Among the emergency teams sent to the scene were 12 doctors and 20 paramedics from Kharagpur and two doctors from the Kalaikunda airbase in the district, the newspaper reported.
Maoist rebels have in recent months stepped up attacks in response to a government security push to flush them out of their jungle bases.
They have attacked police, government buildings and infrastructure such as railway stations. Earlier this month they blew up a bus in the state of Chhattisgarh, killing 35 people.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the insurgency as India's biggest internal security challenge.
Friday's crash comes days after a passenger airliner plunged to earth in southern India, killing 158 people.
A doctor quoted by AFP said there had been 30 deaths.
A local government official said the toll could go up to "anywhere around 50-60" because many passengers were trapped inside mangled coaches.
"We can give a final figure only after rescue operations are complete. We have to cut open the compartments and bring out bodies."
Another railway spokesman, Soumitra Majumdar, said: "The blast derailed 13 coaches of the Gyaneswari Express. These coaches then fell on the other track where a goods train rammed into some of them." 'Super de luxe' express
Among the 13 carriages of the "super de luxe" express were 10 sleeper coaches and an unreserved coach, sources told The Times of India.
A reporter at the scene, Naresh Jana, said: "I can see at least four passenger coaches completely mangled. I am seeing many bodies crushed under the goods train.
"People are crying. Rescuers are struggling to save the survivors and get the bodies out."
Among the emergency teams sent to the scene were 12 doctors and 20 paramedics from Kharagpur and two doctors from the Kalaikunda airbase in the district, the newspaper reported.
Maoist rebels have in recent months stepped up attacks in response to a government security push to flush them out of their jungle bases.
They have attacked police, government buildings and infrastructure such as railway stations. Earlier this month they blew up a bus in the state of Chhattisgarh, killing 35 people.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the insurgency as India's biggest internal security challenge.
Friday's crash comes days after a passenger airliner plunged to earth in southern India, killing 158 people.
MADRID: Jose Mourinho was poised to become Real Madrid coach on Wednesday after the Spanish giants sacked Manuel Pellegrini.
Following weeks of frantic media speculation, the La Liga giants ditched Chilean Pellegrini in favour of the flamboyant Mourinho, who led Inter Milan to the Champions League title and Italian league and cup double last season.
Real president Florentino Perez told a news conference in the bowels of the Bernabeu stadium, scene of Inter’s Champions League triumph last weekend, that the 47-year-old Portuguese would join Real once his contract termination had been agreed.
“I am ready to admit to some mistakes but the hiring of Mourinho, one of the world’s best coaches, is an opportunity that this Real Madrid, who always fight for excellence, could not afford to miss,” Perez said.
“We are absolutely convinced that we need a fresh impulse and that a coach like Mourinho can be the person to take charge of the squad for the next few years.
“Madrid bets on stability but stability for the fans is winning and being leaders. Stability is not about keeping on a coach.”
Perez said he hoped to complete the deal for Mourinho soon, adding that he had not yet spoken to the former Porto and Chelsea coach about potential additions to the squad.
ROCK SOLID
Mourinho, the self-styled “Special One”, made no secret of his desire to take over at Real after becoming only the third coach to win the European Cup with two different teams having triumphed with Porto in 2004.
“Few have the privilege of winning it,” he said after Inter beat Bayern Munich 2-0 to seal their first European Cup in 45 years.
“I can win a third, a fourth, a fifth time but I don’t think the feelings will be different,” he said.
Mourinho built Inter into a compact team with a rock-solid defence and a deadly counter-attack but was criticised for playing too defensively, a tactic that will not go down well at Real where the emphasis is on flair and entertainment.
He will work under the demanding management trio of Perez, director general Jorge Valdano and sporting director Miguel Pardeza but made it clear this week that he would be the one calling the shots.
“The president is not the one who wins, he’s not the one who plays and nor does he decide who is in the team and who is on the bench,” Mourinho told Marca sports daily.”
SPECTACULAR PROJECT
Pellegrini left Villarreal to join Real last June, becoming the cornerstone of Perez’s big-money bid to bring trophies back to the Bernabeu.
The construction magnate invested a quarter of a billion euros ($307 million) in players, including a record 94 million on Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo, and vowed to build a “spectacular sporting project” to put the club back at the forefront of European and world football.
Pellegrini was charged with rebuilding the nine-times European champions and making them into a team capable of challenging Barcelona while entertaining a hugely demanding and impatient fan base.
But they were dumped out of the Champions League by Olympique Lyon at the last-16 stage, humiliated by third-tier Alorcon in the King’s Cup and ended the season three points behind La Liga champions Barca.
Pellegrini endured a sustained campaign in the Madrid-based sports press to unseat him, always maintaining the educated calm and courtesy that earned him the nickname “The Engineer”.
“We thought it through a lot and it’s not just the fact that we didn’t win any titles,” Perez said.
“We believe that it’s the right moment to give a fresh boost and bet on one of the best coaches in the world.”
Real president Florentino Perez told a news conference in the bowels of the Bernabeu stadium, scene of Inter’s Champions League triumph last weekend, that the 47-year-old Portuguese would join Real once his contract termination had been agreed.
“I am ready to admit to some mistakes but the hiring of Mourinho, one of the world’s best coaches, is an opportunity that this Real Madrid, who always fight for excellence, could not afford to miss,” Perez said.
“We are absolutely convinced that we need a fresh impulse and that a coach like Mourinho can be the person to take charge of the squad for the next few years.
“Madrid bets on stability but stability for the fans is winning and being leaders. Stability is not about keeping on a coach.”
Perez said he hoped to complete the deal for Mourinho soon, adding that he had not yet spoken to the former Porto and Chelsea coach about potential additions to the squad.
ROCK SOLID
Mourinho, the self-styled “Special One”, made no secret of his desire to take over at Real after becoming only the third coach to win the European Cup with two different teams having triumphed with Porto in 2004.
“Few have the privilege of winning it,” he said after Inter beat Bayern Munich 2-0 to seal their first European Cup in 45 years.
“I can win a third, a fourth, a fifth time but I don’t think the feelings will be different,” he said.
Mourinho built Inter into a compact team with a rock-solid defence and a deadly counter-attack but was criticised for playing too defensively, a tactic that will not go down well at Real where the emphasis is on flair and entertainment.
He will work under the demanding management trio of Perez, director general Jorge Valdano and sporting director Miguel Pardeza but made it clear this week that he would be the one calling the shots.
“The president is not the one who wins, he’s not the one who plays and nor does he decide who is in the team and who is on the bench,” Mourinho told Marca sports daily.”
SPECTACULAR PROJECT
Pellegrini left Villarreal to join Real last June, becoming the cornerstone of Perez’s big-money bid to bring trophies back to the Bernabeu.
The construction magnate invested a quarter of a billion euros ($307 million) in players, including a record 94 million on Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo, and vowed to build a “spectacular sporting project” to put the club back at the forefront of European and world football.
Pellegrini was charged with rebuilding the nine-times European champions and making them into a team capable of challenging Barcelona while entertaining a hugely demanding and impatient fan base.
But they were dumped out of the Champions League by Olympique Lyon at the last-16 stage, humiliated by third-tier Alorcon in the King’s Cup and ended the season three points behind La Liga champions Barca.
Pellegrini endured a sustained campaign in the Madrid-based sports press to unseat him, always maintaining the educated calm and courtesy that earned him the nickname “The Engineer”.
“We thought it through a lot and it’s not just the fact that we didn’t win any titles,” Perez said.
“We believe that it’s the right moment to give a fresh boost and bet on one of the best coaches in the world.”
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