Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo gave a ringing endorsement of new coach Zinedine Zidane and handed a rebuke to his sacked predecessor Rafa Benitez after Sunday's 5-1 La Liga victory at home to Sporting Gijon. Real have comfortably won both their matches since Zidane took over this month, a 5-0 thrashing of Deportivo La Coruna and Sunday's demolition of lowly Gijon, and Ronaldo said the players had a better relationship with the former Real and France great, who is known as 'Zizou', than with the unpopular Benitez. The former Valencia, Liverpool, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Napoli manager was discarded after less than half a season in the job after an indifferent run of results left Real trailing city rivals Atletico Madrid and champions Barcelona in La Liga. "To be honest, with some coaches you have more empathy than with others," Ronaldo told reporters after netting a double at the Bernabeu. "The truth is, don't ask me why, that the players have more empathy with Zizou," the Portugal forward added.
The French midfielder and FIFA's World Player of the Year is also thinking when to quit the national side.
Real Madrid's Intercontinental Cup triumph marked a remarkable milestone for Carlo Ancelotti on Wednesday as the Italian became the manager with the most titles in the club's history with a total of 15 trophies.
Ronaldinho is bidding to lift the trophy for the third year in a row.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter hinted that the head-butt on Italy's Marco Materazzi in the World Cup final might cost the France captain the best player's award.
Marco Materazzi's agent said Zidane's head-butt was prompted by the Italian defender's loose comment about the French captain's wife.
The World Player of the Year rallied France to a 2-1 victory in their opening Group B match.
With 264 points, the Frenchman was voted ahead of Thierry Henry (186) and Ronaldo (176) for the prestigious accolade.
Former France captain Zinedine Zidane will appear before FIFA's disciplinary committee in Zurich on Thursday to give his account of the incident in which he head-butted an opponent in the World Cup final.
Zidane's remarks came after Real Madrid's Champions League clash against Inter Milan. Real Madrid secured a 2-0 win in the match.
World player of the year Zinedine Zidane should retire from international football, former France coach Michel Hidalgo said on Wednesday.
Zinedine Zidane can stay at Real Madrid for life, club President Florentino Perez said on Saturday, after the Frenchman became the first manager to win the Champions League two years in a row with a dominant 4-1 win over Juventus.
Zinedine Zidane will accept an offer from Jose Mourinho to work more closely with the Real Madrid coach, the former France great has said.
Real Madrid have endured a miserable season since Zinedine Zidane left in May, first sacking Julen Lopetegui and then Santiago Solari.
But Saturday's Champions League final against his former club Juventus is a reminder that the Frenchman hasn't quite had it all his own way.
The impact of a television advert featuring bid ambassador Zinedine Zidane has edged Qatar narrowly ahead in the race to host the 2022 World Cup finals, London bookmakers William Hill said on Tuesday.
Real's record signing Bale has not played since injuring his groin against Barcelona on April 23 but is fit and available for the final in his home city of Cardiff after returning to training last Friday.
Cristiano Ronaldo has accepted that he needs to rest more and that sitting out the odd game is in the interests of him and Real Madrid, coach Zinedine Zidane said on Friday. Real's all-time top scorer has missed four of his team's 15 league games this season, two more than in the whole of the last campaign, and he was a surprise omission from the squad for Wednesday's King's Cup game against Sevilla. Zidane remarked last year that he would prefer Ronaldo to rest more after injuries forced him to miss vital games at the end of the season, although the Frenchman appears to have reached agreement with his talisman this campaign.
Former French midfielder Zinedine Zidane is glad he was sent-off for his head-butt in the 2006 World Cup final because he has not had to live with regret over escaping punishment.
The football ace came first in a ranking of France's Top 50 personalities, beating ex-tennis champion Yannick Noah, who came in second place.
The thrice world footballer of the year says he's atthe peak of his career.
Give us your take on Tuesday's games in the World Cup!
The Real Madrid midfielder said he might consider returning for France in a bid to help the former world champions in their struggle to qualify for the 2006 World Cup.
Zinedine Zidane said he attacked Marco Materazzi during the World Cup final to defend the honour of his mother and sister.
Zinedine Zidane put head before heart on Wednesday and tipped Spain to win the World Cup in South Africa this year.
Marco Materazzi is writing a book of jokes about the incident with Zinedine Zidane.
Real Madrid warmed up for their crunch meeting against Barcelona by thrashing Sevilla 4-0 and coach Zinedine Zidane believes his team "can do great things" if they match the performance they produced against Unai Emery's side.
Italy defender Marco Materazzi has finally revealed the exact words he used to provoke Zinedine Zidane into headbutting him in last year's World Cup final.
The midfielder hinted that he may finish his playing career before his Real Madrid contract ends in 2007.
Cristiano Ronaldo gave Zinedine Zidane a ringing endorsement as Real Madrid coach after their 1-0 defeat by Atletico Madrid in the city derby at the Bernabeu on Saturday.
Zinedine Zidane had few equals as a player but heading into his first Champions League final as a coach, he admits that unlike Atletico Madrid counterpart Diego Simeone he still has much to learn. The former France playmaker, who was promoted from Real's reserve team to replace Rafa Benitez in January, steered the side to a runners-up finish in La Liga and Saturday's final in Milan. Real have won 21 out of 26 games under Zidane and lost two, scoring 71 goals and giving away 18. Simeone led Atletico to their second Champions League final in three years. "He has everything that a coach needs but above all, he knows his team and his players well, which is the most important thing," Zidane told a news conference on Tuesday.
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane denied his side were facing a crisis after they drew 1-1 at home to La Liga minnows Eibar and racked up a fourth consecutive draw for the first time in more than 10 years.
Zinedine Zidane's son Enzo has won the chance to be selected for the French Under-19 squad, a potential first step along the path of his father, who rose to international fame winning the World Cup with his country in 1998.
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