Villarreal boss Manuel Pellegrini has declared that he will stay at the Yellow Submarines next season.
The 54-year-old coach was rumoured to be preparing his exit after a frustrating season which has seen him fall out with previously key player Juan Roman Riquelme and his side languishing in mid-table and fail to build on their impressive previous two campaigns which saw them reach the Champions League semi-finals last season.
"I am happy at Villarreal and also the club are happy with me, the two main things in the world of football management," Pellegrini told La Tercera in his native Chile.
A poor run of form was turned around at the weekend when goals by Robert Pires and Marcos gave them a 2-0 win over Barcelona at El Madrigal, and Pellegrini is philosophical about fan and media responses to differing results.
"Football is a strange game and after two consecutive defeats rumours of an exit always appear but Villarreal are a very professional club," he said.
"Some clubs have asked about my future but this is not an option for me."
Pellegrini also rejected the option of loaning out young midfielder Matias Fernandez, saying that the 20-year-old Chile international starlet "needs to adapt to Spanish football and will become a top player in La Liga."
09 02 2007
Villarreal have agreed to loan Argentine playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme to his former club Boca Juniors until the end of the season, the Primera Liga side said on Friday.
Spanish media reported that the midfielder would receive $2 million to play for Boca in the Clausura championship, which starts this weekend, and the Libertadores Cup.
Boca president Mauricio Macri told reporters on Thursday: "To find anyone better than him you have to go way back in the history of the club. Boca is his home."
Riquelme has been sidelined by Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini since the start of the year because the club has been unhappy with his level of commitment despite being given privileges not enjoyed by other squad members.
He made his last appearance for Villarreal in a 4-1 defeat by Osasuna on Dec. 17, while the club's new Chilean midfielder Matias Fernandez has taken his place in the starting line-up.
The 28-year-old is one of the Primera Liga's most talented players and helped lead Villarreal to the semi-finals of the Champions League last season but he struggled to recover after missing a last gasp penalty in their defeat against Arsenal.
He played an instrumental role in steering Boca to a host of trophies between 1996 and 2002, winning three league titles and two Libertadores Cups.
A masterful display in Boca's victory over Real Madrid in the World Club Cup in 2000 helped persuade Barcelona to buy the Argentine for 11 million euros ($14.28 million) in 2002, but he never won a regular place in the first team.
He was loaned out to Villarreal the following season when Barca signed Ronaldinho and there the team was effectively built around his elegant, unhurried playmaking skills.
An introverted and softly-spoken character, he retired from international football last September after winning 37 caps, saying that criticisms of his performances in the 2006 World Cup in Germany had affected his mother's health.
28 01 2007
Villarreal put the brakes on the Real Madrid revival with a 1-0 win on Saturday, the only goal of the game coming from teenage striker Marcos Garcia after 67 minutes.
The hosts showed the style that took them to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals last year with a water-tight defence and always threatening to score on the break.
Villarreal had the best of the first half but failed to make the most of their opportunities with Matias Fernandez, Marcos Senna and Jose Enrique Sanchez all squandering good opportunities.
Real came out after the break looking a more composed side but a quick Villarreal counter-attack, against the run of play, reaped dividends midway through the second half.
Diego Forlan started the move in the midfield, with the Real defence pressed too far forward, and found Fernandez.
The Chilean striker passed the ball to his left and found 19-year-old Marcos Garcia, who kept his cool to send his left foot shot past the oncoming Iker Casillas.
Real couldn't break down Villarreal and stayed in third place in the Spanish first division although they will slip back a place if Valencia win at Real Betis on Sunday.
Atletico Madrid extended their unbeaten streak to six games but stay in fifth place after they had to come from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw against Racing Santander.
The less glamourous of Madrid's two big clubs may have been in the shade of Real since their double-winning season of 1995-96, however Atletico remain on course to return to European competition for the first time since 1999.
Racing's giant Serbian striker Nicola Zigic broke the deadlock after 73 minutes when he found the net from close range after a pass from Pablo Munitis.
The easy goal for the visitors left Atletico coach Javier Aguirre fuming.
"We can't let in these sort of goals if we want to aspire to great things. The goal we conceded was incredible. I've been speaking to the players on this subject and ity is something we have got to put right," said the Mexican.
"We can't be the best defence in the league and let in this sort of goal."
However, barely two minutes elapsed after Racing went ahead before Pablo Ibanez equalised, the Spanish international defender heading home a Jose Jurado free kick.
League leaders Barcelona play host to slumping Celta Vigo on Sunday, with the Galician visitors not having won in eight league games.
Barca coach Frank Rijkaard will have to tinker with his defence due to the suspension of Rafa Marquez and injury to Lilian Thuram.
Oleguer Presas is likely to be recalled to the centre of the defence to accompany Barca captain Carles Puyol while Gianluca Zambrotta should return at right back after injury.
One man looking to prove himself against Celta, after several lacklustre games, is the 2004 and 2005 World Player of the Year Ronaldinho.
Rijkaard leapt to the defence of his under-fire superstar on Saturday.
"Ronaldinho is a key player. Ronaldinho is also part of the team and we have to look at that (issue) together," said the coach.
"If the team isn't good, it's not just because of one player. I don't understand what all the noise is about. How many goals has he set up? How many goals has he got? How many games has he decided?"
Second-placed Sevilla have 38 points and are one point behind Barca but have yet to win in 2007.
However, last season's UEFA Cup winners will be hoping to end that dismal run at Levante on Sunday.
25 01 2007
Chile coach Nelson Acosta has given another chance to Liverpool midfielder Mark Gonzalez, sent home in disgrace from a tour last year for indiscipline.
Gonzalez was included on Thursday in the squad for Chile's first friendly international of the year, away to Venezuela on Feb. 7.
Gonzalez and striker Reinaldo Navia were axed last May after an incident in Dublin where Chile beat Ireland 1-0 in a friendly.
Reinaldo Sanchez, the Chilean football federation president at that time, said the pair were caught with women in their room and he and Acosta decided to send them home.
Navia returned for a friendly against Peru in October but Gonzalez said he would not play again under Acosta.
Chilean media said Harold Mayne-Nicholls, who has replaced Sanchez as the federation president, negotiated his return.
Midfielder Matias Fernandez, voted Latin American Player of the Year last year in the annual poll conducted by the Uruguayan newspaper El Pais, was also included along with 18-year-old striker Alexis Sanchez.
Chile lost only one of nine internationals in 2006.
Goalkeepers: Claudio Bravo (Real Sociedad), Miguel Pinto (Universidad de Chile)
Defenders: Pablo Contreras (Celta Vigo), Jorge Vargas (Salzburg), Waldo Ponce (Universidad de Chile), Ismael Fuentes (Chiapas), Boris Rieloff (Audax Italiano)
Midfielders: Arturo Vidal (Colo Colo), Hugo Droguett (Tecos UAG), Mark Gonzalez (Liverpool), Luis Pedro Figueroa (Arsenal, Argentina), Manuel Iturra (Universidad de Chile), Arturo Sanhueza (Colo Colo), Jorge Valdivia (Palmeiras), Matias Fernandez (Villarreal)
