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FOOTBALL

Lagerbäck to continue as Sweden’s football coach

The Swedish Football Association agreed to keep head coach Lars Lagerbäck in place through 2010.

Along with his assistant Roland Andersson, Lagerbäck will lead Sweden’s national team through the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

“I’m very happy we’ve been able to extend the contracts of Lasse and Roland,” said football association head Lars-Åke Lagrell. “Their results have been outstanding.”

Last fall, Lagerbäck became the first European national team coach to take his team to five straight European championship playoffs when the team qualified for next summer’s Euro 2008 tournament finals hosted by Switzerland and Austria. The extension also makes Lagerbäck the longest serving national team head coach in Sweden’s history.

“It will be a big and exciting challenge to try to get Sweden to a sixth-straight World Cup finals,” said Lagerbäck and Andersson in a joint statement.

The team is currently preparing for friendly matches in Costa Rica and the United States later in January.

RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

https://twitter.com/GravesenFumado/status/1764242481984491822

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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