Photo by ISIphotos.com
By JOHN BOSCHINI
Jorge Luis Pinto is returning to CONCACAF.
The Costa Rican Federation has announced the hiring of Pinto as coach of the national team.
The Colombian native has reportedly reached verbal terms with Costa Rica and will replace Ricardo La Volpe, who stepped down last month. Pinto, 58, returns to the job from which he was fired during qualifying for the 2006 World Cup. He has previously been coach of the Colombian national team along with a string of South American clubs since his last stint with Los Ticos.
Costa Rica will be coached by interim manager Ronald Gonzalez during Friday's friendly against the United States. It's being reported that Pinto's first game in charge is likely to be on Oct. 7 in a friendly against Brazil.
Here are some more stories from around the soccer world:
EUROPEAN TEAMS SPEND $2 BILLION
If anyone thought UEFA's financial restrictions would deter some big spending during this summer's transfer window, they were sadly mistaken.
Before the international transfer window slammed shut on Wednesday, clubs from the top division of England, Spain and Italy had spent a staggering $2 billion on transfers over the past three months. England led the way in spending with $790 million spent with Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal spending more than $81 million apiece.
Spain and Italy saw a slight downturn in spending with $448 million and $651 million spent, respectively.
ITALIAN CLUBS PROPOSE DEAL
Hope for a start of the Serie A season was renewed today with the news Italian clubs have proposed a temporary agreement aimed at ending the players' strike.
The Italian top division has already been delayed one week due to the strike with the second round of games scheduled for Sept. 9. The proposed deal would run until June, 2012, with a stipulation that the two sides resolve the hotly contested issue of clubs having the power to make unwanted players train by themselves.
A response from the players association is expected tomorrow.
SNEIJDER NEARLY A RED DEVIL
Of all the deadline day rumors swirling around late Wednesday afternoon, few were more intriguing than the destination of midfielder Wesley Sneijder.
In the end, Sneijder ended up staying with Inter Milan, but the Dutch international revealed that a potential move to Manchester United almost materialized.
"I just felt like it was close, yes [I thought I was going]," Sneijder said while on international duty with the Netherlands. "Manchester United are one of the biggest in the world so it did not seem like a bad thing but at the same time I do not want to leave Inter."
Sneijder joined Inter Milan in 2009 from Real Madrid and won the treble with the Italian giants in 2010.
—————–
Do you think Pinto is the right coach for Costa Rica? Is Europe's massive spending a good thing for the sport? Confident Italy can put legal issues to the side get back to soccer? How do you feel about Sneijder staying with Inter?
Share your thoughts below.