Luxemburgo starts on a winning note

Madrid:

It was probably the shortest football match in history with Real Madrid taking on Real Sociedad to complete the remaining seven minutes of their Spanish League match. The match had been held back because of a bomb scare at the Santiago Bernabeau Stadium last month. Zinedine Zidane scored from the penalty spot four minutes after the restart to give Real Madrid three points. It took all of seven minutes for Real Madrid's new coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo to make an impression. But the wily Brazilian will hope lady luck continues to stay on his side. Luxemburgo is the fourth man to take charge of the nine-time European Champions in the last 18 months. "Everything is OK and at the moment there are no problems. Although, of course you will have to ask the players. For me at the moment everything is calm. We are contented. Tired, but this is normal with double sessions of training, but things are alright," said Luxemburgo.

Courting controversies Luxemburgo is no stranger to success or controversy. During his time in Brazil he won the domestic championship five times with four different clubs, including the 2004 title with Santos. But when a Congressional Commission of Inquiry revealed that he had more than 20 bank accounts stuffed with millions of dollars, he had no convincing explanation for their origins. And then of course there was his somewhat chaotic two-year spell in charge of the Brazilian national team where his only consolation was to win the 1999 Copa America title. Rocky road A winning start to his new job is probably the best new years gift Luxemburgo could have asked for. But the road ahead is a rocky one and trying to handle more galacticos than one has fingers on one's hand is definitely not going to be an easy job.