Soccer Extras: Argentina World Cup winner Brown dead

News of all that's transpired on and off the football field 

World Cup winner Jose Luis Brown, who scored Argentina's opening goal in the 1986 World Cup final against West Germany, has died at the age of 62, local media reported on Monday.

The country's football association confirmed the former central defender's death in a tweet, while former Argentina striker Gabriel Batistuta also tweeted his condolences.

Brown, affectionately referred to by his nickname 'Tata', spent most of his playing career at Estudiantes, making close to 300 league appearances for the club.

At the end of the 1985-86 season, he was released by Deportivo Espanol because of a serious knee injury but was still called up for the World Cup in Mexico as cover for first-choice sweeper Daniel Passarella.

After Passarella was ruled out of the tournament due to illness, Brown was drafted into the starting line-up in a team led by Diego Maradona.

Brown, who won 36 caps for his country, scored the only international goal of his career in the final, heading home a 23rd minute free-kick as Argentina won 3-2.

Later in the game, with Argentina leading by a single goal, he dislocated his shoulder in a collision with Norbert Eder but refused to leave the pitch, playing through the pain as Argentina won the World Cup for the second time.

Atletico's Costa suffers latest injury setback ahead of new season

Atletico Madrid have been dealt a setback five days before their La Liga campaign begins with the news that striker Diego Costa has sustained a thigh injury.

Atletico said in a statement on Tuesday that Costa had hurt his left thigh in the final minute of the team's 2-1 friendly win over Juventus last Saturday in Stockholm, but did not say how long he would be out of action.

Costa missed a large part of the last campaign due to a knee injury but has impressed during pre-season, scoring four goals in a thumping 7-3 friendly win over local rivals Real Madrid last month.

According to widespread reports in the Spanish media on Tuesday, Atletico are negotiating with Valencia to sign striker Rodrigo for 60 million euros ($67 million).

Chennaiyin FC bid farewell to fan-favourite Mailson Alves

Two-time Indian Super League champions Chennaiyin FC have parted ways with central defender Mailson Alves by mutual consent, the club announced on Tuesday.

The Brazilian, captain for the 2018-19 season, leaves as a Chennaiyin legend, having played in three of the five seasons in the club's history, making a total of 56 appearances in all competitions and scoring eight goals in the process.

He had started in both the 2015 and 2017-18 ISL finals which Chennaiyin won against FC Goa and Bengaluru FC respectively.

Mailson would be remembered for scoring from two first-half headers in the 3-2 win in the 2017-18 final. He is the only player to have scored twice in an ISL final so far and was the highest scoring defender in the league that campaign.

In the 2018-19 season, Mailson was appointed captain.

Despite enduring a forgettable ISL campaign, he led CFC to the final of the 2018-19 Super Cup, which they lost 1-2 to FC Goa, with the Brazilian scoring against NorthEast United FC

in the quarter-finals.

Mailson was also instrumental in keeping five clean sheets in the club's debut AFC Cup, also scoring in the clash against Nepal's Manang Marshyangdi Club at home.

"Mailson Alves lived and breathed Chennaiyin FC, giving it his all on the pitch. He truly made Chennai his home and was a thorough fan-favourite.

He was a picture of aggression and commitment and all of us were fortunate to have him at the club. We wish him well for the future," the Chennaiyin FC co-owners said in a joint statement.

Markgraf named general manager of US women's team

US Soccer on Monday appointed former player Kate Markgraf as general manager of the World Cup-winning women’s team where she will lead the search for a new head coach following Jill Ellis’s announcement last month that she would step down.

Markgraf, who was part of the world title winning team in 1999, said she would not rush the decision on who should helm the squad, which now turns its attention to qualifying for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

“Our goal is to have that position filled as quickly as possible but not at the determent of not picking the right person,” she told reporters on a call.

Asked if she would prefer to hire a woman for the job, Markgraf said that she would but added that hiring the best candidate is paramount.

“As far as it related to men and women and the selection... we of course would consider both candidates but I would of course like to hire a woman if all things are equal,” she said.

“In the end it will come down to the best candidate regardless of gender.”

Markgraf will also manage the overall technical plan for the Women’s National Team programme, which includes the hiring of youth national team coaches and staff.

President of the US Soccer Federation, Carlos Cordeiro on Monday also announced that another former player, Earnie Stewart, would leave his position as general manager of the US men’s team to become the first sporting director of US Soccer.

Stewart, who helped in the process of finding and hiring current head coach Gregg Berhalter, played in three World Cups for the national side.

Bayern ease past Cottbus 3-1 into German Cup second round

Holders Bayern Munich eased past fourth tier club Energie Cottbus 3-1 with goals from Robert Lewandowski, Kingsley Coman and Leon Goretzka on Monday to move into the German Cup second round.

The Bavarians, who kick off their Bundesliga season on Friday against Hertha Berlin, should have scored several more after twice hitting the woodwork in the first half and missing plenty of other chances.

Bayern, who had progressed in each of the last 30 German Cup away games before Monday, went ahead when Poland striker Lewandowski volleyed in from close range on the rebound after Coman's header was blocked in the 32nd minute.

With Cottbus largely boxed into their own half it was only a matter of time before Bayern scored again and Coman, who had hit the crossbar late in the first half, made amends in the 65th, shaking off his marker and firing in a low shot from 18 metres.

Substitute Goretzka sealed their victory with an 85th minute strike before a stoppage-time penalty from Berkan Taz gave the hosts a consolation goal.

VfL Wolfsburg had a much harder time, needing 120 minutes to beat Hallescher FC 5-3 after the third-tier club levelled to make it 3-3 in second half stoppage time.

Borussia Dortmund beat KFC Uerdingen 2-0 on Friday to book their second-round spot but there were some Bundesliga casualties with Mainz 05 and Augsburg crashing out to lower-ranked teams on Saturday.