U.S. President BARACK OBAMA met with Spanish PM MARIANO RAJOY on Monday and Obama asked "about how to win the World Cup." Rajoy replied that he would "give him some good advice on how to get to second place." Obama: "The U.S. [football team] is improving rapidly" (MARCA, 1/14). ... The father of F1 driver JENSON BUTTON, who "helped launch his son on the path to becoming a world champion," died at age 70. JOHN BUTTON, who "oversaw his son's rise from kart drive to 2009 Formula One world champion, was found dead at his home in the south of France on Sunday following a suspected heart attack'' (AFP, 1/14). ... Former Liverpool winger LUIS GARCIA "has announced his retirement" at the age of 35.The Spain int'l scored the notorious "ghost goal" that took the Reds past Chelsea and into the 2005 Champions League final. In a statement on his website, Garcia said, “Today I’ve decided to retire as a professional footballer, thanking the interest of the teams that talked to me in recent weeks, but I think it’s time to end this important chapter in my life and move to the next page” (ESPN, 1/14). ... MLB Texas Rangers OF CHOO SHIN-SOO was named a goodwill ambassador for the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics (PyeongChang 2018). ... Serie A Botafogo player CLARENCE SEEDORF confirmed that he is cutting short his contract and playing career "with the intention of returning to Milan as Coach." Seedorf "has been increasingly linked with a return to San Siro this week" to replace the sacked MASSIMILIANO ALLEGRI on the bench (FOOTBALL ITALIA, 1/14).
BOLD BOGUT: NBA Golden State Warriors C ANDREW BOGUT "has questioned" Basketball Australia's decision to grant CEO KRISTINA KENEALLY six months' personal leave "barely a year-and-a-half into her tenure." COO GRAEME ALLEN "will act as CEO in the interim." The news "appeared to irk" Bogut, who "took to Twitter to query the move." Bogut wrote, "WOW, never have I seen a company/federation/org grant a newly hired CEO (less than 2 years on the job) 6 MONTHS PAID LEAVE. #sameoldsameold" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 1/14).
