Sporting briefs...

Tottenham: Ivory coast midfielder Didier Zokora has joined Tottenham Hotspur from French Ligue 1 team St Etienne. The 25-year-old played at the World Cup finals in a tough Group C which also featured Argentina and Netherlands. Tottenham did not give any financial details but British media said they paid St Etienne just over eight million pounds to sign the player on a five-year contract. Zokora, who came through the ASEC Abidjan academy that has been responsible for developing many of the Ivory Coast squad players, joined Genk of Belgium in 2000. After four years he switched to France where he made 66 appearances for St Etienne.

Pessotto: Juventus team manager Gianluca Pessotto briefly regained consciousness yesterday after falling from a window last week in what police have said was a probable suicide attempt. Turin doctors treating the 35-year-old former defender said they were "cautiously optimistic" about his chances of survival.

Southampton: Southampton's new regime hinted director of football Clive Woodward had a part to play in the future of the second division club despite the changes. Jim Hone, appointed chief executive after a consortium led by property developer Michael Wilde took over the running of the club from Rupert Lowe on Friday, praised former England rugby coach Woodward. After stepping down as chairman, Lowe said his parting wish was for Southampton to regain their Premier League status under manager George Burley.

Asian failure: Asian football chief Mohamed bin Hammam says weak domestic leagues are to blame for Asia's relative failure at the World Cup. Hammam said he was disappointed at the failure of 2002 semi-finalists South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Iran to reach the second round. Only Australia, who qualified for the World Cup as Oceania representatives but have since switched to the AFC, advanced from the group stages before losing 1-0 to Italy. "Our results in Germany, with the exception of Australia, have brought great disappointment to many Asian fans," Hamman said.

Baxter: Former South Africa coach Stuart Baxter will take over as coach of Helsingborg, the Swedish first division club. Baxter, 53, coached AIK Stockholm to the Swedish championship title in 1998. He resigned as South Africa coach last November after a run of nine games without a win. Helsingborg are ninth in the 14-club Swedish first division which resumes in mid-July. The club will be reinforced by Sweden striker Henrik Larsson, who is returning home after 13 years abroad.