Ribery: A few days after pledging his future to Marseille, France midfielder Franck Ribery said yesterday he wanted to leave the French club. "My wish is to leave Marseille," France's top prospect told French television. "I want to play the Champions League and to keep improving. The (Marseille) club officials know where I want to go and the club I wish to sign for also know it. Now they (both clubs) have to reach an agreement." Ribery has been courted by French champions Lyon and several clubs including Manchester United.

Micoud: Girondins Bordeaux will miss new playmaker Johan Micoud through suspension when they host Toulouse in the first match of the Ligue 1 season today. Bordeaux said that the French Football Federation (FFF) had ruled Micoud was not eligible to play as a result of a sanction received when he was still playing in the Bundesliga for Werder Bremen. The FFF had originally ruled Micoud could play but overturned their decision after a complaint from Toulouse.

Pique: Real Zaragoza have taken Manchester United defender Gerard Pique on loan for the next Primera Liga season. The 19-year-old centre-back has just returned from helping Spain win the European U-19 Championships in Poland. Pique played seven times for United last season - one full match against West Ham and two substitute appearances in the Premier League and four domestic cup games.

Free admission: Bulgarian Premier League club Cherno More Varna will give fans free admission to today's season-opener against CSKA Sofia amid fears of crowd trouble. The Varna-based club were beaten 3-1 by CSKA in last season's Cup final, but the match was overshadowed by fan violence at half-time.

Asian Cup final: Next year's Asian Cup final, to be co-hosted by Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand, is to take place in Jakarta. The Asian Football Confederation awarded the tournament's showpiece game on July 29 to the Indonesian capital with Hanoi (Vietnam) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) set to stage the semi-finals. The opening game will be played in Bangkok (Thailand) on July 7.

Neill: Australian defender Lucas Neill is still unsure of his future with Blackburn Rovers just two weeks before the new English Premier League season gets underway. The 28-year-old Neill, who was a key performer in helping Australia reach the second round of the World Cup in Germany, is out of contract with Rovers at the end of the upcoming season and is eligible for a free transfer in January without a new deal.

Bernabeu trophy: Real Madrid will host Belgian champions Anderlecht in the annual Santiago Bernabeu trophy on August 23. The traditional curtain-raiser for Real's season will allow fans an early look at the team being constructed under new president Ramon Calderon. The nine-times European champions beat a Major League Soccer (MLS) All-Star team 5-0 in last year's game.

Webber: Mark Webber was confident he would find a new F1 drive next season after Williams decided to replace him with Austrian Alexander Wurz for 2007. "Everything's under control," he said. "Obviously Flavio's looking after things at the moment. We've got a few plates spinning out there and we'll see how they come down." The highly-rated 29-year-old is managed by Renault team boss Flavio Briatore, who is currently looking for a replacement for departing Fernando Alonso.

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