Football news

Marcello Lippi said he wanted to continue his break from football management despite reported interest from former club Juventus.

Disagreements over transfer policy led Didier Deschamps to quit as Juve coach on Saturday despite their promotion back to Serie A following last season's demotion for match-fixing.

"I have already said that I am taking a break for some more months, therefore none of this (link with Juventus) is true," Lippi said.

"Juventus for me signifies eight stupendous years of great success and satisfaction, therefore it is a word that stays in my heart."

Lippi, who has been out of football since coaching Italy to World Cup glory last year, won five league titles and the 1996 Champions League in two spells with the Turin club.

Inamoto moves to Frankfurt

Eintracht Frankfurt have signed Japan international midfielder Junichi Inamoto on a two-year contract, the Bundesliga club said in a statement yesterday.

Inamoto, formerly of Arsenal and Fulham, announced this week that he was leaving Turkish club Galatasaray. His move to Frankfurt means he will link up with fellow Japanese international Naohiro Takahara.

Eintracht Frankfurt narrowly escaped relegation at the end of the Bundesliga season.

Head-butt spotter for France tie

Spain's Luis Medina Cantalejo, the official who spotted Zinedine Zidane's head-butt in last year's World Cup final, will referee France's Euro 2008 qualifier against Ukraine on Saturday in Paris.

Zidane was sent off in the final against Italy in Berlin for a head-butt on Marco Materazzi after Cantalejo, who was the fourth official that day, reported the incident to Argentine ref Horacio Elizondo.

"I'm not mad at him (Cantalejo)," France coach Raymond Domenech told reporters at the team's training camp outside Paris.

"It's not his fault. He did his job. He saw something and said so."

Berbatov focused on Bulgaria

Tottenham Hotspur striker Dimitar Berbatov is not letting speculation about a possible move away from the Premier League club distract him from Bulgaria's Euro 2008 qualifiers against Belarus on June 2 and 6.

"I wasn't born yesterday and all this noise about my future can't affect me," Berbatov, who has been the subject of transfer rumours in recent months, told reporters in Sofia.

"We have two extremely important matches ahead of us and I'm fully concentrated on how to take the maximum out of it," he said.

"We have to give our best. I'll be able to think and talk about anything else after the games."

Keane in new deal

Ireland captain Robbie Keane has signed a new five-year contract at English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur, committing his future to the club until 2012.

"I've felt really settled and happy at Spurs and that's probably one of the reasons I've played the best football of my career here," Keane said.

Ireland's record scorer, who turns 27 in July, netted a career-best 22 goals last season bringing his Tottenham total to 84 since joining from Leeds United in August 2002.

He made his 200th appearance for Spurs in the final game of the season against Manchester City at White Hart Lane.

Rivaldo signs for AEK Athens

Brazilian midfielder Rivaldo has ended speculation over his future yesterday by signing for Greek Super League club AEK Athens.

The club said the 35-year-old, who quit Olympiakos Piraeus this month after contract negotiations stalled, has signed a two-year deal which, including bonuses, could be worth up to two million euros a year to the player.

AEK finished second last season behind a Rivaldo-inspired Olympiakos, who made it three league championships in a row and 10 in 11 years.

Diego - player of the year

Werder Bremen's Brazilian midfielder Diego has been voted Germany's outfield player of the year by his fellow professionals. Diego, who moved to Werder for six million euros from Porto last year, polled 50.7 per cent of the votes of 268 players in Kicker magazine.

Greek forward Theofanis Gekas, the league's top scorer with 20 goals, finished a distant second with 10.7 per cent, while young German striker Mario Gomez was third with 6.3 per cent.

The 21-year-old Manuel Neuer was named best goalkeeper after breaking through to become number one at runners-up Schalke 04.

Bates wary on Leeds future

Ken Bates, the Leeds chairman, believes the club will find it hard to survive if creditors vote against his bid to buy back the Yorkshire side on Friday. The former Chelsea chief took the debt-ridden club into administration ahead of the final weekend of the season.

"If they want a football club in Leeds they should make sure they vote the right way," he said.

Leeds businessman Simon Morris has also submitted plans for a £10m takeover while Duncan Revie, son of former Leeds manager Don, has said that he is considering making an offer.

Referee Poll confirms retirement

Next week's Euro 2008 qualifier between Finland and Belgium will be the last game for 43-year-old referee Graham Poll.

He will perhaps be best remembered for showing Croatia's Josip Simunic three yellow cards before sending him off at the 2006 World Cup.

Poll began refereeing in the Premiership in 1995 and has also officiated at Euro 2000 and the 2002 and 2006 World Cups.