Football news

Juventus striker David Trezeguet returned to the France squad named yesterday for friendlies against Slovakia's A and B teams next week.

Trezeguet, who has a tense relationship with France coach Raymond Domenech, had not been called up since a 1-0 defeat by Argentina in a friendly last February.

Domenech picked Trezeguet in a 34-man squad for the two friendlies in Slovakia. The countries' B teams will play on Tuesday in Senec and the A teams meet the next day in Trnava.

Patrick Vieira, the France captain, and Thierry Henry both returned to the squad after missing France's last outings with injuries.

Dyer joins West Ham

West Ham United have signed England midfielder Kieron Dyer from Premier League rivals Newcastle United. In a brief statement on their website, the Hammers said the clubs had agreed terms and the player's transfer had now been completed.

The two clubs had previously reached agreement on a reported six-million-pound deal for the injury-prone player but that collapsed.

Dyer joined Newcastle for £6.5m from Ipswich in July 1999, but his stint was blighted by injury. He also had his share of disciplinary problems, on and off the field of play.

The Ipswich-born midfielder has won 32 England caps.

Ancelotti with best XI for friendly

Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti will play his strongest side in today's final friendly against Juventus ahead of the Serie A kick off on August 25. Only Paolo Maldini and Ronaldo will miss out as they continue to recover following injuries.

"It is a general test for the championship," Ancelotti told a news conference before sounding philosophical at the collapse of Emerson's move from Real Madrid.

"He has not arrived but we have patience. Now we are not in any other talks."

Ballack to miss Wembley friendly

Germany will be without captain Michael Ballack and striker Mario Gomez when they take on England in a friendly international at Wembley on Wednesday.

Ballack has yet to play for Chelsea this season because of his ankle injury, while Gomez, Player of the Year in the Bundesliga last season, has a thigh problem.

Midfielders Torsten Frings and Tim Borowski were also left out of a 20-man squad, named yesterday, because of injury. Midfielder Sami Khedira and defender Serdar Tasci, both of champions VfB Stuttgart, were called up for the first time by coach Joachim Loew.

Boumsong rejects Lyon offer

Jean-Alain Boumsong turned down an offer to leave Juventus and join Lyon on loan.

The France defender is not part of Claudio Ranieri's plans, but is refusing all proposals to leave Turin.

He had already shot down the chance to go to Valencia and it is now reported Boumsong has also refused a return to his homeland.

Lyon are looking for a new defender to replace Cris, who will be out for six months with a knee ligament injury.

Boumsong has another three years left to run on his Juventus contract.

Ronaldo fell into trap - Ferguson

Alex Ferguson said Cristiano Ronaldo was wrong to react to provocation. The winger was sent off for appearing to headbutt Richard Hughes in United's draw at Portsmouth.

Ferguson said: "Cristiano is responsible for falling into the trap of intimidation. I've seen the replay and there's nothing conclusive, my take is that he was provoked and he fell for it."

Ronaldo will miss three games, the standard ban for violent conduct, including Sunday's derby game with Manchester City.

It was his third red card since joining Manchester United.

Udinese in River Plate deal

Udinese have agreed a deal to loan out Chilean Alexis Sanchez to River Plate, of Argentina. The 18-year-old forward signed for Udinese in 2006 for nearly £1m, but spent last term helping Colo Colo to the championship in his homeland.

Sanchez's reputation was greatly enhanced by his impressive performances in this summer's U-20 World Cup.

River will pay Udinese £450,000 with Sanchez receiving just over £150,000 as a signing-on fee.

Hasselbaink joins Cardiff

Former Dutch international striker Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink has joined Cardiff City, the second division team said yesterday.

The 35-year-old has been without a club since he was released by Charlton Athletic at the end of last season.

Hasselbaink will link up with former England striker Robbie Fowler, who joined the Welsh side in July following his release by Liverpool.

The Dutchman was on the verge of a move to Leicester City but that broke down earlier in the week. Cardiff City chairman Peter Ridsdale and Hasselbaink were together at Elland Road when he was chairman of Leeds United.

Agbonlahor in Pearce's U-21 squad

Gabriel Agbonlahor is in the England U-21 squad for the friendly against Romania at Ashton Gate on Tuesday. The Aston Villa striker missed the European Championships in the summer when coach Stuart Pearce could not contact him. That angered Pearce but, following recent talks with the 20-year-old, he appears to have forgiven him.

Agbonlahor could have applied to play for Scotland and Nigeria, who had both expressed an interest in him.