Saudi Arabia's soccer federation yesterday denied reports it had approached former Italy boss Roberto Donadoni with a view to taking over as national team coach.

"The president has made it clear, we will be sticking with (coach) Nasser al-Johor for the rest of the World Cup qualifiers," the federation's secretary-general Faisal al-Abdulhadi told Reuters.

Donadoni was dismissed by Italy after the world champions' quarter-final exit to eventual winners Spain at Euro 2008.

Del Piero set for Juve return

Juventus striker Alessandro Del Piero is expected to return to the starting line-up for today's Champions League game at home to Zenit SP having been left on the bench at the weekend.

Del Piero played in the 1996 final when the Turin club won the second of their two European Cups and the 33-year-old's Champions League experience should come in handy for their opening Group H game against the Russian champions.

Coach Claudio Ranieri played Amauri and Vincenzo Iaquinta up front in Sunday's 1-0 win over Udinese with Del Piero and David Trezeguet coming on as substitutes.

Ranieri said: "I have not changed my mind about Del Piero, I know that he is a great champion. We signed Amauri because he can play with all three of our forwards."

Muntari to miss derby at San Siro

Sulley Muntari was given a hefty three-game ban for hitting Catania midfielder Giacomo Tedesco last weekend and now misses the derby against Milan.

There were heated scenes at the San Siro as Inter midfielder Muntari saw red for lashing out at Tedesco while trying to break free from the Catania player's marking.

The Inter players surrounded Tedesco and said that he had play-acted but Muntari was still sent off.

"In the 45th minute of the first half when play had stopped, Muntari hit an opponent with his hand on the turn and struck him a blow in the mouth," sporting judge Gianpaolo Tosel stated.

Muntari will now miss out on the Milan derby on September 28 as well as games against Torino and Lecce.

Hasselbaink retires

Former Netherlands striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has announced his retirement from soccer at the age of 36, the player's agent confirmed.

The much-travelled striker, who won 23 caps for his country and played for Leeds United, Chelsea and Atletico Madrid at his peak, was released by Cardiff City at the end of last season after helping them to the FA Cup final.

"He had offers to play in the Middle East, which he didn't want to do," agent Humphrey Nijman told the BBC.

"It is Jimmy's ambition now to become a coach."

Blanc wants England move

Laurent Blanc, currently the coach of Ligue 1 club Bordeaux, said it was his supreme goal to move to England in future and manage a Premier League side.

The former France defender had a two-year spell in the English game towards the end of his playing career when he turned out for Manchester United between 2001 and 2003.

English teams have dominated the latter stages of the Champions League for the past two seasons, and Blanc reckons the Premier League is the place to be at the moment.

"When I came to England, football already represented so much there and it occupied the European scene," he said.

"For a coach, working in England really is the supreme goal."

Mourinho angers Catania boss

Inter coach Jose Mourinho was branded a "bigmouth" by the chief executive of Catania.

Mourinho began the spat on Saturday when he said his side had deserved to beat Catania 5-1, despite only winning the league match 2-1 thanks to two own goals.

Catania chief executive Pietro Lo Monaco hit back by saying Mourinho had insulted the whole of the Sicilian city, adding that he risked "having his teeth smashed".

Colourful Mourinho joked that he had heard of the Monaco Grand Prix but not the Catania official, whom he accused of using his name for free publicity.

Lo Monaco replied: "Inter have the strongest set-up in Europe. It's a shame they have been shown to have the biggest bigmouth coach of the continent."

No Ronaldo deal, Man. City say

Manchester City are not after the signature of Ronaldo (picture), the Brazilian striker, now a free agent after parting with Milan in the Serie A. The ex-World Footballer of the Year is currently back in his homeland recovering from a serious knee injury suffered in February.

Ronaldo has claimed he has received an offer from the Premier League side but City said that there are no plans to sign the 31-year-old.

"We had shown a past interest in bringing the player to the football club in the right circumstances," a club spokesman said.

"However, we have chosen not to pursue the matter."

Sources said City met with Ronaldo and carried out medical checks on the forward before opting against a deal.

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