Sporting briefs

Eilhoff: Arminia Bielefeld keeper Dennis Eilhoff has extended his contract with the Bundesliga club for another two years until 2011. The 26-year-old first-choice keeper has been among Bielefeld's most consistent players this season despite a couple of shaky performances recently, including last week's 2-0 defeat to Hamburg. He has been with the club since 2000.

Ascoli: Serie B strugglers Ascoli got an unexpected boost this week when their four-point penalty for administrative irregularities was cut in half. Ascoli, touted among the promotion seekers at the start of the season, have instead hovered in the drop zone. The Italian Football Federation's decision saw Ascoli moving to the 28-point mark level with Piacenza and Cittadella.

No kit: Uruguayan side Nacional had to buy shirts from a sports shop before their 3-0 Libertadores Cup away win over their Paraguayan namesakes, after their kit went missing. Representatives from the club turned up at the shop, bought 16 red shirts, then had the players' names and numbers stamped on the back, the daily newspaper ABC said.

Puel's advice: Lyon coach Claude Puel urged his players to stay focused on today's match at Nancy despite the Ligue 1 leaders' Champions League game against Barcelona next week. "We first must think about Nancy before Barcelona. Our challenge is to be present even in such circumstances," Puel told reporters. Lyon are threatened by Paris St Germain, who are second in the standings four points adrift.

Blanc laments: Bordeaux's current poor form is mainly due to bad luck, said coach Laurent Blanc. The Aquitaine side, fifth in Ligue 1, have drawn two and lost one of the last three league matches as they travel to strugglers St Etienne tomorrow. "If we take a look back, we can see that we hit the woodwork against Lille, Marseille and Grenoble but also in Europe," Blanc told reporters following his team's 0-0 draw against Galatasaray in the UEFA Cup.

Gerrard: Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, out with a hamstring injury since Feb. 4, could return to the bench for the clash with Manchester City at Anfield tomorrow. Xabi Alonso, who will miss the match after picking up five yellow cards this season, said Gerrard should be eased gently back into action. "It's not intelligent to rush him back. Whenever he feels okay he will be a big part of our squad again."

In England: League Two - Chesterfield vs Bournemouth 1-0; Port Vale vs Lincoln 0-1.

Rugby Union: Italy coach Nick Mallett has called uncapped back Gilberto Pavan into his squad for the Six Nations match in Scotland on Feb. 28. Pavan replaces full-back Andrea Masi, who was banned for three weeks because of a high tackle in the 38-9 defeat by Ireland last Saturday.

Basketball: Los Angeles Lakers centre Pau Gasol was named FIBA Europe's player of the year for 2008 by fans and a panel of expert voters. Gasol led Spain in points, rebounds and blocked shots at the 2008 Olympics where his country won silver. He also helped the Lakers to the 2008 NBA finals. Fellow Spaniard Rudy Fernandez and Germany's Dirk Nowitzki were second and third.

Tennis: Rafael Nadal was named in Spain's Davis Cup squad for next month's opening round match at home to Serbia. Nadal's inclusion came a day after he withdrew from next week's Dubai tournament to recover from knee trouble. Spain's new captain Albert Costa also included David Ferrer, Tommy Robredo and Feliciano Lopez, as well as Nicolas Almagro as a reserve.

Alpine skiing: British student John Campbell opened a new era in winter sports when he became the first man to ski in an accredited international downhill race in mainland yesterday. The 21-year-old from Edinburgh had drawn the no. 1 bib for the men's downhill at the University Winter Games, which the northern province of Heilongjiang is hoping to use as a springboard for a bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Campbell braved high winds and a chill factor of minus 30 degrees Celsius at the Yabuli resort, some 200km from Harbin, to charge down the 2,484m course in one minute 38.45 seconds, good enough for 18th place.

Swimming: Australian swimmer Nick D'Arcy has apologised to former Commonwealth Games champion Simon Cowley over an incident last year that left Cowley seriously injured. D'Arcy, who lost his place in the Australian swimming team over the nightclub fight, told Cowley he was sorry for what happened and asked for his forgiveness. Cowley told the court yesterday he had been left with five metal plates in his face and now suffered anxiety as a result of the incident.

MFA Division III: Gżira vs Attard 2-1; Kalkara vs Mdina 0-1.