Sporting briefs

Eto'o: Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o, the Primera Liga's top scorer with 23 goals, has played down media speculation that he is considering leaving at the end of the season. "I have no desire to leave and I don't think Barca want to sell me," Eto'o said. "You (the media) wanted to stir up controversy, and have been talking as if my contract ends in June." Eto'o's deal runs to 2010.

Coach quits: Racing Club's Juan Manuel Llop became the first coaching victim of the year in Argentina when he quit following Saturday's 2-0 defeat to arch-rivals Independiente. The club said that Llop, who last year saved the team from relegation, had resigned following a meeting with club directors after the game. The loss to Independiente, whose stadium is only 200 metres from Racing's own ground in the district of Avellaneda, left Racing bottom of the Clausura championship after losing all three games.

Luis Perea: Atletico Madrid defender Luis Perea is unlikely to make tomorrow's visit of Porto in the Champions League after a clash of heads in Saturday's 1-0 defeat away to Sevilla put him in hospital overnight. The Colombia international suffered a minor fracture without complications and was set to be released soon.

Cannavo dies: A minute's silence was held at all sporting events in Italy yesterday after the death of Candido Cannavo, one of the nation's leading sports journalists and the former editor of La Gazzetta dello Sport, the Italian Olympic Committee said. Cannavo, 78, died early yesterday after suffering a brain haemorrhage while at Gazzetta's offices in Milan on Thursday, the daily said.

Beckham: David Beckham was unsure how his England prospects will be affected if he has to return to Los Angeles Galaxy next month from his loan stint at Milan. The midfielder's hopes of staying in Serie A are hanging in the balance as the two clubs have so far been unable to agree on a transfer fee for the 33-year-old. "Of course, people have said that, it's been in the news that people have said that," he replied when asked whether he risks losing his place in Fabio Capello's squad if he returns to the US. "But I've been at the Galaxy for 18 months now and I've managed to stay in the England team. We'll see."

Cricket: Mahela Jayawardene (240) and Thilan Samaraweera (231) set a fourth-wicket test record stand of 437 runs as Sri Lanka piled up 644 for seven declared on the second day of the first test against Pakistan in Karachi yesterday. Jayawardene and Samaraweera surpassed the fourth wicket partnership of 411 between Peter May and Colin Cowdrey, of England, set in 1957 against West Indies at Edgbaston.

Tennis: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga claimed his second ATP title of the year when he won the Marseille Open with a 7-5 7-6 defeat of fellow Frenchman Michael Llodra in the final. Fourth-seeded Tsonga, who won the South African Open two weeks ago, kept his cool under Llodra's pressure at the net to seal victory in one hour 43 minutes. Tsonga now has four ATP titles under his belt.

Alpine skiing: Lindsey Vonn became the most successful American skier in the women's World Cup yesterday when victory in a super-G gave her a 19th race win. She overtook Tamara McKinney's previous record of 18 wins, when, after starting cautiously, she finished at full speed to claim victory in one minute 21.72 seconds in the Italian resort of Tarvisio.

Athletics: South Africa's double amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius was having emergency surgery in Johannesburg yesterday following a boating accident, his agent told Reuters. "He was involved in a boating accident on the Vaal River on Saturday night but the extent of the injuries and details of the accident will only be known after he comes out of the theatre," agent Peet van Zyl said.

Golf: New Zealand teenager Danny Lee became the youngest player to win a professional European Tour event with victory in the Johnnie Walker Classic at Perth yesterday. The 18-year-old produced a superb finish to win the tournament by a single stroke. Lee, who is 18 years and 213 days old, beat the previous record of South African Dale Hayes, who won the 1971 Spanish Open at the age of 18 years and 290 days.