Briefs

Player dies: The skipper of Espanyol, Dani Jarque, has died from a heart attack while on a pre-season training camp in Italy, Spanish media reported last night. The 26-year-old Jarque was reported to have died at the hotel where the team were staying in the town of Coviciana.

Brazil: Brazil coach Dunga has called up Deportivo La Coruna left-back Felipe in place of injured Marcelo for their friendly against Estonia in Tallinn next Wednesday. Real Madrid defender Marcelo pulled out with an ankle injury.

Sissoko: Juve midfielder Mo-hamed Sissoko will miss the start of Serie A because he has not recovered from a broken foot that sidelined him in the final part of last season.

Ligue 1: Auxerre vs Sochaux 0-1; Monaco vs Toulouse 1-0; Grenoble vs Oly. Marseille 0-2; Le Mans vs Lyon 2-2; Montpellier vs Paris SG 1-1; Stade Rennes vs Boulogne-sur-Mer 3-0; St Etienne vs Nice 0-2; Valenciennes vs AS Nancy 1-3.

Coppa Italia: Salernitana vs Benevento 1-0; Sassuolo vs Alessandria 2-0.

Friendlies: Dundee United vs Blackburn 2-0; A. Villa vs Fiorentina 1-0; Birmingham vs S. Gijon 0-0; Bolton vs Hibernian 0-0; Hearts vs Sunderland 1-1; Man.City vs Celtic 2-1; Portsmouth vs Rangers 2-0; West Ham vs Napoli 0-1; Wigan vs St Mirren 3-1; Liverpool vs Atl. Madrid 1-2; Benfica vs Milan 1-1 (Benfica win 6-5 on pens).

Cycling: Danilo Di Luca's positive test for the banned blood booster CERA during May's Giro d'Italia has been confirmed by analysis of the B sample, the Italian Cycling Federation said yesterday. The statement added the material had been forwarded to the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) so it can start disciplinary proceedings. Di Luca, the 2007 Giro champion who was runner-up in this year's race, now faces a lengthy ban having been provisionally suspended when the news of the positive test came out.

Boxing: Panamanian super bantamweight Jose 'Maco' Arboleda has died from injuries suffered when the bus he took to training crashed over a cliff, media reported. Arboleda, who was 27, suffered stomach and lung injuries in the crash on Friday morning and died 22 hours later, the Panamanian newspaper El Siglo said on its website. He had a 23-4 record with nine knockouts and two draws.

Tennis: Maria Sharapova fought her way into the semi-finals of the LA Championships with a 6-4 7-5 win over Polish teenager Urszula Radwanska. Sharapova will face Flavia Pennetta in the last four after the Italian stunned second seed Vera Zvonareva of Russia 6-4 6-2. Romania's Sorana Cirstea upset Agnieszka Radwanska, Urszula's older sister, to set up a semi-final against Samantha Stosur, who beat Zheng Jie of China.

Athletics: Women's 400 metres hurdles world record holder Yulia Pechonkina has pulled out of this month's world athletics championships because of health problems. The Russian said she was suffering from sinusitis. Pechonkina, who ran 52.34 seconds in 2003 to set the world record, won the world title in Helsinki in 2005 and finished second in Osaka two years later.