Football news

Rafael Benitez believes Fernando Torres is nearing a return to his best form after the Spain striker scored twice in Liverpool's 3-2 victory over West Ham.

Benitez was delighted that Torres appears to have shrugged off the lingering hangover of last year's extended season.

"He was not scoring goals and everyone was asking me whether he is fit," Benitez said.

"This weekend he scored two important goals and I was also really pleased with him against Debrecen because he was working very hard.

"Touch wood. I think he is now fit. In the Premier League, you are talking about a lot of players with quality but he is one of the best, yes."

Agbonlahor backed for S. Africa ticket

Martin O'Neill has backed on-form striker Gabriel Agbonlahor to shoot himself into Fabio Capello's England squad for the World Cup finals in South Africa next year.

The Villa forward was overlooked for the recent matches against Slovenia and Croatia. But his goal in Saturday's 2-0 win over Portsmouth made it three in his last three matches and O'Neill believes Capello will have taken notice of the way his striker shook off his marker to score Villa's second goal.

"He conjured something from nothing and that gave us a massive lift," O'Neill said.

"He is playing brilliantly for us. South Africa is a long way off but if he can continue that sort of form he will be hard to ignore."

Former Marseille coach sent to jail

Former Marseille coach Rolland Courbis was sent to jail by a judge yesterday.

Courbis was sentenced to two years in prison in October 2007 for his role in financial irregularities regarding transfer deals at Marseille from 1997 to 1999.

An appeal court ruled last October that the sentence would stand.

Courbis, 56, was arrested on Saturday at a Ligue 1 match between Marseille and Montpellier and detained overnight by police.

The former coach was about to commentate on the game at the Velodrome stadium for a French radio station when police swooped.

Southgate demands response after rout

Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate warned his players to use the embarrassment of their 5-0 thrashing by West Brom as a wake-up call for the rest of the Championship campaign.

Middlesbrough are still third in the table but the gap between them and leaders Albion looked vast as Roberto Di Matteo's team ran riot.

"We've had an embarrassing defeat," Southgate said.

"We got exactly what we deserved. Credit to West Brom because they are a good side and they deserved to win the game.

"It has been a wake-up call. We have to make sure we use it to our advantage. We have to make sure it hurts and we have to make sure we respond properly."

Buffon - 'the best keeper ever'

Juventus underlined their title credentials with a 2-0 victory against Livorno on Saturday with Gianluigi Buffon (picture) hailed as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time.

The manner of Juve's victory was impressive as they overcame the absence of the likes of Diego, Fabio Cannavaro, Alessandro Del Piero, Felipe Melo and Momo Sissoko to still win at a canter.

Coach Ciro Ferrara said: "Livorno played a great match, Buffon made some incredible saves. However, we could have put the game to bed with some other opportunities."

Livorno president Aldo Spinelli described Buffon as the greatest of all time.

"He's the best keeper ever. Players like him and Maradona are one-offs," he gushed.

"Buffon stopped everything."

Baptista says he almost joined Inter

Roma striker Julio Baptista told reporters he almost joined Inter this summer before the move was called off. The Brazilian had been linked with Inter before the Italy champions made a successful bid for Wesley Sneijder from Real Madrid.

"I was on the verge of joining Inter this summer," Baptista said. "My agent was keeping me informed every day, but then everything collapsed. I would've loved to move there."

Baptista was widely expected to leave Roma, but could not find an alternative club.

"Now I want to do well with Roma. My objective is to earn my place in the 2010 Brazil squad going to South Africa," he said.

Albanian tycoon Taci eyes Milan

Albanian businessman Rezart Taci has said he would be interested in buying a majority stake in Milan if Silvio Berlusconi decided to sell.

Taci, who was close to buying Bologna in the close season before the deal fell through, has been spotted meeting Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani but played down rumours of an immediate bid.

"It's not like that, at least in the short term. I don't think Berlusconi intends to sell the club. But both Berlusconi and Galliani know that if it is decided to sell a majority stake my group is ready to buy," he said.

Milan have been consistently linked with Arab investors in the media but Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi has denied he wants to sell the seven-times European champions.