Sporting briefs

Flavio: Hosts Angola will have top striker Flavio available for their African Nations Cup quarter-final against Ghana, coach Manuel Jose said yesterday. Flavio, who scored three goals in Angola's first two games at the tournament, sat out their last group match against Algeria because of a hamstring tear.

Duarte: Burkina Faso coach Paulo Duarte will decide whether to continue in the post in the next few weeks following his team's elimination from the African Nations Cup in Angola. The 40-year-old Portuguese, who until last month combined the job with coaching Ligue 1 club Le Mans, said he had received offers from Mali and clubs in Belgium and Tunisia but was waiting to discuss his future with the Burkinabe federation.

Ayala: Real Zaragoza have agreed to release former Argentina defender Roberto Ayala from his contract, the struggling La Liga club said. The 36-year-old, who has played for several clubs including Milan, joined Zaragoza from Valencia in 2007. He won 115 caps before retiring from international football.

Suarez: Uruguay striker Luis Suarez has signed a one-year contract extension with Ajax Amsterdam, the Dutch club said yesterday. "Everyone was speculating about a transfer, but I was negotiating with Ajax about the extension of my contract" Suarez, whose contract will now expire in 2013, said in a statement.

Rallying: Finland's two-time world rally championship runner-up Mikko Hirvonen won the Monte Carlo Rally after leading from start to finish in the IRC opener. The 29-year-old Fiesta Ford driver - winner of 11 Rallys on the superior level World Rally Championship (WRC) circuit - won by nearly two minutes over compatriot Juho Hanninen, driving a Skoda.

Basketball: Tim Duncan reached the 20,000 career point plateau with a 25-point performance but it wasn't enough as San Antonio lost 116-109 to Houston. Duncan finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds for the Spurs who have lost four of their past five games.

Baseball: A top prospect with the Oakland Athletics is retiring from baseball to become a Catholic priest, the major league team said in a statement on Friday. The Athletics said 23-year-old Grant Desme, an outfielder it selected in the 2007 draft and the most valuable player in the 2009 Arizona Fall League, had decided to enter the priesthood. "We respect Grant's decision and wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavours," Billy Beane, Oakland's general manager, said in a statement.

MotoGP: Yamaha are concerned they could lose Valentino Rossi to Formula One after the MotoGP world champion clocked good times in tests last week for Ferrari. "I have to be worried about these excellent times because Valentino really could get the desire to change sport," Yamaha team manager Davide Brivio said. "The greatest danger is Ferrari (not MotoGP rivals Ducati)."

Rugby: Stade Francais prop David Attoub has appealed against his 70-week ban for gouging in a Heineken Cup match against Ulster last month. The 28-year-old, who played for France in 2006, was suspended for gouging flanker Stephen Ferris's eyes in an ill-tempered game won 23-13 by Ulster in Belfast. ERC said they had taken into account the fact the player had already been suspended three times in the past and sanctioned for a similar offence in the 2004-05 season.

Figure Skating: Italy's Carolina Kostner won the women's gold at the European figure skating championships yesterday despite falling over in the free programme. Her total of 173.46 points beat last year's champion Laura Lepisto of Finland, who scored 166.37. Georgia's Elene Gedevanishvili took the bronze with 164.54.