Football news

Swede Lars Lagerback, has been named as Nigeria's coach on a five-month contract through until the World Cup in South Africa, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) announced yesterday.

The 61-year-old was interviewed on Friday and named after a meeting of the NFF board early yesterday.

He takes over from Shuaibu Amodu, who was sacked after Nigeria lost 1-0 to Ghana in the Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals last month.

Lagerback resigned as Sweden coach after failing to steer the team for the 2010 World Cup.

Messi tops Ronaldo, Rooney as world star

Barcelona's Argentine winger Lionel Messi outshines both Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney in terms of media value, a team of Spanish researchers said.

The team from the University of Navarra rated last year's Golden Ball winner as the player with the highest profile in the world for the second year running.

Second was Real Madrid's Portuguese winger Ronaldo and third Manchester United striker Rooney, according to the annual study.

Barcelona topped the club ranking, ahead of Real, Man. United, Chelsea, Milan and Liverpool.

United's Sir Alex Ferguson beat Liverpool's Rafael Benitez and Inter's Jose Mourinho to be named as the manager with the most media pulling power.

Bayern back goalkeeper Butt

Hans-Joerg Butt will continue as Bayern Munich's first-choice goalkeeper next season, club president Uli Hoeness announced yesterday, despite their continuing interest in Manuel Neuer.

Butt, 35, recently extended his contract with the Bavarian giants until June 2011 but the club were strongly linked with Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer during the last summer transfer window.

"Our intention for next season is very clear, it's to keep Joerg Butt as number one," Hoeness said.

Concerning the foiled bid for Neuer, Hoeness explained that he had been refused "any negotiations in that regard" by Schalke, adding: "We accepted their position".

Blanc tips Barca for Euro glory

Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc singled out holders Barcelona as the team to fear in the Champions League.

The defending champions only managed a 1-1 draw in their last 16 first leg at Stuttgart on Tuesday but the former Manchester United defender warned the Spanish side remain a force to be reckoned with.

"We're not seeing it at the moment because maybe they (Barcelona) are slightly below-par and have a lot of injuries," Blanc said.

"They keep 65 to 70 per cent of possession and leave you with 30 per cent. They don't always score from their (attacking) plays but this team is a machine.

"When they get all their injured players back, they will be the beast of the competition."

Mourinho's touchline ban upheld

The three-match touchline ban handed down to Inter coach Jose Mourinho following his antics during the 0-0 draw with Sampdoria was upheld on appeal by the Federal Court of Justice.

The court, which was asked to rule on appeals made by the Italian league leaders, also upheld the two-match suspension given to Argentine midfielder Esteban Cambiasso.

Cambiasso's fellow midfielder Sulley Muntari, however, saw his ban reduced from two matches to one.

Mourinho was on Monday hit with a three-game ban and a €40,000 fine after making a handcuffs gesture during Saturday's goalless draw against Sampdoria and apparently insulting match officials.

Liverpool's Skrtel set for long lay-off

Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel faces a spell on the sidelines after breaking a metatarsal bone in his right foot, his manager Rafael Benitez said.

The Slovakia centre-back suffered the injury in Liverpool's 3-1 Europa League win over Unirea Urziceni.

"We were really disappointed after the game because it was a good result but then we had the bad news about Martin," Benitez said.

"He's had x-rays today and they confirmed he has a broken metatarsal. We have to check over the next couple of days how long it will take to recover."

Fans released after skirmishes

The six Paris Saint-Germain fans detained prior to the Marseille-FC Copenhagen Europa League match on Thursday were released overnight, a judicial source revealed.

Three of them, aged in their 30s, will be required to appear before Marseille's correctional court on public order charges while the other three were released without charge.

The six individuals were among a group of 20 PSG fans who were seen attempting to infiltrate groups of Danish supporters by local riot police in several areas of the city including the surroundings of Marseille's Stade Velodrome.

The fans had travelled to Marseille with the express intention of fighting OM supporters, according to the same source.

Marseille travel to Paris to face PSG today in one of the most hotly anticipated clashes of the French football calendar.