Sporting briefs

Lennon: Aaron Lennon's World Cup hopes are in the balance after Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp said the England winger was still five weeks away from a return. "I hope he's going to be okay. I hope he'll play for us before the end of the season. He's desperate to get fit," Redknapp said. "He could suddenly see a bit of light and come back and if he does then he could be ready (for the World Cup). Four or five weeks, we'll have to wait and see."

Gonzalez: FC Porto's Argentinian midfielder Mariano Gonzalez will undergo surgery on a knee injury, the Portuguese champions confirmed yesterday. Gonzalez left the pitch after picking up the injury in Saturday's 2-1 league win over Academica de Coimbra. Tests revealed ruptured cruciate ligaments in his right knee, with the Portuguese press reporting the 28-year-old midfielder would be out for the rest of the season.

Riera: Spanish club Villarreal are reportedly targeting Liverpool winger Albert Riera as the replacement for Robert Pires in the summer. According to a report in the Sunday Mirror, the La Liga side are lining up a £6 million swoop for the Reds' out-of-favour wide man, who has made just nine Premier League starts this season.

Ribery: Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich are still waiting on a decision from French midfielder Franck Ribery as to whether he will extend his contract with the German champions. "I brought up the subject with him yesterday and asked him where he imagined playing in the future," said Bayern's director of sport Christian Nerlinger. "He answered that he just wants to concentrate on his football for the next few weeks."

Honda: Japanese midfielder Keisuke Honda scored the winner as CSKA Moscow warmed up for tomorrow's Champions League trip to Sevilla with a 1-0 win over Amkar Perm on the opening day of the new Russian season yesterday. Honda, signed from Dutch side VVV-Venlo, marked his league debut with the winner in the third minute of injury time, slotting the ball home from Tomas Necid's drive.

Mancini: Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has distanced himself from speculation that he could be Italy's next manager. Mancini is being touted as a contender for the job when Marcello Lippi steps down after this summer's World Cup finals. However, the Italian brushed aside the rumours. He said with a smile: "No. I have said maybe in 10 years. I don't know. No. It's not for me now."

Tennis: Twice champion and holder Rafa Nadal eased into the third round of the Indian Wells ATP tournament with a commanding 6-4 6-4 victory over Germany's Rainer Schuettler yesterday. Second-seeded Serb Novak Djokovic survived a lapse in the second set before he held off American Mardy Fish to record a 6-1 0-6 6-2 win in the late match. Fifth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko also advanced, beating Latvia's Ernests Gulbis 6-4 6-4.

Athletics: US college student Ashton Eaton upstaged the top multi-event competitors when he set an indoor world record in the men's heptathlon. Eaton, a 22-year-old student at the University of Oregon, scored 6,499 points in the seven-event competition at the NCAA championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas on Saturday, breaking 1996 gold medallist Dan O'Brien's 1993 mark of 6,476 points.

Cycling: Alberto Contador showed great composure to fend off attacks from all sides in a nail-biting final stage and clinch the Paris-Nice race for the second time yesterday. The twice Tour de France winner was attacked in the 119-km stage by fellow Spaniards Alejandro Valverde and Luis Leon Sanchez but he never panicked. Contador beat Vuelta champion Alejandro Valverde by 11 seconds with last year's winner Sanchez finishing third overall 25 seconds behind.

Basket, NBA: The struggling New York Knicks denied Dallas a season's best 14th consecutive victory with a lop-sided 128-94 win over the Mavs. The victory was the Knicks first over the Mavericks in nine tries dating back to January 11, 2006. It was their first win in Dallas in more than 10 years.