Football news

Liverpool striker Fernando Torres rates England's starting side as the second best in the world and believes they could be ready to go all the way in the World Cup.

The Spaniard thinks Fabio Capello's side would make ideal finalists in South Africa - provided they can overcome a perceived psychological issue with reaching the latter stages.

"If England can overcome their mental barrier then Spain versus England would be the perfect World Cup final," Torres said.

"People say that Spain have the best starting XI in the world but when you look at England on paper, they have the second strongest XI in the world."

Fans desperate for World Cup glory

What would you sacrifice to see your country win the World Cup?

Food for a week, according to a survey that also found fans willing to lose a limb for their team's glory.

Fifty-one per cent of respondents to the tongue-in-cheek survey of 20,000 people, who live in North America but hail from countries with teams in the June 11-July 11 World Cup, said they would starve themselves for a week if that would bring victory to their national squad.

More than 40 per cent offered to give up dating for a year, while seven per cent said they would gladly give up their job to see their country win the title.

A further four per cent were willing to give away a body part.

Partizan fans on trial for murder

A group of 14 fans of Belgrade side Partizan went on trial yesterday for the murder of a French fan in Serbia last September.

Brice Taton, 28, a Toulouse supporter, died in hospital on September 29 after being attacked in a bar by fans of Partizan.

Twelve of the accused are currently in custody while two men remain on the run.

Taton was attacked by a gang in Serbia on September 17 ahead of Toulouse's 3-2 Europa League victory over the Belgrade side.

He was beaten with baseball bats and succumbed to his injuries in a Belgrade hospital 12 days after the attack.

Loew waits on Adler update

Germany coach Joachim Loew is waiting for further news on the injury to his first-choice goalkeeper Rene Adler.

The Bayer Leverkusen custodian sustained a broken rib in last weekend's 2-1 defeat to Stuttgart and will definitely miss this weekend's visit of lowly Hannover.

Loew revealed he and goalkeeping coach Andreas Kopke had spoken to Adler and were now awaiting developments.

"Andreas Kopke and I have spoken on the phone with Rene Adler," Loew said.

"We wish him a speedy recovery. We will now wait for the further medical test and the latest development."

Mourinho baffled by Totti's fine

Inter coach Jose Mourinho has expressed his disbelief that Roma captain Francesco Totti escaped severe punishment for the provocative gestures he made at fans of relegation-threatened Lazio on Sunday.

Totti repeatedly goaded Biancoceleste supporters after Roma's 2-1 win in the derby but was only fined €20,000 by the Italian football league and did not receive a suspension.

"I got a three-week ban for my handcuffs gesture and the one who has done thumbs-down gestures gets just a fine," Mourinho said.

Lazio duo Mauro Zarate and Roberto Baronio were fined €8,000 and €5,000 respectively for their behaviour at the end of the derby.

Essien set to miss rest of season

Chelsea's Ghana midfielder Michael Essien could miss the rest of the season as he struggles to recover from a knee injury sustained at the African Nations Cup in January, the London club said.

"The Ghanaian's participation in the remainder of the campaign is now in doubt, with only four games to play including the FA Cup final (against Portsmouth) on May 15 ...," the Premier League club said on its website www.chelseafc.com.

British media reported that the club's medical staff were confident Essien would be fit enough to play in the World Cup finals in South Africa that start in June.

Ghana face Serbia, Germany and Australia in group D.

Bundesliga top for shirt sponsorship

Germany's Bundesliga has widened the gap over the English Premier League as Europe's top division for shirt sponsorship revenue despite the economic downturn, a report said.

The report by sports consulting group StageUp showed that total shirt sponsorship revenue across the five biggest European leagues has dropped by 2.6 per cent to €365 million this season.

However, the revenue drop was less than the double-digit fall reported in overall corporate communication spending.

Bundesliga clubs have generated an average of €6.3 million each from shirt sponsorship this term, up five per cent on the previous season, against a Premier League drop of 10 per cent to €4.8 million.

Italy's Serie A remains third, with Juventus, Milan and Inter the only Italian clubs to see an increase.