Sporting briefs

Khedira: Sami Khedira suffered a right thigh injury during Germany's 4-0 World Cup quarter-final win over Argentina. Stuttgart midfielder Khedira, who was winning his 10th cap, was substituted in the 77th minute of Saturday's match in Cape Town and missed training yesterday. A Germany spokesman said that Khedira should be back in training today ahead of Wednesday's semi-final against Spain.

Raul: Schalke manager Felix Magath has confirmed the club are in talks with Real Madrid striker Raul, but insists nothing has yet been completed. Spain's AS newspaper revealed that the Bundesliga side had made a move for the veteran forward and that a move is imminent. "We are interested in him and are negotiating with his agent," Magath told Bild.

Bojinov: Parma president Tommaso Ghirardi has confirmed that the Serie A club have completed the signing of Valeri Bojinov from Manchester City. Bojinov spent last season on loan at Parma and the club have been working hard to make his return to Italy a permanent one. A last-ditch bid from Sevilla and other Spanish sides threatened to scupper their plans but the Bulgaria striker opted to remain at Parma.

Baptista: Julio Baptista is almost certain to leave Roma for the Premier League. The Brazilian is not a part of coach Claudio Ranieri's plans and his departure this summer is practically guaranteed. According to The Times, the main candidates to take on 'The Beast' are Manchester City, Tottenham and Liverpool.

Nigeria: Nigeria's football rulers yesterday sacked three of its top executives following the team's poor showing at the World Cup and appealed to the country's leader to reverse his international ban on the squad. The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) said it had resolved at an emergency weekend meeting to dismiss president Sani Lulu Abdullahi, a vice-president Amanze Uchegbulam and executive committee member Taiwo Ogunjobi.

London 2012: Plans to construct London's first cable car to carry visitors over the River Thames in time for the 2012 Olympic Games were unveiled by city officials yesterday. The £25-million scheme, which would be privately funded, would connect the Greenwich Peninsula with the Royal Docks in the Docklands area of east London. If it goes ahead, the cable car would cut the journey time between the 02 arena and the ExCel exhibition centre, both Olympic venues, from over half an hour to about five minutes.

Athletics: American Walter Dix upstaged the 2007 double world champion Tyson Gay at the 36th annual Prefontaine Classic, by breaking the meet record in the 200 metres on Saturday. Dix finished in a meet record time of 19.72sec to better Wallace Spearmon's previous mark of 20.14 and spoil the 2010 season debut of Gay. "It is an upset," said Dix. "I used my race experience. I knew it was his first race and I had been running a little bit so I just tried to relax and pull through."

Rugby: Former Australia rugby hooker Brendan 042Cannon accidentally reversed a car over his baby son in the family driveway, leaving the toddler in critical condition. The Sunday Telegraph said Cannon's 15-month-old boy, Samuel, was on life support with two broken legs and internal injuries after being run over by the four-wheel drive. The incident mirrors a similar event involving another former Australia hooker, Phil Kearns, whose baby daughter Andie was also run over at the family home but made a full recovery.

Basketball, NBA: The Cavaliers made their pitch to keep superstar LeBron James in Cleveland on Saturday, now the NBA's two-time reigning Most Valuable Player just has to make up his mind. James, the brightest star in a glittering crop of NBA free agents, has been courted for three days by teams from across the country seeking to lure him from Cleveland, where has spent all seven of his NBA seasons.