Sporting briefs

Silvestre: Werder Bremen’s veteran French defender Mikael Silvestre is facing a lengthy lay-off after suffering a right knee injury. The 33-year-old will undergo a knee arthroscopy on Monday and it will be several months before he is expected to be fit enough to return.

Schaefer: Thailand officially signed Germany’s Winfried Schaefer as coach for its national football team on a three-year contract. Schaefer, 61, led Cameroon to victory in the 2002 Africa Cup. Thailand’s previous coach Bryan Robson quit last month after less than two years in the job, citing health reasons.

Friendly: Liverpool will play a pre-season friendly at Hull this month. After returning from a trip to the Far East, for matches against Guangdong Sunray Cave and a Malaysia XI, the Reds will head to the KC Stadium on July 23 before playing Valerenga in Norway and Valencia at home.

Birmingham: Chairman Peter Pannu said Birmingham are in a sound financial position after flying to Hong Kong for talks with owner Carson Yeung who has been charged with five counts of money-laundering involving £59m. “I’ve had it explained to me that the charges relate to the 2001-2007 period,” he said. “That is two years before Carson invested in this club.”

Abeid: Newcastle confirmed the signing of teenager Mehdi Abeid from French side Lens, yesterday. The deal to bring the 18-year-old midfielder to the Premier League has been in place for some time, but the Magpies have now formalised the move on a five-year contract.

Pratley: Bolton have made their first signing of the summer after Swansea midfielder Darren Pratley agreed a four-year deal. The 26-year-old made 199 appearances during a five-year spell with the Swans.

Leonardo: Leonardo moved a significant step closer to joining PSG yesterday after reaching an amicable agreement with Inter to leave the Serie A club. The Brazilian is due to join PSG as the French capital side’s new sporting director.

Bruma: Chelsea defender Jeffrey Bruma has completed his move to Hamburg on an initial one-year loan deal. The two clubs agreed a deal for the 19-year-old last month and the move was formally rubber-stamped on Thursday.

Women’s World Cup: Group B – Japan vs Mexico 4-0; New Zealand vs England 1-2.