Recalled: Fiorentina midfielders David Pizarro and Matias Fernandez have been recalled by Chile for their Copa America warm-up friendlies against Iran and Brazil. Chile play Iran in Sankt Poelten, Austria on March 26 and Brazil in London three days later in the teams’ first meeting since the Brazilians won their World Cup last-16 clash on penalties in June. Pizarro and Fernandez missed out on a place in Chile’s squad at the World Cup.

Eriksen: Christian Eriksen is set to become the youngest Dane to win 50 caps after he was named in the squad for friendlies against the United States and France. The 23-year-old Tottenham Hotspur midfielder should reach the 50 international milestone at a younger age than previous record holder Michael Laudrup.

Bastia: Bastia are searching for an alternative venue for Saturday’s home clash with Guingamp after plans to switch it to the nearby Stade Ange Casanova fell through. After extensive crowd trouble marred their win over Nice on March 7, Bastia were ordered to play matches away from their home ground and behind closed doors. Bastia proposed the home of Ligue 2 side Gazelec Ajaccio as a short-term replacement venue but that was rejected by the French league.

Bhutan win: The Himalayan kingdom ranked rock bottom in world soccer spirited another improbable win yesterday as Bhutan reached the second round of World Cup qualifying. Lying 209th in FIFA’s rankings, Bhutan proved last week’s 1-0 win over Sri Lanka in Colombo was no fluke with a 2-1 victory in the return leg in capital Thimpu. The tiny nation had allowed workers to leave early to catch the game, and the Chan-glimithang Stadium was packed to witness the heroics.

Cha Du-Ri: South Korea defender Cha Du-ri will make one last appearance for the side to mark his retirement from international football in a friendly against New Zealand at the end of the month. Cha, who called time on his career with the national side after January’s Asian Cup final against Australia, is one of 23 players in coach Uli Stielike’s squad for friendlies against Uzbekistan on March 27 and the ‘All Whites’ four days later.

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