Striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has dismissed his second-place finish on a list of Sweden’s all-time sporting greats behind tennis master Bjorn Borg.
“Thank you but to finish second is like finishing last,” he said.
The 33-year-old PSG striker was second in the list of 150 Swedish sportspeople. Asked where he would have put himself in the rankings, Ibra said: “On that list I would have been number one, two, three, four and five, with due respect to the others.”
Instead, the jury selected Borg, who won 11 grand slam tournaments in a stellar career.
Khedira wants to extend contract
Midfielder Sami Khedira has indicated he would be happy to extend his contract with Real Madrid beyond June 2015 if an agreement can be reached.
Khedira is not a first-choice starter under coach Carlo Ancelotti, with Germany team-mate Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Isco all ahead in the pecking order. Khedira said he was back to a good level of fitness and hopeful he would see more playing time.
“If we can find a solution I am happy,” he said about his contract situation.
“I am a friend of strong competition. He (Kroos) is doing things outstandingly well and after six months is already a focal point of our play.”
Song left out
Cameroon have left West Ham midfielder Alex Song out of their squad for next month’s Africa Cup finals in Equatorial Guinea.
Song had asked the English Premier League club to be released for the tournament despite fears over the Ebola virus but is not in the plans of coach Volker Finke, who has ignored the 27-year-old since this year’s World Cup in Brazil.
Song was sent off for elbowing Croatia striker Mario Mandzukic in a 4-0 group stage World Cup defeat and handed a three-match ban from competitive internationals by FIFA.
Scottish FA blocks Ashley’s Gers bid
Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley’s hopes of increasing his stake in Rangers to 29.9 per cent was blocked by the Scottish Football Association (SFA).
Rangers responded by saying they were disappointed Ashley’s bid had been blocked.
SFA rules state that no individual can have a dual interest in two clubs, although Sports Direct kingpin Ashley already holds an 8.92 per cent stake in Rangers.
“The Board has now carefully considered the application and has decided, unanimously, that the application should not be granted,” an SFA statement said.
In October Ashley provided two million pounds of funding for the financially-stricken club in return for the removal of chief executive Graham Wallace.
Zola takes over at Cagliari
Gianfranco Zola will be the new coach of Serie A side Cagliari, replacing Zdenek Zemen, who was sacked earlier this week after two wins in 16 matches left them in the relegation zone.
“Welcome back, Gianfranco,” the club said on its website announcing the appointment of Zola, who previously played for the Italian club as well as Chelsea.
The 67-year-old Zeman took charge of Cagliari in July but the Sardinians have not won a home league game in this campaign and sit 18th, with only Cesena and Parma below them.
Zeman was fired by Roma in February 2013 following a disastrous nine months in charge that saw the club lose nine times in 23 games, leaving them languishing mid-table.
Ukraine federation under probe
Ukrainian security services raided the headquarters of the country’s soccer federation this week as part of a probe into alleged money laundering and embezzlement of funds.
“The Security Service of Ukraine searches in the Football Federation of Ukraine,” senior SSU advisor Markian Lubkivskyi said on a Facebook post.
“They are due to open criminal proceedings under the Articles of 191 and 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (misappropriation, embezzlement or acquisition through abuse and legalisation (laundering) of money received from crime).”
Anatoliy Konkov, who is under investigation, is currently the president of the Ukraine Football Federation.
Tskhadadze new coach of Georgia
Former Manchester City defender Kakhaber Tskhadadze has signed a two-and-a-half-year contract to take over as head coach of Georgia.
Tskhadadze won 25 caps for Georgia, scoring one goal, and was also part of the CIS team that took part in 1992 European Championships.
Tskhadadze played for Spartak Moscow, Eintracht Frankfurt and Manchester City in the 1990s. Since 2009 he has been in charge of Azerbaijani side Inter Baku and will continue to work with the club until May.
Tskhadadze takes over from Temuri Ketsbaia, who was in charge of Georgia for five years.