Brazilian striker Robinho will not be fit to return to the Manchester City side for at least another two weeks, manager Mark Hughes said this week.
Robinho suffered a stress fracture in his right ankle when he played for Brazil against Argentina on September 5.
He has missed four City matches since then, including the 3-1 Premier League win over West Ham on Monday.
"His foot is still in plaster and he is not training, just doing work in the gym," Hughes said.
"I imagine it will be another two to three weeks before he is fit again."
Mourinho confident despite second slip
Inter coach Jose Mourinho is confident his side will progress to the knock-out round of the Champions League despite their failure to win a game so far in the competition. Inter were held 1-1 at Rubin Kazan on Tuesday, a result that followed a goalless draw against Barcelona.
"If we win our two home games against Rubin Kazan and Dynamo Kiev we will qualify," said Mourinho. Inter made things harder for themselves when Mario Balotelli was sent off with 30 minutes remaining.
"Considering how the game developed, I believe this result is a positive one," said Mourinho.
Maradona calls for help from God
Argentina coach Diego Maradona has called on God's hand to shield the South American country from World Cup elimination.
"The Beard (God) saved me many times, I hope he saves me this time too," said Maradona.
Argentina are fifth in the South American group, in the berth for a play-off against the team finishing fourth in the CONCACAF region.
"We have to get it into our heads that our next two matches are fundamental, that we can no longer go on giving things aways," Maradona said.
Maradona has often said God saved him when he put his life in danger over his drug and alcohol addictions.
Rangers chief slams ref after fiasco
Walter Smith branded Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson a bottler after his side were crushed 4-1 by Sevilla in a controversial clash at Ibrox. The Spanish oufit ran out easy winners but that doesn't tell the full story of a fiery encounter.
Eriksson took centre stage when he denied the home side a clear first-half penalty when Konko tripped Steven Naismith in the area.
"He was perfectly positioned," said Smith.
"There are times when you can say that people make errors but that was fairly clear-cut.
"You can't say the penalty decision was a turning point overall. But when you play teams like Sevilla you need the complete set of circumstances to go your way and that didn't happen."
Tevez will relish goals against United
The souring of Carlos Tevez's relationship with Manchester United has been underlined by the Argentinian's revelation that he will celebrate any goals he scores against them in future.
Tevez won widespread praise for his discreet acknowledgements of his two goals in Monday night's 3-1 win over his former club West Ham. However, Tevez was dismayed by the hostile reaction he received from United on his return for the derby last month.
"I decided not to celebrate my goals out of respect to West Ham," Tevez said.
"In my heart, part of me will always be a Hammer.
"In the derby against Man. United I had also decided not to celebrate our goals but, after the bad treatment I received that day, I have changed my stance on that."
Electronic transfers compulsory
Full central control of player transfers is less than a year away after FIFA announced that its automated system would be compulsory from September 2010.
The Transfer Matching System (TSM) is already in use in more than half of FIFA's member associations and the electronic international transfer certificates (ITC) will be introduced from today for moves of professional players between clubs, FIFA said. It added, following a meeting in Rio of its executive committee, that all transfers will have to be by TSM from Sept. 1, 2010.
"This will give transparency to all transfers and, I won't say it will diminish but it will also coordinate the work of agents," FIFA president Sepp Blatter said.
Vogts expresses interest in Hertha
Ex-Germany coach Bertie Vogts expressed interest in the vacant Hertha Berlin job, but caretaker boss Karsten Heine says he is only concerned with boosting confidence at the Bundesliga's bottom club.
"The team has enough quality, we have to stop the run of bad results and get some self-confidence back," said the 54-year-old Heine after Hertha sacked Swiss coach Lucien Favre on Monday following two heavy league defeats. Ex-Germany boss Vogts, who currently trains the Azerbaijan national side, said: "I am willing to negotiate. Berlin is a sleeping giant and I would have to see where Hertha want to go."
Other names linked to the Hertha job include Lothar Matthaeus, Hans Meyer, Mirko Slomka and Jurgen Roeber.