The first England international to be available only on the Internet attracted around 250,000 subscribers for a total estimated viewing figure of 500,000.

Saturday's World Cup qualifier, won 1-0 by Ukraine against England in Dnipropetrovsk, was not shown live on any UK TV networks.

The rights for the match had originally been bought by Setanta but after the company went into administration the owners, Kentaro, decided not to accept offers from other TV companies and instead made the game available only on line.

They charged almost five pounds for subscriptions taken out before Thursday, rising to 10 and then £12.

Van der Sar offers support to Foster

Edwin van der Sar is backing Ben Foster to recover from his current problems.

Foster has endured a turbulent few weeks, being blamed for two Manchester City goals in the thrilling Old Trafford derby last month before being brushed aside far too easily by Sunderland's Kenwyne Jones last weekend.

With speculation mounting that Man. United will launch a £10 million raid on CSKA Moscow for Igor Akinfeev if Van der Sar calls it a day at the end of the season, Foster's United career appears to be under threat.

"Nobody has a clear path in their career," Van der Sar said.

"Ben certainly has the strength of character to overcome what he has been through... I have sympathy for him but I have no worries about him."

FA to make flare complaint

The English FA will make a formal complaint about the flares that were thrown onto the pitch during England's defeat in the Ukraine.

Referee Damir Skomina was twice forced to stop play, on the first occasion for two minutes, for the flares to be extinguished and cleared out of the England penalty area.

The FA have made it clear they are deeply concerned about the incidents.

"We have spoken with the FIFA delegate and we will be submitting a report with regard to the missiles," FA director of communications Adrian Bevington said.

"We will be following that up with a formal complaint."

Ancelotti interested in Roma return

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has revealed he would love to coach Roma one day.

The 50-year-old left Milan for Stamford Bridge in the summer and had a stunning start to his time in charge of the Premier League team. He claims the only club he would return to Italy for is the Giallorossi, where he spent eight years as a player.

"I would love to return to Roma," Ancelotti said.

"It would be the only Italian club I would go to."

Terim quits as Turks misfire

Turkey coach Fatih Terim (picture) will step down as manager after his team's 2-0 defeat away to Belgium on Saturday and their failure to qualify for the World Cup.

The Turkish Federation said in a statement they had accepted his resignation.

Terim will preside over Turkey's one remaining World Cup Group Five qualifying match on Wednesday against Armenia, who also failed to qualify.

Terim has managed Turkey since 2005 and took his side to the semi-finals of Euro 2008 with a series of last-gasp victories before losing to Germany.

However, Turkey's campaign in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup was hit by repeated injuries.

Cannavaro greets CONI intervention

Fabio Cannavaro is delighted he is close to being cleared of any wrongdoing over a failed drugs test, although he insists he never expected anything less.

The Juventus and Italy defender tested positive for the banned substance cortisone after taking a medicine to treat an insect sting in August. However, the Italian Olympic Committee's (CONI) anti-doping prosecutor Ettore Torri has now asked for the case to be dropped.

"I am happy that the prosecutor has asked for my case to be dismissed acknowledging the good faith and correctness of my behaviour," said Cannavaro.

"I didn't have any doubt that would happen and I am upset that a story of this sort has generated so much fuss."

No Dutch apologies for Aussie trip

Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk says he has no regrets about making the long journey to Australia for a friendly as part of preparations for next year's World Cup.

The classy Dutch, ranked third in the world, controlled Saturday's match but could not come up with a goal to reward their dominance in a scoreless draw in Sydney.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez was unhappy that two of his players, Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel, were called up by the Dutch federation to fly to the other side of the world for the friendly. But Van Marwijk was unrepentant.

"It was a lovely week, nice people, a very nice city so I have no regrets about the trip to Australia," Van Marwijk said.