Wolfsburg coach Steve McClaren praised striker Grafite for rounding off a perfect week after the Wolves picked up nine points from three Bundesliga games.
The Brazilian scored both goals in the midweek win over Hamburg and his next two goals were enough to see off Freiburg 2-1 on Sunday.
“I am very happy with him and his reaction,” said the Englishman.
The 31-year-old Grafite was a substitute in the Wolves’ first three games of the season, but has not looked back since being restored to the starting XI.
“He has waited patiently and he made the difference,” added McClaren.
“Grafite has taken his chance.”
Totti poses no problem for Roma
Francesco Totti has played down the significance of his angry reaction to being substituted in Saturday’s game against Inter. The Roma captain was taken off in the 76th minute and marched straight down the tunnel before leaving without celebrating the 1-0 win.
The former Italy playmaker, 34, is believed to be frustrated at coach Claudio Ranieri’s reluctance to play him for the full 90 minutes.
“I would have loved to celebrate my birthday with a goal but I got a gift from Vucinic. The victory may be the turning point,” he said.
“I have never been nor will I ever be a problem for Roma. I hope to celebrate many more birthdays by wearing this shirt that I love so much.”
Sevilla sack coach Alvarez
Sevilla have sacked their coach Antonio Alvarez over the club’s disappointing start to the season and replaced him with former Mallorca boss Gregorio Manzano. Sevilla lost 2-0 on Sunday to Hercules and currently stand seventh with eight points from five games.
That follows the club’s exit to Portugal’s Braga in the qualifying round of the Champions League in August and a home defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Europa League this month.
Alvarez, who replaced Manolo Jimenez at Sevilla last season and brought the club the Spanish Cup, is the first Primera Liga coach to lose his job so far this season.
Iran to play Brazil next month
Iran will play Brazil on October 7 in the United Arab Emirates, the ISNA news agency reported yesterday.
“Iran will play a friendly game against Brazil, featuring all its stars, in Abu Dhabi on October 7,” the chairman of the Iranian Football Federation (IFF), Ali Kafashian, was quoted as saying.
Kafashian said that the agreement to hold the match in the UAE, home to around 400,000 Iranians, was clinched on Sunday.
He gave no details of the contract, but another IFF official said all costs were being met by the sponsor of the Brazilian team.
Gascoigne linked with Garforth job
Paul Gascoigne is set to be appointed the new manager of non-league club Garforth Town.
The former England midfielder has described the challenge with the Evo Stik First Division North League club as “a big challenge”.
Gascoigne, 43, said: “I feel strong right now. For me personally it’s a big challenge. It’s whether the players want to join me in that challenge.
“I never knew when I’d get back into football. I want to take the club forward and I want the players to develop. I will give commitment to the club.”
Garforth owner Simon Clifford said: “This is not a publicity stunt. When we signed Socrates and Careca, that was. Everyone says they love Paul but nobody does anything about it.”
Pulis says Magpies feign injury
Stoke boss Tony Pulis accused an unnamed Newcastle player of feigning injury during his side’s 2-1 victory at St James’ Park.
Pulis refused to identify the player in question, but after a week during which his club came in for criticism following Andy Wilkinson’s midweek challenge on Fulham striker Moussa Dembele, he called on the Professional Footballers’ Association to demand higher standards of behaviour from its members.
He said: “With the bad publicity we have had this week with the challenge from Andy Wilkinson, I was really disappointed when one of the Newcastle players went down and I think simulated an injury from a challenge.
“Three passes later, he jumped up and was running around as if nothing had happened.”
Van Gaal extends Bayern contract
Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal yesterday extended his contract with the German giants by one year through until June 30, 2012.
The contract, which mirrors a similar extension for the Dutchman’s assistant Andries Jonker, was signed in the Swiss city of Basel, where Bayern play in the Champions League today.
Despite Bayern’s patchy start to the season, club officials have been at pains to say they were committed to van Gaal staying on.
“We don’t change our mind after one defeat,” chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said in reference to Bayern’s 2-1 defeat to Mainz on Saturday.
“We have total confidence in Louis van Gaal. The coach does a great job. It’s the team, not the coach, that must react.”