Yakubu: Nigerian international striker Aiyegbeni Yakubu is to join Middlesbrough from Portsmouth in July, the Teesside club said yesterday. Middlesbrough will pay in the region of £7.5 million for Yakubu who joined Portsmouth initially on loan from the Israeli club Maccabi Haifa in January 2003 and went on to score 48 goals in 89 appearances.
Mboma: Former Cameroon striker Patrick Mboma retired yesterday after a series of injuries. "I have suffered repeated injuries and it's clearly time to stop playing," said the 34-year-old who helped Cameroon win the African Nations Cup in 2000 and 2002. Mboma decided to quit following a frustrating year in which he played just four games for Japanese club Vissel Kobe.
Beach Soccer: France, coached by former Manchester United forward Eric Cantona, won FIFA's inaugural beach soccer World Cup when they beat Portugal on penalties in the final on Sunday. France won 1-0 in a sudden-death penalty shootout following a 3-3 draw after extra-time at the temporary arena built on Copacabana beach.
Tottenham: Tottenham Hotspur have signed Canada defender Paul Stalteri from Werder Bremen yesterday. The 27-year-old full back spent over seven years with the Bundesliga club, helping them win the German league and cup double in 2003-04. "He is a defender who can play in midfield, so he is a multi-functional player, who can play on both sides," Spurs director Frank Arnesen said.
Swiss Cup: FC Zurich won the Swiss Cup for the seventh time yesterday when they beat second division FC Luzern 3-1. Zurich, fifth in the Swiss first division, last won the cup in 2000. A second division side has reached the final on seven occasions and has yet to win the cup.
In England: League One play-off SF (second leg) - Brentford vs Sheffield Wed. 1-2 (Sheffield W. through to final on 1-3 aggregate).
In Italy: Serie B - Triestina vs Venezia 1-1.
¤ US Masters champion Tiger Woods, whose record-breaking seven-year run of avoiding the halfway cut in golf tournaments ended last week, will lose his world number one ranking also by Sunday. His closest rival, Fijian Vijay Singh, went on to finish tied third in the Byron Nelson Championship in Irving, Texas, behind winner Ted Purdy and closed the gap on Woods significantly. Neither man is playing in this week's Colonial tournament in Fort Worth, Texas but, under the world rankings system which is based on previous results, Woods will lose more points than Singh and so slip narrowly behind him.
¤ Alessandro Petacchi of Italy won the 139-km ninth stage of the Giro d'Italia from Florence to Ravenna yesterday. The Fassa Bortolo cyclist beat compatriot Paolo Bettini and Switzerland's Aurelien Clerc in a sprint finish. It was Petacchi's first stage victory in this year's Giro. Compatriot Danilo Di Luca retained the overall race lead. Today is a rest day ahead of tomorrow's 212-km 10th stage from Ravenna to Rossano Veneto near Venice.