Willem Win: Premier League side Birkirkara lost to Holland's Willem II 3-1 in a friendly at the Hibs Ground yesterday. The Dutch Division One side scored two goals in the opening 15 minutes with Adrian Ciantar pulling one back on 70 minutes. Etienne Barbara was close to an equaliser when his shot hit the bar late on. Willem sealed their win with a third goal in the 90th minute. In their line-up, Birkirkara included new signing Antonio Saliba and Zebbug Rovers' Alex Tramboo, who is on trial.
Gravesen: Denmark international Thomas Gravesen signed a 3-1/2-year contract with Real Madrid yesterday after Everton agreed to sell the 28-year-old midfielder for a reported fee of €3.5 million. Gravesen, who would have become a free agent at the end of the season, passed a medical with the Primera Liga club and was paraded to the media last night. Having joined Everton for £2.5 million from Hamburg in July 2000, Gravesen has been enjoying his best spell in England this season after also shining for Denmark in last year's European championship in Portugal.
Camacho: Former Spain and Real Madrid coach Jose Antonio Camacho is favourite to take over the position at Nacional Madeira, the Portuguese Premier League club said yesterday. The Madeira Island team's president Rui Alves travelled to Madrid yesterday to meet Camacho for the first time, the club said on its website. Camacho, 49, resigned from Real in September last year four months after taking the post. In 2003 he guided Benfica to second place in the Portuguese league behind Porto.
Edu: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has given contract rebel Edu a week to decide whether he wants to play again for the London club. Brazilian midfielder Edu is a free agent at the end of the season when he could leave under the Bosman ruling. Wenger is refusing to increase his new contract offer and has indicated he will try to sell him and buy a replacement during the transfer window if they cannot reach an agreement. The Frenchman is unlikely ever to select Edu, 26, again if he stays without signing a new deal. "It has been going slowly with Edu. I don't know if he will stay. I hope he will stay, but we have to decide by the end of next week," Wenger said.
Pires: France midfielder Robert Pires has been fined €50,000 for infringing national team sponsorship rules and agreed to pay the money into a tsunami aid fund, the French football federation (FFF) said. "In agreement with Robert Pires, the money will go to an aid group set up by the French ministry of sports to help the countries hit by the Asian tsunami," the FFF said.
In England: The Championship - QPR vs Stoke 1-0..