Vieira: Patrick Vieira has said he wants to finish his career at Inter. "I am thinking of finishing my career at Inter. I don't think I will return to play in France," the 30-year-old was quoted as saying on the club website. The France captain looks set to miss his country's Euro 2008 qualifiers next month with a knee injury.
Incentive payments: Getafe defender Javier Paredes believes incentive payments made by third party clubs to encourage teams to beat their rivals should be made legal, saying: "If your own club pays you extra to win why can't another club do it too? If they paid you to lose it would be different as it would undermine the competition, but if you get paid more to win then all the better," Paredes said. h.
Pires: Villarreal midfielder Robert Pires has said he would like to play alongside his former France international colleague Claude Makelele after the Primera Liga side was reported to be trying to sign the 34-year-old Chelsea player. "If he comes it will be brilliant because he is a very intelligent player with massive experience and even though people talk about his age he's shown at Chelsea that he is still a very important player," Pires said.
Ballack: Captain Michael Ballack is in the squad for Germany's Euro 2008 Group D qualifying matches against San Marino and Slovakia at the start of next month, the German soccer federation (DFB) said. Ballack, who missed the end of the season with Chelsea and had an ankle operation, was working on his fitness and could be available to face both San Marino on June 2 in Nuremberg and Slovakia in Hamburg on June 6, the DFB said.
Solano: Peru coach Julio Cesar Uribe has told midfielder Nolberto Solano to calm down if he wants to play for his country again. "I've coached Solano before and I know when he's calm or not," Uribe told local media. "I'm waiting for the right moment to talk to him. I'm not going to reply to absurd comments, for the time being I'm just observing." Recently, Solano has publicly criticised the Peruvian federation, especially over plans to play home World Cup qualifiers at high altitude in the Andean city of Cuzco.
Fatal celebrations: A Mozambican soccer fan was stoned and stomped to death after celebrating a goal by his side in a premier league match in the southern African nation. The incident occurred on Sunday in Lichinga during a hotly contested match between hosts Lichinga FC and rivals Ferroviario de Nampula. Angry Lichinga fans attacked the unidentified man after he jumped onto a stadium terrace to celebrate Ferroviario's second goal in the 69th minute. Ferroviario won the match 2-0.
Sidwell: Chelsea have signed midfielder Steve Sidwell from fellow Premier League club Reading on a free transfer. Sidwell, who had been linked with a number of top English clubs because his contract with Reading runs out on June 30, will join the London club on July 1. Chelsea said that Sidwell had passed a medical but gave no details about the length of the contract.
Robben: Winger Arjen Robben will not join the Dutch squad for their friendly international matches against South Korea on June 2 and Thailand four days later, the Dutch soccer federation (KNVB) said. The KNVB said the Chelsea player was still recovering from a knee injury and would use the coming period to get fit. Netherlands coach Marco van Basten will announce his squad on Friday.