Owen: Michael Owen's rehabilitation from the serious injury he suffered in the World Cup last year continued yesterday when he was named in the England B squad to play Albania at Burnley on May 25. Owen, who has played two matches for Newcastle United since recovering from the injury, could be called up for the senior squad's Euro 2008 qualifier against Estonia in June if he comes through the Albania match successfully. Man. United forward Alan Smith and Tottenham skipper Ledley King also return to international duty for the first time since recovering from their serious injuries.

Sacked: Bulgarian club CSKA Sofia have sacked Portuguese striker Jose Furtado after he had a fight with club captain Valentin Iliev during and after a training session. The 23-year-old, who joined CSKA in 2006 from Vihren, was dismissed with immediate effect while Iliev was suspended for an unspecified period. "We are not a pub team and we can't allow things like this to happen," CSKA coach Stoycho Mladenov told reporters at a news conference. "We sacked Furtado because it's his second disciplinary offence."

De La Pena: Espanyol playmaker Ivan de la Pena returned to training yesterday and should be available for next week's UEFA Cup final against Sevilla. The influential 31-year-old midfielder picked up a calf injury in his right leg two weeks ago and has missed the side's last three matches, including the second leg of the semi-final against Werder Bremen.

De Santis: Massimo De Santis, one of the referees implicated in Italy's match-fixing scandal, has lost his appeal against a four-year ban, Italy's ANSA news agency reported.

In Italy: One in three Italian television viewers tuned in to watch Roma's thrilling 6-2 win over Inter in Wednesday's Italian Cup final first leg, official figures showed. The game had been brought forward to a 6 p.m. kick-off because of fears of crowd trouble later on, and Italian soccer authorities may now look at playing such matches in the early evening in the future.

In England: Premier League - Tottenham 1 (Defoe 67); Blackburn 1 (McCarthy 33).

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