Terry: England captain John Terry will miss Saturday's Euro 2008 qualifying game against Estonia at Wembley because of a knee problem, the FA confirmed. The Chelsea defender, who suffered the injury in training on Wednesday, could, however, be fit for next Wednesday's Group E qualifier in Moscow against Russia.
Van der Sar: Netherlands goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar left the Dutch training camp on Thursday after his toe injury failed to respond to treatment in time for the Euro 2008 Group G qualifiers against Romania tomorrow and Slovenia four days later. The Manchester United keeper picked up the injury on Sept. 29 against Birmingham City and has been sidelined since. AZ Alkmaar keeper Boy Waterman has been added to a Dutch squad that also includes Maarten Stekelenburg and Henk Timmer.
Ten Cate: Dutchman Henk Ten Cate has joined Chelsea as assistant coach to Israeli Avram Grant, the Premier League club said yesterday. Ten Cate, 52, was assistant to Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona when the Spanish club won the Champions League in 2006 and became Ajax coach in May that year on a two-year contract. Chelsea are rebuilding their backroom staff after the shock departure of Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho last month and the appointment of Grant as his replacement.
Maldini: Milan captain Paolo Maldini will start his first match of the season in a friendly against Athletic Bilbao this weekend. The 39-year-old, who retires at the end of the campaign, has been recovering from a knee operation in the close season and hopes to return to league action after the international break. Milan's Brazilian teenager Pato, who joined from Internacional in August but cannot play a competitive game until January, will also start against the Spaniards.
France friendlies: France will play England in a friendly at the Stade de France on March 26, the French federation said yesterday. The World Cup finalists will also host Spain on Feb. 6 although the venue for that match has still to be decided. Les Bleus will play a friendly against Romania before next year's European Championship finals but the date and venue have not yet been set, the FFF said.
Spain: Spain centre-back Carles Puyol and midfielder David Silva could start on the bench for tomorrow's Euro 2008 Group F qualifier in Denmark because of minor injury niggles. Puyol has only recently returned from a knee injury and suffered a minor calf strain in Barcelona's 2-0 Champions League win at Stuttgart last week. Silva has been suffering from muscular pain after featuring in every league game for Valencia.
Goalmouth refs: FIFA's decision to experiment with goalmouth referees at the Club World Cup in December will help stop cheating, according to the president of the Japan Football Association. "At the speed modern soccer is played today, it's quite impossible with just one referee and two assistants," Saburo Kawabuchi said. "To spot all the fouls and diving in the box you need more than just one referee and two assistants. It's better to increase the numbers of officials."
Viana: Osasuna's Portuguese midfielder Hugo Viana has been given the all-clear to resume playing after breaking a bone in his right foot during the pre-season. Viana joined Osasuna from Valencia during the pre-season.