Man. United: Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson pledged yesterday to take his strongest possible squad to Japan in a bid to win the World Club Cup for the first time next month. "We feel we should have won more in Europe. We won the Intercontinental Cup back in 1999 and as the first British club to do that it was a prestigious piece of history for us," he said. "To win this would be even better."
Fiorentina: Fiorentina want to offload players in the January transfer window after failing to qualify for the Champions League last 16, the Serie A club's director of sport Pantaleo Corvino said. "We had a big squad in order not to have anything to reproach ourselves about in Europe," Corvino said. "It's logical that some people have not had the space they expected, so we will try to put players on the market."
Kinnear: The English FA have charged Newcastle's interim manager Joe Kinnear with improper conduct over comments he made about referee Martin Atkinson after a Premier League match against Fulham on Nov. 9. Kinnear has until Dec. 12 to respond to the charge.
Fined: Ipswich Town midfielder David Norris was fined £5,000 by the English FA yesterday for crossing his hands in a handcuff gesture to celebrate a goal. The FA said the Championship player had been charged with improper conduct for the gesture referring to former Plymouth team-mate Luke McCormick, jailed for drink driving after a car crash in which two boys died.
Benzema: France striker Karim Benzema will be out of action for at least two weeks with a thigh injury. "He first felt pain during France's game against Uruguay (last week). He will miss the Ligue 1 games against Valenciennes and Nantes and the Champions League match against Bayern Munich on Dec 10.
Torres injured: Liverpool striker Fernando Torres will be out of action for up to three weeks with a hamstring strain. The Spain international picked up the injury in Wednesday's 1-0 Champions League victory against French side Olympique Marseille at Anfield.
In Gozo: GFA Division One - Għajnsielem vs Kerċem 1-1. Division Two - Munxar vs Xewkija 3-1.
Tennis: World number one Rafael Nadal has said it shows a lack of respect when people write off Roger Federer. "He has proven he is a winner. At the US Open he won and silenced many people who said he was finished," the Spaniard told sports daily AS. "It shows a lack of respect and knowledge of tennis that they say things like that. I am sure Roger will be back at the top of his game in 2009."
Swimming: Olympic champions Alain Bernard of France and Rebecca Adlington of Britain were named Best European Swimmers of 2008 by the European Swimming Federation yesterday. Hungarian Laszlo Cseh was second in the men, LEN Magazine said in a statement released in Budapest. Adlington won the vote over Federica Pellegrini of Italy and German Britta Steffen.