Maniche: Portuguese international Maniche has joined Bundesliga club Cologne on a two-year contract, the German team said. Maniche, 31, who won the Champions League with Porto in 2004 and also played for Inter and Chelsea, was last under contract with Atletico Madrid before falling out of favour with the club.
Young debutant: A 12-year-old boy made his first division debut in Bolivia, the youngest ever in South America. Mauricio Baldivieso, who turns 13 tomorrow, came on as a substitute for the last nine minutes of Aurora's match away to La Paz, a 1-0 defeat, in the Clausura championship at the weekend.
Villarreal: Villarreal hit 27 goals past regional Spanish side Navata in a friendly on Sunday, with forward Jonathan Pereira netting seven and Joseba Llorente and Marco Ruben scoring four each. Former Arsenal midfielder Robert Pires scored twice, and coach Ernesto Valverde played a different 11 in each half, the club said.
Frei: Switzerland's record scorer Alex Frei has completed a move to Basel from Borussia Dortmund, the Swiss club said. The 30-year-old, who has scored 39 goals in 67 internationals, has signed a three-year contract for Basel, where he started his career.
Gold Cup: Costa Rica and Mexico cruised into the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup after convincing victories on Sunday. Striker Alvaro Saborio scored twice to help Costa Rica thrash Guadeloupe 5-1 while Mexico's Miguel Sabah got two in his team's 4-0 win over Haiti. The pair will meet in the semi-final in Chicago on Thursday. The United States meet Honduras in the other semi-final.
Ronaldo: Ronaldo had a penalty saved then scored the winner in Corinthians' 2-1 away victory over Cruzeiro in the Brazilian championship on Sunday. Ronaldo set up Jorge Henrique for the first in the 23rd minute and could have increased the lead five minutes later with the penalty but shot weakly, allowing goalkeeper Fabio to make an easy save. Ronaldo scored the winner in the 77th minute for his 17th goal in 25 matches.
German Super Cup: Wolfsburg vs Werder Bremen 1-2.
Athletics: British heptathlete Kelly Sotherton will miss the world championships in Berlin next month after failing to recover from a heel injury. Sotherton, 32, who won bronze in Osaka two years ago and won Olympic bronze in 2004, said she had been struggling with the injury since February. "I made the decision not to compete on Friday after a running session where the heel was still giving me problems," Sotherton said. "I probably would be able to go to Berlin and finish in the top eight, but I only want to go if I can really contend for a medal."
Golf: Tom Watson, who came agonisingly close to becoming golf's oldest major champion at the weekend, soared a record 1,269 places to 105th in yesterday's world rankings. The 59-year-old American, seeking a record-tying sixth Claret Jug, lost a four-hole playoff for the British Open title to compatriot Stewart Cink at Turnberry on Sunday. "That is the biggest improvement that we have seen from anybody. It is a record," said Ian Barker, who manages the official rankings.
Hockey: The 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa will offer $4 million in total prize money, an almost four-fold increase from the previous two tournaments. The premier one-day event, second in importance only to the World Cup, was moved to South Africa after security concerns forced the 2008 edition to be shifted out of Pakistan and postponed. Holders Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies will feature in the September 22 to October 5 event.
Baseball: Sue Burns, principal owner of the San Francisco Giants, has died of cancer, the team said on Sunday. She was 58. Burns, who sat near the Giants' dugout at home games, was the widow of Harmon Burns, a key member of the investor group that purchased the team after the 1992 and kept them in San Francisco. She became the team's largest shareholder when her husband died in 2006.