Kuyt: Liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt is hopeful of being fit for the Europa League trip to his former club Utrecht at the end of this month. The 30-year-old injured his shoulder during training with the Dutch national team this week and was ruled out for four weeks. Kuyt said: “I hope I will make it (for Utrecht) but it all depends on how the injury heals in the first few days.”
Maicon: Inter will have to do without wing-back Douglas Maicon for Saturday’s match against Udinese. The Brazilian is still nursing a knee injury suffered last month and has already skipped the champions’ league opener against Bologna last week. Maicon, however, could be back in time for Inter’s trip to Twente in the Champions League next week.
Mertesacker: Werder Bremen defender Per Mertesacker is a doubt for their Bundesliga clash against Bayern Munich after being forced off with an eye injury during Germany’s 6-1 Euro 2012 qualifying win over Azerbaijan. The 25-year-old suffered the injury when he was caught by an elbow in the 11th minute and immediately went off to have stitches before being sent to hospital for x-rays.
Pennant: Jermaine Pennant is hoping his loan move to Stoke City will earn him a permanent transfer to the Premier League. The 27-year-old is on loan from Real Zaragoza, the club he joined from Liverpool in the summer of 2009. “I’ve missed the English Premier League,” he said. “My first mission is to help Stoke climb the table. If in January I can get a permanent move, great.”
Narazaki: Seigo Narazaki has brought an end to his 12-year international career after the goalkeeper announced his retirement from the national team following Japan’s 2-1 friendly win over Guatemala. Narazaki, 34, earned his 77th cap on Tuesday and brings the curtain down on a career that included appearances at four World Cups – 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010.
Div. II/III KO: Mġarr vs Qrendi 0-0; Żurrieq vs Marsascala 7-0; Attard vs Luqa 1-0; Kalkara vs St Patrick 0-2.
Commonwealths: Seven Indian athletes selected for next month’s Commonwealth Games faced a lengthy ban after “B” samples of their failed dope tests also returned positive. Four wrestlers, a shot-putter and two swimmers who were all part of India’s Games squad tested positive for a banned stimulant used widely as a nasal decongestant. Four others, who were not picked for the Games, also failed drug tests conducted at the various training camps across the country.
Basketball: Serbia avenged their loss in last year’s European Championship final to upset Spain 92-89 in an opening quarter-final thriller at the world championships yesterday. Serbia led the world champions 49-41 at half-time. The game became tense when Marc Gasol tied the game for Spain (89-89) with 28.8 seconds remaining. But Serbia’s Milos Teodosic let the clock run low before unleashing a deep three-pointer to put his side back in front.
Swimming: Australia’s triple Olympic gold medallist Stephanie Rice made a tearful public apology for making a homophobic comment on Twitter, saying her words were thoughtless but not meant to offend. The Beijing Olympics star refused to speak about swimming but broke down as she pleaded for the chance to win back the public’s trust. “My comments were thoughtless and careless but I can assure you when I made those comments I never intended to offend anybody,” she told a specially convened news conference in Sydney.
Rugby Union: Wallabies winger Drew Mitchell was yesterday ruled out of the weekend Test against New Zealand after failing to recover from a hamstring injury, a team official said. Mitchell suffered the injury during Saturday’s 41-39 win over the world champion Springboks in Bloemfontein, Australia’s first victory against South Africa on the Highveld in 47 years.