Nesta: Milan suffered a further injury blow yesterday as Alessandro Nesta broke down in training and is a doubt for today’s trip to Sardinia against Cagliari. Milan are already without the suspended Zlatan Ibrahimovic and injured Andrea Pirlo, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Gianluca Zambrotta and Matthieu Flamini.
Tunisia: Tunisian Faouzi Benzarti was yesterday named new boss of Tunisia, who have been coach-less since the departure of Frenchman Bertrand Marchand in December. Benzarti, sacked one month ago by Tunisian first division club Esperance, had already led Tunisia in the African Cup of Nations in Angola in 2010.
Rooney II: Major League Soccer announced the signing of an England playmaker named Rooney this week, but it’s John Rooney... Wayne’s 20-year-old brother. Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney’s younger brother, pegged as a midfielder, will take part at the MLS five-day combine along with other prospects starting tomorrow in Florida.
Trapattoni: Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni, 71, has in-sisted reports that he had suffered a stroke were wide of the mark. In a statement, Trapattoni said he was recovering at home after undergoing scheduled surgery on his carotid artery in Milan on December 28.
Zapotocny: Czech defending champions Sparta Prague said they had agreed on a three-year deal to sign Tomas Zapotocny from Besiktas. The 30-year-old Czech, who has made four international appearances, played for Udinese for a year before joining Besiktas in 2008.
Asian Cup: Australia was confirmed as the host nation of the 2015 Asian Cup finals yesterday after its uncontested bid was rubberstamped by the Asian Football Confederation’s executive committee. Football Federation Australia was the sole bidder for the event but still had to adhere to the formal bidding process.
King’s Cup: Last 16, second legs – Malaga vs Sevilla 0-3 (agg: 3-8); Deportivo vs Cordoba 3-1 aet (agg: 4-2).
Basket, NBA: Dwyane Wade scored 34 points and LeBron James added 25 and nine assists to lead Miami Heat past Milwaukee Bucks 101-89, giving Miami their 19th triumph in their past 20 games. The Heat scored 13 points in a row to pull away from the Bucks, with Chris Bosh helping power Miami to victory with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
Rallying: Defending champion Carlos Sainz extended his lead at the top of the Dakar Rally standings yesterday by winning the fourth stage as the gruelling event crossed the border from Argentina into Chile. The Volkswagen driver covered the 207km special in 1:57.09sec to finish 50sec ahead of last year’s runner-up Nasser Al-Attiyah. Marc Coma, riding a KTM, earlier grabbed the overall motorcycles lead. He now holds a 16-second lead over defending champion Cyril Despres.
Golf: Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy will begin his quest for a third consecutive triumph at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions when the US PGA Tour’s 2011 season begins today. A field of 34 players will tee off at the 5.6 million-dollar event, but 14-time major winner Tiger Woods and world number one Lee Westwood, of England, will not be among those hunting for the 1.12 million-dollar top prize.
Motor Racing: Chris Dyer has been replaced by Pat Fry as Ferrari’s head of race track engineering in a reshuffle by the Italian manufacturer. The move is widely seen as a reaction to Ferrari’s error in team strategy at the final Grand Prix of last season in Abu Dhabi which cost Fernando Alonso the world title last year as an ill-timed pit-stop dropped him down the field and out of contention.