Quagliarella: Juventus and Italy forward Fabio Quagliarella underwent a successful operation on his torn cruciate knee ligament yesterday, his club said. The 27-year-old injured his knee during Thursday's 4-1 home defeat to Parma. Following his operation in Rome, Juve issued a statement: “Quagliarella will stay there to recover for three or four days and then return to Turin to begin his rehabilitation programme.”
Aogo: Germany defender Dennis Aogo extended his contract with Hamburg till 2015. Aogo, 23, has been at Hamburg since 2008. Being of Nigerian descent he was the subject of advances from Nigeria to play for them but decided to throw in his lot with Germany and was rewarded by being part of the squad that finished third at last year’s World Cup finals.
Fabregas: Arsene Wenger has moved to reject fresh reports in Spain that an agreement has been reached to sell Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona. “I have a good sense of humour, but I don’t understand this one,” said the Arsenal manager. “We have the contract of the player and we would inform you if we would sell the player. We sell nobody.”
Frosinone: Frosinone have sacked coach Guido Carboni and brought in Salvatore Campilongo, the Serie B club said. Frosinone, struggling at the bottom end of the standings, lost their last match 2-0 at home to Livorno.
Wheater: Middlesbrough defender David Wheater is in talks with Bolton over a possible move to the Reebok Stadium. Discussions with the 23-year-old, who is out of contract at the Riverside Stadium at the end of the season, are at an advanced stage, reports said.
Vidigal: Lito Vidigal succeeded caretaker Zeca Amaral as coach of Angola. After a playing and coaching career spanning more than a decade in Portugal, Vidigal returns home to take over a national team whose fortunes have slumped since a first World Cup finals appearance five years ago in Germany.
Adelaide: Adelaide United ended the Australian A-League’s worst head-to-head losing streak with an emphatic 4-1 win over their nemesis Melbourne Victory in Melbourne yesterday. Dutch striker Sergio van Dijk scored twice in the second half to become the league’s leading scorer with 13, as the Reds notched their first win over the Victory since October 2007.
Tennis: Juan Martin del Potro will make his long-awaited return to the ATP Tour at the Sydney International today. Argentine Del Potro, one of only two men since 2005 other than Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to have won a grand slam, has not played on the tour since the Australian Open last January. A wrist injury sidelined him for eight months and he said he had to battle depression to make it back to the tour.
Cricket: Little-known Australian all-rounder Daniel Christian set the pace on the final day of the Indian Premier League auction yesterday after he was bought for $900,000 by the Deccan Chargers. Christian, who had a reserve price of $50,000, has played just three Twenty20 internationals for Australia but has performed well recently in domestic games.
Racing: Tony McCoy’s endless run of success continued on Saturday as the 15-time champion jockey captured the Welsh National for the first time in nine attempts on Synchronised. The 36-year-old Ulsterman – who became the first racing star to win the coveted BBC sports personality of the year in December – guided home the 5/1 shot ahead of Giles Cross while On Cloud Nine was third to complete a whole set of Nationals.
Dakar Rally: Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah halved Volkswagen team-mate Carlos Sainz’s overall Dakar Rally lead yesterday with a seventh stage win. Al-Attiyah finished the 273km special from Arica to Antofagasta in 2hr 40min 57sec, with the Spaniard 1min 20sec behind in second place. That left Sainz with a 1min 22sec overall lead.