Ascoli: Serie A strugglers Ascoli have appointed much-travelled coach Nedo Sonetti to replace the sacked Attilio Tesser. Tesser was fired on Monday after Ascoli's 1-0 defeat by visitors Empoli at the weekend left the club 17th out of 20 teams in the top flight with four points from 11 games. The 65-year-old Sonetti coached Cagliari last season, guiding them to Serie A safety during the second half of the campaign, but he has been out of work since. Sonetti was previously coach of Ascoli in 1990/91 when he took the club to promotion from Serie B.
Juventus injuries: Juventus and France striker David Trezeguet will be sidelined for two to three weeks with a thigh muscle injury. Trezeguet's injury means promotion-chasing Juventus, demoted to the second division after being implicated in a match-fixing scandal, will be without both their first-choice strikers as Italy international Alessandro Del Piero has also been ruled out for around 20 days. Like Del Piero, Trezeguet picked up his injury in Juventus's 2-0 win over Pescara on Saturday.
Guardiola: Former Spain midfielder Josep Guardiola has decided to retire from playing at the age of 35. Guardiola, who was capped 47 times, won six Primera Liga titles, the European Cup in 1992 and the Cup Winners's Cup in 1997 while with Barca. He left Barcelona in 2001 and had spells with Brescia and Roma. Latterly he had played in Qatar and Mexico.
England debut: England coach Steve McClaren yesterday handed a debut to Man. City defender Micah Richards when he named his team for today's friendly against the Netherlands. The 18-year-old Richards gets his chance after Man. United's Gary Neville was ruled out because of injury.
Hearts: Hearts named their third manager in eight months yesterday with FBK Kaunas coach Egenijus Riabovas poised to take charge. Current caretaker boss Eduard Malofeev is working on his UEFA pro-licence, the club said, adding another chapter of controversy that has gripped the club in recent weeks.
Jonsson: Former Arsenal player Siggi Jonsson has been appointed coach of Djurgarden yesterday. The former Icelandic international begins his three-year spell with the club next month when he takes over from Anders Gronhagen, who has acted as temporary coach since Kjell Jonevret quit in September. The 40-year-old alternated as defender and midfielder during his career and had spells with Sheffield Wednesday, Arsenal, Dundee United and Swedish club Orebro.
U-21 friendlies: Holland vs England 0-1; Italy vs Czech Rep. 0-0.
International friendlies: Wales vs Liechtenstein 4-0; Australia vs Ghana 1-1.