Venue Switch: Maccabi Haifa's Champions League third qualifying round second leg with Liverpool will be played in Kiev on August 22, UEFA said yesterday. UEFA had ruled that no European competition matches could be played in Israel in light of the troubles in and around the country. Liverpool lead 2-1 from the first leg at Anfield.
Gronkjaer: FC Copenhagen winger Jesper Gronkjaer has pulled out of Denmark's team for the friendly against Poland in Odense tomorrow because of a groin injury, the Danish Football Association (DBU) said yesterday. Sevilla's Christian Poulsen, Schalke 04's Soren Larsen and Werder Bremen's Daniel Jensen have already pulled out of the squad.
Muscat: Australia have named veteran midfielder Kevin Muscat as captain for tomorrow's 2007 Asian Cup qualifier against Kuwait in Sydney. With all Australia's leading players retained by their European club sides, the 33-year-old will lead a team made up entirely of representatives from the domestic A League competition in the Group D contest at Aussie Stadium.
McCarthy: South Africa have allowed striker Benni McCarthy to withdraw from their squad for tomorrow's friendly against Namibia to allow him to prepare for the start of the season with his new English Premier League club Blackburn Rovers. McCarthy, 28, moved to Blackburn from FC Porto in a 2.5-million pound transfer late last month and asked permission to skip the midweek match in Windhoek ahead of his expected debut for Blackburn at Portsmouth on Saturday.
Ricksen: Rangers have completed the release of Dutchman Fernando Ricksen on a one-year loan deal to Russian side Zenit St Petersburg who are coached by their former manager Dick Advocaat. The Scottish club confirmed the move on their website. Rangers have arranged a friendly with Zenit on August 23 as part of the deal and the 30-year-old former Dutch international could make his first appearance at Ibrox this season playing for the Russians.
Ivanov: Bulgaria striker Georgi Ivanov said he hoped to stay with Levski Sofia until the end of his career after passing the 100-goal mark in the Bulgarian premier league. "I've always been happy to be a Levski player," said Ivanov after heading in two second-half goals in Saturday's 3-0 defeat of Spartak Varna. "I feel here like I feel at home and you know it's always good to be at home."
Munteanu: Romania coach Victor Piturca has called up 38-year-old Dorinel Munteanu in his squad for tomorrow's friendly against Cyprus in Black Sea port of Constanta. Munteanu, starts the 15th year of his international career after scoring 16 goals in 130 appearances so far. He has had a great start to the season as player-coach of CFR Cluj, who are the surprise early leaders of the Romanian league with nine points from three games.