Silvestre: Manchester United's France defender Mikael Silvestre is likely to miss the rest of the season after suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury at Everton, the champions said on their website yesterday. The 30-year-old left-back got his studs caught in the ground and fell awkwardly, twisting his knee in Saturday's Premier League match at Goodison Park which United won 1-0. Silvestre, who will miss France's Euro 2008 qualifying run-in, is the third United player to suffer a serious knee injury this year following similar problems for South Korean midfielder Ji-sung Park and goalkeeper Ben Foster.
Petit: Benfica midfielder Armando Petit will be out of action for a minimum of three matches, including tomorrow's Champions League opener against Milan, due to a knee injury, coach Jose Antonio Camacho said. The international was carried off the pitch on a stretcher after making a tackle in his team's 3-0 league win over Naval on Saturday.
Coach Sacked: Portuguese premier league strugglers Naval have fired coach Francisco Chalo after a string of poor results, the club said yesterday. Club officials would take over coaching duties until a successor was found, it said. Chalo was the third managerial casualty in the top flight this season. The Figueira da Foz club, who lost 3-0 at Benfica last weekend, are third from the bottom of the 16-team standings with two points from four matches.
Real Madrid: Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster has revealed that the club considered signing Werder Bremen star Diego this summer. Speaking ahead of Real's Champions League clash with Werder tomorrow, Schuster disclosed he is a big admirer of the Brazilian playmaker who enjoyed a fine season with Bremen in the 2006-07 Bundesliga. Meanwhile, Schuster confirmed yesterday Ruud van Nistelrooy will be fit for the game against Bremen. The Dutchman missed Saturday's 3-1 win over Almeria after returning from international duty with a few knocks.
Given: Newcastle United's goalkeeper Shay Given is being linked with a January move to Arsenal. Arsenal will most certainly try to sign a new goalkeeper to replace German Jens Lehmann, who is expected to leave next season, and Given is on top of Arsene Wenger's list of transfer targets, English newspapers reported yesterday.
Golf: The United States retained the Solheim Cup yesterday when they crushed Europe 8.5-3.5 in the final session of singles and finished 16-12 ahead overall at Halmstad in Sweden. A point behind at 7.5-8.5 going into the 12 singles, Paula Creamer made sure that the United States would get the 14 points needed to retain the Cup when she went dormie three up on Maria Hjorth. It is the only the second time that an away team has come out on top - the first was when the United States won at St Pierre in Wales in 1996.
Cricket: South Africa beat England by 19 runs in the Twenty20 World Cup Group E match in Cape Town yesterday. Scores: South Africa 154/8; England 135-7.
Basketball: Final - Spain vs Russia 59-60; Third place play-off - Greece vs Lithuania 69-78; Fifth place play-off - Croatia vs Germany 71-80; Seventh place play-off - France vs Slovenia 74-88.
England officials confirmed yesterday that centre Jamie Noon's World Cup was over.
Noon was carried off on a stretcher in the last minute of Friday's 36-0 defeat by South Africa and a scan revealed medial ligament damage in his left knee.
There was no news on whether Jonny Wilkinson (ankle) or Olly Barkley (hip flexor) would be fit for the game against Samoa on Saturday though Wilkinson has been training in the last few days and is expected to make it for his first appearance of the tournament.