Benitez: Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is angry that his team must play an FA Cup quarter-final match against Birmingham, just two days after tomorrow's Premier League clash with Newcastle. The FA Cup is now Liverpool's last hope for silverware this season after they were knocked out of the Champions League by Benfica and falling too far behind Chelsea in the league. "In this case you have to think about both games. It is only two days and you do not have time to recuperate the players," Benitez said. "You cannot give the players just one day to recover. If you know football, you know the second day after a game is the worst day for players."
World Cup stadiums: FIFA said it agreed yesterday with South Africa's plans to host the 2010 World Cup in 10 stadiums located in nine cities. Four new stadiums will be built in Cape Town (Greenpoint Stadium), Port Elizabeth (Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium), Durban (King's Park Stadium) and Nelspruit (Mbombela Stadium). Six others in Rustenburg (Royal Bafokeng Stadium), Bloemfontein (Free State Stadium), Pretoria (Loftus Versfeld Stadium), Polokwane (Peter Mokaba Stadium) and Johannesburg (Soccer City and Ellis Park Stadiums) will be upgraded.
Matchfixing probe: The chairman of Belgium first division club La Louviere, Filippo Gaone, and the club's lawyer, Laurent Denis, have been charged in connection with allegations of match-fixing, the Belgian federal prosecutor's office said yesterday. "Gaone has been charged with falsifying documents and on two other counts of fraud while Denis has been charged in relation to fraud," the Federal Prosecutor's spokeswoman Lieve Pellens said. "A third director of the club, Chris Benoit, will be charged at a later date. He was also questioned and had his home searched."
Japan: Asian champions Japan have reacted angrily to a FIFA decision to restrict technical areas at this year's World Cup to one person at any time. "It confuses me why FIFA would made a decision like this," Japan coach Zico said. "In order to get the best out of the players I need an interpreter with me." The Brazilian communicates with Japan's players through interpreter Kunihiro Suzuki, who joins Zico whenever he enters the technical zone in front of the bench. However, FIFA have rejected a request from Japan to allow Suzuki to continue to do so.
Ghana: Ghana have cancelled a friendly in Iran at the end of the month because they do not have a full strength squad available. Ghana said they were unable to call up the majority of their first-choice squad members, who are based in Europe, because the March 29 date did not coincide with FIFA's international calendar, when clubs are forced to release players.
Real Betis: Real Betis coach Llorenc Serra Ferrer asked for forgiveness from the fans after his side's humiliating UEFA Cup exit by Steaua Bucharest on Thursday. "The fans have good reason to protest because things have not gone well for us of late," Serra Ferrer said. "I want to apologise to them for our poor run of form. Now we have to try and finish the season with as much dignity as possible."
In England: League One - Swansea vs Brentford 2-1; Tranmere vs Walsall 1-2.
Le Guen: Alex McLeish's replacement Paul Le Guen will not interfere in team matters this season, the departing Rangers manager said yesterday. McLeish, who announced last month he would leave Rangers at the end of the season, met Le Guen when the Frenchman inspected the Scottish champions' training facilities and stadium earlier this week. "Paul Le Guen won't interfere with anything that is going on between now and the end of the season or anything we are trying to achieve in the coming games," McLeish told a news conference. "I am the manager of Rangers until the end of the season and I think the players respect and recognise that." Third-placed Rangers travel to Hearts, who are one above them, tomorrow knowing a win would put them three points behind a Champions League slot.
Campions League: Moscow has submitted a bid to host the Champions League final in 2008 or 2009, Russia's soccer chief Vitaly Mutko said yesterday. "The Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov signed all the required documents and we have already submitted them to UEFA," the president of the Russian Football Union told Reuters. Mutko said the 84,000-seat Luzhniki Olympic Stadium would host the final of Europe's premier club competition if it was awarded to the Russian capital. The Stade de France in Paris will stage this year's final and the Olympic Stadium in Athens will host the 2007 showpiece.
MFA Division Three: Rabat Ajax vs Luqa 4-0; Mgarr vs Zurrieq 1-0 (abandoned after 65 minutes due to fog).