Ballack: Germany captain Michael Ballack refuted a British newspaper report yesterday that he has signed a four-year deal worth 25 million pounds to join Chelsea next season. The Bayern Munich midfielder, in Florence for Germany's World Cup warm-up against Italy today, issued a statement through German FA spokesman Harald Stenger saying: "I have not signed anything and I was also not in London." Earlier yesterday Ballack's agent Michael Becker had also denied the claim that the player had signed a deal that would make him the world's highest-paid player.
Lampard: England midfielder Frank Lampard will miss today's friendly against Uruguay after suffering a hamstring injury. The Chelsea midfielder's place in the team will go to Tottenham Hotspur's Michael Carrick, manager Sven-Goran Eriksson confirmed.
Neville: Captain Gary Neville will consider the latter part of his career a failure if Manchester United fail to win another league title before he retires. "I would be seriously disappointed if we weren't to add more league medals to our collections," Neville said. "I'd feel that I'd not quite achieved everything I want to in my career. If I stay here for three, four or five more years and United don't win more leagues then I'd definitely have to say that the end of my career was a failure. The club has got to win trophies."
Cech: Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech has been named Czech Footballer of the Year for the first time in his career. The 23 year old helped Chelsea to their first league title in 50 years while establishing a string of Premier League records - 1,025 minutes without a goal and 24 clean sheets - last season. Cech beat Borussia Dortmund playmaker Tomas Rosicky for the award.
In France: Sunday's Ligue 1 match between arch-rivals Paris St Germain and Olympique Marseille has been brought forward four hours for security reasons, the French league said. The game was to take place at 2000 GMT at the Parc des Princes stadium. "This decision was taken for security reasons. It will help security forces in their job inside and outside the Parc des Princes," Olympique Marseille said on their website.
Popescu: Former Romania captain Gheorghe Popescu, involved in an illegal transfer in 2003, has paid his tax debt but may still be investigated for tax evasion, Romanian tax authorities said yesterday. The Romanian Football Federation (FRF) fined Popescu $40,000 last week for his involvement in the transfer of Romanian striker Florin Bratu from Rapid Bucharest to Turkish club Galatasaray.
In England: League One - Bournemouth vs Barnsley 1-1; Doncaster vs Brentford 0-0; Port Vale vs Scunthorpe 1-2. League Two - Leyton Orient vs Barnet 0-0; Rochdale vs Bury 1-1.
International Friendlies: Azerbaijan vs Ukraine 0-0; Cyprus vs Slovenia 0-1; Romania vs Armenia 2-0; Greece vs Belarus 1-0; Iceland vs Trinidad & Tobago 0-2.
Under 21 Friendlies: Israel vs Ukraine 0-1; Spain vs Poland 0-1; Wales vs N. Ireland 0-1; Portugal vs Italy 0-1; England vs Norway 3-1; Germany vs Latvia 1-2; France vs Slovakia 2-1.