Germany: Germany's squad will enjoy a holiday at Sardinia before the start of next year's World Cup finals, team manager Oliver Bierhoff said. The tournament hosts plan a friendly match against an as yet unknown amateur side on May 16, three days after the end of the Bundesliga season and three-and-a-half weeks before Germany get the World Cup underway. After the friendly, the 23 players in coach Juergen Klinsmann's squad will travel with their families to the popular Italian island of Sardinia for a short break which will end on May 21.
Mido: Egypt striker Mido could sign a permanent deal with Tottenham Hotspur, according to club manager Martin Jol. Mido, who is halfway through an 18-month loan from Roma, has impressed Dutchman Jol during his spell with Spurs. He scored in the 3-2 win at Charlton Athletic on Saturday. "This year he promised me he would be fit, he went back to Egypt and trained very hard and came back a different person," Jol said.
Helguera: Defender Ivan Helguera, whose Real Madrid contract expires next June, is keen to sign a new deal with the club. "All I want to do is to stay at Real Madrid," the centre-back said. "At the moment I'm not thinking about leaving but I know there is always that chance. I'm 30 years old and I know the way football works. Last season it happened to Figo and it could happen to me this time round."
Guidolin: Italian Francesco Guidolin will succeed Didier Deschamps as Monaco coach. Deschamps resigned as coach of the principality club last month after a poor run of form left them 15th in Ligue 1 and out of the Champions League. Guidolin left Genoa when they were relegated to Serie C after an investigation into match-fixing at the end of last season.
Trezeguet: Coach Raymond Domenech did not consider calling up striker Nicolas Anelka to replace injured David Trezeguet for France's last two World Cup qualifiers against Switzerland and Cyprus. Trezeguet picked up a thigh injury at the weekend and Juventus said on Monday the player would have to rest for up to 10 days. "I have set up a 21-name list to avoid asking myself the question of the replacement of one of our strikers," Domenech said. "It's annoying but we will do without David Trezeguet. Luckily, we have several versatile strikers in the squad and I'm not worried about them."
Serie B - AlbinoLeffe vs Cremonese 0-0; Verona vs Bologna 3-1.