Zanetti: Inter midfielder Cristiano Zanetti is expected to be out of action for a month after tearing the adductor muscle in his left thigh, the Italian club said on its website yesterday. Zanetti, who suffered the injury during his side's 1-0 win over Chievo in midweek, is likely to miss Serie A matches against Fiorentina, Juventus and Livorno as well as a Champions League fixture against Porto. He should be fit to return for Inter's away trip to Serie A rivals Udinese on October 23.
Mind Games: Rangers manager Alex McLeish played mind games with Scottish Premier League leaders Hearts by suggesting they will be wondering when to expect their first taste of defeat. The champions face Hearts at Tynecastle today desperate to cut an eight-point gap at the top of the table. "When you go on a run as Hearts have then you start to think, 'When will we drop a point, will we drop it this weekend?'", McLeish said. "It's human frailties that you start to get a couple of wee doubts and we hope we can put the doubts into their heads tomorrow for the next part of the campaign."
Barcelona: Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard has left leading players Ronaldinho and Deco out of the squad to play Real Betis today, choosing to rest them before next week's Champions League match against Udinese. Rijkaard decided to take the gamble despite his side's mediocre form which has brought them just one win in their opening four league games. Defender Rafael Marquez is ruled out through injury. Deco's absence clears the way for Dutch midfielder Mark van Bommel to make his first start of the season, and Andres Iniesta or Henrik Larsson are likely to replace Ronaldinho.
Henry: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes Thierry Henry will stay at the Premier League club and dismissed reports that his France striker was heading for Barcelona as "fantasy". Henry, who faces six weeks out with a groin injury, had been linked with a move to the Catalan club at a time when Arsenal are planning to discuss a contract extension with him. "We want Thierry to be here," Wenger said. "We are very ambitious, We want to win the European Cup, like Barcelona and Juventus do. Our desire and motivation to keep Thierry here is 100 percent strong."
Switzerland: Switzerland coach Koebi Kuhn is set to lead his team all the way to the Euro 2008 finals after signing a two-year extension to his contract. "It is a great sign that shows how much trust the football association has in me and the whole crew," Kuhn said. The 61-year-old trainer helped steer Switzerland to their second European Championship finals in 2004 and has also steered his team to the top of their qualifying group for next year's World Cup finals - with two matches against France and Ireland remaining.
Poborsky: Czech midfielder Karel Poborsky will join second division Ceske Budejovice on loan after being kicked out of Sparta Prague's squad. The 33-year-old remains a Sparta player without any changes to his contract but will join Budejovice for three months. Poborsky is a co-owner of Budejovice, which was his first club. He stepped down as Sparta team captain on Wednesday and was thrown out of the squad after criticising coach Jaroslav Hrebik, who had put him on the bench for the last two league games.
Podolski: Cologne have offered Germany striker Lukas Podolski a five-year contract worth 2.0 million euros a years, a Cologne. Podolski, who scored three goals for Germany in their 4-2 win in a friendly against South Africa two weeks ago, has been pursued by Bayern Munich but the 20-year-old has said he wants to stay in Cologne.