Italy: Italy have called up Udinese's Vincenzo Iaquinta to replace injured striker Alberto Gilardino in the squad for Saturday's World Cup qualifier in Norway. Gilardino's bicycle kick is his specialty and an equaliser for Parma on the final day of the Serie A season against Lecce was one of several spectacular goals he has scored this term.
West Ham: West Ham won promotion to the English Premier League by beating Preston North End 1-0 in the second division playoff final yesterday. Striker Bobby Zamora got the winner for the east London side from Matthew Etherington's left wing cross 12 minutes into the second half with his 13th goal of the season. West Ham, who lost the playoff final to Crystal Palace at the Millennium Stadium last year, return to the top flight of English football two years after being relegated. Consultants Deloitte said the match was worth £35 million to the winners.
Feher: Portuguese champions Benfica have fulfilled their promise to take a winners' medal to the grave of Hungarian international Miklos Feher, who died in January 2004 during a league game at Guimaraes. "He was a member of Benfica's family when he tragically died last year," the club's president Luis Filipe Vieira said at the graveside yesterday. "We promised by his grave that we would win the championship for him, we fulfilled that and brought his shirt and the gold medal here."
England: David Beckham and Michael Owen flew to New York yesterday to join up with the England squad ahead of today's friendly against Colombia. However, coach Sven-Goran Eriksson looks likely to be without Sol Campbell and new hero Kieran Richardson, who both picked up injuries in Saturday's 2-1 win over the US in Chicago. Today striker Peter Crouch will make his debut after proving his fitness in training.
Russian bonus: Russia's team will get a near triple increase in bonus payments if they qualify for next year's World Cup finals. The Russians, however, must show much better form if they are to lay their hands on the money. Vitaly Mutko, newly-appointed president of the Russian FA, said the players would get $3 million instead of the original $1.2 million bonus for reaching the 32-team tournament in Germany. The Russians have an uphill battle to qualify as they trail European Group Three leaders Portugal and Slovakia by three points midway through the qualifying campaign.
¤ Racing Genk came back from a two-goal deficit in the first leg to beat Standard Liege in the playoff for Belgium's final European spot on Sunday. Trailing 3-1 from Thursday's first leg, Genk outclassed their opponents to win 3-0 at home and 4-3 on aggregate to earn a place in next season's UEFA Cup.