Unbeaten record ended: Angola lost their unbeaten record in the group stages of their World Cup qualifying campaign as Zimbabwe beat them 2-0 in Harare yesterday. The result also meant Nigeria consolidated a two-point lead over Angola at the top of the African zone Group Four standings after their 2-0 home win over Gabon on Saturday. Zimbabwe had to wait until the hour mark before breaking the deadlock through substitute Shingarai Kawondera. A second goal followed nine minutes later from AJ Auxerre striker Benjani Mwaruwari - his first for the national team since mid-2001.

Marlet: France coach Raymond Domenech yesterday called up Olympique Marseille striker Steve Marlet to replace injured Sidney Govou for Wednesday's World Cup Group qualifier against Israel. It is the first time the 31-year-old Marlet has been picked by Domenech, who took over the team after last year's European championship. Striker Thierry Henry is still nursing the calf strain that kept him of Saturday's goalless home draw with Switzerland and remains doubtful for the match in Tel Aviv, Domenech said.

Romania: Romania striker Adrian Ilie and midfielder Mihaita Plesan are injured and will miss this Wednesday's World Cup qualifier against Macedonia in Skopje. Romania lost their home qualifier against Group One leaders Netherlands 2-0 on Saturday to fall to third in the table, three points behind the Dutch and two behind the Czech Republic. "Ilie has a right leg muscle strain while Plesan injured his shoulder during the match against Netherlands," Romania team spokesman Paul Zaharia told Reuters. Zaharia said Romania coach Victor Piturca would not be replacing the injured players in his squad.

Pearce Ultimatum: Stuart Pearce has revealed he will quit Manchester City in the summer, if he is not asked to stay on as the club's manager. The former England international has taken over the reigns at Eastlands until the end of the season following Kevin Keegan's exit. "No - I would leave," said Pearce when asked if he would stay at City without being their manager. "It wouldn't put me in a difficult situation at all. I would have been the manager of this club and if world-case scenario happened that I would walk away. Absolutely."

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