Halilhodzic sacked: Struggling Paris St Germain have sacked coach Vahid Halilhodzic following a string of poor results, the club said last night. Club president Francis Graille, very close to the Bosnian-born coach, will announce the name of his replacement at a media conference today. The names of former PSG players Laurent Fournier, who currently trains the reserve team, Alain Roche and Antoine Kombouare have been cited to take over from Halilhodzic.
Keeper dies: Ljubljana goalkeeper Nedzad Botonjic collapsed and died during training late on Monday, Slovenian state agency STA reported. The 27-year-old Botonjic suffered a heart attack and died despite rapid medical attention.
Vogts: Juergen Klinsmann said he would welcome Berti Vogts into his national team set-up in time for the 2006 World Cup if a role could be found for him. German media reported yesterday that Vogts, who stepped down as Scotland coach last November, was being lined up for a scouting role on Klinsmann's national squad staff.
Brescia: Serie A strugglers Brescia have sacked their coach Gianni De Biasi, the club announced on their website yesterday. De Biasi's departure follows Brescia's 1-0 defeat at home to Udinese at the weekend, a result that left them 19th in the 20-team league with 20 points from 23 matches.
Swiss rules: Switzerland will delay naming referees until the day of major soccer games to reduce the risk of match-fixing. The move comes in the wake of the match-fixing scandal in Germany where referee Robert Hoyzer has admitted rigging several matches. The Swiss FA said that while it had no reason to doubt the trustworthiness of its referees, it would take action to safeguard against corruption.
Nedved: Juve midfielder Pavel Nedved was named Czech Footballer of the Year yesterday for the fourth time in his career. The 32-year-old former Czech captain, who won the award in 1998, 2000 and 2003, when he was also voted Euro Footballer of the Year, was outstanding last year for the national side, who made the semi-finals of Euro 2004. Nedved beat Liverpool's Milan Baros, the top scorer at Euro 2004, for the award.
Hearts: Scottish club Hearts formally withdrew from a £20 million deal to sell their Tynecastle Stadium to a house-building firm. The Edinburgh club's board made the announcement to the London Stock Exchange and it was also revealed they will pay a £75,000 penalty fee to the house-building company Cala Management. Hearts shareholders voted overwhelmingly at an extraordinary general meeting on January 10 to scrap the sale and stay at Tynecastle, which will now be re-developed.
Cyprus Tournament: Finland vs Latvia 2-1; Cyprus vs Austria 1-1.
Under-21: UEFA Championship - Albania vs Ukraine 1-1; Greece vs Denmark 0-1; Wales vs Germany 0-4; Spain vs San Marino 14-0. Friendlies - Bulgaria vs Serbia pp; Slovenia vs Poland 6-1; Portugal vs Ireland 2-0; Turkey vs Czech Rep. pp; N. Ireland vs Scotland 2-1; Italy vs Russia 2-1; France vs Sweden 1-1; England vs Holland 1-2.
In England: League One - Blackpool vs Oldham 2-0; Bradford vs MK Dons 1-4. League Two - Mansfield vs Swansea 1-0; Bury vs Shrewsbury 0-0.
Basketball: Louis Borg Cup (women) SFs, first legs - Luxol vs Depiro 44-48; Hibs vs Kerygma 112-60. Second legs - tomorrow.
¤ Spain coach Luis Ara-gones insists that he will be satisfied with nothing less than an emphatic win against San Marino in today's World Cup qualifier in Almeria. "This is going to be a game for the forwards and the more we score the better," says Aragones. "Our opponents will be out to defend in numbers and we will have to try and open up the game." So far Spain have managed just three goals in their previous three matches, but Aragones will have been heartened by the performance of first choice strikers Fernando Torres and Raul at the weekend when they grabbed doubles in their side's league victories.