ROVANIEMI, Finland: Former Formula One champion Kimi Raikkonen crashed into a drift of snow Friday in his debut on the rally circuit and trailed by more than 30 minutes after the first day of racing.
Raikkonen was just 5.5 seconds behind leader Dani Sordo after the first stage of the Arctic Lapland Rally but then went [...]

LONDON: Tottenham has decided not to rush Eidur Gudjohnsen into Saturday’s Premier League game against Birmingham.
The former Chelsea and Barcelona forward joined Spurs on loan from Monaco on Thursday and Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp said Friday he would give the Iceland international a week to settle in before he makes his debut.
Winger Aaron Lennon remains [...]

LIVERPOOL: Steven Gerrard has urged Liverpool to take advantage of some home comforts and strengthen their chances of securing a top-four finish this season, starting with today’s visit of struggling Bolton.
The encounter with Owen Coyle’s side is followed by the visit of Merseyside rivals Everton and Gerrard believes the brace of games at Anfield represent [...]

MANCHESTER: Brazil forward Robinho has a future with Manchester City after his six-month loan deal with former club Santos ends, City manager Roberto Mancini said yesterday.
The 26-year-old Robinho joined big-spending City in 2008 for a British record transfer fee of £32.5mil from Real Madrid but has struggled to hold down a first-team place.
A loan deal [...]

KUALA LUMPUR: National coach Hendrawan has only been in Malaysia for six months.
And what a testing six months they have been as the Indonesian tried to meet the high expectations of a nation clamouring for more shuttlers of calibre in the men’s singles department.
But, contrary to what others believe, the former world champion has not [...]

KUALA LUMPUR: National doubles chief coach Rexy Mainaky harboured hopes to start afresh with the men’s shuttlers after a good holiday with his family in Indonesia.
But now he has been presented with a “big headache”.
Rexy, who resumed work yesterday, certainly seemed slighted after he was kept in the dark over the appointment of Tan Kim [...]

MILAN (AP): David Beckham marked his return to AC Milan with 76 effective minutes in a 5-2 rout of Genoa, helping the club rise to second in the Serie A on Wednesday.
Loaned backed to Milan for a second straight year to stay fit for the World Cup, Beckham made up the right side of an [...]

KUALA LUMPUR: Singles shuttlers Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin and Mohd Syawal Ismail have showed determination in training since their promotion to the national team last week.
And national singles chief coach Rashid Sidek is hoping that their presence would keep the other second stringers – Tan Chun Seang, Chong Wei Feng, Liew Daren and Mohd Arif Abdul [...]

BUENOS AIRES: Argentina’s Juan Sebastian Veron (pic) turned down a personal offer from Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini to join the Premier League club, the midfielder said on Tuesday.

The 34-year-old Estudiantes captain told the radio station La Red that he was phoned by Mancini, a former team-mate of his in Italy and his coach at [...]

PRAGUE: Sparta Prague’s former Czech international midfielder Patrik Berger has announced that he is retiring because of recurrent injuries, his team coach said yesterday.
Sparta Prague coach Jozef Chovanec said that the 36-year-old had informed him of his decision on Tuesday. “Patrik told me yesterday ‘It’s over. My knee can no longer hold up’,” said Chovanev.
Berger [...]