DUBLIN: Argentina will be desperate to take out their World Cup anger on the Republic of Ireland in Wednesday`s friendly in Dublin, according to Giovanni Trapattoni.Trapattoni`s Ireland will provide the opposition for Argentina`s first game since their shock 4-0 quarter-final defeat

TORONTO: Roger Federer celebrated his 29th birthday this week but the cagey Swiss said he was not too old to learn a few new tricks as he launched his North American hardcourt campaign with coach Paul Annacone at his side.The 16-time grand slam winner came to the Toronto Masters with his

SYDNEY: Australia`s star midfielder Tim Cahill has pulled out of this week`s friendly with Slovenia due to injury, team officials said on Tuesday.Everton`s Cahill and JEF United defender Mark Milligan did not travel to Slovenia with the rest of the squad and will not be replaced, the

CINCINNATI: Former world number one Ana Ivanovic showed flashes of the form that took her to the pinnacle of tennis as she upset ninth seed Victoria Azarenka 2-6 7-6 6-2 in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters on Monday.Serb Ivanovic, a first-round casualty at San Diego last week,

BIRMINGHAM: Pakistan captain Salman Butt indicated Mohammad Yousuf would be called upon during the remainder of their series against England after a heavy second Test defeat here at Edgbaston.England won by nine wickets on the fourth day here on Monday to go an unbeatable 2-0 up in this

BIRMINGHAM: England may have beaten Pakistan by nine wickets to win the second Test with more than a day to spare but home captain Andrew Strauss insisted the result didn`t tell the story of the match.Pakistan were bowled out for 72 -- their lowest total against England -- in the first

MANCHESTER: Manchester City`s new signing Yaya Toure has defended his move to the Premier League club from Barcelona amid claims he is more interested in money than football.The Ivory Coast midfielder moved to City in a 24 million pound (28 million euro) move that will see him become the

PARIS: Bayern Munich will not release France forward Franck Ribery for a disciplinary hearing by the French Football Federation to probe his alleged role in the team`s World Cup revolt, the German champions said on Monday.Ribery is one of five France players summoned by the FFF. The

WATFORD: England manager Fabio Capello admitted Monday that he was struggling to find a way of rebuilding his players confidence after their disappointing early exit at the World Cup finals in South Africa.He also made a public apology to the fans for England`s poor performances which

SAN DIEGO: Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova squndered four match points before outlasting Polish fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 6-7 (7/9), 6-3 on Sunday to win the WTA San Diego Open."This just made me stronger. It didn`t kill me," Kuznetsova said. "I didn`t kill myself in the third

AKRON: Tiger Woods struggled to the worst 72-hole performance of his career on Sunday, finishing an astonishing 30 strokes behind winner Hunter Mahan at the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational.Woods claimed he was not injured and hinted his final-round seven-over par 77 and

DAMBULLA: Mahendra Singh Dhoni`s India go into a triangular series in Dambulla on Tuesday keen to extend their impressive run in the one-day game in Sri Lanka.India, who clash with New Zealand in the opening day-night match, have won two bilateral series, a tri-series and the Asia Cup in

BIRMINGHAM: England`s Stuart Broad has been fined 50 percent of his match fee for throwing the ball at Zulqarnain Haider during the ongoing second Test against Pakistan, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced Monday.Broad petulantly hurled the ball at Test debutant Zulqarnain,

BEIJING: Barcelona`s reserves, bolstered by lengthy cameos from Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, rounded out their controversial Asian tour by beating Chinese champions Beijing Guoan 3-0 at the Bird`s Nest on Sunday.The Spanish champions have agreed to pay the South Korean promoters

LONDON: Manchester United dominated a stuttering Chelsea to score a deserved 3-1 victory over last season`s Premier League and FA Cup Double winners in an entertaining Community Shield match at Wembley on Sunday.Goals from Antonio Valencia after 41 minutes and Javier Hernandez`s first for

BIRMINGHAM: England were set a target of 118 to win the second Test after bowling out Pakistan for 296 in the tourists` second innings on the fourth day at Edgbaston here on Monday.Pakistan saw their innings last for just 11 more balls on Monday after they resumed on their overnight score

BERLIN: Bayern Munich`s Dutch star winger Arjen Robben was named footballer of the 2009/10 Bundesliga season by sporting magazine Kicker on Sunday.The 26-year-old - who is due to miss the next two months owing to a thigh muscle injury which has provoked a major row between his club and

London: Pakistan fast bowler Umar Gul is likely to miss the rest of the test series against England after sustaining a torn hamstring in the second test at Edgbaston on Saturday."Umar has gone to hospital for an MRI and we will know later today how long he will be out for but he will not

CARLSBAD: Two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova beat fifth-seeded Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 6-0 Saturday to reach the final of the 700,000-dollar San Diego Open final, her first WTA final since October.Unseeded after falling to number 21 in the world, Kuznetsova displayed her

TORONTO: World number one Rafael Nadal will make his first tournament start since lifting the Wimbledon title, leading the field at the Toronto Masters as the ATP starts the concluding sprint to the US Open.Nadal will be coming down from another sporting high after travelling to