Football news

Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo has recovered from a stomach upset and will return to the Manchester United squad for tomorrow's Champions League clash against Olympique Lyon. United's leading scorer missed Saturday's 4-0 rout of Arsenal in the FA Cup.

"I was thinking about resting him anyway and perhaps put him on the bench, but when we found out he wasn't well, we decided to give him a complete break," manager Alex Ferguson told reporters.

Ryan Giggs and Owen Hargreaves, both rested against Arsenal, will return for the trip to play the French champions.

Capello warns Milan... stop Cesc

England coach Fabio Capello has told former club Milan to stop Cesc Fabregas if they want to win at Arsenal in the Champions league last 16 first leg tomorrow.

"The two teams that have put them in difficulty are Tottenham and Manchester United. They pressured them and didn't let them play their game. Fabregas was stopped straight away," he told Sky.

Capello also warned Inter that although Liverpool are going through a bad patch, they will always be difficult to beat at Anfield.

Ref unaware of racial abuse

Referee Damien Ledentu says he would have stopped Saturday's Ligue 1 game between Metz and Valenciennes had he known Morocco defender Abdeslam Ouaddou had been racially abused.

Ouaddou walked towards the stands at half-time to remonstrate with a Metz spectator who had repeatedly insulted him, although he was restrained by stewards and given a yellow card. He lodged an official complaint after the match.

"At no time did he come to me to tell me what was happening," Ldentu said. "Had I been aware of the situation I would have stopped the match to assess it."

Euro hosts to face amateurs

Euro 2008 co-hosts Austria will take on amateur side SV Spittal in the build-up to the June tournament after the club and its supporters won a competition organised by the national football association.

The contest saw clubs from outside the country's top two divisions being assessed for their contributions to youth football, anti-racism and fair play programmes.

Spittal, a former top division team who now play in one of the three regional divisions directly below the two national leagues, have been guaranteed at least €10,000 in revenue from the match.

Coleman linked with Coventry

Chris Coleman is set to be unveiled as the new manager of Coventry City in the next 24 hours. Coleman, 37, has been out of work since leaving Real Sociedad last month.

Coventry sacked Iain Dowie on February 11 after chairman Ray Ranson said there was a difference of opinion over the future direction of the club.

The Sky Blues are 20th in the Championship and were thrashed 5-0 by West Brom in the FA Cup at the weekend.

Ferguson hints at Benzema move

Manchester United could sign Karim Benzema, Alex Ferguson hinted yesterday. He watched the Lyon striker, along with his team-mate winger Hatem Ben Arfa, when Lyon beat Sochaux 4-1 in Ligue 1 earlier this month.

Ferguson will get a further chance to see the French international when his side face Lyon in the Champions League tomorrow and he has done nothing to dismiss speculation of a move for the forward.

"It is an area we tried to strengthen last summer," Ferguson said.

"Benzema is only 20 and Ben Arfa is also 20. Lyon produce young players and Benzema is a local boy, which I'm sure gives them pride."

James... mental strength

David James said the rich run of form which has propelled him back into the England side can be attributed to improved mental strength.

The Portsmouth goalkeeper, 37, said he has been blighted by demons in the past but the high-profile mistakes have been eradicated and he is enjoying arguably the finest form of his career.

"I use a sports psychologist and it's improved my game tremendously," said James.

"I make use of it in the hotel before the game, in the bus to the ground and on the pitch. I work on covering every eventuality."

Cagliari sack sporting director

Cagliari have sacked sporting director Nicola Salerno as they continue to prop up the Serie A table following last weekend's 2-1 defeat against Palermo. President Massimo Cellino has already axed two coaches this season (Marco Giampaolo and Nedo Sonetti) and has now given Salerno his marching orders.

Salerno joined Cagliari at the start of last season after working for Serie C outfit Foggia.

Balotelli prefers Italy to Ghana

Inter's Mario Balotelli has turned down Ghana's advances to represent Italy. Balotelli was born in Palermo, but both his parents are Ghanaian citizens. When he turns 18 in August, the Inter striker will be able to choose to adopt Italian citizenship as he has lived his whole life in the country.

"Ghana asked Mario to accept a call-up to the national side but he declined," Balotelli's brother Corrado said.

"He just didn't want to lose the chance to play for Italy in the future."