Sporting briefs

Cole: Joe Cole denied he has a rift with Luiz Felipe Scolari, the Chelsea manager. Reports suggested Cole was not seeing eye-to-eye with Scolari after being constantly substituted by the Brazilian. "I'm at a loss as to where people get this rubbish from," Cole said. "Personally, I think the manager is great and I don't have a problem with him whatsoever. In fact, I would go as far as to say I would walk through walls for him."

Mutu: Fiorentina forward Adrian Mutu will be sidelined for four weeks after dislocating his elbow for the second time. The Romanian already spent time nursing injury to his left elbow earlier this season. He was stretchered off in evident agony during yesterday's 2-1 home defeat to Lecce after accidentally colliding with goalkeeper Francesco Benussi.

Rossi: Delio Rossi is likely to extend his stay with Lazio after his contract comes to a close at the end of the season. "I have never thought that my contract renewal was a problem, nor have I chased long-term deals in my career," Rossi said. "My focus is on getting my kind of football. If I can do that here, then great, if not then I'll go elsewhere. My contract is set to expire, but I really think I can stay here another 20 years."

Takahara: Urawa Reds striker Naohiro Takahara could be thrown a World Cup lifeline by Japan coach Takeshi Okada following the player's dismal run of form in 2008. The former Hamburg forward has scored 23 goals in 57 appearances for Japan but has been overlooked since last May when Okada told him he was not fit enough. With Japan playing Australia at home in a 2010 World Cup qualifier on Feb. 11, Okada could bring Takahara back to give his side more muscle against the more physical Socceroos.

Culina: Australia midfielder Jason Culina will quit Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven when his current contract expires at the end of the season to captain the newly formed A-League franchise Gold Coast. Culina, 28, who has played for PSV since 2005, said he had rejected a three-year extension to his contract and had also turned down an offer to play for Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb.

Basketball: The Charlotte Bobcats staged a fourth-quarter rally to overhaul the Washington Wizards before holding on for a 92-89 road win last weekend. Raja Bell scored 19 points and Boris Diaw added 18 as the Bobcats won for the first time in three games in a match-up between the two weakest teams in the Eastern Conference. Washington are rooted to the bottom of the Southeast Division with the second worst record (7-29) in the NBA.

Cricket: Former Australia all-rounder Darren Lehmann, 38, has joined the list of potential candidates to take over as England coach. Lehmann said he had not yet discussed his availability with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) but was interested in the position after it became available following the sacking of Peter Moores.

Tennis: Bulgarian Sesil Karatantcheva will take Kazakh citizenship to compete for the former Soviet republic for the next three years. The 19-year-old Karatantcheva returned to the court a year ago after serving a two-year doping ban but struggled to regain form. In 2005, she reached the French Open quarter-finals and was ranked inside the world's top 40.