Bagayoko: Malian striker Mamadou Bagayoko has gone on a week’s trial with strugglers Wolves, the coach of his club Nice said. The 31-year-old has only appeared for 28 minutes for the French First Division side this season as he was initially injured and then suspended.
Pinola: Javier Pinola said his spitting attack on Bayern Munich’s Bastian Schweinsteiger was the biggest mistake of his career as the defender serves his four-match ban. The 27-year-old Pinola spat at Schweinsteiger during the first-half of Nuremberg’s 3-0 defeat in Munich on November 14. “I felt bad, it was stupid,” Pinola said. “It was a really bad thing to do... the biggest mistake of my career.”
Mesto: Giandomenico Mesto will not be leaving Genoa for Lyon, his agent was reported as saying. Lyon have been associated with the midfielder ever since coach Gian Piero Gasperini was sacked but agent Moreno Roggi said: “I can honestly say that there is nothing with Lyon.”
Elmander: Bolton chairman Phil Gartside will open contract talks with much-improved Swedish striker Johan Elmander today. Elmander is currently the Premier League’s second top goalscorer with eight, a tally which equals his total for his first two seasons in English football following a £10m move from Toulouse.
Meier: The future of Cologne’s under-fire general manager Michael Meier will be up for discussion at an emergency board meeting today, according to reports. Meier has been made the scapegoat by the fans for the club’s current woes and, although he survived the AGM last week with a vote of confidence, behind the scenes, work is in progress to oust him.
Fabiano: Sevilla striker Luis Fabiano has been ruled out for three weeks with a muscular injury. The Brazil international had to be substituted during Sunday’s clash with Mallorca and the club have confirmed he has injured his right thigh muscle following scans yesterday.
Suarez: Ajax captain Luis Suarez has accepted his two-match ban imposed by the club and admits he has set a bad example. Suarez was caught on camera biting PSV Eindhoven’s Otman Bakkal during Saturday’s goalless draw in the Eredivisie. “I accept my punishment. I was wrong. My reaction does not do Ajax’s image any good,” he said.
Rugby Union: England will face Wales and Ireland in a series of three warm-up matches in August 2011 ahead of next year’s World Cup. Martin Johnson’s men will take on Wales at Twickenham on August 6 before heading to the Millennium Stadium for a return fixture on August 13. They are then away to Ireland at Lansdowne Road on August 27 before departing for the World Cup in New Zealand the following week.
Davis Cup: France captain Guy Forget named a five-man squad for the Davis Cup final against Serbia in Belgrade from Dec. 3-5 spearheaded by their top ranking player Gael Monfils. In the absence through injury of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Monfils will be expected to lead the challenge in the singles against the Serbs who will look to Novak Djokovic to bring them two points. France will be out to win the Davis Cup for the 10th time, while Serbia will play for the first time in the final of the tournament.
Tennis: Slovakia’s former French Open semi-finalist Dominik Hrbaty announced his retirement from the sport citing the reason as being his wife was due to give birth in December. The 32-year-old – who reached the 1999 French Open semi-finals and also reached three Grand Slam quarter-finals – made the announcement at an exhibition tournament he played in along with the already retired former world number one Thomas Muster, of Austria, and Russian glamour girl Anna Kournikova.
Basket, NBA: Argentina’s Manu Ginobili scored 25 points and Frenchman Tony Parker added 24 and 10 assists to help San Antonio Spurs beat Orlando Magic 106-97 on Monday for their 11th victory in a row. The Spurs, off to their best start in club history at an NBA-best 12-1, stretched their longest win streak in almost three years while dropping the Magic, who had the best Eastern Conference record, to 9-4.