Heynckes: Jupp Heynckes, one of the names linked to take over at Bayern Munich, yesterday delayed contract extension negotiations with Bayer Leverkusen. With Bayern’s current coach Louis van Gaal set to part company with Bayern at the end of the season, the 65-year-old Heynckes is one of the coaches tipped to take over the Bavarian giants.
Forlan: Terek Grozny, the small but ambitious side from Russia’s war-torn Chechnya, is eyeing Atletico Madrid’s Diego Forlan and has put together a tempting offer for the Uruguayan, reports said yesterday. Terek, coached by Ruud Gullit, would give the World Cup star €7.5 million per year over the next two seasons, rising to €10 million depending on goals scored and if the club qualifies for European football.
Torino: Once-mighty Torino sacked coach Franco Lerda and replaced him with Giuseppe Papa-dopulo, yesterday. Torino’s defeat to Vicenza this week was the final straw and prompted club supremo Urbano Cairo to take action. The Maroons currently lie seventh in Serie B. Lerda is the 11th coach to be dismissed in the Serie B this season.
Wright-Phillips: Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips could come into contention for the Europa League match against Dynamo Kiev in Ukraine today after a back injury. Wright-Phillips is on the mend after being forced to miss the last two games because of the problem.
Robben: Arjen Robben has been named in Holland coach Bert van Marwijk’s provisional squad for the upcoming European qualifier against Hungary. It is the first time Robben has made a squad since he was injured playing for the Dutch at the World Cup, where they reached the final but lost to Spain.
Palermo: Darko Milanic, the coach of Slovenia top-flight leaders Maribor, is being mentioned among the contenders for the Palermo job next season. Serse Cosmi is in charge of the team after the sacking of Delio Rossi last month following the 7-0 drubbing to Udinese. Milanic speaks fluent Italian and is a former captain of crack Serb side Partizan Belgrade.
Premier League: Everton 1 (Heitinga 35) Birmingham City 1 (Beausejour 17).
Basket, NBA: Denver Nuggets coach George Karl, who a year ago was fighting cancer, has signed a three-year contract extension with the NBA club. The 59-year-old veteran of 23 seasons has a 1,023-698 career record despite missing the final two months of the 2009-10 campaign. Karl returned this season and became the seventh coach in history to surpass 1,000 wins, having guided the Nuggets to fifth in the Western Conference at 37-27 so far this season.
Cricket: England applied to have Chris Tremlett replace fellow fast bowler Stuart Broad who was ruled out of the rest of the World Cup with a side strain. Tremlett has been with the squad throughout the competition as a stand-by player. Broad left Chittagong for home yesterday with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirming their application to the ICC’s event technical committee for Tremlett to come in as a seam-bowling reinforcement.
Beach Volleyball: Kerri Walsh and Misty May Treanor, the two-time defending Olympic women’s beach volleyball champions, will try to add to their golden haul by reuniting for a run at the 2012 London Olympics. The Americans told reporters that they will play together in qualifying events in hopes of following up their triumphs at the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Sports Partnership: Lance Armstrong’s anti-cancer foundation Livestrong has signed a naming rights deal for the new $200m stadium of Major League Soccer’s Sporting Kansas City. The foundation will pay no money for its six-year branding of 18,500-seat Livestrong Sporting Park, which both groups hope will help Armstrong raise money. Livestrong will receive a portion of all stadium revenue, including ticket sales and concessions for concerts as well as matches.