England win: Michael Owen grabbed a hat-trick as England completed their two-match tour of the US with a 3-2 victory over Colombia in a friendly late last night. Real Madrid striker Owen took his international goal tally to 32 with strikes in the 36th, 44th and 58th minutes. Colombia replied with a first-half header from Mario Yepes and a left-foot shot by Ramirez in the 78th minute. England began the tour with a 2-1 win over the US in Chicago on Saturday.
Nesta: Milan defender Alessandro Nesta has pulled out of the Italy squad to face Norway in a World Cup qualifier on Saturday due to family reasons. The Italian Football Federation said coach Marcello Lippi had not decided whether to call a replacement into his squad. In Nesta's absence Lippi is likely to turn to Fabio Cannavaro and Marco Materazzi in the centre of defence in the Group Five clash with the Norwegians.
Del Neri: Former Chievo coach Luigi Del Neri is expected to become the new coach of Sicilian side Palermo, a club spokesman said yesterday. Palermo finished sixth in Serie A and qualified for the UEFA Cup but their coach Francesco Guidolin still decided to stand down from his position. Del Neri, who took Chievo from Serie B to the upper reaches of the top flight has been out of work since leaving Roma in March.
Hamann: Dietmar Hamann was forced to pull out of Germany's squad for the Confederations Cup yesterday because of an injury to his right foot. The 31-year-old midfielder, a Champions League winner with Liverpool last week, has not played for Germany since Euro 2004. Juergen Klinsmann recalled him to the squad last month for a series of friendly matches and the Confederations Cup, which runs from June 15 to 29.
Van der Vaart: Ajax Amsterdam have agreed to transfer Dutch international midfielder Rafael van der Vaart to Hamburg SV, they said yesterday. The 22-year-old, who has played 28 times for Netherlands, made his debut for Ajax in April 2000.
Jankulovski: Milan have completed the signing of Czech Marek Jankulovski from Udinese. Milan said Jankulovski had signed a four-year contract with the beaten Champions League finalists. Jankulovski, who can operate at left back or in midfield, is Milan's second new arrival after they brought in Swiss midfielder Johann Vogel from PSV Eindhoven last week.
Guti: Real Madrid midfielder Guti believes his days at the club may be numbered after another season spent on the periphery of the team. The 28-year-old made 18 starts for Real but since the arrival of coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo during the winter break and Denmark midfielder Thomas Gravesen in the January transfer window he has spent more time on the bench.
Torino: Former Italian champions Torino, in fourth place in Serie B and unbeaten in their last 10 games, have sacked coach Ezio Rossi with only two matches of the season remaining. Torino are well-placed to make the play-offs for promotion to Serie A but have opted to put former coach Renato Zaccarelli in charge of the team for the last leg of the campaign.
Ronaldo: Brazil have agreed to release striker Ronaldo from this month's World Cup qualifiers against Paraguay and Argentina as well as the Confederations Cup in Germany later in June. Ronaldo said last week that he wanted to skip the Confederations Cup.
Friendly International: France vs Hungary 2-1.
Basket, NBA: Amare Stoudemire scored 31 points and made a crucial block on a Tim Duncan dunk attempt in the dying seconds as the Phoenix Suns staved off elimination with a 111-106 road win over the San Antonio Spurs. Despite the loss, San Antonio still lead the best-of-seven Western Conference finals series 3-1 with Game Five in Phoenix tonight.
Cricket: England batsman Graham Thorpe will win his 100th cap in the second and final test against Bangladesh which starts in Durham on Friday. England have named the same 12-man squad that beat Bangladesh by an innings and 261 runs in three days at Lord's last week.