South Africa defender Bongani Khumalo today claimed he was on the brink of earning a trial at Tottenham.

FRANCE coach Raymond Domenech insisted last night the decision to send Nicolas Anelka home was the correct one.

HOST nation South Africa were left facing the prospect of an early World Cup exit after slumping to defeat at the hands of a Diego Forlan-inspired Uruguay in Pretoria last night.

South Africa 0 Uruguay 3

South Africa 1 Mexico 1

South Africa 0 Mexico 0

IT WON’T be easy at first, it won’t be painless; but when South Africa and Mexico kick off the 2010 World Cup Finals at Soccer City here in Johannesburg today, you can still be sure that the colour, vibrancy and sheer excitement of Africa’s first ever finals will sweep all the way to Dublin.

South Africa’s all-time leading goalscorer Benni McCarthy was today left out of the Bafana Bafana squad for the World Cup finals.

Chelsea 1 Portsmouth 0

Chelsea 0 Portsmouth 0

THE enduring frustration for David Moyes must be that despite such a fine finish to the season, the ones that got away cost Everton an unlikely place in Europe.

Portsmouth 3 Wolves 1

Bolton 2 Portsmouth 2

Portsmouth 1 Aston Villa 2

Portsmouth manager Avram Grant handed 18-year-old academy defender Leonard Sowah his first start in this afternoon’s Premier League clash against Aston Villa at Fratton Park.

Portsmouth boss Avram Grant is without on-loan midfielder Jamie O’Hara when his Championship-bound side hosts Aston Villa at Fratton Park on Sunday afternoon.

Portsmouth boss Avram Grant looks set to be without striker Aruna Dindane for their Barclays Premier League trip to Wigan tomorrow night.

Portsmouth 3 Hull 2

Portsmouth boss Avram Grant welcomes defender Ricardo Rocha back from a two-game ban for the trip to Liverpool on Monday night.

Portsmouth will be without midfielders John Utaka and Hassan Yebda for tomorrow night’s Premier League clash with Birmingham at Fratton Park.

Portsmouth will be without the suspended Ricardo Rocha for their FA Cup quarter-final against Birmingham at Fratton Park tomorrow.

On-loan striker Frederic Piquionne is a doubt for Portsmouth’s Barclays Premier League match at Burnley tomorrow.

Portsmouth boss Avram Grant is set to welcome back Ireland international Steve Finnan for his side’s home clash with Stoke tomorrow.

Portsmouth 2 Sunderland 1

Avram Grant played down fresh speculation linking Younes Kaboul with a move away from cash-strapped Portsmouth after he played no part in the club’s FA Cup third-round replay against Coventry last night.

Coventry 1 Portsmouth 2 (after extra time)

Portsmouth must do without Jamie O’Hara for tomorrow’s FA Cup third-round replay at Coventry under the terms of his loan deal with Tottenham.

On-loan midfielder Jamie O’Hara looks set to return to the Portsmouth side for their Premier League trip to Fulham on Saturday.

Avram Grant is convinced Portsmouth still have what it takes to survive in the Barclays Premier League, despite a resounding 4-1 home defeat to Arsenal and more financial worries.

Portsmouth 1 Arsenal 4

PORTSMOUTH boss Avram Grant is not concerned about reports of the club being on the brink of administration, admitting: “I have enough problems on the pitch”.

Full-back Andy Wilkinson returned to Stoke’s starting line-up as manager Tony Pulis was forced into making a change in defence for the visit of bottom side Portsmouth.

FREDERIC PIQUIONNE provided the inspiration as Portsmouth stormed into the Carling Cup quarter-finals by demolishing Stoke at Fratton Park.

Portsmouth 4 Stoke City 0

Hull 0 Portsmouth 0

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti admitted his side have to defend better at set-pieces after they crashed to a second successive away defeat.

THERE is nothing ambiguous about Aaron Mokoena’s approach to his role as Portsmouth’s midfield enforcer and the South African was similarly forthright in the way he chose to describe Jermain Defoe’s “embarrassing” stamp that almost ruined Harry Redknapp’s return to Fratton Park.

Portsmouth 1 Tottenham 2

BRITISH Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged yesterday to contribute £1 billion (€1.081bn) every year towards educating children around the world when he was joined by sporting heroes and world leaders for the launch of a global campaign.

Everton manager David Moyes will be without nine regular squad members tomorrow when his team face BATE Borisov in the Europa League.

PAUL HART admits he will receive little of the £50 million owner Sulaiman Al Fahim is planning to inject into Portsmouth.

Portsmouth 0 Everton 1

Aston Villa 2 Portsmouth 0

IF you didn’t see the game, allow us to present a quick synopsis. South Africa enjoyed well over two-thirds of the possession, had umpteen more shots on goal than Ireland and our lads won 1-0.