MORE than a thousand Holland fans had to watch the match against the Ivory Coast in their underwear after being forced to remove orange lederhosen that had been supplied to them by a Dutch beer-makers.

Italy coach Marcello Lippi will not belittle the threat posed by the United States when the teams meet today in Kaiserslautern.

WE were motoring nicely, six teams down in three days in our happy experiment to see all 32 nations and then... yesterday.

TIM CAHILL scored twice in the last six minutes and John Aloisi added a third in injury time as Australia made a winning return to the World Cup finals with a dramatic victory over Japan.

TODAY, I’m quite sure, I’ll have to flirt with World Cup ticket touts, but yesterday I got lucky. Well, at least an Australian called Al did. Let me explain.

Tim Cahill scored twice in the last six minutes and John Aloisi added a third in injury time as Australia made a winning return to the World Cup finals with a 3-1 victory over Japan.

Japan coach Zico continues to sweat over the fitness of right wing-back Akira Kaji as the clock ticks down to his side’s World Cup opener against Australia.

Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer will miss Middlesbrough’s bid for European glory after undergoing surgery to repair his fractured cheekbone.

Liverpool’s Jerzy Dudek is among four goalkeepers named in Poland coach Pawel Janas’ 30-man squad for the March 1 friendly against the United States due to be played at Kaiserslautern’s Fritz Walter stadium.

FRANZ BECKENBAUER, president of the World Cup 2006 organising committee, has hit back at a report which claims some of the venues for this summer’s tournament are not up to scratch.

Franz Beckenbauer, president of the World Cup 2006 organising committee, has hit back at a report which claims some of the venues for this summer’s tournament are not up to scratch.

US forces stationed in Europe will increasingly shift their stance towards Africa and the former communist eastern bloc countries as they move to a more agile force countering post-Cold War threats such as terrorism, Nato’s top European commander says.

A British coach which overturned in southern Germany yesterday, killing a woman, had "balding tyres", according to German police.

Former World Cup winner Youri Djorkaeff has rejected Bolton’s offer of a new 12-month contract.

Former World Cup winner Youri Djorkaeff has rejected Bolton's offer of a new 12-month contract.

Bolton manager Sam Allardyce expects Youri Djorkaeff to walk away from the game when he quits playing.