The risk of an outbreak of dengue fever during the upcoming soccer World Cup in Brazil is serious enough to warrant a high alert in three of the 12 host cities, according to an early warning system for the disease.

Bayern Munich have ruled out the possibility of Owen Hargreaves being sold during the January transfer window.

A heel injury will keep defender Per Mertesacker out of Germany´s third-place match against Portugal.

Oleg Blokhin has resigned as coach of Ukraine.

England’s top referee Graham Poll has been disciplined for an incident which occurred at a pre-season training camp for officials.

Serbia international Ognjen Koroman has returned to Portsmouth on a season-long loan from Russian club Terek Grozny.

John Terry was today named the new captain of England.

A surge in revenues from big-spending telephone punters helped Ladbrokes overcome a dip in profits at its UK betting shops today.

Ulster centre Jonny Bell has been forced to withdraw from the Ireland squad for the World Cup.

Irish rugby was today left reeling by the tragic death of 18-year-old John McCall.

Leinster coach Matt Williams and his Ulster counterpart, Alan Solomons, have both been short-listed as possible replacements for Scotland coach Ian McGeechan.

Tottenham have signed Japanese international Kazuyuki Toda, subject to the midfielder passing a medical over the weekend.

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ENGLAND could add a Grand Slam-winning coach to their backroom team for this summer’s tour of Australia.

WORLD Cup underdogs England are ready to complete one of sport’s greatest comebacks today, with captain Phil Vickery declaring: “We thoroughly deserve our chance to be here.”

ENGLAND’S so-called World Cup celebration match at Twickenham next week will feature just five players who started the final against Australia in Sydney three weeks ago.

Charlton goalkeeper Dean Kiely and his Republic of Ireland team-mates have been filled with renewed optimism following the results in the second round of matches in World Cup Group E.