ZURICH: World Cup champion Spain heads the latest FIFA rankings, while African champion Egypt has returned to the top 10. Spain, World Cup finalist the Netherlands and Brazil fill the top three spots. The leading nine positions were unchanged after a quiet month for European and South American teams. Egypt climbed one place to No. …

By Doug Ferguson/ AP MELBOURNE: Stuart Appleby received hardly any fanfare at the Australian Masters until he slipped on the gold jacket that a year ago belonged to Tiger Woods. He wasn’t among the five faces on promotional posters around Melbourne, nor was he invited to the gala dinner. And even though none of the others …

MELBOURNE: After his best finish of the year that looked close only on paper, Tiger Woods went from shaking his head to chuckling before he even heard the rest of the question. After spending a full year out of contention, will he have to teach himself how to win again? “No,” Woods quickly replied, still …

PARIS: Robin Soderling of Sweden won his first Masters 1000 title Sunday by beating Gael Monfils of France 6-1, 7-6 (1) in the Paris Masters final. The fourth-seeded Swede hit a forehand volley on match point, then fell to the ground on his back to celebrate the most prestigious of his six career titles. “I …

LONDON: Top-ranked Rafael Nadal has been placed in the same group as Novak Djokovic in the draw for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London. No. 2 Roger Federer faces Paris Masters champion Robin Soderling in his group, along with home favorite Andy Murray and David Ferrer of Spain. Nadal and Djokovic are joined …

LONDON: Fabio Capello will bring the curtain down on a painful year for England by offering hope of a brighter future in Wednesday’s friendly against France at Wembley. Capello ends 2010 with his previously unblemished reputation significantly tarnished by England’s abject failure at the World Cup. The Italian appeared completely devoid of ideas as England …

DOHA: Looking to put their World Cup blues behind them, Brazil and bitter South American rival Argentina play an eagerly anticipated friendly in the Gulf which also heralds the return of playmaker Ronaldinho in a yellow shirt. Wednesday’s match will be a key test for Brazil coach Mano Menezes and Argentina’s Sergio Batista as they …

CAIRO: Promising midfielder Shehab Ahmed will miss Ahly’s crunch tie against Ismaili after spraining his ankle few minutes after scoring the equalizer in the 1-1 draw at Gouna earlier this week. Shehab said he faces up to three weeks on the sidelines to mount the problems of Ahly’s under-pressure coach Hossam Al-Badri. "I suffered from …

CAIRO: Zamalek left-back Mohamed Abdul-Shafi, criticized for a string of lackluster displays, is relieved to have earned a call up to Egypt’s squad for next week’s friendly against Australia. The 25-year-old was named in the Pharaohs’ roster for Wednesday’s international friendly despite failing to shine in Zamalek’s few past Egyptian Premier League games. He we …

CAIRO: Zamalek coach Hossam Hassan asked Egypt manager Hassan Shehata to drop Shikabala for next week’s friendly game against Australia. The 24-year-old wizard was replaced in the second half of Zamalek’s 3-2 Egyptian Premier League victory over Ismaili last Wednesday after picking up a back injury. He was still included in Egypt’s squad for the …

MELBOURNE: Tiger Woods is in the same spot Down Under as he’s been everywhere else in the world—trying to catch up to the leaders and on the verge of becoming an also-ran. Right when it looked as though Woods was poised to give himself a chance at winning for the first time all year, he …

PARIS: Andy Roddick, Tomas Berdych and David Ferrer claimed the last spots for the ATP World Tour Finals after Gael Monfils ended Fernando Verdasco’s hopes at the Paris Masters on Thursday. Roddick reached the quarterfinals by defeating Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 7-6 (8), putting Jurgen Melzer out of contention in the race for the year-end tournament …

LONDON: Fernando Torres’ return to form has coincided with Liverpool’s belated climb up the Premier League table and the Spain striker will be looking to score in the third match running when his team visits Stoke on Saturday. Torres has this year been a shadow of the player who starred for the Reds between 2007-09, …

By Antonio Gonzalez  / AP LAKE BUENA VISTA: Chris Stroud shot a 10-under 62 in the opening round of the Disney Classic on Thursday, surging past Rickie Fowler by four strokes and taking the clubhouse lead after play was halted because of darkness. Roland Thatcher was three shots off the pace, and four others were tied …

LAGOS: Two-time CAF Confederation Cup winners CS Sfaxien will defend a slim lead against Sudan’s Al Hilal in the second leg of their semi-final tie on Sunday. Two weeks ago, Sfaxien scraped a 1-0 win over Al Hilal in Tunisia. Sfaxien prevailed in Sfax through a 36th-minute goal by midfielder Kamel Zaiem and they will …

CAIRO: Zamalek manager Hossam Hassan has no concerns by the postponement of the Cairo derby, but hopes to face Ahly before the January transfer window. The crunch game scheduled for Nov. 26 has been postponed indefinitely following an order by the interior ministry. "Of course we cannot complain as long as it is a political …

  CAIRO: Zamalek striker Ahmed Gaafar is not worried much about his dubious goal against Ismaili despite admitting he was in an offside position.   Gaafar scored Zamalek’s second in a thrilling 3-2 win on Tuesday as the linesman kept his flag down, prompting referee Fahim Omar to allow the goal. "When I had the …

CAIRO: The Cairo derby between Ahly and Zamalek has been postponed indefinitely upon the request of the interior ministry, the Egyptian FA’s competition committee announced on Wednesday. The interior ministry asked the Egyptian FA to postpone the highly-anticipated clash, which was scheduled for Nov. 26, because it will coincide with the parliamentary elections. "The committee …

By Omar AbdelAziz / Filgoal.com CAIRO: Essam Al-Hadari has reiterated his dismay with the treatment he received at Zamalek, stressing that the Hassan twins shower players with insults when they get angry. The Egypt guardian was called to an investigation by the Cairo club after goalkeeping coach Emad Al-Mandoh accused him of swearing at him. While …

CAIRO: Zamalek interim president Galal Ibrahim defended the club’s decision to open a bank account for donations, saying Real Madrid once resorted to the same solution to tackle a financial deficit. The Cairo side have suffered a crunch since well-off businessman Mamdouh was sacked as chairman, shortly after Mortada Mansour, also a former Zamalek chief, …

CAIRO: Australia coach Holger Osieck named a 20-man squad for this month’s international friendly against in Egypt. The Socceroos roster, led by Everton star Tim Cahill, witnessed no real surprises apart from a first call-up for veteran defender Sasa Ognenovski. Ognenovski, who was nominated for the 2010 Asian Player for the Year along with Cahill, …

SYDNEY: Australian coach Hoger Osieck has named overseas-based stars Harry Kewell, Tim Cahill and Mark Schwarzer in a strong 20-man squad to play Egypt in a Nov. 17 friendly at Cairo. Osieck has also included Denmark-based goalkeeper Nathan Coe in an Australian squad for the first time since Nov. 2007, and offered the possibility of …

CAIRO: Ahly have traveled to Gouna without influential duo Mohamed Abou-Trika and Mohamed Barakat due to respective injuries. Abou-Trika played no part in the 3-2 victory over ENPPI due to a hamstring strain, while match-winner Barakat has a minor knee problem. Full-back Sayed Moawad is again ruled out with a knee problem as injury-prone Liberian …

CAIRO: Ahly have no intention of refusing to let Amir Sayoud play for Algeria’s Olympic team in two friendly games later this month, the club’s football director Hadi Khashaba said on Sunday. Reports suggested that the Egyptian champions might insist on keeping hold of Sayoud when Algeria’s Olympic team face Tunisia in two matches on …

CARIO: Zamalek chairman Galal Ibrahim said that a donation bank account could be opened this week to aid the club’s financial crisis. The interim Zamalek chief admitted last month that the club’s funds were limited to just $35,000, following the sacking of Mamdouh Abbas’ board. While businessman Abbas has been urged to keep providing his …

CAIRO: Red Bull, the energy drink company, in collaboration with the Egyptian Squash Federation is planning a promotional squash tournament, Squash Temple, which will be played inside the Luxor temple using an unprecedented game format. The tournament will feature eight of the top squash players in the world including 2009 world champion and Red Bull …

DOHA: Tennis fans in this Gulf city are used to seeing Serena and Venus Williams at the WTA Championships. Each sister has won the season-ending title, and coming into this year’s event, their images were everywhere—staring down from billboards, featured on tournament programs. Both were no-shows last week, though, because of injuries. And both will …

SAN FRANCISCO: Defending champion John Cook shot a 7-under 64 on Thursday at Harding Park to take the first-round lead in the Champions Tour’s season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship. Cook, the winner last year at Sonoma Golf Club, had a one-stroke lead over Fred Funk and Tom Pernice Jr. Tom Lehman opened with a 66, …

SHANGHAI: Francesco Molinari built an early lead Friday and then hung on for a 2-under 70 to maintain his one-shot lead over world No. 1 Lee Westwood heading into the weekend at the HSBC Champions. Westwood made a late surge, again hitting driver onto the par-4 16th green to set up a birdie and will …

LONDON: Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti says his team is driven by the prospect of making Champions League history after cruising into the last 16 with a 4-1 rout of Spartak Moscow. Two goals from Branislav Ivanovic, a superb effort from Nicolas Anelka and a Didier Drogba penalty saw the English league leaders safely into the …