YUGOSLAVIA: Red Star Belgrade's 20-year-old forward Vladimir Dimitrijevic died after collapsing during a training session on Monday, local media have reported.
The exact cause death is still unknown.
"Dimitrijevic just fell down during afternoon training without previously touching any other players," Belgrade daily Politika quoted Red Star's doctor Slobodan Muslin as saying.
He said members of the club's medical team rushed to try to help the player. They kept him alive with resuscitation and heart massage and he was immediately taken to Belgrade's emergency hospital, but doctors there were unable to save him. Muslin said a cerebral haemorrhage or a heart attack were the first assumptions on the cause of death, but an autopsy, to be carried out only if the family allowed, would be needed to determine exactly what killed the young player.
Dimitrijevic, born on August 30th, 1981 in the western town of Raska, had passed all medical examinations and, according to the team's doctor his tests did not show any weaknesses.
Yugoslavia manager Dejan Savicevic has included controversial Red Star striker Mihajlo Pjanovic in his 22-man squad for the final World Cup qualifier against Luxembourg in Belgrade on Saturday.
Pjanovic, who prompted his club coach Slavoljub Muslin to resign on Sunday after arranging his wedding on a match day without notifying him, could make his debut in a match Yugoslavia must win to stand any chance of clinching a play-off spot.
AUSTRIA: Nine Austrian players yesterday refused to travel to Israel to play Sunday's World Cup qualifier because of safety concerns but soccer's world governing body FIFA said it did not plan to intervene.
Players refusing to go to the European Group Seven match which will decide who makes the play-offs for next year's finals blamed the political situation in Israel and added uncertainty following the attacks on New York and Washington last month.
"In the present circumstances, we cannot justify flying to Israel to play sport," Tirol Innsbruck defender Walter Kogler told reporters. "It is far too dangerous there." The withdrawals have left team manager Otto Baric with the difficult task of finding new players for his 23-man squad for the Tel Aviv tie which will decide which team qualifies for a play-off against Turkey for the finals in Japan and South Korea.
But FIFA, which ruled on Monday the game should go-ahead after receiving security guarantees from Israel, said the affair was a matter for the Austrian federation and its players. Austria had initially asked FIFA to move the match to a neutral venue over concern for the players' safety.
PORTUGAL: Sporting Lisbon winger Ricardo Sa Pinto was withdrawn from Portugal's squad for Saturday's World Cup qualifier against Estonia because of a knee injury.
Sa Pinto suffered the injury in his right knee in Sporting's 5-0 premier league win over Vitorial Guimaraes on Sunday.
Portugal coach Antonio Oliveira said he had no plans to call up another player to reinforce his squad.
Victory in the final qualifier would almost certainly make Portugal winners of European Group Two, clinching their place in next year's World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea. They stand on the same points as the Republic of Ireland, 21, going into this weekend's matches, but have a much superior goal difference, 21, to the Republic's 14.
GERMANY: Germany coach Rudi Voeller faces an injury crisis ahead of their crunch World Cup qualifier against Finland.
Carsten Jancker is the latest player to miss Saturday's game in Gelsenkirchen after he pulled out with a foot injury yesterday. Jancker's Bayern Munich team-mates Alexander Zickler, Mehmet Scholl, Jens Jeremies and Thomas Linke were all left out of Voeller's original 20-man squad through injury.
In addition, Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann is suspended after picking up a yellow card towards the end of the 5-1 mauling by England.
Jancker's withdrawal significantly adds to Voeller's problems in attack, with Miroslav Klose already in a race to be fit.
Kaiserslautern's Klose injured his foot during Saturday's defeat to Wolfsburg, although the forward does at least seem to be responding to treatment. Captain Oliver Bierhoff is also short of match fitness, leaving Oliver Neuville and the relatively inexperienced Marco Bode as the only fully-fit strikers in the squad.
SCOTLAND: Hopes of a World Cup miracle suffered a massive injury blow yesterday after Barry Ferguson, Jackie McNamara and Dominic Matteo pulled out.
Craig Brown's side need to beat Latvia by several goals at Hampden Park on Saturday and hope Belgium beat Croatia in Zagreb on the same day to make a play-off for the finals in Japan and South Korea.
But the under-pressure boss confirmed the Rangers captain, Celtic wing back and Leeds United utility man have been ruled out through injury. His problems could get even worse with Everton defender Gary Naysmith and Hearts star Steven Pressley also struggling with knocks. But the national coach has so far resisted the temptation to draft in any more players into the squad as cover.
"From the 25 players originally picked for the squad, we have now lost three," confirmed Brown, who is already without Paul Lambert and Tom Boyd.
