Soccer Shorts: Former France playmaker Zinedine Zidane, sent off in the World Cup final in Berlin, was named on a 30-man shortlist yesterday for Fifa's World Player of the Year award. Zidane retired from soccer after France lost to Italy in the final on July 9th, his career seemingly ending in disgrace following his head-butt on defender Marco Materazzi 10 minutes before the end of extra time.
Fifa World Player of the Year shortlist: Adriano (Inter Milan, Brazil), Michael Ballack (Chelsea, Germany), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus, Italy), Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid, Italy), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Portugal), Petr Cech (Chelsea, Czech Republic), Deco (Barcelona, Portugal), Didier Drogba (Chelsea, Ivory Coast), Michael Essien (Chelsea, Ghana), Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona, Cameroon), Luis Figo (Inter Milan, Portugal), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan, Italy), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool, England), Thierry Henry (Arsenal, France), Kaka (AC Milan, Brazil), Miroslav Klose (Werder Bremen, Germany), Philippe Lahm (Bayern Munich, Germany), Frank Lampard (Chelsea, England), Jens Lehmann (Arsenal, Germany), Alessandro Nesta (AC Milan, Italy), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan, Italy), Franck Ribery (Marseille, France), Juan Roman Riquelme (Villarreal, Argentina), Ronaldinho (Barcelona, Brazil), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United, England), Tomas Rosicky (Arsenal, Czech Republic), Andriy Shevchenko (Chelsea, Ukraine), Lilian Thuram (Barcelona, France), Patrick Vieira (Inter Milan, France), Zinedine Zidane (retired, France)
Takeover talk continues
Icelandic Football Association president Eggert Magnusson confirmed his interest in a takeover at West Ham and swiftly backed Alan Pardew to steer his team clear of the relegation zone.
However, Magnusson accepted that the continuing speculation surrounding the club's ownership was doing manager Pardew and his players few favours.
The businessman is preparing what is thought to be a £75 million bid. The 59-year-old may well face competition from a consortium led by Kia Joorabchian, who orchestrated the transfers of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano from Corinthians to Upton Park.
Petrov quits
Bulgaria captain Stilian Petrov quit international soccer yesterday, saying he did not want to play under national coach Hristo Stoichkov. "I don't want to play under the guidance of Hristo Stoichkov," the Aston Villa midfielder said in a statement. "My decision comes as a result of many events since Stoichkov took over."
Earlier, Stoichkov said there had been no row between the two men. "There's no conflict between me and Stilian," said Stoichkov after returning from Wednesday's 1-0 win over Luxembourg in a Euro 2008 Group G qualifier.
"He is a very important figure in our squad, he's our captain and will remain our captain while I'm the coach."
Bond for Bournemouth
Former Newcastle assistant boss Kevin Bond, who was fired by the Magpies last month in the fall-out from the Panorama programme on alleged corruption, has been appointed manager of League One side Bournemouth.
The 49-year-old, who made over 100 appearances for the Cherries as a player, replaces Sean O'Driscoll after he quit to take over at Doncaster four weeks ago. Bond, who was Harry Redknapp's number two at Portsmouth during the time of the Panorama investigation, joined Newcastle in July but had his contract terminated after the BBC programme recorded him allegedly saying he would consider discussing payments from an agent. Bond has strenuously denied any wrongdoing and announced he will take legal action.
West Brom eye Mowbray
Hibernian have given West Brom permission to talk to Tony Mowbray about the vacant position at the Championship club at the manager's request. The Edinburgh club reluctantly agreed with Mowbray's request and last night agreed a compensation deal with the Baggies, leaving the path clear for the former Ipswich coach to return to England.
Coach steps down
Slovakia national coach Dusan Galis stepped down yesterday after a crushing 4-1 defeat by Germany in Ireland's group in the European Championships. Slovakia went into Wednesday's match buoyed by a 5-1 drubbing of Wales on Saturday and looking to repeat a 2-0 win from their last encounter a year ago. However, they were outclassed in a match marred by crowd trouble as German fans battled Slovak police.
"It is not an abdication neither a notice, but a joint agreement (on his stepping down)," Frantisek Laurinec, president of Slovak Soccer Federation (SFZ), said in a statement.
The statement made no further comment on the reason for the resignation, and Galis was not immediately contactable. Laurinec also said the SFZ will discuss a replacement for Galis in the coming days. Slovakia's Euro 2008 qualifying campaign resumes next March.
Galis (56) led Slovan Bratislava to three Slovak league titles in the mid-1990s.
Racism claim
The Germany Under-21 players accused of racial abuse towards England's Anton Ferdinand and Micah Richards will discover next month if they face punishment from Uefa.
Uefa have received a complaint from the Football Association following the European Championship play-off second leg in Leverkusen, although reports from the referee and match delegate did not include claims of racism.
The issue, among others, will now be discussed at the next Uefa control and disciplinary board meeting, which is scheduled for November 9th.
Ferdinand and Richards alleged they were called "monkeys" by opposition players during the second half at the BayArena, with anti-racism campaigners calling for a ban for the Germany Under-21 team in a future tournament.
The accusations overshadowed England's 2-0 win in the second leg of their qualification play-off which sends them through to the finals in Holland next year.
