17 August 2006

Snooker As the Northern Ireland Trophy progresses, we already know the first quarter final. This promises to be a match for pride and success, between the scottish Graeme Dott and the englishman Mark Selby.

Football (Friendlies)
Venezuela 0 - 0 Honduras
Chile 1 - 2 Colombia
Peru 0 - 2 Panama

Germany Everyone was curious to see how Germany's team would play after much appreciated coach Juergen Klinsmann left the team after the World Cup. Wednesday's friendly with Sweden provided a useful first test to establish whether the Germans could reproduce the sort of performances shown last June. Those expecting Joachim Loew to struggle, were left with much to think about. Not only did his side deliver a comfortable 3-0 victory, they also went one better than they did 39 days ago in the last 16 of the World Cup in Munich. Thanks to goals from Miroslav Klose and Bernd Schneider, they were two up within just eight minutes on Wednesday. They even added a third in the second half and the Germans are hoping for a charismatic debut in the qualifiers for Euro 2008.

Liverpool transfer Liverpool have agreed a fee of around £10m (€14m) for Feyenoord's Dirk Kuyt and are expected to sign the Dutch forward on Thursday. He is currently on international duty in Dublin (where the Netherlands have won 4-0 in a friendly against Ireland) and will travel directly to Merseyside for his medical. The dutch would be the sixth major signing of the summer for Rafa Benitez.