International Roundup

Sporting says Jardel must explain absence

LISBON (Reuters) -- Brazilian striker Mario Jardel has been asked by Portuguese premier league Sporting to explain his request for a third medical absence that could sideline him from the club for a month.

Jardel, Europe's top scorer last season with 42 goals, sent Sporting a statement from a psychiatrist Thursday saying he was unable to work for about 30 days.

The medical leave is the third that Jardel, 28, has applied for in recent weeks.

In keeping with Portuguese labour law, Jardel has been notified to appear at the club's facilities next week for a medical exam accompanied by his doctor, Sporting said in a statement Friday.

"The decision was taken after the player presented another medical leave on Thursday," the club said on its Web site.

Spanish powerhouse Barcelona had issued a joint statement with Sporting on Tuesday denying that Jardel, who is seeking a fresh start after the break-up of his marriage, was set to quit Portugal for the Catalan club.

Lisbon's Record sporting newspaper Thursday quoted Jardel as saying he had received an offer to play from unidentified club. The Brazilian striker told the newspaper he had been in hospital for depression.

Last month, Jardel said he was psychologically unable to continue playing in Portugal because he was too upset over a recent separation from his wife.

Portuguese media have reported that Jardel received treatment at a clinic in the Lisbon area, but Sporting directors have denied the reports.

The striker is under contract to play two more seasons with Sporting.

Jardel had mixed fortunes last season. Being top league scorer in Portugal failed to impress Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, who left him out of the squad which won the World Cup in South Korea and Japan earlier this year.

Goalkeeper Manninger released by Espanyol

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) -- Espanyol confirmed that it has released goalkeeper Alex Manninger only weeks after the Austrian international joined the club from Arsenal.

Newspaper reports said Friday that doubts exist over whether Manninger's two million euro (US$1.9 million) transfer had been fully completed.

"I came here and signed with the intention of staying. I don't understand anything," the goalkeeper was quoted as saying by the leading sports daily Marca Friday.

Marca said that the Barcelona-based club had placed bank guarantees with the Spanish soccer federation in July as a prerequisite to payment.

Three weeks later, Espanyol was reported to have removed the guarantees after Arsenal had failed to send the documentation confirming Manninger's transfer.

A week later, on receiving a request from the Premiership club for the guarantees, Espanyol decided to opt out of the signing.

Reports said that Manninger had left the club Thursday and flown back to London.

Moenchengladbach signs Danish striker Skoubo

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) -- Danish club FC Midtjylland has sold striker Morten Skoubo to Borussia Moenchengladbach, the club said.

The transfer fee was not disclosed, but according Danish media reported it would be about 20 million kroner (US$5.2 million).

"The German offer was fantastic. The deal is among the biggest in Danish soccer," Midtjylland director Jens Oergaard said.

Skoubo, 22, will join the Bundesliga club immediately.

Skoubo has played eight games and scored three goals for Denmark's U-21 team. He has scored 27 goals in 62 games for Midtjylland, which plays in Denmark's top league.

China names Tottenham striker Qu Bo for Asian Games

BEIJING (AP) -- China has named Tottenham Hotspur striker Qu Bo to its squad for next month's Asian Games, according to the official Web site of the Asian Football Confederation.

The 21-year-old signed a 12-month loan deal with the north London premier league side earlier this month and is one of the national squad's most dangerous attackers. Qu played in all three of China's games at its first-ever World Cup finals appearance this summer, in which China failed to score a single goal.

The Asian Games are being held in Busan, South Korea on Sept. 29-Oct.14.

Qu signed to Tottenham on Aug. 10 for 2 million pounds (US$3.04 million) from Chinese club Qingdao Yizhong. He has played in 19 international matches for China.

Jubilo striker Takahara wins J-League award

TOKYO (Reuters) -- Japan striker Naohiro Takahara was honored by the J-League on Friday after his goals helped Jubilo Iwata win this season's first-stage title.

Takahara was named player of the first stage after scoring 11 goals in his last seven games and securing the title for Iwata with a late goal in their 3-2 win at Kashiwa Reysol last weekend.

The award will come as a consolation to Takahara after the former Boca Juniors forward missed out on the World Cup finals this summer with a lung infection.

The second stage of the J-League kicks off on August 31.

Testing debut for new South African coach

POLOKWANE, South Africa (Reuters) -- South Africa's new coach Ephraim Mashaba faces a possible nightmare start to his tenure when his team host supposed lightweights Swaziland in Saturday's Cosafa Castle Cup semifinal.

The World Cup finalist takes on Swaziland in a match it is expected to win comfortably against opposition ranked 92 places behind in the latest FIFA world rankings.

Victory for the home nation, ranked number one in the region, would be regarded as routine by most of its supporters but anything less would be seen as a catastrophic start for the 51-year-old trainer.

Mashaba was appointed earlier this month to replace Jomo Sono, who took South Africa to the World Cup finals.

But Swaziland has already proven its potential to trip up more highly-regarded opposition, having beaten Zimbabwe 2-0 away in Harare in May in their quarterfinal tie. Zimbabwe was the runner-up in the cup last year.

The kingdom has shown a major improvement in recent years, much of it since the departure of several of their top players to clubs in South Africa's more competitive premier league.

"We are quite aware that we are facing giants and we respect them but this does not mean we fear them," said Swaziland's coach Dumisa Mahlalela on Friday.

Six of the Swaziland squad play in South Africa, giving them intimate knowledge of their opponents.

South Africa has named a squad exclusively made up of locally-based players for the match, captained by Andre Arendse, who was its goalkeeper at the World Cup finals in South Korea in June.

Mashaba has also three other World Cup campaigners at his disposal -- defender Cyril Nzama, midfielder Tebeho Mokoena and the diminutive Jabu Pule, who returned this week from two weeks on trial at French club Marseille.

Saturday's match is the second semifinal in this year's regional competition.

The winner faces Malawi in the final of the annual Southern African championship over two legs at the end of September.

In the only previous meeting between the two teams, South Africa beat Swaziland 2-0 in Witbank two years ago in the quarterfinals of the same competition.

Neither South Africa nor Swaziland have reached the final of the competition, which also serves as preparation for upcoming African Nations Cup qualifiers.

Molenbeek loses expulsion appeal, says Belgian FA

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -- RWDM Molenbeek have lost an appeal to the Belgian Football Association against being thrown out of the league because of heavy debts, an FA spokesman said Friday.

"The decision has already been taken. The club no longer exists," the spokesman told Reuters ahead of a meeting of the FA's executive committee.

Molenbeek, who were founded in 1973 from the merger of Racing White and Daring, failed to win a licence at the end of last season to allow them to continue playing in the first division. They had finished 10th in the 18-team top flight.

The club hoped to play in the third division but were dismissed from the league entirely after they failed to repay their debts despite being given an extended deadline.

"They had not paid their players for the last four months of the season). They had a lot of debt including some 70,000 euros (US$68,030) to the Football Association," the spokesman said.

Following last week's decision, Molenbeek filed a lawsuit against the FA in the hope that the decision would be repealed.

"We want to suspend the action taken by the Football Association. We also want an extension for the transfer period until September 30 so that the club can rebuild itself," Molenbeek lawyer Laurent Denis said.

One of the club's complaints was that the FA acted without consulting its executive committee.

Denis represents former Molenbeek player Johan Vermeersch who is looking to take over the struggling club.

Vermeersch is in talks with other partners to help pay off Molenbeek's debt, Denis added.

 

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Reuters contributed to this report.