International Roundup

Slovakia rings changes for England match

BRATISLAVA (Reuters) -- Slovakia have made six changes to their squad for their October 12 group seven European championship home qualifier against England, coach Ladislav Jurkemik said on Wednesday.

They include FC Zurich goalkeeper Miroslav Konig, who has not played for the Slovak national side for nearly a year and Middlesbrough striker Szilard Nemeth, injured for last month's defeat by Turkey.

Jurkemik said his 18-strong selection had been limited by injury and lack of match fitness among foreign-based players. "Quite a few players are not regularly on the field in their clubs. Some players are recovering from injuries, or they are out right now due to injuries," Jurkemik said.

"I can't help things, so I'll just have to deal with it... Of course I could have imagined other players in the team... but they are not playing in foreign teams, and I can't do anything about it."

Among those missing are West Ham United's Vladimir Labant and AC Milan's Vratislav Gresko.

Slovakia need points against England after they went down 3-0 against Turkey in Istanbul last month.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Miroslav Konig (FC Zurich), Juraj Bucek (Xanthi)

Defenders: Peter Hlinka (SW Bregenz), Marian Cisovsky (Inter Bratislava), Peter Dzurik (Slovan Bratislava), Maros Klimpl (Viktoria Zizkov), Marian Zeman (Vitesse Arnhem), Vladimir Leitner (FK Teplice)

Midfielders: Karol Kisel (Bohemians Prague), Rastislav Michalik (Sparta Prague), Vladimir Janocko (Austria Vienna), Marek Mintal (MSK Zilina), Attila Pinte (Panionios), Miroslav Karhan (VfL Wolfsburg)

Forewards: Jozef Kozlej (Olympiakos Nicosia), Lubos Reiter (Sigma Olomouc), Robert Vittek (Slovan Bratislava), Szilard Nemeth (Middlesbrough).

Valdano: Ronaldo will take time to show his best

MADRID (Reuters) -- Ronaldo will take time to find the sort of form that helped Brazil to World Cup glory earlier this year, Real Madrid's sporting director Jorge Valdano warned on Wednesday.

Ronaldo, signed from Inter Milan for around 45 million euros (US$44.33 million) just before the start of the season, has not played a competitive game since scoring both goals in Brazil's World Cup final win over Germany.

After a series of minor injuries, expectation is mounting that he could finally make his Real debut against Alaves on Sunday, but Valdano is being careful to play down expectations.

"The coach will make the decision depending on how he feels after training this week," Valdano told Real's official website.

"Once he does make his debut he's going to have to be patient because it's three months since he played a competitive game.

"It's going to be a while before we see the Ronaldo of the World Cup but he's signed up to be with us for a lot of years to come."

Israel eyes Romania as Euro 2004 qualifier venue

BUCHAREST (Reuters) -- Israel may play European championship qualifiers in Romania because the security situation in the Middle East prevents them playing at home.

UEFA has instructed Israel to play their home group one matches at neutral venues until the security situation improves. They play Malta away on October 12 and are supposed to be at home to Cyprus four days later.

"We are in contact with the Israeli FA but no final decision has been taken yet," Cristian Bivolaru, general secretary of the Romanian Football Association, told Reuters on Wednesday.

"The talks are very difficult. I can only tell you that the chances to schedule Israeli matches in Romania have risen."

Israel had sought to use the Loftus Road ground of English second division club Queens Park Rangers.

But the west London club, whose ground is also used by premier league Fulham, were already hosting five matches in 13 days around the date of the Israel qualifier.

QPR chief executive David Davies told the club's website on Tuesday: "After consultation with both the local authority and residents, we have decided that we would be faced with too many games in such a short period of time."

According to British newspaper reports, Israel had also considered playing the Cyprus match at the White Hart Lane home of Tottenham Hotspur in north London.

Spurs dismissed the story. Director of football David Pleat said: "There are no international games of any kind planned at White Hart Lane."

The 2004 European championship takes place in Portugal.

Romania's Filipescu to miss October qualifiers

BUCHAREST (Reuters) -- Real Betis defender Iulian Filipescu is injured and will miss Romania's Euro 2004 qualifiers against Norway and Luxembourg, a Romanian Soccer Federation (FRF) spokesman said on Wednesday.

"Filipescu has acute back ache and he needs special medical treatment," the spokesman said. "Real Betis's Spanish doctors said Filipescu would be out of action for the next two weeks."

Romania, who are in qualifying group two, play Norway on October 12 and Luxembourg four days later.

Bosnia goes with experience in squad for Germany

SARAJEVO (Reuters) -- Bosnia coach Blaz Sliskovic reverted to experience on Wednesday when he named 14 foreign-based players to his squad of 22 for an international friendly against Germany on October 11 in Sarajevo.

"There are no new names," Sliskovic told a news conference, explaining that the national soccer association had decided it needed results and did not have the time or patience to experiment with inexperienced players.

After a 3-0 defeat by Romania last month, Sliskovic faced a barrage of criticism for fielding a young team instead of relying on old hands.

Sliskovic said that goalkeeper Tomislav Piplica of Energie Cottbus would most probably be replaced by Kenan Hasagic from Zeljeznicar Sarajevo as he had indicated that he was not in a frame of mind to give his best after the Romania trouncing.

The coach said that he had chosen Nenad Miskovic of Partizan Belgrade and Elvir Baljic of Galatasaray due to fine performances for their clubs recently and hoped they would be fit for the match.

SV Hamburg's Sergej Barbarez and Coventry City's Muhamed Konjic have recovered from injuries and will play, he said.

Eight locally-based players will be named to complete the squad next Monday.

Squad:

Goakeeper: Almir Tolja (Casino SW Bregenz).

Defenders: Mirsad Beslija (Genk), Zlatan Bajramovic (Freiburg), Mirsad Hibic (Atletico Madrid), Vedin Music (Como), Sasa Papac (Karnten), Muhamed Konjic (Coventry City), Nenad Miskovic (Partizan Belgrade), Jasmin Huric (Primorje Ajdovscina)

Midfielders: Hasan Salihamidzic (Bayern Munich), Almedin Hota (Karnten), Edin Mujcin (Dinamo Zagreb), Sergej Barbarez (SV Hamburg).

Forward: Elvir Baljic (Galatasaray)

Russia's army sports chief dies aged 45

MOSCOW (Reuters) -- The head of Russia's Central Army Sports Club, an influential part of sport in both the Communist and post-Soviet period, has died aged 45 after only three months in the job, a club spokesman said on Wednesday.

Although he wielded less power than his counterpart in Soviet times, Nikolai Nino, a retired police major-general, controlled sports clubs throughout the country, including Moscow's CSKA soccer and ice hockey teams.

Police said Nino, former head of the interior ministry's economic crimes division, was found dead in a hotel room in Nizhny Novgorod, 500 km east of Moscow, possibly after a heart attack.

Newspaper reports said there was no evidence of violence.

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