UK-Sport Summary
Liverpool assure Benitez his job is secure
LONDON - Liverpool have assured Rafa Benitez that his job is secure despite the club joining the Champions League also-rans. While the five-times kings of Europe switched their focus to winning the second-string Europa League, managing director Christian Purslow gave the Spaniard a vote of confidence.
Briton Wood is named Europe's rookie of the year
LONDON .
Arsenal expect Gibbs to be out for three months
LONDON that the player would undergo surgery on Wednesday.
Federer crushes Murray to end year on top
LONDON - There are plenty of special effects inside the O2 Arena for the ATP Tour Finals but nothing could match the sight of Roger Federer in full flow as he beat Andy Murray Tuesday to guarantee the year-end No.1 ranking. Federer did not have to be at his magical best but after a wobbly start he took control midway through the match and treated the 17,500 capacity crowd to some shots that only he can play, reeling off the last six games for a 3-6 6-3 6-1 victory.
Fatigued Beckham switches focus to loan spell in Italy
LOS ANGELES - Bruised, battered and fatigued after enjoying his most successful season with Los Angeles Galaxy, David Beckham turned his thoughts on Tuesday to his loan spell with AC Milan in January. Beckham's move to Italy is motivated by the need to show England manager Fabio Capello he is in the right form and shape to make the squad for June's World Cup finals in South Africa.
India tighten grip after Dravid's 28th test ton
KANPUR, India - Rahul Dravid completed his 28th test century and moved into fourth place on the all-time scorers list as India tightened their grip on the second test against Sri Lanka Wednesday. Dravid made a superb 144 after becoming the third player to score a hundred before India were all out for 642 soon after tea.
My serve was pants, says beaten Murray
LONDON - Andy Murray rated his serve as 'pants' Tuesday but was still optimistic about reaching the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals despite being out-hit and out-foxed by Roger Federer. The British number one had high hopes of notching up his second successive round-robin victory at the season ending tournament as he took a 6-3 head-to-head record against Federer into the Group A match.
Europe trembles as Barcelona make music again
MADRID - Barcelona firmly dismissed any idea they were struggling to replicate last season's excellence with a masterful Champions League victory over Inter Milan, Spanish media said on Wednesday. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi, who are both recovering from thigh injuries, watched from the bench but were not missed as the European champions swept past Jose Mourinho's side 2-0 on Tuesday with early goals from Gerard Pique and Pedro.
Karlsson just happy to be back for World Cup defence
SHENZHEN - After an injury-ravaged season, Robert Karlsson is just happy to be playing golf this week as he teams up with fellow Swede Henrik Stenson to defend the World Cup at Mission Hills. Karlsson had just captured the European Order of Merit when he and Stenson won the 54th version of the event last year, but an eye problem caused him to miss more than four months of this season and he plummeted down the world rankings.
Garcia looks to World Cup to redeem disappointing year
SHENZHEN - Sergio Garcia hopes to steer Spain to a first World Cup win in a quarter of a century at Mission Hills this week so he can at least take home one trophy from a disappointing 2009. Garcia finished last season on a high, taking the HSBC Champions title and world number two spot from Phil Mickelson in Shanghai and talking about finally ending his hunt for a first major.