Yobo, Jagielka sign LIVERPOOL: Everton defenders Joseph Yobo and Phil Jagielka agreed new five-year contracts with the FA Cup finalists on Friday. Nigerian centre-back Yobo was reported to be unsettled at Goodison Park after several spells out of the team, but boss David Moyes has persuaded him to extend his stay on Merseyside. Jagielka, currently recovering from a knee ligament operation which is likely to sideline him until the middle of August, won Everton's player of the year award this season and scored the penalty which beat Manchester United in a semi-final shoot-out to book a place in the FA Cup final against Chelsea on May 30. — AFP

Schwarzer impresses LONDON: Mark Schwarzer's outstanding form for Fulham this season has been rewarded by the club opening talks on a new contract that will extend his stay at Craven Cottage beyond next year. Schwarzer, who has another season left on his current deal, revealed that preliminary discussions have already taken place ahead of Sunday's final game of the season, against Everton, which could see Roy Hodgson's side clinch a place in Europe for next season. Schwarzer was recruited as a free transfer from Middlesbrough last summer and puts the club's consistency down to the steadying influence of the much-travelled Hodgson. — AFP Alves ruled out MADRID: Barcelona's Brazilian right-back Dani Alves has been ruled out for the rest of the season after injuring his right foot during training, the newly-crowned Spanish league champions said on Thursday. The injury will sideline the 26-year-old player for three weeks, the club said in a statement. Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola was already preparing to face Manchester United in the Champions League final in Rome on May 27 without Alves as the player was suspended. The Catalan side have already won the Primera Liga and King's Cup title and if they win the Champions League they will be the first Spanish side to win the treble. — AFP Adriano hails Shakhta ISTANBUL: Luiz Adriano was in dreamland after spearheading Shakhtar Donetsk's five-man Brazilian attack in Wednesday's 2-1 UEFA Cup final triumph over Werder Bremen. Adriano fired the Ukrainian outfit into a first half lead before his compatriot Jadson produced the extra time winner after Werder's Naldo snatched the equaliser 10 minutes before half time. "My goal was one I have always dreamed of," Adriano said. "It was very important, it showed that we had come to play and to take home the title. It was a landmark for me and my career, as well as for the club and the team-mates that helped me reach this level." — AFP

Ronaldo picks up inju SAO PAULO: Double World Cup winner Ronaldo has picked up a calf injury that will likely see him miss the next Brazilian league match and the Brazil Cup semi-final, his Corinthians club said on Thursday. The 32-year-old Brazilian striker, who missed almost a year of action because of a serious knee injury, complained of pain in his calf during Corinthians' 2-2 Cup quarter-final draw with Fluminense on Wednesday. The 1994 and 2002 World Cup winner, and two-time European footballer of the year, tore his left knee tendon while playing for AC Milan in February last year. — AFP