Sports Briefs

Aragones rejects offer

MADRID: Former Spain coach Luis Aragones has turned down an offer to take over at top flight side Sevilla following the sacking of Manolo Jimenez, the club said on Thursday. It said an assistant to Jimenez, Antonio Alvarez, will take charge of the team for Sunday’s match at Villareal. Sevilla fired Jimenez on Tuesday following a string of poor results. Aragones met with Sevilla chairman Jose Maria del Nido for three hours on Wednesday to discuss whether he might take the job. But Sevilla said there was “no agreement.” Aragones, 71, coached Spain from 2004 until they won the 2008 European Championship.


Carvalho ruled out

LONDON: Ricardo Carvalho added to Chelsea’s injury woes on Thursday when the Premier League title-chasers said the defender could be out of action for at least a month. Carvalho suffered ankle ligament damage during Chelsea’s 5-0 win away to Portsmouth, a victory that left them just a point behind leaders Manchester United. If the injury is worse than first feared, Carvalho could miss the rest of this season. “The club will be able to determine over the next 24 hours whether the injury requires corrective surgery,” a club spokesman said.