Tevez ruled out

MANCHESTER: Manchester City forward Carlos Tevez has been ruled out of Saturday’s Premier League clash against Arsenal and could also miss his reunion with former club Manchester United. Tevez suffered a knee injury during international duty with Argentina last weekend and could be sidelined for two to three weeks, according to City manager Mark Hughes. The 25-year-old is desperate to face United, who he quit to join City in the close-season, but it looks unlikely he will recover in time for the match at Old Trafford on September 20. Meanwhile, City will wait for the results of scans on Robinho’s ankle injury before deciding whether the Brazilian will face the Gunners. — AFP

Klasnic accuses Terry

LONDON: Croatia striker Ivan Klasnic has accused England captain John Terry of punching him in the kidneys during Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier. Terry claimed Klasnic spat at him during the closing stages of England’s 5-1 win at Wembley and the Croatian has responded with an allegation of his own. Klasnic had a double kidney transplant in 2007 and the forward, currently on loan at Bolton from Nantes, feels Terry was deliberately trying to cause damage to that area.— AFP

Sunderland pull out

SUNDERLAND: Sunderland pulled out of a deal to bring Australia defender Lucas Neill to theie club. Black Cats manager Steve Bruce admitted talks had started between Neill and the Premier League club after the 31-year-old was released by West Ham. But Neill is reportedly asking for a contract worth around £40,000 a week and Bruce revealed there is no chance a deal for the free agent will go through at present. — AFP

Advocaat to join early

BRUSSELS: Dutch coach Dick Advocaat looks set to take over as Belgium coach before the planned date of January 1, 2010 after the resignation Wednesday of interim coach Franky Vercauteren. The Belgium FA said on Thursday they had been in “contact with Dick Advocaat with a view to bringing forward the start of his functions.” Advocaat will make a decision in the coming days, according to media reports. Belgium lost 2-1 to Armenia in Yerevan on Wednesday and have lost all hope of competing in the 2010 World Cup. — AFP

Beckenbauer worried

BERLIN: Bayern Munich president Franz Beckenbauer regretted the departure of Brazilian Lucio, saying the German club’s defence was a cause for concern. “It’s important that the defence sorts itself out. The problem is the defence and I hope that (coach) Louis van Gaal will find the solution,” Beckenbauer said. According to Beckenbauer, the defence has been particularly hit by the transfer of World Cup winner Lucio to Inter Milan. Before the fifth game of the season on Saturday, when Bayern play away at Dortmund, the Munich side sit in eighth place on five points. — AFP

Beenhakker sacked

KRYNICA: Leo Beenhakker was on Thursday sacked as Poland coach after their failure to reach the 2010 World Cup finals, national football federation chief Grzegorz Lato said. The 67-year-old former Dutch national coach was axed after the side crashed 3-0 away to Slovenia on Wednesday. The Slovenia game, which came after a 1-1 draw on Saturday to Northern Ireland, left Poland second-from-bottom of Group Three and mathematically unable to catch up in their two remaining games against leaders Slovakia and the Czech Republic. “That was Leo Beenhakker’s last game,” Lato said. — AFP