Police given practice

BERLIN: With the World Cup just 27 days away German police were given some early practice of how to deal with unruly football fans in a regional match between Berlin rivals BFC Dynamo and FC Union on Saturday. Dynamo fans climbed over the barriers and stormed the pitch in the direction of their rival supporters alerting the 1,000 police officers on hand. With bottles and other objects being launched onto the pitch the police were forced to calm the situation and several arrests were made.

Mexico announce team

MEXICO: Coach Ricardo Antonio La Volpe announced Mexico’s squad for the FIFA World Cup finals on Saturday. The squad includes goalkeepers Oswaldo Sanchez, Jose de Jesus Corona, and Guillermo Ochoa; defenders Jose Antonio Castro, Andres Guardado, Rafael Marquez, Mario Mendez, Ricardo Osorio, Francisco Javier Rodriguez, Carlos Salcido, Claudio Suarez; midfielders Jesus Arellano, Rafael Garcma, Ramon Morales, Antonio Naelson ‘Sinha’, Pavel Pardo, Luis Perez, Gonzalo Pineda, Gerardo Torrado; and forwards Jared Borgetti, Omar Bravo, Francisco Fonseca, Guillermo Franco.

Naohiro joins Frankfurt

FRANKFURT: Japan’s World Cup striker Naohiro Takahara has signed a two-year conrcat to play for Frankfurt in the German first division next season, the club announced. The 26-year-old Takahara has been with another German side, Hamburg, since 2002 playing 97 times and scoring 13 goals. He is expected to be named in coach Zico’s squad for next month’s World Cup finals in Germany.