Heinze, Messi picked

BUENOS AIRES: Manchester United defender Gabriel Heinze and Barcelona striker Lionel Messi will both be in Argentina’s final World Cup squad although they are still recovering from injuries, coach Jose Pekerman said after returning from Spain. Pekerman added however that Valencia’s Pablo Aimar was not ruled out just because he was not called up to a get-together earlier this week. Fourteen Argentina players were involved in a two-day get-together in Madrid and will almost certainly be included in the squad, but Pekerman would only confirm the names of Heinze and Messi.

Corinthians free Tevez

SAO PAULO: Corinthians freed striker Carlos Tevez to return to Argentina to recover from a sprained left ankle and begin training with his country’s national team for the World Cup, the Brazilian team said. “It was impossible for him to recover in time for our game against Parana,” Corinthians spokesman Luciano Signorini said, referring to Sunday’s match for the Brazilian championship. “So the team decided to let him go to finish recovering in Buenos Aires, where he will stay to join Argentina’s World Cup team.”

100 held in brothel raids

BERLIN: German police in four states arrested nearly 100 people in brothel raids in a crackdown on illegal prostitution ahead of next month’s World Cup. Volker Bouffier, interior minister of Hesse, said the raids were launched in an effort to combat fears expressed by human rights organisations and other groups that tens of thousands of women, mostly from Eastern Europe, could be smuggled into Germany and forced to work as prostitutes during the tournament.