London - Tottenham Hotspur confirmed Sunday the appointment of Harry Redknapp as manager after the bottom-ranked English Premier League club sacked Juande Ramos overnight.

Spurs also dismissed sporting director Damien Comolli and first team coaches Gus Poyet and Marcos Alvarez.

Redknapp leaves Portsmouth, with whom he had won the FA Cup last season.

Tottenham have endured an awful start to the season, taking just two points from their first eight games, and being beaten 2-0 by Udinese on Thursday in their first game in the UEFA Cup group stage.

In an interview with BBC radio, Redknapp revealed that it was on Friday morning that Spurs made their approach.

London- Champions Manchester United slipped up in their pursuit of Chelsea and Liverpool at the top of the English Premier League on Saturday when they were held to a 1-1 draw at Everton.

Darren Fletcher put United in front on 22 minutes but Marouane Fellaini headed the equalizer for Everton with just under half an hour to go to give the home side a share of the spoils.

The point means United remain fifth, still five points behind Chelsea and Liverpool, who play each other at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

London - Tottenham centre-back Jonathan Woodgate insisted Monday that manager Juande Ramos still has the full backing of the team despite their dreadful start to the season.

Johannesburg - FIFA president Joseph Blatter got into the swing of things Wednesday, clicking his heels in a little dance as he expressed satisfaction with South Africa's preparations for the 2010 World Cup.

"I am a happy man," Blatter said after visiting Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg, one of two stadiums in the city being upgraded for the tournament.

Expressing his pleasure at being in South Africa, the head of football's world governing body said: "I prefer the rhythm of this country.

"You know in Zurich (FIFA headquarters) we are in the German part of Switzerland. This is boring, boring!"

Madrid - Barcelona made an appalling poor start to their league campaign on Sunday, losing 1-0 away to newly-promoted Numancia.

The shock defeat raises fears that Barca will continue to be feeble on the road, the same as last season.

The only goal came after just 14 minutes, when Mario Martinez turned in a Carlos Bellvis centre from the left.

Just three minutes later Samuel Eto'o hit the Numancia post - and it was going to be that kind of day for Barca.

Josep Guardiola's side dominated from start to finish and created many clear chances, but lacked a cool finish.

Lionel Messi always levelled for Barca in injury time, but his free-kick came back off the post.

Basle - Portuguese star striker Cristiano Ronaldo praised Spain Sunday and challenged the team coached by Luis Aragones to play the final of Euro 2008 against Portugal.