Hamburg  - CSKA Moscow booked their place in the knockout stages of the UEFA Cup Thursday with a 2-1 victory over Polish side Lech Poznan in a Group H encounter.

Alan Dzagoev latched on to a pass from Vagner Love to open the scoring for the Russians and Yuri Zhirkov doubled the home side's lead at the Luzhniki Stadium with a left-footed volley just before the break.

Semir Pilic pulled on back for Poznan from a free-kick after 66 minutes.

The victory was CSKA's third win in succession in the group and moves CSKA on to nine points from three matches, five clear of Nancy and eight ahead of Poznan. Deportivo La Coruna and Feyenoord Rotterdam, who are both still without a point, meet later Thursday.

Budapest- Slovakian Interior Minister Robert Kalinak has denied that police acted unlawfully when dealing with ethnic Hungarian football fans earlier this month.

Hungarian Justice Minister Tibor Draskovics confirmed Wednesday evening that he had received a letter from Kalinak about the matter the previous day.

He added that he had accepted an invitation to meet Kalinak in Bratislava. The two ministers were also due to talk briefly in Brussels in Thursday.

London, Nov 27: Liverpool striker Fernando Torres was frustrated by a German Shepherd as he failed to find a way past the tailed footie.

The Spanish hitman (24) was stunned by the tackling skills of ‘Hank’, the German Shepherd on a visit to a dog training centre.

Torres was filming a TV show for his home country, but the footage found its way on to video website YouTube.

At one point he tries a trademark flick but the dog, wearing the No 8 shirt of Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, muzzles it away.

One fan said: “One minute Fernando was performing his tricks, the next he was chasing shadows.”

Johannesburg - The chief executive officer of the South African local organizing committee (LOC) of the 2010 World Cup, Danny Jordaan, on Wednesday called on his fellow South Africans to serve the country by supporting the event.

Jordaan told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa late Wednesday, that while many South Africans had served in the army under apartheid, the way to serve the country now was to be behind the World Cup.

Hamburg  - English and Spanish clubs completed their Champions League charge when Liverpool and Atletico Madrid swept into the knockout phase on Wednesday.

Italian champions Inter Milan also progressed to join Serie A rivals Juventus in the last 16 despite a 1-0 defeat at home to Panathinaikos

Liverpool joined defending champions Manchester United and Arsenal in the last 16 with a 1-0 win over Olympique Marseille, while Atletico complete a Spanish quartet including city rivals Real Madrid, Barcelona and Villareal by beating PSV Eindhoven 2-1.

However last season's losing finalists Chelsea will have to wait after being held 1-1 at Girondins Bordeaux.

Hamburg  - Germany coach Joachim Loew has said national team captain Michael Ballack knows "the consequences" should he again express criticism regarding the national team in public.

It follows a television interview by Ballack Tuesday in which the Chelsea midfielder said he did not regret a newspaper interview last month which led to him having to apologize to an angry Loew.

Loew told Wednesday's Bild newspaper: "Michael has a right to give his opinion and to express criticism. But he won't be doing it in public, you can be quite sure of that because he knows what the consequences are."