Bremen - International Torsten Frings will miss Werder Bremen's Bundesliga match against Borussia Dortmund on the weekend and seems likely to have to withdraw from the Germany squad for the World Cup qualifiers on March 28 and April 1.

The midfielder has an ankle injury that will force him to miss the game against Dortmund and makes him doubtful for the games against Liechtenstein in Leipzig and in Cardiff against Wales.

Falun, Sweden - Claudia Nystad and Axel Teichmann won the prologue races for Germany at the cross-country skiing World Cup finals on Friday.

Nystad won the women's freestyle race over 2.5 kilometres in 7 minutes 12.5 seconds from Sweden's Charlotte Kalla (2.7 seconds behind) and two-time world champion Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland (3.0 seconds).

London - Totten

Guyana (West Indies), Mar. 20 : England cricket captain Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower have formed a close partnership, and there are reports in the air that the former wants the latter to continue mentoring the team.

"A very close one," was how Strauss defined his relationship with Flower.

Sydney, Mar. 20 : Glenn McGrath is an Australian cricket bowling legend but the word is he''s a mug punter extraordinaire.

The McGrath Foundation is hosting a lunch for 900 at the Sydney Turf Club''s big autumn racing carnival day at Rosehill Gardens, where Sydney Confidential will also share a marquee with Myer.

McGrath will captain a betting team against his former teammate, the more racing savvy Mark Waugh, in the TAB''s Pink Punting Purse event, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Nyon, Switzerland - The only Premier League club remaining in the UEFA Cup, Manchester City, were on Friday drawn into a quarter-final clash against Bundesliga side SV Hamburg.

The draw conducted in Nyon saw the other remaining German team in the competition, Werder Bremen, having to take on Serie A's only remaining club, Udinese.

The two remaining French sides were both given Ukrainian opposition, with Paris Saint-Germain facing Dynamo Kiev, while Shakhtar Donetsk face Olympique Marseille.