Munich - Bayern Munich coach Juergen Klinsmann wants striker Lukas Podolski to stay and fight for his place rather than leave the German champions.

Klinsmann told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa the 23-year-old striker had it easier with the German national side than at Bayern where he has failed to establish himself in his third season at the club.

"The difference is that he has recently been a first choice with the national team which has allowed him to take things in a more relaxed way," Klinsmann said.

Madrid - What should a great club do when it is immersed in a massive injury crisis and has slipped down to fourth in its domestic league?

Answer: sign a top-class forward to revitalize the attack - and to cheer up the frustrated fans.

This is exactly what troubled Real Madrid intend to do now, by signing Klaas Jan Huntelaar from Dutch giants Ajax.

Embattled Real president Ramon Calderon hinted on Monday evening that he was about to buy "a top-class striker", and the Spanish media are sure that he was referring to Huntelaar.

Paris - Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong has decided to race in next year's edition of the race, the web site of his Astana team said late Monday.

The 37-year-old Armstrong retired from racing on July 24, 2005, after winning his last Tour championship, but said in September of this year that he would return to competitive cycling for the 2009 season to publicize the fight against cancer.

Armstrong recovered from a severe case of testicular cancer and has used his cycling success to promote the cause.

Paris - Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo has won the Ballon d

ROUYN-NORANDA, Quebec, Dec. 2 - Former NHL player Hubert "Pit" Martin died Monday, a day after plunging through thin ice on a Canadian lake while riding his snowmobile with a friend.

The accident occurred Sunday on a lake in northern Quebec near his hometown of Rouyn-Noranda.

Martin, 64, spent 10 of his 18 years in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks. He broke into the league with Detroit in 1961 and went to Boston in 1965.

From 1967-78 he racked up 627 points in 740 games for Chicago, seventh-best in team history. During those years, the Hawks made it to the Stanley Cup Finals twice, losing to the Montreal Canadiens in 1971 and 1973.