German defender Per Mertesacker to have medical at Arsenal

Werder Bremen's German international defender Per Mertesacker is set to undergo a medical at Arsenal.

The 26-year-old centre-back is captain for the Bundesliga side and although he is on international duty has been allowed to travel to London.

Arsenal's pursuit of Mertesacker, who is 6ft 6in and has 75 caps for Germany, could end their interest in Bolton defender Gary Cahill.

But the Gunners are set to sign Brazilian left-back Andre Santos.

The move by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger to bolster his defence comes after they were hammered 8-2 by Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday.

They have also recently sold left-back Gael Clichy to Manchester City, and right-back Emmanuel Eboue to Turkish club Galatasary, while on Tuesday Armand Traore joined Queens Park Rangers.

Centre-back Thomas Vermaelen was injured for the trip to Old Trafford and missed most of last season with an Achilles tendon injury.

Mertesacker was part of the German team which beat England 4-1 at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa last summer.

And he has been recalled to the squad to face Austria in their European Championship qualifier on Friday after a heel injury suffered at the end of last season.


ref: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/14717213.stm

Liverpool's Joe Cole closing in on season-long loan at Lille

Liverpool midfielder Joe Cole is close to agreeing a season-long loan deal with French club Lille.

Queens Park Rangers and Tottenham Hotspur were also interested in signing the 29-year-old England international.

Cole moved to Anfield in July 2010 on a four-year deal from Chelsea but made only 11 Premier League starts for the Reds and was sent off on his debut.

Lille are in this season's Champions League after winning their first French league title since 1954.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has strengthened his midfield over the summer with the additions of Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam and Stewart Downing.

Cole failed to make the bench in Liverpool's first three Premier League games of the season.


ref: http://kopthat.co.uk/2011/08/liverpools-joe-cole-closing-in-on-season-long-loan-at-lille/

Derby winner Pour Moi retired to stud because of leg injury

Pour Moi, the winner of this year's Derby at Epsom, has been retired after suffering a serious leg injury.

The colt was hurt while being prepared by trainer Andre Fabre for October's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp.

Pour Moi has been retired to stud by owners, the Irish-based Coolmore Stud.

At June's Derby, winning jockey Mickael Barzalona famously celebrated before reaching the finishing line, as the French-trained horse beat Treasure Beach and Carlton House.

Fabre said: "He badly over-reached himself on his off-fore and I'm afraid he won't run again. It's difficult to mend.

"What he did at Epsom was amazing, to go from last to first. For a horse to get there so easily, the turn of foot he showed was a sign of great ability.

"I'm sure he will be a super sire. He's a beautiful, well-bred colt with a fantastic action and a change of pace."

ref: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/horse_racing/14694432.stm

Ian Poulter & Justin Rose form England World Cup team

Ian Poulter will partner Justin Rose in the England team at the World Cup in China in November.

Poulter, 35, selected close friend Rose, 31, after higher-ranked players Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and Paul Casey all turned down the event.

The pair were partners in the 2008 Ryder Cup, winning two of their three games together, and at the 2007 World Cup, where they finished fourth.

Ireland will feature US Open heroes Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell.

US Open champion McIlroy, the world number six, and fellow Northern Irishman McDowell, who won the US Open in 2010, came up one stroke adrift in 2009.

Scotland will be made up of Martin Laird and Stephen Gallacher, with Jamie Donaldson and Rhys Davies representing Wales.

The United States go with world number seven Matt Kuchar and the big-hitting Gary Woodland, while Italy will once again comprise the Molinari brothers, Francesco and Edoardo, who won the title two years ago.

China, who qualify as hosts, will be represented by Liang Wen-chong and Zhang Xin-jun at the event which takes place at Mission Hills, Hainan Island, from 24-27 November.

Exempt nations (in ranking order of top player): Germany (Martin Kaymer, Alex Cejka), Ireland (Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell), United States (Matt Kuchar, Gary Woodland), South Africa (Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen), England (Ian Poulter, Justin Rose), Sweden (Robert Karlsson, Alex Noren), Italy (Francesco Molinari, Edoardo Molinari), Spain (Alvaro Quiros, Miguel Angel Jimenez), Scotland (Martin Laird, Stephen Gallacher), Denmark (Anders Hansen, Thomas Bjorn), France (Raphael Jacquelin, Gregory Bourdy), Japan (Yuta Ikeda, Tetsuji Hiratsuka), Australia (Brendan Jones, Richard Green), Belgium (Nicolas Colsaerts, Jerome Theunis), Colombia (Camilo Villegas, Manuel Villegas), Wales (Jamie Donaldson, Rhys Davies), Thailand (Thongchai Jaidee, Kiradech Aphibarnrat), Zimbabwe (Brendon de Jonge, Bruce McDonald)


ref: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/golf/14716296.stm

World Athletics 2011: Jessica Ennis edged out in Daegu

ATHLETICS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2011

Venue: Daegu, South Korea Date: 27 August - 4 September Coverage: BBC Radio 5 live, 5 live sports extra and online (UK only), daily video highlights on BBC Sport website (UK only); live text commentaries; watch live on Channel 4

London 2012 gold medal hopeful Jessica Ennis lost her heptathlon world title to Russia's Tatyana Chernova in Daegu.

Ennis finished 129 points adrift after a poor javelin effort left her needing an exceptional 800m run to take gold.

The 25-year-old was less than a second clear of Chernova, with a nine-second margin required to snatch victory.

"I'm going to work hard at all the events and make sure I'm strong next year. I've evaluated it and I'm not too disappointed," said Britain's Ennis.

Her hopes of becoming the first British women to defend a world title were slim before the final event with Chernova's personal best over two laps a full two seconds faster than her own previous fastest time.

The Sheffield athlete duly launched an ambitious attack after a swift first lap and opened a lead of about 10 metres on Chernova before the pace took its toll in the home straight.

Ennis had led the points standings before a disappointing 39.95m, 13m short of Chernova's best throw, in the penultimate event - the javelin.

"Javelin has been one of my weaker events but I've never performed that poorly," she told BBC Radio 5 live.

"I have been in a few heptathlons now and they have ended up going in very different ways - I was leading in Berlin from start to finish and now here.

"It has been a massive learning curve."

Ennis, who won gold at European championships in 2010, finished on 6751 points, 129 adrift of Chernova, with Jennifer Oeser of Germany taking bronze with 6,572 points.

There were positive signs for Ennis heading into next summer's Olympics with a personal best in the shot put as well as in the 800m.

Her points total was also 20 more than the score that proved enough for victory in Berlin two years ago.

But even her personal best of 6,823 would not have been enough to wrestle gold from 23-year-old Chernova.

European indoor 3,000m champion Helen Clitheroe advanced to the final of the 5,000m as a fastest loser after coming home eighth in her heat, while Cuban-born 39-year-old Yamile Aldama, cleared to compete for Britain earlier this summer, reached the triple jump final.

Tom Parsons and Martyn Bernard went out of high jump qualifying, and James Shane failed to progress in the 1500m after missing out on a fastest loser's place by nine one-hundredths of a second.

ref: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/14713102.stm