He won the first of five international caps in November 1998 and secured a $15.5 million move to Barcelona at the end of the season.

Despite scoring 11 goals in 27 games in his first season at the Nou Camp, he was then virtually ignored by successive coaches, playing just 23 league games from 2000-2001 before leaving the club by mutual consent after almost three years on the sidelines.
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Ilie poised to join Belgium's Beerschot

BUCHAREST, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Romanian forward Adrian Ilie is to sign a one-year contract with Belgian side Germinal Beerschot.

"I'm ready to sign with Beerschot, who have offered me a contract," Ilie told Reuters on Saturday. "The deal is subject to a medical examination."

Ilie, once nicknamed 'Cobra' for his deadly striking ability, left Swiss club FC Zurich in June after the expiry of his contract.

The 31-year-old has been without a club for two months after refusing several offers from Romanian first division clubs. As a result Romania coach Victor Piturca omitted Ilie from his squad for the World Cup qualifier against Andorra on August 17.

Germinal Beerschot won the Belgian Cup last season and are in this season's UEFA Cup.

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Belgium's Beerschot bag Romanian Ilie

BRUSSELS, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Belgium's Germinal Beerschot have snapped up Romanian forward Adrian Ilie on a free transfer.

The 31-year-old will sign a one-year contract pending a medical examination on Tuesday, the Antwerp club's website said.

Beerschot see the striker's experience as a key element in their UEFA Cup bid following their surprise Belgian Cup win last term.

Ilie, capped 55 times by his country, has been without a club since leaving Switzerland's FC Zurich where he scored seven goals in 23 matches last season.

Beerschot are still to register a point in the Belgian league this season having lost their first two matches.

Meanwhile, Ghent are considering a move for former Irish international Dominic Foley.

The 29-year-old striker is at the centre of a row over money with his current club Bohemians in Ireland and is refusing to turn out for the Dublin side.

Foley, capped six times by the Republic of Ireland, impressed Ghent boss Georges Leekens during last month's Intertoto Cup tie between the two teams.

"We are monitoring the situation, but are still very much interested," a club official said on Tuesday.

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Rapid Bucharest reinstate coach Lucescu

BUCHAREST, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Rapid Bucharest coach Razvan Lucescu has been reinstated as coach.

Lucescu was sacked just two games into the Romanian league season on Monday but was given a reprieve after support from players and supporters.

Rapid conceded a last-minute equaliser in a 1-1 home draw against Arges Pitesti on Sunday, prompting team owner George Copos to dismiss him and the club's executive president to resign in protest.

"Copos decided to reinstall Lucescu on the bench after the whole team asked the boss not to fire their coach," club spokesman Cristian Costache told Reuters.

Lucescu had received the full support of the club's executive president Gheorghe Dinu, who announced his resignation after saying the coach was good enough to build a strong side.

"Large groups of Rapid fans also supported Lucescu... they said they would strongly protest against any new coach replacing him," Costache said.

A group of around 100 supporters gathered at one of Rapid Bucharest headquarters to protest Lucescu's dismissal. They shouted slogans against Copos, urging the Romanian government's vice-prime minister to leave the club.

Former Rapid coach Mircea Rednic had been lined up to return to the club for the third time.

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Flamengo sack third coach this year

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Celso Roth has been fired by Flamengo, making him the third coach this year to be dismissed by Brazil's most popular club.

Flamengo football vice-president Gerson Biscotto confirmed the decision in a television interview on Tuesday morning after it had been announced by the media the previous evening.

"We intended to tell him later on Tuesday but the information leaked out," said Biscotto. "We didn't want him to find out through the media, unfortunately that's what happened."

Roth was visiting his family in Porto Alegre when he learned of his fate.

The decision came after Sunday's 2-0 defeat at Goias sent Flamengo back into the relegation zone of the Brazilian championship.

Flamengo are 19th in the 22-team table with 20 points from 20 games. The bottom four go down.

Flamengo, the club where Zico spent most of his career, were once regarded as Brazil's top club but recently have been routinely involved in the fight against relegation.

Julio Cesar Leal started the season in the hot seat but was fired after three games. He was replaced by Cuca, who was dismissed shortly before the start of the Brazilian championship in late April for publicly demanding new players.

The Brazilian championship, which has yet to reach the halfway mark, has already claimed 19 coaching victims.

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Hodgson frontrunner to coach Finnish national team

(repeats with correct slug)

HELSINKI, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Former Blackburn Rovers and Inter Milan coach Roy Hodgson is the frontrunner to be the next coach of Finland's national soccer team, the head of the Finnish football association said in comments published on Tuesday.

"Talks with him have gone so well that choosing him is a likely solution," association president Pekka Hamalainen told Helsingin Sanomat daily.

Hodgson, 58, is currently in charge at Norway's Viking Stavanger and would take over from 59-year-old Finn Jyrki Heliskoski, who was appointed caretaker coach for the rest of Finland's 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign.

"We have agreed with Viking on his transfer to Finland. So we have agreed on compensation. But talks with Hodgson have not been finalised," Hamalainen told Finnish news agency STT.

Viking had hoped to hang on to Hodgson until 2008, but had now given Finland permission to start talks with him, club Chairman Ole Rugland said in statement on Viking's Web site.

Hodgson achieved near-hero status in Switzerland after taking the national team to the World Cup finals in 1994.

"I have missed being a trainer of a national team," he said in a statement. "That has tempted me for a long time since the period with Switzerland."

Antti Muurinen, who had been in charge of the Finnish national team since 2000, was sacked in June after his team's hopes of reaching the World Cup finals were virtually ended in a 4-0 home defeat by the Netherlands.

Finland play their next qualifier against Macedonia on Wednesday. They are fourth in Group One, 13 points behind the Netherlands and 12 adrift of the Czech Republic.

Spurs striker Kanoute joins Sevilla

(Adds quotes from Sevilla sporting director)

MADRID, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Sevilla have signed Mali striker Frederic Kanoute on a four-year contract from Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of 6.5 million euros ($8 million), the Primera Liga club said on Wednesday.

Spurs said on their website the 27-year-old had agreed personal terms with Sevilla and would sign for the Spaniards subject to a successful medical.

Sevilla said they would present the player to the media at their Sanchez Pizjuan stadium at 0800 GMT on Thursday.

Kanoute, who joined Spurs in August 2003 from West Ham United, will compete with Argentine striker Javier Saviola and Brazilian forward Luis Fabiano for a place in the Sevilla attack.

The three players will attempt to fill the gap left by leading striker Julio Baptista, who signed for Real Madrid last month for a fee of up to 24.5 million euros.

Sevilla, who finished sixth last season to earn a place in the UEFA Cup for the second year in succession, said Kanoute was signed at the request of the club's technical staff and new coach Juande Ramos.

"He's going to bring us the sort of skills we thought the team needed," said Sevilla sporting director Ramon "Monchi" Rodriguez.

"He's tall, good in the air, skilful and strong and can play up front or just behind the lead striker. With the players we've signed we've now got a great attack and the coach will have plenty to choose from."

Kanoute began his career at Olympique Lyon and went on to becom an Under-21 international for France, although he later changed his allegiance to Mali for whom he played at the 2004 African Nations Cup.

The lanky striker moved to West Ham in 2000 but had an unsettled period at Upton Park blighted by injury and a lack of first team football.

He made the short trip across London to join Spurs after West Ham were relegated in 2003 and scored 21 goals in 72 appearances while at White Hart Lane.

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Villarreal defender Armando Sa set to move to Espanyol

MADRID, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Villarreal defender Armando Sa is set to join Espanyol on a two-year deal, the two Primera Liga sides said on Wednesday.

The 29-year-old Mozambique international joined Villarreal from Benfica at the start of last season and played 20 league games for the Mediterranean side.

However, coach Manuel Pellegrini made it clear that he was surplus to requirements following the recent signing of Dutch international fullback Jan Kromkamp.

Espanyol, who finished fifth in the league last season to earn a place in the UEFA Cup, have made six other signings in the close season including Argentine youth international Pablo Zabaleta and Real Madrid midfielder Juanfran.
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　新浪体育讯　8月18日，前意大利国门卢卡-马切吉亚尼宣布，由于无法找到一支新的球队效力，他决定结束自己的职业球员生涯。

　　马切吉亚尼生于1966年6月2日，今年39岁，上赛季他在意甲切沃队效力，在赛季结束后自由离队。在夏天的时候，马切吉亚尼试图为自己寻找新东家，但未能如愿，这使得他最终作出了告别绿茵场的决定。

　　“夏天的时候，曾经有一段时间，罗马队和我看起来将要达成一份协议，但最终什么都没有发生。”马切吉亚尼透露说，他职业生涯的巅峰时期是在拉齐奥度过的，凭借出色表现入选过意大利国家队。在1994年的美国世界杯上，由于主力门将帕柳卡在首场比赛中吃到红牌，马切吉亚尼曾短暂的接替主力国门位置。

　　在谈到自己挂靴的决定时，马切吉亚尼说，自己其实已经考虑了很久，即使退役，也不会离开足球圈。“我已经想了很长一段时间，现在我决定退出。我将继续学习，争取成为一名守门员教练。”-------------------------------
Benfica defender Miguel joins Valencia

LISBON, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Benfica defender Miguel Monteiro has joined Valencia of Spain on a five-year contract, the Lisbon club said on Thursday.

The 25-year-old international, who cancelled an extension of his contract to 2008 with the Portuguese champions, will complete the move after medical tests.

Benfica did not reveal the transfer fee, which has been put at eight million euros ($9.78 million) in Portuguese media reports.

Valencia have undergone a major overhaul following their disappointing seventh-place finish last season, with former player Quique Sanchez Flores taking over from Antonio Lopez as coach and a host of top-class new players joining the club.

Miguel is the fifth newcomer after Dutch striker Patrick Kluivert, Brazilian midfielder Edu, Spain centre-forward David Villa and Uruguay winger Mario Regueiro.
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Promoted Alaves sack coach after a month

(Adds background on Monfort, corrects spelling of surname)

MADRID, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Alaves have sacked coach Rafael Monfort just a week before the start of the Spanish season and a little over a month after he took charge of the promoted team.

Monfort, who was appointed to the post on July 6, will be replaced by former coach Chuchi Cos who steered the club to a return to the top flight last season.

A former Espanyol youth team coach, Monfort was in charge for just six pre-season friendly matches with a record of four wins, one draw and one defeat.

Alaves shot to fame when they reached the final of the UEFA Cup in a fairytale debut European campaign in 2001, losing 5-4 to Liverpool on the golden goal rule.

They were relegated two seasons later, but are now back in the Primera Liga after claiming the final promotion place in the second division.

The Basque side are controlled by the outspoken Ukrainian-born American entrepreneur Dimitry Piterman who took charge in July 2004 after buying a majority shareholding in the club.

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Czech striker Baros joins Aston Villa

(adds details, more quotes)

LONDON, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Czech Republic striker Milan Baros joined Aston Villa from European champions Liverpool for 6.5 million pounds ($11.69 million) on Tuesday.

"Of course, I am very pleased to join Villa. It is not easy to leave Liverpool but Villa are also a big club, so I am happy to come here," Baros told the Villa website.

"Hopefully, my best years are still to come. I am still young and very ambitious. I want to achieve things here with Aston Villa.

Baros said Villa manager David O'Leary and midfielder Patrik Berger, a fellow Czech, had influenced his decision to move clubs.

"I spoke to David O'Leary at length and he was a big factor in my deciding to come here," he said.

"It was a big decision for me, but if the manager wants you it is easier. I used to play alongside Patrik Berger at Liverpool and also with the Czech Republic and he said many good things about Villa.

"I think there are some quality players here and hopefully we can qualify to play in Europe next season."

Baros joined Liverpool from Banik Ostrava for 3.6 million pounds ($6.48 million) in December 2001 and was under contract with the club until 2007.

He has scored 25 goals in 40 appearances for the Czech Republic, including five at Euro 2004 in Portugal where he was the tournament's top scorer.

Baros will make his Villa debut at home to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday. O'Leary's side have lost one and drawn one of their first two games of the season.

原版新闻大放送(三)

Israel coach Grant quits after World Cup failure

(adds quotes, detail, byline)

By Ori Lewis

TEL AVIV, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Israel coach Avraham Grant has resigned after failing to steer the country to the World Cup finals in Germany next year, the Israeli FA said on Wednesday.