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Desailly confirms intention to coach Ghana after LeRoy

LUCERNE, Switzerland: Former French international and World Cup winner Marcel Desailly has confirmed his intention to return to football as coach of Ghana, once current manager Claude LeRoy has finished his "great job".

Desailly, who was born in Ghana before moving to France as a child, retired as a player in 2006 and has spent his time since then as an ambassador for UNICEF and working on other projects, mostly with children.

The 39-year-old, who helped France win the World Cup in 1998 and the European Championship two years later, ruled himself out of the Ghana job when it went to Frenchman LeRoy last year but next time he will be keen to apply.

"My time will come," Desailly told Reuters in an interview on Sunday. "Ghana has a good generation of players. We have Claude LeRoy, who is doing a great job.

"In the future, I will come back into coaching. My target for sure (is Ghana). After LeRoy, my time will come."

Robson says England should persuade O'Neill to coach

LONDON: Former England manager Bobby Robson has urged FA chief executive Brian Barwick to try to persuade Martin O'Neill to take the job vacated by Steve McClaren.

"Of the 'British' managers, Martin O'Neill stands out," Robson wrote in the Mail on Sunday newspaper. "He's bright, charismatic, experienced and a proven winner.

"Crucially, he also has the ability to change games, as do Guus Hiddink and Jose Mourinho.

"Martin did it many times for Celtic, and now at Aston Villa. He always seemed to know which spark plug needs changing," said Robson, who said the next manager would be English in an ideal world.

O'Neill, 55, was overlooked for the job last time around, when McClaren was chosen to follow on from Sven-Goran Eriksson, and the Northern Irishman said last month that he was now committed to staying at Aston Villa.

McClaren was sacked after England lost 3-2 to Croatia and failed to qualify for next year's European Championship finals.

Immelman says Sun City win was a triumph of mind

SUN CITY, South Africa: World No 22 Trevor Immelman said his victory in the Sun City Challenge on Sunday was a triumph of the mind.

Immelman sneaked to a one-stroke victory over European Order of Merit winner Justin Rose of England in a thrilling duel that went down to the final hole.

"It's hard to describe how much it comes down to your mind at this level," South African Immelman told reporters after his triumph, achieved with a 16-under-par total of 272.

"You have to make sure all your thoughts are positive but I didn't feel like I produced my best stuff out there. I was fighting my swing and I had to grind it out and obviously I'm proud of how I stuck in there.

"I held it together well emotionally and I didn't get down on myself, which was crucial."

Immelman said the victory ranked as his biggest yet because it was achieved in front of his home fans.

Goetschl considers Vancouver Olympics after fast start

LAKE LOUISE, Alberta: A fast start to the season has made Austrian speed queen Renate Goetschl rethink her retirement plans with a view to competing in the 2010 Olympics.

Following a 2006-07 season that ended in success and surgery, Goetschl had hinted that the current World Cup campaign would be her last.

But after starting on Saturday with second place in the Lake Louise downhill and a promising super G run until she missed a gate, the 32-year-old Austrian is re-assessing her future.

"I feel good about things, the downhill yesterday was awesome," Goetschl told Reuters. "I don't know about Vancouver but we will see.

"Right now it seems so long away but we will see. I am not getting younger but you never know."

Goetschl was in vintage form last season, notching eight wins to claim the downhill and super G crystal globes as the top skier in those two disciplines.

She also remained in contention for the overall crown, the World Cup's most coveted prize, until the final few races before a knee injury ended her bid.

(China Daily 12/04/2007 page23)