TEHRAN, Nov. 25--Isfahan’s Sepahan Football Team, one of two Asian clubs lined up for FIFA Club World Cup, will depart for Japan on Sunday.
Iran’s representative has already sent its list to FIFA which comprises of 30 football players, including its Nigerian football player, Kabirblo.
Of course, Kabirblo did not accompany Sepahan in the AFC Champions League held few weeks ago.
Sepahan will play against New Zealand’s Waitakere United in the opening match and victory over that team will mean that the Iranian team should compete with Japan’s Urawa Reds, ISNA reported.
Two teams have already confronted each other in the AFC Champions League where the Japanese team won the final.
Sepahan will proudly experience playing with the famous Milan team in the semifinal if it can defeat Urawa.
The tournament will take place in Tokyo as seven soccer clubs from the continental federations around the world will take part.
The FIFA Club World Cup is scheduled for Dec. 7-16.

DURBAN, South Africa, Nov. 25--The name Ali Daei rings out proudly in Asian football circles, especially so in the former striker’s native Iran. With 109 goals to his name in just 148 appearances for Team Melli (as Iran is nicknamed), he is far-and-away the top scorer in the history of international football and is unlikely to be caught out any time soon.
As reported by FIFA, Now coach of Iranian club side Saipa FC, Daei - regarded as the best Persian player in history and one of Asia’s true greats - is in Durban, South Africa as one of the honorary ball-pickers for the Preliminary Draw for the FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010 that held on Sunday .
The first Asian player ever to line up for German giants Bayern Munich was hoping intently to bring a bit of luck to his beloved national team in the ceremony.
Having retired from international football following the FIFA World Cup in Germany in 2006, he carried on playing club ball for a season before hanging up his boots after en emotional farewell match in May of 2007. Befitting his talismanic status, he was immediately named the Saipa’s manager.
Still the icon of Iranian football, Daei, now 38, is humble when asked if anyone can take his place and get the same kind of scoring output for the national team. “There will be no next Ali Daei, but maybe there will be one who is better. There are a lot of promising young strikers in the country and I hope they can come good and help to reach South Africa.

BRISBANE, Australia, Nov. 25--British football superstar David Beckham had a rocky welcome to Australia on Sunday, accused of ignoring child cancer survivors waiting to greet him in Sydney.
According to Reuters, Beckham, 32, the former English captain, said he did not see children waiting outside his Sydney hotel as he arrived under police escort for an exhibition match with his LA Galaxy team after flying from London by private jet.
“I would never have done that. Never have done, never will do. I’m more than willing to meet them wherever they want and at whatever time that they want,“ said a surprised Beckham when journalists asked him why he had snubbed the children.
Fourteen-year-old leukaemia survivor Emma Byers was left in tears after failing to give the former Manchester United and Real Madrid superstar a toy kangaroo as a welcome present.
“I’m quite happy to accept that he didn’t see the children. The kids were off to the side. The cameras were flashing. It was a bit dark,“ her mother Anita told Australian Associated Press.
“I’d like to think he’s a gentleman. I’m sure that if that’s what he says, that was the case.“ she said.
Beckham’s new team is in Sydney for three days to play an exhibition match against Sydney FC, to be watched by a sell-out 80,000 crowd at Telstra Stadium on Tuesday night.
His arrival comes just days after England’s shock 2-3 Euro 2008 qualification loss to Croatia on Wednesday. Beckham came on as a second-half substitute to make his 99th international appearance.

Pete Sampras of the US returns a shot to Switzerland's Roger Federer during an exhibition tennis match in Macau November 24, 2007.

LONDON, Nov. 25--Pete Sampras proved his serve and volley tactics were still razor sharp when he stunned world number one Roger Federer 7-6, 6-4 in an exhibition match in Macau on Saturday.
According to Reuters, Sampras might have turned his back on professional tennis more than five years ago but that did not stop him from upstaging Federer, who failed to win even a break point during the contest on a fast carpet surface.
The win allowed Sampras to finally taste victory against Federer.
The American lost their only competitive match, at Wimbledon in 2001, and was also beaten twice last week during their Asian exhibition series.
Sampras, the holder of a record 14 grand slam titles, kept the victory in perspective.
“Let’s not get carried away,“ the 36-year-old said as he dismissed talk of a comeback.
Two days ago, Federer said Sampras would still be ranked in the top five if he had continued playing and the Swiss did not seem too bothered by the defeat.
“It’s been tough beating my idol the last two times,“ said Federer, who is two grand slam titles from equaling Samrpas’s record.
“I’m happy that he got me at least once. I hope we can do it again in the future. I’d like to get him back.“

DERBY, England, Nov. 25--Chelsea coach Avram Grant expects to have Didier Drogba available for this week’s Champions League away game against Rosenborg, after the Ivory Coast striker was forced to sit out Saturday’s comfortable and controversial 2-0 victory over Derby County at Pride Park.
As reported by AFP, Drogba suffered a knee injury while on international duty last week, which prevented him from Premier League duty, as Chelsea moved to within five points of leaders Arsenal, stretching their unbeaten run to 12 games under the Israeli replacement for Jose Mourinho.
The loss of Michael Essien, the Ghana international, to a straight red-card in stoppage time against Derby County, for striking Derby striker Kenny Miller in the face with his arm, leaves the midfielder facing a three-match suspension, but at least Grant feels Drogba should be fit for duty in Oslo.
“We had to leave him out against Derby because he was not fit. So many times we have players who come back from international duty with injury, or they are tired,“ said Grant.
“We will have to see with Drogba, but we hope that he will be fit, because we need him to play in the game. He is an important player for us.“
Victory over Rosenborg will confirm Group B leaders Chelsea’s passage into the knock-out phase of the competition with a game to spare, after their comfortable warm-up exercise against Derby was rewarded with a simple 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Drogba’s international team mate Salomon Kalou and England international Shaun Wright-Phillips.
The latter was booed throughout the game, along with England colleagues Frank Lampard, John Terry and Ashley Cole, even though Cole and Terry did not take part in the disappointing 3-2 defeat against Croatia at Wembley on Wednesday night.
The pair both negotiated 90 minutes without too many difficulties as they returned from injuries that had sidelined them for seven and six weeks respectively.

LONDON, Nov. 25--Sacked England coach Steve McClaren said his successor will benefit from his failure in the high-profile job.
Much to the frustration of Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, McClaren did not last 12 hours in his job following England’s stunning exit from the Euro 2008 qualifying competition, AFP wrote.
FA chief executive Brian Barwick has been tasked with finding a replacement but already early favourite Martin O’Neill has ruled himself out, as have Sam Allardyce and Alan Curbishley, who were both interviewed when Sven-Goran Eriksson announced his intention to quit.
Although Barwick has vowed to take his time, it appears increasingly likely he will make another overseas appointment, with Fabio Capello among the foremost candidates if, as expected, Jose Mourinho declares a lack of interest.
But no matter who eventually gets the job, McClaren feels his dismal reign will actually be a major help.
“I believe, one day, we will get it right,“ said McClaren.
“The next man may have a huge advantage because of what has been a failure.
“It is an advantage that you are starting from a situation where there is only one way to go now.
“The next manager could be in a far better position because the expectations are not that great.“
McClaren remains insistent he regrets nothing about his time in charge and feels his management abilities have improved because of the time he spent with England.
But for a mad five minutes in Moscow, he could well still be in a job, which is why he does not feel the ’root and branch’ examination of the England set-up promised by FA chairman Geoff Thompson should trigger major changes.
“I believe in evolution, not revolution,“ he said.
“The margins between success and failure at this level are extremely fine and we have seen that over the last few weeks.

NEW YORK, Nov. 25--Ray Allen hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the sizzling Celtics a 96-95 victory over the Bobcats in Charlotte on Saturday, Boston’s 11th win in the first 12 games of the season.
Allen’s winning basket came after team mate Eddie House had knocked away a Jason Richardson inbounds pass with 4.7 seconds left, capping an evening on which the Celtics won their third straight game despite not playing well, Reuters wrote.
“There are so many lessons for us in that game,“ Boston coach Doc Rivers told reporters. “We didn’t play well. It was good to be lucky because we were not good tonight, we were lucky but we’ll take it.“
Allen had made just three of his previous 14 shots in the game.
“Even though I had an off night, I never lost my confidence,“ he said.
“Tonight’s game definitely wasn’t a piece of cake. This league is about winning games. It’s not about what record you have. You have to play hard every night.“
Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, the other two members of Boston’s new “Big Three,“ scored 23 points each and Garnett collected 11 rebounds.

COLOGNE, Germany, Nov. 25--Ralf Schumacher has thrown his hat into the ring to fill the McLaren Formula One drive vacated by Fernando Alonso.
“It’s no secret that the seat at McLaren-Mercedes is by far the most coveted there is,“ the 32-year-old German told Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
“Every driver out there in the market would love to sit in their super car.“
The younger brother of F1 great Michael Schumacher won six grand prix at Williams before moving to Toyota in 2005 where he failed to shine.
He has been replaced for next season by compatriot Timo Glock.
McLaren have yet to decide who will partner Britian’s Lewis Hamilton in 2008, but are thought to favour a younger driver.
Nico Rosberg (Williams), Heikki Kovaleinen (Renault) and Adrian Sutil (Spyker) have all been linked with the seat.
But Williams have told McLaren that Rosberg is going nowhere, Kovaleinen could be retained by Renault, and Sutil is admired by Spkyer’s new owner, the Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya.

Colin Montgomerie (r) and Marc Warren of Scotland celebrate with their trophy after beating the United States in the fourth extra hole play offs during the final day of the World Cup golf tournament in Dongguan, China November 25, 2007.

SHENZHEN, China, Nov. 25--Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie and Marc Warren will take the World Cup back to the home of golf for the first time after beating the United States on the third hole of a sudden death playoff on Sunday.
A fourth par of the day at the 18th proved enough for the Scots to defeat overnight leaders Boo Weekley and Heath Slocum, pick up a check for $800,000 each and make amends for their own playoff defeat by Germany last year, Reuters wrote.
“To come back after a playoff loss last year and win is superb, particularly as my playoff record is rubbish,“ Montgomerie told reporters after finally getting his hands on the John Hopkins trophy at the ninth attempt.
The Americans had looked set for victory when the Scots twice found the sand on the first extra hole but Warren nailed a 12-foot putt for par and Slocum just missed a seven-foot birdie effort.
Slocum had successfully drained a birdie putt just two feet shorter at the same green to force the playoff, giving the Americans a five-under 67 to match the Scots, who had shot a superb six-under 66, on 25-under for the tournament.
Both teams missed long birdie efforts at the second extra hole before Weekley failed with a 15-footer when he was putting for par to keep the match alive.
The Americans, both making their debuts in the 54-year-old tournament, had led by a shot after all three previous rounds in their pursuit of a 24th World Cup victory for their country.
Raphael Jacquelin failed to give his partner Gregory Havret the 31st birthday present he wanted by failing to make a tricky birdie putt at the 18th and the French had to settle for third on 24-under after a final round 67.

NEW YORK, Nov. 25--The Washington Capitals notched up their second straight victory for interim coach Bruce Boudreau when they beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 on Saturday.
According to Reuters, Boudreau was appointed when Glen Hanlon was fired after the team lost five games in a row to fall to 6-14-1, the worst record in the NHL.
The Capitals won with a goal and two assists from Michael Nylander and the 15th and 16th goals of the season from Alex Ovechkin.
They also struck for three powerplay goals, the first time since October 29 the team had scored at least two powerplay goals in a game.
“I think it’s not about the powerplay, the whole game is different right now,“ Ovechkin told reporters. “Everybody feels confident. We talk to each other, make simple plays and score goals.“
Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette said Washington was a better team than results had suggested.
“They capitalized on some powerplay chances tonight, but they are a hard-working team, they’ve got good skill level and they compete,“ he said.
Defenseman Mike Green scored one of the powerplay goals, his fifth goal of the year, one more than any Washington defenseman managed all of last season.