Mansour Ebrahim-Zadeh (c) talks to players during training at the Azadi Stadium's camp on Thursday.

TEHRAN, Jan. 4--Iran’s National Football Team is to face Germany’s Hansa Rostok in a friendly match in Tehran in preparation for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.
“The result would be important for any team. We will meet Hansa Rostok on Saturday with all our might,“ Iran’s assistant coach Mansour Ebrahim-Zadeh told IRNA on Wednesday.
“Ali Karimi and Javad Kazemian, our two foreign-based players, will be back with the team soon,“ he added.
Ebrahim-Zadeh went on to say that the match is a test for Iran’s team, but the most important thing for them is to have this new experience.

TEHRAN, Jan. 4--Tehran’s football team Persepolis has drawn up a list to purchase three players in the winter transfer window.
Afshin Qotbi, currently on a mid-season vacation to the United Arab Emirates, plans to add two midfielders and a forward to his team, Presstv reported.
Qotbi has submitted the names of players to Persepolis authorities.
The team will start preparations for the second mid-season matches of the Iranian Premier League next Sunday.
Persepolis players were frustrated when they lost 2-1 against Sepahan. However, the head of the Persepolis management board, Ali Saeedlou, said he still hopes to win the championship trophy at the end of the season.
Rumors are circulating that a Brazilian player will join the team.

LONDON, Jan. 4--Tottenham Hotspur manager Juande Ramos has said that it would take a fee of more than £30 million for the club to consider selling striker Dimitar Berbatov.
“I think a club would have to break the British transfer record to sign Berbatov,“ Ramos told Reuters on Thursday.
“Unless something strange happens - and I think it will not happen - there’s not going to be a club that will pay the price that Tottenham could accept.“
The current British record stands at the £30 million Chelsea paid for Andriy Shevchenko in 2006 and Berbatov’s agent Emil Dantchev last week asked Spurs to allow the Bulgarian to leave should a big enough club make an offer.
“I have already spoken to the Tottenham chairman, Daniel Levy, and told him that if a club that corresponds to Dimitar’s class and ambition comes in with an offer that suits his current club in January he would like to be allowed to go,“ Dantchev said.

BARCELONA, Spain, Jan. 4--Barcelona playmaker Ronaldinho has been ruled out of this weekend’s Primera Liga clash with Real Mallorca due to injury.
According to Sportinglife, Ronaldinho is still suffering from a problem to his left knee that he first noticed during training last Sunday and Barcelona doctor Ricard Pruna has confirmed the Brazilian will not be available for the trip to Mallorca.
As for Lionel Messi, who has been sidelined with a thigh injury since December 15, Pruna revealed that the Argentinian is recovering well and is on course to return later this month.
However, reserve goalkeeper Albert Jorquera will be out of action for around six months after undergoing an operation on his injured right knee on Thursday.
Barcelona are second in the Primera Liga standings, seven points behind Real Madrid heading into their first league match of 2008.

TEHRAN, Jan. 4--Islamic Azad University’s Cycling Team with nine Iranian riders is slated to take part in the Jelajah Malaysia Bicycle Tournament.
According to Presstv, the competitions will be held in seven stages along 1,200 kilometers of mountainous roads in Malaysia from Jan 7 to Jan 13.
Twenty teams are scheduled to participate in the event from countries, including Japan, South Korea, Australia, Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, Turkey, Iran and the United States.
Amir Zargari, Mehdi Sohrabi, Hassan Maleki, Mehdi Faridi and Farshad Salehi are among members of the team.

Wayne Rooney

MANCHESTER, UK, Jan. 4--Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has spoken of his pride at wearing the club’s coveted No 10 shirt.
“Ten has always been my favorite number,“ he told Inside United magazine.
“When Ruud left and no-one took it the following season I asked the manager and David Gill if I could have the shirt.
“I had to wait a year until the new kit came out but as soon as that happened I was given the shirt which was great.“
Rooney follows in the footsteps of United legends like Denis Law, Mark Hughes, Nistelrooy. Rooney said: “They were all great players who scored so many goals for the club so I knew what a big number it was for me to take.
“But that history makes wearing the shirt feel even better and also makes it more of a challenge to succeed.
“I always keep my first shirt of every new season so I’ve got the first No. 10 I wore against Chelsea in the Community Shield up at home.“
The Old Trafford goal-getter also recognizes the other world class players who’ve worn the shirt, Puskas, Pele, Platini. Maradona, Baggio, Zidane and Ronaldinho.
“It’s definitely been an important number down the years. It’s probably more of a traditional number in South America for the best players to wear No 10 compared to here and when you look at the players who have worn it, it feels great to have the number.
“Hopefully when I’ve finished people will look back and say the same thing about me.“

SYDNEY, Australia, Jan. 4--World No.1 Roger Federer said he was fresh and motivated ahead of this month’s Australian Open as he arrived in the country Friday in pursuit of Pete Sampras’ record 14 grand slam titles.
According to AFP, Federer, 26, is favorite to complete an Australian Open hat-trick at Melbourne Park from January 14-27, which would take him to within one slam of Sampras’ benchmark tally.
“I feel fresh, I feel fit, motivated and I think that’s the key,“ Federer told reporters. “I’ve been practising really hard and it’s always a thrill when the year kicks off and after the Australian Open you have a lot of answers.“
“If not, you can go to the practice court and go and get ready for the rest of the year.“
The Swiss great said he would do everything in his power this year to improve his peerless game as chases the grand slam record, Olympic glory in Beijing and the elusive French Open.
“Honestly, in tennis you can never work hard enough because there’s movement, there’s forehands, backhands, slice, topspin, coming to the net ... I’d definitely like to improve my skills,“ he said.
Federer said he was improving his net play, after working on that aspect of his game with his former Australian coach Tony Roche.
“So that’s something I’m definitely going to try to keep up,“ Federer said. “It gives you great opportunities as well against all the baseline players in the world today. You have an extra option. That’s a good thing.“

LONDON, UK, Jan. 4--Swansea manager Roberto Martinez has been named as League One’s manager of the month for December.
Martinez, who won the same award in October, guided his side to victory in all four league games during December, BBC wrote.
A highlight was the 3-2 win over Leeds on 29 December, while they also beat non-league Horsham in the FA Cup.
The other contenders for the managerial award were Doncaster boss Sean O’Driscoll, Walsall manager Richard Money and Yeovil’s Russell Slade.

LONDON, Jan. 5-- Former world number one Martina Hingis, who retired from tennis in November after testing positive for cocaine, was banned for two years on Friday after an independent tribunal confirmed the doping offence.
According to Reuters, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) said in a statement that the 27-year-old Swiss would also forfeit the ranking points resulting from last year’s Wimbledon championships and 65,500 pounds in prize money.
Hingis, a five-times grand slam champion, has denied taking cocaine but said in November she had “no desire to spend the next several years of my life reduced to fighting against the doping officials.“
The ITF statement said the anti-doping tribunal had ruled after a two-day hearing last month that samples produced by Hingis at Wimbledon last June had tested positive for a metabolite of cocaine.
It rejected the suggestion made on behalf of the player that there were doubts about the identity or integrity of the sample attributed to her.
“The Tribunal also rejected Ms Hingis’ plea of No (or No Significant) Fault or Negligence, on the basis that no mitigation was possible as it had not been shown how the cocaine entered her system,“ it added.
Larry Scott, chief executive of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), said in a separate statement: “We are saddened by this news as Martina has meant so much to fans the world over and made many positive contributions to the sport.“
He added, however, that the WTA Tour fully supported the tribunal.
“We support and will enforce the ruling of this independent tribunal under the Tennis Anti-Doping Program,“ he said.

Cam Cameron

MIAMI, USA, Jan. 4-- The Miami Dolphins, who won just one of 16 games this season, fired coach Cam Cameron on Thursday.
According to Reuters, the Dolphins appointed Jeff Ireland as general manager on Wednesday and his first move was to release Cameron who had been in charge for a single season.}
The team has also released all but two of Cameron’s coaching staff -- assistant special teams coach Steve Hoffman and linebackers coach George Edwards will stay.
The departure of Cameron is the second major move made by Miami since former Super Bowl winning coach Bill Parcells took on the role of head of football operations last week.
Parcells, who coached the New York Giants to two Super Bowl titles, fired general manager Randy Mueller and brought in Ireland from his last team, the Dallas Cowboys.
Ireland told a news conference that they had not agonized at length over the decision.

CHICAGO, USA, Jan. 4-- Jarrett Jack’s three-point play with 19 seconds remaining in double overtime led the Portland Trail Blazers to a 115-109 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Thursday.
The win was the 15th in 16 games for the Trail Blazers, who rallied after trailing by 14 points in the third quarter, Reuters reported.
“This was a big game for us,“ Portland coach Nate McMillan told reporters. “To win a back-to-back (games) on the road, especially the way we’ve played there, is huge.“
Jack drove for a lay up after Chicago’s Ben Gordon lost the ball, then sank a free throw to put the Trail Blazers ahead for good at 111-108.
Joe Smith, who had 31 points and 11 rebounds, made one of two free throws for Chicago with 14 seconds remaining before Portland’s James Jones scored the next four points on free throws to wrap up the victory.
Brandon Roy led the Trail Blazers with 25 points and 11 assists while Travis Outlaw added 21 points off the bench.
Gordon topped Chicago with 32 points while Bulls forward Luol Deng sat out the second half with tightness in his left Achilles’ tendon. He scored two points.
The game went into overtime when Portland’s Roy missed a jumper at the buzzer with the score knotted at 88-88.
Smith hit two free throws with 10 seconds left in the first extra period to tie the score at 102-102.

MOUNT ELGON, Kenya, Jan. 4--World junior champion Linet Masai could miss Saturday’s Belfast International Cross Country meeting because of the violence in her native Kenya.
Several other Kenyans are also facing problems getting flights, BBC said.
Masai lives in the area where more than 30 people were killed in a fire at a church and she has been told it is too dangerous to travel to Nairobi airport.
The 18-year-old had been scheduled to catch a flight to London and then on to Belfast for the race at Stormont.
She was due to take on Stephanie Twell and Hayley Yelling on a 5.6k race.
A spokesperson for Northern Ireland Athletics said Masai had been waiting in the vicinity of Eldoret Airport, hoping for a connecting flight to Nairobi.
However, it is thought the chances of her traveling are not good as it is reported that hundreds of refugees were attempting to board the same flight.