Dwight Yorke embarked on his journey from Sydney to Sunderland last night but, before boarding the plane, Roy Keane's first signing did not sound entirely overjoyed at swapping Australia's A League for Wearside and Championship football.
"I'm gutted and completely devastated to be leaving," Yorke told the Sydney Morning Telegraph. "I sat by the phone waiting for someone from Sydney FC to say they didn't want me to go. But that call never came and I'm very emotional about it. I'm absolutely gutted to say the least."
The 34-year-old striker, a former Manchester United team-mate of Keane's, revealed he was prepared to back out of his £200,000 move to Sunderland at the 11th hour to remain at the A League club. "If I had taken a call from Sydney FC at the last minute and they'd said 'Dwight, we don't want you to leave' I would have stayed."
The former England captain Terry Butcher, Sydney FC's manager, had wanted to keep the striker but the club are having financial difficulties and have sold Yorke to balance the books. A Sunderland spokesman said: "We haven't had a chance to talk to Dwight about these quotes coming from Australia yet. It's not fair for us to comment on them as Dwight isn't due to arrive here until Wednesday."
Sweden have sent home Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Olof Mellberg and Christian Wilhelmsson for staying out too late on Sunday ahead of this week's Euro 2008 qualifier with Liechtenstein, the soccer association said on Monday.
"The players were given the afternoon and evening off on Sunday on the agreement that all would gather back at the hotel at 2300," the Swedish FA said in a statement. "All the players were back for the late evening gathering, but three of the players stayed out later and returned to the hotel at about 0115," the statement added.
"It is the consideration of the team's leadership that the three broke the common agreement and it has therefore been decided that the three have to leave the team in Gothenburg immediately," the statement confirmed.
Sweden won their first qualifier 1-0 against Latvia in Riga on Saturday with a Kim Kallstrom goal. Wednesday's game with Liechtenstein will be in the western port town of Gothenburg.
Romania's players have asked the soccer federation to move future matches away from the Constanta stadium, which they believe is now jinxed.
Romania squandered a 2-0 lead against Bulgaria on Saturday in a European Championship qualifier. Martin Petrov scored in the 82nd and 84th minutes for the visitors.
"The players want to go elsewhere," Romania coach Victor Piturca told Realitatea TV on Monday. He said he would reluctantly accept to play the next match against Belarus in Bucharest, despite the fact that fans in the capital are less enthusiastic "as they see enough quality soccer" at club level.
The Macedonia football association have admitted that England's black players face racist abuse at tomorrow's Euro 2008 qualifier at the Gradski stadium despite the governing body's efforts to discourage home fans from repeating the disgraceful scenes of England's last visit three years ago.
The Macedonians have gone to great lengths to avoid the abuse and burning of an English flag that cost them £10,730 in fines from Uefa when they faced England in that Euro 2004 qualifier. On that night, which ended in a 2-1 victory for England, Sol Campbell, Emile Heskey and Ashley Cole were all victims.
The hostile atmosphere had grown in the weeks running up to that game in which the Macedonians had claimed they were insulted by reports in British newspapers. The FA had asked England fans not to travel to the game and not made tickets available because they feared a repeat of the violence.
Sir Alex Ferguson has called for the introduction of a winter break in the domestic season. The Manchester United manager insists he has supported the idea for many years.
A number of managers, including former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson, have lobbied for a break but the proposal has been vetoed as it would lead to a reduction in the number of Premiership clubs and the FA Cup would also be affected.
Ferguson told the official Manchester United magazine, Inside United: "I've always been a supporter. It makes me laugh when managers come out and talk about winter breaks — I championed it when I was manager of Aberdeen in 1980 and I did again when I first came down here in 1986! And there's still nothing done, it's ridiculous.
''We had international friendlies at the beginning of June, so why can't we play the season until the end of May? The players need to keep going anyway for these internationals. The Christmas programme is great in this country, we get great crowds then but why not start a three-week lay-off on Jan 1 and use the whole of May when the weather is better?"
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