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■FRANCE

Toulouse through to semis

Toulouse needed a penalty shootout to overcome Lille at home in the French Cup quarter-finals after a 1-1 draw marred by three red cards on Tuesday. Michel Fernandes Bastos put Lille in front with a powerful long-range shot in the first half of extra-time, but fellow Brazilian Emerson scored an own goal in the second period to keep Toulouse in the tie. Toulouse keeper Cedric Carrasso then made the decisive save in the shootout from Emerson to send the southern side through to the semi-finals. Both teams were reduced to 10 men in the first half after Lille’s Ludovic Obraniak and Toulouse’s Alexandre Bonnet were sent off. Lille were reduced to nine men when Yohan Cabaye was sent off for dissent just before the start of extra-time. Brazilian Ribeiro Eduardo scored a double to help Guingamp go through to the semi-finals with a 3-1 win at Ligue 2 rivals Sedan.



■ENGLAND

Capello likened to Ramsey

George Cohen believes that in Fabio Capello, England have a manager with similar qualities to those of 1966 World Cup supremo Sir Alf Ramsey. Cohen, England’s right-back when they beat the then West Germany 4-2 after extra-time in the World Cup final at Wembley nearly 43 years ago, reckons that successive sides have too often been allowed to lose their way. “I think in Capello we have a real disciplinarian. He has players thinking only about the football, which is how it should be,” Cohen said. “In that sense he is the same as Ramsey. He would always make sure we concentrated on why we were there, with no asides, and he got results. Capello is the same.”



■AUSTRALIA

Kewell returns to squad

Talisman Harry Kewell was named in the Australian squad yesterday to face Uzbekistan next month in a qualifier that could seal the Socceroos’ passage to the 2010 World Cup. Victory against the Uzbeks in Sydney on April 1 could guarantee Australia’s qualification, prompting coach Pim Verbeek to call on Kewell’s attacking flair. The Turkey-based midfielder missed the Socceroos’ last qualifier, a dour 0-0 draw against Japan, through injury. The 22-man squad also includes goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, who will become the longest serving Socceroo when he lines up against Uzbekistan. The fixture will mark 15 years and 244 days since the 36-year-old made his international debut, beating the previous record set by Tony Vidmar by a day.



■SWEDEN

Larsson gets the nod

Veteran striker Henrik Larsson was included in Sweden’s 23-man squad for next week’s World Cup qualifier against Portugal. Larsson will likely spearhead Sweden’s attack in the March 28 game in Porto, as Inter striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is suspended. Ibrahimovic picked up his second yellow card of the qualifying campaign against Portugal in Stockholm last year. Galatasaray midfielder Tobias Linderoth and Malmo midfielder Daniel Andersson are also out with injuries.



■CANADA

Whitecaps expect MLS spot

The Vancouver Whitecaps are expected to be introduced soon as the second Canadian team in Major League Soccer (MLS). Bob Lenarduzzi, the Whitecaps president, said he expects some sort of announcement before the MLS season opening on Thursday in Seattle. Will Kuhns, MLS director of communications, said the league has indicated in the past it would like to have the new teams named before the season begins. Ottawa, Portland and St Louis have also applied for a franchise.
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