Sport Shorts Man United to SA

MANCHESTER United will definitely come to South Africa during the off-season and will use the Chloorkop headquarters of South African defending league champions Mamelodi Sundowns for their training purposes while in the country.

This much was revealed by Sundowns coach Gordon Igesund on Tuesday on his return from a fruitful ten-day visit to England where, together with his technical team, he visited some of Britain’s top teams. After spending quality time with Tottenham Hotspur coach Martin Jol and Arsene Wenger, Igesund and his crew spent an entire day in the company of United coach Alex Ferguson – both at his Old Trafford office and Carrington training ground.Madagascar coach fired MADAGASCAR have fired national team coach Jean Francois Dhebon four months after they lost heavily in their opening African Nations Cup qualifier.Madagascar Football Federation president Ahmad said the dismissal followed dissatisfaction with results in 2006, including a 4-0 loss to Gabon in September in a Group One qualifier for the 2008 finals.Madagascar’s two other matches last year saw them beaten by both Botswana and Swaziland in the regional Cosafa Castle Cup.Madagascar need to appoint a replacement before their next Nations Cup qualifier at home to the Ivory Coast in March.Harmison mystified ENGLAND pace bowler Steve Harmison admits he has no idea why he has finally rediscovered his form in the fifth Test at Sydney.England’s premier strike bowler has struggled ever since his and England’s opening delivery of the series at Brisbane ended in the hands of Andrew Flintoff at second slip.He has since taken just eight wickets in four Tests.But yesterday Harmison looked to have rediscovered some of the control and rhythm that made him the world’s number one ranked bowler as he took 2 for 34 in an aggressive display at the SCG that included his best spell of the tour, a 12-over burst that netted two wickets for just 11 runs.Flintoff boosts England AUSTRALIA reached 188-4 in reply to England’s first innings of 291 to leave the fifth Ashes Test intriguingly poised after the second day at the Sydney Cricket Ground.In the morning Andrew Flintoff resisted with 89 but England were blown away as their final five wickets mustered just 46 runs.Brett Lee and Stuart Clark led an impressive performance from Australia’s bowlers with three wickets each to give their batting colleagues an opportunity to build a position of strength.But it did not work out that way as the top three all gifted away their wickets – the most culpable being Ricky Ponting, who evoked memories of Gary Pratt’s famous run out at Trent Bridge in 2005 by again attempting a suicidal single.Philippoussis injury woe MARK Philippoussis will miss the Australian Open after scans revealed he has torn a cartilage in his right knee.The giant Australian damaged the lateral meniscus during his Hopman Cup clash with Jerome Haehnel, forcing him to withdraw from the mixed teams competition.Philippoussis’ latest injury represents a major setback for the 30-year-old, who had opened up the new year with an impressive victory over world number 22 Dmitry Tursunov.Missing the Australian Open could be the least of Philippoussis’ worries according to Hopman Cup doctor Hamish Osborne, who hinted the world number 114 could suffer further problems due to his size.After spending quality time with Tottenham Hotspur coach Martin Jol and Arsene Wenger, Igesund and his crew spent an entire day in the company of United coach Alex Ferguson – both at his Old Trafford office and Carrington training ground.Madagascar coach fired MADAGASCAR have fired national team coach Jean Francois Dhebon four months after they lost heavily in their opening African Nations Cup qualifier.Madagascar Football Federation president Ahmad said the dismissal followed dissatisfaction with results in 2006, including a 4-0 loss to Gabon in September in a Group One qualifier for the 2008 finals.Madagascar’s two other matches last year saw them beaten by both Botswana and Swaziland in the regional Cosafa Castle Cup.Madagascar need to appoint a replacement before their next Nations Cup qualifier at home to the Ivory Coast in March. Harmison mystified ENGLAND pace bowler Steve Harmison admits he has no idea why he has finally rediscovered his form in the fifth Test at Sydney.England’s premier strike bowler has struggled ever since his and England’s opening delivery of the series at Brisbane ended in the hands of Andrew Flintoff at second slip.He has since taken just eight wickets in four Tests.But yesterday Harmison looked to have rediscovered some of the control and rhythm that made him the world’s number one ranked bowler as he took 2 for 34 in an aggressive display at the SCG that included his best spell of the tour, a 12-over burst that netted two wickets for just 11 runs.Flintoff boosts England AUSTRALIA reached 188-4 in reply to England’s first innings of 291 to leave the fifth Ashes Test intriguingly poised after the second day at the Sydney Cricket Ground.In the morning Andrew Flintoff resisted with 89 but England were blown away as their final five wickets mustered just 46 runs.Brett Lee and Stuart Clark led an impressive performance from Australia’s bowlers with three wickets each to give their batting colleagues an opportunity to build a position of strength.But it did not work out that way as the top three all gifted away their wickets – the most culpable being Ricky Ponting, who evoked memories of Gary Pratt’s famous run out at Trent Bridge in 2005 by again attempting a suicidal single.Philippoussis injury woe MARK Philippoussis will miss the Australian Open after scans revealed he has torn a cartilage in his right knee.The giant Australian damaged the lateral meniscus during his Hopman Cup clash with Jerome Haehnel, forcing him to withdraw from the mixed teams competition.Philippoussis’ latest injury represents a major setback for the 30-year-old, who had opened up the new year with an impressive victory over world number 22 Dmitry Tursunov.Missing the Australian Open could be the least of Philippoussis’ worries according to Hopman Cup doctor Hamish Osborne, who hinted the world number 114 could suffer further problems due to his size.