Wayne Rooney has been cleared to play in England's final group match at next year's European Championship following a UEFA decision to reduce his three-match ban to two.

UEFA says its appeals panel deferred the final match of the England striker's three-match suspension on condition of good behavior for four years.

With a star-studded squad that captured the European title in dominating fashion, Barcelona star Lionel Messi thinks his team is obliged to win the 2011 Club World Cup.

Barcelona is returning to the tournament two years after Messi led the Spanish giants to the title in the United Arab Emirates, scoring the winning goal in the 2-1 win over Argentina's Estudiantes.

Roberto Mancini has insisted the English Premier League title race will not be altered by Manchester City and Manchester United slipping into the Europa League.

City beat Bayern Munich 2-0 on Wednesday but could only finish third in Champions League Group A, due to Napoli's 2-0 win at Villarreal.

Just as in 2005, when Manchester United were last dispatched from the Champions League before Christmas, Sir Alex Ferguson will face calls to overhaul his team.

Six years ago to the day, in December of that year, Benfica were the harbingers of United's doom and Lisbon's fabled Estadio da Luz the setting.

South Korea coach Cho Kwang-Rae has been sacked after a shock defeat to Lebanon left the 2002 semi-finalists at risk of crashing out of World Cup qualifying, officials said Thursday.

Cho said he was "flabbergasted" at the move, which comes with his team still top of Group B on goal difference and needing only to avoid defeat in their last game to be sure of reaching the final round.

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg has accused illustrious teammate Michael Schumacher of being a sore loser but insisted harsher criticism of the multiple world champion is wide of the mark.

Rosberg consistently out-qualified seven-time world champion Schumacher over the season and also beat him regularly enough to the finish line to see out the year one place and 13 points above his teammate.

The U.S. Grand Prix has been included on the 2012 Formula One calendar, ending fears the race in Austin, Texas, would be cut for financial reasons.

The sport's governing body said Wednesday on its website that the 2012 "calendar was confirmed as previously published." The unchanged F1 calendar was approved at a World Motor Sport Council meeting in New Delhi, India.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger could head into the busy program of fixtures over Christmas without any recognized full backs after Andre Santos injured his right ankle in the Champions League loss to Olympiakos.

The Brazilian left back, one of the few first-team regulars selected for the 3-1 defeat on Tuesday, was forced off early in the second half.

Bayern Munich's Dutch star Arjen Robben and Germany midfielder Toni Kroos will both miss Wednesday's Champions League clash at Premier League leaders Manchester City with flu.

Robben has only recently returned after groin surgery in October and Bayern's director of sport, Christian Nerlinger, said he cannot play, despite the Dutchman having scored twice in Saturday's 4-1 win over Werder Bremen.

Roberto Mancini has hit back at Karl-Heinz Rummenigge after the Bayern Munich president again questioned Manchester City's ability to meet UEFA's Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.

Rummenigge called on European football's governing body to impose strict sanctions on clubs who fail to meet the criteria for FFP and supports the proposed bans from the Champions League and Europa League.