China surveyed the ruins of another dismal World Cup qualifying campaign Saturday as North Korea's bid hit the wall and Australia's progress was checked by lowly Oman.

China's loss against Iraq left Juan Antonio Camacho's men all but out of the running for Brazil 2014, needing a hatful of goals in their final two matches and for other results to go their way.

The kidnapping ordeal of Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos ended after two days when Venezuelan police commandos swooped in to rescue him in a flurry of gunfire and arrested five alleged abductors.

Ramos said he was happy and thankful to be alive, and that the final moments had been hair-raising as police and the kidnappers exchanged heavy fire in the remote mountainous area where he was being held.

Lebanon beat Kuwait 1-0 on Friday to move into second place in Group B of the Asian qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup.

Mahmoud al-Ali scored the winner after 57 minutes. Abbas Atwi collected the ball on the edge of the area from Ahmed Zreik before sliding a pass through to al-Ali, who lifted the ball over the oncoming Nawaf al Khaldi.

Bayern Munich's chances of having Arjen Robben back for their key clash with Dortmund suffered an injury set back on Friday, just 24 hours after he returned to training following groin surgery.

Having only rejoined the squad on Thursday, the 27-year-old quit training early on Friday, complaining of pain in the pubic bone and groin area, which was the reason for his recent operation, reported German magazine Kicker.

Novak Djokovic pulled out of the Paris Masters with a nagging shoulder injury before his quarterfinal against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Friday.

The top-ranked Djokovic announced on his website that the injury got worse after his third-round comeback win against fellow Serb Viktor Troicki on Thursday.

David Stern is ready to start a 72-game season on Dec. 15.

Players, however, aren't prepared to make that happen just yet.

The English Football Association has charged Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas with improper conduct over his criticism of a referee.

Villas-Boas said Chris Foy's performance in Chelsea's 1-0 loss at Queens Park Rangers last month was "very, very poor" and accused the referee and his officials of being swayed by the crowd at Loftus Road.

The Southeast Asian Games officially open on Friday in Indonesia, where beleaguered organizers have admitted to battling a slew of problems including corruption, unfinished venues and poor ticket sales.

Eleven nations will contest sports from athletics and swimming to sepak takraw -- a cross between football and volleyball -- in the biennial Games held in the Indonesian capital Jakarta and Palembang in South Sumatra.

Andy Murray easily beat Andy Roddick 6-2, 6-2 on Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters.

The second-seeded British player improved his record to 17-0 since the U.S. Open and has now won 27 of his last 28 matches since mid-August.

Italy will head to Poland for a friendly Friday with attacking problems at the forefront of their minds, with starting forwards Giuseppe Rossi and Antonio Cassano out with long-term injuries.

Rossi had knee surgery last week and Cassano is recovering from heart surgery, with both players expected to be out for up to six months.