Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed Manchester United have appointed two full-time scouts in Brazil to keep tabs on the latest Samba stars.

Tomorrow's Milan derby will rock to a distinctly Samba beat with Ronaldinho hoping he can finally join the party after a quiet start to his Serie A career.

Sunday's Milan derby will rock to a distinctly Samba beat with Ronaldinho hoping he can finally join the party after a quiet start to his Serie A career.

Manchester City will not be signing Brazil's three-time World Footballer of the Year Ronaldo. Reports have emerged from Spain that the out-of-contract 31-year-old had accepted an offer from City to join fellow countrymen Robinho and Jo at Eastlands.

There is a theory that if Joe Cole had grown up in Cadiz instead of Camden and was called Jose Carbonero or something similar, we would all appreciate his beguiling – occasionally frustrating – talent as a footballer all the more. Cole is stuck with being English, however, and England's match-winner against Andorra appealed yesterday to Fabio Capello to be the first manager to show real faith in him when he picks his team to face Croatia in the World Cup qualifier tomorrow night.

Newcastle United have identified the Croatia coach Slaven Bilic as one of their top choices to succeed Kevin Keegan as manager of the club. Key figures at Newcastle are expected to meet this week to draw up a list of potential managers on which Bilic will figure prominently.

The reigning Olympic champions Argentina will meet Nigeria on Saturday in a repeat of the 1996 Olympic final after Atletico Madrid's Sergio Aguero put away two second-half chances here to end the hopes of their arch rivals.

Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho will go head-to-head in the semifinals of the Olympic football tournament on Tuesday in the latest chapter of a storied rivalry between Argentina and Brazil.

Tottenham fully expect Manchester United to renew their efforts to sign Dimitar Berbatov and have privately dismissed the notion that Sir Alex Ferguson has turned his sights to Thierry Henry. Spurs remain pessimistic that they will be able to hang on to their striker after another lacklustre display by the Bulgarian against Roma at White Hart Lane on Sunday suggested his heart is no longer in it.

Argentina's Lionel Messi, finally cleared to play in the Olympics after a long-running club-versus-country conflict, inspired the defending champions to a 2-1 win over Ivory Coast today in their opening game.

They will forever be remembered as part of the greatest Barcelona team of all time, and one that eliminated Chelsea on their way to the 2006 Champions League title but Deco's love affair with the former European champions is well and truly over. On his official introduction as a Chelsea player, the Portuguese midfielder said that he and Ronaldinho had to leave the Nou Camp to get their careers back on track.

Ronaldinho put a year of troubles behind him on Wednesday when he breezed into AC Milan's training ground to be greeted by around 4,000 screaming fans.