Football: Tigana favourite to coach France

JEAN TIGANA, the Monaco coach, whose side knocked Manchester United out of the European Cup, is almost certain to take charge of France after the World Cup.

Aime Jacquet, the current national coach, leaves in the summer and Tigana, who has the backing of former French manager Michel Platini, is expected to be named next month. Tigana recently agreed to remain at Monaco until 2002, but the contract has not yet been signed.

Tigana's departure is certain to restart speculation that Glenn Hoddle, the England coach, will take over at Monaco, where he spent three seasons as a player in the late 1980s.

However, Hoddle is under contract with England until the European Championships in 2000 and has consistently denied any approach from the Cote d'Azur.

The remaining 110,000 tickets for this summer's World Cup finals will go on sale at 8am on Wednesday 22 April. The French organising committee announced yesterday that the tickets could only be purchased by telephone on a first come, first served basis, with a limit of four tickets per person per match to a maximum of 16 tickets per person overall.

Martin O'Neill, the Leicester City manager, is convinced Emile Heskey will become one of the top strikers in the Premiership and is keen to get his signature on a new deal.

"Things have not gone well for him this season but defenders know he still poses a very serious danger," O'Neill said. "I'm convinced he can score 20 goals a season. If we're going to have any ambition at Leicester we've got to try to keep him."