Sporting Digest: Football

Jan Molby, the Kidderminster Harriers manager, has signed his former Liverpool team-mate Mike Marsh. The midfielder has signed an 18-month contract at Aggborough after leaving Harriers' Nationwide Conference rivals Southport.

Romario rejoined Vasco da Gama yesterday, the club where he began his career. The Brazilian World Cup-winner signed two weeks after being sacked by Vasco's bitter rivals Flamengo for allegedly spending a night on the town without permission. He will make his competitive debut in January's World Club championship, which Brazil is hosting.

A planned kidnapping of the wife and seven-year-old daughter of the Borussia Dortmund player Matthias Sammer was foiled when one of the three kidnappers told police. They had planned to demand pounds 600,000 from the former European Player of the Year who has been injured since 1997.

Players from the Spanish Third Division club Hercules, unhappy with their wages, are planning to go on strike. "We are exercising our rights to strike. The proposal is to go ahead on 1, 2 and 3 December. If we are going to strike then all activities will be stopped," the club captains Jose Ignacio Conte, Paquito Escudero and Josip Visnjic said yesterday.

EUROPEAN PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD NOMINEES (Winner to be announced on 20 December): F Barthez (Monaco); M Basler (Bayern Munich); G Batistuta (Fiorentina); D Beckham (Manchester United); D Bergkamp (Arsenal); O Bierhoff (Milan); L Blanc (Marseilles, Internazionale); G Buffon (Parma); A Shevchenko (Dynamo Kiev, Milan); A Shovkovski (Dynamo Kiev); C Lopez (Valencia); A Cole (Manchester United); H Crespo (Parma); E Davids (Juventus); F de Boer (Ajax, Barcelona); M Desailly (Chelsea); S Effenberg (Bayern Munich); Elber (Bayern Munich); Luis Figo (Barcelona); R Giggs (Manchester United); D Ginola (Tottenham Hotspur); J Guardiola (Barcelona); F Inzaghi (Juventus); Jardel (Porto); N Kanu (Arsenal); R Keane (Manchester United); P Kluivert (Barcelona); P Maldini (Milan); L Mattheus (Bayern Munich); S Mihajlovic (Lazio); F Morientes (Real Madrid); H Nakata (Perugia); P Nedved (Lazio); E Petit (Arsenal); G Poyet (Chelsea); Raul (Real Madrid); Rivaldo (Barcelona); R Carlos (Real Madrid); Ronaldo (Inter); M Salas (Lazio); P Schmeichel (Manchester United, Sporting Lisbon); J Stam (Manchester United); L Thuram (Parma); J Veron (Parma, Lazio); C Vieri (Lazio, Inter); S Wiltord (Bordeaux); D Yorke (Manchester United); Z Zahovic (Porto, Olympiakos); Z Zidane (Juventus); G Zola (Chelsea).

WORTHINGTON CUP Fourth round: Re-arranged fixture: Wed 15 Dec: Leicester City v Leeds Utd (from 30 Nov).

THURSDAY'S LATE RESULTS: Uefa Cup third round first leg: Arsenal 3 (Overmars pen 13, Winterburn 81, Bergkamp 90) Nantes 0; Rangers 2 (Kohler og 18, Wallace 45) Borussia Dortmund 0; Roma 1 (Totti pen 51) Newcastle 0; Spartak; Ajax 0 Mallorca 1 (Tristan 35); Celta Viga 7 (Karpin 16, 53, Makelele 30, Turdo 39, 50, Juanfran 43, Mostovoi 62) Benfica 0; Deportivo La Coruna 4 (Olivares og 8, Pauleta 13, Djalminha 15, Donato 30) Panathinaikos 2 (Warzycha 20, Galetto 66); Lens 1 (Schjonberg og 84) Kaiserslautern 2 (Sikora og 31, Wagner 38); Lyon 3 (Anderson 12, 31, Vairelles 78) Werder Bremen 0; Olympiakos 1 (Giannacopoulos 15) Juventus 3 (Tudor 27, Kovacevic 67, Inzaghi 88); Parma 2 (Di Vaio 16, Stanic 47) Sturm Graz 1 (Schopp 21); Slavia Prague 4 (Dostalek 2, Hovarth 38, 47, Dosek 55) Steaua Bucharest 1 (Lutu 81). FA Premier Reserve League (North): Bradford City 1 Manchester United 3. (South): Derby County 1 Chelsea 0; Nottingham Forest 0 Southampton 2. The FA Youth Cup Third Round: Barnsley 2 Mansfield Town 2. First North Western Trains League First Division: Nantwich Town 2 Newcastle Town 1. Eircom League of Ireland: Shelbourne 1 Finn Harps 1.