Rooney gets two-match ban

Wayne Rooney was banned for two competitive matches and fined 5,000 Swiss francs by FIFA8217;s disciplinary committee for his dismissal in the World Cup quarter final against Portugal.

BERLIN: Wayne Rooney was banned for two competitive matches and fined 5,000 Swiss francs by FIFA8217;s disciplinary committee for his dismissal in the World Cup quarter final against Portugal. FIFA also banned Argentine defender Leandro Cufre for four matches and fined him 10,000 Swiss francs for his part in the melee that followed his team8217;s quarter final exit on penalties to Germany. His team mate Maxi Rodriguez was banned for two matches and fined 5,000 Swiss francs for his part in the same incident.

Italy top diving charts

BERLIN: Staff at the British office of Information Builders IBI tracked a string of alternative statistics during Germany 2006, including dives, feigned injuries, referee intimidation, tantrums and even players who didn8217;t sing their national anthem. According to them, Italy leads in dives 32, France in tantrums 28, Paraguay in fake injuries 12, and Serbia-Montenegro in players not singing the anthem 31. Croatia, France, Italy and Portugal are tied in bullying the referee incidents with five, although Croatia played half the games three than the others did.

Former coach backs France

BERLIN: France are well set to win the World Cup final against Italy with Zinedine Zidane the man who could make the difference, said former national team coach Aime Jacquet. Jacquet was in charge when the French won the 1998 World Cup by defeating Brazil 3-0 in Paris. He stood down from the post immediately afterwards but is still influential as overall head of coaching. 8220;France is very well-placed for this match,8221; Jacquet said. 8220;But our opponents know us well and they have the potential and the players to make it difficult for us. We are slight favourites though and we always have the exceptional Zidane who I think will be the decisive factor.8221;

Monks in favour of Italy

RUMTEK: When Italy takes the field in Sunday8217;s World Cup final, it will have some unusual support 8211; about 300 monks at one of Tibetan Buddhism8217;s holiest monasteries will be praying and cheering for the Azzurri. It8217;s Italy8217;s fair play during the tournament that has impressed the holy men at the Rumtek monastery. 8220;I am praying for Italy8217;s victory like many of my colleagues here. The team has reached the finals after a long gap and are playing in a fair manner,8221; said Tenzing Dorji, a 27 year-old monk.

French public sure of win

PARIS: Almost nine out of 10 French people are convinced their team will beat Italy and take home the World Cup on Sunday, according to a poll in the Le Parisian newspaper. The poll of 513 people showed 86 percent believe the national team will win in Berlin while only five percent think not. People younger than 30 are the most fervent supporters with 92 percent predicting a win while pensioners and people in the rural areas are slightly less convinced.

Better weather for final

BERLIN: The heavy rains and thunderstorms that have doused Berlin8217;s heat wave in the last two days will have left the capital by Sunday8217;s World Cup final, said Germany8217;s leading meteorologist. Joerg Kachelmann, ARD television8217;s weather forecaster, said that temperatures at kick-off on Sunday for the match at the Olympiastadion between Italy and France would be 24 degrees.