AC Milan striker Robinho had to be replaced with a knee injury after colliding with a tevelvision camera near the sidelines during the Italian team's friendly against local club Al Ahli.

The Brazil forward had to be helped off the pitch in the 85th minute and didn't return in Milan's 2-1 victory on Sunday.

Australia, Japan and South Korea head into the Asian Cup as clear favorites in a tournament that will test Qatar's ability to host a major event after being controversially awarded the 2022 World Cup.

The three-week football festival, featuring the region's top 16 teams, kicks off on January 7 when the hosts face Uzbekistan ahead of the final on January 29.

Defending champion Carlos Sainz has vowed to show respect and modesty as he sets about his hunt for a second triumph in the grueling 13-stage Dakar Rally which starts on Saturday.

The 48-year-old Spaniard, the world rally champion in 1990 and 1992 who converted to cross country rallying in 2005, led last year's Dakar from the fifth stage to finish ahead of Volkswagen teammates, and chief rivals, Nasser al-Attiyah and Mark Miller.

Defending champions Egypt are teetering on the brink of elimination from the African Nations Cup going into the new year while Botswana are just one win away from a fairytale first appearance.

The struggle for 14 places at the premier national-team football competition on the continent will dominate 2011 with four rounds of qualifiers starting in March and ending seven months later.

Clearer of mind and fitter of body than for some time, Serbian glamor girl Ana Ivanovic is confident she can climb back into the top 10 in 2011.

Ranked no.1 in the world in 2008, when she won her only Grand Slam singles title at the French Open,

Rafa Benitez's spell as Inter Milan coach ended after just six months on Thursday.

The Serie A champions announced that they have reached a "mutually satisfactory agreement" with Benitez to terminate his contract, which ran until the end of next season.

Roger Federer took the upper hand against Rafael Nadal on Tuesday with a two set to one win in a charity exhibition match in the Swiss city of Zurich.

After losing the first set 4-6, Federer broke back against the world number one early in the second set to take a 6-3, 6-3 lead, watched by a capacity home crowd including Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel, ski-ing champions Lindsey Vonn and Didier Cuche.

Retired tennis star Martina Hingis has married French showjumper Thibault Hutin in Paris, Swiss celebrity magazine Schweizer Illustrierte said.

According to the magazine's website, the 30-year-old former Grand Slam champion and the 24-year-old rider held their civil wedding on Friday in the presence of close family.

Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez said Sunday he wanted to leave the English Premier League high-flyers as his relationship with "certain executives and individuals" at the club "has broken down beyond repair".

But City captain Tevez, in a statement issued by his agent Kia Joorabchian, stressed he had "no personal issue" with manager Roberto Mancini despite their seemingly fractious relationship, and thanked owner Sheikh Mansour for his "understanding and support".

UEFA president Michel Platini says he's OK with the idea of shifting the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to winter from summer to avoid extreme desert temperatures.

After a UEFA executive committee meeting in Prague on Friday, Platini said it would be easier to organize the World Cup in January, instead of June.