Sebastian Vettel stormed to pole position at the Japanese Grand Prix Saturday at the head of this year's first all-Red Bull front row, as his late charge for a Formula One world title hat-trick gathered pace.

The double defending world champion, who won last month in Singapore to rise to second in the standings, claimed his fourth pole in a row at Suzuka with a supreme level of speed and a lightning fastest lap of 1min 30.839secs.

Italian superstar Alessandro Del Piero got off to a losing start with his new Australian club as Sydney FC crashed to a 2-0 defeat to Wellington Phoenix in New Zealand on Saturday.

World Cup winner Del Piero, on a reported Aus$2 million ($2.04 million) a season, was one of the few positives as the two-time A-League champions struggled against Phoenix in wintry Wellington.

Pakistan will host two friendly matches against Palestinian footballers in hopes of reviving international sport in the country, hit hard by Taliban and Al-Qaida-linked violence, an official said Saturday.

International sportsmen stopped coming to Pakistan after gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team bus in Lahore in March 2009, killing eight Pakistanis and wounding seven of the visiting players, and their assistant coach.

Sir Alex Ferguson has demanded a show of defiance from his players as Manchester United look to get their Premier League title challenge back on track at Newcastle on Sunday.

United's 3-0 defeat at St. James' Park last season put a severe dent in Ferguson's title ambitions and the Scot knows his side can't afford a repeat following last weekend's surprise home loss against Tottenham.

Sporting Lisbon coach Ricardo Sa Pinto has been sacked by the Portuguese first division side after a faltering start to the season, the club announced on Friday.

Sporting, seventh in the league with just six points from five matches, suffered a 3-0 defeat at Hungarian club Videoton in the Europa League on Thursday, leaving them bottom of Group G after two games.

Olympic 50m freestyle champion Florent Manaudou will help spearhead the French team at the short-course world championships in Istanbul from December 12-16, the French swimming federation confirmed on Friday.

Manaudou, 22, who won a surprise gold in London, will be joined by 2008 Olympic 50m freestyle silver-medalist Amaury Leveaux, on the 12-strong French team.

A Chinese state media report says security for the Shanghai Masters is being tightened after an online death threat against tennis star 1 Roger Federer.

Shanghai's Youth Daily quoted tournament official Yang Yibin as saying police were notified about the threat and that security will be increased for Federer for the tournament, which starts this weekend.

Defending world champion Sebastian Vettel said he was confident he can catch Fernando Alonso in this year's Formula One title race despite an ultra-consistent season by the Ferrari pace-setter.

The Red Bull driver, who is 29 points behind the Spaniard and chasing a third straight title, believes he can overhaul him without any need for retirements or other mishaps.

Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is demanding Bayern Munich bounce back from their midweek Champions League defeat at BATE Borisov and return to winning ways on Saturday at home to Hoffenheim.

Bundesliga leaders Bayern are back in domestic action at Munich's Allianz Arena having suffered a shock 3-1 loss at Belarus champions BATE on Tuesday which dented their Champions League aspirations.

Real Madrid face Barcelona in a make-or-break El Clasico this weekend aided by a resurgent Cristiano Ronaldo but acutely aware that defeat would see them trail their bitter enemies by a massive 11 points.

Ronaldo has hit form at just the right time, netting three in the 4-1 win at Ajax in the Champions League on Wednesday, that haul coming after his hat-trick in the 5-1 La Liga rout of Deportivo La Coruna last weekend.