Manchester may not yet be, as a local newspaper columnist recently declared, "the football capital of the world." But for 90 minutes at Old Trafford on Sunday, it will certainly feel like it.

A global audience of several hundred million will turn their gaze to the "Theater of Dreams" as Manchester City attempt to underscore their emergence as the rising power of English football against Manchester United.

The Girls Football Academy (GFA) will be opening its doors in Lebanon as a first step for women players in the Middle East, in an attempt to promote the female athletes and improve their skills in Lebanon.

The Academy's owners, Nadia Assaf and Walid Arakji said that it is dedicated "exclusively to females who would like to play and learn how to play football at any age."

Cristiano Ronaldo will try to rediscover his scoring touch when Real Madrid visits Malaga in the Spanish league, and Barcelona looks to extend its best ever start to a season against Sevilla.

Madrid, which trails Barcelona by one point, could face former players Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Julio Baptista at Malaga’s La Rosaleda stadium.

UEFA has imposed a ban on smoking and tobacco advertising at next year’s European Championship.

UEFA says the ban will apply in and around all eight host stadiums in Poland and Ukraine.

Two part-time prostitutes suspected of robbing France international midfielder Yann M’vila and a friend face charges in a court hearing on December 6, judicial sources said here Thursday.

According to the source, confirming a report in La Gazette de Montpellier, M'Vila and an unnamed friend agreed a sum with the women to provide services of a sexual nature at a Montpellier hotel following France's friendly with Chile on August 10, which ended 1-1.

Australian swimming legend Ian Thorpe has played down his chances of making a fairytale comeback at next year's Olympics, saying he is not expecting to add his tally of five gold medals.

Thorpe, who will return to swimming at the Singapore World Cup event next month, told the BBC in an interview on Thursday he is relaxed about his Olympic chances as he "expects to fail."

Stuart Pearce is hopeful his squad for the 2012 Olympics will include footballers from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland after he was confirmed as manager of the Great Britain team here Thursday.

The England Under-21 coach was formally unveiled as the man to lead Britain's Olympic campaign at a press conference at Wembley in an appointment that had long been predicted across English football.

Three South Korean mountaineers have lost contact with base camp during an attempt to scale one of the world's highest peaks in the Himalayas, the Korean Alpine Federation said Thursday.

Renowned climber Park Young-Seok and two colleagues last contacted the camp on Tuesday evening while climbing the southern flank of Annapurna, the KAF said.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola hailed Andres Iniesta as a 'one-off' talent in a side dominated by Lionel Messi after the Spanish giants' 2-0 Champions League win over Viktoria Plzen.

Iniesta put Barca ahead after 10 minutes, following an excellent interchange with Messi which cut open the Czech defense, with the second goal coming eight minutes from time when David Villa seized on a loose ball.

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas believes Fernando Torres has finally rediscovered his confidence after the Spain striker scored twice in a 5-0 demolition of Genk.

Torres had gone 875 minutes without scoring in the Champions League, a miserable run that dated back to April 2009 when he scored for Liverpool against Chelsea.