FRANCE: Marseille general manager Pape Diouf has admitted the Ligue 1 club have held “constructive” talks with France defender Bixente Lizarazu.

The 34-year-old left-back is available on a free transfer following his release by Bayern Munich at the end of last season and Marseille are one of several clubs to have declared an interest.

Diouf told La Provence newspaper: “It is a possibility. At the start, Bixente wasn’t too keen on the idea of coming to Marseille, but his thoughts have changed. It was a very constructive discussion.”

HOLLAND: Arjen Robben admits he is a fully paid-up member of the Cristiano Ronaldo fan club, but feels the Portugal winger still needs to work on a telling end product.

The Manchester United teenager has taken the tournament by storm after coming on as a substitute for Portugal in their opening game against Greece.

Chelsea-bound Robben said: “Ronaldo is a player that I love to see play football. A real circus footballer.”

But he added: “There is much activity and actions, but not too much output.”

ITALY: Football bosses will decide the fate of coach Giovanni Trapattoni at the end of the week.

Last night’s 2-1 win against Bulgaria was not sufficient to allow the Azzurri to progress to the Euro 2004 quarter-finals following the 2-2 draw between Denmark and Sweden.

The dramatic win against Bulgaria, their first in the tournament, is set to bring to an end Trapattoni’s unsuccessful four-year spell in charge of the national side, with Portugal already considered his last mission.

“We will discuss Trapattoni’s future in a federal meeting on Friday,” said Franco Carraro, the president of the Italian football federation (FIGC).

PORTUGAL: Coach Luis Felipe Scolari insisted today that England striker Wayne Rooney is not the new Pele.

England head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson had claimed Rooney had made the biggest impact of any player since Pele after England’s 4-2 victory over Croatia in their final Group B match.

However, Brazilian Scolari believes any comparison between the two players is false.

Asked to compare the two players, Scolari said: “One is white, the other is black. Rooney is an excellent player but Pele is unique.

“There will never be another Pele, not in 1,000 years, even in a computer game.”

Scolari was speaking at Portugal’s training camp in Alcochete where they are preparing for tomorrow’s quarter-final clash with England.

SWEDEN: Aston Villa striker Marcus Allback hopes he will face club-mates Thomas Sorensen and Martin Laursen again at Euro 2004 – in the final a week on Sunday.

Allback’s Sweden side claimed top spot in Group C thanks to Mattias Jonson’s late equaliser against Denmark, whose side featured Sorensen in goal and Laursen in central defence.

If results went their way the Scandinavian rivals could meet again – but only in the showpiece match at the Stadium of Light.

“Great credit to both countries that we have got to the last eight, and I know we feel that it is not the end of the story,” Allback said. “They probably feel the same and it would be really nice if we could end up playing them in the final, you never know in this game. It would be nice to meet my Villa colleagues again in Lisbon.”