26 METROSPORT Thursday, September 24, 2009 D Ngog tipped to make a striking impression LiverpooL boss rafael Benitez claims French striker David Ngog could have an important role to play for the club this season. The 20-year-old ensured the reds made progress in the Carling Cup with the only goal of a difficult third-round tie at League one leaders Leeds on Tuesday night. Ngog has had a limited impact since moving to Anfield from paris St Germain prior to last season, but also netted as a substitute in the win over Stoke last month. With the likes of Fernando Torres, Andriy voronin and Dirk Kuyt left out of the starting Xi, Ngog was made lone striker at elland road and Benitez insists he is making good progress. He is a young player but he has quality. That is something we knew. He showed character, said the Spaniard. He was trying to keep the ball and get into positions. He was really tired at the end but he did a fantastic job. He knows the premier League is very difficult but here he showed he can do it. Another player given a chance by Benitez was homegrown midfielder Jay Spearing who, on his first start, was deployed in a role usually filled by reds legend Steven Gerrard. The 20-year-old admitted the occasion will in- spire him to push for more starts. it was a very special night for me to make my first start for the club, Spearing said. The atmosphere was unbelievable and it was a great cup tie to play in. it has been a long time coming but i felt i did all right and hopefully proved to the boss i can do it for the first team. Rapid shirts a red rag to a bull Rapid Vienna insist their decision to play in red in next weeks Europa League clash with Celtic is not designed to provoke their opponents. Rapid will commemorate the notorious 1984 European Cup-Winners Cup tie between the sides, which saw the Hoops ordered to replay the second leg at a neutral ground after a bottle was thrown and Rapid defender Rudolf Weinhofer pretended he had been hit. Rapid won the replay 1-0 courtesy of a goal scored by their current boss peter pacult. Rapid spokesman Sharif Shoukry said: We have a sense of humour and certainly dont want this to be viewed badly in Scotland. its not aimed to upset Celtic. 1 Number of goals Ngog scored for Paris Saint Germain before moving to Anfield in 2008 Red alert: Ngog grabbed Liverpools winner at Leeds Picture: Action Images SOCCER pRemieR League By david keNNedy SPORTDigest murray: Relegated with great Britain Ireland could earn tie with Murrays Britain TENNiS: World No.3 andy Murray could be playing in dublin next year after the 2010 davis Cup draw threw up the possibility of ireland hosting Great Britain. British No.1 Murray saw his nation relegated to Euro/africa Group ii last week and handed an opening round tie in Lithuania. ireland host Turkey first up on March 5-7, but should both countries win they would face off. Meanwhile, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal could face each other after Switzerland and Spain were drawn together in the first round of the World Group. The 15-times grand slam champion has never played Nadal in the davis Cup and the prospect of facing the Mallorcan in Spain could persuade Federer to make himself available. i truly enjoy playing for my country but ill have to see my priorities for next season, he said. Henin return delights Kim TeNNiS: uS Open champion kim Clijsters hailed the return of compatriot Justine Henin to professional tennis as brilliant. i think that Justines comeback is good news for womens tennis but even better news for Belgium in general, Clijsters said yesterday. Justine worked really hard in the past to achieve great results that she recorded in her first career. For tennis it is brilliant that shes back. Seven-times slam winner Henin said completing her grand slam collection by winning an elusive Wimbledon title was one of the reasons behind her comeback, saying: it [Wimbledon] is a dream of mine. i want to work to get it. i make it a priority. Yankees seal playoff berth BaSEBaLL: The New York Yankees clinched a post-season berth with a tense 6-5 victory over the Los angeles angels on Tuesday. The Yankees made up for missing last years playoffs after a tie- breaking sacrifice fly from alex Rodriguez in the top of the ninth inning secured a hard- earned road win. Rodriguez also smacked a two-run home run in the third inning for the Yankees, who led 5-0 before the angels rallied to tie the game in the eighth. We still havent accomplished what our mission was, Yankees captain derek Jeter told reporters. We wanted to win the division and we havent done that. Thailand turn to Robson to lead World Cup charge SOCCeR: Bryan Robson has agreed a four-year deal to become the new manager of Thailand. The 52-year-old (pictured) will replace peter Reid, who departed by mutual consent 12 months into a four- year deal to take up the post of assistant manager at Stoke. The former middlesbrough, Sheffield united and West Brom bosss immediate task in his first foray into international management will be to guide the nation to a place in the asian Cup finals in Qatar in 2011. Thai Fa chief Worawi makudi is also targeting a place at the 2014 World Cup. He said: The plan is Bryan will coach Thailand for the asian Cup, the Olympics and hopefully the World Cup, too. CO-OpERativE inSuRanCE Cup Celtic victory lit up by McCourts solo effort at the double: mcdonald SCoTT McDoNALD led the way as Celtic showed their determination to hold on to the Co-operative insurance Cup by dumping Falkirk out in front of their own fans last night. The striker helped himself to a double on a night when several fringe players also shone, with paddy McCourt netting a spectacular first goal for the club and Chris Killen completing the rout. McCourts effort saw the former Derry City winger beat several players before cheekily lobbing the goalkeeper. Falkirk did strike the woodwork late on but the outcome never appeared in doubt as the holders cruised into the quarter-finals. Falkirk: Olejnik, Mitchell (Scobbie 60), McLean, Barr, Twaddle (McNamara 60), Flynn, Lynch (Stewart 59), Arfield, Marceta, Finnbogason, Finnigan. Celtic: Zaluska, Caddis, Caldwell, McManus, Wilson, Flood (McGeady 67), Crosas, Robson (Mizuno 75), McCourt, McDonald (McGinn 67), Killen. Ref: M Tumilty FaLKiRK...0 CELtiC...... 4 Sol Campbell could be left in limbo until the January transfer window after walking out on Notts County. The ex-england defender quit the league Two club after playing just one game, with County confirming he had left by mutual consent after asking to cancel his 40,000 per-week contract. However, under Fifa rules, Campbell is highly unlikely to be allowed to join another club having severed his ties with County. asked about the reasons Campbell gave for leaving, County chief executive peter Trembling said: Not an awful lot, just that this was not working out for him. Time for Campbell to do some Sol-searching No unrest: mahon Betting row behind Pats, says Sadlier ST paTriCkS athletic chief executive richard Sadlier says the betting culture at richmond park is over as new boss pete mahon sets about his task of improving what he described at his unveiling yesterday as a Jekyll and Hyde football team. mahons role last season in informing then pats boss John mcDonnell of players at the club betting on domestic football led to a fine and suspension for midfielder Gary Dempsey. mahon admitted that certain players in the Saints dressing room would be surprised to see him, but Sadlier yesterday denied there would be unrest among the squad at his appointment. i dont think that issue is one we have to deal with any more, said Sadlier. pete did the right thing as he saw it at the time. He has spoken to the dressing room and if any of them have anything to say they can do so to pete and sort it out between them. So, ive no concerns on that front at all. 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