Inverness release Markus Paatelainen

Scottish side Inverness Caledonian Thistle have released Finnish midfielder Markus Paatelainen from his contract. Paatelainen, the younger brother of Hibs boss Mixu Paatelainen, joined Caley Thistle from Cowdenbeath in January 2007, but has made only a handful of appearances owing to injury.

Paatelainen is primarily an attacking player, and can play both on the wings and in the centre. He nearly lost his leg after a horrendous challenge from Elgin City’s Hugh Dickson in 2006. Doctors were able to save his leg, but only after inserting fifty stitches on either side of his calf.

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Romania vs France preview- WC 2010 qualifier

In a repeat of their clash at Euro 2008, France meet Romania in a WC 2010 qualifier on Saturday night in Constanta. Anything less than three points could see the axe fall on French coach Raymond Domenech, whose future will be decided by the French Football Federation bosses four days after the game.

Both Romania and France suffered shock defeats in their opening qualifiers. France were embarrassed by Austria, while Lithuania stunned Romania. Les Bleus recovered to beat Serbia, while Romania just about managed to scrape past lowly Faroe Islands 1-0.

Both the teams will welcome back key players from injury. Romania have skipper Cristian Chivu and Fiorentina’s Adrian Mutu back, while Domenech can once again call upon the experience of Patrick Vieira. The former Arsenal midfielder is expected to take back the captain’s armband from Thierry Henry, and his presence is important for Domenech, especially as the inform Lassana Diarra is injured. Vieira last played for France in February against Spain, and did not take part in Euro 2008, where France were unable to make it past the group stage.

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UEFA Cup 2008-09 Group Stages draw

The draw for the group stages of the 2008-09 UEFA Cup has been made, and we have some excellent fixtures within.

Portsmouth, in their debut season in Europe, will get a chance to play AC Milan at Fratton Park. Pompey are in Group E along with Herenveen, Braga and Wolfsburg.

There are eight groups in all, and 3 teams from each group qualify for the next round. They will be joined by the eight third placed teams in each Champions League group.

Group A :-

Schalke ( Germany)
Paris St.Germain ( France)
Manchester City ( England)
Racing Santander ( Spain)
FC Twente ( Netherlands)

Group B :-

Benfica ( Portugal)
Olympiakos ( Greece)
Galatasaray ( Turkey)
Hertha Berlin ( Germany)
Metalist Kharkiv ( Ukraine)

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