SPORTS BRIEFS

Cup payback

JOHANNESBURG (AP):

The National Health and Allied Workers Union said yesterday that state entities should pay back more than 10 million rand that they have spent on World Cup tickets. Departments such as national broadcaster SABC, the South African post office, the Department of Public Service and Administration and the Department of Trade and Industry have spent about 10.9 million rand on World Cup tickets.

The workers union says "our union finds it totally unacceptable that our townships are burning because of poor service delivery and millions go hungry everyday, yet the overpaid state bureaucrats are stealing the taxpayer's money to watch soccer."

Children die as ...

KAMPALA (AP):

Police say two Ugandan children died in a fire while their parents watched a World Cup football match on television nearby. Police in Uganda have warned parents against leaving children alone in houses following the death of the eight and 10-year-olds in the Kayunga district west of the capital Kampala. Kayunga police official Henry Kolyanga said the house in which the children were sleeping caught fire.

"The mother and father of the children left a candle burning and went to watch the match on television in a nearby trading centre," Kolyanaga said. "While away, it is likely the candle was probably hit by a rat and it lit the table cloth which subsequently lit other household property."

Protest spreads

JOHANNESBURG (AP):

A strike by World Cup stadium stewards over a wage dispute spread to half of the tournament's 10 venues yesterday. Johannesburg police say they were drafting in more than 1,000 officers to guarantee security for yesterday's game between Brazil and North Korea at Ellis Park. At about the same time, several hundred guards walked off the job at Soccer City, the main World Cup stadium in Johannesburg. Police said they have also taken over security at stadiums in Durban, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, where Portugal and Ivory Coast played.

Maxi could start

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP):

Argentina team spokesman Andres Ventura says Maxi Rodriguez could start in place of ailing Juan Sebastian Veron in Argentina's match against South Korea tomorrow. Speaking after Argentina's training session at the University of Pretoria yesterday, Ventura said a final decision on Veron's status has yet to be made and that the problem with his right calf is "being monitored day by day."

Mexico style

JOHANNESBURG (AP):

Mexico coach Javier Aguirre will stick with the team's three-prong attack for the World Cup match against France tomorrow, despite the problems the formation encountered against South Africa. Aguirre is deploying three forwards who are told not to do too much work to regain possession, a strategy that South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has called the "most daring at the World Cup".

Mexico also sent their defenders surging forward, leaving the team exposed at the back. Aguirre said yesterday that Mexico "will not change" their style.

Slovenian expectations

JOHANNESBURG (AP):

Slovenia midfielder Andrej Komac has no doubts about playing the United States at the World Cup on Friday, saying "we are going to win this match". Komac said yesterday there's "a good feeling" in the squad after the 1-0 victory over 10-man Algeria secured Slovenia's first ever World Cup victory and took the smallest nation at the tournament to the top of Group C.