Come Zidane
The Brazilian media has urged France's inspirational captain Zinedine Zidane to spend his retirement in Sao Paulo. The 34-year-old was the driving force as France dumped Brazil out of the World Cup at the quarterfinal stage, prolonging the playing career he says he will end after the tournament.

"Come Zidane," said a headline in the Sao Paulo edition of sports daily Lance.

"After the World Cup, why not say goodbye to Real Madrid and try to make up for the sadness you have caused to more than 180 million people... Come and shine your light here."

Zidane has said he wants to return to Madrid and will work for a sponsor and coach Real youngsters.

Rapping for Ribery
Franck Ribery's emergence as a midfield star for France has inspired a new rap song from French group Rag Street. The duo of Egal-G and Dom-Arri both hail from the same town of Boulogne-sur-Mer on the French Channel coast where Ribery is idolised. "All of Boulogne is fully behind Franck Ribery," said Egal-G. "He is a great example for youngsters especially from the tough areas. He started from the bottom of the pile and now he is at the summits." The song got its first public airing on Saturday before thousands watched the France v Brazil quarterfinal on giant screens set up in Boulogne. France won 1-0.

No problem
England striker Wayne Rooney says he has forgiven Manchester United teammate and Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo -- widely seen as helping get the former sent off in their quarterfinals. Ronaldo insisted there is "no problem" between the pair although the British media reported that Rooney threatened to "split him in two" when the two next meet.

Rooney said: I bear no ill-feeling to Cristiano but I am disappointed he chose to get involved."

The England star added that he did not intend to stamp on Ricardo Carvalho.

"He slid in behind me and unfortunately ended up in a position where my foot was inevitably going to end up as I kept my balance."

Impostor
An Englishman living in Bremen in northwestern Germany who has been posing as the uncle of Wayne Rooney and giving interviews to the press, has been identified as an impostor. The bilingual academic claimed that his name was Martin Rooney and that he was the younger brother of the England striker's mother. He became a favourite with the German media by providing insights like: "My nephew has always been really stubborn."

But the game was up when one reporter finally inquired why the man would have the same surname as his married sister.

Blatter sorry
FIFA President Sepp Blatter has apologised for criticising Russian referee Valentin Ivanov's handling of the stormy World Cup match between Portugal and the Netherlands. Both sides finished the last 16 match with just nine men after Ivanov sent off four players, a World Cup record, and brandished 16 yellow cards.

"I want to say that I regret what happened and I regret the criticism," Blatter told the daily media briefing ahead of the Germany v Italy World Cup semifinal.

The Swiss had said after the match on June 25 that Ivanov himself deserved a yellow card for the way he handled the game.