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Gaza not so hot in English return
WEST BROMWICH, England (AP) -- Back in English soccer after seven years, World Cup star Paul Gascoigne hasn't made much of an impact in his first two games for First Division Middlesbrough.But he's already collected two yellow cards.
Gazza was cautioned only seven minutes after entering last week's League Cup final defeat to Chelsea. And he was shown the yellow card again for a wicked, injury-time tackle on a West Bromwich Albion player in a 2-1 loss.
Gascoigne, who is almost certain to get an England World Cup place so long as he proves his fitness to coach Glenn Hoddle, hasn't come close to scoring in either appearance and Boro has lost both games. But Middlesbrough manager Bryan Robson defended his performance at West Brom.
"I felt that Paul was one of our better players, in fact he was let down by the players around him," Robson said. "Paul had composure on the ball but the rest were not making the most of his play.
"I was pleased he got through a full 90 minutes but there is no problem with his general fitness. He's been doing extra training and he only needs a couple of games under his belt to be back firing on all cylinders."
MADRID (AP) -- Spain's new soccer star Fernando Morientes suffered an ankle injury in Real Madrid's weekend draw with Athletic Bilbao and could be out for seven to 10 days.
Real Madrid's team doctor said he should be ready to play April 15 when Real Madrid faces Dortmund in the second-leg semifinal of the European Champions' Cup.
Morientes scored twice against Sweden earlier this month playing in his first full international for Spain.
NOTTINGHAM, England (AP) -- Pierre van Hooydonk's goals for promotion-chasing Nottingham Forest could assure the tall striker a place on the Netherlands World Cup team.
The six-foot-four striker, who moved to Forest from Celtic this season, is the leading scorer in England. On Sunday, he took his total to 32 for the season and set up Forest's other goal in a 2-1 victory over Ipswich which opened up a four-point lead atop the standings.
Forest manager Dave Bassett said the tall Dutchman turned the game for his team.
"That's Pierre for you. By his standards he had a quiet first half but has a special ability to pull games out of the fire," Bassett said.
"He struck a superb free kick for Colin Cooper's equalizer then showed great skill to add a goal of his own."
Iran's stars benched in their German club
BIELEFELD, Germany (AP) -- Iranian stars Ali Daei and Karim Bagheri have been benched by the coach of their German club after refusing to sign a pledge not to train with their national team until the World Cup.
The Iranians' club, Arminia Bielefeld, is in the last place in the 18-team Bundesliga and is desperately trying to escape relegation.
Arminia wanted Daei and Bagheri to skip Iran's training camps before the World Cup this summer in France.
Arminia coach Ernst Middendorp has accused the two Iranians of trying to save themselves for the World Cup and playing "without passion" to avoid injuries.
But Daei rejected the accusations.
"I can train as hard as I want, but I am not in the starting lineup," Daei said.
Daei said he would not sign the pledge demanded by Arminia.
"I can't turn my back on my home country before the World Cup," he said. "My countrymen would never forgive me. That's why I didn't sign."
NEXT ROUNDS: Round of 16 || Quarter-finals || Semi-finals
GROUP A: Brazil, Morocco, Norway, Scotland
GROUP B: Austria, Cameroon, Chile, Italy
GROUP C: Denmark, France, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
GROUP D: Bulgaria, Nigeria, Paraguay, Spain
GROUP E: Belgium, Holland, Mexico, South Korea
GROUP F: Germany, Iran, United States, Yugoslavia
GROUP G: Colombia, England, Romania, Tunisia
GROUP H: Argentina, Croatia, Jamaica, Japan