Sporting Miscellanies

IT was sensationally revealed this week that an international coach dropped his captain from the World Cup squad for having an affair with the wife of a team-mate. No, not Fabio Capello, Steve Sampson.

The former US coach axed ex-Sheffield Wednesaday star John Harkes from his World Cup squad before the 1998 tournament for his romance with Eric Wynalda's wife.

"It's one thing to have an affair outside the team. It's another to have one inside," said Sampson. "There are just certain lines that one cannot cross."

Incredibly, Wynalda tried to persuade his coach to pick Harkes and said: "I felt that he was still a player that could help our cause and one of the best 22 in our country."

And how did the US fare at that World Cup? To use American vernacular, they flunked. Big time.

Kewell's agent sets out on mission impossible

When you think of Harry Kewell's Liverpool career, you think of that night in Istanbul.

You think of the Aussie winger limping off the pitch after 23 minutes of anonymity with a well-rehearsed grimace. You think of Kewell joyously sprinting back onto the pitch after Liverpool had completed the most remarkable comeback in Champions League history to lift the trophy.

You think of sky-high wages, a succession of injuries and the occasional average performance. But according to Kewell's agent, you were wrong, Liverpool were wrong, everyone was wrong.

"He lost three and a half years at Liverpool because the guys over there in England had, quite literally, no idea what they were talking about," moaned Bernie Mandic this week. "You have to wonder what they're doing over there.