Defoe deal softens Kaboul blow for Spurs

Jermain Defoe has extended his stay at Tottenham Hotspur after signing a new three-year deal but the Barclays Premier League club must make do without the services of Younes Kaboul for up to four months after the defender had knee surgery.

Defoe made his 300^th appearance for Tottenham against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday and the 29-year-old intends to increase that tally significantly after agreeing terms on a new contract that expires in 2015.

Defoe has made 230 Premier League appearances in two spells at the north London club and scored 80 goals in the English top flight.

The England striker, who scored the winning goal against Italy in a recent friendly, has scored 16 times in 49 internationals and has been called up by Roy Hodgson for the forthcoming FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine.

Kaboul blow

Kaboul, meanwhile, is likely to be out of action until the New Year after an operation on a knee injury. The 26-year-old appeared in the opening match of the season against Newcastle United but missed Saturday's 1-1 draw with West Brom and could now be sidelined for a further 18 League games.

"Morning all, surgery done with success," the central defender tweeted on Thursday morning. "Now looking forward for my rehab. I thank you all for your great support as usual."

He then added shortly afterwards: "Sorry I forgot to mention how long [I will be out for]... should be 4 months."

In Kaboul's absence Tottenham manager Andre-Villas Boas has Jan Vertonghen, William Gallas, Michael Dawson and Steven Caulker available as central defensive options.

Chelsea and City face tough test in Champions League

The top four clubs in last season's Barclays Premier League learnt their opponents for the group stages of this season's UEFA Champions League when the draw was made in Monaco.

Defending champions Chelsea, who defeated Bayern Munich to win the title in May, were drawn in Group E against three of last season's champions: Shakhtar Donetsk, of the Ukraine, Juventus, who won Serie A, and FC Nordsjaelland, the Danish side.

Manchester City face a similarly tough draw against the title-holders of their countries in Group D. Roberto Mancini's side will face Real Madrid, Ajax, the Eredivisie champions, and Borussia Dortmund, who won back-to-back Bundesliga titles last season.

Three-time champions Manchester United were drawn in Group H against Braga, of Portugal, Galatasaray, the Turkish champions, and CFR Cluj, of Romania.

The 2006 finalists Arsenal will face the German side Schalke, Greek champions Olympiacos and Montpellier, who won the French title last season.

The group stage of this season's competition begins on 18th-19th September and finishes on 4th-5th December.

The final will take place at Wembley Stadium, London on 25th May 2013.

Group A: Porto, Dynamo Kiev, Paris St Germain, Dinamo Zagreb.

Group B: Arsenal, Schalke, Olympiacos, Montpellier.

Group C: AC Milan, Zenit St Petersburg, Anderlecht, Malaga.

Group D: Real Madrid, Manchester City, Ajax, Borussia Dortmund.

Group E: Chelsea, Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus, FC Nordsjaelland.

Group F: Bayern Munich, Valencia, Lille, BATE Borisov.

Group G: Barcelona, Benfica, Spartak Moscow, Celtic.

Group H: Manchester United, Braga, Galatasaray, CFR Cluj.

Paralympics 2012: USA swimmer Jessica Long targets more gold

Increased media attention, more interest from sponsors and closer links with Olympic athletes show the Paralympic movement has never been stronger.

That is the view of Jessica Long, arguably the most high-profile member of the 227-strong team the United States is sending to London for the Paralympics.

Long, still only 20, is a veteran of two previous Games, where she won nine swimming medals, including seven golds.

"The Paralympic scene is growing, we're all Team USA now," said Long.



"We could always do more, but we're getting out there. Hopefully we're encouraging disabled kids to get involved in Paralympic sport.

"One thing I've noticed is with the sponsors. It's very even now.

"It's great to see the movement continue to grow."

Long singled out BP's backing of five Olympians and four Paralympians in the US as an example of sponsors' growing interest in disability sport.

But companies such as Adidas, BT and BMW do the same in the UK, and she can count a number of blue-chip firms among her own sponsors.

That is hardly surprising when you consider her story.

Born in Siberia, Long was adopted by her American parents from a Russian orphanage aged 13 months.

Five months later, her legs were amputated below the knee because of a congenital condition that left her without most of the bones in her feet and lower legs.

Long refused to let this limit her sporting horizons, with gymnastics being an early favourite until her parents' worries about knee injuries pushed her towards swimming.

US Open: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga & Tomas Berdych into round two

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga booked his place in the US Open second round with a straight sets win against Karol Beck.

The French world number six, seeded fifth in the absence of Rafael Nadal, came from a break down in the third set to win 6-3 6-1 7-6 (7-2).

Joining him in round two is sixth seed Tomas Berydch after the Czech beat Belgium's David Goffin 7-5 6-3 6-3.

Andy Roddick beat fellow American Rhyne Williams 6-3 6-4 6-4 while defending champion Novak Djokovic plays later.

Tsonga made the quarter-finals in New York for the first time last year and has made a strong start in his latest campaign.

The Wimbledon semi-finalist dominated the opening two sets but found himself trailing Beck 5-3 in the third.

But Tsonga immediately overturned the break of serve before outclassing his opponent in the tie-break.

He next plays another Slovakian in Martin Klizan and remains on course for a quarter-final meeting with Andy Murray.

"I think I played good tennis the first two sets, and after that I lost a bit concentration at the beginning of the third," said Tsonga.

"It took some effort to come back. It was not easy today because the weather was hot. I'm happy to go through really quickly."

Berdych was similarly comfortable against 21-year-old Goffin and meets Jurgen Zopp of Estonia in the second round.

Number 20 seed Roddick, the champion in 2003, dispatched 21-year-old Williams and next faces Bernard Tomic or Carlos Berlocq.

Spanish 11th seed Nicolas Almagro beat Radek Stepanek 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-4 and next plays Germany's Philipp Petzschner, who outlasted Nicolas Mahut in three hours and 31 minutes.

Big-serving 15th seed Milos Raonic of Canada, a possible fourth-round opponent of Murray, battled past Santiago Giraldo 6-3 4-6 3-6 6-4 6-4 and will meet Paul-Henri Mathieu after the Frenchman overcame Igor Andreev in five sets.

Adam Johnson moves to Sunderland from Manchester City

Sunderland have signed England winger Adam Johnson on a four-year deal from Manchester City for an undisclosed fee.

Liverpool and Tottenham were believed to be interested in the 25-year-old, who made 26 Premier League appearances in City's title-winning campaign.

"Adding quality players to the squad has been our main aim this summer and Adam certainly fits that bill," said Black Cats manager Martin O'Neill.

Johnson's move follows Sunderland's signing of Steven Fletcher from Wolves.

The transfer will mean a return to the North East for Johnson, who came through the youth ranks at Middlesbrough.

"He has terrific ability, great delivery and I'm sure he is a player who will excite our fans," said O'Neill.

"I couldn't be more delighted to have him at the football club."

Johnson has 11 England caps, scoring two goals, and started for Roy Hodgson's side in the recent friendly victory over Italy.

He scored 15 goals in 97 games for City but 43 of those appearances came as a substitute as he struggled to hold down a place in Roberto Mancini's side.

Henri Lansbury joins Nottingham Forest from Arsenal

Nottingham Forest have signed England Under-21 midfielder Henri Lansbury from Arsenal for a fee believed to be in excess of £1m.

Lansbury, who has signed a four-year contract, becomes new manager Sean O'Driscoll's ninth signing.

The 21-year-old spent most of last season on loan at West Ham United and has also previously had spells at Scunthorpe, Watford and Norwich.

He could make his Forest debut against Charlton on Saturday.

Lansbury had been at Arsenal since the age of eight and made his Gunners first-team debut in 2007 having come through the club's youth system.

But he subsequently struggled to make an impact at the Emirates, and managed just three Premier League substitute appearances and five League Cup games for Arsene Wenger's side.

His one goal for the club came in the competition against Tottenham Hotspur in September 2010.

The Enfield-born player made 22 appearances for the Hammers last season while on loan, helping the Upton Park club gain promotion from the Championship.

Aguero & Messi - Argentina's perfect partners

Manchester City coach Roberto Mancini was frustrated when his striker Sergio Aguero wascalled up by Argentina for a friendly against Germany two weeks ago.

And he is exasperated to see Aguero's name in his country's squad for the coming World Cup qualifiers.

The trip to Germany came just a few days before City began their defence of the Premier League title. And Aguero's injury means that he has limited chances of being fit in time to play for his country next month. A journey across the Atlantic is quite possibly not an ideal part of the player's recovery. Mancini's position, then, is totally understandable.

But so too is that of Argentina boss Alejandro Sabella.

His complaint is that of all those in charge of contemporary national teams - the lack of time with his players means that he can hardly function as a coach. He becomes a selector. In the quest to form a cohesive group, any time he can spend with his players has to be utilised.

It hardly matters to Sabella that Aguero is unlikely to be ready for Argentina's next game, at home to Paraguay on 7 September - the player is suspended. But everything will be worthwhile if four days later Aguero is able to come off the bench and make an impact on the tricky tie away to Peru.

That is exactly what Aguero did against Colombia last November.

Injury had kept him out of the first three rounds of the 2014 qualifiers, and Argentina had made a desperate start in his absence. They had lost to Venezuela, drawn at home to Bolivia and were a goal down to Colombia when Aguero was introduced at half time.

It proved a turning point. Aguero's presence opened up space for Lionel Messi. Both were on target as Argentina struck back to win 2-1. Messi has not stopped scoring since. In the next game he weighed in with a hat-trick as Switzerland were beaten 3-1 in a friendly.