SPORTS

Wayne Rooney will captain his country in a competitive fixture for the first time tonight, when England play San Marino at Wembley.

Arsene Wenger believes that players like Shinji Kagawa, Santi Cazorla and Luka Modric will be the future stars of football, with midfield players taking over from strikers as the driving force at Arsenal and beyond.

England pair Justin Rose and lee Westwood will settle the inaugural World Golf Final after the pair won their respective semi-final matches against Tiger Woods and Charl Schwartzel at the Antalya Golf Club.

Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic has not held talks with Juventus or Barcelona over a potential move, his agent Silvano Martina has confirmed.

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has asked the fans to show their support to young midfielder Haris Vuckic after the midfielder was ruled out for more than six months.

Ian Ayre has come out to back up Brendan Rodgers' defence of Luis Suarez, insisting that the striker is the subject of special attention by both the media and the referees.

Hugo Lloris has insisted that there are no problems with Andre Villas-Boas at Tottenham, with the Frenchman keen to move on from the controversy surrounding his fight for a place on the side.

Wayne Rooney will captain England during their World Cup qualifying game against San Marino in the absence of Steven Gerrard.

Suso has revealed that he is close to agreeing a new long-term contract with Liverpool after establishing himself in the first team plans of manager Brendan Rodgers.

The USADA report into Lance Armstrong's doping past is the biggest exposure of drugs taking in sport since the scandal surrounding Ben Johnson

Johan Djourou's agent has commented on the Arsenal defender's current situation at the club, claiming that while he hasn't been speaking to Roma about a move away from the club, he might be open to the possibility come January.

Arsenal captain Thomas Vermaelen insists that teammate Jack Wilshere will soon become one of the best midfielders in the world.

Andy Murray made short work of Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov to advance to the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters and round off a successful day for British tennis.

Crystal Palace manager Dougie Freedman has advised winger Wilfried Zaha to ignore any interest from the Premier League heavyweights and focus on continuing the season with the south London club.

Alessandro Del Piero is still insisting that he turned down an offer to move to Liverpool this season, with the striker revealing he is glad he said no and chose a move to Australian club Sydney FC.

The Premier League's biggest clubs have all been salivating at the juicy news that Radamal Falcao may be sold at the end of the current season.

Italian giants AC Milan are reportedly looking at a January swoop for Chelsea defender Ashley Cole.

Lance Armstrong led 'most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme sport has ever seen', says US Anti-Doping Agency.

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has responded to the criticism he has received in recent weeks after being accused of diving in order to win penalties.

Tottenham Hotspur wing-back Kyle Walker has confessed that Everton defender Phil Jagielka has always been his hero.

Arsenal have handed manager Arsene Wenger a £35million transfer budget so that he can bring another striker to the club during the January transfer window.

Lance Armstrong, the cyclist who won seven successive Tour de France titles, has been found 'a serial cheat' by the United States Anti-Doping Agency.

Manchester United are believed to be considering the idea of selling striker Javier Hernandez in order to fund a potential deal for Porto attacker James Rodriguez.

Arsenal have offered a first professional contract to England youth international Chuba Akpom just days after the forward celebrated his 17th birthday.

Amir Khan remains confident that he will once again be a world champion as he looks to bounce back from consecutive defeats to Lamont Peterson and Danny Garcia.

Darren Clarke should be Europe's next Ryder Cup captain, according to Lee Westwood.

Liverpool are chasing Hamburg star Son Heung-Min, according to reports, with the South Korea striker said to be high on Brendan Rodgers' list of players who can boost the side's firepower.

The latest podcast from the IB Times UK sports desk.

England players who misbehave could be banned for playing for their country according to The Football Association's new code of conduct.