HAALAND GRATEFUL FOR HIS FRANCE CHANCE NORWEGIAN international Alfie Haaland has thanked George Graham for giving him the opportunity to face the likes of Brazil in next month's finals in France. The Leeds star believes he would have been a spectator this summer if United boss Graham had not snapped him up for a tribunal-fixed £1.6m from recently-crowned First Division champions Nottingham Forest nearly a year ago. The 25-year-old midfielder, who could be joined by Leeds team-mate Gunnar Halle in Egil Olsen's squad to face Brazil, Morocco and Scotland in Group A, said: This has been a great season for me and I have absolutely no regrets about leaving Forest. This team has done superbly, we've qualified for Europe and I've played in most of the games. So you could say I'm pleased. The season I've had with Leeds has been more beneficial for me in terms of going to the World Cup than if I had been with Forest. It was one of my main reasons for leaving in the first place. I spoke with George before I signed. I told him what I wanted and he told me his aim was to qualify for Europe. That has been our target all season long. We've had our ups and downs along the way, but we've worked hard and we've qualified well. NIGERIAN KEEPER OUT OF FINALS Unlucky Nigeria goalkeeper Ike Shorunmu is out of the finals after breaking his right arm during his club FC Zurich's 2-1 defeat by Grasshoppers on Friday night. Shorunmu collided with opposition forward Mats Gren shortly before half-time in the match, which sealed the Swiss title for Grasshoppers. PELE BACKS UEFA BOSS FOR FIFA JOB Brazilian football legend Pele is backing UEFA president Lennart Johansson to become the next president of FIFA. His programme and vision for the future is something we need, said Pele. Now is the moment for a change and Mr. Johansson has proved in UEFA he can bring about change. I think we must respect him for making changes for the good of the sport. SAUDIS CANNES DO Group C's Saudi Arabia, who play England at Wembley in a fortnight, beat Trinidad and Tobago 2-1 in Cannes on Saturday with goals from Al Jaber and Al Owairan.

TODAY'S TV AND RADIO   PICK OF THE DAY Gary Lineker's Golden Boots, 7.30pm BBC 1 This could be the one for those of you who don't like Gary's presenting skills Alan Hansen steps in to interview the 1986 Golden Boot winner. Also featured are other great English World Cup feats, like winning the thing in 1966, and losing in the semis in 1990. There is a particularly harrowing piece of TV cleverness on display when they screen the penalties, so watch out. THE DAY'S SHOWS BBC 1 Gary Lineker's Golden Boots, 7.30pm See Pick Of The Day Onside, 10.40pm John Inverdale with an end-of-season football special, including Jurgen Klinsmann, Jack Charlton, and a look at the current whereabouts of the most important figure in world football in the 1990s Jean-Marc Bosman. ITV (Except Scottish Television) World Football, 1.50am (Tue) Magazine programme which does exactly what it says on the tin. CHANNEL 4 Football Italia, 1.35am (Tue) Yesterday's Juventus-Bologna clash repeated. CHANNEL 5 Asian Football, 3.45am (Tue) Part of the regular Live And Dangerous through-the-night slot. SKY SPORTS 1 Spanish Football, 7.00am Espanol v Real Madrid highlights a match that left Real Madrid on the verge of missing out on the Champions' League, unless they can beat Juventus in the final next week. Football League Review, 10.00am Ipswich v Charlton from yesterday. It's not a great game of football, but aggro afficionados should enjoy the second half. Ford Football Special, 12.30pm The story of yesterday's dramatic Everton v Coventry and Chelsea v Bolton matches, as the Premiership relegation battle went right to the wire. FA Cup Classics, 6.30pm, 10.30pm and 5.00am (Tue) High-scoring games from yesteryear, including the 4-4 draw between Liverpool and Everton that was Kenny Dalglish's last match as the Reds' manager. How The Premiership Was Won, 7.30pm and 2.00am (Tue) A month-by-month travelogue through the season, looking at United's faltering gallop, Arsenal's triumphant rally, and Liverpool's complete inability to string two good halves together, other than at Highbury and Old Trafford. SKY SPORTS 2 Football League Review, 2.30pm Ipswich v Charlton, as above. FA Cup Classics, 1.00am (Tue) High-scoring games from yesteryear, as above. EUROSPORT Eurogoals, 10.00pm Final matches from around the continent. RADIO 5 LIVE Interesting, Very Interesting, 8.00pm A sideways swipe at sport whatever that means. Watt In The World, 9.00pm Professional Arsenal fan Tom Watt broadens his horizons with a look at football culture in different countries, starting with Argentina.

top