Sunderland have signed Cameroon striker Patrick Mboma on loan until the end of the season. Mboma (31), who will be representing his country against the Republic of Ireland at the World Cup finals, has agreed terms to move from Serie A side Parma.
Mboma, who will team up with Irish internationals Niall Quinn and Jason McAteer at the Stadium of Light, missed his country's African Nations Cup final success over Senegal on Sunday because of a foot injury suffered in the quarter-finals, after scoring three goals for the tournament winners.
Cameroon's success in Mali has seen them overtake the Republic in FIFA's world rankings. They have moved up 19 places to 18th, one above Mick McCarthy's side.
The inactivity of most of the leading European sides during January has left the bulk of the top 20 unchanged. The Republic's other World Cup opponents, Germany, remain in 12th place, while Saudi Arabia have fallen three places to 34th despite winning the Gulf Cup in Riyadh last week.
France, Argentina , Brazil and Portugal respectively continue to hold to the leading four positions.
Scotland, ranked 51st, have cleared the way for Berti Vogts to become manager on March 1st after reaching a compensation agreement with their Kuwaiti counterparts yesterday.
SFA chief executive David Taylor secured the agreement in time for the German to take charge in a friendly in France on March 27th.
Bolton Wanderers have wrapped up the signing of French World Cup winner Youri Djorkaeff. The midfielder has joined until the end of the season after being released by Bundesliga side Kaiserslautern.
Djorkaeff's compatriot Thierry Henry has said Arsene Wenger's decision to extend his stay at Arsenal could prompt him to follow suit.
Henry said: "The fact Arsene decided to stay is very important for me because it allows us to follow a certain continuity with all the players he recruited."
Henry's French counterparts at Newcastle United, Sylvain Distin and Olivier Bernard, will not be punished after the club refuted claims they had broken a curfew.
Jamie McClen has been fined for bringing the club into disrepute but Distin and Bernard, spotted on the city's Quayside during the early hours of Tuesday morning, will not face the same punishment as McClen (22), following his caution by police for being drunk and disorderly in the same area 24 hours earlier.
FIFA WORLD RANKINGS: 1 France. 2 Argentina. 3 Brazil. 4 Portugal. 5 Colombia. 6 Italy. 7 Spain. 8 Netherlands, Mexico. 10 England. 11 Yugoslavia. 12 Germany. 13 United States. 14 Paraguay. 15 Czech Republic. 16 Romania. 17 Sweden. 18 Cameroon 19 Rep of Ireland, Demark. 34 Saudi Arabia. 51 Scotland. 92 Northern Ireland. 101 Wales.
