A round-up of today's other soccer news.
SFA dive in at deep end
The Scottish Football Association have revealed ground-breaking plans to clamp down on cheats by handing out retrospective bookings for diving.
Referees will watch recordings of the games they officiate and award yellow cards for incidents of "simulation" they may have missed.
The initiative will run on an internal trial basis at first before being rolled out on January 1st. From next year, players deemed to have cheated to win a free-kick or get an opponent into trouble will be named and shamed by SFA and be given disciplinary points.
Nesta retires from international football
AC Milan's Italy defender Alessandro Nesta has retired from international football. The 31-year-old, who has 78 caps, played in three World Cups, but his Italy career has recently been dogged by injuries.
Rangers have signed Steven Whittaker from Hibernian for €3 million. The 23-year-old has signed a five-year contract. Whittaker is primarily a right-back but can also operate in midfield.
Sheffield United manager Bryan Robson hopes to sign Everton striker James Beattie by Saturday.
Defender Andy Griffin has completed his move from Portsmouth to Derby for a fee in the region of €800,000.
Aston Villa's latest signing, American Eric Lichaj (18), will be sidelined until September while he recovers from a broken foot. Lichaj suffered the injury before he put pen to paper on a two-year deal with Villa, but the club still went ahead with the signing because of his potential.
Edwin van der Sar will not make a decision over his Manchester United future until January. The Dutchman is about to enter the final year of his contract.
Liverpool misfit Anthony Le Tallec could be heading back to France for good after it was made clear he has no future at Anfield. The 22-year-old midfielder spent last season on loan to Sochaux, and the French club have confirmed that they are considering meeting Rafael Benitez's €3.2 million asking price.
Kilmarnock are leading a group of Scottish clubs in the hunt to sign versatile Derry City defender Darren Kelly. The 28-year-old has made it clear he wants to return to Britain.
City manager John Robertson said the player would be allowed to leave once the club's European campaign had ended and his options at the back have just been strengthened by the return from Partick Thistle of former Northern Ireland under-21 international Mark McChrystal.
Sunderland end on a high
At a brimful Terryland Park last night the crowd were afforded a taste of what the game in England is about. Vast chunks of an expectant audience dashed from Galway Plate Day in Ballybrit to monitor Sunderland - and the English club completed their pre-season tour on a high note with a 4-0 victory over Galway United.
Michael Chopra opened the scoring after just six minutes, latching on to a pass from Dickson Etuhu to confidently volley over the advancing Gary Rogers. And Kieran Richardson grabbed his first goal for the club since signing from Manchester United, cutting in from the left to fire home 10 minutes into the second half.
Manager Roy Keane made numerous changes in the second half and substitute Stern John set up David Connolly for the third before Connolly returned the favour as John side-footed home the visitor's fourth.
GALWAY UNITED: First half - Rogers; Nootimer, Fitzgerald, Charles, Keane; Fagan, Lester, Murphy, O'Brien; Moran, Glynn. Second half - Gough; O'Halloran, McKenna (Walsh, 80), Reilly; Tracy; Russell (Cunningham, 83), Foley (Keane, 84), Robson, Daveron (Cooke, 80); Faherty, O'Flynn (Fahy, 83).
SUNDERLAND: Fulop (Ward, 78); Halford (Kay, 57), McShane (Varga, 60), Nosworthy (Anderson, 60), Wallace; Stokes (Donoghue, 71) Whitehead (Leadbitter, 62), Ethuhu (Yorke, 46), Richardson (Collins, 60); Chopra (Connolly, 59), Murphy (John, 65).
Referee: A Buttimer (Cork).
