Real Madrid pair Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben scored the goals to give Holland a 2-0 victory over Wales on Sunday in Rotterdam in their final Euro 2008 tune-up.

A packed De Kuip stadium saw coach Marco van Basten start out with the side which had drawn its last outing against Denmark before the 1988 champion elected to make half a dozen changes after the break.

With the Dutch facing France, Italy and Romania in the finals in what is by far the toughest group Van Basten was keen to sift through his options against a defensive Welsh line-up bent on affording maximum protection to keeper Wayne Hennessey with Freddy Eastwood the lone visiting attacker.

Striker Ryan Babel has been ruled out of the Euro 2008 tournament starting next week after sustaining an injury in training, Dutch football officials said on Saturday.

The Liverpool forward is thought to have ruptured his Achilles’ tendon.

Coach Marco van Basten has yet to name his replacement.

Holland - who won the tournament 20 years ago - open their Euro 2008 campaign against Italy on June 9 and will play France four days later.

Source:Soccer News

Portugal boss Luiz Felipe Scolari on Saturday played down a possible move to Chelsea, insisting the Premier League side have made no contact with him over their managerial vacancy.

The Brazilian has been hotly tipped for a move to the Stamford Bridge club since the departure of Avram Grant last weekend.

Scolari is out of contract at the end of Euro 2008 but he insists he will make no decision about his future until after the championship.

“I am working normally around the national squad,” said Scolari, also linked with Manchester City recently, on Sky Sports News.

Asian heavyweights China and North Korea took their places in the Women’s Asian Cup semi-finals Friday with comprehensive wins over Thailand and Vietnam respectively.

Qu Feifei scored twice for China as they inched closer to defending their title with a 5-1 victory while the Koreans, who won the tournament in 2001 and 2003, swept past the host nation 3-0.

They play each other to determine who tops Group A on Sunday.

China dominated their game and went in front after 10 minutes when Bi Yan’s corner from the left was headed back across goal and Liu Sa was on hand to stab home at the back post.

AC Milan have rejected an approach from Chelsea for permission to talk to coach Carlo Ancelotti about the vacant manager’s position at Stamford Bridge.

The Premier League and Champions League runners-up began their search for a new boss after sacking Avram Grant.

“(Chelsea) asked for our permission and naturally everything stopped there,” Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani told the Serie A club’s website.

“He and another Italian coach were at the top of Chelsea’s list.”

Iranian-American football manager Afshin Qotbi quit as coach of Iranian side Persepolis, just a week after guiding the club to the league title in his first year back in Iran, officials said Friday.

Qotbi, who returned to Iran last year after spending much of his life in the United States, is set to leave the country in the next few days with his South Korean wife.

“After talking it over with his family, Qotbi officially told us that he does not want to remain in Iran any longer and to work with Persepolis,” Habib Kashani, the director of the Persepolis, told the student agency ISNA.

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO v ENGLAND Venue: Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain Date: Sunday, 1 June Kick-off: 2230 BST Coverage: Live on BBC ONE, BBC Radio 5 Live/online

David Beckham has been named England captain for Sunday’s friendly against Trinidad & Tobago.

It is a remarkable turnaround for the 33-year-old who stepped down as skipper after the 2006 World Cup and was then dropped by former boss Steve McClaren.

The midfielder did regain his place under McClaren but was then made to wait for his 100th cap when current manager Fabio Capello took charge.