Football | Former England coach Eriksson joins Shanghai

Former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson is taking over at Chinese club Shanghai East Asia. The 66-year-old Swede said  he wants to make the club a force not only in China but throughout Asia, and appears willing to spend big to attract fresh talent. The club reportedly has about USD82 million to spend on players. “For sure there will be some new faces, new players for next season,” Eriksson said. “Exactly who or which kind of players it’s too early to speak about that today. But there will be some new foreigners and some new Chinese players, yes.” Eriksson is moving to Shanghai on a two-year contract after more than a year as coach at southern China’s Guangzhou R&F, which he led to a third-place finish last season. The well-traveled Eriksson coached Benfica, Manchester City and England from 2001-06, among other national teams.

Japan Soccer HondurasJapan beats Australia 2-1 in friendly in Osaka

Japan sounded a warning ahead of its defense of the Asian Cup with a 2-1 friendly win against Australia yesterday. Brimming with confidence after a 6-0 beating of Honduras last Friday, Javier Aguirre’s team was making a timely improvement ahead of the Asian Cup in Australia in January. Second-half goals by substitute Yasuyuki Konno and Shinji Okazaki earned Japan a merited victory, with Tim Cahill’s last-minute header bringing scant consolation for the visitors. Konno headed in at the far post after 61 minutes after the Australia defense failed to deal with Keisuke Honda’s corner from the right, and Okazaki scored the second with an exquisite flick from Masato Morishige’s pass.

Rafael NadalRafael Nadal to return to playing in January

Rafael Nadal says he will return to playing at the start of the year. The 14-time Grand Slam champion hasn’t played since having his appendix removed this month, forcing him to miss the season-ending ATP finals. Nadal says “I will play in Abu Dhabi in January, and after that I will play my first official tournament in Doha.” The Abu Dhabi exhibition tournament is scheduled for Jan. 1-3. The tournament in Doha, Qatar, will be played the following week.

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