The 33-year-old former Roland Garros winner replaces Emilio Sanchez Vicario, who stepped down after the team won their third title in nine years in Argentina at the end of November.

He will lead Spain when they host Serbia in the Davis Cup first round which will be held March 6-8 in Benidorm.

Costa, a clay court specialist, won a total of 12 ATP tournaments on this type of surface, including Roland Garros in 2002 against his compatriot Juan Carlos Ferrero.

He was also part of the Spanish team that won the Davis Cup in 2000 with a win over Australia in Barcelona and achieved his best ATP classification in 2002 with a sixth-place ranking.

Spanish players, including world number one Rafael Nadal, voted for Costa for the post.

He had been seen as the favourite to replace Vicario but among the other names cited as possibilities were Alex Corretja, Sergio Bruguera and the Federations’ sporting director Javier Duarte.

This was informed by the President PFF Syed Faisal Saleh Hayyat at a press conference held at the Pakistan Sports Complex, Islamabad on Wednesday.

‘We have short listed seven candidates for the said purpose and negotiations are underway to hire a top performing coach who will be paid no less than $10,000 to 15,000 per month to train the national squad,’ said Faisal.

He further said two of the short listed coaches are from UK while others are from Brazil, Czech Republic, Hungary and Iran.

On the instruction of the president of FIFA Sepp Blatter, he said, the federation would soon launch football for peace initiative.

We had marked some places in Balochistan, FATA and NWFP where youth would be given incentives to adopt the game as well as education, said Faisal.

He said that FIFA and Asian Football Confederation appreciated the game’s progress in the country and Spain, USA, Australia and Germany has offered technical and financial assistance.

Faisal said the annual budget of PFF is Rs 40 million as compared to Rs 1,000 million of India and despite that Pakistani team is far better than India as we have defeated them in important events.

Nadal, who overtook Roger Federer at the top of the men’s rankings shortly after beating the Swiss star in the Wimbledon final, is the first Spanish man to receive the honor.

‘It has been an incredible year for me and I will never forget all that’s happened,’ said Nadal, who also won his fourth straight French Open title in 2008, beating Federer in the final at Roland Garros for the third year in a row. ‘To finish the year ranked No. 1 was really special.’

The 22-year-old Nadal also won the Olympic gold medal in Beijing and helped Spain reach the Davis Cup final, where the European team beat Argentina despite the absence of the injured Nadal.

‘It has been a wonderful year for Spanish sport, and I am happy to have been part of it,’ Nadal said.

The only other Spaniard to have won the ITF award is Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario. She claimed the women’s honour in 1994.

Jankovic finished the year as the top-ranked women’s player despite failing to win a Grand Slam title in 2008 —she lost in the US Open final to Serena Williams. But the 23-year-old Serb still managed to win more matches than any other player on tour, and claimed WTA titles in Rome, Beijing, Stuttgart and Moscow.

‘I worked really hard this year and to finish No. 1 is where I want to be and where I want to stay,’ Jankovic said.

The ITF selects its world champions based on a system that includes results from the ATP and WTA tours, along with Grand Slams, Olympics and the Davis Cup and Fed Cup.

‘Both (Nadal and Jankovic) are excellent ambassadors for their countries, for whom they have achieved considerable success both as individuals and in the ITF team competitions,’ ITF president Francesco Ricci Bitti said.

In men’s doubles, Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia were named ITF World Champions.

Cara Black of Zimbabwe and Liezel Huber of the United States took the award for women’s doubles.

The ITF Junior World Champion honors went to French Open boys champion Yang Tsung-hua of Taiwan and Wimbledon girls finalist Noppawan Lertcheewakarn of Thailand.

Shingo Kunieda of Japan and Esther Vergeer of the Netherlands took the ITF Wheelchair World Champion honours.

The players will receive their awards at the ITF World Champions Dinner on June 2 in Paris.

‘Our business environment has rapidly deteriorated. In order to protect the Subaru brand we were forced to make this decision,’ Ikuo Mori, the president of Fuji Heavy Industries, which makes Subaru cars, told a press conference.

Mori fought back tears as he announced the decision, thanking fans.

The Subaru team won three manufacturer’s championship titles and three driver’s championship titles in its 19-year WRC participation.

‘This, we believe, has helped us achieve our original goal of enhancing the value of the Subaru brand,’ Mori said.

He cited the global economic slump and falling car sales as major reasons for the exit, which he said was effective with the end of the 2008 season.

The company had already decided to pull out of the rally at the end of 2009 as the team has failed to shine in recent years, but brought forward the timing due to the severity of the business environment, he said.

‘Since the autumn, the global economic turmoil has led to the rapid shrinkage of auto markets both in developed and emerging nations,’ he said.

The announcement came a day after Suzuki said it would not compete in the 2009 world rally championship largely because of the present financial crisis and follows Honda’s shock withdrawal from Formula One earlier this month.

‘Our investment is not as big as Formula One. But it is still a sizable amount for our company, particularly as we see the real economy deteriorating,’said Mori.

He did not disclose the amount required to run the team but said the cost was in the order of ‘several billion yen.’ The dollar was trading Tuesday in the range of 90 yen.

‘We must think about what kind of message we will send to car buyers. We will withdraw from WRC, but we want to convey the joy of driving through other means,’ he said.

Japanese manufacturers have expanded rapidly in recent years to meet brisk demand for their smaller, fuel-efficient cars, but they have not been immune to the financial crisis, even if they are in better shape than their US rivals.

Fuji Heavy Industries, which is part owned by Toyota Motor Corp., warned in August it expected a 46 percent fall in net profit in the year to March 2009.

Japanese truck maker Isuzu said earlier Tuesday it had shelved plans to jointly develop a clean diesel engine with Toyota due to the global economic downturn.

Giggs had just scored the goal that wrapped up United’s 17th English league title and their 10th during Ferguson’s reign.

Despite holding a substantial lead over their London rivals at one stage, United had been made to sweat all the way to the finish line by Chelsea and eventually ended only two points clear.

Taking the title by such a narrow margin could be a sign of things to come in the Premier League as the global credit crunch begins to level the playing field.

United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal will all finish the year at the top end of the table again, but the emergence of Aston Villa as serious challengers to the big four underlines the closing gap between the league’s superpowers and the chasing pack.

That Chelsea will start 2009 firmly in the title race is no surprise, but there are signs that the financial meltdown is starting to make life difficult for Luiz Felipe Scolari.

Scolari made an impressive start after replacing Avram Grant as Chelsea boss, but the Brazilian, who was furious that Manchester City out-bid the Blues for Robinho on transfer deadline day, has presided over a series of spluttering performances in recent weeks.

To make matters worse, Scolari has been told he must sell before he can buy after owner Roman Abramovich called a halt to the extravagant spending that has marked the Russian’s time at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea aren’t alone in tightening their belts and only Manchester City, backed by their Abu Dhabi-based billionaire owners, will buck the trend and pay big money during the transfer window.

The financial implications of relegation from the Premier League are too catastrophic to contemplate now and inevitably chairmen are getting twitchy.

When Paul Ince was sacked by Blackburn after only 17 matches in charge, he became the sixth top-flight boss to lose his job this season.

Winning the League Cup in February wasn’t enough to save Juande Ramos as Tottenham’s form collapsed. Harry Redknapp, tempted by a crack at his first big club, left Portsmouth to replace the Spaniard and sparked a remarkable revival, while Kevin Keegan’s second coming at Newcastle ended in acrimonious circumstances.

On the field, the Premier League still has much to commend it. Giggs’ goal at Wigan was the prelude to an even more dramatic Champions League final penalty shoot-out win against Chelsea in Moscow 10 days later that capped one of United’s greatest seasons.

That double triumph could be the start of another glorious era for United, but before the champagne corks had even stopped popping, Cristiano Ronaldo, whose 42 goals had played such a key role in United’s success, took the fizz out of their celebrations by unsuccessfully pushing for a move to Real Madrid.

Ronaldo has cut a forlorn figure ever since and his erratic form in the second half of 2008 has added to the impression that he is still at United on sufferance only.

But Ferguson’s men still ended the year newly crowned as FIFA’s Club World Cup winners and returned from Japan with Liverpool and Chelsea within touching distance.

The most encouraging trend of the year has to be the way newly-promoted Hull and Stoke have managed to make the critics eat their words.

After Derby’s relegation in May with 11 points – an English top-flight record low – Stoke and Hull and were widely regarded as certainities for relegation.

But both are clear of the bottom three and, not only was Hull’s win at Arsenal was one of the most memorable of the year, it also contributed to the spectacular outburst from Gunners captain William Gallas a few weeks later that revealed the extent of Arsene Wenger’s problems at the Emirates Stadium.

For China’s 1.3 billion people and their communist rulers, the two weeks in August when the world’s finest athletes came to the Chinese capital were about much more than just sport.

They were an opportunity to show that, after centuries of turmoil and a relatively short few decades of catching up to the West economically, China was once again one of the world’s most prosperous, powerful and proud nations.

From the first fireworks of the spectacular opening ceremony to the passing of the Olympic flame to London, China indeed showed its capabilities.

The Games drew strong praise from athletes and Olympic officials for being almost flawlessly run, the city’s notorious pollution disappeared thanks to drastic measures and the Chinese people proved to be warm, friendly hosts.

The iconic 90,000-seat ‘Bird’s Nest’ stadium and other ultra-modern venues, as well as the stunning architecture in Beijing that has risen in recent years, provided a remarkable backdrop to China’s show.

But the shadow of communist China’s darker edges remained.

Dissidents were detained or harassed into silence, key parts of the opening ceremony were faked, foreign journalists faced censorship of the Internet and Muslims in China’s far northwest staged deadly protests against Chinese rule.

Nevertheless, International Olympic Committee chief Jacques Rogge remained staunchly upbeat about the event, describing it at the closing ceremony as “truly exceptional” and a priceless chance for greater global understanding.

‘Through these Games, the world learned more about China, and China learned more about the world,’ Rogge said.

On the field, China’s masses of red flag-waving fans had the most to cheer about with the nation becoming only the third country after the United States and the former Soviet Union to top the gold medal table since World War II.

China finished with 51 gold, 21 silver and 28 bronze, ahead of 36-38-36 for the United States, in what some saw as a symbol of the rebalancing of power on the geopolitical stage.

However the United States did finish on top of the overall medals table, with 110 ahead of China’s 100.

More than 40 world records and 100 Olympic records were broken in Beijing, with American super-swimmer Phelps and Bolt, the electrifying and joyous Jamaican track sprinter, emerging as the biggest stars of the Games.

Phelps, 23, powered his way to a record eight gold medals in the pool, winning seven of them in world record times.

‘The greatest thing is proving nothing is impossible,’ Phelps said after surpassing fellow US swimmer Mark Spitz’s 36-year-old record of seven gold medals at one Games.

‘So many people said it couldn’t be done, but all it takes is an imagination.’

After the swimming meet concluded, Bolt stepped up with his golden track shoes to take the mantle as the fastest man on Earth.

The ever-smiling Jamaican, who celebrated his 22nd birthday in Beijing, won gold and claimed world records in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay, another unprecedented feat.

Other stand-out performers included the superstar millionaires of the National Basketball Association, who went undefeated to regain the gold that eluded them in Athens.

First-time athletics golds went to Belgium, Brazil and Panama, while South Korea, Tunisia and Brazil all tasted their first swimming gold.

Rifle shooter Abhinav Bindra also won India its first ever individual Olympic gold medal.

In all, 87 nations found their way onto the medals table, up from 74 in Athens, which Rogge hailed as ‘a proof of the universality of the Games’.

Khan, who was named Pakistan’s ‘Sportsman of the Millennium’, is the winner of six World Open and 10 British Open titles and is undoubtedly the most successful squash player ever.

As a schoolboy, who became the youngest-ever winner of the World Amateur Championship at the age of 15, he used to get up in the wee hours of the morning for his daily run as a resident of Karachi’s Lines Area back in the 1970s.

‘I would get up at around 2am for running,’ says the youngest winner of the World Open squash tournament, who is famous for his considerable stamina.

When asked why he didn’t run at dawn like most athletes, Khan points out, ‘I had to go to school.’

So determined was this student of PECHS Model School that he strictly followed his training regime by diligently exercising while the rest of the city slept.

‘No, not when everyone was asleep,’ Khan smiles as he takes a ‘run’, down memory lane.

‘From Lines Area I would come on to Shahrae Faisal and run all the way to Karsaz and back, and there would be these street dogs just waiting to chase me,’ he says.

‘By the time I became the world junior champion, I knew each and every one of them well and visa versa,’ he chuckles.

When asked if he took any precautions, like carry a cane or walking stick with him to keep the dogs away, Khan says: ‘No of course not, although I would have my skipping rope with me to wave in front of the over zealous ones but those street dogs and I made friends.’

Not just Sharea Faisal, Khan also turned to Karachi’s various parks as well as the Sea View beach in order to keep up his fitness level before he moved to England as a professional squash player.

‘But I would always return to Karachi after winning a tournament,’ he remembers.

And did the people of Karachi give him a warn welcome?

‘In the beginning, no one knew who I was and from what or where I was returning, so only my father would come to receive me at the airport. But then as my story and feats became known, I would be greeted by massive crowds who had come to show how proud they were of me. People from all over the country and walks of life would unite as Karachiites to receive their champion. I would naturally be immensely touched by the gesture.’

The squash complex where the 10-year-old Khan first got a feel of the racket has now been renamed as the Pakistan Navy Roshan Khan/Jahangir Khan Squash Complex. As a child Khan was not permitted any strenuous activity by his doctors and his father Roshan Khan, himself a British Open champion, permitted him to play a little after much thought.

After ruling the world of squash for so many years, Khan retired from professional squash in 1993 and his last match too was in Karachi, in the World Open Team Championships at the DHA Creek Club in 1993, where Pakistan won again, thanks to him.

‘I was given a magnificent farewell with a spectacular fireworks display. My late father was there too and he even made a speech. It was an emotional day for me,’ says the living legend. ‘The whole affair was recorded, of course, and I often watch it.’

Coming back to Khan’s love for Karachi  — Jehangir, the recipient of the President’s Pride of Performance, Sitara-i-Imtiaz, as well as several other international honours including an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy by the London Metropolitan University, says: ‘I hate to see the people of Karachi fighting among themselves and often wonder what has happened to my city. I think it has fallen prey to someone’s evil eye and I pray that things here would become all right again.

This is the city which nurtured me, gave me love and respect and I want to bring up my children here, surrounded by that same love.’

Solo yachtsman Yann Elies, 34, was pulled from his 60-foot (18-metre) yacht Generali, off Western Australia late Saturday — as he lay there in agony, tossed around in rough waters two days after breaking his leg.

David McIlroy, a doctor with Australia’s Royal Flying Doctor Service, was the first person to reach the Frenchman after a small party from the naval frigate HMAS Arunta boarded the yacht.

He found Elies lying on his bunk in great pain, unable to move freely and with limited water supplies on board as the boat tossed in a four-metre swell.

‘I was first in to see Yann,’ McIlroy told AFP. ‘And you could just see in Yann’s eyes and in his face — he couldn’t really contain his happiness, he was over the moon.’

McIlroy said the Frenchman had only a half-empty 600 millilitre bottle of Coca-Cola to sustain him and would have died if he had not been given medical assistance soon.

‘You don’t last long on 300ml of sugary water,’ he said.

‘Had he not been reached he would definitely have died at sea; there’s no two ways about that. He couldn’t reach his medical kit which was two metres from him, he couldn’t reach food.’

McIlroy said Elies was mentally and physically exhausted from his ordeal but able to speak and eat and said ‘all he wanted to be now was at shore’.

He said the Frenchman had a badly broken femur, which required straightening before he could be transferred to the naval frigate, as well as fractured ribs and possible lung damage and remained in a serious but stable condition.

The commanding officer of the HMAS Arunta, Stephen Bowater, said Elies, who had been competing in the round-the-world Vendee Globe race, was looking forward to being on land after so long at sea.

He said the Arunta would likely arrive in the Western Australian port of Fremantle on Monday afternoon but this depended on the weather and on Elies’ health.

Earlier, the Arunta’s executive officer, Lieutenant-Commander Simon Howard, said Elies was in good spirits and he had been in contact with his wife and children.

Elies was in eighth place when he was forced to abandon the race on Thursday about 800 nautical miles south of the Australian coast after he fell and broke his leg when a huge wave slammed into the ship as he was changing a sail.

The rescue is not the first time Australian forces have saved Vendee Globe racers. They went to the aid of Briton Tony Bullimore and Frenchman Thierry Dubois in the 1996-97 race.

Bowater said his 100-strong crew had made personal sacrifices to undertake the potentially dangerous mission at short notice and be away from their families near to the Christmas holiday.

But he said they were all delighted that they had been able to save Elies’ life.

‘The guys were expecting to miss Christmas to rescue a mate a sea,’ Bowater told AFP.

Race organisers have said Elies’ empty yacht would be allowed to drift until a crew from Team Generali arrived by motor launch to collect it and sail back to Southern Australia.

Thirty yachts began the gruelling round-the-world classic, which is held every four years, from the French Atlantic port of Les Sables d’Olonne on November 9, but 12 have now abandoned the race.

But in a draw for the first knockout round that produced some mouth-watering fixtures between European football’s big guns United and Premier League rivals Chelsea were not alone in facing tough opposition.

Liverpool, winners in 2005, are also assured a tough passage to the quarter-finals of the competition after being drawn with nine-times champions Real Madrid.

Arsenal will look favourably on the task that awaits them after being drawn with Roma, whose Olympic stadium will host the final in May 2009.

However seven-times French champions Lyon face a tough task overcoming an on-form Barcelona, European champions in 2006, over two legs.

Elsewhere Spanish side Villarreal drew Panathinaikos of Greece in what must be regarded as a good outcome for both clubs, while Bayern Munich will surely be happy having drawn Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon.

On-form Atletico Madrid meanwhile drew 2004 champions FC Porto.

The outcome of the draw means two former Chelsea coaches will find themselves back in England.

United will welcome back to Old Trafford former Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho, while Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri will return to Stamford Bridge for the first time since 2004.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, whose side beat Chelsea on penalties to claim the 2008 crown, will have another reason to motivate his side against Mourinho’s Inter Milan.

Before leading FC Porto to final victory in 2004, Mourinho danced a jig on the Old Trafford sidelines after a Costinha equaliser in the 90th minute sent United crashing out at the first knockout round.

Draw for the last 16, knockout round of the Champions League:

Match 1
Chelsea (ENG) v Juventus (ITA)

Match 2
Villarreal (ESP) v Panathinaikos (GRE)

Match 3
Sporting Lisbon (POR) v Bayern Munich (GER)

Match 4
Atletico Madrid (ESP) v FC Porto (POR)

Match 5
Lyon (FRA) v Barcelona (ESP)

Match 6
Real Madrid (ESP) v Liverpool (ENG)

Match 7
Arsenal (ENG) v Roma (ITA)

Match 8
Inter Milan (ITA) v Manchester United (ENG)

United became the first British winners of the FIFA tournament following Liverpool’s failure in 2005 when they were ambushed by Brazil’s Sao Paulo.

The European champions overcame a moment of madness from defender Nemanja Vidic, sent off four minutes into the second half in Yokohama for elbowing LDU striker Claudio Bieler in the face.

‘The sending off made it difficult for us,’ United manager Alex Ferguson told reporters. ‘Half an hour to go is a long road with 10 men but Wayne scored a magnificent goal.

‘In 30 years you’ll look back and see Manchester United’s name on the trophy — although I won’t be around to enjoy it.’

Vidic’s red card is a major blow to United as he will miss United’s next European Champions League game, away to Inter Milan in February in the first leg of the last 16.

‘It’s a soft sending off but he swung an elbow,’ said Ferguson. ‘When you do that in front of the referee you’ve got no chance. He gave the referee no option.’

The Serb’s dismissal sparked Ferguson’s side into life and Rooney fired the winner with a clinical right-foot shot after a magical flick from Cristiano Ronaldo.

WORLD’S BEST

‘We’re the best team in the world,’ said Rooney, who was named player of the tournament after scoring twice in United’s 5-3 semi-final win over Japan’s Gamba Osaka.

‘It’s a great achievement for the team and something we’re all really proud of. It’s been a long road. To score the winning goal is a great feeling.’

Ronaldo, the victim of persistent rough treatment from Libertadores Cup holders LDU, was a constant threat as United dominated a match watched by almost 69,000 fans.

Rooney, Park Ji-sung and Carlos Tevez, who was immediately sacrificed for defender Jonny Evans after Vidic’s red card, all went close in a one-sided first half.

United still had to survive late LDU pressure, goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar forced into an excellent fingertip save from Alejandro Manso’s fierce drive in the 89th minute.

Ferguson’s side won the tournament’s forerunner, a one-off match between the champions of Europe and South America, with a 1-0 win over Brazilian side Palmeiras in 1999.

‘When Vidic was sent off we thought we could win,’ LDU’s Argentine coach Edgardo Bauza said. ‘We’re sad we lost but happy to have come this far.’