Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - The Oceania World Cup qualifying tournament will be held in Qatar in March, but some of the All Whites top players are likely to miss the start of the tournament.

The nine-team tournament will decide which team advances to an intercontinental playoff for a spot at the World Cup finals.

The winner of the March 14-30 competition will face the fourth-placed team from the CONCACAF region, which features sides from North and Central America and the Caribbean.

New Zealand were the last country from the region to qualify for the World Cup when they appeared in South Africa in 2010. They missed out on a place in Russia in 2018 after losing to Peru in a playoff.

Cook Islands and Tonga will play for a slot in the group phase of the Oceania tournament, with the winner taking their place alongside New Zealand, Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Island, Tahiti and Vanuatu.

FIFA have granted the Oceania Football Confederation a one-day extension to the March international window, which is due to run from March 21-29, to allow teams to call up overseas-based players from the final round of group matches onwards.

That means the likes of Chris Wood, Sarpreet Singh and Liberato Cacace could miss the opening group games.

-Reuters

Messi wins Ballon d'Or again

Paris St-Germain and Argentina forward Lionel Messi won the Ballon d'Or - awarded to the best male footballer of the year - for a record seventh time.

Messi, 34, helped his country win the Copa America, his first international honour, and has scored 40 goals in 2021 - 28 for Barcelona, four for Paris St-Germain and eight for Argentina.

Bayern Munich and Poland striker Robert Lewandowski came second, Chelsea and Italy midfielder Jorginho was third and Real Madrid's French striker Karim Benzema finished fourth.

The Ballon d'Or is voted for by 180 journalists from around the world, although there was no award in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Messi had already won the trophy more times than any other player and his seventh success comes after wins in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2019.

Spaniard Alexia Putellas of Barcelona won the women's award.

Lewandowski, who scored 53 goals in all competitions in 2021 for Bayern, was awarded the Striker of the Year prize, Paris St-Germain's Gianluigi Donnarumma, who helped Italy win Euro 2020, won the Trophy for best goalkeeper, while Champions League winners Chelsea were named Club of the Year.

-BBC

Williamson staying with Sunrisers

Kane Williamson has been retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad for the 2022 Indian Premier League.

The franchises in the Twenty20 tournament have started finalising their retention list for next year.

Williamson, who has been with Hyderabad since 2015, took over the captaincy this year with the team finishing last.

The 2022 competition involves ten teams with the existing teams allowed to retain a total of four players, including two oversees players.

The two new unnamed teams, to be based in Lucknow and Ahmedabad, can then but up to three players each from the pool.

The auction purse has increased to almost $18 million.

Tiger won't play full-time again

Tiger Woods says he does not expect to return to the tour full-time following his car accident in February.

The 15-time major champion had surgery on open fractures to his lower right leg and sustained further injuries to his foot and ankle.

Earlier this month Woods, 45, said he was "making progress" and shared footage of him playing golf for the first time since the accident.

But he said "getting all the way to the top" is not a realistic expectation.

"Pick and choose a few events a year and you play around that. That's how I'm going to have to play it from now on," he told Golf Digest

"It's an unfortunate reality, but it's my reality. And I understand it, and I accept it."

Woods' car left the road at about 85mph and flipped several times during the accident in California.

Woods has not played since December 2020 when he partnered his son in an event at the PNC Championship.

In 2019 he recovered from spinal fusion surgery two years before, and a string of further injuries, to win a 15th major at the Masters.

He had a fifth back surgery shortly before his car accident.

First black golfer at Masters dies

Lee Elder, a champion of racial justice who in 1975 became the first Black man to compete in the Masters, has died at the age of 87.

Elder made his historic Masters debut in 1975 but it would be more than a decade later in 1990 before Augusta National -- one of the world's most exclusive clubs -- would welcome Ron Townsend as its first Black member.

During his career, Elder won four events on the PGA Tour, including the 1974 Monsanto Open which qualified him for the following year's Masters, and later recorded eight wins on the PGA Tour Champions.

In 2020, Augusta National announced it would celebrate Elder by adding him as an honorary starter with golfing greats Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player at this year's Masters.

Elder qualified for the Masters in five consecutive years from 1977 through 1981, his best finish coming in 1979 when he finished in a share of 17th place.

-Reuters

Williams falls asleep during match

Triple world champion Mark Williams has apologised to snooker fans for falling asleep during his own match at the UK championship, blaming the after-effects of COVID-19.

The 46-year-old 'Welsh Potting Machine' lost 6-5 in the second round to Anthony Hamilton in York and revealed afterwards that he had nodded off in his chair while leading.

The two-times UK champion apologised on Twitter to anyone watching and said his slumbers had nothing to do with his opponent's style of play.

"After 30 years as a pro, that's the first time I have fallen asleep during a match."

"My head dropped down which woke me up and for about five seconds I had no idea where I was.

"It's been a few weeks since I had COVID and I am feeling better but I still get very tired. It was a good match though, we both made some good breaks."

His next tournament is likely to be the Scottish Open, which despite its title is being played in North Wales due to a contractual issue, starting next week.

"It's only best of seven, so I should be able to stay awake for that one," said Williams.

-Reuters

Rangnick confirmed at United

Manchester United have named German Ralf Rangnick as interim manager until the end of the Premier League season, eight days after sacking Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Rangnick steps in to replace Solskjaer, who was removed after United's 4-1 defeat by Watford this month, their seventh loss in 13 games across all competitions which left them eighth in the Premier League standings.

Rangnick has left his role as head of sports and development at Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow to take up the job.

Following the end of this season, Rangnick will stay on at Old Trafford for an additional two years in a consultancy role.

His first game in charge of United, who are eighth in the Premier League, could be against Arsenal on Friday if his work permit application is received in time.

If not, temporary manager Michael Carrick will remain in charge of the side.

Rangnick has built an impressive coaching reputation during his time in Germany, with both Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp and Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel speaking highly about their compatriot.

He set Ulm on course to promotion to the Bundesliga for the first time before spells in charge of Stuttgart, Hannover, Hoffenheim, Schalke and RB Leipzig.

He won the German Cup with Schalke in 2011 and took RB Leipzig to the final in 2019.

-BBC

Kane helps American Spurs fans

Two Tottenham Hotspur fans who travelled 34 hours from Texas to watch them play Burnley yesterday only for snow to postpone the game have been invited to a home game as Harry Kane's guests.

Spurs striker Kane responded after reading of Dallas couple Ken and Brandi Saxton's misfortune on Twitter.

"Most people that I've interacted with on Twitter have spoken about how gutted I must feel or how disappointing everything must have been," Ken Saxton told the BBC.

"But I came over here mainly to be with my friends and make new ones. So, football or not, I was able to hang out with some really incredible people and meet some new ones."

They now plan to attend Thursday's home game against Brentford and as reward for their efforts have been invited to enjoy the game as guests of England skipper Kane.

-Reuters