Bohemians striker must hope for video reprieve

Trevor Molloy is hoping video evidence will overturn his red card from Monday night's Uefa Cup tie against Kaiserslautern thus allowing the Bohemians striker to play in the second leg in 10 days' time.

Trevor Molloy is hoping video evidence will overturn his red card from Monday night's Uefa Cup tie against Kaiserslautern thus allowing the Bohemians striker to play in the second leg in 10 days' time.

Molloy was sent off two minutes from the interval in the3-1 defeat for allegedly striking out at a German player, but the striker maintained that was not the case.

"I know that I didn't hit him," Molloy said. "I hope the referee sees this on the television and acknowledges that he made a mistake because to miss the German game would be a serious blow for me."

Molloy's dismissal was crucial as Bohemians gave in to fatigue in the final 20 minutes and the player-shortage hit hard.

"With 11 men it would have been a different story but with only 10 on the pitch for 45 minutes you were just praying that nothing too disastrous happened," said the Bohemians manager, Roddy Collins.

"We were going very nicely during the first half and I felt that we had them on the back foot, but them suddenly we were down to 10 men and it was only going to be an uphill struggle after that."

In Singapore, a lawyer for two players has failed to get match-fixing charges dropped in a pre-trial conference. The German Lutz Pfannenstiel and the Australian Mirko Jurilj have pleaded innocent and will go on trial.

The players, who play in Singapore's National Soccer League for separate teams, are charged with agreeing to accept payments to influence the outcome of three separate matches involving their respective clubs.

Milan are close to signing the Uruguayan international midfielder Pablo Garcia from Atletico Madrid, who were relegated from the Primera Liga last season.

A spokesman for Milan revealed that Garcia had visited the club on Monday for a medical but had not yet signed a contract.

If the deal is completed the 23-year-old midfielder he will team up with former Atletico team-mates Jose Chamot and Jose Mari.

Hertha Berlin's Brazilian striker Alex Alves has revealed that he wishes to quit the Bundesliga in favour of a move move to a Spain or Italy to further his career.

"I like Hertha, but I need some better club for my personal development as a professional footballer," said the 25-year-old.

Alves, who joined Hertha last year from Cruzeiro Belo Horizonte for a club record 15.5 million marks (£4.9m), has a contract at the German side until 2004.

"I want to make as good an impression as possible at Hertha to put myself in a position to change, although I am happy in Berlin," he said.

The Hertha manager Dieter Hoeness hit back by stating that Alvez's comments had "no meaning at all."

"He sees other Brazilians playing in these leagues. Maybe that's what brought on these wishes. We can talk about this when his contract with us ends in four years," Hoeness said.

Alves has been a revelation at in recent weeks, scoring once and setting up two other goals in Hertha's 4-0 victory over VfL Bochum last week - a game marking his comeback from a long suspension after he received a red card for punching an opponent during the League Cup in July.