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HOLLAND - London football club Tottenham Hotspur confirmed on Wednesday afternoon it had signed Dutch midfielder Rafael Van der Vaart.

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PHILIPSBURG - A relay team of six Dutch swimmers has swum from France to England in a record eight hours, 57 minutes, news agency ANP reports.

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EUROPE - Arsenal and Netherlands striker Robin van Persie is likely to be out for "at least a few weeks", according to the Dutch football federation (KNVB).

The KNVB has announced that Van Persie will take no part in the upcoming European Championship qualifiers against San Marino and Finland as a result.

Arsene Wenger had said after the game against Blackburn that he thought Van Persie's injury would be short-term. "It is a twisted ankle," he said. "We will have to check but, if we have no bad news, we hope that in eight to ten days he can be okay."

With Van Persie out of action, Netherlands have called up Hamburg striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, 34, for the first time in two years.

Van Nistelrooy announced his international retirement after Euro 2008 but reversed his decision prior to the 2010 World Cup. He has scored six goals in three games for Hamburg so far this season.

_{GettyImages; Robin van Persie could face a lengthy spell on the sidelines}

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EUROPE - Rafael Benitez lost his first game in charge of Inter Milan as Atletico Madrid earned a surprise 2-0 win the UEFA Super Cup in Monaco.

Goals by Jose Antonio Reyes and Sergio Aguero sealed the victory while Diego Milito missed a penalty at the end.

By contrast Inter looked a shadow of the side taken to the pinnacle of Europe by Jose Mourinho - despite no less than 10 of the starting XI having also started the Champions League final.