Sports Shorts

Israel's U-21 team will take on Montenegro Saturday in its European championship qualifier without the services of Biram Kayal and possibly Bibras Natkho. Kayal was released for a family affair, while Natkho was suffering from high fever before the team's departure yesterday for Austria. Kayal told head coach Moti Ivanir he could make it by Friday, but Ivanir told him to rejoin the team on Sunday ahead of next week's match against Bulgaria. "I have nothing against Kayal," said Ivanir. "It was his decision. No one is going to hang him." Natkho could rejoin the team tomorrow if his condition improves. (Moshe Harush)

English soccer club Liverpool announced yesterday that Yossi Benayoun would be out for about three weeks. The midfielder tore his hamstring during Liverpool's 2-2 Sunday draw against Birmingham. A medical exam yesterday confirmed the injury. (Uzi Dann)

Germany and Hanover 96 goalkeeper Robert Enke has died after being hit by a train in an apparent suicide, local police said yesterday. "First indications point to suicide," a media officer for the Niedersachsen police told Reuters before adding that Enke's body was found at a train crossing some 25 kilometers northeast of Hanover. Soft-spoken and reserved, the 32-year-old keeper won eight international caps and was in the running to play at the World Cup in South Africa next year. He missed Germany's last three qualifiers with a stomach virus and had just returned to action after almost two months out. His 2-year-old daughter died of a heart ailment in 2006. (Reuters)

Baseball general managers failed to take a vote yesterday on expanding instant replay following a postseason filled with blown calls by umpires. Baseball began video review late in the 2008 season, but only to determine whether potential home runs were fair or foul or cleared fences. Commissioner Bud Selig said he opposed expanding replay but that baseball would review its implementation. MLB exec Jimmie Lee Solomon said GMs listened to a report on replay. "We talked about the mechanics behind instant replay," Solomon said. "But it was all confined to the current instant replay system that we have." (AP)