Barclays talks on 135 BMPS Italy branches-sources

LONDON/MILAN, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Britain's Barclays is in talks to buy 135 Italian branches from Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, people familiar with the matter said, in a deal that could be worth 540 million euros ($804.8 million).

Barclays is offering to pay 4 million euros a branch, one of the sources said.

The offer is an increase from its previous 3 million euros each, but BMPS has been firm on 5 million, Italian business daily Il Sole reported.

The bank is due to meet BMPS in Siena with consultant Morgan Stanley in the next few days, possibly on Thursday, Il Sole said.

A deal is not imminent and the UK bank is also in talks to buy branches from other banks to build up its Italian presence, one of the sources said on Thursday.

Barclays is expanding in western Europe, and has targeted northern Italy as a key growth area.

BMPS and Barclays declined to comment.

BMPS, which is the oldest bank in the world, it must sell 150 of its branches by mid-December as a condition from Italy's antitrust authority for its Antonveneta acquisition. So far it has sold only 15 outlets at 5 million euros each.

Sources said in June that Italy's bank Intesa Sanpaolo was in talks to buy 50 of the BMPS branches for a total of between 125 million to 150 million euros.

Barclays is also interested in acquiring Banco Popolare's retail units Popolare Cremona, Popolare Crema and Cassa Pescara, and its merchant bank Efibanca, Il Sole said.

A spokesman for Banco Popolare said the bank has previously said Efibanca is non-strategic but has not commented on the other possible sales. He declined further comment.

A Milan-based bank analyst said BMPS has always wanted 5 million euros per branch. He said other banks might be interested, including Deutsche Bank, while valuation partly depends on the location of the branches in the country.

Barclays currently has 256 distribution outlets in Italy, including about 150 branches, up from 49 in mid-2007. ($1=.6710 Euro).

Germany Skipper Michael Ballack Hits Out At Fans

The midfielder was far from happy with the way the German fans behaved on Wednesday...

Germany and Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack celebrates the win over wales

Germany booked their ticket for the 2010 World Cup on Saturday with a heroic 1-0 away win against Russia. Therefore, they didn't have too much left to play for on Wednesday evening in the match against Finland.

This showed on the pitch and the Germans put in a far from impressive performance to record a 1-1 draw. But the home crowd reacted furiously to the lack-lustrous performance of the Mannschaft and expressed their feelings by jeering and whistling the German players, much to the dismay of skipper Michael Ballack.

"I just can't understand the whistles. Of course, we didn't play well, but the team does not deserve that after a good qualification campaign," said the Chelsea midfielder to reporters after the game.

"We are all disappointed, but I expected a bit more tact from our own fans.

"In the first-half, we didn't play well, everyone saw that," added Germany coach Joachim Loew.

"After the break, we raised our game, but Finland defended well and we weren't as fresh as we were in Moscow."

South American round-up

Argentina scraped the last automatic qualification place in South America after a 1-0 win over Uruguay.

Substitute Mario Bolatti hit a late winner to ensure Diego Maradona's side a place in South Africa next year, after the home defence had failed to clear a Juan Sebastian Veron free-kick.

Uruguay finished the game with 10 men after Martin Caceres picked up a second booking in the build up to Argentina's goal.

They will now have to battle it out in a two-legged play-off against Costa Rica if they are going to make it to the finals.

Top-of-the-table Brazil preserved their unbeaten home record as they held Venezuela to a 0-0 draw at Campo Grande.

The result of the game was immaterial as Venezuela came into the match effectively out of the running for fifth-place, and the stalemate leaves Brazil as group winners on 34 points.

Kaka could have ended the qualifying campaign with a win for the home side, but his shot rebounded off the post in the second half.

Chile were already ensured of a place in South Africa before their game against Ecuador, and they celebrated their qualification with a 1-0 win.

Ecuador had an extremely slim chance of reaching next year's tournament before start of play but were undone by a Humberto Suazo strike before Wolves midfielder Segundo Castillo was sent off for an ugly challenge.

Peru rounded off a disappointing campaign on a high with a narrow 1-0 win over fellow group minnows Bolivia in Lima.

Johan Fano hit the only goal after 53 minutes but he turned villain just two minutes later when he was shown a straight red card.

Fano's exit levelled up the numbers on the pitch after Bolivia had earlier been reduced to 10 men following the dismissal of Rosauro Rivero for a second yellow card in the first half.

Elsewhere, Paraguay, who had already qualified before the last round of fixtures, slumped to a 2-0 home defeat to Columbia.

Second-half goals by Adrian Ramos and Hugo Rodallega saw already-eliminated Colombia climb to seventh in the final standings, while Paraguay settled for third.

Mirza reaches Japan Open quarter-finals

OSAKA, Japan — India's Sania Mirza became the first player to reach the quarter-finals of the Japan Open Wednesday, beating Viktoriya Kutuzova of Ukraine in straight sets.

The 22-year-old Mirza, who won the Australian Open mixed doubles with Mahesh Bhupathi this season, took advantage of a rash of double faults from Kutuzova on her way to a 6-4, 6-3 win.

In the last eight on Friday, Mirza will play the 2006 champion, Marion Bartoli of France, seeded second.

Bartoli, battling for the final spot in the season-ending championships, thumped Japanese wild card Kurumi Nara 6-1, 6-1 in just 61 minutes.

In other second-round action, fourth seed Francesca Schiavone of Italy had an unconvincing 6-3, 0-6, 6-3 win over Chan Yung-jan of Taiwan.

Seventh seed Melinda Czink of Hungary hit seven aces and seven double faults in beating Vania King of the United States 6-4, 6-2.

Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, the top seed and runner-up at the US Open, was due to play Katie O'Brien of Britain on Thursday.