Reuters Sports Schedule at 1420 GMT Thursday, Oct 29

Reuters sports schedule at 1420 GMT on Thursday: - - - - FIFA Platini says he alone has vision to lead crisis-shaken FIFA LONDON - Suspended UEFA head Michel Platini said on Thursday he was the only person with the vision to lead soccer's world governing body FIFA out of a corruption scandal but there were opponents who "don't want to give football back to the players". (SOCCER-FIFA/PLATINI, moved, 400 words) - - - - RUGBY World Cup (to 31) New Zealand at full strength for final test BAGSHOT, England - New Zealand selected an unchanged team for Saturday's Rugby World Cup final against Australia as they seek to retain the title and become the first country to win the trophy three times. (RUGBY UNION-WORLD/NEWZEALAND-TEAM (UPDATE 2, expect by 1300 GMT/9 AM ET, by Mitch Phillips, 400 words) - - Australia to announce team for final LONDON - Australia will announce their team for Saturday's final against New Zealand. Few changes, if any, are expected to be made to the side that beat Argentina in the semi-finals. (RUGBY UNION-WORLD/AUSTRALIA-TEAM, expect by 1630 GMT/12:30 PM ET, by Julian Linden, 400 words) - - Cheika a hit for the Wallabies on and off the field LONDON - The new Australia coach Michael Cheika has been one of the stars of the World Cup, not only for transforming his team into potential world champions but his laid-back persona has endeared him to rugby fans from all countries. (RUGBY UNION-WORLD/AUSTRALIA-CHEIKA, expect by 1800 GMT/4 PM ET, by Julian Linden, 400 words) - - Both finalists chasing third World Cup win LONDON - The two best teams in the tournament seek to become the first to win the trophy three times with holders New Zealand and Australia meeting in Saturday's World Cup final at Twickenham. (RUGBY UNION-WORLD/FINAL (PREVIEW), expect by 1630 GMT/12:30 PM ET, by Justin Palmer, 600 words) - - Paths to the final LONDON - We look back at both teams' paths to the final. (RUGBY UNION-WORLD/NEWZEALAND-PATH and /AUSTRALIA-PATH, expect by 1630 GMT/12:30 PM ET, by Mitch Phillips and Justin Palmer, 400 words) - - Key areas of Twickenham final LONDON - "The breakdown will be key" is how most coaches seem to assess matches these days. We analyse the key areas of Saturday's World Cup final, (RUGBY UNION-WORLD/FINAL (ANALYSIS), expect by 1700 GMT/1 PM, by Justin Palmer, 600 words) - - - - SOCCER Montreal host Toronto in MLS Knockout Round action Didier Drogba and Montreal Impact welcome Toronto FC and their Italy international Sebastian Giovinco while Sporting Kansas City visit Portland Timbers in the playoffs to determine who reaches Major League Soccer's conference semi-finals. (SOCCER-MLS/, expect by 0230 GMT/10:30 PM ET, 300 words) - - We will have the latest team news ahead of this weekend's Premier League matches. (SOCCER-ENGLAND/, expect throughout) - - - - MOTOR RACING Mexican Formula One Grand Prix Hamilton, Alonso, Perez in main news conference MEXICO CITY - Newly-crowned triple champion Lewis Hamilton joins Spaniard Fernando Alonso and Mexican Sergio Perez in a news conference as Formula One returns to Mexico after a 23 year absence (MOTOR RACING-PRIX/ (PIX) expect by 1800 GMT/2 PM ET, by Alan Baldwin, 400 words) See also: (MOTOR RACING-PRIX/HAMILTON moved, by Alan Baldwin, 500 words) We will also have stories from around the paddock. - - - - GOLF European Tour: Turkish Airlines Open (to Nov. 1) McIlroy tipped for Antalya title Rory McIlroy is the favourite to win the $7 million Turkish Open in Antalya, the first event in the European Tour's lucrative four-tournament Final Series. (GOLF-EUROPEAN/, expect by 1500 GMT/11 AM ET, 400 words) - - - - TENNIS WTA Finals, Singapore (to Nov. 1) Sharapova carries Radwanska into semis SINGAPORE - Maria Sharapova reached the last four of the WTA Finals with an unbeaten record in round-robin play by breezing past Flavia Pennetta 7-5 6-1 on Thursday and booked a surprise passage to the semi-finals for Agnieszka Radwanska. (WTA-WOMEN/FINALS, moved, by Patrick Johnston and John O'Brien, 500 words) - - ATP Tour: Swiss Indoors, Basel (until Nov. 1) Valencia Open (until Nov. 1) Copy on merit - - - - NFL Brady's undefeated Patriots host rival Dolphins Tom Brady and the undefeated New England Patriots look to improve to 7-0 on the season when they host the AFC East rival and resurgent Miami Dolphins team that are 3-0 under interim coach Dan Campbell in the opening game of Week Eight National Football League action. (NFL-PATRIOTS/, expect by 0430 GMT/12:30 AM ET, by The Sports Xchange, 400 words) - - - - NBA Knicks clash with Hawks at MSG Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks, who endured the worst campaign in franchise history last season, host the reigning Eastern Conference regular season champion Atlanta Hawks in their home opener at Madison Square Garden (NBA-KNICKS/, expect by 0300 GMT/11 PM ET, by The Sports Xchange, 400 words) - - Paul leads Clippers into home opener versus Mavs Eight-times All-Star Chris Paul and the Los Angeles Clippers, who came one win short of a berth in last season's Western Conference finals, play their home opener versus the Dallas Mavericks. (NBA-CLIPPERS/, expect by 0530 GMT/1:30 AM ET, 400 words) - - - - NHL Streaking Blackhawks eye fifth straight win The defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks seek their fifth consecutive win when they visit the Winnipeg Jets while the Montreal Canadiens, coming off their first loss of the season after a sizzling 9-0 start, look to get back on track when they visit the Edmonton Oilers in two the eight games on the schedule. (NHL-HIGHLIGHTS/, expect by 0330 GMT/11:30 PM ET, 400 words) - - - - NORTH AMERICAN SPORTS Roundups of off-field developments in the major North American professional sports leagues. (expect by 0000 GMT/8:00 PM ET, by The Sports Xchange, 400 words) - - - - GYMNASTICS World championships, Glasgow (to Nov. 1) Bile targets all-around hat-trick GLASGOW - Simone Biles will be eager to extend her reign in women's gymnastics as she bids to become the first woman to win three successive all-around titles at the world championships. (GYMNASTICS-WORLD/ expect by 2130 GMT/ 5:30 PM ET, by Pritha Sarkar, 500 words) - - - - BASKETBALL Barcelona meet Panathinaikos in heavyweight clash BELGRADE - Twice former winners Barcelona are at home to six-times champions Panathinaikos in the Euroleague's standout fixture while CSKA Moscow entertain German team Bamberg. (BASKETBALL-EUROLEAGUE/, expect by 2200 GMT/6 PM ET, by Zoran Milosavljevic, 400 words) - - - - (Europe desk editor: Ken Ferris)