EDINBURGH: The World Cup medal won by England's Nobby Stiles in 1966 was bought for 188,200 pounds ($298,000) by his former club Manchester United Wednesday. The fee is the highest yet for a World Cup medal, surpassing the 165,000 pounds paid five years ago for another 1966 winners' medal owned by Alan Ball. England won its first and only world title in 1966 by beating West Germany 4-2 in extra time. Manchester United also put in a winning bid of 49,402 pounds for a European Cup winners' medal, which Stiles won with the club in 1968. He played 395 times for United from 1960 to ‘71. The 68-year-old Stiles, who is recovering from a mild stroke, raised a total of 424,438 pounds for his family from 45 lots at the auction in Edinburgh. “If you had walked in to my dad's house you would never have known what he had done,” Stiles' son John was quoted as saying by the BBC. “The shirts were in the loft and the medals were in the bank. Nobody ever saw them. So he was going to sell them sooner or later, but he was poorly in the summer and that speeded up the process.” World Club Cup draw Mexican club Pachuca must beat teams from Africa and South America to reach the final of the Club World Cup. FIFA made the draw in Zurich Wednesday for the tournament between continental champions being played Dec. 8-18 in Abu Dhabi. CONCACAF champion Pachuca was paired with the winner between TP Mazembe of Congo and Tunisia's Esperance, who plays an upcoming two-leg African Champions League final. South American champion Internacional of Brazil awaits in the semifinal. The other half opens with hosts Al-Wahda playing Oceania's champion, Papua New Guinea semiprofessionals Hekari United. The winner plays the champion of Asia – either South Korea's Seongnam Ilhwa or Iran's Zob Ahan who meet Nov. 13 in Tokyo. European champion Inter Milan of Italy enters at the semifinal stage.
