The Cricket Carnival, jointly organised by Bangladesh Cricket Board and British Council, begins today at the BKSP. ‘Connecting Future Cricket Carnival’ is the initiative of the British Council as part of its involvement with the BCB for the last three years.
   In the carnival the six divisional teams with one British player in each side will fight for the championship aiming to enhance the mutual understanding between the players from the two countries as well as developing the skills of the young cricketers.
   The teams have been formed with the BCB under-17 and under-19 age group players. Each of the six divisions – Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal and Sylhet – submitted a 10-member squad.
   The final of the seven-day meet will be held on February 20.
   The match format of the carnival will be Super 8’s cricket with 8 players per team and 16 overs per innings. An over-boundary will fetch eight runs when a boundary will be counted as six runs to inspire the batsmen to play aggressively and enhance their skills.
   All players including the wicketkeeper will have to bowl two overs in a match and the batting order will rotate from match to match to ensure maximum participation of the players.
   Six British players – Andrew Colquhoun, Steven Coleman, Simon Roberts, Paul Radley, Jonkheer Daan and Shaun O’Brien – will play dividing themselves into the six teams. They arrived in city on Sunday morning and are now staying at the BKSP. They have been selected through the MCC Young Cricketers Programme.
   June Rollinson, the director of the British Council, informed they tried to help the young Bangladeshi cricketers by arranging advanced computer and language courses for them.
   The British Council, which signed a memorandum of understanding with the BCB in 2002, provided many facilities including sending 10 young cricketers to play in the Surrey League, a domestic cricket league of the United Kingdom.
   They have also been providing sports books and videos for the BCB development committee to enrich the knowledge of the young cricketers.
   Khondoker Jamil Uddin, the chairman of BCB’s ticket and seating committee and game development officers, Shaun Williams and Carlton Bernardus, were also present at the press conference.

England (240) against South Africa
   Kevin Pietersen continued his run spree against South Africa and led an England batting recovery in the seventh and final one-day international at Centurion Park Sunday.
   Pietersen hammered 116 off 110 balls, his third century of the series, to enable England to reach 240 all out. They had been floundering at 68 for six after being sent in on a slow pitch with uneven bounce.
   The South African-born Pietersen was relatively subdued as he and Ashley Giles dug England out of trouble. It took him 72 balls to score his first 33 runs but he switched back into the bludgeoning mode which has characterised his performances in South Africa when he hit left-arm spinner Nicky Boje for two sixes over midwicket in three balls.
   They were the first of six sixes for Pietersen, who also hit 10 fours. It took him 80 deliveries to reach 50 but he only needed 28 more to notch his century.
   Pietersen, 24, who was not originally included in England’s squad but was called up after an impressive debut in Zimbabwe earlier in the season, finished the series with 456 runs in six innings at an average of 152.
   He faced only 430 balls in a consistent sequence of clean-striking, quick-scoring innings.
   Giles made a career-best 41 as he helped Pietersen put on 104 off 114 balls for the seventh wicket, while Kabir Ali, who made a breezy 25, shared a 53-run stand off only 27 balls for the eighth wicket. South Africa, holding a 3-1 lead, clinched the series when the sixth match was rained out in Durban Friday.
   South Africa brought back left-arm spinner Nicky Boje, with all-rounder Andrew Hall moving up to open the batting in place of Adam Bacher, who was dropped.
   Hall ended Pietersen’s innings when the batsman swung across the line in the 48th over. Hall picked up two more wickets in the final over to finish with three for 52.
   England opening bowler Darren Gough, his team’s most consistent bowler in the series, could not play because of a virus and was replaced by fast bowler Steve Harmison.

Trouble-prone Shoaib Akhtar has refused to follow Pakistan Cricket Board’s directive to play in a first-class Patron’s Trophy Championship match starting on Monday to prove his fitness for the Indian tour.
   Sources close to Shoaib said the bowler was ‘surprised’ at the instruction to play in the match as he had been advised rest till February 18 and also because none of the physical trainers would be at hand to assess his fitness.
   Shoaib, recovering from a hamstring injury, has also sought a meeting with PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan to put forward his point of view as he had no intention of resuming playing so soon.
   South African trainer Grant Compton, who has been supervising Shoaib’s rehabilitation programme, had told him to rest till February 18 before a fresh assessment of his injury was carried out, the sources were quoted as saying in local daily ‘The News’.
   ‘Grant Compton is due to return home on February 18 but Shoaib is surprised at the instructions given to him to play in a first-class match from the 14th,’ they said.
   ‘Shoaib is also surprised at these instructions since even the foreign trainer and physiotherapist would return only on 18 from South Africa, so he (Shoaib) is wondering who is going to assess his fitness even if he plays in the match.’ More
   A lot of hue and cry was raised on Friday when Shoaib did not appear before PCB-appointed trainer Dr Meesaq Rizvi while the other injured pace bowlers, Mohammad Sami and Shabbir Ahmed, did.
   ‘Shoaib has made it clear to the Board he does not believe Dr Rizvi has the qualification or credentials to give any assessment on his hamstring injury,’ they said.
   The latest insistence by the Board that he play in the Patron’s Trophy to prove his fitness was an attempt to keep the fast bowler under pressure, a PCB official said.
   ‘We also realise Shoaib is a valuable bowler when he is 100 per cent committed. But his antics in recent times are not acceptable. The Board wants to not only ensure he is completely fit for the Indian tour but also keep him under pressure so that he does not take his selection for India for granted,’ a Board official stated.

Medium pacer Tareq Aziz Khan is unlikely to participate in the Duleep Trophy cricket tournament in India for his Honours final examination in Public Administration under the Dhaka University.
   The talented bowler already missed a year as he was busy with the national team for overseas tour last year.
   Tareq told New Age that he decided to withdraw his name and already hinted the chief selector about his decision.

Two promising spinners Nadif Chowdhury and Mohammad Ullah Riyad will participate in the MCC's Annual Cricketer's Programme for leadership courses, informed a high official of the BCB.
   The ticket and sitting committee chairman Khondoker Jamil Uddin told that the two players will participate in the month long course in London.
   Generally the International Cricket Council to send one promising player for the course. However, they agreed to accept two players as BCB requested.

All set for his first full tour of India, flamboyant Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi says he would try to curb his impulse to hit every ball for a six and help his team build a long innings in the Test matches.
   ‘It’s going to be my first full tour to India and I am keen to earn honour and glory for my country against the arch-rivals,’ the hard hitting batsman said.
   ‘I am fully aware that India-Pakistan series will be tension-packed and it will be a hard tour but it’s my goal to perform under pressure,’ Afridi was quoted as saying by APP news agency.
   But Afridi said he was trying to curb his habit of hitting every ball for a six as Pakistan, which lacked batting experience as compared to India, needed youngsters to complement seniors Inzamam-ul Haq and Yousuf Youhana.
   ‘Look, they have Tendulkar, Sehwag, Dravid and Laxman, who can play long innings. Staying at the crease for long periods is the key in Test matches. We have only two good batsmen in Inzamam and Youhana.
   ‘So in this scenario, the young lot like Salman Butt, Yasir Hameed and others have got to be consistent to help in building the innings,’ he said.

Sri Lankan children orphaned by the tsunami disaster had a rare day of entertainment Sunday, when they competed against national cricketing heroes at a stadium which was itself damaged by the waves.
   The grass at the once picturesque Galle international stadium is dying after the December 26 tragedy. But schoolboy survivors and national skipper Marvan Atapattu’s team played a game of softball as part of a project by the cricketers to help survivors.
   ‘This is the first time that the children were able to get out of their relief centres and entertain themselves after the disaster,’ Cricket Aid chief Thilanga Sumathipala told AFP.
   ‘For many, just getting out of the relief centre itself is fun and a good experience. They have seen their cricket heroes, now is a chance to play with them.’
   K.B. Asena Malaka, 10, lost his father and two younger brothers but was looking forward to playing with the national team in a cricket-mad country where players are national heroes.
   Malaka said he escaped because his father placed him atop a wall to escape the rising sea water. But within a minute the wall collapsed on his father, killing him.
   His elder brother K.B. Vishva Niranjan, 12, was able to run to higher ground but the two younger boys, aged seven and two, were killed.
   Sri Lanka’s Commissioner of Probation and Child Care, Sarath Abeygunawardena, said there were 995 children who had lost both parents while another 3,409 lost at least one.
   Sumathipala said they hoped to help at least 1,000 children and see them through their education for at least 10 years under a project that will cost an estimated three million dollars.
   ‘There is an enormous amount of goodwill and we feel we will be able to raise this and also build at least 200 houses,’ Sumathipala said.
   He said they expect to set up cricket townships in the southern Galle and Matara districts as well as the eastern regions that were badly hit by the tsunamis.
   Nearly 31,000 people were killed nationwide and nearly a million were initially left homeless.
   ‘We are also carrying out trauma counselling for the survivors and hopefully will be able to carry on that work for another couple of months,’ Sumathipala said as children accompanied by their guardians enjoyed the day out.
   Five softball matches were in progress simultaneously at the Galle ground, which could take over a year to recover from the salt water devastation.
   Curator Jayananda Warnaweera said it would cost 300 to 400 million rupees (three to four million dollars) to refurbish the ground to international level.
   The world’s highest Test wicket taker, Shane Warne was here last week to meet tsunami survivors. On Sunday another Australian, John Brumby, the treasurer of the Victoria state government, was visiting.
   ‘Two weeks ago I was at a friendly match between two clubs and they raised 20,000 dollars to help tsunami victims,’ Brumby said.
   ‘There is an enormous sympathy and support for Sri Lanka,’ Brumby said.

Sania Mirza became the first Indian to win a WTA title when she defeated Alyona Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 in the final of the Hyderabad Open here on Saturday.
   Mirza kept her cool in front of a boisterous home crowd to beat her ninth seeded opponent, who was also gunning for her maiden WTA crown.
   The 18-year-old continued her fine run after having made the third round of the recent Australian Open, the only time an Indian woman has gotten past two rounds of a Grand Slam event.
   Nerves seemed to get the better of Mirza at the start of the match as she double-faulted three times to allow Bondarenko to go 2-0 up, but the Ukrainian could not hold on in the face of some probing returns of serve.
   A volley of powerful groundstrokes helped Mirza clinch the first set but she lost the second, which was replete with service breaks.
   Mirza then ran up a 5-1 lead in the third set and the end of the match saw some high drama with Mirza celebrating victory after serving what she thought was an ace at 40-30 in the seventh game.
   Mirza lost her concentration and conceded the game to Bondarenko, who followed it up by holding serve. Mirza had to wait for the ninth game to wrap up the match.
   ‘This win has made me believe more in myself and I can now hope to do better in the coming days,’ Mirza said. ‘I wanted to win this tournament very badly since it was in my hometown.’
   Bondarenko, who got a walk-over in the semifinals from injured second seed Anna-Lenna Groenefeld of Germany, conceded that she was not at her best.
   ‘I was really nervous in the final and did not play very well but I enjoyed the tournament and will surely be back here next year,’ she said.
   India, meanwhile, rose in applause to applaud Mirza as firecrackers resounded across cities and towns.
   ‘I am happy that an Indian player has won this title for the first time. I wish her success in future to bring more laurels to herself and to the country. I see a bright future for her’, said Indian President Abdul Kalam in a message.
   Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and Congress party President Sonia Gandhi also congratulated Mirza.
   ‘The country has great expectations from the Mirza. We congratulate her on the win,’ said Shekhawat.
   Gandhi, the convener of India’s coalition government said: ‘We wish the young tennis star success in her career’.

Former pacer Sarfraz Nawaz Sunday said he feared India’s spin bowlers would whitewash Pakistan in their upcoming cricket tour.
   ‘India will spinroll Pakistan on their turning tracks because they play with three regular spinners, with Virendar Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar as two added tweakers and have the habit of finishing a Test in three days,’ Nawaz told AFP.
   ‘Pakistan’s kitty is empty with just one spinner in Danish Kaneria, the other two spinners they have were reported for illegal action and if they go without Shoaib Akhtar it would be a 3-0 win for India.’
   Pakistan will play three Tests and five one-day games from February 25 to April 9 on their first tour of India for six years.
   A final schedule is still awaited with a stalemate following Pakistan’s refusal to play in the western city of Ahmedabad, the scene of a proposed venue for the second Test where at least 2,000 people died in Muslim-Hindu riots in 2002.
   Nawaz said Pakistan’s cricket hierarchy seemed indifferent to the all important tour.
   ‘Pakistan is under pressure after their 3-0 defeat in Australia but it’s surprising there seems no planning, no vision and no preparation for the India tour,’ Nawaz said.
   He criticised coach Bob Woolmer, who is having knee surgery in South Africa, and the Pakistan trainers for going on holdiday ahead of the tour, and ridiculed skipper Inzaman-ul Haq for appearing in an Indian advertisement.
   ‘How would foreigners be interested in Pakistan’s progress, they would muster the wealth and go away.
   ‘Our captain doesn’t act on the field and is acting in Indian advertisement which is a mockery of the preparation and no one is bothered what they are doing.’
   Nawaz, acclaimed as the pioneer of reverse swing during a career of 55 Tests for Pakistan, taking 177 wickets, said only seamers could turn the tables on India.
   ‘If Akhtar and (Mohammad) Sami are fit then we must select them and two more swing bowlers and only they can turn the tables on India because we have not produced quality spinners, no one had bothered to in the recent past,’ said Nawaz.
   Pakistan won 1-0 on their 1987 tour with left arm spinner Iqbal Qasim and off-spinner Tauseef Ahmed sharing nine wickets between them in the Bangalore win.
   On their last tour, Pakistan were helped by off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq who took 10 wickets to help the team win the first Test at Madras but after Pakistan lost in Delhi Akhtar took eight wickets to help Pakistan win the Calcutta Test.
   Saqlain Mushtaq, who lost his place in the team last year, is recuperating from knee surgeries and is not ready for a comeback.
   Nawaz said India without an injured Sachin Tendulkar would still be strong.
   ‘Tendulkar would not be missed if he doesn’t play because their real star is Rahul Dravid and other batsmen are capable enough to guide India to big totals,’ he said.
   Pakistan are likely to announce the India tour squad on Friday.

Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul Haq is convinced that Sachin Tendulkar would take the risk of playing in the upcoming series even if he is half-fit considering the stakes involved in an Indo-Pak cricket encounter.
   ‘He is a great player and would hate to miss the mother of all series. I think even if he is half-fit, he will take the risk of playing in the series because he knows his influence over his team and the confidence his presence gives to his players,’ Inzamam told PTI in an interview on Saturday.
   Tendulkar is recovering from an elbow injury but is expected to be fully fit before the first Test which begins early next month.
   Inzamam was all praise for the Indian batting genius saying one could always learn something new from Tendulkar.
   ‘We have been under Sachin’s hammer quite often but I have always enjoyed watching him bat. Each time he bats out there, he teaches you something new. He is a thorough entertainer, a great cricket teacher and a true model for the youngsters,’ Inzamam said.
   The Pakistani skipper was also effusive in his praise of Sourav Ganguly and had no hesitation in declaring that he was the best captain around, given the way he had transformed the Indian team.
   ‘The present Indian team has started believing in itself.
   They now know that they can win matches abroad. A few
   years ago, there was only one match-winner in the Indian team and now every player is
   capable of single-handedly guiding India to victory,’ Inzamam said.
   ‘The Indian team is no more dependent on just one player anymore. This is a great turnaround and the credit for this massive transformation has to given to Sourav Ganguly. In my book, he is the best captain today,’ he said.
   On the kind of wickets he expected his team to face in India, Inzamam said it was the prerogative of the home team to prepare tracks although personally he would like to play on faster tracks.
   ‘It is the prerogative of the home team what type of pitches they want to prepare. I would let Sourav decide on that but if he (Indian captain) asks me, I will opt for fast tracks.’

Cricket legend Kapil Dev on Saturday came out in defence of Mohammad Azhauddin saying that the former skipper’s contributions to the game cannot be ignored.
   ‘Azharuddin has made more than 10000 runs. He has played for the country for 15 years. We cannot ignore these achievements,’ Kapil told reporters a day before Kapil Dev XI and Indian Military Academy XI plays the ‘Airtel Cup for Tsunami Relief’ in Dehradun on Sunday.
   The match to raise funds for Tsunami victims would comprise players of yesterdays like Mohammad Azharuddin, Chetan Sharma and Narendra Hirwani, Kapil said.
   Stating that the charges against Azharuddin have not been proved, Kapil said the day any evidence came to fore, he himself would be the first person to ‘hit’ the former skipper.
   Commenting on the forthcoming Indo-Pak cricket series, he said he was expecting Indian team to win. ‘Above all the spirit of the game matters.’

Defending champion Andy Roddick advanced to the final of the San Jose ATP event with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 triumph over third seed Tommy Haas of Germany on Saturday.
   The 22-year-old Roddick beat fellow American Mardy Fish in the 2004 final.
   Roddick is playing his first tournament since a disappointing four-set loss to Lleyton Hewitt in the Australian Open semi-finals.
   In Saturday’s first semi- final, unseeded Frenchman Cyril Saulnier continued his strong run with a 6-7 (3/7),
   6-3, 6-3 victory over seventh seed Jurgen Melzer of Austria.
   The 29-year-old Saulnier, ranked 50th, reached his first ATP Tour final.
   Last season, he made it to a pair of semi-finals.
   ‘The first set I started off slow,’ Saulnier said.
   ‘I needed to be more aggressive. I’ve played good matches against top 10-15 players. I’ve worked hard to reach this goal.’
   Melzer stunned second seed Andre Agassi of the United States, 6-3, 6-1, in the quarter-finals Friday, ending Agassi’s bid for a sixth San Jose title.

Match-winner Eidur Gudjohnsen offered no solace to Chelsea’s title rivals after his goal condemned 10-man Everton to a 1-0 defeat at Goodison Park on Saturday and sent the leaders 12 points clear at the top of the Premiership.
   Everton were down to 10 men after just eight minutes following a moment of madness from six-million-pound striker James Beattie.
   Chasing a lost cause, the striker barged William Gallas in the back before head-butting him and earning a red card.
   Iceland striker Gudjohnsen struck 20 minutes from time, prodding home the loose ball from two yards out after Gallas’ flick came back off the bar.
   The result was tough on a spirited Everton side, who battled gamely and posed the occasional threat once Duncan Ferguson was introduced into the fray in the second half.
   However, the defeat did little to affect their European hopes.
   They remain in fourth place as city rivals Liverpool, trailing them in the race for the final Champions League berth by five points, slipped up at injury-ravaged Birmingham losing 2-0.
   Uruguayan Walter Pandiani opened the scoring from the penalty spot on 38 minutes after Emile Heskey went down in the box.
   Julian Gray doubled the advantage on the stroke of half-time from on-loan Jermaine Pennant’s right wing cross as Birmingham’s enterprise was rewarded with a deserved two goal lead at the break.
   Time is running out for Liverpool to overtake Everton if manager Rafael Benitez is to achieve his minimum requirement for the season of Champions League qualification.
   But he was at a loss to explain his side’s abject performance: ‘It was disappointing and we know we did not play a good game.
   A Morten Gamst Pedersen goal and a Paul Dickov brace, including his 100th career goal, were enough to ram Norwich manager Nigel Worthington’s pre-match bully taunts back down his throat as Mark Hughes’ Blackburn side won 3-0 at Ewood Park.
   The improvement in Blackburn under Hughes has been remarkable and this was their fourth win and fourth clean sheet in their last eight matches, taking them eight points clear of the relegation zone. Aston Villa hit Portsmouth with a sucker punch to claim all three points in a mid-table battle at Fratton Park.
   A Thomas Hitzlsperger stunner secured three points for the visitors after Arjan De Zeeuw’s own goal in the first half and Aiyegbeni Yakubu’s leveller for Portsmouth from the penalty spot.

Leaders Barcelona, who lost their year-long unbeaten home record last weekend, bounced back in devastating style on Saturday with a 4-1 thrashing of Real Zaragoza.
   Barca found Zaragoza much easier to overcome than last week’s opponents Atletico Madrid and built on a lead provided after just 64 seconds when Zaragoza defender Delio Toledo put the ball in his own net.
   Ludovic Guily, Samuel Eto’o and Rafa Marquez added further goals with Zaragoza getting a consolation from Luciano Galletti.
   Toledo turned the ball past his own keeper from the edge of the area after intercepting a pass from Eto’o meant for Giuly.
   Giuly then connected with an Eto’o pass on 30 minutes, with the Zaragoza defenders claiming that the pair were offside after World Player of the Year Ronaldinho had sent a long ball sailing over their heads.
   It took just eight minutes for Eto’o to add to the tally and get his 17th goal of the season.
   The Spanish first division’s top scorer found the net despite a hint of offside after another defence-splitting pass by Ronaldinho.
   Zaragoza’s strikers did their bit with both Luciano Galletti and Jose Maria Movilla hitting the post but they couldn’t compensate for their defenders’ incompetence.
   Galletti got one back for Zaragoza with a blast from the edge of the area just after the hour, which Barca keeper Victory Valdes got his fingers to but couldn’t keep out.
   However, Marquez completed Barca’s victory after 71 minutes, heading home a Xavi Hernandez corner. The two questionable first half goals meant that referee Fernando Carmona Mendez was the butt of the Zaragoza fans’ bad humour for the entire match.
   Carmona Mendez started the encounter with the 11,000 home side waving giant red cards to protest at recent decisions by the men in the middle that they felt had unjustly gone against Zaragoza.
   The protest turned from a general protest against referees to a very specific one against Carmona Mendez after he disallowed a penalty appeal after 11 minutes.
   Valdes clearly dragged down Galletti in the box but Carmona Mendez ruled that Zaragoza’s Argentine striker had been offside when he got the ball.
   Third-placed Valencia have now gone five games without a win after they went down 2-1 at home to Deportivo La Coruna.
   Lionel Scaloni opened the scoring for the visitors from Galicia on the stroke of half time, with an outstanding individual effort down the right wing before sending the ball home from the edge of the area.
   Marco Di Vaio equalised for the reigning Spanish champions five minutes after the break, his eighth goal of the season.
   Valencia’s Italian striker should have had his second of the night shortly afterwards but Deportivo goalkeeper Gustavo Munua pulled off two outstanding saves from close range.
   Victor Sanchez then secured the victory for Deportivo 12 minutes from the whistle.

Inter Milan maintained their unbeaten Serie A record and boosted their hopes of clinching a place in next season’s Champions League with a 2-0 home win over Roma on Saturday.
   Serbian dead-ball specialist Sinisa Mihajlovic, who spent two seasons at Roma, scored both goals from left-footed free-kicks, one in each half.
   Roma’s misery was compounded by the late dismissal of French defender Phillipe Mexes.
   Inter, whose title challenge has been hampered by 15 draws, climbed up to third position on 42 points, two ahead of fourth-placed Udinese who play away to league leaders Juventus on Sunday.
   Roma remain in sixth position, seven points behind Inter.
   Mihajlovic broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute, curling the ball over the defensive wall and into the bottom corner of the net.
   The uncompromising central defender, who will be 36 a week on Sunday, was given the chance to double his tally in stoppage time when Mexes brought down Obafemi Martins for his second yellow card.
   And the former Lazio player replicated his first goal, curled in another sublime kick that left Roma keeper Ivan Pelizzoli rooted to the spot.
   Earlier Sunday, Fabio Liverani scored in the 89th minute to give Roma’s local rivals Lazio a much-needed 2-1 home win over bottom club Atalanta on Saturday.
   The Rome club’s last-gasp victory ended a run of six games without a win and lifted them three places up the Serie A table to 13th place.
   Atalanta remain rooted to the foot of the table on 14 points, six adrift of second-from-bottom Brescia.
   Nigerian striker Stephen Makinwa gave Atalanta the lead in the final minute of the first-half, but Fabio Bazzani equalised for the home side just seconds later to ensure parity at the break.

Chelsea’s celebrations at going twelve points clear at the top of the Premiership were overshadowed by a row over the sending-off of Everton striker James Beattie during the Londoners’ 1-0 win at Goodison Park.
   Beattie was red-carded for a double headbutt on French defender William Gallas after just eight minutes but the Everton man then accused his opponent of over-reacting.
   The England and former Southampton frontman pushed and then butted Gallas as he tried to get past the Frenchman and then butted him a second time as the ball ran out of play.
   Referee Mike Riley had no option but to dismiss Beattie but the defiant striker told Sky Sports News, ‘He (Gallas) would have stayed down a lot longer if I had headbutted him.
   ‘I can tell you it wasn’t an intentional headbutt. We were chasing a ball into the corner and William Gallas was looking over his shoulder and blocking me off.
   ‘He was stopping as we were running and I said to myself ‘if you’re going to stay in my way I’ll go straight over you’. Our heads barely touched and it wasn’t an intentional headbutt.’
   And angry Everton boss David Moyes joined in the verbal attack on Gallas accusing him of ‘going down far too easily for a centre-half.’
   Moyes said, ‘I don’t think it was a sending-off, I have been a centre-half in my time and I would have been ashamed to have gone down as easily as that.
   ‘Not in a million years would John Terry have gone down in the same way. I have never heard of anybody butting somebody from behind while you are running after them.
   ‘That was not a sending-off for me. I have seen the video. He was baulked off the first time and if I tried to continue a run and butt someone afterwards in the back of the head....surely it is not possible.
   ‘What has happened to big, strong centre-halves? I thought it was a push initially and I still don’t think it was a sending-off.’
   Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho did not attend the post-match press conference and sent his assistant Steve Clarke, who saw the Beattie incident differently.
   ‘The whole game changed when Beattie was sent off. When you look at the incident you think ‘Why did he do that? It’s silly.’ But these things happen for no reason,’ said Clarke.
   ‘I am sure Beattie will look at that and wonder why it happened.’

England striker Michael Owen has hinted that he may opt to leave Real Madrid to safeguard his international prospects.
   Owen has failed to command a regular place in the Real team and is concerned that his increasing amount of time on the bench may affect his England place.
   ‘Sometimes I feel I am happy then the next week I might be on the bench and I am a bit low in myself again,’ he told The News of The World.
   ‘It is frustrating and isn’t the best way to prepare for the next World Cup.’
   Owen has had to prove himself to three managers in his short time at Real.
   Owen has discussed his concerns with England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson and admitted: ‘This last month hasn’t been perfect. I am not missing out on goalscoring but I am missing out on minutes on the pitch.’
   Luxembourgo told the Sunday Times that he sympathised with Owen.
   ‘He is bound to get angry and feel sad but I can say Owen will play more,’ he commented.
   Eriksson frets over Owen’s Real role
   England coach Sven Goran Eriksson has admitted that he would be concerned by Michael Owen’s career at Real Madrid if his star striker was still being limited to a bit-part role in Spain.
   The England coach, who will need Owen at full match sharpness with the World Cup finals just over a year away, has stopped short of urging the player to leave Madrid, where he has been restricted to substitute roles over recent weeks as Raul and Ronaldo have kept him out of the side.
   But the Swede would be worried if England’s World Cup chances were affected by Owen’s lack of first-team starts, with Jermain Defoe waiting in the wings to stake a claim to play up front with Wayne Rooney.
   Asked if he would be worried if Owen was still not a regular next season, Eriksson conceded: ‘Yes, maybe, if it’s more than one season like that.’
   He played down those worries in the short-term, despite having kept Owen on for the full 90 minutes in the midweek friendly against Holland to improve his match-fitness.
   ‘I am not worried as he plays now and then and in almost every game, he comes on. He seems to be very fresh and he did a good job for us,’ said Eriksson.
   ‘He’s scored a lot of goals, even if he hasn’t played a lot of football. If you take the minutes and how many goals he’s scored, it must be something of a record.
   ‘I talked a little with him about it but I can’t tell what we said. It was a private conversation.’
   Asked if Owen should leave Madrid, following speculation he could be swapped with Arsenal’s Jose Antonio Reyes, Eriksson insisted: ‘He has to decide that. I have absolutely no comment about that.’

FIFA president Sepp Blatter admits football’s governing body will consider abolishing the confusing passive offside rule in a meeting scheduled for February 26 in Cardiff.
   For some time referees, fans and management have been perplexed by the ‘active’ or ‘passive’ offside law and Blatter revealed plans to simplify the rule were in the pipeline.
   ‘Abolishing the passive offside rule would benefit attacking football,’ declared Blatter.
   ‘It would simplify matters if the person receiving the pass was the only player who could be flagged offside.’
   As it stands the referee and his assistant must decide whether a player is actively involved, for example receiving the ball, or passive where a player could be coming back from an offside position.
   For officials it is a difficult rule to adhere to as a linesman may keep his flag down for one player who is passive to play, but if the same player suddenly becomes active to score he should be flagged offside.
   Blatter revealed he had talked the rule over with Czech international strikers Jan Koller and Milan Baros to get a player’s perspective.
   ‘I spoke to Baros and Koller about it and they think it is a good idea,’ added Blatter.
   ‘It would be useful for referee’s assistants and help fans understand the decisions.’

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has hit out at England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson over the Ashley Cole ‘tapping up’ controversy.
   Wenger criticised Eriksson saying he was advocating ‘chaos’ in backing players’ rights to talk to other clubs.
   The Highbury manager’s comments come in the wake of Chelsea’s alleged illegal approach for Arsenal defender Cole.
   Eriksson steered clear of directly commenting on the ‘tapping-up’ claims but he insisted that players could not be stopped from considering other offers.
   Having previously maintained it was his own ‘human right’ to listen to Chelsea’s offer last year, Eriksson declared earlier this week that ‘we don’t live in a dictatorship, we live in a democracy’.
   Wenger nevertheless believes Eriksson’s comments were distinctly unhelpful, especially at a time when Arsenal are set to offer their England full-back a wage rise equal to Sol Campbell’s 60,000-pounds-a-week to stay at Highbury.
   ‘He wanted to say there is a democracy and you can speak to whoever you want. But even in a democracy, there are still rules and those rules have to be respected. If there are no rules, there is only chaos,’ warned Wenger.
   ‘Of course you have the freedom to talk, but agents could do that. The timing of the meeting with Chelsea - if it happened - was completely atrocious just before our game against Manchester United.’
   While Eriksson saw nothing wrong in listening to Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon while still under contract with the Football Association last year, Wenger insists contracts should be respected.
   ‘In fact, I don’t need a contract if I give my word, it’s exactly the same. You would be surprised at how many clubs I’ve worked at without a contract for months,’ he revealed.
   ‘Once I say yes, it’s yes. I feel it’s important it’s like that. Somewhere, no matter what you want to do in life, you need trust.’

Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o said his dancing goal celebration in Saturday’s 4-1 win away to Real Zaragoza
   was a response to the racist abuse he received during the game.
   ‘I danced like a monkey because they treated me like a monkey,’ said the 24-year-old Cameroon international, who is widely expected to be named African Player of the Year for the second season in succession next week.
   Eto’o, who notched his 17th goal of the season, was greeted by monkey chants when he touched the ball at the Romareda stadium and peanuts were thrown on to the pitch after he scored.
   Referee Fernando Carmona Mendez did not mention the incidents in his match report, commenting only that the behaviour of the crowd was ‘normal’.

Schalke 04 showed their determination to push Bayern Munich all the way for the German title defeating VfL Wolfsburg 3-0 on Saturday to move level on points with Bayern at the summit.
   Schalke have wobbled in recent weeks – collecting one point from their previous two outings – but got back on track with a convincing victory over Wolfsburg at the Arena Auf Schalke.
   It was a seventh defeat in eight matches for Wolves who also had defender Hans Sarpei sent off for handball.
   Werder Bremen manager Thomas Schaaf has admitted the club’s title bid is over but his players have not waved the white flag just yet triumphing 2-0 over Borussia Monchengladbach.
   Bremen surge up to third after VfB Stuttgart’s crashed to a 2-1 reverse at SV Hamburg.
   Hertha needed a last-gasp winner from Arthur Wichniarek to down FC Nuremberg 2-1 Saturday in the German capital.
   Just three points separates third-placed Bremen from sixth-placed SV Hamburg and Borussia Dortmund could have put the final nail in the coffin of local rivals VfL Bochum after a 1-0 home win.

Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo is close to agreeing a new contract with the Premiership giants after quickly establishing himself as a potent attacking force.
   The 20-year-old Portuguese player signed a five-year-deal at Old Trafford in August 2003, but such has been his success that 18 months later United want to renew the contract.
   ‘The Manchester United board have already made an offer to renew but I’m trying not to think about it a lot,’ he told the News of the World.
   However, Ronaldo refused to commit his long-term future to the club, adding: ‘Nobody knows what will come tomorrow. I like being here, but who knows.
   ‘There aren’t many bigger and better clubs than this one. It’s my ambition to be at a big club. I’m happy but nobody knows the future.’

Arsenal beat Sheffield United 2-1 in a fifth-round FA Cup tie at Highbury. However, the game ends up being replayed after a controversial incident in the 80th minute. With the match finely balanced at 1-1, the Sheffield United keeper, seeing one of his team-mates down injured, elected to put the ball out of play. From the ensuing throw-in, Arsenal’s Kanu, instead of returning the ball to the opposition as is customary, crossed for his team-mate Overmars to score. The Arsenal players claimed the visiting keeper had put the ball out because of pressure from the onrushing Bergkamp. Despite furious protest from the Sheffield players, the goal was allowed to stand. The result was greeted by a storm of criticism, which only abated when the FA accepted Arsenal’s offer to replay the tie. The second game, on February 23, also finished 2-1 to the Arsenal, but this time without any complaints.