Chittagong Division defeated Sylhet Division by an innings and 64 runs at the Chittagong Divisional Stadium on the third day in the Ispahani Mirzapore Tea 6th National Cricket League on Friday. At the Fatullah stadium, Dhaka Division were on 25 for no loss in their second innings and at Khulna the hosts finished the day at 155 for four wickets against Rajshahi.
   Chittagong resumed their first innings with 337 for four but were bowled out for 371. The double centurion Nazimuddin failed to add any runs to his overnight 204 holing out to Sylhet captain Parvez off a Naeem delivery. His crafty innings contained 29 boundaries facing 341 balls.
   Former national middle-order Faisal Hossain Dickens added 58 off 122 balls and the third highest 30 runs came from extras.
   Nabil Samad captured five wickets for Sylhet conceding 66 runs in his 37 overs.
   Wayskarani Palash destroyed the Sylhet second innings with a six-wicket haul conceding 52 runs as the visitors were bundled out for 91 runs, still 65 runs away to force Chittagong bat again. Sylhet had made 216 in their first innings. Nayeem scored 16, Parvez contributed 14 and Nabil Samad, the number10 batsman, remained not out on 30.
   At the Khulna Divisional Stadium, Rajshahi started the day on 267 for 7 and added another 25 runs to their first innings total in the remaining wickets. National keeper Khaled Mashud added just eight runs to his overnight score before being castled by Zia for 42. Zia claimed three wickets for 45 runs. Khulna gave away 52 extras to enrich their opponents’ total.
   Khulna scored 155 for four at the end of the day taking a lead of 136 runs with six wickets still intact. National skipper Habibul Bashar scored only 10 and Asadullah Khan made 28. Sajjadul Hasan is at the crease with 52 and Jamaluddin is on 29.
   At the Fatullah stadium, Dhaka scored 25 without loss and took a lead 117-run lead against Barisal. Barisal resuming on 57 for one were all out for 263 as Mahbubul Alam Robin and Khaled Mahmud wrecked the opponents’ innings. Robin captured four for 46 while Mahmud took three conceding 59 runs.
   Mosharraf Hossain was the highest scorer for Barisal with 79 off 139 balls hitting 16 boundaries. 26 from Nadif Choudhury and 24 from Ishraq Sonet took Barisal to a respectable total.
   Mehrab Hossain with 11 and Rashedul Haque with 13 will start the batting of Dhaka on the fourth and final day.

Prolific Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar should skip the upcoming high-profile cricket series against Pakistan if he is not fully fit, according to legendary England opener Geoff Boycott.
   ‘My opinion is he should not be in a hurry,’ Boycott told the Bombay-based ‘Mid-day’ newspaper on Friday.
   ‘Take your time Sachin till you are fully fit, is what I would tell him.’
   Tendulkar, 31, has been in and out of the team since August due to a tennis elbow injury.
   He missed one-day
   tournaments in the Netherlands and England before returning for the last two home
   Tests against Australia in October.
   The master batsman appeared to have aggravated the injury after playing four more Tests two each against South Africa and Bangladesh.
   He scored a double-century in Bangladesh to equal compatriot Sunil Gavaskar’s world mark of 34 Test hundreds. He has also made a record 37 centuries in one-dayers.
   ‘Had Sachin not played against Bangladesh he would not have felt pain now.
   Tennis elbow is painful,’ said Boycott.
   Tendulkar, who has not picked up a bat since the Bangladesh tour in December, is planning to return to competitive cricket at a four-day domestic match starting in Hyderabad on February 22.
   But Boycott said Tendulkar should take more rest before he resumes playing.
   ‘Perhaps he is eager to play against Pakistan and wants to prepare himself by playing a domestic match. But I feel he should take more rest and resume playing only after he has recovered completely,’ said Boycott.
   ‘Sachin is sensible enough to take such a decision.
   ‘I know India-Pakistan clashes are big in India, but injuries have no relations with people’s sentiment. And it’s hard to isolate yourself from a such a mega event if you are Sachin Tendulkar.
   ‘But it will be worse if he aggravates the injury. My opinion is he should not be in a hurry.’
   Boycott said he did not believe the heavy bat used by Tendulkar in the past had caused the injury.
   ‘I don’t know which expert has opined so.
   ‘There might be several other reasons.
   ‘And it should be left to him whether he wants to continue with a heavy bat,’ he said.
   Boycott said India would not find it easy in the home series despite winning both the one-day and Test series in Pakistan last year.
   ‘No doubt India are my favourites, but it will be tough for them to retain the series. (Pakistan coach)
   Bob Woolmer’s presence will make a huge difference.
   ‘He is a wonderful thinker and one of the best coaches in recent times.’
   Pakistan are scheduled to play three Tests and six one-day internationals on their first tour of India in six years starting next month.

Australia took a clear points decision over New Zealand but both sides insist there were minimal psychological blows landed from Twenty20 cricket before the tour of New Zealand gets serious today with the first one-day international.
   Led by Ricky Ponting’s magnificent unbeaten 98 off 55 balls and a slick four for 29 from paceman Michael Kasprowicz, Australia toppled New Zealand by 44 runs in the tour opener – the first international Twenty20 slugfest here Thursday.
   In one of the bigger home crowds in recent memory, 29,317 packed into Eden Park to see 31 fours and 17 sixes hit in three hours as Australia’s 214 for five comfortably topped New Zealand’s 170.
   ‘There’s not any psychological edge we can take out of this game,’ Ponting said, as the teams prepared to head to Wellington where the true tour of five one-day matches and three Tests begins.
   ‘It’s just nice to get out and spend a bit of time in the middle to get used to the conditions a little bit.’
   Scott Styris, who top-scored for New Zealand with 66, described the feeling in the losing camp as ‘disappointed but not deflated’.
   But Australia’s might and power was obvious. With Ponting flaying 30 runs off a Daryl Tuffey over, Brett Lee firing the ball through at 150 kilometres an hour and Kasprowicz clipping the top order, it showed the size of New Zealand’s task in the five-match one-day series.
   Add to that the fact dangermen Adam Gilchrist and Michael Clarke both departed cheaply, and paceman Jason Gillespie was resting.
   Ponting though continued his circumspect line, describing his innings of eight fours and five sixes as ‘a nice start’ and refusing to claim any damage to New Zealand’s morale.
   It was difficult to know how much to read into the low-key 20-over slog, with Jeff Wilson starting accurately with the ball but taking some worrying punishment later on to concede 43 off four overs.
   Kyle Mills took three for 44, while Tuffey, after an excellent opening spell including some well disguised slower balls, was carted for 6, 2, 6, 6, 4, 6 by some exquisite Ponting hitting.
   Ponting wasn’t reckless and hit his best boundaries straight down the ground, along with a massive pick-up off Wilson that clattered the top tier of the main grandstand.
   ‘It’s nice for us to have some sort of game before the first one-dayer,’ the Australian skipper said.
   ‘This will certainly liven up things for the one-day series if it wasn’t big enough anyway after the Chappell-Hadlee series’.
   The pre-Christmas Chappell-Hadlee series in Australia was level 1-1 when rain washed out the decider.
   New Zealand’s batting standout was Styris who found much needed time in the middle against Australia to score 66 off 39 balls.
   But captain Stephen Fleming was bowled for 18 and key middle men Chris Cairns and Craig McMillan fell cheaply when trying to force the pace with a required run rate of 10.7 per over.

Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar is expected to become the top century maker in Test cricket during the three-Test series against Pakistan which commences on March 4.
   Tendulkar shares the record of 34 Test tons with fellow Indian and former captain Sunil Gavaskar.
   Tendulkar, who is nursing a tennis elbow, may also notch up another record if he is fit enough to play during the series that promises to be the ‘mother of all’.
   He is just 121 runs short of reaching the 10,000-run mark and will become the fifth cricketer in Test history to join the elite list led by former Australian skipper Allan Border with a career total of 11,174.
   But Tendulkar will not be alone, though he leads the milestone-chase in the batting department for India.
   Captain Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman will also be vying for their respective records and a mention among the game’s legends. For, an abundance of emotionally-charged fans on both sides will ensure that a good performance or new records make the player near-immortal in the cricket crazy nations.
   Dravid already holds the record for most double centuries by an Indian in Test cricket (five 200s) and one more will lift him into third position on the all time list, equal with Pakistani great Javed Miandad and Sri Lankan captain Marvan Atapattu.
   Australian legend Don Bradman heads the list with 12 double tons, while England’s Walter Hammond and West Indian Brian Lara are joint second on 7.
   Ganguly and Laxman would also have their sights on career-milestones as they near the 5,000 and 4,000-run marks respectively. The Indian captain needs just 99 runs, while the classy middle order batsman has a comparatively harder challenge of collecting 205.
   Indian bowlers too would be looking to grab their share of history. Spinner Harbhajan Singh is just 11 victims short of the 200-wicket mark and would be fifth fastest to reach there if he gets his fill in the first Test itself.
   Seamer Irfan Pathan has been in prime form in the two seasons since his debut in Australia, during which he has bagged 39 wickets from only 10 Tests.
   At this stunning rate, the young left-arm pacer is not expected to have any problems cruising past the 50-wicket mark during the series.
   However, if the unpredictable Pakistan team or injuries thwart the efforts of the Indian players, they will have another chance at it soon when Bangladesh come to tour India in April.

Britain’s Tim Henman overpowered France’s Michael Llodra 6-4, 6-1 on Thursday to move into the quarter-finals of the Rotterdam Open where he will face Croatia’s Mario Ancic, the man who beat him at Wimbledon last year.
   Henman, seeded third and a two-time finalist here, outclassed Llodra who could barely put a foot right during an hour of agony.
   ‘I’d like to try and get some revenge,’ said Henman as he anticipated his clash with Ancic who knocked him out in the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2004.
   Ancic defeated Belgian Olivier Rochus 6-4, 6-3 to make the last eight.
   ‘I concentrated well on my game tonight,’ said the 30-year-old Henman. ‘I’m very pleased, it’s been a long day.’
   Meanwhile, world number one Roger Federer backed beaten compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka to play for Switzerland against Netherlands in next month’s Davis Cup tie.
   The top seed here will be missing by choice from the home tie, convinced that he needs to prepare for back-to-back U.S. Masters Series ATP events in March beginning just a few days after the Davis Cup weekend.
   Federer demonstrated the breadth of the gap between himself and the rest of his compatriots as he crushed 19-year-old practise partner Wawrinka 6-1, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals in Rotterdam.
   ‘He had nothing to lose,’ Federer said, satisfied with his own effort just a few weeks after losing his Australian Open crown to Marat Safin in a semi-final loss in Melbourne.
   ‘It was the first time he’s ever played against someone like me, it was awkward for both of us.’
   The Swiss standout got through without an ace, breaking his compatriot three times while facing only one break point in 64 minutes.
   ‘We train quite a bit together whenever we get the chance; suddenly, a match comes along and you have to switch mentally. You have to show the youngster that you’re the best player in Switzerland - and in the world.’
   Thomas Johansson put his veteran’s poise to good use as he out-aced one of the game’s biggest servers in a 6-4, 6-4 upset of fifth-seeded fellow Swede Joachim Johansson.
   Thomas Johansson, 29, the 2002 Australian Open champion, showed his 22-year-old countryman that power isn’t everything.
   The veteran, who sat out 2003 through knee surgery and has been climbing steadily back for a year now, reached the last eight and a Friday match-up against Czech Radek Stepanek.
   Federer said he’s only a phone call away if his country needs a Davis Cup tip or two.
   ‘If anyone has any queries about how to play a Dutch opponent, they can always ring me. I’m very willing to help,’ said the 23-year-old. ‘The Swiss now have to work - I hope they can win. But it would be quite extraordinary to win without me. It’s always been up to me. The Davis Cup should be an interesting week for Swiss tennis and the future.’
   He said that on the basis of winning a Rotterdam main draw place from qualifying and knocking out Sebastien Grosjean in a first match, Wawrinka deserved a shot.
   ‘Stan played well to get into the match in the second set. I thought I had chances early in the second to put it away - but it’s not as easy as it looks. He played more freely, relaxed and served better.’
   Federer lines up Friday night against Russian Nikolay Davydenko. ‘If I can keep on playing like this it will be hard for him to beat me. It’s quite a slow court here indoors.

Middle-order batsman Yousuf Youhana has played down his rivalry with left-arm fast bowler Irfan Pathan which is likely to dominate the forthcoming Pakistan-India series.
   ‘As far as I am concerned, there is no rivalry between me and Irfan but I can’t say for him. Yes, he got me a few times when India were in Pakistan but that doesn’t mean that the forthcoming series will be a tussle between Yousuf and Irfan,’ the Pakistan vice-captain told PTI from Lahore.
   Youhana became Pathan’s bunny last year when the left-armer had the stylish batsman thrice in five One-Day Internationals, once in Peshawar and twice in Lahore. Later, in two of the five Test innings, Youhana fell to Pathan in the second innings at Multan after hitting 112 and in the second innings in Rawalpindi after scoring 13.
   ‘Like any committed cricketer, Irfan likes to take wickets while I try to make runs. That’s our job. Sometimes Irfan will succeed and sometimes I will dominate. I think it should be kept this way instead of labeling the series as a battle between Youhana and Pathan,’ said the player who averages 47.47 in 56 Tests and 42.19 in 189 one-dayers.
   Youhana felt Abdul Razzaq has recently had Indian maestro Sachin Tendulkar on more regular basis while Saqlain Mushtaq, during his playing days, made many cricketer his bunny.
   On the forthcoming series, Youhana felt India were favourites because they had a balanced, experienced and a mature team.
   ‘If you compare player-to-player, you will find that India has a very experienced team. And naturally recent victories have given them more confidence and self-belief.
   ‘But we have won four straight matches against India and that too by big margins in one-sided contests. So that gives us the advantage. The tour of India will be difficult as always but I believe that the team playing better cricket on those playing days will emerge winners,’ Youhana said.
   Youhana, looking back at the 1999 tour, said he had just stepped into international cricket and was ‘lost’ in the company of legends like Saeed Anwar, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Saleem Malik.

In startling revelations in a leaked memorandum report, several West Indies players have been accused of paying more attention to women than to cricket during the VB Series in Australia.
   The accusations were made by Richard Nowell, the representative of Digicel, who was on tour with the team in Australia.
   The memorandum made scornful remarks about the West Indies players being hostile and having more telephone numbers of women than runs, which prevented them from playing competitive cricket. He also described their players association as a terrorist group.
   ‘They are [the most] poor ambassadors from any representative team I have come across in my six years, working in seven different sports,’ he was reported as saying in the Caribbeancricket website.
   ‘As sponsorship manager, I am deeply concerned as to the length of the road Digicel needs to travel to begin to gain benefit from their US$20 million investment.’
   Digicel started their five-year sponsorship last month, and have injected around US$20 million into West Indies cricket.
   If the claims made in the report are confirmed then they could threaten the future of the whole deal.
   Nowell was also upset with the attitude of a few players, and felt ‘alienated’ as the sponsors representative.
   Nowell mentioned in his assessment report that on the eve of the match against Australia in Brisbane, he heard numerous doors banging and female voices along the players’ hotel corridor well after 1am.
   ‘Perhaps more astounding,’ he said, ‘following the team’s defeat against Pakistan, the player rooming next to me had company 20 minutes after returning from a crushing defeat.’

World Cup semi-finalists Kenya suffered another blow to their reputation on Thursday when the International Cricket Coucnil (ICC) postponed their opening ICC Intercontinental Cup match against Namibia.
   The game had been scheduled for February 25-27 in Windhoek but the ICC called it off as the turmoil surrounding the administration of the sport in Kenya continued.
   ‘In light of the current litigation and uncertainty concerning the governance of cricket in Kenya, the ICC has taken the decision to postpone this match,’ said ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed.
   ‘This match will be rescheduled at the earliest opportunity.’
   The decision means that second season of the ICC Intercontinental Cup will now begin with the match between United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong at Sharjah in April.
   Earlier Thursday, the Kenyan government announced the creation of a new body to replace the crisis-hit Kenya Cricket Association (KCA) in a bid to break a stalemate over the sport’s governorship.

Top seeded Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo and Australia’s Alicia Molik, the fifth seed, reached the quarter-finals of the WTA tournament here on Thursday in contrasting styles.
   Mauresmo cruised past compatriot Mary Pierce for the second time in a week with a 6-4, 6-1 victory to add to her win in Paris last week and now takes on Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder for a place in the semi-finals.
   ‘I felt fine today, everything went smoothly, I served well and won the important games,’ said Mauresmo.
   ‘I will need this level of tennis to beat Schnyder, because she started this year really well. She was very strong at the Australian Open and is an oppenent I have a high regard for.’
   Molik, a quarter-finalist at the Australian Open, had to come back from a set down to defeat veteran Bulgarian Magdalena Maleeva 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (9/7) and now meets Klara Koukalova of the Czech Republic.

Michael Owen will be staying with Real Madrid despite being limited so far to a part-time role by Ronaldo, his former Liverpool team-mate Steven Gerrard says.
   Rports have linked him with a move back to Liverpool but Reds captain Gerrard is convinced his England colleague is committed to making a name for himself in Spain rather than returning to Anfield.
   ‘He loves the club and he is doing really well,’ said Gerrard who regularly speaks to his old Liverpool colleague by telephone.
   ‘He wants to stay. He has settled really well and likes the city. He is scoring goals - and if he plays more, which is what he wants, then things would be even better,’ Gerrard told the Daily Express
   Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry is also refusing to fuel speculation of an early return to Merseyside for Owen, who left last summer in a deal which saw Antonio Nunez and 8 million pounds heading in the opposite direction.

Everton may have beaten Manchester United in the FA Cup final 10 years ago but the memory of that match is unlikely to count for much when the teams meet in the fifth round of this season’s competition at Goodison Park today.
   Since 1995 Everton have failed to beat United in 19 attempts and lost eight of the sides’ last nine matches at the Liverpool club’s home ground.
   Today’s match will see England striker and lifelong Everton fan Wayne Rooney return to Goodison for the first time since his 29 million pounds transfer to Old Trafford.
   Elsewhere in the Cup holders’ attack, Dutch international Ruud van Nistelrooy is set to return for the first time since being sidelined with an Achilles injury in November.
   Meanwhile United players and fans alike received a boost when skipper Roy Keane said he was reconsidering his decision to retire at the end of next season.
   United and England centre-back Rio Ferdinand for one is happy for the 33-year-old Republic of Ireland international to carry on playing.
   ‘He is a great influence on the team, in the changing room and a great person to have in the squad.’
   Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, under-fire for his decision to field a 16-man squad without a single British player in it during Monday’s 5-1 win over Crystal Palace, may do so again for the visit of Championship Sheffield United to Highbury.
   Sol Campbell is still sidelined with an ankle injury which will keep him out of the Champions League tie against Bayern Munich next Tuesday.
   Campbell’s fellow England defender Ashley Cole has yet to overcome a bout of ‘flu, making him doubtful for the trip to Germany, while Justin Hoyte missed the Palace game through injury.
   Star striker Thierry Henry and club captain Patrick Vieira could be among those rested and Wenger said Thursday, ‘Some of the players who have played a lot of games recently will get a breather.
   ‘I am talking about Thierry, but he also has a small Achilles problem. Maybe Patrick Vieira too, but I don’t know yet.’
   Premiership leaders Chelsea, still pursuing an unprecedented four major trophies in the one season, travel to Newcastle United where the home side have not won an important piece of silverware since claiming the now defunct European Fairs Cup way back in 1969.
   The Magpies are hoping this season, which skipper Alan Shearer has insisted will be his last, will be the one where they end that trophy-less run and they received a boost Thursday with a 2-1 UEFA Cup third round first leg win away to Dutch side Heerenveen.
   Newcastle are hoping to have Nicky Butt and Kieron Dyer back after the pair missed the trip to the Netherlands.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has responded in typically caustic fashion to attempts by Barcelona’s Samuel Eto’o to contrast his approach with that of the Spanish giants’ boss Frank Rijkaard ahead of next week’s Champions League meeting between the two sides.
   Cameroon striker Eto’o added fuel to the fire of an already intriguing last 16 first-leg clash at Barcelona’s Nou Camp home on Wednesday by saying, ‘Mourinho may have had a lot of success in the past with teams at home and in Europe.
   ‘But I think Rijkaard knows more about football than the Chelsea boss and how to treat his players properly.’
   However, Mourinho said the fact former Dutch star had enjoyed a glittering playing career meant nothing now he was on the other side of the touchline.
   ‘Frank Rijkaard’s history as a player can’t be compared with my history as his is fantastic and mine is zero,’ Chelsea’s Portuguese supremo said Thursday.
   ‘As a manager though, my history cannot be compared to his. He has zero titles and I have a lot of them.’
   Mourinho guided Porto to the Champions League last term, having won the UEFA Cup with the club the previous season.
   Now, with west London side Chelsea in pursuit of four trophies in the one season, Mourinho is determined the Premiership leaders do not let the biggest prize of all slip out of his grasp.
   He added, ‘I have to defend what is mine and the Champions League is mine at the moment. I’m the last manager to have won it so it’s my competition. I have to fight for Chelsea and for myself, to defend my cup until the last moment.’
   Meanwhile, Mourinho pledged that he will never field a Chelsea team without a strong English presence.
   With Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger under attack for not fielding a single British player in the Gunners’ squad for Monday’s win over Crystal Palace, Mourinho put the boot in by declaring foreign managers had a responsibility to the game in this country.
   The Chelsea chief said, ‘It would be difficult for us not to have any British players in our side.
   ‘We have quite a good number of English players. Every national team game we have a minimum of three or four players involved.
   ‘I believe in home players. I think Peter Kenyon and Roman Abramovich feel exactly the same. The club is investing in youth football and in a couple of years we will be ready to answer the demands of FIFA in relation to that.
   ‘You can do it without them. The best proof of that is the success Arsenal have had over the last few years with a lot of foreign players.
   ‘But that’s not the point. As a foreign manager, which I am, I feel responsible for the English clubs and the English national team, the English players and the other home players. I would never forget that responsibility.’
   Ironically, Chelsea were the first club to field a non-British starting team, against Southampton in 1999.
   But even since Abramovich arrived on the scene, they have snapped up lots of English talent in the shape of Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Glen Johnson, Wayne Bridge and Scott Parker along with Irish flier Damien Duff.
   And Mourinho pledged that he would ensure the club did not go down Arsenal’s path, and risk producing a squad that alienated Chelsea’s core support.
   Chelsea on Thursday given an injury scare by skipper Terry who jarred his ankle in training. Didier Drogba has been ruled out of next week’s clash with Barcelona with a thigh strain.

England striker Michael Owen may be handed a rare start for Real Madrid today after Brazilian World Cup winner Ronaldo returned from his high-profile Valentine’s Day party in Paris with an injured toe.
   Real coach Wanderley Luxemburgo was already fuming because Ronaldo, who staged a lavish party for his model girlfriend Daniela Cicarelli at Chantilly on Monday, arrived back in Spain late.
   Luckily for Real, Owen, who has eight goals to his name this season, is waiting in the wings should the three-times World Player of the Year fail to be fit in time for the visit of Athletic Bibao today.
   Speculation over the future of Owen has not stopped since the former Liverpool player suggested to British newspaper reporters last week that he was prepared to leave Real in the summer if he did not get to play more often.
   Owen has since tried to smooth over the situation by suggesting he is happy at Real after all, and starting against the Basque visitors may temporarily ease the pressure on all parties.
   Equally happy to see Owen starting will be the Real supporters.
   Several banners among the Santiago Bernabeu spectators two weeks ago proclaimed, ‘Owen - titular’ which broadly translates as Owen Must Start.
   Owen pressed his claims by getting the crucial equaliser in Real’s 2-1 win at Real Zaragoza last Sunday, a header with his first touch of the game and after only being on the field three minutes.
   Regardless of who is the target man, Real are on a high at the moment, having won all their seven league games since Luxemburgo took over in December.
   Beating Athletic would earn the former Brazil boss a place in the Spanish first division history books as no coach has ever won his first eight games upon his arrival at a club.
   Madrid will also have to try to keep up the pressure on the Catalans without suspended left back Roberto Carlos. Either Raul Bravo or Santiago Solari will replace the Brazilian.
   Barcelona will try to maintain their grip on pole position against Real Mallorca today.
   Coach Frank Rijkaard has told his players that only a win will do, especially after Barca icon Johan Cruyff warned the club against losing its concentration after two losses in their last six games.
   Rijkaard will have to reshuffle his defence as Oleguer Presas is out with a back injury.
   The match also brings Barca’s Samuel Eto’o, the Spanish first division’s leading scorer, face-to-face with many old friends.

Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy has said he wants to spend the rest of his playing career at Old Trafford.
   The Dutch forward is due to return to the side on Saturday, against Everton in the FA Cup, after being out of action since November with an Achilles injury.
   He told Soccer Digest magazine he’d felt right at home at United after joining the club in a 19 million pounds move from PSV Eindhoven back in 2001.
   United manager Sir Alex Ferguson kept faith with the marksman despite having to wait a year after an initial attempt to bring van Nistelrooy to England failed when the player sustained a cruciate knee ligament injury.
   ‘I feel at home in a place with such strong traditions. I don’t see why I shouldn’t spend the rest of my playing days here,’ van Nistelrooy said.
   ‘The moment I signed my five-year contract, the chairman at the time, Martin Edwards, took me to the boardroom where a directors’ meeting was in progress.
   ‘’Gentlemen,’ he said when he opened the door, ‘may I present to you our new centre-forward, Ruud Van Nistelrooy.’ They all stood and congratulated me.
   ‘I shook hands with all of them, Sir Bobby Charlton last of all. When he said, ‘Glad you’re finally here, son’, I got goose bumps all over my body.’
   Van Nistelrooy, now 28, said he was still impressed by the scale of everything at the English soccer giants.
   ‘When I drive down the road to Old Trafford, between two church towers in the distance, I can already see the two biggest stands. When I close my eyes, I can recall that mental picture no matter where I am.
   ‘I turn into Sir Matt Busby Way and cross the square full of fans. Whenever a player’s car passes, the square bubbles with excitement.
   ‘People faint just because they’d seen a Manchester United player in the flesh.
   ‘I saw life-size posters of myself in newspapers and I had not even played a single game for the club. The size of this club is incomprehensible.’
   Van Nistelrooy has scored 122 goals for United with a magnificent 36 in 37 European appearances. But he remains hungry for success.
   ‘Giving less then 100 per cent is not really an option for me. As the years have gone by, I have started to take football more and more seriously. I try to do the maximum for every match.
   ‘I work hard, I train hard and I prepare myself in detail for every game. I do everything to create the perfect circumstances to perform as well as possible.
   ‘I have that same drive every time. I never for a minute think things will happen naturally.
   ‘Nothing comes naturally to me. I do not belong in that exceptional class of player that can operate occasionally at less than 100 per cent. I know I would not get away with that.’
   Van Nistelrooy said Dutch great Ruud Gullit had helped him improve his game. ‘When I was younger, I tended to want to score beautiful goals.
   ‘But a funny thing happened. Ruud Gullit did his coaching apprenticeship at one of my former clubs, Heerenveen, when I was playing there.
   ‘I remember lobbing a shot that hit the crossbar and proudly looked at Gullit, ‘Nice one, eh?’
   ‘All he said was, ‘It certainly was nice, but it should have gone in.’ Although it was simple, he was right, he was absolutely right.’

Barcelona sensation Ronaldinho has opened the door for a transfer to Italian champions Milan.
   The Rossoneri are one of many clubs keen on the star and he admits he’s attracted by the San Siro outfit.
   ‘I would happily go to Milan, a side with many great players,’ he stated after Wednesday’s tsunami benefit match to the Italian press. ‘But for now, I’m a Barca player.’
   Milan chief Adriano Galliani has publicly admitted in the past that he would love to sign the attacker. Captain Paolo Maldini also recently stated that the Brazilian would be his dream buy for the club.
   However, the proposed move would be a complex one for Milan to pull off at this moment in time.
   Although reports suggest that Ronaldinho could quit the Nou Camp, Milan are not the only club interested.
   Manchester United, Inter, Real Madrid and Chelsea would all be keen if the player was made available for transfer.
   Another problem for Milan would be Barca’s asking price for the former Paris Saint-Germain star.
   Whispers suggest that Ronaldinho is valued at around £40m, a fee that may be too steep for the Rossoneri right now.
   The Italian giants could look to lower that figure by offering cash and players such as Danish international Jon Dahl Tomasson.

Juventus midfielder Emerson has insisted he will not allow next week's mouth-watering Champions League tie against Real Madrid to distract him from today's crunch league match away to Messina.
   Juve face Spanish giants Real in Madrid next Tuesday for the first leg of their eagerly-anticipated last 16 clash, but the Serie A leaders can ill afford to let their minds wander this weekend with AC Milan just two points behind them.
   'I can understand there is a lot of excitement about the Real game, but to tell you the truth I'm only thinking about Messina at the moment,' said the 28-year-old Brazilian, who is knicknamed 'Puma' in Italy because of the way he covers so much ground in matches.
   Emerson's team-mates would be wise to heed his warning given the scalps Messina, who were promoted to Serie A last summer after a 39-year absence, have already taken.
   Title-holders AC Milan, who have cut Juve's lead from eight points to two this month, will be looking for their fourth win on the trot at home to Cagliari today.
   Inter Milan can strengthen their position in third place with a victory at fourth-placed Udinese. Inter are still unbeaten this season, but their title challenge has been hampered by 15 draws in their 24 matches played.
   However, Inter's Uruguayan striker Alvaro Recoba believes his team should not be counted out of the championship race, despite the gap between themselves and pacesetters Juventus.
   Down in the basement, fourth-from-bottom Parma and third-from-bottom Brescia, who are both level on 23 points, one ahead of Siena, meet in a crunch relegation battle on Sunday.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has conceded he will have to fight to prevent Jose Antonio Reyes from joining Real Madrid.
   Reyes admitted his dream to play for his childhood heroes to a Spanish radio announcer pretending to be Real’s director of football Emilio Butragueno.
   Now, a frustrated Wenger believes he can keep Reyes at the Gunners, telling the Daily Mirror, ‘Ever since he was little, he has always watched Spanish football and that’s where his admiration for Real Madrid comes from.
   ‘I am annoyed at the way the radio station used him and I am not disappointed to hear what he said because it is normal that Real Madrid was the team of his dreams when he was growing up.’

Former World Cup striker Romario was called up by Brazil again on Thursday for a beach soccer tournament.
   The 39-year-old, who is still playing for Vasco da Gama, was included in the squad for a Beach Soccer World Cup qualifying tournament in Rio de Janeiro next month.
   ‘On the pitch, he’s a player like few others and he worries the opponents.
   ‘Off the pitch, he’s got a big name, he attracts the supporters,’ said Brazil coach Jorge Ferreira Alves.
   It was not immediately clear how Romario would fit in the tournament with his club commitments.
   Romario has scored two goals for Vasco since rejoining them in January and is expected to end his career at the end of the Carioca championship in April.
   He was excused for Wednesday’s Copa Brasil tie away to Uniao Rondonopolis to spare him the 11-hour plane and bus journey.
   Romario last played for Brazil in a World Cup qualifier away to Uruguay in 2001.

Former Argentinian international Omar Enrique Sivori died on Thursday after a long illness, his family said. He was 69.
   Sivori, who had been battling a pancreatic tumour, played for River Plate in Argentina and then signed for Italian giants Juventus where he spent the best part of his career from 1957 until 1965 before ending his career at Naples.
   ‘A great man and a great player has died,’ said Juventus director Antonio Giraudo.
   ‘It’s very sad. He was one of Juve’s greatest players and his death leaves a great void.’
   Juve chief Luciano Moggi said, ‘We have lost a friend and a symbol.’
   Former Napoli player Antonio Iuliano added, ‘He was the Maradona of the 1960s. We played together for four years and I learnt a lot from him.’
   Sivori was the top scorer in the Italian league in 1960 with 27 goals and he helped Juve to three titles in 1958, 1960 and 1961 and the Italian Cup in 1959 and 1960.
   He was part of Argentina’s South American title winning team in 1957. He won 28 caps - 19 for Argentina and 9 for Italy.
   

Pele is urging Robinho to resist a move to Real Madrid and stay with Santos.
   The winger is close to agreeing a deal to join Real for next season, but Pele, also a former Santos star, said, ‘When I stayed with Santos I was able to bring more people to the stadium to support Santos. If Robinho also stays, he will do the same.
   ‘Robinho must stay.’
   Pele added, ‘When I was 19 years old and already a World Cup winner, Madrid made an incredible offer to me, but Santos made sure they improved my contract and I stayed.
   ‘For several years the club rejected fantastic proposals from European clubs, until 1974, when I ended my career in Brazil (and joined New York Cosmos).’

The President of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Jesús Rivero Meneses, issues a memo requesting national sides to wear red shirts (with the Spanish coat of arms on the chest) and blue shorts, as had been proposed by the country’s Federation on joining FIFA. In the aftermath of the civil war, General Moscardó, the government’s sports delegate, had authorised the use of blue shirts (a colour closely identified with the victorious nationalists), white shorts and a narrow band showing the Spanish flag on the socks. Meneses’s initiative was an attempt to standardize the different strips in use at the time. In March of that same year, the famous red shirts were worn in a match against the Republic of Ireland, with the strip remaining unchanged ever since.