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Bangladesh A team are chasing a massive target of 312 runs in the remaining 70 overs on the last day of their three-day match against Gloucestershire at the County Ground in Bristol on Friday.
   At tea Bangladesh were on 111 runs in 33 overs with six wickets in hand with Alok Kapali and Mushfiqur Rahim both batting on nought.
   Tushar Imran (29) and Nazimuddin (35) also gifted their wickets after being set.
   Bangladesh A team took a 19-run lead on the first innings. However, they did not make a confident start in their second innings.
   Opener Nafees Iqbal, who scored a century in the first tour match against British Universities, was not available perhaps for injury.
   All-rounder Mushfiqur Rahman opened the innings with captain Shahriar Nafees.
   Mushfiqur scored 15 runs off 35 balls before being the first victim of Rudge, who made his first class debut with the match.
   Skipper Shahriar looked confident but failed to stay long at the crease departing for 30 off 44 balls.
   WD Rudge and CM Bandara equally shared the first four wickets Bangladesh A lost conceding 23 and 12 runs respectively.
   Earlier, an undefeated 100 by APR Gidman helped Gloucestershire take over three hundred runs’ huge lead before declaring at 330 for five
   wickets.
   Gidman, who started with his overnight 22 runs, was very aggressive and took only 94 balls to complete his century that allowed his captain for an early declaration.
   The centurion got an able support from SJ Adshead and the other first class debutant SD Snell at the middle-order, who contributed 41 and 42 runs respectively.
   Opener WPC Weston played a patient 63- run innings off 130 balls and ID Fisher scored 36 off 75 balls.
   But apart from these two, the other batsmen tried to score quickly to give their bowlers a winning chance.
   And Gidman led the onslaught stroking 11 fours and two sixes.
   Shahadat Hossain and Mushfiqur Rahman took two wickets each for 54 and 43 runs respectively.
   Talha Jubaer got the other wicket giving away 63 runs.

Mohamm-edan Sporting Club started their second phase mission in the Premier Football League with a 3-1 victory over Dipali Jubo Sangha at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Friday. The league table-toppers clearly dominated the first half and scored their first two goals within 37 minutes.
   Ashraful Kader Monju broke the deadlock in the 17th minute of the match from a perfect free-kick by Matiur Munna.
   The goal came as a shock for the underdogs and ruined their confidence after they missed two good chances in the previous two minutes.
   National striker Alfaz Ahmed wasted a good chance on 31 minutes when his powerful shot just missed the target.
   However, six minutes later Alfaz got his first goal after a Faisal Mahmud cross was deflected by Monju and Alfaz made no mistake placing the ball past the Dipali goalkeeper from a close range.
   In the second half Mohammedans slowed down their pace and played in a relaxed mood. However, they got penalty in the 48th minute for a handball by Dipali defender Sheikh Abdullah.
   But Dipali custodian
   Khairul Islam saved the spot-kick taken by Alfaz diving to his right.
   Alfaz made amends for the mistake in the 51st minute scoring the third goal for MSC and his second pouncing on the ball after a misunderstanding between the goalkeeper and the defenders of Dipali.
   Dipali played better football in the last 25 minutes and scored a consolation goal in the 64th minute through Abu Arif.
   The win raised Mohammedans' tally to 26 points.

Australia (190 & 140/3) lead England (155) by 175 runs at tea, day 2
   Australia were 140 for three, a healthy lead of 175, at tea on the second day of the first Test against England at Lord’s here Friday.
   Damien Martyn was 24 not out and Michael Clarke 22 not out. But Clarke was fortunate when, in the last over before tea, he was dropped on 21 by Test debutant Kevin Pietersen at cover off Simon Jones.
   At lunch, Australia were 47 for one, a lead of 82, with Matthew Hayden 32 not out and captain Ricky Ponting unbeaten on seven.
   But Hayden added just two to his score before he bottom-edged a pull off Andrew Flintoff onto his stumps.
   Then a single off Matthew Hoggard saw Ponting, in his 89th Test and 145th innings, become the seventh Australian to score 7,000 Test runs.
   However, a run later Ponting, on 42, guided a catch off Hoggard to substitute James Hildreth at backward point.
   Together with Martyn he’d put on 46, Australia 100 for three.
   Earlier Pietersen, picked after two dashing one-day international innings against world champions Australia, top scored with 57 as England were bowled out for 155.
   The 25-year-old South Africa-born batsman, in for 100-cap veteran Graham Thorpe who announced his Test retirement Friday, then ran out Justin Langer (six) with an underarm throw from the covers.
   England resumed on 92 for seven, still 98 runs behind after a first day when Australia, winners of the last eight Ashes series, were bowled out for 190 (Harmison taking five for 43) and an extraordinary 17 wickets in all fell.
   Pietersen was 28 not out and Matthew Hoggard yet to face.
   Glenn McGrath, who had taken five for 21 Thursday to dismiss all of England’s top five and in the process become only the fourth bowler to take 500 Test wickets, saw Pietersen uppercut his first ball over the slips for four.
   Instead it was Shane Warne, who struck first Friday when the leg-spinner extend his world record haul of Test wickets to 584 when Hoggard was caught cutting by Hayden at first slip for a 16-ball naught.
   His exit left England 101 for eight but Pietersen, undaunted, struck three successive boundaries off McGrath.
   Going down the pitch, he pull-drove the 35-year-old quick for a violent straight four but next ball a textbook lofted straight drive sailed for six into the Pavilion.
   Pietersen followed that up with a scorching drive through to the extra-cover boundary, his eighth four taking him to an 84-ball fifty.
   He then swept Warne, his county captain at Hampshire, for six.
   But next ball, trying to repeat the stroke, Pietersen saw Martyn, running round the boundary, take a low diving catch just inside the rope, England 122 for nine.
   But a last wicket stand of 33 in 29 balls between Harmison (11) and Simon Jones (20 not out) helped restrict Australia’s first innings lead to 35.

Sri Lanka (150) lead West Indies (92/5) by 58 runs at stumps, day 1
   Chaminda Vaas upstaged Daren Powell as Sri Lanka hit back after being shot out for 150 on a dramatic opening day of the second cricket Test against the West Indies here on Friday.
   Left-arm seamer Vaas grabbed 4-17 to leave the depleted tourists tottering at 92-5 in reply by stumps as 15 wickets fell during the day on a slow track at the Asgiriya stadium.
   Powell took a personal best of 5-25 and Tino Best chipped in with 3-50 as Sri Lanka lasted only 46.1 overs after being sent to bat by Shivnarine Chanderpaul in overcast conditions.
   The second-string West Indians were, however, under pressure even in the four overs they faced before tea when openers Xavier Marshall and debutant Ryan Ramdass were dismissed in the space of two deliveries.
   Ramdass was run out for three, while Marshall drove the next ball from Vaas to Sri Lankan captain Marvan Atapattu at mid-off.
   The West Indians slipped from 12-2 at tea to 27-4 as Vaas bowled Runako Morton and then claimed the prize scalp of Chanderpaul, trapped leg-before for 13.
   Sylvester Joseph and Narsingh Deonarine added 48 for the fifth wicket before Vaas, returning for his second spell, broke through having Joseph caught in the slips.
   At stumps, Deonarine was unbeaten after a well-crafted 36 and Denesh Ramdin was on eight.
   Prolific off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who has been suffering from a flu virus over the last few days, bowled only three overs after making an unbeaten 18 with the bat.
   Earlier Powell, the 27-year-old Jamaican, worked up good pace to return career-best figures in only his 12th Test match.
   Powell had Sanath Jayasuriya caught behind in his second over and struck again two overs later when Kumar Sangakkara edged a wild slash to Morton at second slip.
   At the other end, Atapattu (17) was bowled first ball by Best, who replaced Jermaine Lawson in the 12th over.
   Mahela Jayawardena edged Best to Morton to make Sri Lanka 42-4 before Dilshan and Samaraweera retrieved the situation.
   Dilshan, whose belligerent batting included three consecutive boundaries off Best, was run out in the last over before lunch. Samaraweera was caught at short-leg off spinner Omari Banks after the resumption.
   Sri Lanka retained the winning combination of the first Test, while the West Indies dropped batsman Dwayne Smith to give Ramdass his first Test cap.
   The Sri Lankans wore black armbands to mourn the death of former Test cricketer Roshan Gunaratne who died in the United States on Thursday aged 43.
   Gunaratne, a leg-spinner, played one Test match against Australia at Kandy in 1983.
   The West Indies, missing 10 top players including master batsman Brian Lara because of a sponsorship dispute at home, need a win to level the short two-match series.
   In the first Test in Colombo last week, the West Indians had reduced Sri Lanka to 47-4 and 113-7 on the second day, yet went on to lose the match by six wickets inside four days.
   Sri Lanka crumbled to 98-5 by lunch before losing their last five wickets in the post-lunch session.
   Thilan Samaraweera (37) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (36), who put on 56 for the fifth wicket, were the only batsmen to resist the West Indian pacemen.

England batsman Graham Thorpe announced his retirement from Test cricket Friday.
   In a statement, Thorpe said, ‘My partner is having a baby in the next couple of weeks and I have decided that I want to concentrate on my family life.
   The 35-year-old Surrey left-hander last month became only the eighth England player to appear in 100 Tests when he played against Bangladesh in the second Test at the Riverside.
   But, having already been long retired from one-day internationals, Thorpe’s Ashes place was called into question when he announced he would be coaching in New South Wales next year while England were on tour in India.
   He was left out of the ongoing first Test against Australia at Lord’s, his place taken by debutant Kevin Pietersen, ten years his junior.
   ‘I have enjoyed my time with England and I have wished them every success in this Ashes series,’ added Thorpe who scored a hundred on his Test debut, against Australia at Trent Bridge, in 1993.
   England’s chairman of selectors, David Graveney, said of Thorpe, ‘He will be remembered as a tenacious batsman who served England with great ability and great pride.’
   In 100 Tests, Thorpe scored 6,744 runs at an average off 44.66 with 16 hundreds, 39 fifties and a highest score of 200 not out against New Zealand in Christchurch in 2002. He also took 105 catches.
   During 82 one-day internationals he scored 2,380 runs at 37.18 with a best of 89 against Zimbabwe in Brisbane in 1994-95.

A total of 11 players are leading the points table of the Class VI to X group with three points each after third round of the seventh Standard Chartered School Chess Tournament at the National Sports Council Conference Room on Friday.
   They are Bitan Banerjee, Abhratanu Dutta, Nilabhro Datta, Saimon Siddiqur Rahman, Olid Bin Manzil, Sayed Hossain, Sharif Hossain, Anwar Hossain Kahar, Nazmus Shakib, Masum Hossain and Riazul Islam Babu.
   A total of five players sharing the lead in the class KG to V group with three points each after the third round. They are Abdullah Saif, Aniruddah Majumder, Moinuddin Ahmed Asif, Shayan Majumder and Rafiul Islam.
   Three players were sharing the lead with three points each in the girls group. They were Sukanya Datta, Mohona Sengupta and Mehnaz Ahmed Mithila.

Glenn McGrath admitted it had been a perfect day after he became only the fourth man in history to take 500 Test wickets on the first day of the first Ashes Test against England at Lord’s here Thursday.
   The 35-year-old fast bowler did more than take the one wicket he needed to join team-mate Shane Warne, Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and retired West Indies quick Courtney Walsh in the 500-club.
   McGrath claimed five for 21, dismissing all of England’s top five batsmen as the hosts collapsed to 92 for seven at stumps having themselves dismissed Australia for 190.
   Afterwards McGrath, who reached the landmark with the first ball after tea when he had opener Marcus Trescothick taken at third slip by Justin Langer, said he’d now set his sights on Walsh’s mark of 519, the most Test wickets taken by a fast bowler.
   ‘I said before I couldn’t have scripted it any better,’ McGrath, 35, playing his 110th Test, told reporters after another stand-out performance at the home of cricket where he took eight for 38 in 1997.
   ‘The first real time I thought about it was this morning at breakfast which was surprising. I started to get a few butterflies in the stomach.’
   McGrath’s wife, children, parents and several close friends were in the 30,000 capacity Lord’s crowd to watch him reach the milestone and he added: ‘I had to beg borrow and steal to get tickets but I got over the line. I guess it makes it little bit more special to have all my friends here.’
   Upon reaching the landmark, McGrath’s team-mates brought out a special pair of boots with golden flashes and 500 embossed on the leather to mark the New South Wales paceman’s achievement.
   ‘I’m not really much of a show pony but today I probably deserved it. We felt if we could execute plans well we could have first innings lead. To have them seven for 92, we couldn’t ask for much better than that.’
   But after seeing England fast bowler Stephen Harmison take five for 43 after Australia captain Ricky Ponting won the toss, McGrath added: ‘It probably was the bowlers’ day. If it was none for 300 at end of day, I probably would have felt it was a pretty ordinary pitch.
   ‘What suited me was a slighter fuller length, the ball tended to come back down the slope a lot more than it has the other times I’ve bowled here. I just tried to get enough balls in the right area and let the wicket do the rest.’
   Looking ahead, he added: ‘Courtney is 519, I’m 504 now. I’d like to think I could get 15 wickets in another four-and-a-half Test matches.’
   Asked what the key to his 12 years at the top, McGrath - a major factor in much of Australia’s run of eight straight Ashes series wins - said: ‘I just try to bore batsmen out. There’s no real secret to taking wickets. If you can land 99 balls out of a hundred where you want to bowl them, hitting the deck, top of off-stump you will take wickets.’
   Meanwhile Harmison said of McGrath’s milestone: ‘It’s a phenomenal achievement.’
   The 26-year-old Durham quick, returning his best figures against Australia, hit several batsmen including the tourists’ captain Ricky Ponting who was cut beneath the eye after a ball found the gap between his helmet peak and grille before Harmison had him caught for nine.
   But the England spearhead said he did not set out to deliberately injure opponents.
   ‘I don’t like it when people get hurt. But you put them on the backfoot to drag them and nick it to slip.
   ‘It was perfect the way I got Ricky Ponting out. I’m more pleased getting him caught at slip then I was hitting him on the head.’

Spaniard Marcos Serrano of the Liberty team won the 18th stage of the Tour de France here Thursday.
   Lance Armstrong crossed the line with the main peloton to retain the leader’s yellow jersey.
   Serrano, who wins his first stage on the race, broke away from a small group of riders on the final climb of the day and managed to hold on to a 20-second lead on Axel Merckx and Cedric Vasseur to come over the finish line just ahead of the pair.
   Before then, there had a been other attempts to take an advantage ahead of the day’s last difficult climb.
   Carlos Da Cruz of Francaise des Jeux broke away from his breakaway companions around 13.5km from the finish line but with two climbs still to negotiate, the Frenchman’s bid was always going to be hard to maintain and he was soon caught.
   Once the group had pulled level just before the summit of the day’s second last climb - rated a category three - Merckx pulled ahead of the group, however it seemed the French were determined to bag a stage before the end of the race and Thomas Voeckler, of the Bouygues Telecom team, soon caught the Belgian.
   Soon however, three of the riders who had been part of the 10-man breakaway joined Voeckler and Merckx on the long and winding descent into Mende.
   Merckx’s last victory before the Tour came on a medium-sized climbing stage of the Dauphine Libere stage race in June, and the Davitamon rider looked well suited to come out top after the final climb of the day - a category two which would leave its mark on any decent climber.
   With four kilometres to race Voeckler - who wore the yellow jersey for half of the race last year - took a small lead on his four companions however the diminutive Frenchman only served to provoke Merckx, who pulled ahead of him.
   Their acceleration left Liberty’s Marcos Serrano trailing around three kilometres from the summit, and soon Voeckler also found out his limits on the climb.
   The sole Frenchman in the lead now was Cofidis veteran Cedric Vasseur, the only rider in the day’s breakaway to have already won a stage on the Tour.
   However that lacked for little. Soon, Merckx and Serrano had pulled away from Vasseur, and then Merckx was left trailing when the Spaniard took a 50-metre lead.
   Serrano came over the summit of the Cote de la Croix Neuve with a 20-sec lead on his two chasers. It proved enough for him to claim the win just two kilometres further on at the Mende airfield.

Andy Roddick and Nicolas Kiefer moved closer to a repeat of last year’s final at the 600,000 dollar RCA Championships Thursday, with both advancing in straight sets to the quarter-finals.
   Top seed Roddick, winner of the last two editions, ran his record at the venue to 12-0 as he beat Noam Okun 6-3, 6-3.
   Kiefer, losing finalist a year ago to the American, easily dispatched American Kevin Kim 6-1, 6-3.
   Serve-and-volley specialist Taylor Dent, the number four, joined the party as he reached the last eight over German Bjorn Phau 6-2, 6-2.
   Roddick won his night match against number 144 Okun as dark rainclouds rolled into the area. But the match concluded without a weather interruption.
   ‘I’m surprise we were not rained on,’ admitted world number four Roddick, who has had to fight harder than expected to win his first two matches of the week.’
   The American admitted that his game needs improvement as he plays for the first time since losing a second Wimbledon final to Roger Federer.
   ‘I made some errors I’m not happy with,’ said Roddick, 39-9 this season with three titles. ‘But I this better towards the end of the second set.
   ‘Hopefully that will translate well for tomorrow.’
   Roddick will Friday play fellow American Robby Ginepri, who pounced on a jet-lagged ninth seed Paradorn Srichaphan 6-0, 6-4.
   Roddick has beaten his Ginepri twice already this season.
   Kiefer continued his quest for an American tennis title and is finally hoping to come good after losing four finals in the US last season.
   He spent just over an hour hammering the 69th-ranked Kim. ‘I just focussed on my game. I was serving solid today, I played aggressive from the baseline’
   Kiefer, who earned the last of his six titles in 2000 in Hong Kong, now stands 20-13 after reaching a quarter-final for the first time since Indian Wells in March.
   Revitalized Swiss George Bastl has come alive this week, booking his first quarter-final in nearly two years when Mardy Fish quit with an existing left wrist injury.
   Bastl, 30, has had a few years of frustration, reaching two quarters in 2003 for his best recent showings.
   ‘I’m just back from holidays and I’m feeling good, I’ve suddenly been able to play well, match by match here.
   ‘It’s unfortunate for Mardy that his wrist hurt him, but I’m very glad to be in the quarters,’ he said before facing Slovak Karol Beck.

The International Cricket Council escaped a major embarrassment with the Pakistan Cricket Board officials rectifying in the nick of time a poster showing Afghan refugees and Maulvis taking part in a demonstration, to promote Pakistan cricket.
   According to PCB sources, the ICC has created posters of all the teams whose players have been picked for the World XI to play against Australia in the Super Series in October. The poster of each country including Pakistan shows a crowd of people in the backdrop with the slogan ‘A million people want your seat’.
   ‘The idea is to depict the message that many people want to play in the Super Series or watch it from a particular country,’ the sources said.
   ‘The problem with the Pakistan poster was that the ICC unknowingly picked a photograph of people who are basically either Afghan refugees or Maulvis taking part in some demonstration!’ a report in ‘The News’ said.
   Pakistan cricket officials got the ICC to change the promotional poster but were clearly taken aback by the gaffe.
   ‘To be honest, the senior officials of the Board acted promptly and showed a lot of guts in protesting the blunder to the ICC and get the backdrop photograph of the poster changed which was not a proper depiction of Pakistani people,’ sources said.

The United States survived a scare from Honduras by scoring two late goals and will now face Panama in the Sunday’s final of the CONCACAF Gold Cup football tournament.
   In their third-ever Gold Cup meeting against Honduras, the Americans rallied with a pair of goals in the final four minutes to register a dramatic 2-1 win on Thursday at Giants Stadium.
   Oguchi Onyewu’s winning header in the dying seconds came just minutes after John O’Brien got the favoured Americans on the board for the first time. The US is ranked sixth in the world.
   Ivan Guerrero opened the scoring for Honduras in the 31st minute.
   In the other semi-final, Ricardo Phillips scored twice and Jorge Luis Dely Valdes added a single as Panama beat Colombia 3-2.
   Jairo Leonardo Patino scored both goals for Colombia.
   Phillips opened the scoring 12 minutes into the match for Panama who led 2-0 at the half.
   He tallied his second goal at the 73rd minute to make it 3-1.

French Open winner Rafael Nadal joined Bjorn Borg, Thomas Muster, Guillermo Coria and Mats Wilander as the only player to win 31 consecutive clay-court matches on Thursday.
   The 19-year-old Spaniard, who has won seven titles in 2005 - all on clay, joined the other four thanks to his 6-3, 6-2 win over fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco to make the quarter-finals of the ATP tournament here.
   If he wins his last eight clash on Friday, Nadal will surpass Borg, Coria and Wilander and will be in sight of Muster’s all-time record of 40 consecutive clay-court wins which the Austrian achieved from February to June of 1995.
   The top seed will next face Czech Tomas Zib, a winner over Juan Monaco 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).
   Nadals fellow clay-court specialist, Gaston Gaudio, also advanced to the quarter-finals with a 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 6-0 win over No. 16 seed Paul-Henri Mathieu of France.
   Gaudio will next play fellow Argentine Mariano Zabaleta for a place in the semifinals.
   Second seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko made the last eight by defeating German wild card Alexander Waske 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.

Top seed Mariano Puerta cruised to the quarter-finals of the Amersfoort Open with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Costa Rican Juan Antonio Marin on Thursday.
   The Argentine is playing his first clay court tournament since his fine performance in the French Open where he reached the final.
   Puerta now meets Czech Ivo Minar, who defeated Spaniard Santiago Ventura 7-6, 6-4.
   Second seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile granted Czech Robin Vik only four games on his way to a quarter-final meeting with Daniele Bracciali.
   The Italian overcame local favorite Raemon Sluiter 1-6, 7-6, 6-2. Sluiter took the first set but Bracciali grabbed the tie-break in the second to take the match to a decider.

Former world number one Jennifer Capriati will miss the US Open while she continues her recovery from shoulder surgery.
   Capriati, 29, has not played since hurting her right shoulder last November. She had surgery in January.
   The 42nd-ranked Capriati was one of only two women players in the top 100 who will skip the US Open, according to the tournament entry list.
   Argentina’s Paola Suarez, world number 87, will also miss out as she recovers from a hip injury.

Unseeded Akiko Morigami upset Russian second seed Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals of the 170,000 dollar WTA tournament here on Thursday.
   Morigami will face Indian Sania Mirza in the next round of the tier three hardcourt event.
   Mirza registered a 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 triumph over Kristina Brandi of Puerto Rico.
   Qualifier Bethanie Mattek became the only American to reach the round of eight when French opponent Camille Pin retired with a sore throat early in the second set.
   The 177th-ranked Mattek held a 6-3, 2-0 lead when Pin stopped playing.
   In the quarter-finals, Mattek will face third-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic, who beat Austrian Sybille Bammer 6-3, 7-5. First prize is 27,000 dollars.

Real Madrid confirmed on Thursday that they had signed Brazilian international striker Robinho from Santos for a fee in the region of 30 million dollars.
   The 21-year-old was expected to leave Brazil for 50 million dollars but the player has waived his right to 40-per cent of that fee to facilitate the move.
   As a result, Real have agreed to pay 60-per cent of the Santos demand.
   'Robinho has renounced the 40-per cent to which he had the right to effect his dream move to Real Madrid,' said his agent Wagner Ribeiro in Rio de Janeiro.
   'Now he is waiting for a certificate of transfer so that he can travel to Spain.'
   Robinho, who starred for Brazil at the Confederations Cup in Germany last month, had said last week that he was ready to give up millions of dollars to secure the move to Real Madrid.
   'If I have to give up what's due to me to play in Real Madrid that's no problem,' he said. 'I'm young and have all my career ahead of me.'
   Santos president Marcelo Teixeira had been adamant that with Robinho under contract until 2008 any club that wanted to sign him would have to meet the 50 million dollar penalty clause for the player.
   As a sign of protest Robinho - whose mother was kidnapped but subsequently rescued earlier this year - refused to train with his club.
   Meanwhile, Reuters report from Madrid that, Real Madrid have not yet completed the signing of Brazilian forward Robinho from Santos, the Spanish club said on Friday.
   'We have to be cautious,' vice-president Emilio Butragueno told Real's website. 'The door has been opened to the signing of Robinho but it still hasn't been finalised, although it is very close.'
   The nine-time European champions said they paid 60 per cent, or $30 million of the $50 million buy-out clause stipulated in Robinho's contract to buy Santos's share of his rights.
   'We've presented a document to the Brazilian Federation that guarantees the payment of 60 per cent of the player's rights.
   ‘We still have to wait but there is no doubt that it is a very important decision.
   'We have to remain prudent but we hope that everything will become clear in the next 24 to 48 hours.
   'He's a different player with enormous talent and there aren't many players like him around at the moment. We've got a week left of our tour (of Asia) and if the signing is speeded up then we will take a decision to see if he can join up with the rest of the team.'
   In a further development the Primera Liga club said they had presented the documentation for the transfer to the Spanish FA (RFEF) who in turn had requested Robinho's International Transfer Certificate from the Brazilian FA.
   Robinho's agent Wagner Ribeiro said the 21-year-old had agreed to forego the 40 percent of his rights to which he was entitled, accounting for the shortfall of $20 million in the buy-out clause.
   But Brazilian club Santos insisted Robinho still belonged to them and that they were due the full $50 million. They haven't deposited anything,' club president Marcelo Teixeira was quoted as saying by Spanish sports daily Marca.
   'The situation hasn't changed and things are the same as they were before. If Real Madrid deposits $50 million Robinho will go, but if not he will stay at Santos.'

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson praised South Korean new boy Park Ji-sung Friday and said English and European clubs could expect to see many more like him as Asian football advances.
   ‘He has showed exactly what we think about him, very good movement off the ball, very quick, two-footed, brave,’ Ferguson said in praise of his new summer import.
   The 24-year-old midfielder, who signed for four million pounds (seven million dollars) from Dutch side PSV Eindhoven earlier this month, is part of a near full-strength squad to play the Hong Kong national team on Saturday.
   The South Korean international has played only part of a couple of warm-up games for his new club and has left Ferguson only able to quibble about his ability to grasp a new language.
   ‘Park played in the first half of the two games and he did well,’ Ferguson told journalists at a press conference shortly after the squad touched down in Hong Kong.
   ‘I think though for any young player coming in the language is at the moment a bit of a problem. He speaks a little English which is quite good, but I think in a few months time we will see an improvement in his English,’ Ferguson said.
   Ferguson confirmed that Park would play at least part of today’s game against the Hong Kong national side as United embark on a tour to prepare for the new season beginning in August and satisfy their legions of Asian fans.
   China’s Dong Fangzhuo is another new signing expected to make his debut in Beijing on Tuesday, and Ferguson was full of praise for Asian players.
   ‘I think that emerging players from the Far East, you’ll see more and more of them in the next decade in English football clubs and other teams in Europe because I think there’s a great potential there, improving their fitness and their physique.
   ‘Professionalism is seeing a development in Chinese, Japanese, Korean players more rapidly than maybe you were seeing two decades ago, and the future is very bright,’ he said.
   United, third in last season’s English Premiership campaign, will complete their tour of Asia with fixtures against Japanese J League sides Kashima Antlers and Urawa Red Diamonds on July 28 and 30.
   The club has courted Asia assiduously over the years with initiatives including a Chinese-language website, club shops, soccer schools and credit cards.
   Park is billed as the next big thing in Asian football.
   After helping South Korea reach the 2002 World Cup semi-finals and PSV Eindhoven into the last four of this year’s Champions League, the 24-year-old is the Premier League’s most promising Asian signing.

Jose Mourinho has no doubt about Hernan Crespo’s commitment to Chelsea.
   The Argentinian is back with the champions after a year on loan at AC Milan failed to materialise into a permanent deal.
   Milan, who are Chelsea’s next American pre-season tour opponents in Boston on Sunday, have signed Italian pair Christian Vieri and Alberto Gilardino rather than meet Chelsea’s demands for extending Crespo’s deal.
   But that adds up to good news for Chelsea, according to Mourinho.
   ‘Now he wants to prove himself in the Premiership.
   ‘I’m so happy because we could not have got a better player than him,’ said the manager.
   Crespo seemed initially reluctant to rejoin Chelsea, having found it difficult to adapt to English football during the 2003/04 season, when Claudio Ranieri brought him to the club from Inter Milan.
   With Milan he was part of a team who finished runners-up in both the Champions League and Serie A, and his family were settled in the city, making it a wrench to return to Stamford Bridge.
   But Crespo’s focus has returned after a week and a half in the company of his team-mates, and Mourinho expects the 30-year-old’s return to be a success.
   ‘I understood his desire to stay in Italy because it was not for sporting reasons,’ said the former Porto boss. I spoke to him on his holidays for a few days in Sardinia. He’s happy with his work and he’s happy at Chelsea, which has changed a lot.’

Cristiano Ronaldo seems increasingly likely to miss Manchester United’s entire Far East tour.
   The young Portuguese winger was given permission to return home instead of flying to Hong Kong with the remainder of United’s squad on Tuesday after learning his father had fallen seriously ill.
   At that point, it was expected Ronaldo’s departure would just be delayed by 24 hours, leaving him free to play in the remaining three matches of the tour in Beijing and Tokyo.
   However, with no immediate change in his father’s condition and Sir Alex Ferguson mindful of the draining nature of the 12-hour flight, Ronaldo may now be excused the 10-day tour altogether.
   A final decision has yet to be taken but at best the 20-year-old will head straight to China, which would make him a doubt for Tuesday’s sell-out encounter with Beijing Hyundai.

Manchester United’s new South Korean import Park Ji-sung insisted on Friday he can be a huge hit with the Old Trafford giants.
   The 24-year-old midfielder said he is not overawed by the interest generated by his four-million-pound move to the English Premiership and is adamant he will not be a bit-part player in Alex Ferguson’s team.
   ‘I have high expectations coming to Manchester,’ he told ManUtd.com. ‘I hope I can live up to that.
   ‘There has been a lot of interest in my move to United. I want to meet the expectations of the Korean fans. But, just as importantly for me, I want to show the fans in England what I can do.
   ‘There are a lot of United fans in Korea. I am aware that they are very proud that a Korean player is playing for Manchester United.
   ‘I could tell that by the reaction and the response I got from football fans in Korea when I was last there. But I think I can deal with that.’
   Park has been training with the first-team for almost two weeks now and already feels settled.
   ‘I have been training with my new team-mates for over a week now and I have already been made to feel very welcome. I feel very comfortable here.
   ‘There are some great players at the club – Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Roy Keane are all fantastic players. They are the benchmark that any new player must aim for.
   ‘I will work with them in training and in games to learn and live up to the standards they have set at the club.
   ‘At the same time, I’m here to compete for my place in the team. Sir Alex Ferguson has told me that he thinks I can reach the standards set by my team-mates.’

For the first time in his career this Wednesday, Brazil striker Ronaldo spoke about retiring from international football after the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany.
   ‘It will be my fourth World Cup and I need to step aside and give other players a chance,’ declared the 28-year-old Real Madrid ace during his team’s trip to Los Angeles, where he also outlined his ambition to win his third FIFA World Cup following triumphs in 1994 and 2002.
   But even if natural superstition led him to avoid the subject, there is another target for Ronaldo to try and reach before bowing out of the international arena: to become the highest scorer in the history of the FIFA World Cup.
   Some records seem to be frozen in time, for all intents and purposes unbeatable. That is certainly true of Frenchman Just Fontaine’s incredible 13 strikes at the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden, and surely no one will ever better Pele’s feat of scoring in four separate FIFA World Cups (six goals in 1958, one in 1962, one in 1966 and four in 1970).
   However, with 12 goals in 14 finals appearances so far (four in 1998 and eight in 2002), Ronaldo needs to hit the back of the net just three more times in Germany to streak ahead of the competition in the overall scoring charts. And he could also become only the second player after Pele to lift the much-coveted trophy on three occasions.
   For the time being, though, the goalscorers’ holy grail is held by Der Bomber, Germany’s Gerd Muller, whose total of 14 strikes (ten in 1970 and four in 1974) puts him clear of Just Fontaine (13 in 1958) and Pele and Ronaldo on 12 apiece.
   1998-2002: the wilderness years
   Beyond the raw statistics, one can only salute the talent and courage of a player who has had more than his fair share of injury problems over the years, and who has always found the mental and physical resources to bounce back.
   A world champion at 17 in 1994, when he did not play a game, the exciting young prodigy of Brazilian football soon had the whole of Europe at his feet. He netted 42 goals in two seasons with PSV Eindhoven and added a further 34 in one campaign with Barcelona to earn himself FIFA World Player of the Year titles in 1996 and 1997.
   Nobody realised it then, but the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France marked the start of a whole series of problems that threatened to curtail his career. First of all was the illness he suffered on the morning of the final against France, which, for all his brave determination to play on, clearly lessened his impact and destabilised the entire team. Then he was struck down with two serious knee injuries requiring major surgery – the first on 21 November 1999 (a ruptured rotular tendon in his right knee) and the second on 12 April 2000 (same knee, similar problem) – which eventually kept him on the sidelines for 17 months.
   ‘The greatest goal of my career’
   As a result, he had played just over 20 matches in two years on the eve of the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea/Japan, but he was thrilled to be able to take part. ‘I’m not going to go on about the years of suffering I’ve been through. I just kept working and working so that I could play again. In fact, you really can’t imagine how hard I’ve worked, so to have made it back is by a long the way the greatest goal I’ve scored in my entire career,’ a reborn Ronaldo explained at the time. By the time the tournament was over, the Brazilian had grabbed eight goals, including two in the final against Germany, and he walked away with the Golden Boot as top scorer.
   ‘I worked for two and a half years to be there,’ he added on the night of the final. ‘Every time I walk on to a pitch and every time I score is a victory in itself. In that sense, even if I hadn’t been world champion I would have been happy. But having won the World Cup is one of the most wonderful things that have ever happened to me.’
   And the longer it went on, the more 2002 became a dramatic turning point for the reinvigorated star. His FIFA World Cup triumph aside, he sealed a dream transfer to Real Madrid, picked up the Toyota Cup and was once again crowned FIFA World Player of the Year. ‘You could say it was an incredible year,’ he enthused. ‘Someone could make a Hollywood film about it.’
   If his gamble pays off and he hits at least three goals in Germany on his way to a third global crown, Ronaldo will write a new chapter in the history of the game and leave the stage with his legendary status assured. And all that before his 30th birthday.

Real Madrid on Thursday gave the Premiership’s big guns the green light to move for Michael Owen by signing £16 million Brazilian Robinho.
   Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal are now possible destinations for the England striker. Owen, rated at £12m, finds himself fourth choice at Madrid behind Raul, Ronaldo and Robinho.
   And it could get worse for the 25-year-old former Liverpool favourite as Real have been linked to yet another striker, Deportivo star Albert Luque.
   Only this week Owen made yet another attempt to insist that he is happy at the Bernabeu Stadium after scoring in Real’s US tour win over LA Galaxy on Monday.
   He said, ‘I’ve answered questions about my future so many times and I’ve always said I am happy at Madrid, never the opposite.
   ‘I think I have shown that with my football and the way I play for the club.
   ‘I feel very well and I am happy to have scored the goal against LA Galaxy. I’m feeling fit and good physically. The season is long and injuries do happen.
   ‘I have three more years on my contract. Last season was a good campaign for me and I scored some goals.
   ‘I actually played more games than I hoped to.’
   Yet Owen is privately known to want to come home.
   Liverpool chiefs were ready to welcome him with open arms before boss Rafa Benitez vetoed the move. Now Manchester United are favourites to land him – as long as boss Sir Alex Ferguson can unload injury-hit French flop Louis Saha.

Real Madrid winger Luis Figo says he wants a move to Inter Milan.
   Figo's agent claimed Thursday the 32-year-old favoured England and Liverpool, but the Portugal international said on Thursday, 'It does not depend on me whether I should wear the Nerazzurra shirt. I have given my availability, Inter know my demands but it knows also that there are other teams who have contacted me.
   'Sure, for now I have chosen Inter but they must act quickly.'
   Figo is demanding a two-year deal worth £3 million-a-year, while Inter so far have tabled a contract worth £2 million-a-year.

FC Barcelona's recently signed Dutch midfielder, Mark van Bommel, has spent five days in a convent in an attempt to improve his Spanish.
   Van Bommel, who already speaks Dutch, English and German, learned the basics of his new language with Spanish nuns in Vught, a village close to the Dutch city of Eindhoven, leading daily El Pais reported Friday.
   'Yes, it's true that I locked myself away in a monastery with Spanish nuns for a week to start to learn the language. It was the ideal place to concentrate on the first Spanish words,' van Bommel was quoted as saying in Spanish.
   The Dutch international, who joined the Spanish league champion from PSV Eindhoven in June, is taking the task so seriously that he has delayed his first news conference for several days to allow him time to deliver it fully in Spanish, the paper said.
   Van Bommel is in Aarhus, Netherlands, to play preseason matches with the Spanish club. Barcelona begins the defense of its title against Alaves on Aug 27.

Manchester United owner Joel Glazer is jetting to Tokyo to speak face-to-face with Rio Ferdinand in a bid to break his contract impasse.
   The new owners of Manchester United are concerned that their most expensive player is at loggerheads with the club. Joel Glazer, son of United owner Malcolm, has earmarked the Tokyo leg of the trip to meet Ferdinand and club chief executive David Gill.
   He also wants the future of Cristiano Ronaldo, 20, sorted.
   The Portuguese star has still not signed his new deal despite being offered a triple-your-money deal.
   Ronaldo is on £15,000 a week, is now being offered £45,000, yet his agent is holding out for more.
   Although Ronaldo has not travelled to the Far East due to a family bereavement, Glazer has made his future a priority.
   The Ferdinand problem is the biggest one, however, and threatens to overshadow the start of the new season.
   He is being booed by United fans and his stance in refusing to sign a new deal is irritating manager Alex Ferguson.
   The club have offered him their biggest-ever contract for a player of £100,000 a week, yet Ferdinand, 26, is holding out for £120,000.

Newcastle said Friday they were chasing French striker Nicolas Anelka with Turkish club Fenerbahce.
   Newcastle, who are stepping up their search for strikers following the departure of Craig Bellamy and Patrick Kluivert, have made an undisclosed offer to Fenerbahce. They also moved for Fulham’s Portuguese striker Luis Boa Morte but the London club rejected the bid.
   ‘We have made an offer to Fulham for Luis Boa Morte, and we’ve also tabled a bid with Fenerbahce for Nicolas Anelka,’ Magpies chairman Freddy Shepherd told the club’s website.
   However, a spokesman for Fulham confirmed the bid for Boa Morte had been unsuccessful.
   Newcastle manager Graeme Souness has switched attention to strengthening his striking options after landing midfield targets Scott Parker and Emre Belozoglu.

Five candidates have bid to stage the 2012 European championships, UEFA said Friday.
   Greece, Italy and Turkey have made individual bids while Croatia has made a joint bid with Hungary and Poland is aligned with Ukraine.
   UEFA will draw up a short list of three on November 7 and the hosts will be nominated in December 2006. Euro 2008 will be held in Switzerland and Austria.

Rahmatganj finish top in 1st division football
Rahmatganj finished top in the Premier Bank First Division League with a huge 5-2 victory over Mahakhali Ekadash in their last match at the Birsreshtho Shaheed Sepoy Mohammad Mostafa Stadium in Kamalapur on Friday. Mamun of the winners netted two goals in the 25th and 79th minutes. Polok, Sony and Golap of the same team scored one goal each in the 44th, 87th and 88th minutes respectively. Rabiul scored both the goals for the Mohakhali in the 72nd and 84th minutes.
— BD News

Mini-school Kabaddi begins
A 12-day school kabaddi championship began at the outer Stadium on Friday. A total of 39 schools are participating in the championship divided into two groups—primary and high school sections. Maniknagar Government Primary School beat Dhitpur Government Primary School by 38-32 points while Bramhanchiron Government Primary School defeated Siddirganj South Primary School by 50-27 points. Darus Salam Primary School outplayed Motijheel Primary School by 55-7 points while Ansar VDP High School beat Nasirabad High School by 54-6 points. National Pre-cadet High School defeated Natun Kudi High School by 59-46 points while Shaheed Nabi High School outplayed Khilgaon Government Staff Quarter High School by 50-16 points.
— BD News

Uttar Baridhara win in 3rd division football
Uttar Baridhara Club defeated Matuail Udayan Sanghsad by 4-1 in the final round of the third division football league at the Bangladesh Army Stadium on Friday. Rafiqul, Zubaer, Ahsanullah and Khokon netted one goal each for the winners in the 13th, 19th, 45th and 75th minutes respectively. Sajal scored the lone goal for the Matuail in the eighth minute.
— BD News

Hiddink named new Australian coach
PSV Eindhoven coach Guus Hiddink was named as Australia’s new national coach on Friday, replacing Frank Farina who left the job last month. Hiddink’s appointment came as no surprise after he told reporters in South Korea on Wednesday that he would take over as Australia coach to help them qualify for the 2006 World Cup finals. ‘The Hiddink appointment is the best possible response to our immediate need which is to give Australia every chance of success in the World Cup playoffs and, hopefully, in the finals next year,’ Football Federation Australia (FFA) chairman Frank Lowy said in a statement. ‘He has had a distinguished career and his record speaks for itself. We could not have hoped for a more qualified, internationally-recognised coach to lead us on the road to Germany.’ Hiddink will take control of the Socceroos immediately but also continue to work with Dutch champions PSV.
— Reuters