BCB XI (146 & 199/6) drew with
Central Zone (351 & 230)
   Bangladesh Cricket Board XI pulled off a creditable draw against Central Zone in their second match of the Duleep Trophy cricket tournament at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi on Friday. Chasing a target of 436 runs the BCB XI finished at 199 for six at the end of the fourth and the final day.
   Central Zone resumed the day on 212 for six but lost their remaining four wickets adding another 18 runs. Aftab Ahmed, with his medium pace swing bowling, was the chief wrecker for the Bangladesh side scalping another two wickets to finish with seven for 39 runs in his 24 overs after grabbing five wickets giving away 28 runs the previous day.
   Former Indian all-rounder Sanjay Bangar started the day with 91 and but after adding just five runs he fell prey to Aftab. Bangar stayed in the middle for 341 minutes and faced 242 balls hitting 12 fours. The last four wickets fell in the space of eight runs after Bangar’s departure on 222 when left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak arrived as the able partner of Aftab picking up the other two wickets.
   The BCB XI were set a winning target of 436 and the Central Zone bowlers had the task of bowling their opponents out in the remaining 54 overs. The visitors had a bad start as veteran opener Al Shahriar Rokon, for the second time in the match, fell victim to Harvinder Singh for a duck. Nafees Iqbal held the fort for 97 minutes making 45 off 72 ball hitting nine fours.
   Aftab Ahmed scored 26 from 33 balls smashing five boundaries and skipper Md Ashraful contributed 21 off 58 balls with three fours.
   A 90-run partnership between Alok Kapali and Manjarul Islam Rana in the fifth wicket stand saved the Bangladesh team from defeat. Kapali stayed at the crease for 107 minutes and faced 78 balls hitting five fours before his dismissal for 45. Manjarul Rana raked in 49 from 65 balls with nine boundaries and one six.
   Saghir Hossain and Abdur Razzak managed to stop further fall of wickets till the end without scoring any runs.
   Jai P Jadav took two for 39 while Harvinder Singh, Murali Kartik and Sanjay Bangar scalped one wicket apiece.
   Earlier in their first match, the BCB XI suffered an innings defeat against East Zone and they are now out of the tournament.

Pakistan's Shahid Afridi, whose unconventional good looks and cavalier style has won him many female fans in his country, has struck a chord with the fair sex in this sleepy holiday resort as well.
   For about 30 minutes, the Pakistani heart-throb had to endure mock chiding from his Indian female fans who had come to watch him at the nets on Friday.
   '"Accha, to ab idhar aa jao" (OK, why don't you come here),' Afridi said when one of them seemed to cross the limits in her wooing.
   Asked about all the attention he had been attracting, Afridi said as long as his flamboyant batting brought the crowds to the stadiums, he did not bother about the rest.
   'It doesn't matter. If you are good, you will get a good response, whether it is India or Australia or England. Obviously in Pakistan the culture is totally different but I don't mind,' said Afridi who celebrated his 25th birthday the very next day he arrived in India on February 28.
   Afridi, however, said the days of his rendezvous with young women were truly behind him. 'I am married now and have two kids.
   ‘Of course there were lots of experience but I can't tell all that now.’
    Afridi has fond memories of his last tour of India in 1999 when his counter-attacking century laid the foundation for his team's win in Chennai.
   'I have come here with a very positive frame of mind. So, Inshallah, if they give me a chance, I will take it. I will try to improve myself as well.
   'Chennai obviously is a great memory. Pakistan team was under pressure but we performed well and I performed at the right time too.
   'That tour was also significant because my coach did not want me in the Test team at that time. But by God's grace he gave me a chance and I proved myself.'

Pakistan (273) lead President's XI (91/1) by 182 runs at stumps, day 2
   Pakistani all-rounder Abdul Razzaq warmed up for the upcoming Test series against India with an aggressive half-century in the tour opener here on Friday.
   Razzaq hammered an 82-ball 63 with two sixes and 10 fours as Pakistan were all out for 273 in their first innings after resuming at 165-5 on the second day of a three-day match against a Board President's team.
   Pakistan could not get much-needed bowling practice ahead of the first Test against India as they sent down just 22.2 overs before bad light stopped play.
   The hosts reached 91-1 in reply at stumps, with Test-discard Mohammad Kaif batting on 42 and opener Dheeraj Jadhav
   on 30.
   Earlier, Razzaq held the innings together with his impressive knock and helped Pakistan add 104 runs for the last four wickets after the tourists had been struggling at 169-6 in the morning session.
   Razzaq applied himself well on a low, slow pitch, using his feet effectively against spinners to help his team reach a respectable total. He punished off-spinner Venugopala Rao, smashing the bowler for two sixes.
   Pakistan lost overnight batsman Asim Kamal (43) early in the day, but Razzaq steadied the innings with a 59-run stand for the seventh wicket with Kamran Akmal (34).
   He was the lone Pakistani batsman to gain valuable practice as none of his team-mates could score a half-century in the only warm-up game before the first Test.
   Pakistan's bowlers struggled after getting an early breakthrough as Kaif and Jadhav batted confidently during their 74-run stand for the unfinished second wicket.
   Mohammad Sami, key Pakistani paceman in the absence of injured Shoaib Akhtar, conceded 28 runs in his six overs.
   Rana Naved-ul-Hasan was the lone wicket-taker, dismissing opener Satyajit Parab for 11.

Beleaguered New Zealand will attempt to restore some pride and prevent their first ever 5-0 one-day whitewash at home in the final one day international against Australia today. Also at stake is their number two ranking in world one-day cricket. A loss would allow Sri Lanka to leapfrog the Kiwis into second spot.
   Unlike coach John Bracewell, New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said it is important for the Kiwis to retain their number two spot.
   'We haven't played well enough to be the No 2 side up until now. We've got to play well tomorrow to hold that No 2 ranking and just prove that we're still amongst the top of the pack.'
   New Zealand's senior players have performed poorly throughout the series and Fleming said it was important that two or three of them - including himself - find their form Saturday if the Kiwis were to have any chance against the world's top side.
   'We've got to get a group of players firing well and you turn to your senior players first,' he said. 'I've got to perform as a batter, that's my biggest concern ... I'm pretty determined to do well looking at the bigger picture.’ Opening batsman Nathan Astle will be missing from the lineup, due to a shoulder injury suffered while trying to take a slip catch in the fourth match in Wellington on Tuesday.
   But left arm spinner Daniel Vettori, New Zealand's best bowler in the series, returns after missing the Wellington match.

Grand Master Ziaur Rahman of Biman took the solo lead with 6.5 points in the Mercantile Bank 31st National Chess as his challenger GM Niaz Murshed of Leonine drew with his opponent in the seventh round of the tournament on Friday.
   Till the sixth round, Zia and Niaz were walking side by side but Niaz slipped up when he drew with FM Kh Aminul Islam and was locked on 6 points. Zia defeated FM Abu Sufian Shakil of Muktijoddha to remain alone on the top.
   IM Reefat bin Sattar is in the third position with 5.5 points after he came out victorious against Aminul Islam Palash of Ansar.
   IM Abdulah al Rakib is in the 4th position with 4.5 points but has one match less. Syed Mahfuzur Rahman with 4 points holds the fifth spot in the 14-player meet.

Australia surged to a commanding two-nil lead over Austria in their Davis Cup tie Friday as a fired-up Wayne Arthurs upset Jurgen Melzer to build on world No.2 Lleyton Hewitt’s dominant performance at Sydney’s Olympic Park.
   Australia will now seek to wrap up the best-of-five tie in Saturday’s doubles rubber and advance to the international team tournament’s quarter finals.
   The Austrians had made no secret of their plan to target world No. 64 Arthurs as the Australians’ weak link after he was picked for the singles ahead of an out-of-form Mark Philippoussis.
   But Arthurs, 33, inspired by winning the only ATP singles title of his career in the United States this week, lifted his game to dispatch world No.63 Melzer 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, 6-4.
   Earlier, Hewitt overpowered 144th-ranked Alexander Peya 6-2, 6-3, 6-4, extending his record as Australia’s most successful Davis Cup player and bringing his 23rd straight win at the Olympic park venue.
   Arthurs said he felt confident about his form going into the match, despite jetlag and limited preparation time.
   Austria coach Thomas Muster acknowledged his side had a mountain to climb to get back into the tie and said Melzer had failed to close down Arthurs, particularly in the first set tie-break.
   Melzer said the drop-in grass court installed for the tie was difficult to play on but refused to blame the surface for his loss.
   The winner of the tie will host a quarter final in July against either Argentina or the Czech Republic.
   Australia, number three in the Davis Cup rankings, have won the trophy 28 times, most recently in 2003 against Spain in Melbourne on grass.
   Austria, ranked number 13, have yet to lift the trophy with their best performance being a semi-final appearance in 1990.
   Australia coach John Fitzgerald admitted he was pleasantly surprised at his team’s dominance in the singles but said the tie was far from over.
   Arthurs and Todd Woodbridge are scheduled to meet Peya and Julian Knowle in the doubles Saturday, although the line ups are subject to change.

Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik is worried his Test career may never blossom because of a question mark over his bowling action.
   Malik is unlikely to bowl his off spin during the current Test series in India after being reported in October for chucking.
   Although new International Cricket Council (ICC) rules permit an elbow flex of up to 15 degrees since March 1, biomechanical tests are reported to have shown that Malik’s action is still above permissible limits.
   The issue is likely to go before the ICC bowling review committee.
   Malik, who copies the action of team mate Saqlain Mushtaq, is concerned that losing one aspect of his game could make it more difficult for him to find a regular Test spot even though he has made his mark with his explosive batting.
   He has played 93 one-dayers since debut in 1999-2000, scoring 2224 runs at an average of 31.77, including four hundreds, and taking 80 wickets. But he has played just eight Tests since making his debut four years ago.
   Malik says his problem is due to a shoulder fracture he suffered after colliding with team mate Shahid Afridi during a game in Lord’s in 2001.
   ‘I can’t stretch my right arm fully,’ he said in an informal chat with reporters on Friday.
   ‘There is a piece of floating bone still there,’ said a downcast Malik, stretching both his arms to explain he cannot fully straighten his right arm.
   ‘Doctors have said if I have surgery, it will put me out of the game for atleast six months.
   ‘Even then they don’t guarantee my shoulder will regain its strength.’
   He said he aggravated the condition by not consulting an orthopaedic surgeon immediately, instead taking some traditional treatment in Pakistan on advice of then captain Moin Khan.
   His shoulder gets very stiff if he sleeps on one side, and he has to do stretching exercises to regain full movement.
   However, Malik, 23, remained philosophical. ‘You can’t play your entire life,’ he said. ‘There are several other things in life other than playing cricket.’
   ‘If you remain mentally strong, you can get over such disappointments.’

Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly on Friday sought to put arch rivals Pakistan on the backfoot, saying his side would not be under any extra pressure playing at home during the Test and one-day cricket series.
   ‘I don’t think there is much to choose between the two sides. It will be an awesome series. There is a lot of expectation. The key element will be to keep our cool. We are not under any kind of extra pressure playing at home,’ Ganguly told newspersons here after a practice session at the Eden Gardens.
   Ganguly said though his team was ahead in experience, the boys needed to perform well to emerge triumphant.
   ‘Its true that experience means a lot in international cricket. But we will have to play well,’ Ganguly said.
   ‘Pakistan is quite a good side. Their cricketers will try to give off their best and so will we,’ he said.
   Ganguly, who spent considerable time rolling his arms at a single stump during the day’s practice at the Eden Gardens, said that he was looking at the option of using himself as an extra seamer in the coming series.
   ‘I bowled against South Africa last year. There is no reason why I wont bowl this time. I have been bowling regularly at the nets’, he said.
   ‘Everybody is playing well. All the bowlers are in good form’, he said. Ganguly answered in the negative when asked whether he intended to have his say on the type of wicket at Mohali.
   ‘I won’t give any instruction on the pitch. It is now too late’, he said.
   Ganguly also refused to comment on the likely team composition or strategy for the first Test, saying that he first needed to see the pitch. ‘Laxman is the key because he is a quality player ... A world class batsman. He has such loads of talent. He is sure to get big scores in the series,’ the captain said.

World number one Lindsay Davenport and fellow American Serena Williams advanced to the semi-finals of the one-million-dollar WTA Dubai Open on Thursday as Switzerland’s Patty Schndyer saved a match point on her way to defeating French Open champion Anastasia Myskina.
   Top seed Davenport eased past Spanish veteran Conchita Martinez 6-1, 6-4, to set up a meeting with Schnyder, who earlier ousted third seed Myskina 6-7 (0/7), 7-6 (7/2), 6-4.
   Williams, the second seed, ended the run of Slovak Daniela Hantuchova 6-4, 6-3, and next meets Jelena Jankovic, the unseeded Serbian who abruptly ended the run of 18-year-old Indian Sania Mirza, 6-2, 6-2.
   Davenport, meanwhile, timed the ball better and recovered from a break of serve down in the second set to win 6-1, 6-4 against Martinez, the 32-year-old former Wimbledon champion.
   Earlier Myskina threw away a match point before becoming the second Grand Slam titleholder from Russia to go out of the Dubai Open within two days after US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.
   Myskina was one set and 6-5 up and also advantage point up against Schnyder, the world number 14 from Switzerland, before falling in three sets to a talented but unpredictable opponent.

Pakistan’s 22-year-old fast bowler Mohammad Khalil says he has ‘studied’ Sachin Tendulkar’s batting and discovered a weakness against left-arm bowlers which he would try to exploit in the upcoming Test and one-day series.
   Being a left-arm bowler himself, Khalil has drawn attention from all quarters. The media, in its usual hype, has even drawn parallels with the legendary Wasim Akram.
   ‘Yes, I have studied him (Tendulkar). More than me, my younger brother Akheel Mohammad,’ said Khalil.
   ‘We have studied every aspect carefully and if I get to play, I will use it in the match,’ Khalil said.
   But Khalil was quick to acknowledge Tendulkar’s supremacy as batsman.
   ‘Dravid would be the prize scalp in Tests and Sehwag in the one-dayers. Tendulkar is great in both,’ he said.
   Khalil said he admired his counterpart Irfan Pathan very much and the two have exchanged information over the years.
   ‘Irfan has given me some good tips. Both of us are left-arm bowlers, and I don’t have problems in learning from a junior.
   ‘I have not talked to Irfan about bowling on Indian tracks. But then Indian and Pakistani tracks are somewhat similar,’ Khalil said.
   ‘Yes, yes, I want to meet every one. If the heart wants to meet, then why not? ‘Khoon to ek hi hai na’ (the blood is the same, right),’ he said.

Premier League leaders Chelsea may still be only six points ahead of Manchester United but as far as the London club’s striker Didier Drogba is concerned the Stamford Bridge side have already won the title.
   Even though there are 10 weeks left in the season, the Ivory Coast forward said United’s recent run of form has come too late.
   ‘We have won the title. This season we are the best,’ said Drogba as Chelsea look forward to picking up another three points at second-from-bottom Norwich today.
   ‘Everybody knows we are now six points in front of United but we have one game in hand so we will do our best to keep the nine points and keep the distance.
   ‘Manchester United are playing well and there is still Arsenal of course. But I think we are the best team.’
   United’s pursuit of Chelsea is set to be upstaged by a questionable act of nostalgia at south-east London club Palace’s Selhurst Park ground.
   It is 10 years since United great Eric Cantona delivered his spectacular ‘kung-fu kick’ at a Selhurst spectator after being sent-off.
   In ‘honour’ of the occasion, United fanzine Red Issue has designated March 5 as ‘Cantona Day’, calling on supporters to wear Cantona masks even though Palace officials have made it clear that anyone
   sporting a mask inside Selhurst Park will be immediately ejected from the stadium on safety grounds.
   ‘It must be a big, big game for us. We can look no further than trying to create and cause an upset,’ said Palace manager Iain Dowie.
   ‘We are going to try and have a go at them. I would rather get beaten having a go than get beaten 1-0 in the last minute after defending for 90 minutes.
   ‘We are not well set out to do that.’
   Elsewhere in London, reigning champions Arsenal – 10 points behind Chelsea – are at home to Portsmouth.
   Arsenal could start with 18-year-old Dutch striker Quincy Owusu-Abeyie, who featured for 75 minutes in the Gunners’ penalty shoot-out FA Cup win against Sheffield United on Tuesday.
   His participation could depend on whether or not Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is willing to risk leading goal scorer Thierry Henry ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League tie against Bayern Munich at Highbury.
   The France forward missed the FA Cup win with an Achilles problem and Wenger said,
   ‘You have a very good chance
   of seeing Quincy over the weekend.
   ‘Patrick Vieira and Freddie Ljungberg should be alright but Ashley Cole has a hamstring problem and I might rest him on Saturday.
   ‘Also Pascal Cygan has a problem with his groin.’
   Robin van Persie will be available after suspension while Dennis Bergkamp and Jose Antonio Reyes will complete their three-game bans.
   Edu (hamstring), Justin
   Hoyte (ankle), Pires (ankle)
   and Sol Campbell (ankle) are all out.
   Pompey coach Joe Jordan said even though the south coast club are nine points ahead of the bottom three with just 10 games to go he did not consider them
   safe.
   But he insisted after their battling performance in defeat against Manchester United there was no reason why they couldn’t get something at Highbury.
   ‘We were unlucky not to get a result at Manchester United last week but the players are looking forward to going to Arsenal. So am I.’
   Liverpool, eight points behind city rivals Everton in the race for the fourth Champions League place, will look to bounce back from their League Cup final defeat at the hands of Chelsea last weekend, away to Newcastle.
   Everton will hope they can maintain the gap at home to Blackburn on Sunday.

England captain David Beckham has ruled out a return to the English Premiership by saying he wants to end his career at Real Madrid.
   ‘Real Madrid is one of the best teams of the world and I want to offer them my football at the best level as long as I can. I want to retire here,’ the 29-year-old told the Real website.
   Beckham joined the nine-times European champions from Manchester United for 35 million euros in 2003 and his current deal runs to 2007.
   He made a promising start but he lost form as the club hit a poor patch which saw them finish last season empty-handed.
   But he insists that under new Brazilian coach Wanderley Luxemburgo, brought in at the beginning of the year, the club are confident they can catch league leaders Barcelona.
   ‘I’m playing much better, I’m fighting and working hard. That’s something I have always tried, to work hard in every game and be honest on the pitch,’ he said.
   He said Luxemburgo has rekindled optimism at the club.
   ‘Now we have a manager who has come here knowing what he wants and how to get it. Players respect him.
   ‘What we need is to be worked hard and to have confidence.
   ‘It doesn’t matter who you are, but if someone comes in and gives you confidence, then it sets you up.’
   ‘He has helped me because I realise if I don’t work hard I will not be in the team.’
   And he admits he might not be at his best in central midfield where he was played before Luxemburgo arrived.
   ‘He’s moved me slightly to the right and the whole formation of the team is better than it has been for a while.
   ‘I have always said that I like playing in the midfield but maybe it’s not my best position.’
   And, after being under the spotlight for alleged affairs, he said he was a lot happier in Madrid where his wife Victoria gave birth to their third boy last month.
   ‘My wife and my family are happy. We want to bring up our children in Spain. Brooklyn is very happy in his school, he has lots of friends. And he learns something new in Spanish everyday, he’s very happy,’ he said.
   And he has put some order into his promotional activities.
   ‘At the beginning of last year I had eleven sponsors, now I only have four.’
   But he insists his commercial work never hurt his football.
   ‘My game isn’t affected by my sponsors or my commercial activities. They never had and they never will.’

Spanish league leaders Barcelona will be out to get back to their winning ways against Osasuna today, after two successive draws have seen their lead cut to six points.
   'Our confidence is still as high as ever,' insisted Barca keeper Victor Valdes.
   'Our tactics and philosophy aren't going to change just because of a few mediocre results. They have been working until now and there is no reason why they are not going to continue to work again from this point.'
   Nevertheless, Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard is clearly worried that the pressure is getting to his men as he sent them all to an anti-stress clinic on Wednesday, where they underwent all manner of relaxation therapies.
   At least they are visiting Osasuna at the right time.
   The Pamplona-based side have not won in 2005 and have slumped from being contenders for a place in Europe to just above the relegation zone.
   Last Sunday, they suffered a humiliating 6-1 loss at home to Malaga. 'We hope that our fans will not turn on us after what happened last week and they'll receive us with open arms,' said Osasuna striker Pierre Webo.
   The Cameroon international has missed Osasuna's last three games through injury but is expected to lead the line against Barca along with former Real Madrid striker Valdo.
   Second-placed Real Madrid closed the gap on their bitter rivals with a 3-1 victory over Real Betis on Wednesday.
   The 29-time Spanish league winners will visit reigning Spanish champions Valencia in an effort to increase the tension at the top of the table.
   Real Madrid will be without their Spanish international goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who suffered a minor left hamstring strain against Betis, and will be replaced by his long-serving deputy Cesar Sanchez.
   However, Real coach Wanderley Luxemburgo is likely to retain the same outfield players for the first time in his nine league games in charge.
   Ronaldo is expected to keep his place alongside Michael Owen despite having not scored in six games and the Real fans booing him to the rafters of the Santiago Bernabeu for his lacklustre display against Betis.
   'Whoever was whistling Ronaldo could tomorrow be back applauding him,' said Luxemburgo.
   'Ronaldo knows that he could score two goals in the next game. The public will then cheer him and everything will be forgotten.'

A hostile reception awaits Fabio Capello today when he returns to the Olympic stadium for the first time since walking out on Roma to coach Juventus.
   The 58-year-old spent five seasons at Roma and was revered for guiding them to the Serie A title in 2001, but he caused a storm in the Italian capital when he defected to their bitter rivals last May.
   Branded a traitor by the ‘Giallorossi’ fans for breaking an earlier promise not to join Juve, he twisted the knife in even further by persuading two of Roma’s best players – French defender Jonathan Zebina and Brazilian midfielder Emerson – to accompany him.
   The return of the three renegades will only add fuel to an already explosive fixture with a history of controversy, but Zebina insists they can handle the pressure.
    Zebina endured a difficult time at Roma and was once attacked by an irate fan who accused him of not pulling his weight on the pitch, but the 26-year-old Frenchman says that’s all in the past.
   Hundreds of extra police have been drafted in for the match and 90 cheerleaders will provide the pre-match entertainment in an attempt to defuse the tension inside the stadium.
   Juve’s dynamic Czech midfielder Pavel Nedved, who was knocked unconscious in last week’s 1-0 Champions League defeat at Real Madrid, is ruled out of Saturday’s clash, while David Trezeguet could make the substitutes’ bench.
   The 27-year-old France international has missed the last three games due to a virus.
   Roma welcome back their captain Francesco Totti from suspension to face the joint league leaders.

IF THE Scots thought in the Jim Baxter era that they patented the worldwide rights on playing handsome football without reward, a Dutch side emerged in the 70s which set new standards of excellence for gallant losers. Under the tutelage of coach Rinus Michels, who died on Thursday aged 77, Holland produced the most exquisite football seen in Europe for a generation – yet by a cruel twist of fate – ended up second best to Germany in the 1974 World Cup final.
   Hugh McIlvanney has an unrivalled flair for coining the phrase which best captures the sporting immortals. The British sports journalist of the century wrote of Michels’ men more than 30 years ago that ‘all who have seen them play, who have thrilled to an attacking style at once so spirited and so cuttingly precise that the effect is of a cavalry charge of surgeons.’
   The man who inspired those wielding the scalpels would eventually be hailed as the greatest football coach of the 20th century. A manager of intelligence and culture, who added a fresh dimension to the game’s athleticism, Michels invented total football. This was not a formation such as 4-4-2 or 3-4-3 but a more cerebral concept in which players worked in groups irrespective of their positions.
   Arie Haan, one of Michels’ many gifted players, thought total football was a state of mind rather than a system. ‘As it is at any moment, so you play,’ he said. ‘That is how we understood. Not one or two players made a situation but five or six. The best is that with every situation all 11 players are involved, but this is difficult. In many teams only two or three play and the rest are looking. In the Holland team, when you were 60 metres from the ball you were playing.’
   A centre forward who played international football in the 50s, Michels developed his ideas on total football in the following decade. He gave players freedom to move around the pitch and the confidence to swap positions – a defender could link up with the attack and wingers could drop back to defend.
   Any initiative in football, of course, is only as strong as the players asked to put the ideas into practice. Michels was fortunate that he inherited a generation of brilliantly skilful individuals led by the incomparable Johan Cruyff as well as Ruud Krol, Jonny Rep and Johan Neeskens.
   Although a reputation for being romantic losers was consolidated when Holland (without either Michels or Cruyff) also lost the 1978 World Cup final to Argentina, the truth was that four years earlier a victorious German side which included Beckenbauer, Bonhof, Overath and Muller was far from second rate.
   As a club manager, Michels guided Ajax to four league titles as well as success in the 1971 European Cup against Panathanaikos and also helped Barcelona win the Spanish title in 1974. Nicknamed the General, he also savoured success at international level when he returned to coach a new generation of outstanding Dutch players – including Frank Rijkaard, Marco van Basten and Ruud Gullit – at the finals of the 1988 European Championship.
   Distinguished and composed as well as multi-lingual, he was supposed to have the bearing of a military man. He could have been an art historian or a scientist. Taciturn and single minded, he was the first of a new breed of continental coaches of whom Arsene Wenger is probably the best recent example. He treated his players as adults and fostered a style of play which married a sharp mind to a strong body.
   Born Marinus Hendrikus Jacobus Michels on February 9, 1928, near the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam, he played five times for his country and scored 121 goals in 269 games for Ajax, winning two Dutch titles. After a spell in the army, he became a physical education teacher before starting a career as a coach.
   At the heart of his successful Ajax and Barcelona sides was Cruyff, one of European football’s most gifted players whose vision made Michels’ concept of total football come alive. Ironically, of course, his greatest success was achieved without the player known as ‘the eye of the hurricane’.
   Michels had returned to take charge of the Dutch side in 1988 and though they lost their opening match of those European Championship finals to the Soviet Union, the coach saw his career turn full circle as his players inflicted defeat on the Soviets in a final held in the same ground in Munich where his players lost to Germany 14 years earlier.
   Although he also worked with Cologne and Bayer Leverkusen, the latter part of Michels’ life in football was spent establishing a youth development system in Holland which continues to produce outstanding players.

The 2006 FA Cup final, the first match scheduled for the new Wembley Stadium, will be played on Saturday May 13, the Football Association said on Thursday.
   The final will be the last game of the English domestic season barring the lower league playoffs, providing a boost for England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, who had asked for ample preparation time for the 2006 World Cup should his side qualify.
   The England team would now have a four-week break between the FA Cup final and the start of the tournament in Germany.
   The FA has also moved to help English clubs playing in Europe next season by scrapping FA Cup replays in the fifth and sixth rounds for sides still competing in the UEFA Cup, and the sixth round for teams still involved in the Champions League.
   Ties in the relevant rounds involving clubs still in Europe will be settled in the original match using extra time and penalties if required.
   The ruling only applies for next season, the FA added.

Real Madrid general manager Arrigo Sacchi is losing control of the club’s senior players.
   ABC says Real’s leadership group rejected Sacchi’s training programme ahead of major games against Athletic Bilbao and Juventus last month.
   Only Roberto Carlos backed Sacchi, but was ove ruled by the rest of the senior group.
   The senior players insist they know how best to train themselves and will not take instruction from Sacchi – or trainer Wanderley Luxemburgo – over a training timetable. Luxemburgo is said to be fuming over the position of his leadership group and is demanding president Florentino Perez lay down the law to his galacticos.
   It has also emerged that only a week into his job as Real coach, Luxemburgo was forced to back down from his demands of double training sessions after complaints from senior players.
   Meanwhile, Real Madrid striker Michael Owen has told team-mate Ronaldo to shrug off the boos he received from fans during Wednesday night's defeat of Real Betis. Ronaldo was barracked by home fans, but Owen, who scored in the 3-1 win, said, 'I don't think Ronaldo should worry himself about the boos. I am sure when he returns to scoring again the fans will start supporting him.'

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson believes Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo are poised to become the best players in the world.
   Rooney, 18, has scored 15 times in his first season at Old Trafford while Portugal international winger Ronaldo, 20, has been outstanding in the Premier League and Champions League.
   ‘They are both fantastic,’ Ferguson told a news conference on Friday. ‘We are very fortunate to have two young players who I think in the next few years will be world-class players.
   ‘I think those two will be the best players in the world, probably with Ronaldinho at Barcelona.’
   Rooney scored twice in United’s 2-1 defeat of Portsmouth on Sunday which maintained the pressure on leaders Chelsea. He has scored 15 goals in 30 appearances since signing from Everton for 27 million pounds ($51 million) in the close season.
   ‘Last week emphasised the form he is in and the improvement in him. Every week he seems to be adding something to his game,’ Ferguson said.
   ‘He had a long break from the metatarsal fracture he had in the European Championships. He had 96 days without football and then he really missed pre-season so he was out for five months.
   ‘It took us quite a while to get him to the sharpness and fitness he is at the moment. That was mainly through playing and the form he’s in, he is not showing any signs of needing a rest.’
   Ferguson remains unhappy at the treatment Ronaldo gets from opposition players.
   ‘The one thing it’s telling you is that he is giving defenders problems. If they have to foul him and bring him down all the time, then it tells you he’s doing something really well,’ Ferguson said.

Former Argentina World Cup-winning captain Diego Maradona may have his stomach stapled to reduce his ballooning waistline, a Colombian doctor said on Thursday.
   Maradona, 44, is deciding whether to have surgery in the picturesque port city of Cartagena on Colombia’s Caribbean coast.
   ‘I think he’ll decide whether to do it or not within a couple of days,’ Francisco Holguin, head of Cartagena’s Medihelp clinic, told Reuters.
   Maradona only stopped playing professionally in 1997 but has grown almost unrecognisably fat in recent years despite spending much of his time in a Cuban clinic fighting cocaine addition.
   Maradona returned to Cartagena this week after visiting in mid-February when he denied rumors he was planning liposuction.
   Stomach stapling, also known as a gastric bypass, reduces the stomach’s capacity for holding food and bypasses part of the small intestine, forcing individuals to eat less.
   ‘Diego Maradona is in good shape. At first we saw him to adjust the dosage of medication he’s taking for high blood pressure, but that’s now at normal levels,’ Holguin said.