Brothers Union staged a spirited comeback in the second half to salvage a 1-1 draw against the visiting Nisa FC of Turkmenistan in a group C match of the Asian Football Confederation Cup at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Wednesday.
   The first international club football match at the country’s premier football venue however failed to attract the football lovers as a few hundred spectators were seen in the galleries. Nisa, who arrived in Dhaka just 24 hours ago, looked a tired outfit and they took a defensive approach in the second half as they had only one booter on the reserve bench. Brothers Union, in their first AFC-recognised fixture, fell behind due to a defensive lapse early in the first half but did not lose heart and fought back to earn a point. Since the formation of the club 31 years ago they have not participated in any AFC tournament.
   Nisa were in an attacking mood from the start and cornered Brothers with a string of attacks in the opening minutes. The players of local outfit lacked a proper cohesion due to inadequate match practice and all their efforts stopped on the edge of the opposition box as the Nisa defenders displayed better tackling skills.
   Nisa captain Urazov Dayanch Gylych put his team ahead in the 17th minute when Brothers Union skipper and central defender Shujon. Shujon hesitated to make a headed clearance of a floating ball allowing it to drop in front of custodian Md Ali who was not expecting the ball. Speedy forward Urazov Dayanch Gylych took the chance and delicately slipped it into the net.
   Right-back Siraji tested the tall Nisa custodian Shamudarov with a long range effort in the 30th minute only to see his shot palmed away for a corner. Brothers Union got seven corners but the ball never found any Brothers forward as the Nisa defenders took the advantage of their height.
   After the break Nisa took a defensive approach aiming to keep the lead as it was their away match. Brothers Union woke up in time and mounted pressure on their opponents. In the 65th minute Liton unleashed a powerful shot from the top of the box but Shamudarov promptly fisted it away. Moroccan midfielder Hicham Inani shot in the side nets from a close range in the 72nd minute.
   In the 85th minute Masud Rana was fouled by Zemskov Evgeiny and Brothers were awarded a penalty but Hicham Inani’s poor effort was punched away by Shamudarov. Brothers turned their shock into power in the very next minute as substitute midfielder Monowar’s angular shot was fisted by diving Shamudarov but it fell into the path of onrushing Khokon who nodded it home.
   Brothers Union coach Wazed Gazi said his boys fought back bravely in the crisis period. ‘We fell back due to a silly mistake but tried hard to stay in the game and succeeded, I think we should have won the match,’ said the coach.
   Nisa coach Grigoryans Boris was happy to earn a point in their away match. ‘We are satisfied, we brought just 12 players due to financial problems and all of them were tired after the long journey, so a draw is OK,’ said Boris.
   The return match will be played on May 11 at Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan.

Calls to strip Zimbabwe of Test status may finally have taken the pressure off Bangladesh, who yearn to gain respect as a cricket team.
   For long the wooden spooners of Test cricket, Bangladesh may have just turned the corner, leaving Zimbabwe to fill their shoes as the most pitiable team in the world.
   Zimbabwe’s two-day rout by South Africa in a recent Test match after being skittled for 54 in the first innings follows a long row between administrators and players.
   Bangladesh, on the other hand, are settling down after defeating Zimbabwe in both the Test and one-day series at home following a creditable one-day win against India last December.
   Coach Dav Whatmore, watching over his young wards taking part in India’s first-class Duleep Trophy tournament, felt Bangladesh had finally broken the shackles.
   ‘Beating India was fabulous and a big boost for our players,’ said the Australian, who took over as Bangladesh’s national coach in 2003.
   ‘They now believe in themselves.’
   Bangladesh beat India by 15 runs in the second match of a one-day series in December to keep the series alive, a rarity for them, before going down 2-1.
   As for Tests, Bangladesh had lost 31 of their 34 Tests and drawn the remaining three before clinching a two-Test series against Zimbabwe 1-0.
   ‘The Zimbabwe series victory was historic,’ said Whatmore. ‘But for me, salvaging a draw in the second Test was more important than winning the first as we had to bat out a considerable amount of time.
   ‘The batsmen have learnt to value their wickets and avoid repeating mistakes.’
   Whatmore, preparing for Bangladesh’s maiden visit to England in May, felt the team could fight it out better in the coming years.
   ‘Some years from now, Bangladesh should be able to make an impact,’ said Whatmore, who guided Sri Lanka to World Cup triumph in 1996.
   Bangladesh selector Athar Ali Khan too was positive.
   ‘I think our team is heading in the right direction,’ he said. ‘The players are improving and we should be at par with other teams in the coming years.’
   Khan, however, conceded the team needed to be more consistent.
   ‘Zimbabwe were a depleted side but we have also done well in some other Test matches in Pakistan and the West Indies,’ said the former Bangladesh player. ‘I think we are close to establishing ourselves as a team.’
   But a promising Bangladesh Board President’s XI failed to impress on their ‘learning tour’ of India last month.
   The team, without experienced players like captain Habibul Bashar and left-handed all-rounder Mohammad Rafique, lost to East Zone in the Duleep Trophy and then salvaged a draw in a rain-truncated match against Central Zone.
   ‘The players have to learn the difference between wanting to perform and going through the motions,’ said Whatmore. ‘People will have to be more patient to see Bangladesh perform well on a regular basis.’

Grand Master Ziaur Rahman of Biman retained his national chess title defeating Hasan Emam of Dhaka University in the 12th round of the Mercantile Bank 31st National Chess Championship on Wednesday.
   Zia earned 11 points from his twelve matches and confirmed the title with one round still remaining as his nearest rival Grand Master Niaz Murshed of Leonine suffered defeat against FM Abu Sufian Shakil of Muktijoddha and slid down to the third position with 8.5 points. IM Reefat bin Sattar is now in the second position with nine points. Reefat beat Enamul Hossain Rajib of Muktijoddha, who took the fourth spot earning eight points.
   Today is a rest day and the thirteenth and final round games will be played on Friday.
   The annual general meeting of the Chess Federation will be held at the NSC auditorium today.

The 30th National Athletic Championships will commence at the MA Aziz Stadium in the port city of Chittagong today.
   Earlier, Chittagong hosted the National Athletics twenty years ago in 1985 for the last time.
   Sports Minister for Youth and Sports M Fazlur Rahman is expected to inaugurate the meet, organised by Bangladesh Amateur Athletics Federation (BAAF).
   Around 500 athletes of 72 teams from different districts sports associations, universities, corporations and services will participate in the three-day meet. About four hundred men and 100 women athletes will compete in their 22 and 14 events respectively.

A rampant Australia start firm favourites in the first cricket Test against New Zealand starting here Thursday with speed demon Brett Lee at his blistering best after tormenting the Black Caps in the one-day series.
   As the tourists aim for a clean sweep in the Tests to complement the 5-0 drubbing they handed out in the one-day series, their ranks have been further bolstered with opening batsman Matthew Hayden declared fit after injuring a shoulder in the second one-day international.
   The New Zealand Black Caps have attempted to put a brave face on the Tests, adamant that they have put the morale-shattering one-day fixtures behind them, and they even practised in their whites to get themselves into five-day mode.
   ‘We both start nil-all,’ said batsman Craig McMillan, while senior batsman Nathan Astle said any talk of the Black Caps being psyched out by Australia was ‘just the media talking’.
   But little has changed in the make-up of the teams and the New Zealand batsmen have shown themselves unable to cope with the lightning pace of Lee.
   He was the scourge of the New Zealand batsmen in the one-dayers and has warned he is in the right frame to better the 160.8 kilometre (99.7 mile) an hour delivery—his fastest and second only to Shoaib Akhtar’s 161kmh in 2002 — which he let fly in the last one-day match.
   With the makeshift lineup the injury-hit New Zealand has cobbled together—seven frontline contenders are unavailable—the pressure is on senior batsmen Stephen Fleming, Nathan Astle and Craig McMillan to stand up and be counted.
   Fleming is New Zealand’s leading Test run scorer with 5,663 from 89 Tests, while Astle plays his 67th Test and McMillan his 54th this week.
   The rest of the top six are relative newcomers, with opener Craig Cumming to debut, Hamish Marshall with just two Tests and Lou Vincent playing his 16th Test but his first in 14 months.
   The task is a hefty one against Australia’s bowling attack, with Jason Gillespie or Michael Kasprowicz seemingly competing for the final spot behind Lee, Glenn McGrath, and Shane Warne.
   The Test will be played on the same pitch used for the World X charity match in January when Fleming flayed 106 off 57 balls, and is expected to have similar characteristics to the adjacent strip where Australia scored 314 for six in the second one-day international last month.

Indian cricket team could look forward to heady days ironically because a few of its established players are insecure.
   Lakshmipathy Balaji’s success on the first day of the Mohali Test is only a pointer that there is a turbulence in the team for a few key spots.
   It’s not a seismic shift yet but the signs are there. Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan will immediately feel the heat as one of them could be sitting on the bench in the Kolkata Test.
   After all, three medium-pacers in Mohali is an exception and is not going to be a rule in Indian conditions. And what about Ashish Nehra? He might be bowling the best he has for sometime now, as coach John Wright suggests, but another Test to his 17 already played looks a long shot.
   Harbhajan Singh being put to bench is a very sobering thought for everyone as the ‘Turbanator’ is as much an essential ingredient in Indian conditions as bread on the breakfast table.
   If it could happen to Bhajji, then nobody else is safe.
   ‘Very Very Sepcial’ Laxman realizes his career is hanging by the thread. His great skill has taken him thus far but everyone is impatient with his inconsistency.
   He looks dispensable as dashing Yuvraj Singh is straining under the leash and who, in turn, is similarly looked over the shoulder by one who answers the call of Mohammad Kaif.
   Captain Sourav Ganguly is possibly the greatest left-hander in Indian cricket history but even he in a confessional mode would admit his outstanding captaincy is a balancing factor in his stay in the team.
   Nobody is still dragging Sachin Tendulkar to such mundane discussions but the great man is not taking anything for granted.
   His impatience to get back to field without seriously testing his ‘tennis elbow’ is also to keep the door shut on any young colt with talent and fortune on his side.
   Fortunately, this could only mean good times for the team.

Richie Richardson, the former West Indies captain, has slammed the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for failing to resolve the ongoing sponsorship dispute and said it was time for business-minded individuals to take over the administration of West Indies cricket.
   Referring to the board’s decision to sack seven senior players including Brian Lara, Richardson told The Antigua Sun, ‘I am not totally surprised, but I am really disappointed. It’s really sad. For some of our best players to be fit and not be represented on the West Indies team, is very disappointing and very disturbing.’
   Richardson said that the board should have settled the issues long time ago. ‘For these things to happen, I think it is really poor. We should be focusing on trying to make sure that West Indies cricket is returned to what it was sometime ago and not to be making silly mistakes and having fights between the board and players. It’s just going to make things even worse.’
   ‘We’ve had a number problems over the years, and the game has advanced and we have remained stagnant, if not retrogressed,’ he continued, ‘I believe the best thing for West Indies cricket right now is to give somebody who has serious money and who is a serious businessman and who is willing to invest in West Indies cricket and restore it. The biggest downfall in West Indies cricket is the administration.
   ‘I was frustrated with a lot of things as West Indies captain,’ Richardson, who led the team in 24 Tests, added, ‘I just thought when are we going to start realising that everybody is changing and we have got to move with the times.’ He also said that the board never respected the players, even dating back to the era of Lloyd, and ‘we got the impression then that all that we could do was to play cricket.’
   Richardson stressed that the game was bigger than everybody and all that were involved in the current dispute need to ‘come together and resolve this.’

Ian Botham, England’s greatest Aussie basher, has urged England to thrash the ‘convicts’ and win the Ashes this summer.
   The legendary all-rounder, who inspired England to victory in the epic 1981 Ashes series and was also a member of the last England team to beat the Aussies back in 1986-87, believes Michael Vaughan’s men can end a generation of Australian dominance.
   ‘A few years ago England would have struggled to beat the Eskimos,’ Botham told The Sun.
   ‘Now they’ve a chance of beating Australia.
   ‘Anyone who has played against them will tell you there is no better feeling than beating the convicts - they are a great sporting nation.’
   But Botham fears Shane Warne could still decide the outcome.
   ‘There is not much between the teams in terms of batting,’ he said.
   ‘Whichever side bowls best as a pack, will win the series. England certainly have a chance.’
   Botham said leg-spin wizard Warne, banned for a year for failing a drugs test after the last Ashes series, was expecting a tough scrap with the Poms.
   ‘I can assure you Shane Warne is worried - well, certainly wary, keyed up and expecting a fight,’ he said.
   ‘The Aussies are expecting a bigger battle than they have had for a long time. It’s our best chance in almost 20 years.
   ‘Warne is still the major factor for them. He is the best leg-spinner that ever lived.’
   Botham insists England must pick new batting sensation Kevin Pietersen from the start of the summer after he hammered three centuries in the recent one-day series against South Africa.
   Pietersen is yet to play Test cricket but Beefy believes he must face Bangladesh in a two-Test series in the early summer as England crank up their Ashes preparations.
   ‘Pietersen has to play in the Ashes. I dont know how the selectors will fit him in but they have to,’ he said.
   ‘He and Andrew Flintoff will empty the bars when they bat this summer. No one will want to miss them batting together.’

Jeff Thomson has angrily rejected calls for Brett Lee’s promotion to the Test side against New Zealand at Christchurch today. Thomson said Michael Kasprowicz had done the ‘hard yards’ and deserved to retain his place in the most contentious selection issue of the tour.
   Thomson told the Courier-Mail the decision was easy. ‘Lee’s bowled well in ODI’s against a team of no-hopers,’ Thomson said. ‘One-day cricket is a joke. Kasper has done the hard yards, done nothing wrong. An idiot can get wickets in one-day cricket.’
   Thomson said Lee was dropped because he ‘doesn’t do the job’ in Tests and he was not impressed with his ODI performances. ‘Why should he get picked again? It’s not as if he is taking a bagful of one-day wickets. If Hogg, Symonds and Lehmann take wickets in one-day cricket then what does that tell you about bowling in one-day cricket?’

A new lime tree was unveiled at Kent County Cricket Club on Tuesday to replace the 200-year-old original which was blown over in the January storms.
   The tree stood just inside the boundary at the St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury and became a famous landmark.
   The new one would have been planted by club president Brian Luckhurst, but he died from cancer on 1 March.
   Former Kent and England skipper Chris Cowdrey said the ceremony would go ahead as ‘Lucky would have wanted it’.
   He added: ‘The show must go on... we’ll try and make it a celebration rather than a sad occasion.’
   At the ceremony Mr Cowdrey read a poem called Farewell the St Lawrence Lime which was written by a Kent fan shortly after he heard the news of its demise.
   A tree planted by the club in 1999 outside the boundary ropes was simply moved to the site of the old tree.
   It had been planted because the club knew that one day the inevitable would come and the original would have to be replaced.
   The ground opened in 1847, built around the lime tree. When it was hit by a ball, the batting side scored four runs.
   The club knew the tree, which stood more than 100ft tall at its peak, was in ill health in the late 1990s and had it pollarded to encourage growth.

A high-powered Kenyan delegation led by sports minister Ochilo Ayacko is in London this week for talks with the International Cricket Council (ICC) on how to salvage the beleaguered sport in Kenya, officials said here Tuesday.
   Ayacko and his entourage were holding meetings with ICC President Eshan Mani and chief executive Malcolm Speed to press for recognition of a new governing board for Kenyan cricket, Cricket Kenya, that the government appointed after disbanding the Kenya Cricket Association (KCA) for financial mismanagement.

Offering golf-star clients for corporate sponsor outings for appearance fees has put International Management Group at odds with US PGA Tour officials, the Sun-Sentinel newspaper reported.
   Such stars as Fiji’s Vijay Singh, South Africa’s Retief Goosen, Spain’s Sergio Garcia and Ireland’s Padraig Harrington are IMG clients who were paid for a corporate outing last week before the Ford Championship at Doral.
   PGA officials confirmed to the newspaper that IMG’s
    plan, outlined in a letter to tournament directors, would offer price tags for appearances by stars in what could
   be a loophole in PGA rules against such financial guarantees.
   The world’s most powerful sports agent and money management firm offers to organize Monday corporate outings at PGA events.

Argentine striker Hernan Crespo put AC Milan into the Champions League quarter-finals after heading a superb match-winner in a 1-0 victory over Manchester United.
   Crespo had scored the only goal of the knockout round first leg at Old Trafford a fortnight ago and sealed a 2-0 aggregate win at the San Siro in the 61st minute with a looping header from a Cafu cross.
   The striker, who is on loan from United's Premier League title rivals Chelsea, broke the deadlock after an open, closely-contested game.
   'At that level of football, it's only going to take a goal to decide it - and it was a fantastic header from Crespo,' United manager Alex Ferguson told ITV.
   The delighted Argentine scorer added, 'I'm very happy. It was a tricky match and we had to be careful.'
   Both sides were denied a first-half lead by the woodwork, with United winger Ryan Giggs raking a low shot onto the post and Milan's Brazilian playmaker Kaka rattling the crossbar.
   Milan took a grip on the game after the break, though, and with neither Wayne Rooney nor Cristiano Ronaldo finding any joy against the Italian defence and chances were few for United.
   Knowing his team had to score, Ferguson opted for an attacking line-up with only Paul Scholes and captain Roy Keane playing as conventional midfielders and the formation ensured there was plenty of space for Milan's midfield.
   Dutchman Clarence Seedorf exploited that in the eighth minute when he burst forward unchallenged and slipped the ball to Crespo who forced goalkeeper Tim Howard into action.
   Milan had been forced to reshuffle their defence, due to the absence through injury of Georgian left-back Kakha Kaladze, with former United centre-half Jaap Stam partnering Alessandro Nesta in the middle and Paolo Maldini moving out to the left.
   Stam, who has only played nine Serie A games in an injury-plagued season, looked sharp and determined from the outset making a series of strong challenges and even bursting forward on two occasions.
   The plus side of United's fluid system was that it enabled them to attack in numbers and they went very close to an opener in the 28th minute.
   Dutchman Ruud van Nistelrooy picked out Giggs unmarked on the left and the Welsh winger struck the outside of Dida's far post with a low drive.
   Nine minutes later Milan hit the woodwork when United defender Wes Brown failed to clear a hooked cross from Brazilian Cafu whose compatriot Kaka rattled a first-time shot against the bar.
   Milan took firm control after the break, though, with Crespo twice worrying the United defence.
   Howard was out quickly to foil him in the 56th minute as Crespo sought to meet a ball from Cafu and moments later the Brazilian provided a cross that the forward headed over.
   That should have been enough warning for United of where Milan's main threat lay but it was the South American pair who combined to put the Italian champions ahead in the 61st minute.
   Alessandro Nesta picked out Cafu in space on the right and Crespo, having lost his marker, met the Brazilian's
   deep cross with a superbly weighted and directed header that looped over the helpless Howard.
   Despite their two-goal lead on aggregate Milan continued to push forward looking to put the outcome beyond doubt and they had an appeal for a penalty turned down when Roy Keane appeared to handle while falling onto the ball inside the United area.
   United now needed to score twice against one of the best defences in Europe and they should have pulled level on the night in the 70th minute but Van Nistelrooy fired wide of the target from an excellent position at the back post.
   That was the last real chance for United who will be disappointed not to have troubled Dida more.
   Milan's Gennaro Gattuso went close to a rare goal near the end as he dribbled past two defenders and poked the ball
   just wide after a back-heeled return pass from Kaka but the Italians had already done enough to deservedly reach the last eight.

Chelsea's dramatic Champions League win over Barcelona has been marred by claims by Barcelona's Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o he was called a 'monkey' by a Chelsea steward in angry skirmishes after the match.
   'He called me a monkey,' he told reporters. 'I understood it. He called me a monkey and I am very angry.'
   Eto'o said Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho, involved in a war of words with Barcelona before both legs on this pulsating tie, was to blame for the bad feeling.
   'You should look at the face of the coach. This is the mentality of the club. If Chelsea win the European Cup it would be laughable,' he said.
   Barcelona defender Carles Puyol said, 'The other players told me the security guards insulted Eto'o and called him a monkey. That's when the problems started.'
   Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard and Ronaldinho were involved in a struggle with stewards as they left the pitch.
   TV pictures showed Rijkaard and Ronaldinho grappling with stewards. At one stage Ronaldinho was heard shouting at them, 'You're all racists.'
   Chelsea's scout Andre Villas was alleged to have started the flare-up by blowing kisses at Rijkaard, who had to be held back by several stewards.
   Barcelona fans threw water bottles and other missiles, some aimed at Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.
   Rijkaard said, 'Some guy came forward and insulted our bench and I don't want to say what I think of him. I am always bitter when I lose and I am even more bitter because of all the lies they (Chelsea) told before this game.'
   Mourinho said after the 2-1 defeat in Barcelona that Rijkaard had talked to Swedish referee Anders Frisk at half-time of that match and Frisk later sent off Chelsea striker Didier Drogba.
   UEFA director of communications William Gaillard said, 'There have been allegations that a Chelsea steward called Eto'o a monkey. We will be looking into this matter but need evidence. We can't just accept his word.'
   Barcelona have yet to make an official complaint. Eto'o, African Footballer of the Year, has suffered frequent racial abuse in Spain.
   'There were some racist comments,' Barcelona's former Arsenal defender Giovanni Van Bronckhorst told SKY TV.
   But Chelsea denied the claims.
   A spokesman for the Premiership leaders said, 'Chelsea utterly refutes any racist comments were made by any of its permanent or matchday staff.
   'Chelsea has an excellent record of supporting anti-racism campaigns and condemns all forms of racism.' Brazil star Ronaldinho claims John Terry's winning goal should have been disallowed for a foul on the Barcelona goalkeeper.
   'When the corner came over, there was a foul on our keeper Victor Valdes,' said Ronaldinho, who scored both Barca goals.
   'The referee should have stopped the action, but he let Terry make his header. I understand it was all very fast, but there was a foul that everybody saw.'
   The foul was the only thing top referee Pierluigi Collina missed in another authoritative display.
   However, Rijkaard refused to complain.
   'The players complained to the ref on the pitch when it happened and this is not the moment to start whinging. We needed to have taken our chances and been more careful about giving away corners,' he said.
   ‘The team that wins, does so because they deserve it. Sure, I've got a bad taste in my mouth after the defeat, but that's the way football is.’

When Pierluigi Collina blew his whistle for the last time, John Terry had no time for the pitiful histrionics over by the tunnel.
   The Chelsea captain was far too busy cavorting ecstatically with his manager and team-mates following this unforgettable Champions League victory over one of the European greats.
   People who should know better let themselves and their club down at the end of this monumental football match and should be punished - but Terry was just savouring the moment. The 24-year-old from the tougher side of Barking has made mistakes in the past but they are some way behind him now and life couldn't be better.
   In fact, it's going to take some considerable time yet before the smile disappears from the face of the inspirational Chelsea captain.
   Just 10 days ago Terry lifted the Carling Cup. Who would bet against him collecting two other trophies by the time the curtain falls on this remarkable season?
   Life doesn't get much sweeter than this for a professional footballer and it could not have been more appropriate that the man who scored the decisive goal was Terry himself.
   His central defensive partner, Ricardo Carvalho may have aided and abetted his skipper by applying a little subtle obstruction on Barcelona's nervous goalkeeper Victor Valdes but Collina saw nothing wrong and the goal stood to make it 4-2 on the night and 5-4 on aggregate.
   Terry has the knack of scoring vital goals - but nothing to match this one. When you have swept into a shock 3-0 lead after 19 minutes and then seen your advantage disappear as the opposition battle back to go ahead on away goals, you could well begin to feel some self-doubt.
   Not so Terry. There's rarely anything negative about Chelsea's talisman when there's a football to be kicked or headed.
   His team-mate Joe Cole believes Terry is the 'best centre-half in the world' and while there would be some competition, surely Terry's performance against Barcelona will ensure he wins the Player of the Year award.
   Up until now England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has resisted the temptation to pick Terry in front of either Sol Campbell or Rio Ferdinand when both are fit but the time has surely come for him to have a serious rethink.
   Terry said, 'What a great feeling. It's right up there with the best. Our pitch is a lot tighter than the one at the Nou Camp and we knew that, if we could put them under pressure, they wouldn't like it. I don't care about the things their players said before the game. Today is about Chelsea.'

Jose Mourinho claimed Chelsea had fully deserved their epic Champions League victory over Barcelona.
   ‘It was a fantastic result,’ the Chelsea manager said in the aftermath of his side’s dramatic 4-2 at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, which put the London club into the last eight 5-4 on aggregate.
   ‘We are in the quarter finals and we have beaten the team that is – according to the press - the best in the world.
   ‘Any result that put us through would have been fantastic. We faced a very good team, we were losing 2-1 before the start and we were without some of our best attacking players,’ Mourinho added in a reference to the injured Arjen Robben and suspended Didier Drogba.
   ‘The way the players did it in the second half was fantastic. We scored four and should have scored six or seven. Barca could have had three, four or five.
   ‘The football was magnificent. But over the 180 minutes I think the best team goes through.’
   Mourinho admitted he had enjoyed Tuesday night’s cliffhanger victory far more than last season’s Champions League final, when he led FC Porto to a 3-0 win over Monaco.
   ‘I enjoyed the end of this game much more than some other games that were more important for me,’ he admitted.
   ‘This was not a game where you knew at half-time who was going through. Until the last second, if they score we go out. It was a game full of emotion so that is why the feeling is better.’
   Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard admitted that the defeat was harder to bear because of the bitter legacy left by Mourinho’s allegations he had gone into referee Anders Frisk’s room at half-time in the first leg.
   ‘You always feel bitter after a loss but maybe I feel a bit more bitter because of all the lies that were told before this game. I didn’t like that. ‘I suppose all the stuff surrounding the game wants you to win a bit more, and makes it hurt a bit more when you lose.’
   Rijkaard was gracious enough to admit that Chelsea had deservedly capitalised on his side’s tendency to concede midfield possession a little too cheaply, allowing their opponents to mount effective counter-attacks.
   ‘I always say the team that wins deserves to, I’m not complaining in that way,’ the Dutchman admitted.
   ‘I think we played quite well and played our own game. But it came down to individual errors by our players and generally a lack of maturity in certain situations.
   ‘We lost the ball in midfield too often and with Chelsea playing on the counter that caused us problems.

Manchester United coach Sir Alex Ferguson tipped AC Milan to win the Champions League after his team were given a European masterclass by the highly efficient Italians.
   Milan won 1-0 at the San Siro here Tuesday thanks to Hernan Crespo's 61st- minute header to secure a 2-0 aggregate victory and a place in the quarter-finals.
   Ryan Giggs hit the post for United and Kaka struck the bar for the home side in an evenly-balanced first half, but in truth United rarely looked like ousting the six-time European champions who always looked capable of stepping up a gear.
   Crespo, who scored in the first leg in Manchester, put the finishing touch to Marcos Cafu's inviting right-wing cross to leave Ferguson's dreams of landing the trophy for a second time in tatters.
   'What Milan have is something special,' Ferguson said. 'We play a lot of European games and when you play away from home you have to learn to tolerate the histrionics. By that I mean looking for fouls and free-kicks.
   'But Milan were perfectly professional. For example, when the 90 minutes was up, Cafu ran to take a throw-in - there was no time-wasting, even though they were 1-0 up. With that professionalism and spirit they can win the competition.'
   Ferguson singled out Milan's highly-experienced defenders Cafu and Paolo Maldini for special praise.
   'Cafu must have two hearts, he did so much running, and as for Maldini - if he continues to play for another five years I'm quitting!'

Striker Sylvain Wiltord hit a hat-trick as he spearheaded Olympique Lyon to a 7-2 rout of Werder Bremen and a Champions League quarter-final place.
   Wiltord’s treble, a double by Mickael Essien and goals from Florent Malouda and Jeremy Berthod gave an exciting Lyon side a comfortable Tuesday night at the Stade Gerland.
   The impressive French champions, 3-0 winners at the Weiser stadium a fortnight ago, had put the tie beyond doubt by scoring three goals in the first half-hour of Tuesday’s return.
   Wiltord, just as he had in the first leg, opened the scoring with a 15-metre cross shot after eight minutes before Lyon’s outstanding midfielder Essien found the net twice.
   Having nothing to lose, the German champions tried to save their pride and managed to pull a goal back thanks to French playmaker Johan Micoud in the 32nd minute. But with Lyon all but through to the last eight both sides decided to play attacking football throughout the second half.
   Wiltord, closely watched by France coach Raymond Domenech in the stands, was on top form in front of goal as he scored two more while international midfielder Florent Malouda netted Lyon’s sixth on the hour with a fine low strike.
   Young defender Jeremy Berthod completed the demolition from the penalty spot in the 80th minute after substitute striker Nilmar was fouled inside the box before defender Valerien Ismael pulled one back for the hapless visitors.
   The victory confirmed that the skilful French champions, not considered among the favourites when this season’s Champions League started, should not be taken lightly anymore.
   They have not missed a season in the lucrative tournament since 2000 and they confirmed that they have learned a lot. Olympique Lyon are now the top scorers in this season’s Champions League with 27 goals in eight matches.
   The result was also sweet revenge for the French side, who was eliminated by Bremen in the UEFA Cup second round in 1999 when Lyon won the first leg 3-0 but lost 4-0 in the return.

It took a lot of work and patience to persuade Diego Maradona to undergo gastric bypass surgery to help him
   lose weight, but the operation offers the former World Cup hero a chance to start a new life, his doctor said on Tuesday.
   ‘I made him see that it was very important for his health and behavior to lose weight,’ Angelica Maria Quintero said in an interview with a radio station.
   ‘The decision (to have surgery) was difficult, it required a lot of effort.’
   Maradona, who became unrecognisably obese in recent years, successfully underwent a procedure sometimes called a stomach staple at a clinic in the Colombian seaside resort of Cartagena on Saturday, and is expected to leave the hospital in the coming days.
   Doctors say he is in high spirits.
   Quintero said she spent a month and half preparing for the operation with Maradona in Cuba, where he was struggling to overcome cocaine addiction, before taking him to Colombia in early February.
   ‘The process was carefully carried out to avoid any
   risks given his cardiac condition and high blood pressure,’ she said.
   ‘Diego Maradona is now super well, he’s happy, and I am pleased to say that he will likely be much better than before.’
   Maradona along with Brazil’s Pele considered the greatest football in the world.