Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has brushed aside suggestions he may be sacked if his team fails to secure a series-levelling victory in the third and final Test against India starting here today.
   Inzamam finds himself under intense scrutiny ahead of his 100th Test with Pakistan trailing 1-0 following the 195-run defeat in the second match at Kolkata on Sunday.
   The opening Test at Mohali ended in a draw.
   'Yes, it is a crucial match for us in a big series and we will try to win it,' he said on Wednesday. 'We will have to play positive and aggressive cricket to square the series.
   'But I do not think my job is on the line. People always say such things whenever we lose. I am not worried about this.'
   Inzamam, 35, continued as captain even after Pakistan lost both the Test and one-day series against India at home last year.
   Inzamam, who will become only the fourth Pakistani to figure in 100 Tests after Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram and Salim Malik, said he expected his team-mates to raise the level of their performance in his 'special match'.
   'The 100th Test is always special but I will be happier if we win. I never thought I would play 100 matches when I started my career,' he said. 'It has not been an easy journey.'
   Inzamam wants an improved show from his batsmen, especially against leg-spinner Anil Kumble who led India to victory with a 10-wicket match-haul in the KolkataTest.
   'The row over Harbhajan Singh's bowling action may help us a bit. He is a good bowler, but don't forget it was Kumble who did the damage in the previous match,' the Pakistan captain said.
   Off-spinner Harbhajan is eligible to play even after being reported for a suspect action by English match-referee Chris Broad after the second Test.
   Pakistan plan two changes, bringing in opener Yasir Hameed and off-spinner Arshad Khan in place of out-of-form batsman Taufeeq Umar and paceman Mohammad Khalil.
   India captain Sourav Ganguly, meanwhile, is also under pressure but for different reasons.
   Ganguly is struggling as a batsman, having scored just 45 in his last three innings against the tourists.
   'I know I am not getting runs. I need to score big here and I will do my best,' he said.
   India have a chance to jump to second place behind Australia in the international cricket rankings if they clinch the series by a 2-0 margin.
   'It will be a big achievement for the team, a great thing for Indian cricket. It will be very satisfying. Obviously, we will play to win, not draw,' said Ganguly.
   The Indian captain said the Harbhajan controversy had not affected the team's morale. 'I don't think it is a major worry,' said Ganguly.
   'He was cleared only three weeks ago. I think the ICC (International Cricket Council) has to take a permanent stand. He needs to play without all these pressures. He is a fighter and a great competitor.'
   India: Sourav Ganguly (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Venkatsai Laxman, Dinesh Karthik, Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble, Laxmipathy Balaji, Harbhajan Singh.
   Pakistan: Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Yasir Hameed, Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan, Yousuf Youhana, Asim Kamal, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Sami, Danish Kaneria, Arshad Khan.

New Zealander John Wright will quit as India’s first foreign cricket coach in May, sources told AFP on Wednesday, adding a search had already begun to find his successor.
   The third and final Test against Pakistan starting here today will be Wright’s last Test in charge of the Indian team, but he will remain on the job until the subsequent one-day series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka in April-May, the sources said.
   ‘The process has begun to find his replacement,’ an official said, but declined to name any candidates.
   Wright, a former New Zealand captain, had last month spoken of his intention to quit, saying he was unwilling to commit himself for another two years.
   ‘My contract ends in May and there is always a lot of speculation about what will happen in the future,’ Wright told reporters on February 23 in the southern city of Hyderabad during a domestic match.
   ‘I assume the next contract will be till the 2007 World Cup (in the West Indies). I don’t think I am ready to commit myself till then.’
   Wright on Wednesday declined to confirm his resignation, but said his ‘stand had not changed over the past month’.
   ‘As I have indicated before, I want to spend more time with my children back home.’
   The 50-year-old, who became India’s first foreign coach in 2000, strung together impressive performances by Sourav Ganguly’s men.
   India beat Steve Waugh’s Australians 2-1 in a home Test series in 2001, qualified for the 2003 World Cup final in South Africa, drew the four-Test series in Australia in 2004 and posted a maiden Test series win in Pakistan in March-April last year.
   This season, India lost the return series against Australia at home in October before defeating South Africa and minnows Bangladesh in November-December.
   India will have to find a new coach before another one-day series in Sri Lanka in July also featuring the West Indies.

New Zealand’s Marshall brothers were named as the first identical twins to ever play Test cricket Wednesday after Black Caps selectors lost patience with the struggling opening partnership of captain Stephen Fleming and Craig McMillan.
   Fleming was moved down the order to bat at number four for the third Test against a dominant Australia, while McMillan was dropped in favour of debut batman James Marshall.
   James will join his identical twin Hamish, already an established Test batsman, in a first for the five-day game. Previous Test-playing twins, such as Australia’s Waugh brothers, have been fraternal, not identical.
   ‘I’m feeling good mentally at the moment,’ James said. ‘I’ve been hitting the ball well and scoring runs and the selectors have rewarded that.’
   The brothers played together in the one-day international series that ended earlier this month with a 5-0 whitewash for Australia.
   At the time, New Zealand coach John Bracewell said the only way he could tell them apart was because one twin, he did not reveal which one, had a pimple near his nose while the other was blemish-free.
   The revamped line-up comes as New Zealand attempts to bounce back from a crushing defeat in the first Test and a rain-assisted escape in the second.
   Fleming in particular has appeared vulnerable to Australian quick Glenn McGrath, prompting selectors to shield him from the new ball.
   The Kiwi captain has been dismissed lbw by McGrath three times in his four innings of the Test series, averaging just 9.00 runs.

Former England cricket captains Alec Stewart and Nasser Hussain have both become honorary life members of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the owners of London’s Lord’s Cricket Ground announced on Tuesday.
   Stewart is England’s most-capped cricketer; he played 133 Test matches and 170 One-Day Internationals before retiring after the final Test of the 2003 series against South Africa.
   Hussain represented England in 96 Test matches and 88 One-Day Internationals; he retired from cricket after hitting a match-winning century against New Zealand at Lord’s last May.
   Commenting on the news, Stewart said, ‘It is an honour to be given this recognition by MCC. The Club is the most historic in the world, with a very proud tradition. I am delighted to have been given lifetime membership of MCC.’
   Hussain said, ‘I was thrilled to be made an Honorary Life Member. It is the greatest cricketing accolade I could receive.
   ‘I loved everything about playing at Lord’s; this will continue my involvement with the historic ground, and give me a long-term association with MCC.’
   MCC was once responsible for running all English cricket but gave up this role over 30 years ago. However, the club remains responsible for the Laws of Cricket, the sport’s rulebook.

The story goes that Inzamam-ul-Haq, after devouring a big breakfast, was snoozing with his pads on in the dressing room during the final of the 1992 World Cup against England in Melbourne.
   He was shaken from his slumber at the fall of a wicket, told to march to the centre and to be particularly careful against Ian Botham.
   When he returned after a vital 35-ball 42, having shown no mercy to any of the bowlers, he was asked why he had not been more watchful while facing Botham.
   The answer was simple. The 22-year-old, playing his first tournament away from home, had not recognised him.
   As Inzamam, 35, gets ready for his 100th Test in the third match of the series against India starting on Thursday, the anecdote still sums up a man who loves his food, loves his sleep and manages to make batting look ridiculously simple.
   He will be the fourth Pakistani, after Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram and Salim Malik, to reach the 100-mark.
   In 99 Tests, Inzamam has scored 7,238 runs at 48.90. His consistency compares favourably with most of his rivals.
   During the second half of his career and in his last 45 Tests since 1999, that average has swelled to 58.54. Sixteen of his 20 centuries have come in the period, including his two biggest knocks — 200 not out against Sri Lanka in Dhaka and a 10-hour 329 against New Zealand at Lahore.
   The hallmark of Inzamam’s batting is how late he plays the ball. With his ample bulk and almost lazy movement, batting just seems to happen to him.
   Only the second Pakistani after Hanif Mohammad to score a triple-century, that innings showed he had tremendous staying power, although 206 of those runs came in boundaries, ensuring Inzamam did not have to expend too much unnecessary energy.
   But for all his success Inzamam will also be fondly remembered as one of the worst runners between the wickets that the game has ever seen.
   When the time comes to set off for a sharp single, he seems to be blighted with such doubt and confusion that he and his partner inevitably end up together at one end.
   His fans are able to see the funny side to this, coining the chant of ‘Run, Inzy, run!’
   Delightfully witty in all his news conferences as Pakistan captain, Inzamam argues with a smile that he can run as fast as anybody.
   He did, however, fail to see the funny side on one memorable occasion.
   A spectator armed with a loudspeaker at a one-day international in Toronto gave him the immortal sobriquet of ‘aloo’, or potato, which so incensed the big man that he waded into the crowd, swinging a bat in pursuit of his tormentor.
   Inzamam hails from the dusty town of Multan, famous for its Sufi saints, the battle between Alexander and the Hindu king Porus, and for the good manners of its inhabitants.
   The Haqs are believed to be direct descendants of the prophet Mohammad. Inzamam’s father is famous for his religious discourses.
   Inzamam started his career as a left-arm orthodox spinner. Regularly called for throwing, he was left with no choice but to concentrate on wielding the willow.
   His leadership qualities have been questioned since Pakistan lost both the Test and one-day series against India last year.
   As with most things, however, Inzamam takes the criticism in his stride. It seems unlikely that he will lose much sleep over it.

Sachin Tendulkar on Wednesday said winning the Test series against Pakistan is far more important for him than scoring the world-record 35th century in the third and final Test beginning today.
   ‘I am not playing for records. I am just playing for the country, for my team and if it (the record) happens, it happens,’ Tendulkar said here when asked if he was hopeful of surpassing Sunil Gavaskar’s mark of 34 Test hundreds.
   Tendulkar, who has compiled three half-centuries in the ongoing series, underlined the need for India, who are already one-up in the series, to keep up the momentum and do well in the final Test.
   ‘We should see that we have to perform in the third Test. There was a good performance in Kolkata and we have to continue the same here,’ he said.
   Rating Pakistan as a good team, Tendulkar said the visitors had put up a good performance against the home team.
   ‘They have some promising players and it is important that we play the third Test to the best of our potential and put up a good show’.
   On Harbhajan Singh being reported again for suspect bowling action, Tendulkar said: ‘Harbhajan has just undergone a test and I really don’t know how come that can come up again.
   ‘In Australia, he had undergone all the needed tests and he came back with a smile on his face which is good to see. And I hope the smile remains on his face for a longer time’.
   Tendulkar said he had not had a word with Harbhajan on the issue but added ‘We are on the eve of an extremely important match. And we would want to leave all these issues behind and focus on the game.’
   He said India had done well in the series so far. ‘We have done well. Batted and bowled well. It is equally important on how we play the third game.’
   Asked if he was in ‘bowling shape’ for the third Test, Tendulkar said: ‘I am in good shape. What’s wrong with me?’

The International Cricket Council has announced that it does not foresee its involvement in the sponsorship dispute West Indies cricket is embroiled in. The crisis, which deepened when the board omitted top players like Brian Lara, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle from the squad for the first Test against South Africa, and appointed Shivnarine Chanderpaul as the captain, has sent shockwaves throughout the Caribbean.
   Speaking to the The Nation, Ehsan Mani, the ICC chairman, said, ‘Of course it is a concern to everyone in world cricket when a dispute such as this arises and it’s something we [the ICC] can’t ignore. It’s our hope that common sense prevails and that the matter is soon amicably settled.’
   The ICC had intervened in a similar incident last year in Zimbabwe, when 15 players including Heath Streak boycotted the team in dispute with the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) over selection. Mani remarked that the incident questioned the integrity of Test cricket and considerably weakened the Zimbabwe side. This resulted into ZCU canceling the Tests against Australia after which the ICC withheld the Test status of Zimbabwe until the end of the year.
   The West Indies board, which failed to reach a solution that was satisfactory to all parties, named a second string squad to play against South Africa in the first Test on March 31. ‘It’s obvious that the absence of Lara, Gayle and Sarwan means that the West Indies have lost three top players but their cricket has a much stronger base than Zimbabwe’s did last year,’ continued Mani. ‘Many of our members have faced similar issues and are very strongly of the view that the only way to find a solution is at the local level.’
   Mani, who was present in the ICC meeting in Delhi last week along with Teddy Griffith, the president of the WICB, said that they spoke only briefly on the impasse between the board and the players. Mani also explained that the ICC had no mandate from its members to ‘unilaterally impose itself on these types of disputes’. It took action only when it posed a threat to Test cricket.

It will not have escaped keen cricket observers that New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming is suffering from rocky form at present.
   This normally serene left-hander, who has captained his side through eight years of feast and famine, has rarely been at his best against Australia.
   But in the four Tests the two sides have played this season, home and away, he sports an average of 22, and the only score of at least 20 has been his 83 in a losing cause in Adelaide.
   If ever a batsman was a barometer of his team’s general well-being, Fleming is that man.
   The current New Zealand side are devastated by injuries and struggling to deliver as a unit under their relatively new coach, John Bracewell.
   So when Fleming moves from his usual number three to open the innings in a bid to get his team off to a good start - and fails time and again - it’s a mortal blow to the Kiwis.
   Incidentally, he averaged just 15.80 in a recent one-day series which Australia won 5-0, so Fleming’s problems are not confined to white clothing and red balls.
   Inevitably, he has been asked to explain what is going wrong.
   ‘I’ve made it easy for them,’ he said - blaming himself rather than the combined might of Messrs McGrath, Kasprowicz, Gillespie and Warne.
   ‘They’ve got me at a time where there has been a little bit of doubt. I’ve just got to get that certainty back and that no-fear attitude which is important.
   ‘I want to be the guy to do it. I’ve played the most Tests and scored the most runs, so it’s logical that when the team’s under the most pressure you turn to your senior players.’
   As far as Australia captain Ricky Ponting is concerned, however, Fleming’s miserable plight is merely the culmination of another cunning planning that has yet again gone according to plan.
   ‘We try to be very tough and disciplined on opposition captains and try to get on top of them early on in the series,’ Ponting said.
   The two completed Tests in Australia reveal four LBW dismissals out of four - with McGrath claiming three of them.
   Old man McGrath, as it happens, has proved something of a nemesis throughout the season, removing Fleming in once in each of the other two Tests.
   Captaincy, already a burden in itself, seems an even tougher job to do when the opposition is Australia.
   Jimmy Adams, for example, never really recovered after leading West Indies to a 5-0 series whitewash defeat in Australia in 2000-01.
   He sports a career Test average of 41.26, but could only manage 151 runs at 18.87 on that tour, with not even the consolation of a single half-century.
   Recent England captains - Nasser Hussain and Alec Stweart - have generally held their own, but India’s Sourav Ganguly has not.
   Ganguly can at least point to the fact India have won at home and drawn away against Australia under his guidance.
   But as captain he averages 29.93 against the Aussies compared to a career average of 41.56.
   The record of Inzamam-ul-Haq when skippering Pakistan against Australia really takes some beating, though.
   Set against a career average of 34 against the Aussies, he was dismissed for one and nought in Perth last December before missing the remainder of the series with injury.

To his team mates, Saurav Ganguly is simply ‘Dada’, or big brother. His fans call him ‘Maharaj’, or king.
   But the India captain’s crown is fast slipping from his head. Struggling with his own game, he appears to be finding it increasingly hard to inspire his team mates.
   The 32-year-old, at the helm for almost five years, is India’s most successful captain. Of his 19 Test wins, nine have come overseas. In the 68 years before he took over, the team had won a mere 13 matches abroad.
   Even the staunchest admirers of his aggressive style of leadership, however, are starting to wonder if Ganguly the batsman is still worth a place in the team.
   A man who started his career with a cover drive to die for and a century on his debut at Lord’s, Ganguly has played 81 matches, scoring 4,946 runs at an average of 41.56 with 11 hundreds.
   In recent seasons, however, he has looked less the part.
   Even when scoring a century at Headingley and a 99 at Trent Bridge during India’s tour of England in 2002, one of his best seasons, he was scratchy.
   His problem against short bowling is well documented and though Ganguly is not short on determination he has not been able to master how to hook, pull, or duck himself out of trouble against the rising ball.
   There has also been increasing comment over his poor fielding and lazy attitude towards fitness.
   Indian supporters have always respected Ganguly but never really taken him to their hearts. Even at the best of times, Ganguly does not have an endearing personality. To people who do not know him well, he comes across as brash and abrasive, often stereotyped as a rich man prone to tantrums.
   At Lancashire, where he played the English county season five years ago, his team mates found his so arrogant that they named him ‘Lord Snooty’.
   But there is no taking away from what he has achieved for India.
   He picked up the team from the depth of a match-fixing scandal in 2000 and transformed them into a unit that could challenge the best in the world, beating Australia 2-1 at home the following year and then drawing 1-1 Down Under in 2003-04.
   He remains a fine one-day international performer, his 22 centuries second only to Sachin Tendulkar.
   Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif—all key members of the squad—were championed by him, even when they lost form.
   Now it is Ganguly, however, who has the problem.
   There was one monumental knock against Australia at Brisbane in December 2003 that showed he could still lead by example.
   Promised some ‘chin music’ by Jason Gillespie and Glenn McGrath, Ganguly enjoyed every note on his way to a blistering 144 that set the tone for India’s successful series.
   That, though, was his last Test century.
   In the second Test against Pakistan last week, Ganguly got involved in a personal battle with paceman Mohammad Sami, playing a horrendous pull to lose his wicket to a bouncer and put the team at risk.
   Had it not been for vice-captain Rahul Dravid’s 135, his second century of the match, that shot could have cost India a match they went on to win by 195 runs.
   One school of thought, propagated among others by former captain Kapil Dev, is that the Test side should be handed over to Dravid and Ganguly should be dropped to make way for youngsters such as Kaif and Yuvraj.
   Unless he can show more commitment in the field and come up quickly with knocks similar to his Brisbane innings, Ganguly could be fighting a losing battle.

The former Indian seam bowler, Venkatesh Prasad, has announced his retirement from cricket. Fittingly, Prasad made the announcement at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, his homeground, and spent the evening recounting his playing days in a get together with Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble.
   Prasad, 35, played 33 Tests and 161 one-day internationals for India in a five-year career, in which he took 96 Test wickets and formed a regular opening bowling partnership with Javagal Srinath. He made his Test debut against England at Edgbaston in 1996, where he took 4 for 71 in the first innings, including Graeme Hick for 8 – his first Test victim. Although neither he nor Srinath returned outstanding statistics for the series, they bowled with immense skill and tenacity and, according to Wisden, established themselves as ‘one of the best new-ball attacks in the world’.
   Prasad was also a regular in the Indian one-day side and made a mark with his fast legcutters when the pressure was on. The moment when he tore through the rising tension and shattered Aamir Sohail’s stumps, in the World Cup quarter-final at Bangalore, will always live in the memory. His final international match was an ignominious one-day defeat against Kenya in the Standard Bank Triangular series in October 2001. He continued playing first-class cricket till December 2003 and was an outside contender for India’s tour of Australia that season.
   Born in Bangalore in August 1969, Prasad was also an integral member of the Karnataka side that dominated the domestic scene in the mid-ninties. He played his part in Karnataka’s two Ranji Trophy triumphs and finished with 361 wickets at 27.75 including three ten-wicket hauls.
   He is now a qualified coach and was put in charge af India’s Under-19 side in January this year. He was also mentioned as a candidate for the bowling coach of the national side.

Two-time British Open champion Greg Norman is expected to be out for three months after undergoing surgery on his back on Tuesday.
   The surgery was performed by Dr Joseph Maroon at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
   Australia’s Norman, who turned 50 in February, was forced to withdraw earlier this month from the Dubai Desert Classic due to recurring back pain.
   He played in just seven tournaments on the PGA Tour last season, but made only one cut.
   Known as ‘The Shark,’ Norman is the only player in history to lose each of the majors in a playoff, falling to Fuzzy Zoeller at the 1984 US Open, Mark Calcavecchia at the 1985 British, Larry Mize at the 1986 Masters and Paul Azinger at the 1993 PGA Championship.

Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard has called for Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho to be punished for his behaviour during a Champions League match at the Nou Camp.
   Rijkaard, however, does not want any action taken against the English Premier League club.
   ‘What Mourinho did was very serious and it is right that he should be punished,’ Rijkaard told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser on Wednesday.
   ‘What he said was a pack of lies, very serious lies, and it is not the first time. He has done himself very few favours by all this.’
   UEFA charged Chelsea with bringing the game into disrepute on Monday, specifically citing Mourinho, his assistant Steve Clarke and security man Les Miles.
   The row erupted after Mourinho accused Rijkaard of speaking to referee Anders Frisk in his dressing room at halftime in their Champions League first leg match in Barcelona, implying the Dutchman was trying to exert an influence.
   Chelsea, who were leading 1-0 at the time of the incident, went on to lose the leg 2-1 after striker Didier Drogba was sent off. Mourinho sent his team went out late for the second half and failed to attend the mandatory news conference.
   The London club, owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, went on to qualify for the quarter-finals of the competition 5-4 on aggregate after a 4-2 victory in the second leg at Stamford Bridge.
   Frisk subsequently quit refereeing saying that he had received death threats from Chelsea fans.
   UEFA issued a strong statement on Monday accusing Chelsea of making false declarations and ‘deliberately creating a poisoned and negative ambience’.
   Rijkaard, who has strongly denied Mourinho’s accusations, said that the Portuguese manager’s remarks had had serious repercussions.
   ‘He damaged Frisk, myself and Barcelona,’ he said. ‘Frisk decided give up refereeing because of the threats and the fear they produced.
   ‘He also undermined the image of Barcelona because there are some people out there who might have believed him and thought Barcelona could have been trying to bribe a referee or influence a game.’
   Rijkaard said that although he was in favour of a punishment for UEFA, he did not want Chelsea to be thrown out of the Champions League.
   ‘You have to differentiate between Mourinho and the events on the pitch,’ he said. ‘Their players fought hard out there and I wouldn’t like Chelsea to be punished in that way.’
   The case will be put to UEFA’s disciplinary panel on March 31.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is expecting UEFA charges that his team lied about an incident during a Champions League match in Barcelona to be dismissed.
   UEFA charged Chelsea with bringing the game into disrepute on Monday, citing Mourinho, his assistant Steve Clarke and security official Les Miles.
   ‘Obviously, I as well as other people involved, mainly the club, which is much more important that we are, have the expectation ... of complete dismissal (of charges), complete dismissal,’ the Portuguese coach told SIC television, for whom he works as a part-time analyst, on Tuesday.
   ‘My job is to train, to evaluate, to try to get the best results possible.’
   Mourinho said lawyers had told him not to comment but added that he would not change his behaviour.
   ‘I have always been this way. Sincerely, I don’t want to change and I want to finish up my career 12, 13 years from now at most, I want to finish it up this way.
   ‘That is, to be loved by my own. And right now I am loved by the Chelsea fans and I don’t worry at all about other club’s supporters,’ Mourinho said. ‘That’s the way I am.’
   Asked about British press coverage of himself, Mourinho said, ‘Really, everything I normally do is analysed with a negative expectation.’
   Mourinho said his contact with the British press was almost entirely confined to news conferences.
   ‘I am in the news every day. I think they really like my overcoat, they really like my haircut, they really like my face, they really like my behaviour, they really like to talk about me,’ he said.
   The Football Association fined him last month for saying Manchester United players cheated and he was sent from the dugout for making provocative gestures at Liverpool fans during Chelsea’s League Cup final victory.
   He and Chelsea are still under investigation for an alleged illegal move to poach Arsenal defender Ashley Cole.

Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer said on Wednesday he was interested in becoming the next UEFA president and was ready for a ‘fair and clean election battle’ with France’s candidate Michel Platini.
   ‘The interest is there,’ said Beckenbauer, 59, who led West Germany to World Cup victory as captain in 1974 and coach in 1990 but has remained coy until now about whether he would run to lead European soccer’s governing body.
   ‘I’ve taken responsibility all my life and never worried about possibly failing,’ he said in an interview with the German football association’s (DFB) website. ‘The presidency of such a successful organisation as UEFA would be an appealing challenge.’
   The charismatic Beckenbauer said, however, he wanted to wait to make sure UEFA president Lennart Johansson would definitely retire before formally announcing his candidacy. Beckenbauer won unanimous backing last week from the DFB’s executive last week.
   ‘I’m in favour of going one step at a time,’ Beckenbauer said. ‘Whether (Johansson) definitely steps down at the end of the current term is, as far as I know, not yet clear. I’d never run against Lennart. I admire him, and I’m a friend of his.’
   Beckenbauer, leading Germany’s 2006 World Cup organising committee, has long dropped hints that he wanted to succeed Johansson who has held office for 14 years and will be 76 by the time he completes his fourth term in 2006.
   But it was not until after former France captain and manager Platini, 49, announced his candidacy last week that Beckenbauer, pressed by DFB chiefs, began raising his voice with increasing clarity.
   ‘Everyone who wants to has the right to put themselves forward,’ Beckenbauer said when asked about Platini’s candidacy. ‘Michel Platini was always a man with ambitions...We’ve met often and I greatly admire him.’
   Beckenbauer praised Platini for helping Germany’s organising committee with his know-how and experience and said he was not worried about a showdown against the Frenchman.
   ‘If it does come to that, I’m sure it will be an absolutely fair and clean election battle,’ Beckenbauer said. ‘But we don’t know yet if there will be other candidates. So let’s wait and see. We don’t need to rush into anything.’
   Platini, in an interview with Germany’s Sport Bild magazine published on Tuesday, said he wanted to avoid a battle with Beckenbauer and thinks the German should have run a decade ago.

Ronaldo, out of sorts with his club Real Madrid, was given the backing of Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira on Tuesday.
   ‘He just needs time to train and have a few good games,’ Parreira told reporters as the world champions began training for Sunday’s World Cup qualifier at home to Peru.
   ‘In a short time, he’ll once again be the Ronaldo that everyone knows.’
   Ronaldo has suffered a goal drought in the last two months, his loss of form coming amid media reports he has fallen out with Real coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo.
   He apologised on Monday for throwing a plastic water bottle into the crowd after being verbally abused by fans during Real’s 1-0 home win over Malaga the day before.
   The incident occurred when Ronaldo was being substituted five minutes from time and had to endure a barrage of whistles as he walked off the field.
   Parreira said it was natural that Ronaldo, the only Brazil player who refused to talk to the media on Tuesday, was attracting attention.
   ‘He’s a celebrity and one of the best-known faces on the planet,’ Parreira said. ‘While he’s playing football, everything he does will have repercussions. He will always be making news.
   ‘I’m going to talk to him. I’m certain he will be very important for us.’
   Ronaldinho also gave fellow striker Ronaldo a vote of confidence. ‘They criticise him but he’s still playing well,’ the Barcelona forward said.
   ‘As far as I’m concerned, he’s still the best in the world. I’m going to try and help him score goals to boost his morale.’
   Brazil are second in the 10-nation South American qualifying group with 20 points from 11 games. The world champions are also away to Uruguay on March 30.

England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson says Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger should be thanking him instead of criticising his planned US tour in May.
   Ferguson and Wenger have expressed concerns over a trip which includes friendlies against the United States and Colombia at the end of a demanding season.
   Asked about the flak as he prepared for this weekend’s World Cup qualifier against Northern Ireland, Eriksson told reporters on Tuesday, ‘I can understand that, we all have our opinions.
   ‘But I think they should say ‘thank you’ to me instead, because before the fixture list was made for the (World Cup) qualification games I said...I had only one request: no games in June.
   ‘The reason I did that was because I wanted the players to have a long rest before the World Cup year.’ Eriksson was successful with that request but had to start qualifying from Group Six last year with two away games, a 2-2 draw in Austria and a 2-1 victory in Poland.
   As a result, however, England player will be free while other countries have two qualifiers in early June.
   In a further move to placate the leading Premier League clubs, Eriksson also made it clear he would be willing to talk to them about letting certain players miss the US tour.
   ‘I’m not forced to go there with the 11 best players,’ he said.
   ‘I will take the best possible players, but if one player who normally plays from the beginning has problems and needs a rest—he can rest. It’s perfect.’
   Eriksson also brushed aside media speculation that he may not get his players a four-week break before the start of the 2006 World Cup, as agreed by the Football Association.
   ‘As recently as last week I had assurances from the FA and the Premier League that I will have the four weeks,’ said Eriksson, whose team have not yet qualified for the finals.
   ‘It may seem stupid but one week is gold, it’s absolutely vital for the players,’ he said.

Manchester United, the world’s richest soccer club, has warned players that the days of huge wage rises are over and the club intends to clamp down on costs.
   United, which announced a 54 per cent drop in interim profits on Tuesday, has failed to reach the Champions League quarter-finals and complained of the uncertainty triggered by US billionaire Malcolm Glazer’s stalking of the club.
   The fall in pretax profits to 12.4 million pounds ($23.6 million) was caused by a sharp decline in television income following a new Premier League broadcasting deal and last season’s third place finish which cut Champions League income.
   However, wage costs rose to 46.6 per cent of turnover (42.7 million) from 40.8 per cent at this time last year. This figure is expected to climb above the 50 per cent mark which United has set as a ceiling for wage costs.
   ‘Financial discipline is absolutely critical in maintaining the stability and the financial strength of the club,’ said chairman Roy Gardner in a statement.
   ‘Player wage control remains difficult, particularly with the strong competitive pressures from a small number of rival clubs across Europe.’
   United’s interim results included a wages increase of 2.6 million caused by contract renewals, particularly that of Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy.
   The contract of winger Ryan Giggs, the longest-serving player in the current team, is up for renewal at the end of this season. Chief executive David Gill said the Welshman would have to bear in mind the club’s desire to keep costs under control.
   ‘We are very confident that we will reach an agreement to extend Ryan’s stay at Old Trafford,’ said Gill.
   ‘We are moving towards a situation of more variable pay where an element of pay (is dependent on) reaching the Champions League group stage.’
   Contracts of the younger players would increasingly contain a ‘performance-based element’, he added.
   ‘We are trying to de-risk the wage profile to fit the performance of the club,’ Gill said. ‘The days of huge pay rises are not here — 15-20 per cent increases are in the past.’
   United bought England striker Wayne Rooney for 27 million in August, bringing spending in the past two years to 60 million.
   Gill said he did not expect manager Alex Ferguson to buy players in the close season, apart from a goalkeeper to replace Roy Carroll who would almost certainly not sign a new contract.
   ‘We don’t need significant expenditure and (Ferguson) is comfortable with that. We have a young squad and it is not the view internally that major surgery is required.’
   United are second in the Premier League behind runaway leaders Chelsea, whose huge appetite for players now dominates the transfer market, and they are in the FA Cup semi-finals.
   Gill said the first installment of the Rooney transfer, of 11.5 million, had been covered by Lazio’s belated payment of the transfer fee for defender Jaap Stam, who moved in 2001.

Real Madrid coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo defended David Beckham, saying he is the hardest working player at the club.
   ‘He is the player who works hardest here and he plays in a position which isn’t his,’ Luxemburgo said in an interview with sports daily AS published Wednesday. ‘He has had to make a few adjustments. He sacrifices himself for the team.’
   Beckham has come under fire since the slump that left Madrid, whose best-known players are nicknamed the ‘Galacticos,’ facing a second straight season without a major trophy.
   Madrid was eliminated by Juventus from the Champions League two weeks ago and lies 11 points behind leader FC Barcelona in the Spanish league with nine rounds remaining.
   The Brazilian coach rejected the suggestion that Beckham is picked more for marketing purposes than his value on the field.
   ‘He doesn’t play because he sells shirts,’ Luxemburgo said. ‘They say the ‘Galacticos’ are untouchable and everybody’s waiting on me to sit one of them on the bench.
   ‘I’m in charge and, to demonstrate this, I don’t need to sit a ‘Galactico’ on the bench.’
   Beckham, who turns 30 next month, has said he wants to see out the remaining two years of his contract.
   Spanish media have reported Madrid may get rid of several players, including Beckham and Luis Figo, at the end of the season. Luxemburgo refused to be drawn on the subject.
   ‘We can’t be talking about changes,’ Luxemburgo said. ‘There are questions to which I say ‘next question’ and this is one of them.’

Australia’s request to join the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) was given unanimous support by Asia’s governing body on Wednesday.
   Australia have already asked soccer’s world body FIFA for permission to leave the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) in order to make future World Cup qualification easier. Any move, however, would need to be formally approved by FIFA.
   ‘The AFC executive committee has endorsed the wishes of Australia to join the AFC,’ AFC president Mohamed Bin Hammam told reporters. ‘But it has to go through the proper channels.
   ‘Australia must first resign from the OFC and then apply officially to join the AFC. It also has to be approved by FIFA. The legalities will take some time.’
   The ‘Socceroos’ could be eligible to take part in the 2007 Asian Cup in Southeast Asia.
   ‘We are very heartened by the news that the (AFC) has endorsed our wishes to join them,’ said Football Federation of Australia (FFA) chairman Frank Lowy in a statement.
   ‘It is a very positive step and we look forward to meeting the AFC President... who arrives in Sydney on Saturday to discuss with us the next steps required for our transfer.’
   Asia has four automatic spots and a possible fifth via a playoff for next year’s World Cup.
   At present the Oceania winners, either Australia or the Solomon Islands, receive only ‘half’ a place through a two-leg playoff against a team from South America.
   FIFA backtracked on a pledge to give Oceania a full World Cup berth in 2003. Australia are the dominant force in the region but have only qualified for the World Cup finals once, in 1974.
   Their plans to ditch Oceania and join the AFC have taken Oceania officials by surprise. The OFC’s executive committee will meet to discuss the issue in Noumea, New Caledonia on April 16. Bin Hammam denied that Asia’s powers would feel threatened by Australia’s entry into the AFC. ‘Japan and Saudi Arabia both have representatives on our executive committee and they all approved,’ he said. ‘It was a unanimous decision.’

Arsenal striker Jose Antonio Reyes already has one foot in Real Madrid’s door, according to press reports here Wednesday which say the unsettled Gunner could join the Madrid giants at the end of June.
   According to Spanish sports daily Marca an agreement is in the pipeline after Reyes’ agent, Jesus Rodriguez de Moya, held separate talks with Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein and with Real president Florentino Perez.
   Marca also insisted that England striker Michael Owen could become a factor in any deal involving Reyes’ departure from Highbury, although that suggestion has already been denied by Real in mid February.
   ‘Real Madrid do not envisage an exchange between Michael Owen and Jose Antonio Reyes,’ said a statement on the Real website on February 12.
   ‘Real Madrid are satisfied with the work of the English player. There have been no contacts from agents nor Arsenal with Real Madrid.’ Spanish first division side Sevilla sold Reyes to Arsenal for 35 million euros in January 2004, but just over a year into his four and a half year contract the player is believed to be homesick in London.

Wayne Rooney is set to retain his place in England’s squad for their World Cup qualifier against Northern Ireland despite police inquiries into an alleged nightclub brawl.
   Manchester Police have confirmed they are launching inquiries into claims by a 22-year-old student that Rooney struck him during an argument in a nightclub on Monday.
   Police have, however, not yet made contact with the Football Association about whether they are interested in interviewing Rooney this week while he is on England duty.
   The 19-year-old striker will therefore continue preparations for Saturday’s game at Old Trafford, with a training session at MU’s Carrington base on Wednesday morning.
   Only if Rooney, who denies the accusation, is later found guilty of any offence will his England place be jeopardised, although the FA may have to review the situation if he is actually charged.