West Indies (747) drew with South Africa (588/6 & 127/1)
   Centuries by Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Dwayne Bravo helped break a world record on an otherwise dull fifth day of the drawn fourth and final Test between South Africa and the West Indies on Tuesday.
   Chanderpaul scored 127 and Bravo made 107 to bring the number of centuries in the match to eight, the most ever scored in a single Test.
   Four were contributed by South Africa, led by 147 from Jacques Kallis, and four by the West Indies, topped by Chris Gayle’s epic 317.
   South Africa were 127 for one in their second innings when the match was abandoned as a draw. Graeme Smith was 50 not out with Boeta Dippenaar on 56.
   The West Indies had scored 747 in reply to South Africa’s first innings of 588 for six declared.
   It was the West Indies’ biggest total against South Africa, easily surpassing the 543 for five declared they scored in the first Test of the current series in Georgetown, and their third highest ever.
   A total of 53 centuries have now been scored in the 20 Test matches played at the Antigua Recreation Ground.
   The West Indies resumed on 565 for five and gathered runs easily against a South African team secure in the knowledge that they had won the series.
   The visitors had clinched the series 2-0 when they won the third Test by an innings and 86 runs in Bridgetown.
   Shaun Pollock ended Chanderpaul’s innings when he chased down the left-hander’s drive to deep midwicket off occasional medium pacer AB de Villiers and threw down the stumps at the bowler’s end.
   Chanderpaul, who scored his 13th century, faced 287 balls and hit 13 fours.
   Nine balls later occasional off-spinner Smith trapped Courtney Browne in front without scoring.
   Bravo’s chances of reaching his century seemed slim when De Villiers had Tino Best caught by Herschelle Gibbs at midwicket for five to make it 712 for nine.
   But Dwight Washington stood firm and Bravo cracked De Villiers through third man for four to reach his ton.
   De Villiers took over the wicketkeeping gloves from Mark Boucher after tea and Boucher ended the innings when he came on to bowl and had a driving Bravo caught by Ashwell Prince at mid-on. Bravo faced 235 balls and hit 13 fours.
   All 11 South Africans bowled in the innings and Boucher, Gibbs and Dippenaar bowled for the first time in a Test.
   Smith took over the slow bowling duties from left-arm spinner Nicky Boje who was advised by a cardiologist not to play after suffering irregular breathing on Monday. He is returning home and will miss the one-day series starting on Saturday.
   South Africa lost the first wicket in their second innings to the fourth ball of the first over, which De Villiers drove to be caught a mid-on by Washington off Best for 12.

An appeal court handed effective control of Sri Lanka’s cricket headquarters to government officials on Wednesday amid a deepening row over the country’s richest sporting body.
   Sports minister Kumaratunga sacked Sri Lanka Cricket’s governing body in March amid allegations of financial irregularities and appointed an interim committee to oversee the game.
   Sri Lanka Cricket is incorporated as a private company but it is also registered with the sports ministry so that it can represent the country at international events.
   Judges ordered Wednesday that an interim committee appointed in March by sports minister Jeevan Kumaratunga should control the cricket offices until the legal case over alleged financial irregularities is resolved.
   An appeal by cricket chief Thilanga Sumathipala at the suspension of Sri Lanka Cricket would be heard on June 9, the court said.
   Armed police on Tuesday seized the cricket headquarters in downtown Colombo to install government nominees and the court order effectively gives them legal control over the premises and staff.
   Sumathipala had sealed the offices last month and sent the staff on paid leave.
   The International Cricket Council last week recognised the interim committee after seeking legal advice.

Muktijoddha and national striker Saifur Rahman Moni is unlikely to play in rest of the season as he requires a surgery to repair his right ligament which was severely damaged during the first semifinal of the just concluded Federation Cup Football.
   Moni had to be stretchered off the field moments after he scored the decisive goal in the 24th minute of the match against traditional giants Mohammedan Sporting Club. As a result he missed the final of the tournament which Muktijoddha lost to Brothers Union 0-1.
   Muktijoddha are also sure to miss his services in their remaining AFC Cup matches and also in the prestigious Dhaka Premier league, slated to begin on May 20. According to the player, he has to wait for at least four to six months before returning to the game after the operation and that means his chances of playing in the National League, which will kick off in August, is also very slim.
   ‘I met with Dr Amzad Hossain, an orthopaedic surgeon of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, who is linked with Muktijoddha. He advised me to undergo surgery as soon as possible,’ said the striker over telephone.
   ‘Having received the suggestion from the local physician, I contacted Dr Anonto Joshi, a well-reputed sports medicine specialist of Mumbai. But he is currently in Australia on a vacation and it will take a long time if I wait for him. I am now thinking to go to Thailand or Singapore for the operation,’ he added.
   ‘The whole treatment will require nearly Tk 5 lakh and my club assured me of financial assistance,’ he informed further.

Bangladesh Football Federation on Wednesday sacked its four long serving office staff without any prior notice and showing any specific reason.
   Office assistant Riaz Uddin, peon Rafiqul Islam, driver Bachhu Mia and cleaner Sahidullah all came to know that their services were no longer required by the BFF only after they started regular office works on the day.
   Of them, peon Rafique had been serving the BFF since1974 while the rest were also involved with the organisation for 10-12 years.
   Rumours were rife in the stadium arena that the poor office personnel lost their jobs only because of their better relation with the officials of the former committee. No BFF official was available for comment.

Sri Lanka has sounded out former Australian all-rounder Tom Moody to replace fellow Australian John Dyson as coach of the national cricket team, cricket officials here said Wednesday.
   Talks were under way with Moody about taking over the job after Dyson’s term ended last month, officials said.
   Moody is currently coaching the English county side Worcestershire.

South Africa’s Graeme Smith believes his team has answered questions about the quality of their attack in the series against West Indies, which they won 2-0 after the fourth Test was drawn on Tuesday.
   ‘The bowlers stepped up when it counted, Andre Nel and Makhaya Ntini created the inroads for us up front,’ South Africa captain Smith told a news conference.
   Between them fast bowlers Nel and Ntini took 34 of the 54 West Indian wickets to fall in the series.
   ‘I don’t think anyone was questioning our ability to bat and score runs,’ Smith said. ‘The main question was how we were going to take 20 wickets.’
   The teams now start a five-match one-day series with games in Kingston on Saturday and Sunday, and Smith expects a stern challenge from the home side.
   ‘We will have to make a very big mental shift for the one-day series,’ he said.
   ‘I think one-day cricket suits the Windies better because they’ve got power batting.’
   West Indies captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul said poor batting had cost his team the Test series.
   ‘From the beginning we’ve been doing so much hard work, trying to get it right and trying to get the batsmen to perform,’ Chanderpaul told a news conference.
   ‘We have a young attack, but if we put more runs on the board we would have given ourselves a better chance.
   ‘All of our top batsmen scored hundreds in the series, but they never did so together.’
   Chanderpaul also felt his players were not in peak condition.
   ‘We’re probably not as fit as we should be, mentally and physically,’ he said.
   Chanderpaul scored 127 and Dwayne Bravo made a maiden 107 on Tuesday to bring the total number of centuries scored in the fourth Test to eight, a world record.
   ‘My plan was to ensure that I stayed with the skipper while he got his century,’ Bravo told a news conference.
   ‘Once he got out I realised I had a chance.’
   Bravo was 74 not out when West Indies lost their eighth wicket, and 80 not out when the ninth wicket fell.
   He said he had retained faith in his lower order team mates.
   ‘Credit must also go to (number nine) Daren Powell and (number 11) Dwight Washington, I believed in their ability to bat,’ Bravo said.
   Bravo agreed with Smith that West Indies would be more competitive in the one-day series.
   ‘We’re looking forward to the one-day series because we feel we are a stronger one-day team.’
   King demands more
   Coach Bennett King says there is lots more work to do if West Indies batsmen are to challenge more regularly.
   ‘If we become more consistent and have more people contributing every innings then we’re going to be a strong batting side,’ said Australian King.
   ‘At the moment we’re getting spasmodic performances, where people get big scores but they’re not backed up.’
   King, who had only been in the job six months, added: ‘The players are really starting to settle into our philosophy and our hard work that we’re trying to create for them.’

Recently retired West Indies wicketkeeper/batsman Ridley Jacobs left no stone unturned as he slammed the state of West Indies cricket and especially former captain Brian Lara.
   Jacobs, who played most of his 65 Tests and 147 limited-overs internationals under batting star Lara, said poor captaincy was the main reason behind their weak performances in recent years.
   ‘Honestly, the biggest problem is the skipper,’ Jacobs told Essential, a bi-monthly magazine covering his native Antigua & Barbuda.
   ‘The skipper sets the tone for the whole team. You can’t be captain and always in the spotlight. You can’t be a good captain and have an attitude when you don’t do well.
   ‘A captain has to be able to motivate his team. He can’t afford to be selfish. With this captain, it is not for the love of the game anymore, it’s for him.’
   The 37-year-old Jacobs also revealed that the unity of the team is not what it should be for the side to be competitive on the international stage.
   ‘For the most part, there is good camaraderie, but there is a lot of pulling and tugging too,’ he said.
   ‘Most of the guys are keen and willing to put everything in the game, so there is hope. With a strong team and a new captain.
   ‘There must be a strong programme too, and unity. The other teams are more unified. They know how to use psychology, that mental game, to destabilise a player.
   ‘That’s why the Australians are as good as they are. They are unified.’
   Jacobs, who was the top batsman and wicketkeeper in this year’s West Indies first-class championship, disclosed that his treatment by the management of the team after he was injured on the tour of Britain last year helped influence his decision to retire.
   ‘I would not go back, even if they had asked. The feelings are too deep to explain, but I’m not motivated any longer.
   ‘After my injury and knee surgery in Britain, I lost my motivation. I realised at that time they didn’t care about me. Well, I knew before that because they were always doing things to frustrate me.
   ‘But when I got injured, the manager (Tony Howard) said, Pack your bags!’ And if the
   doctor didn’t insist that I could not travel, that I needed a few days to heal before I could
   travel home, they would have put me on the plane immediately.
   ‘They don’t care for some of us!’
   Jacobs, a devout born-again Christian, also criticised the selection policy of selectors he feels are heavily biased against players from Leeward Islands.
   ‘I have seen clearly that in West Indies cricket, the system doesn’t cater to players from the smaller islands,’ he said.
   ‘Cricketers from these islands have to do too much to qualify. They prefer to pick players who are not ready. I believe that because Sir Vivian (Richards), Andy (Roberts), Curtly (Ambrose), and Richie (Richardson) were so good, and dominated West Indies cricket for so long, they think it’s time for us to sit it out.
   ‘It’s like the Leeward Islands cricketers had their time, so they prefer to pick guys who are not ready. I believe that most of the guys at this time are not good enough.’
   Jacobs is however willing to stay involved in West Indies cricket and prepare upcoming players for the rigours of the international game.
   ‘I would really like to dedicate myself to young wicketkeepers in the region, like be a one-on-one coach,’ he said.
   ‘I want to start that kind of programme. I will start in Antigua & Barbuda then take the programme regional.
   ‘I love the game. Cricket is a good sport. It brings Caribbean people together. When I play cricket, I don’t play for myself. I play for the people first.’
   Jacobs scored 2,577 runs at an average of 28.31 and collected 219 dismissals in Tests, and gathered 1,865 runs at 23.31 and took 189 dismissals in limited-overs internationals.

Michael Vaughan has indicated that he could move up to No. 3 in the batting order for the Tests this season.
   Vaughan has batted at the position only six times in his Test career so far, but suggested it was an option for the summer’s matches against Bangladesh and Australia.
   Speaking to the media in Stormont, Belfast, where Yorkshire were playing Ireland in a C&G Trophy match, he said: ‘Batting at three is an option. We’ve talked about it. A couple of the players we’re mentioning for selection might depend on whether I bat there or not.
   ‘I certainly wouldn’t turn down batting at three. It’s not a massive change. Whatever’s best for the team, really.’
   Vaughan batted at No. 4 throughout last season, but had a rather indifferent time, averaging just 30.75 in the five-Test series in South Africa.
   His best stats are by far at the top of the order, where he has scored ten of his 13 hundreds and averages 49.70 in 31 matches, but with Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Strauss sealing those spots, No. 3 might be the next-best option for him.
   If he moves up the order, Mark Butcher will almost certainly miss out through the entire season.
   Butcher has been struggling with a wrist injury and is virtually ruled out of the two-Test series against Bangladesh. In such a scenario, the battle for No. 5 slot will also hot up.
   Robert Key, Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen are the leading contenders at the moment, but while Key and Bell have already scored centuries in county matches this season, Pietersen has struggled, making four single-digit scores and one half-century in his first five innings.
   ‘A lot of the England players who have come back haven’t scored many runs,’ Vaughan admitted, probably hinting at the form of Trescothick, Strauss and Thorpe, who have all had a poor start to the season.
   ‘They’ll be feeling they need time in the middle over the next three weeks.’
   Vaughan himself hasn’t played a competitive game for nearly three months, and was eager for a good hit. ‘A good hundred under my belt for Yorkshire would do me the world of good.’
   England’s international season begins with the first Test against Bangladesh at Lord’s from May 26, while the Ashes starts on July 21.

Nicky Boje has been released from South Africa’s squad for the five-match limited-overs international series against West Indies because of a mystery illness.
   Boje, the South African vice-captain for this tour of the West Indies, had been diagnosed with the medical condition and did not take the field for the last day of the fourth and final Test on Tuesday as a precaution.
   Further tests on Tuesday morning did not clarify his condition, and Haroon Lorgat, convenor of the South Africa selectors, has withdrawn him from further participation on tour.
   ‘Nicky has been released to go home to undergo further medical checks under the care of his own doctors,’ Lorgat said in a Cricket South Africa press release.
   ‘A replacement for him will not be flown out, as the squad has sufficient depth from which we can draw on. This presents a good opportunity for fringe players to take advantage.’
   ‘I wanted to be part of a winning team, but health problems have to be sorted out.’
   The 32-year-old Boje left the field shortly before tea on the penultimate day of the match on Monday and never returned.
   Lorgat revealed he suffered a recurrence of the symptoms of irregular breathing he developed on the first day of the Test.
   ‘We shall exercise caution by not playing him until his condition is determined to be otherwise,’ he said.

Brazil’s 1994 World Cup winning footballer Romario said Tuesday that the birth of his sixth child with Down’s Syndrome had made him ‘a happier and more tolerant’ person.
   Ivy, born a month ago, was the 39-year-old footballer’s second daughter from fourth wife Isabelle Bittencourt, who is in her 20s.
   ‘It’s a gift. I’m a happier, more patient and tolerant man. I understand life more,’ the footballer told the O Globo newspaper Tuesday.
   Romario dedicated his final goal scored for the Brazil national side last week during their 3-0 win over Guatemala to Ivy. It was the 71st goal for Romario who is the second highest scorer for Brazil behind legend Pele.
   ‘I see that some parents of children with Down’s Syndrome try to hide their children, they do not speak of that. I want to show that it’s not abnormal,’ said Romario.
   Romario added that he wanted to help several organisations who are dedicated to caring for Down’s children.
   ‘I have ordered 100,000 red bracelets which are inscribed with ‘Special Love’. I’m going them to sell and the money will be used for these organisations.’
   Bracelets with different colours and inscriptions have become a fashion item in Brazil with the money being used to raise money for various causes.

Australian Open champion Marat Safin overcame a shaky start to beat Jiri Novak 6-7, 6-1, 6-1 in the first round of the Rome Masters on Tuesday.
   The Russian second seed was joined in the next round by a group of claycourt specialists, which included Spanish teenager Rafael Nadal and French Open winner Gaston Gaudio.
   There was disappointment, however, for last year’s winner, Carlos Moya, who was beaten 6-4, 7-6 by local wildcard Potito Starace.
   The Spanish seventh seed was the highest ranking casualty of the tournament so far.
   Moya retired from the semi-finals in Estoril last week with a shoulder injury and looked short of his best against Italian Starace.
   Accompanying Moya out of the tournament was the player he beat in the final last year, David Nalbandian, who let slip a final-set lead to lose 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 to Fabrice Santoro of France.
   Safin, who has never progressed beyond the last 16 on the slow red clay in the Italian capital was plagued by lengthy lapses in concentration in the first set.
   Having raced to a 4-1 lead, he committed a series of unforced errors allowing Czech Novak to break twice and serve for the set.
   Safin rallied to force a tiebreak but more wayward shots, including a volley that looped wide of an open court, gifted the set to his opponent.
   Briefly it seemed Safin might be heading for an early exit but he closed out the second set in 26 minutes and then dominated the decider.
   Nadal has won four of the six claycourt tournaments he has taken part in this season, including last month’s Monte Carlo Masters.
   The fifth seed certainly made short shrift of 22-year-old Russian Mikhail Youzhny, who he beat 6-0, 6-2 inside an hour with a display of powerful and uninhibited hitting.
   Argentine third seed Gaudio, winner of the Estoril Open, enjoyed an untroubled 6-4, 6-3 victory over Karol Beck of Slovakia.
   It was a different story for Guillermo Coria, who needed almost three hours to battle past Fernando Gonzalez 7-6, 5-7, 6-4.

Former world number one Kim Clijsters took just 44 minutes to knock out Ukraine’s Yuliana Fedak 6-1, 6-0 at Berlin’s Steffi Graf stadium on Tuesday and reach the second round of the German Open.
   A relaxed and confident looking Clijsters, now ranked 17th in the world, broke Fedak’s serve in the first game and converted two more break points.
   Fedak looked outclassed as Clijsters, 21, immediately broke serve in the second set and dominated to the end with strong backhand winners.
   The former world number one, who is seeded 11th in the claycourt tournament said: “Everything felt pretty good today... I felt like I was going for a lot of winners.”
   But she repeated her dislike of clay, the surface at the French Open Grand Slam which starts at the end of May.
   “It is tough for me to play good tennis like on other surfaces and that is challenging.”
   A 17-match winning streak came to an end for Clijsters in Warsaw last week when she lost to Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova, the US Open champion, in the semi-finals. She had previously won consecutive titles at Indian Wells and Miami.
   Earlier on Tuesday former world number five Daniela Hantuchova was bundled out of the tournament, beaten 6-4, 6-4 by Argentine 20-year-old Gisela Dulko.
   French ninth seed Nathalie Dechy lost 7-5, 6-1 to Dally Randriantefy of Madagascar but sixth seed Nadia Petrova of Russia and 13th seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Montenegro both won their matches comfortably.
   Seven-times grand slam champion Serena Williams pulled out last week with an ankle injury but the field for the $1.3 million claycourt event is still formidable.
   Belgium’s other former world number one Justine Henin-Hardenne, winner in Warsaw on Sunday, will play on Wednesday after rain delayed play.
   Russians Maria Sharapova, Kuznetsova and Anastasia Myskina all have byes into the second round along with last year’s champion Amelie Mauresmo of France.

Liverpool scored one of the most dramatic wins in their history on Tuesday when they beat Chelsea 1-0 with a controversial early goal to reach the Champions League final in Istanbul on May 25.
   Luis Garcia scored after only four minutes and that was enough for a 1-0 aggregate semi-final success and they will now meet either AC Milan or PSV Eindhoven in their sixth European Cup final later this month, and their first since 1985.
   Chelsea, newly-crowned as Premier League champions on Saturday, suffered the heartbreak of losing at the semi-final stage of the Champions League for the second year running after their 5-3 aggregate defeat by Monaco last season.
   The London side battled to the end, though, and Liverpool had to soak up almost continual Chelsea pressure throughout a second half onslaught that produced few clear chances because of the brilliance of Liverpool’s defending.
   The nearest Chelsea came was with almost the last kick of the game when Icelandic striker Eidur Gudjohnsen fired wide from a tight angle.
   For once Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho, who won the European Cup with Porto last year, could not devise a plan to save his side.
   As his dream of a repeat victory died, Mourinho had to accept second best to his old Spanish rival Rafael Benitez, himself a European winner with Valencia in the UEFA Cup last season.
   But the fourth-minute goal that gave Liverpool victory was highly contentious as Slovakian referee Lubos Michel ruled the ball had crossed the line, even though television replays were inconclusive.
   Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard superbly deflected forward a square pass from John Arne Riise on the left and striker Milan Baros lobbed it over Chelsea’s advancing goalkeeper Petr Cech who brought down his Czech countryman inside the area.
   Garcia followed up to knock the ball goalwards and it took a slight deflection off Chelsea captain John Terry before William Gallas hooked it out from under the bar, but the goal was given.
   The Anfield side’s defence stood firm in the face of Chelsea’s second-half onslaught and keeper Jerzy Dudek made a fine diving save from Frank Lampard’s free kick as Liverpool just about deserved to go through to the final.
   Liverpool had clearly been the better side in the first half, settled by the goal and continually reacting to the loose ball quicker, tackling harder and largely dominating a hugely competitive midfield battleground.
   Although Lampard, Gudjohnsen and Tiago worked tirelessly for Chelsea, Didier Drogba and Joe Cole made little impression on Liverpool’s back four with Sami Hyypia and Jamie Carragher in control in the middle and Djimi Traore and Steve Finnan covering superbly on either flank.
   Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann, taking the place of the suspended Xabi Alonso, created time and space for himself and Gerrard to set up Garcia and Milan Baros in attack.
   Although the Liverpool front men failed to find the net again, they showed more invention than the Chelsea strikers who generally looked jaded after a long, successful campaign that secured them the English League Cup in the final against Liverpool in February and the title on Saturday.
   A heart-stopping six minutes of added time forced by two fans who ran on to the field only added to the tension on a balmy May night that will live long in the memory of all those Liverpool fans who saw the clock turned back 20 years at Anfield.

Luis Garcia defended his controversial winner against Chelsea which put Liverpool into their first European Cup final in 20 years.
   The Spaniard’s fifth goal in this season’s Champions League sent Liverpool into the final on May 25 in Istanbul but Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho claimed Slovakian linesman Roman Slysko should have ruled the ball never crossed the line.
   However, Luis Garcia insisted he had hooked home a fourth-minute winner, although TV replays failed to confirm the ball was over the line, with William Gallas hooking clear.
   ‘When Milan Baros was brought down by the keeper I just kept going and hooked it towards the goal, I felt it went in and I am very happy now,’ he said.
   Chelsea keeper Petr Cech had flattened Baros in the run-up to the goal, but all appeals for a penalty were ended when referee Lubos Michel allowed Garcia’s follow up.
   The 26-year-old Spaniard said, ‘It was an important win and for me a very important game and goal.’
   But Gallas was unconvinced the ball was in.
   ‘I don’t think the ball crossed the line but even if it was a refereeing error we still had 85 minutes to win the match. We lost our heads a little bit and that’s something we’ve been strong at all season but it just wasn’t our night,’ said the France defender.
   Luis Garcia dismissed Mourinho’s complaints that Liverpool did nothing but defend.
   ‘Everyone was a hero out there. We had to defend and work so hard, it was difficult to keep the ball and when we saw six minutes go up it was almost too much for us.
   ‘But this is not just about the players, it is so important for the club too. For us to get to the final is beyond all our dreams, and for me to score the goal is a special moment too.’
   Steven Gerrard hailed the ‘greatest night of his life’ as he steered Liverpool to the Champions League final.
   The Anfield heroes completed what most had deemed mission impossible for the Merseyside club, destroying Chelsea’s dream with a controversial goal from Luis Garcia in the fourth minute.
   Gerrard spoke for a jubilant dressing room as, close to tears, he admitted he couldn’t quite believe the magnitude of his team’s achievement. ‘This is the greatest night of my life by a million miles...and it will be the proudest moment of my career when I lead these incredible men out in Istanbul,’ he said.
   ‘I can’t take it in. The atmosphere was unbelievable and I have never experienced anything like it. The ground was shaking a full 50 minutes before kick-off when we came out for our warm-up. The fans were magnificent. They are the best in the country by miles. I just hope they enjoy Istanbul as much as they enjoyed this evening.’
   Defensive hero Jamie Carragher added, ‘It has not really sunk in yet. There were great scenes at the end but at the end of the day it is only a semi-final. This is not finished, there is still a cup to be won.’
   Meanwhile, Chelsea captain John Terry insists the club were denied a place in the European Cup Final by a linesman’s bad decision.
   Slovakian assistant referee Roman Slysko awarded a controversial winner by Luis Garcia which sent newly crowned Premiership champions Chelsea crashing out of the competition on Tuesday.
   Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho described it as only ‘50 per cent of a goal’ and claimed the best side on the night had lost.
   Television replays were inconclusive about whether the whole ball had crossed.
   But Terry was adamant that Garcia’s goal should not have been allowed to stand.
   ‘I couldn’t tell from where I was but a few of the lads said the ball didn’t go over the line,’ he said.
   ‘William Gallas was in the way of the ball from where the linesman was but he gave it - which was a bad decision.
   ‘If you’re not sure, then don’t give a goal.’

Real Madrid are being accused of resorting to increasingly desperate off-the-pitch tactics in their bid to overhaul title rivals Barcelona.
   Real fullback Roberto Carlos has been widely criticised for his claims that Barca are guaranteed of winning their final match of the season against Real Sociedad because fans of the Basque side want the Catalans to win the title.
   The club’s website has also been censured by a leading referee because of its fierce attack on the performance of a fellow official in the team’s recent 2-1 victory against Villarreal.
   Real Sociedad defender Aitor Lopez Rekarte dismissed Roberto Carlos’s declarations as ludicrous.
   ‘It is complete drivel when they take it for granted that Barca will win their last game here in Anoeta,’ the fullback was quoted as saying in sports daily Marca on Wednesday.
   ‘The truth is that given where these declarations come from and the way in which they were said, they don’t even offend me.’
   Roberto Carlos had claimed that Barcelona would not need to try very hard to win their final game of the season against Sociedad.
   ‘You can forget the last game in San Sebastian,’ he said on Tuesday. ‘Barcelona only have three games really because their fourth against Real Sociedad doesn’t exist.
   ‘The other day when they played us the Real Sociedad fans were cheering ‘Barca, Barca’ during the match and so they’ve already got that match in the bag.
   ‘I don’t count that game after what I saw on Saturday. Sociedad won’t play as hard against Barcelona as they did against us. Everyone wants to beat Real Madrid, everyone wants to beat the best team in the world.’
   Referee Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez, who will referee Real’s next league game against Racing Santander on Saturday, was showered with compliments by the club’s website earlier this week.
   However he said he was appalled by the way the club had criticised colleague Bernadino Gonzalez Vazquez for his refereering of the Villarreal match, a game in which Real players Zinedine Zidane and Walter Samuel were sent off.
   ‘A week ago the same page accused a colleague of committing seven capital sins and of being a Barcelona fan,’ said Iturralde Gonzalez. ‘Maybe now they are trying to clean up their image, but I prefer these compliments after the game not before.
   ‘Each person tries to use the weapons at their disposal and this is the one they (Real) are trying to use at the moment ... I’m very annoyed as it seems that the only people that make mistakes are the referees.
   ‘This campaign is being directed, but these sort of things can generate violence.’
   Barcelona have a six-point lead over Real Madrid at the top of the table with four matches left to play.
   They have a difficult away game at last season’s champions Valencia on Sunday, while Real host struggling Racing Santander at the Bernabeu on Saturday.
   If Real lose and Barca win, the Catalans will claim their first league title in six years as they have a better record in head-to-head meetings between the two sides this season.

A furious Jose Mourinho blamed Slovakian linesman Roman Slysko for Chelsea’s 1-0 Champions League semi-final defeat against Liverpool at Anfield here on Tuesday but then vowed that his side would come back stronger than ever next season.
   Chelsea’s Portuguese manager, whose side wrapped up the Premiership title on Saturday, saw his team beaten by a fourth-minute Luis Garcia goal that appeared to have been hacked off the line by William Gallas.
   ‘Football sometimes is cruel,’ said Mourinho. We have to accept the result. They scored a goal, if you can say they scored it. I can say that the linesman scored it.’
   He was generous, though, to Liverpool, and specifically their crowd, who maintained a constant level of raucous support throughout although he typically turned that praise into a jibe at Slysko, whose raised flag persuaded referee Lubos Michel to give the goal.
   ‘The Anfield Road experience, I felt it, it was magnificent,’ Mourinho said. ‘I felt it did not interfere with my players, but maybe with some other people. It maybe interfered with the result.
   ‘I think you must ask the linesman why he gave the goal. To give it you must be 100 per cent certain. You must be sure that the ball is in. My players say it was not a goal.
   ‘From TV I could not see, but other people say you could not confirm it was a goal. Only one person decided the future of players who have never played in a Champions League final,’ added Mourinho who last season won European club football’s biggest prize while in charge of Porto.
   But, following a goalless first leg, there was equally no denying the role of Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez, his five-man midfield blanket and defensive fulcrum Jamie Carragher. Eventually, Mourinho acknowledged just how impressive his opponents had been.
   ‘If he’s in the final, all credit to Benitez. I’m happy for him and I hope he can win the Cup for himself and for Liverpool.’
   With this season over bar the routine of the final league games, Mourinho is already looking ahead to next year. ‘I know I can’t win everything,’ he said. ‘I can’t complain with my success, with my players or my career. I’m a happy man. I’m just sad because of the result today. But tomorrow (Wednesday) I will be at training preparing for next season.’
   Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez praised his team for a professional job. ‘We worked hard and we had the supporters behind us and we had to believe we could win till the end.
   ‘We have played well as we did in the first leg. We have qualified so it means we have done a good job. As for the final well let us today!’ added Benitez, who can emulate his Chelsea counterpart Jose Mourinho by winning the UEFA Cup and the Champions League – with Porto – in successive seasons having landed the former with Valencia last term.
   Benitez also played to type, the occasional flicker of an understated smile the only indication of the glee the Spaniard must have felt. ‘They (Chelsea) started to play long balls and we controlled the game,’ he said, before finally being cajoled into talking about himself. ‘Its difficult in another country, with another language and other players,’ explained Benitez.
   ‘I’m very proud. It is hard to be consistent in the first year, and we’ve played much better in the Champions League than in the Premiership.’

The President of Argentine soccer club Boca Juniors Mauricio Macri considered Tuesday that, in time, it will be natural for Diego Maradona to become coach of the team.
   ‘Without a doubt, as the one-time world’s best player, he could be the coach of any team he chooses, as long as he is in peace and healthy,’ said the Boca official in reference to Maradona.
   Macri added that Maradona has to lose some weight ‘to leave the heart-attack-risk zone.’
   Boca’s board offered Maradona to take on the General Direction of the club’s amateur soccer but, according to Madri, ‘nothing has been said in this sense.’
   The Boca official said that, as director of the club’s amateur soccer, Maradona would be near the coaches all the time and would be supervising a large group of people.’
   Nevertheless, the director said ‘hiring Maradona would be such a gambling.’ ‘It is true everything is fine. For ten years he said no, but now I find a different Diego; he wants to work,’ Macri said.

David Beckham is the best paid footballer in the world.
   The Real Madrid midfielder earns 25million euros (£17million) a year, a good 6.6million ahead of team mates Ronaldo, who earns 19.6million euros a year, and Zinedine Zidane, on 13 million.
   All three have salaries of 6.4million euros and collect 200,000 euros a year in bonuses.
   But Beckham, 30, earns an additional 18.4million euros in advertising contracts, with Ronaldo receiving 13 million for his commercial deals and Zidane earning 6.4 million for his.
   Inter Milan striker Christian Vieri is fourth in the standings, earning 12million euros a year, followed by Juventus striker Alessandro Del Piero on 9.5million and Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard on 9.4million.
   Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho clearly benefits from owner Roman Abramovich’s big spending policy, earning 7.5million euros a year.
   Five managers working in England are in the top 10 with Manchester United’s Alex Ferguson coming second with 6million euros a year, ahead of England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson’s 5.8million and Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger 4.4million.
   Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is ninth with 2.6million a year.
   But Beckham is remains far behind golf’s world No 1 Tiger Woods, who earns 66million euros a year.
   Seven-times Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher is the second highest paid sportsman with 63.5million euros.
   Beckham is sixth behind Woods, Schumacher, NFL’s Archie Manning and NBA’s Shaquille O’Neal and Michael Jordan.

Brazil will support FIFA president Sepp Blatter if he stands for re-election in 2007.
   ‘The president of the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation), Ricardo Teixeira, has declared the organisation’s whole-hearted support for Joseph Blatter’s candidature,’ said the CBF on its official website.
   ‘Ricardo Teixeira has emphasised the excellence of Joseph Blatter’s administration at the head of soccer’s governing body. He is unquestionably the best candidate.’
   Blatter was elected head of FIFA in 1998 in succession to Joao Havelange and won another term in 2002. He has said he is ready to seek a third term in office.
   Teixeira, who sits on FIFA’s executive committee, has been head of the CBF since 1989. Brazil won their fifth World Cup title in 2002.
   In an interview published on the CBF website, Teixeira praised the organisation of the 2002 World Cup co-hosted by Japan and South Korea which followed the collapse of FIFA’s marketing partners ISL and Kirch.
   ‘Amidst all the problems caused by the bankruptcy of the companies, in World Cup year, Joseph Blatter managed to lead the federation and consolidated it on the financial and administrative fronts,’ said Teixeira.

Coach Juergen Klinsmann has told German players that if they do not want to wear the boots of team sponsors Adidas, they will not play in the national team.
   ‘There won’t be any Germany players with any other boot than Adidas,’ Klinsmann said in an interview with Sport Bild newspaper.
   The newspaper reported a union representing professional football players (VdV) had written a letter saying there were ‘problems with individual contracts with manufacturers of sporting goods other than Adidas’.
   The letter was sent to Thomas Brdaric, Miroslav Klose, Frank Baumann, Thomas Hitlsperger, Timo Hildebrand, Jens Lehmann, Arne Friedrich, Dietmar Hamann and Christian Woerns, it said.
   Under the terms of Germany’s sponsorship and equipment contract, players must be completely kitted out in Adidas gear.
   Klinsmann said, ‘If any player believes he has to take legal action so that he can play in his own boot (brand), well he can’t sue to play for us.
   ‘If he doesn’t accept the terms, he won’t come with us and he can watch the match on television.’