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Five-time champions Brazil advanced to the second round of the World Cup with a hard-earned 2-0 Group F win over Australia here on Sunday.
   It took a 49th-minute goal from Adriano to unlock the stout Australian defence but the champions were given a big fright as Australia threw everything at them.
   Substitute Fred had a simple tap in for Brazil's second on fulltime to wrap up the victory after Robinho shot struck the post.
   Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said that his side had deserved the three points, though, his view seemed somewhat rose tinted.
   'We are happy to have qualified, and it is a deserved victory,' said the 63-year-old, who was coach of the 1994 World Cup winning side.
   'We imposed both our style of playing, passing the ball around, and also imposed ourselves physically.
   'It is true that with three Australian forwards in our half it was more complicated, and we struggled at times but overall I think there are more positives than negatives.'
   Parreira, who is in his third spell in charge of the Brazilians, said he wasn't concerned by the fact that Brazil weren't firing on all cylinders.
   'It is normal that we are not in top form. We only played three friendlies before the finals and we are getting better and better little by little.
   'We played better than we did against Croatia (a 1-0 victory) and we will play even better in the next one (against Japan).'
   Fred said he was happy at his contribution.
   'I am delighted that I was able to come on and score,' said Fred.
   'The team is still finding its feet,' added the 22-year-old Lyon star, referring to another listless performance by Brazil.
   Coach Guus Hiddink again went for all-out attack to save the match as he did in the last-gasp win over Japan last weekend.
   Brazil's win extended their record of successive wins at World Cup finals to nine and has them poised to top the group with next Thursday's final match with Japan.
   Brazil broke the deadlock four minutes after halftime when Ronaldo cleverly held on to the ball from two defenders and laid across goal to Adriano who evaded Scott Chipperfield and fired home for his first goal of the tournament.
   But the Australians earned admirers in the way they pushed the Brazilians all the way with German referee Markus Merk not giving them much with his decisions.
   Ronaldo was again substituted for the second match of the tournament to whistles from the crowd, but his replacement Robinho livened up things up front.
   However Ronaldo said that he was pleased with the progress he was making after a troubled season at Real Madrid and an unimpressive contribution in the Croatia match.
   'It is getting better. I think I am evolving in the right way,' said the 29-year-old.
   'The chances are beginning to arrive. It was better than against Croatia.
   'However I must still work on it, like I am at the moment.'
   Hiddink pitched on attackers Harry Kewell and John Aloisi into the battle in the second half and Kewell came close to scoring a couple of times.
   Dida and Viduka jostled for a high ball and Kewell had an open goal with Dida out of position but blazed over the bar in the 57th minute.
   Substitute Marco Bresciano and Kewell both had breakaways but Brazil snuffed them out but Australia were having more of the game.
   Kewell had another chance as he was put away by Viduka and his fierce volley was just over the bar.

South Korea grabbed a heroic 1-1 draw with stuttering France in their vital Group G encounter here on Sunday to edge closer to a spot in the last 16 of the World Cup.
   The 2002 semi-finalists went behind to an early Thierry Henry goal but Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-Sung grabbed the equaliser nine minutes from the end as South Korea staged a grandstand finish.
   The win puts South Korea, who beat Togo in their opener, on four points with the under-pressure French on two and perilously close to a second straight exit from the World Cup in the first round.
   French coach Raymond Domenech, under fire in some quarters for sticking with an ageing team, put out the country's oldest ever international side with an average age of 30 years and 289 days.
   One of the old stagers, thirty-four-year-old defender Lilian Thuram, equalled Marcel Desailly's record of 116 appearances for Les Bleus.
   France opened brightly with Lyon midfielder Florent Malouda, in the side for Frank Ribery, looking dangerous down the right flank.
   The South Korean defence had to look smart in the sixth minute when Henry found Sylvain Wiltord with a neat ball but the Lyon striker's effort was blocked by a defender.
   France contined to stream forward and they opened the scoring after just nine minutes following a defence-splitting move.
   Wiltord found Henry in the box and the Arsenal striker guided the ball past Korean 'keeper Lee Woon-Jae from six yards out.
   It was the quicksilver Henry's 34th strike for France and broke a goal drought for the national team in the World Cup finals stretching back to the victory over Brazil in the 1998 final.
   South Korea were showing little as an attacking force but a long ball out of defence worried William Gallas and he was relieved to see his nervy back-header sail over the bar for a corner.
   Henry wriggled his way into the box in the 27th minute but was robbed by Spurs wing-back Lee Young-Pyo, the referee waving aside claims for a penalty.
   Midfielder Patrick Vieira came close to grabbing a second for the rampaging French in the 31st minute, his goal-bounder header from an inswinging corner from Zinedine Zidane being clawed back by Lee Woon-Jae on the goal line.
   Dead ball specialist Lee Chun-Soo swung in another dangerous free kick in the 55th minute but Kim Dong-Jin mistimed his header and the ball sailed over the bar.
   South Korea were quicker to the ball than in the first half and the French front line was being given precious little room despite the promptings from midfield maestro Zidane.
   With the clock ticking down, South Korea piled forward and were rewarded with the equaliser in the 81st minute. Seol's cross from wide on the right was headed back across goal by Cho and Park bundled the ball into the net from close range.

Japan and Croatia battled to a goalless draw here on Sunday which left both nations with a slim chance of reaching the second round of the World Cup.
   Both teams now have one point, while their Group F rivals Brazil and Australia were playing in Munich later in the day.
   Japan have the unenviable task of facing Brazil in their final group game in Dortmund on Thursday, when Croatia take on Australia in Stuttgart. The Asian champions had goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi to thank for throwing them a lifeline as he brilliantly saved Darijo Srna’s 21st minute penalty after Dado Prso had been tripped in the penalty area.
   Japan had more chances of the two sides but were continually let down by poor finishing.
   Atsushi Yanagisawa wasted Japan’s best opportunity, somehow slicing wide of an open goal from Akira Kaji’s cross had left Croatian keeper Stipe Pletikosa stranded early in the second half.
   Brazilian-born midfielder Alex proved a constant threat to the shaky Croatian defence, but failed to find the target.
   Japan must do without their captain Tsuneyasu Miyamoto for the Brazil clash after he picked up his second yellow card of the competition when he caught Prso’s heel to concede the penalty.
   Although Srna’s spot kick was hit hard and low, Kawaguchi leaped to his left to push it round the post.
   Chances for Croatia were few and far between.
   Marko Babic should have done better with his shot after surging half the field in the second period only to blast wide, while Niko Kranjcar raced on to a defence-splitting pass but could not stretch far enough to get his shot on target.
   The towering Josip Simunic’s header went wide as Croatia grew increasingly desperate.
   Robert Kovac also picked up his second yellow card of the tournament in the 31st minute but Shunsuke Nakamura’s 30-meter free-kick rebounded off the wall.
   In the 35th minute, Hidetoshi Nakata went close with a long-range shot but Stipe Pletikosa punched the ball to safely.

French-born coach Roger Lemerre has said that Tunisia have both the physical strength and tactical savvy to derail high-flying Spain in their World Cup Group H clash here today.
   While the Spanish have emerged as major title contenders following their 4-0 defeat of Ukraine, a question mark hangs over Tunisia’s second round survival chances after their late salvaging of a 2-2 draw with Saudi Arabia.
   It took a late headed equaliser from Bolton defender Rahdi Jaidi to keep Tunisia’s campaign alive, and the post-match feeling from the Saudis was they had been robbed of two points.
   Despite having to overcome both a psychological and physical handicap, Lemerre feels Tunisia can use a combination of power and style to defeat Luis Aragones’ Primera Liga-packed group favourites.
   ‘It will be a battle of two different styles of game,’ said the Frenchman, who after the ignominy of steering France out of the World Cup first round in 2002 without a win or a goal rekindled his career two years later by leading Tunisia to the African crown.
   Spain, considered both technically and tactically more astute than Tunisia, are favourites for early qualification which would ease the pressure and allow them to rest key players before the final group match against Saudi Arabia.
   Lemerre, however, is hoping to spoil the fiesta. ‘Our players are just as good and maybe have the edge (on Spain) when it comes to physical power,’ Lemerre added.
   ‘Our number one priority is motivation. We have to be prepared to push for this together. The expectations are big, so we need nothing less than 100 per cent from everybody.’
   While Aragones seeks to further reap the rewards of his latest recruit – a sports psychologist whom he is the first Spain coach to employ – Tunisia’s past and present shows some worrying symptoms.
   The Africans haven’t won a World Cup game since they beat Mexico 3-1 on their tournament debut in 1978. And to complicate matters, top Brazilian-born striker Francileudo dos Santos is still sidelined with a persistent shin injury and only has a 50-50 chance of playing in their final group match, against Ukraine.
   In their bid to defy Spain, salvation might instead come from their saviour against the Saudis. Bolton defender Jaidi said they have learned from their disastrous opening match. ‘We all know that we didn’t play well, but if we manage to concentrate better against Spain we will play better,’ he said. ‘Maybe we can even cause an upset.’
   Spain should be brimming with confidence after notching up their 23rd match unbeaten against Ukraine, although the nightmare scenario of yet another exit at the quarter-final stage is omnipresent and Aragones seems to have insisted on his players favouring a step by step approach.
   If Spain get past a second round match-up with either France, Switzerland, South Korea or Togo, they could then face Brazil, Croatia, Italy or Ghana in the quarter-final.
   Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos, whose performances for Spain have managed to keep club-mate Michel Salgado on the sidelines, feels it’s still too early to be making predictions.
   ‘Spain have always had great teams with quality players, but we haven’t had the luck to go with it,’ he said Saturday.
   ‘We can go a long way in the World Cup, but first we have to have the maximum respect for the other teams in the group.
   ‘We have two tough games coming up. The most important thing is to keep our feet on the ground.’

Ghana stole all the felicitations of the day. They are a bunch of whole-hearted footballers who believe in themselves and were never apprehensive of their opponents. They tried to stamp their mark on the big stage and succeeded.
   Mixing power with skills the Ghanaians leaped longer than the fancied Czechs who were soul-searching about what was going wrong. I don’t know whether they underestimated Ghana a little. In the peak tournament of the world probably one-man show is not enough. Pavel Nedved occasionally shone with his precision through passes and crosses but the Czechs lacked appropriate finishing.
   The Ghanaian custodian, Sammy Adjei, had a great game and rescued his team on a number of occasions. Michael Essien and Sullay Muntari were outstanding and they made the difference with some spirited display. The Czechs are now in danger of being eliminated from the first round.
   Asian representatives Iran proved themselves as a team having an over-cautious approach and I don’t realise though playing in the big leagues why the Iranian stars lacked the ideal temperament. All the time they were rushing and not thinking cool headedly. They showed a tendency to doing everything by force and not with skill.
   By contrast, Portugal looked composed and focused on the game. Their coach Luis Felipe Scolari is a great motivator. Christiano Ronaldo impressed me with his tricky displays; he likes do something different and creative. Figo is still a king and I found the right teamwork that their coach wanted from his players. They also have different dimensions of attack.
   I was a disappointed man after the Italy-USA match. The cause of my disappointment was the refereeing that I don’t want to call biased but rather too inconsistent. This kind of refereeing destroys the beauty of the game. Certainly Daniel De Rossi deserved the red card but what about the other two? I don’t know.

FIFA admitted on Sunday that it was deeply embarrassed by the admission that one of its top officials had sold tickets for a World Cup match involving England for three times their face value.
   Ismail Bhamjee, a Botswanan member of the powerful 25-member FIFA Executive Committee, said he had sold 12 Category One tickets for last Thursday’s England v Trinidad and Tobago match for 300 euros (380 dollars) each. They had a face value of 100 euros.
   Bhamjee was forced to resign immediately from all World Cup-related duties and ordered to leave Germany as soon as possible.
   ‘Of course it is bad. It puts us in a bad light, in particular if a high-ranking member of the Executive Committee is involved,’ FIFA’s head of communications Markus Siegler said at a daily briefing.
   ‘FIFA has proved we take these things very seriously and have taken immediate action and I do not believe this incident will overshadow the great success of the World Cup.’
   The affair came to light when a British newspaper presented FIFA with evidence on Sunday.
   Siegler said Bhamjee would be dealt with by the relevant authorities in due course, but FIFA cannot force him to resign from the Executive Committee because he was elected by the Confederation of African Football and it was up to the African body to decide his fate.

Germany President Horst Koehler said on Sunday the nation’s newfound pride in its flag sparked by its success in the World Cup was a sign it was ‘returning to normal’ after decades of shame over its Nazi past.
   ‘For me this is something beautiful ... a sign that the country is increasingly returning to normal, that one can show uninhibited pride in your national flag and drape yourself in it,’ he told Radio Koeln.
   Since the World Cup kicked off in Germany on June 9, the black, red and yellow of the national standard has been displayed across the country after decades when overt displays of patriotism were frowned upon.
   Germans are flying the flag from cars and balconies and football fans are dressing themselves in the national colours and heartily chanting ‘Deutschland’ following two victories in the host nation’s first two games.
   Koehler said he believed Germans were also showing ‘that they are happy that we are hosting the World Cup.’
   The German players and coach Jurgen Klinsmann have said they are thrilled with the way the country has rallied behind them.
   ‘All of Berlin should become a sea of black, red and gold,’ Frank Henkel from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats told Bild newspaper.

England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson is poised to break up Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard’s partnership to ensure they play in the World Cup’s last 16.
   Lampard and Gerrard, as well as Peter Crouch, face Sweden only a booking away from a suspension.
   Eriksson said, ‘If we had to win to go through I would probably risk all three, but we don’t need to do that.’
   Gerrard is thought most likely to be rested in midfield, while Wayne Rooney could start ahead of Crouch.
   Owen Hargreaves is favourite to take Gerrard’s place after figuring alongside Lampard for part of Saturday’s training session, but Michael Carrick is also a contender.
   Eriksson added, ‘There are three players booked and maybe I will leave one out.
   ‘I don’t want to leave all three out – maybe one or two.’
   Eriksson is tempted to play Rooney from the start after he came through a 33-minute appearance as a substitute against Trinidad and Tobago with no ill-effects after his broken foot.
   He said, ‘He looks fine. I spoke to him and the physios and there were no reactions after the match.
   ‘His words were that he’s ready to play 90 minutes today. I’m thinking about it but I haven’t decided.
   ‘I would like to start him but I will ask opinions from doctors and physios, and it is important to look at him in training before making that decision.
   ‘If he’s going to start the game then people must convince me he’s going to play at least one hour.
   ‘If he can only play 45 minutes for example, it’s better for him to come on in the second half.
   ‘He has been telling me he’s fit and ready for the last three weeks.’
   Eriksson admitted the difference Rooney brings to England’s side is a crucial factor.
   He said, ‘England are a different team with Rooney. He’s fantastic.
   ‘He is perfect in everything when he is 100 per cent, but, as a linking player, he keeps the ball up there and gives the team time to come out.
   ‘He gives us more combinations in the last third.
   ‘Michael Owen and Wayne is one option but I know they lack games. You would be starting with two who might not reach 90 minutes.
   ‘It’s tempting to do it anyhow but I haven’t decided yet.’

Ecuador feels it has an extra player on the World Cup roster: Spiderman.
   Having reached the round of 16 in only their second trip to the World Cup, the Ecuadorean squad has dedicated that unprecedented success to Otilino Tenorio, a teammate who was killed a year ago in a car accident.
   When Ivan Kaviedes scored Ecuador’s third goal in a 3-0 victory over Costa Rica that assured its place in the second round, he ran to the touchline, donned a yellow Spiderman mask and raised his arms—mimicking Tenorio’s trademark goal celebration.
   ‘Otilino is accompanying us from heaven,’ Kaviedes said.
   If he had not been killed at age 25, Tenorio very likely would have made the trip to Germany with a place among the starting 11, a starting job he held on the team that finished third in South American qualifying behind only regional powerhouses Brazil and Argentina.
   ‘He was a great friend,’ midfielder Marlon Ayovi said. ‘He is helping us from wherever he is. He must be enjoying our success, the same as we do, up there.
   ‘We always remember Otilino, because he is part of our victories.’
   Ayovi said players often fondly recall Tenorio in the dressing room before matches.
   ‘He is not gone. He is among us,’ Ayovi said. ‘He is present in our matches, our training, everything surrounding the team.’
   Coach Luis Fernando Suarez supports his players emotional tribute to their deceased friend and teammate.
   ‘That tribute that Kaviedes made to Otilino was beautiful,’ Suarez said. ‘I am sure Otilino is up there laughing with us. He gave us not only goals but also joy.’
   Kaviedes made clear, however, that the mask celebration was a one-time event.
   ‘I will not do it again. I just did it as a recognition to Otilino, and not just for me, but on behalf of the entire team,’ Kaviedes explained.
   ‘It was an homage from the whole team to Otilino and his family. We feel he is present here with us.’
   Ecuador will play Germany in the last match of Group A, and then an undetermined rival in the second round.

FIFA intervened on Sunday to persuade Togo’s players not to boycott their World Cup game with Switzerland as unrest simmers in the Togolese camp.
   The squad was on its way to Dortmund where Togo will play their second Group G match against Switzerland today. The players had initially stayed in their base in southern Germany while they discussed a long-running pay dispute.
   ‘As far as we understand the team did not want to play,’ a FIFA spokesman said.
   ‘The FIFA delegate there told them it would be extremely serious. He told them to be reasonable and they were,’ the spokesman said, adding the team were now on the road.
   No team that has qualified for a World Cup finals has withdrawn from a match in the 76-year history of the event. Any nation doing so face a heavy fine and could be banned from subsequent competitions.
   ‘We are on the bus now,’ coach Otto Pfister told Reuters on the telephone. ‘I think they have found a solution but I don’t know what it is and I don’t want to know,’ he added. The team is due to catch a flight from Friedrichshafen airport.
   The Togolese, beaten 2-1 by South Korea in their opening match on their World Cup debut, did not leave their base in Wangen on Sunday in time to catch their scheduled morning flight to Dortmund. Instead players held crisis meetings with officials over the pay row.
   The dispute had prompted Pfister, a German, to walk out just before the tournament, saying it made it impossible for him to do his job. He returned just in time for the first match.
   Players from the tiny west African country have demanded 155,000 euros ($196,300) each to play and 30,000 euros for each win, half that for each draw. But officials from the country with an average per capita income of well below $1,000 have said those demands are too high.

FIFA are unlikely to take any action over Australian players betting among themselves at the World Cup, the world governing body said on Sunday. British newspaper the News of the World quoted an unnamed FIFA official as saying that the body would launch an investigation because Australian midfielder Tim Cahill had made a wager with his teammates that he would score his country’s first goal in World Cup history.
   ‘I very much doubt the seriousness of this article,’ FIFA’s head of communications Markus Siegler said at a daily briefing.
   ‘This cannot be considered as institutionalised betting... That is the relevant difference.’
   Siegler said all players, officials and members of the FIFA Executive Committee at the World Cup had signed a charter in which they undertook to follow rules concerning issues such as doping and betting.
   But he said bets made between players of the same team would only become a problem if they were ‘professionally organised’.
   Australia midfielder Tim Cahill admitted after the 3-1 defeat of Japan that his team-mates Lucas Neill and Archie Thompson bet on him to score the Socceroos’ first ever goal in the World Cup finals.
   Cahill, who plays for English Premiership side Everton, told Australian paper the Herald Sun: ‘They both backed me to score.
   ‘That’s why when I got the first goal I ran straight to them.’
   Australia captain Mark Viduka had said that the players were ‘taking bets on who was going to be the first to score.’
   He added: ‘Spider (reserve goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac) was the bookmaker.’ The unnamed FIFA official told the News of the World that the charter signed by the players ‘includes internal betting within the players of any team, which is also strictly not allowed.
   ‘The committee has made it very clear that no betting in any form should be taking place and they will investigate any case thoroughly.’
   Australia were taking on reigning champions Brazil in their second World Cup match on Sunday.

Italy’s Daniele de Rossi has apologised to US striker Brian McBride for the elbow to the face that saw him red-carded in their Group E World Cup clash here on Saturday
   McBride was floored by the blatant head blow as both players jumped for a high ball in the 28th minute of the game and left the field with blood streaming down his face.
   De Rossi was sent off and after touchline treatment McBride returned to the fray in a no-holds barred match that ended in a 1-1 draw and two more red cards.
   ‘He came up to me after the match and told me he was sorry and that he had not meant to do it,’ said the Fulham striker said who required three stitches to his cut eye after the game. ‘For me that matter is now finished and done with.’
   Italy coach Marcello Lippi said that de Rossi had made ‘a serious mistake.’
   ‘But that’s something we’ll deal with in-house. I don’t want to discuss it in public. He will be suspended and we’ll pay the price.’
   US coach Bruce Arena said De Rossi was gulity of ‘a vicious elbow that could have broken his face.’
   Meanwhile, United States goalkeeper Kasey Keller praised the courage of team mate Brian McBride after the big striker’s battling and bloodied World Cup display against Italy on Saturday.
   McBride, who plays for Fulham in the Premier League, ended the 1-1 draw battered and bruised and with three stitches in his face after an elbow from red-carded Daniele De Rossi that US coach Bruce Arena described as ‘vicious’.
   ‘Brian has titanium plates in his head already,’ said Keller, who also used to play in the Premier League.
   ‘You need somebody who’s going to put their head in places where others might not want to, that’s a big part of it, especially when you know you are going to be under pressure against teams like Italy.
   ‘He has a presence up front. He won lots of balls and allowed us to have a bit of possession.’

Germany manager Jurgen Klinsmann admits the people in the United States do not recognise him when they see him in the street and believes that will not change even if he guides the hosts to World Cup glory on July 9.
   Since retiring from playing football the 41-year-old Klinsmann chose to make the United States his home running a sports marketing company in California.
   Asked on whether winning the World Cup would make him famous in his adopted homeland, Klinsmann replied in Die Welt newspaper: ‘Definitely not because football is sport number seven or eight in the United States.’
   Basketball, American football, ice hockey and baseball are just some sports that are more popular than football in America.
   ‘In Los Angeles when I get off the plane no-one knows me. Not even the taxi drivers,’ explained Klinsmann, who won the 1990 World Cup as a player with the then West Germany and Euro ‘96 with Germany.
   ‘An important thing for me is that I can have a normal life in Los Angeles. That is priceless.’
   Klinsmann was heavily criticised for his frequent flights to the United States - sometimes directly after matches - but found a base in Germany for the World Cup and Germany’s two wins out of two have silenced the critics for now.

With their 6-0 mauling of Serbia and Montenegro having guaranteed passage to the last 16, Argentina are to ring the changes for Wednesday’s Group C table-topping decider against The Netherlands.
   A team source on Sunday said coach Jose Pekerman was set to leave on the bench players on a booking to avoid the risk of suspension in the round of last 16.
   That would mean striker Javier Saviola, midfielder Luis Gonzalez and defender Gabriel Heinze, booked against Ivory Coast, sitting out the match against rivals who Argentina beat in the 1978 final and who turned the tables in the 1998 quarters in Marseille.
   Gonzalez, nicknamed “Lucho,” will in any case be out as he picked up a leg strain in the thrashing of the Serbs and Montenegrins and will not be ready to return before the quarter-finals.

‘Tunisians more powerful than Spanish players’
   Tunisia coach Roger Lemerre said on Saturday that he thought his side would be more powerful than their Spanish opponents when they meet in their Group H clash on Monday.
   The Frenchman admitted he was looking forward to the match which he saw as a clash of styles.
   ‘It will be a battle of two different styles,’ said Lemerre, who is still to win a match at the World Cup finals following the disastrous defence of France’s title in 1998 and Tunisia’s opening 2-2 draw with Saudi Arabia in this edition.
   ‘Our players are as good and probably more powerful.’
   Lemerre, who turns 65 on Sunday, said that his players had to step up to the plate as they endeavour to win their first ever match at a World Cup finals.
   ‘Top of my wish list from the players is being motivated.
   ‘It has to be an all round team effort. We have to give 100per cent because the expectations are so high.’
   Experienced defender Radhi Jaidi admitted that the Carthage Eagles had not played well in the opening match - grabbing late equaliser in the Saudi clash.
   ‘We know that we didn’t play well,’ said the 30-year-old Bolton central defender.
   ‘We are going to try harder, concentrate better and to play better. Maybe we can spring a surprise.’ — AFP
   
   Argentina Aragones’ favourite
   Spain coach Luis Aragones said Argentina is the best team yet in the World Cup and not just because of its 6-0 demolition of Serbia-Montenegro.
   ‘I don’t say it just because of that. I say it because of what they did before, the 2-1 against Ivory Coast, which is a strong team,’ Aragones said Saturday.
   ‘As a team they are the best, and I don’t care about the 6-0 because the match turned in their favor very quickly.’
   Spain, too, is considered one of the favorites after an impressive 4-0 win over Ukraine in the Group H opener. But Aragones said his team is not perfect - yet.
   ‘There are still things to improve on, although when it comes to playing the ball, it’s difficult to do it better than Spain.
   ‘Our fullbacks need to advance more and create more danger, but do it alternately. The strikers need to move toward the flanks more. There are things to improve, of course.’
   Spain is unbeaten under Aragones in 23 consecutive games. The man known as ‘the mister’ among the players hopes to extend that streak with a win Monday against Tunisia that would secure Spain’s place in the second round.
   ‘Tunisia will be a more difficult rival than Ukraine,’ Aragones said in an interview posted on the Spanish soccer federation’s Web site.
   ‘Don’t forget that Tunisia was African champion two years ago,’ he said. ‘But we will qualify and we will do it by beating Tunisia.’— AP
   
   Music training
   Mexico trained on Saturday to the rhythm of the popular Mexican group El Recodo.
   The group, known for its infectious style simply called ‘banda’ (band), visited the team’s practice in Gottingen, where Mexico is training for its crucial Group D match against Portugal.
   Some 3,000 fans watched from the stands as the group played their trumpet and drum-driven music and posed for pictures with team members Rafael Marquez, Oswaldo Sanchez, Omar Bravo and Jared Borgetti.
   Arturo Rivera, the group’s spokesman, said El Recodo played outside the Nuremberg and Hanover stadiums, where Mexico beat Iran 3-1 and tied 0-0 with Angola. — AP
   
   Monumental German
   FIFA President Sepp Blatter and World Cup organizer Franz Beckenbauer on Saturday unveiled a memorial to Fritz Walter, the captain of West Germany’s 1954 World Cup-winning team.
   Walter showed ‘that soccer is not just a business but a school of life,’ Blatter said at the ceremony, which was held in Enkenbach-Alsenborn on the fourth anniversary of his death.
   Walter was born in 1920 in nearby Kaiserslautern. Regarded as one of the best German players ever, he led the West Germans to a stunning 3-2 upset over Hungary in the 1954 final.
   Beckenbauer, who won West Germany’s second World Cup as captain in 1974 and its third as coach in 1990, said that first triumph helped Germany find its way back into the world. It came less than a decade after the end of World War II.
   Walter stayed with FC Kaiserslautern his entire career, playing his first professional match for the club in the 1937-38 season and retiring in 1959.
   A playmaking midfielder with a striker’s instincts, Walter spurned lucrative offers from Atletico Madrid and France’s FC Nancy to stay in his hometown. — AP
   
   Carlos shrugs off Argentina threat
   Brazilian veteran Roberto Carlos has rubbished talk of Argentina as World Cup favourites after their bitter South American rivals romped to a 6-0 win over Serbia and Montenegro on Friday.
   ‘I have heard already that after all those goals that Argentina are the big favourites,’ said 33-year-old Carlos, a member of the 1998 and 2002 World Cup final teams, losing the former and winning the latter.
   ‘They were saying the same thing after Spain beat Ukraine 4-0. This always happens. For me, Brazil are the most important favourites.’
   Argentina have already clinched a place in the last 16.
   Champions Brazil, who laboured to a 1-0 win over Croatia in their opener, take on Australia on Sunday where a win would put them on the brink of the last
   16. —AFP
   
   Don’t sack
   football fans
   Any boss who sacks an employee for skipping work after staying up late to watch Australia’s Socceroos play Brazil in the World Cup is ‘a bum’, the leader of the opposition said Sunday.
   Labor Party leader Kim Beazley made the comment in a television interview, echoing a famous remark by then-Labor prime minister Bob Hawke after Australia wrested the America’s Cup yachting trophy from the US in 1983.
   ‘Any boss who sacks his worker today is a bum. That’s what Bob said,’ Beazley told the Ten Network.
   But with the game to kick off at 2 a.m. Monday Australia time (1600 GMT Sunday), Beazley said it was likely bosses would be just as guilty of lack of productivity as any of their workers.
   ‘These things happen very rarely. I am sure that they will take a very generous view of the outcome tomorrow,’ he said.
   With the Socceroos making their first World Cup appeareance in 32 years, and having downed Japan 3-1 in their first game, football fever is at an unprecedented level in cricket-crazy Australia.
   Local media have reported that 20 percent of workers could take Monday off, costing the economy 250 million dollars (188 million US).
   A victory against world champions Brazil, Beazley said, would be worth every penny. — AFP
   
   Suarez rewarded with new contract
   Luis Suarez’ success in steering unheralded South American side Ecuador to an historic second round place at the World Cup has earned him an offer of a new four year contract it was announced on Saturday.
   The 46-year-old Colombian said that he would look at it after the World Cup campaign was over.
   Ecuador face Germany in their final Group A match on Tuesday to see who tops the table, with the South Americans leading on goal difference.
   ‘There is an offer on the table, in principle, on the part of Luis Chiriboga, the president of the Ecuadorean Football Federation (FEF), for me to continue in the post for the next four years,’ revealed Suarez, who has been in the job since September 2004.
   ‘For the moment I am not going to let that preoccupy me. I am not going to let my future distract me at the moment.
   ‘The only thing that I am focussed on at the moment is Ecuador and the World Cup,’ added Suarez, who took up coaching aged just 29 after winning the Copa Libertadores as a player with Colombian side Atletico Nacional in 1989. — AFP
   
   Soccer schools
   Brazil may be the favorite to win the World Cup, but Latin America’s largest nation wants to share some of its soccer know-how.
   The official Agencia Brasil said the country will open two soccer schools in Russia this year under a plan developed by the Brazilian Foreign Ministry and Russian lawmakers.
   The first soccer school will open for Russian youths between 12 and 14 in the southern city of Krasnodar on Sept. 1. The second will be in Moscow, but no opening date was specified.
   Brazilians will provide the youths with soccer lessons in schools alongside academic instruction.
   The aim is ‘to develop their physical and intellectual abilities,’ Agencia Brasil said. — AP

Michael Ballack says he is more than willing to curb his attacking intentions to help give hosts Germany a much-needed defensive midfield shield at the World Cup.
   Captain Ballack is the best goalscorer in the current German team with 31 goals in 66 internationals - a record a striker would be proud of - but played a more disciplined role in the 1-0 win over Poland sitting deeper to protect the defence.
   ‘Our midfield is attacking and creative but not everyone can run forward,’ Ballack said at a press conference Sunday.
   ‘If we all power forward we could lose. We need a good mixture and to find the right balance.’’
   Ballack insisted he was not concerned about playing a more low key role so long as the team was successful.
   ‘Of course players who score goals are always going to grab the limelight but players who work for the team are respected by everyone,’ Ballack explained.
   ‘It is no good if a few individuals have a great tournament but the team crash out.’
   Germany’s weakness on the counter attack was highlighted in the opening 4-2 win over Costa Rica but Ballack’s return against Poland gave the central midfield a solid base alongside Torsten Frings.
   ‘I get on well with Torsten. We played together with the Under-21 team and then at Bayern Munich,’ Ballack said.
   ‘He needs to organise the team at times and he knows there is a lot of responsibility. Sometimes he tells me to go forward and other times to stay back.
   ‘It worked well against Poland and we are still creating chances which is a good sign.’
   New Chelsea signing Ballack is the more advanced of the two while Frings stays deeper and picks up the pieces.
   ‘Michael plays more forward because he is so dangerous while I tend to sit,’ explained Frings.
   But while Ballack is still afforded freedom to get forward and help the attack his extra defensive responsibilities mean he is more at risk of collecting yellow cards.
   The 29-year-old was cautioned against Poland and another booking against Ecuador would see him miss the last 16 match.
   ‘It is difficult to pull out of tackles as we are at the World Cup,’ Ballack confessed.
   ‘I can not be afraid (of another booking) otherwise I will not win my tackles and that will not be good for us.’
   Manager Jurgen Klinsmann has already confirmed that Ballack will not be rested to avoid a potential suspension, saying he needs the match to build match fitness after overcoming a calf injury.
   Most of the talk has surrounded who Germany could face in the second round and Ballack says a win over Ecuador would send out a message to their next opponents.
   ‘We need to beat Ecuador and get automatic respect from the other teams. That will give us confidence so we will be ready for whoever comes along,’ declared the former Bayer Leverkusen star.
   ‘We need to go step by step starting with Ecuador then maybe we will be in the position to overcome teams like England and Argentina.’
   ‘It is no good thinking about whether England, Sweden or Trinidad and Tobago will be next.’
   Germany, who have already qualified, will face a team from Group B where England and Sweden are fighting it out for top spot on Tuesday. Trinidad and Tobago have an outside chance of qualifying as runner-up.

Ukraine are looking for a return to form for star striker Andriy Shevchenko to get their stuttering World Cup
   campaign back on track
   against Saudi Arabia in a
   Group H game here on Monday.
   Oleg Blokhin’s side suffered a shock 4-0 trouncing at the hands of Spain in their opening match, a result that set them back in their bid to progress to the knock-out phase of the World Cup while Saudi Arabia were held to a 2-2 draw with Tunisia.
   Saudi Arabia coach Marcos Paqueta boldly criticised Ukraine as ‘weak’ after
   their Spanish debacle, and suggested they needed to
   change their tactics after finding themselves bottom of Group H following the first set of matches.
   ‘Ukraine is a weak team,’ said the Brazilian whose team leaked a goal to Tunisia two minutes into injury time for
   the north Africans to sneak a draw.
   ‘The team will improve their performance for Ukraine,’ vowed a confident Paqueta on Sunday. ‘We have a greater chance of qualifying than many people think.
   ‘We have studied the opposition and there is no doubt that Ukraine is a very strong team, but we will do our maximum to get the points, the adequate result to qualify for the next round.
   ‘It’s important that the
   players embrace the same
   warrior spirit for the second game as they did for the
   first.’
   Paqueta added: ‘Ukraine are obliged to go out and attack, to get a result, to try to score
   goals to reduce their goal difference.
   ‘But this tactic can be dangerous, playing under pressure, so we’ll try to benefit from it.’
   Warning enough for the Saudi back four that they can expect a barrage of attacks spearheaded by Chelsea’s record new signing Shevchenko.
   The former AC Milan striker has been struggling with a knee injury and he looked out of sorts against the Spaniards, although he said just getting that game under his belt would help.
   ‘I’m glad I played the full 90 minues after not being in action for such a long time,’ he said. ‘The knee was fine but my physical condition is still a long way from my optimal form, but I need to play games to get that form.’
   It it was a lack of Ukrainian firepower during the Spain game that was most evident, with the former Soviet republic only mustering two shots on target during the entire 90 minutes.
   Saudi Arabia have not won a match since their first appearance in the 1994 World Cup when they reached the second round.
   Paqueta will be hoping from more of the same from striker Sami al-Jaber, a veteran of four World Cup campaigns who joined an elite club when he came off the bench to score for the ‘sons of the desert’ against Tunisia.
   The 34-year-old became only the fourth player to have scored at World Cups 12 years apart, joining Pele, German great Uwe Seeler and Maradona.
   Both scored their first World Cup goals in 1958 and last in 1970, meaning Jaber, who puts his longevity down to a special diet and employing a fitness trainer, is the first to achieve the feat in 36 years.
   ‘We have lost a lot of confidence since 2002 (when Saudi Arabia lost every match) and the first-half against Tunisia
   wasn’t good, but after that 45 minutes we came back to do what we really came for,’ said Jaber.
   ‘We will need to play with more spirit and confidence against Ukraine,’ he said.
   Midfielder Oleg Gusev is doubtful for Ukraine after injuring his left knee in the loss to Spain.
   The Dynamo Kiev player, who failed to appear for the second half against the Spanish, has been unable to train since the match.
   Gusev apart, coach Blokhin will have all his players available for a game his side must win.

What do a Uruguayan parrot breeder, a Mexico lawyer, a stamp collector from France and a Slovakian vascular surgeon have in common?
   Give up? Here’s a clue. Dress them in yellow and black, put a whistle in their hand, and yes, you’ve got it – they’re four of the FIFA referees helping to keep order on the pitch at the 2006 World Cup.
   Referees may have a reputation for being stern, faceless disciplinarians but scratch beneath the surface and you find an exotic and eclectic cast of characters.
   And they have a pretty hard time of it all things being considered – do a good job and no one notices, muck up and the flak flies.
   ‘A Time to Make Friends’ is the World Cup motto but the men in the middle may find that harder to achieve than most.
   Still the 40,000 dollars plus 100 dollars daily allowance they pocket must help ease the pain of any verbal coming their way from irate players. Russian Valentin Ivanov knows the feeling.
   He was the referee who turned down France’s appeals for a penalty when Swiss defender Patrick Muller’s hand got in the way of Thierry Henry’s 37th- minute shot in Stuttgart on Tuesday.
   Henry was perplexed by Ivanov’s ruling. ‘Somebody better explain to me the handball rule,’ said the Arsenal attacker.
   ‘If the hand stops the ball from going in the goal, it should be a penalty.’
   Henry probably wasn’t aware though that Ivanov comes from prized footballing stock as the teacher from Moscow is the son of no less an icon than Russian great Valentin Kozmich Ivanov, joint top scorer at the 1962 World Cup.
   The range of jobs and interests from which this band of brothers are drawn is mind boggling.
   For instance if the report on Germany’s pulsating 3-2 win over Costa Rica in the opening game last Friday was written in iambic pentameter there’s a good reason as the ref that day, Horacio Elizondo, is an Argentine poet.
   Australia were on cloud nine after hammering Japan 3-1 in Kaiserslautern on Monday which is where the referee that day Essam Abd El Fatah spends a lot of his time as a pilot for Egypt Airways.
   And players may regret provoking the ire of assistant referee Jean Marie Endeng Zogo who when he’s not running up and down the sideline serves as a prison military superintendent in his native Cameroon.
   He is also a karate expert and speaks six languages.
   Football is a stressful business for the health – just ask any German fans watching the hosts’ last gap win against Poland – and anyone with problems in that department could do worse than book a consultation with one of Zogo’s colleagues, Roman Slysko, a vascular surgeon from Bratislava.
   Premiership stars who wish to take action against tabloids publishing lewd reports about their not-so-private private life should be addressed to Benito Archundia, a lawyer from Tlalnepantla in Mexico who refereed Brazil’s opening win over Croatia, while if there are any parrot breeders out there then Jorge Larriona’s your man.
   But if any were looking for a holiday companion they might think twice before choosing Eric Poulat, a computer wizard who lists stamp collecting as his preferred pastime.
   Swiss managing director Massimo Busacca, in charge of Spain’s rout of Ukraine on Wednesday, meanwhile, conceded what many fans have doubted – that referees are, after all, human.
   ‘Ours is a thankless task, because everyone expects the referee’s performance to be faultless,’ said the 37-year-old who enjoys rustling up a cordon bleu meal in his spare time.
   ‘No one wants their team to lose – players, managers or fans. But since we are human, we sometimes make mistakes.
   Bussacca says that while refs may be flesh and blood it helps to have nerves of steel.
   And a cool head.

Jurgen Klinsmann has backed his assistant Joachim Low to succeed him as Germany coach should he decide to step down from the post after the World Cup finals.
   Klinsmann, 41, has yet to make a decision on whether he will stay on as national coach saying he will decide his future after the finals.
   But he is in no doubt who the perfect choice would be to take over claiming Low has all the attributes to do the job.
   ‘Jogi could take over that is for sure,’ Klinsmann said in an interview with Welt am Sonntag. ‘He has the right eye and the right tone.
   ‘He has worked for years as a coach and his experience with tactics is far superior to mine.’
   Low, 47, has worked as head coach at VfB Stuttgart, Fenerbahce and Austria Vienna before being appointed Klinsmann’s assistant in August 2004.
   The German Football Federation (DFB) have been trying to persuade Klinsmann to sign a contract extension for months but the former Bayern Munich man refuses to be pressurised.
   ‘I want to see how this World Cup goes then I will step back and speak with my family and my wife about it,’ Klinsmann revealed.

US media were aglow Sunday after the US team - at the bottom of the Group E standings - managed to keep alive their World Cup hopes by holding on for a 1-1 draw against European giants Italy.
   After the draw ‘the US players fell, one by one, to the turf,’ The Washington Post said under the headline ‘A Victory in a Tie.’
   ‘Mostly it was a product of the exhaustion of playing shorthanded for nearly half the game against one of international soccer’s most fabled teams. However, the enormity of what they had just accomplished ... sapped the Americans of energy and emotion,’ the Post added.
   US goalkeeper Kasey Keller paid tribute to his teammates.
   ‘These guys bled today for our country and our team,’ Keller said. ‘I’m proud of everybody.’
   The result leaves the group wide open going into the final first round match with Italy on four points, followed by the Czech Republic and Ghana both on three and the Americans.
   Italy next face the Czech Republic in Hamburg next Thursday, while the United States take on Ghana in Nuremberg the same day.
   The ‘Americans Flash Their Spikes and Their Pride,’ observed The New York Times, adding ‘The Americans moved the ball, challenged Italy’s defense, and rushed back on defense.’
   ‘The United States soccer team’s reputation, in tatters after a meek loss Monday to the Czech Republic, is again intact,’ crowed The Los Angeles Times.
   Despite two red cards for US players ‘the Americans regrouped. Arena made some substitutions that worked—replacing Convey with defender Jimmy Conrad, and later, dropping Dempsey for Beasley—and the US set out to preserve the invaluable tie,’ the Los Angeles daily said.
   Under the headline ‘US soccer team bloodied but unbowed,’ the Chicago Tribune said: ‘Just when you thought the Americans were out of the World Cup, they pull themselves back in.’

The Czech Republic must rely on their midfield to produce goals to beat Italy and guarantee World Cup survival since injuries and suspensions have ruled out key players, coach Karel Brueckner said on Sunday.
   ‘We have four players out of the game and don’t have many possibilities left especially among forwards,’ Brueckner told reporters after a training session.
   ‘Thankfully our midfield is complete and that’s our strength.’
   A surprise 2-0 defeat to Ghana on Saturday has badly dented the Czechs’ chances of qualifying for the next round, while the suspension of striker Vratislav Lokvenc for the next game deepens a crisis over the availability of forwards.
   Striker Jan Koller will miss the game with a hamstring injury. Milan Baros, who has missed the first two games with a foot injury, has been cleared to resume running on Monday, but it is not clear if he will be available for the Italy game.
   A red card for Tomas Ujfalusi, one of the team’s best defenders whose experience in Serie A would have been valuable against Italy, means he too will miss the Italy game. Another defender with Italian top league experience, Marek Jankulovski, has picked up an ankle injury that stopped him training properly on Sunday, but he should recover in time.
   ‘He has a slight injury but I’m sure Marek will be fit for the match against Italy,’ said Brueckner.
   To beat Italy, the Czechs are going to have to demonstrate the kind of flowing midfield dominance that powered them to a 3-0 win over the United States in the first group game but that was hardly visible against Ghana.
   It will fall to players like Tomas Rosicky and Pavel Nedved to provide the attacking threat from midfield and support what will effectively be fourth- and fifth-choice strikers, likely to be Marek Heinz and Jiri Stajner.
   When on form, the midfield can beat the world’s best, but there have been questions over whether the players are getting too old. Nedved and captain Tomas Galasek are 33, while fellow midfielder Karel Poborsky is 34.
   Against the United States they outpaced their younger opponents but they were little match for Ghana and both Poborsky and Galasek were substituted.
   ‘If we play our game we still have a big chance to win against Italy and that’s what we’re going to try to do,’ said goalkeeper Petr Cech.

Ghana’s Black Stars stunning 2-0 dismantling on Saturday of the highly-regarded Czech Republic side lifted the gloom that had swiftly descended onto the African challenge at the World Cup.
   Perhaps inspired by Friday night’s events with Angola’s gutsy 0-0 draw with one of the underachieving giants of World Cup history Mexico, Ghana now stand one win away from a place in the last 16 at their first World Cup finals while the Angolans too have an outside chance of going through.
   That has greatly lifted the spirits after African Nations Cup finalists Ivory Coast crashed out of the tournament on Saturday while Togo lost their first match and Tunisia probably saw their chances ended with a 2-2 draw against Saudi Arabia.
   Both do have two matches in which to rectify things, however.
   Such is the fickle nature of football and especially African football that Ghana’s Serbian coach Ratomir Dujkovic stands to become a national hero just months after he was almost sacked for their embarrassing first round exit at the African Nations Cup.
   However the 60-year-old coach is under no illusions how important the final group match against the United States is.
   The next match will be the most important of my career,’ said Dujkovic, whose previous highlight at international level was guiding Rwanda to an African Nations Cup finals for the first time in their history in 2004.
   However Dujkovic acknowledges that he will have a hard enough task keeping his talented team’s feet firmly on the ground in a match that the Americans need to win to have any hope of progressing after their courageous 1-1 draw with Italy.
   ‘We have to calm down. The Africans are emotional people,’ said Dujkovic, who has also coached among others Burma.
   While he will be without striker Asamoah Gyan, who picked up his second booking of the tournament for taking a penalty without the referee’s consent, he will have the dynamic influences of captain Stephen Appiah and Michael Essien to worry the Americans.
   Another of their teammates Paul Boateng summed up what it would mean to make the last 16 not just for his country but for the continent as a whole.
   ‘That’s our aim, it would be fantastic for us and we’re looking forward to that, because it’s very important for us and the whole country, the whole of Africa,’ said Boateng, who came on in the second half.
   For Angola there remains their final match against a dispirited Iran - losers of both of their matches - and should Portugal beat Mexico the African side could progress provided they improve their goal difference.
   Whatever their point against Mexico has already sated the lust of their coach Luis de Oliveira Goncalves in terms of history.
   ‘That was the best result in Angolan football history’.
   ‘We have to have a little bit of ambition because after we won this point here tonight we have to believe we can win three points.
   ‘Our president said we are special and I agree with him, and we’re going to try to be special in the game against Iran.’
   Ivory Coast’s Henri Michel has seen his stock slump in reverse to that of Dujkovic’s having qualified the Elephants for their first ever World Cup finals and then taken them to a penalty shootout loss to Egypt in the African Nations Cup final. Now the 57-year-old Frenchman is being slated for their failure to get through a group that included two-time champions Argentina and two-time finalists The Netherlands, though, both only edged their matches against his side 2-1.
   However the former French international striker has been around the African football block often enough to know what really matters.
   ‘Everyone tells me this team plays great football,’ said Michel, who guided France to the 1986 World Cup semi-finals.
   ‘What’s more important is the result. And the result was not good. We’re out and that’s the bottom line.
   ‘It means that Ivory Coast are still not at the level of the big teams at the World Cup.’
   Thankfully for Africa Ghana may just be at that level.

Defensive lynchpin John Terry believes England are on an upward curve and has urged patience in their campaign to win the World Cup for the first time in 40 years.
   England’s first two performances, against Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago, have not matched the results, but the 25-year-old Chelsea captain is not worried.
   ‘Two out of two, six points. It can’t be much better really,’ he said at England’s training base in southern Germany on Sunday.
   ‘Let’s be encouraged by the fact that things can only get better for a performance point of view.
   ‘But the results are there, that patience is there from the lads as well. Let’s be patient and be encouraged by the fact that we’re not playing well but we’re still getting the right results.’
   England can expect a stiffer test from Sweden on Tuesday in Cologne, and Terry is adamant that England will go all out for a win despite already having qualified for the round of 16.
   ‘We want to top the group and the manager has spoken about how important it is to do that, with the extra day’s rest after games and later kick-off times,’ he said.
   ‘There is also a record to be set straight as we haven’t beaten them for a while and we are going out there to win the game.’
   England have failed to beat the Swedes since 1968.
   They go into the game with three players on yellow cards – Peter Crouch, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard – and with injury concerns over Gary Neville, meaning Eriksson is likely to make some changes to his starting 11.
   Gerrard is tipped to be rested, but it is not clear what the Swede plans to do about his front line with Wayne Rooney fit, Crouch scoring goals and Michael Owen in a form slump.
   ‘Obviously, we’re in a very good position as we have qualified already and it’s down to the manager to make a decision on resting players,’ said Terry, who is certain to start.
   ‘He can rest players and keep an eye on players, but obviously we want to win and keep the winning mentality throughout.’
   Rooney came on as a substitute for Owen against Trinidad and Tobago and revitalised the team, who were struggling at 0-0.
   Terry, who made his debut in 2003 and is touted as a future England captain, said he was looking sharp in training and was raring to go.
   ‘Marking him is a nightmare so obviously it’s looking good. He’s looking very sharp and very ready to go,’ he said of the Manchester United striker.
   ‘I think he’d tell you he’d got 160 minutes in him. He does look very good, looks very sharp.’

Frank Lampard has lashed out at ex-international players who have criticised England’s start to the World Cup.
   The Chelsea midfielder expressed disappointment that several former players now working in the media, have had harsh words about England’s performances.
   Though Lampard did not name names, it is clear that his rebuke was directed at former skipper Alan Shearer, now working as a pundit for the BBC.
   ‘We are fortunate enough to get English TV and we see it,’ said Lampard. ‘There’s nothing worse than seeing an ex-player who has played in the pressure cooker situation of a World Cup come out and give negative remarks.
   ‘It’s very easy to give a negative remark rather than something constructive and it only makes an issue of things. ‘You certainly won’t see me sitting in 20 or 30 years’ time, slagging off an England team performance,’ added Lampard. ‘Shoot me if you do.’
   Other former England internationals believed to have irked Sven-Goran Eriksson’s squad include Ian Wright, Chris Waddle and Terry Butcher.
   Lampard diplomatically declined to specify who exactly he was talking about.
   ‘I just stand by what I said. I suppose we are talking about recent ex-internationals,’ he said.
   ‘When you play for England it’s the best thing you can do in football. ‘There are so many great things about playing for England but one of the hard things that come into it is the press and the criticism you get when there’s a bad result.
   ‘We understand that, but the one thing you ask as a player is that an ex-player who’s been through this doesn’t add to it.’
   Shearer has been particularly scathing of England’s performances so far, two lacklustre victories over Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago, criticising the team’s performance and Eriksson’s tactics.

An Ecuador assistant coach joked that his side’s World Cup run would see him replace Alex Ferguson as Manchester United manager but for the players attracting foreign clubs is a serious business.
   Ecuador are assured of a place in the last 16 only four years after their World Cup finals debut following convincing victories over Poland and Costa Rica.
   Indeed they will end up top of Group A if they draw with hosts Germany in their final match on Tuesday. The squad arrived as virtually nobodies—hardly surprising given only five of them play abroad—and a general sense that they do not travel well, having been unbeaten in qualifying at their high altitude home but victorious only once on the road against Bolivia.
   Ecuadoreans have hardly made a mark overseas. Striker Agustin Delgado lasted over two seasons at then premiership side Southampton but injury limited him to just five starts.
   Right back Ulises de la Cruz, the only squad member in the premiership, struggles to make the starting line-up of mid-table Aston Villa.
   Two of their number, captain Ivan Hurtado and striker Carlos Tenorio, ply their trade in Qatar.
   Striker Ivan Kaviedes, now at Argentinos Juniors, was the first Ecuadorean to play in Europe when he moved to Perugia in 1998 but has hardly settled, moving clubs more than a dozen times since then. Ecuador arrived in Germany at a low-point following a 2-1 friendly loss to Macedonia at the end of May. Pundits were predicting an early exit. But since then they have blossomed and proved their critics wrong.
   Centre back Giovanny Espinoza, right midfield supplier Edison Mendez or fellow midfielder Segundo Castillo, all playing for sides in capital Quito, have all raised their profiles.
   When asked about future prospects, the players themselves give a standard answer that their thoughts are only on the next game but no doubt their agents are fielding far more calls.
   If pressed, some admit to having ambitions to move to bigger clubs in Europe. Hurtado, Ecuador’s most capped player and now at Qatar’s Al Arabi, has his sights on the premiership or possibly a return to Spain, although nothing has been settled.

Angry US coach Bruce Arena expects the Americans will someday receive the same respect from World Cup referees that such powers as Italy are given.
   Until then, the US path to World Cup success could feature more foul-filled matches as the 1-1 draw with Italy on Saturday that kept alive their chances of advancing the second round.
   Nine-man US held off 10-man Italy in a bruising match.
   The Americans were penalised for 24 fouls, 18 in the first half. Italy were punished 13 times in the whole game.
   ‘That’s natural. The powers of the game get a little more respect. One day the US will get some of those calls,’ Arena said.
   An animated Arena was waving his arms, yelling and complaining during the match, even being asked to calm down by a FIFA official on the sidelines as he protested what he considered to be Italian players faking injuries.
   Italian manager Marcelo Lippi took exception to the complaint but kept his thoughts to himself after the match.
   ‘I have no comment about what Mr Arena says about us,’ Lippi said. ‘I have things to say about his people, but I’m not doing it.’
   Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda received plenty of Arena’s verbal wrath, but the World Cup’s longest-tenured coach said the US must ignore such things.
   ‘I’m not sure I’ve ever coached in a game where we had two players ejected. I never expected that,’ Arena said. ‘There’s not a lot you can do to prepare for that. We’ve trained 10 on 11 but I’ve never seen nine on 10.
   ‘The referee made some mistakes. But so did we. We have to move on and focus on our next match.’
   That will be Thursday at Nuremberg against Ghana, the African side who upset the Czech Republic 2-0 on Saturday. The Czechs beat the United States 3-0 in their opener.
   ‘We only lost a soccer game. We didn’t lose our dignity, honour and respect,’ Arena said. ‘We felt we needed to step on the field and show how we can perform. I hope we play that well against Ghana.’
   The US team played 11-on-10 for much of the first half after Italy’s Daniele De Rossi received a red card in the 28th minute for slamming a right elbow into the face of Brian McBride as both went for a high ball.
   ‘It was a vicious elbow. It could have broken his face,’ Arena said.
   ‘There were a lot of fouls. It made for a difficult game. Once the first red card was shown, the thinking was, ‘Look for the opportunity to even things up.’ That came pretty quickly.’
   Referee Jorge Larrionda defended his decisions to red-card the players, only the fourth time in World Cup history that three men have been sent off in the same match.
   ‘In all three cases, I was right,’ said the Uruguayan. ‘To me the decisions were clear-cut.’
   Despite being last in Group E and producing their only goal on an own goal by Italy’s Cristian Zaccardo, the Americans can still advance to the round of 16 by defeating Ghana.
   US and Italian victories would send both winners into knockout rounds.
   A US victory and Czech triumph would force the US to overcome a five-goal difference to Italy to advance. An Italy-Czech draw would force the US to win by four goals to have a chance of getting through.
   ‘We’re where we want to be – we’re alive,’ Arena said. ‘Who knows what will happen? Maybe four points will be enough for the US team to get out of the group. We’ll see.’
   Arena was especially proud of how the Americans held off Italy after losing Pablo Mastroeni to a 45th-minute red card and Eddie Pope to a second yellow in the second minute of the second half.
   ‘I thought the second yellow on Eddie Pope was a little harsh. Eddie told me in the locker room after the game he got the ball,’ Arena said.
   ‘The way our team held together and got a point is fantastic.’

England must up the tempo and play faster football to bamboozle the opposition if they want to go all the way at the World Cup, top players Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard say.
   Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side have already qualified for the last 16 but have a tricky game against Sweden on Tuesday to determine who tops Group B.
   England were criticised in their matches against Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago for being lethargic and playing too many long balls instead of keeping it simple and building the breaks.
   Rampaging midfielder Lampard admits that the team must improve if they are to have a realistic chance of lifting the trophy for the first time in 40 years.
   ‘The team can improve and it needs to improve,’ he said at their training base in southern Germany. ‘I think maybe we can play a slightly higher tempo with the ball.
   ‘One of the problems with Trinidad was that they were very organised and were prepared to sit back. If you don’t move the ball quick enough against teams like that then it is very hard to break them down.
   ‘Our English game is about moving the ball fast and playing with the extra speed that we play with in our home league so maybe we can do that a bit more in our upcoming games.’
   Combine a faster-paced approach with the passion in the England squad and the convincing results will come, he insisted.
   ‘The right way to play in my eyes, and we have that passion, is when we have the ball to move it quickly. We are very hard to defend against and when the other side have the ball we need to put them under pressure which we can do better than anyone else in the world.’
   Lampard is forging a better understanding in midfield with Gerrard after a sticky start to their partnership and the Liverpool captain shares similar sentiments on how England need to play if they want success.
   ‘We’re happy with the position we are in the group with six points but we do understand that we need to start playing better, and quickly,’ he said.
   ‘We need to start playing one-and-two touch football and move the ball a lot quicker. If you are just plodding along and the passing is slow, they just get back into position and get a lot of men behind the ball.’
   Gerrard and Lampard are both on yellow cards and Eriksson has hinted that he may rest one of them against Sweden, which could open the door to Michael Carrick, Jamie Carragher, Owen Hargreaves or Stewart Downing.
   Neither man wants to sit out the match, but whatever happens they are convinced that when the going gets tough the team will deliver.

It is easier to score a goal involving 25 touches by the team than dribble past several defenders like Diego Maradona’s great World Cup strike against England in 1986, Argentina’s Esteban Cambiasso said.
   ‘It may be hard to imagine but it’s probably more likely to score a goal with 25 touches ... than to dribble past two or three players because they can bring you down after the first or second dribble,’ he said.
   ‘To imagine a goal nowadays with half the dribbles that Diego made seems impossible to me but with one or two touches (per player) it’s something more feasible,’ the midfielder told reporters at Argentina’s World Cup base.
   Cambiasso was the scorer when, half an hour into the match, Argentina strung together a brilliant move of 24 passes for their second goal in the 6-0 rout of Serbia & Montenegro in Group C on Friday.
   Argentina gradually worked their way into the Serb box where Hernan Crespo backheeled Javier Saviola’s pass to Cambiasso who struck a rising left-footed shot into the roof of the net.
   Cambiasso’s goal, his second in 24 matches for Argentina, has been acclaimed as one of the best ever in World Cups and potentially the best of this tournament with less than half the 64 matches played.
   Former Argentina captain Maradona’s goal, his second in a 2-1 win over England in the 1986 quarter-finals in Mexico, was voted the best in World Cup history.
   He ran virtually single-handedly through the England midfield and defence to score.

Côte d’Ivoire coach Henri Michel said on Sunday that the Elephants’ final FIFA World Cup™ Group C game against Serbia and Montenegro on Wednesday will be his last in charge, in line with his contract.
   ‘The Ivorian Soccer Federation did not ask to extend my contract, so for me it finishes with the match against the Serbians,’ the Frenchman told a news conference.
   Asked whether he would consider coaching another African team, Michel said: ‘I have given quite a lot to Africa already.’

The hardest task facing World Cup debutants Ghana will be bringing themselves down from the high that followed Saturday’s 2-0 win over Czech Republic.
   ‘We coaches always have the same problem,’ said Ratomir Dujkovic after watching his team outplay the Czechs in virtually all areas in their Group E match at the Rhein-Energie-Stadion.
   ‘If we lose a game, then we have to work hard to up the morale in the team and when we win we have to try just as hard to calm everybody down,’ added the Serbian.
   While their first triumph was vital to Ghana’s chances of making it past the group stage, it was also described by the players as an important statement for Africa, whose teams had failed to manage a single win at this year’s tournament.
   ‘It’s for the team, for the country and for all the African teams in the world,’ influential midfielder Michael Essien insisted after picking up the Man of the Match award.
   ‘Of course, we knew that the other African sides had not been doing that well,’ said Asamoah Gyan, scorer of the opening goal. ‘That definitely helped motivate us and now hopefully there will be at least one African team in the second round.’
   Although Ghana were the first African side at these finals to leave the pitch as winners, the continent’s other World Cup qualifiers have played well without reaping the same reward.
   The most obvious example are Ivory Coast, widely considered to be Africa’s strongest team but finding themselves in Group C which is arguably the tournament’s toughest.
   Despite two passionate and committed performances against Argentina and Netherlands, the Ivorians lost by a single goal on each occasion and will be disappointed to finish their campaign with a meaningless game against Serbia & Montenegro.
   In Group G Togo had looked on course to register Africa’s opening win when they took a deserved lead in their first game against South Korea last Tuesday.
   But the dismissal of captain Jean-Paul Yaovi Abalo Dosseh helped the Koreans turn the game around with two second half goals, leaving Togo needing a strong finish in their remaining group games against Switzerland and France.
   Unfancied Angola are also still in with a chance after holding Mexico to an unlikely 0-0 draw in Group D and could make the second round on goal difference if they beat Iran in their final group match and Portugal beat the Mexicans.
   Tunisia remain unbeaten in Group H, although their 2-2 draw with Saudi Arabia seemed to say as much about the progress of Asian football as it did about the African game.
   The Tunisians needed an injury time equaliser to keep their chances alive ahead of tricky encounters with Spain and Ukraine.
   Whatever happens to their fellow Africans in the remaining group matches, Ghana certainly suggested on Saturday that the continent deserves at least one representative in the final 16.
   If the Black Stars follow their display against the Czechs with a win over the U.S. on Thursday their progress is assured.
   Such an achievement would no doubt see further wild celebrations in Ghana’s capital Accra, which was already awash with delirious supporters following Saturday’s final whistle.
   After hearing calls for his dismissal following the team’s opening defeat to Italy, though, Dujkovic was never likely to be among those getting too carried away.
   ‘Us coaches always have our bags packed ready to go,’ he said with a wry smile. ‘It’s logical in Africa that after a defeat everybody wants the coach’s head. Now that we’ve won I’m suddenly a hero in Ghana. It’s an emotional place!’

Iker Casillas’s career might never have been the same had it not been for an untimely injury to a team mate at Real Madrid and a bizarre incident involving a bottle of aftershave.
   Four years ago after a fast-track promotion to the Real first team, the young keeper’s career had appeared to stall after he lost his place in the starting lineup.
   But all that changed when first choice keeper Cesar picked up an injury in the Champions League final against Bayer Leverkusen as his team were trying to withstand a series of attacks from the German side.
   The then 20-year-old dusted off his gloves and produced a string of near miraculous saves to preserve his side’s 2-1 lead and together with Zinedine Zidane became the hero of Real’s ninth European Cup victory.
   Despite his lack of match practice he was included in the squad for the 2002 World Cup, although he was destined to play second fiddle to the undisputed first-choice Santiago Canizares.
   But the Valencia keeper’s World Cup finished before it had even started when he severed a tendon in his big toe after dropping an aftershave bottle on his foot at the team’s training base in Jerez shortly before the team was due to depart.
   Once again Casillas stepped into the breach and Spain’s number one jersey has been his ever since.
   ‘I have to admit it was a turning point for me,’ Casillas told Reuters in an interview. ‘More than the Champions League injury to Cesar, it was the World Cup that changed things.
   ‘What happened to Canizares meant that after more than two months without playing I had to become match fit and get ready to play as soon as possible.
   ‘It was difficult, but it worked out very well and that’s when things really started to take off for me. I haven’t looked back since.’
   Casillas went on to become the hero of Spain’s World Cup campaign with an inspirational performance in the penalty shootout against Ireland in the last 16 leading to him being dubbed ‘San Iker’ (Saint Iker) by the Spanish media.
   The experience was soured, however, by the team’s controversial quarter-final exit to co-hosts South Korea when they went out on penalties after having two apparently legal goals disallowed by referee Gamal Ghandour.
   ‘I remember the Ireland game vividly and it was nice to enjoy the sort of luck which Spain doesn’t usually get,’ Casillas said. ‘But it was a shame we couldn’t do the same when it went to penalties against South Korea.
   ‘Spain played very well in that World Cup and if it hadn’t been for some unfortunate refereeing we could have gone further,’ he said.
   ‘I think overall we left with a very clear conscience because we did absolutely everything we could. We played some good football and we could have got into the semi-finals.’
   Along with Ronaldo, Casillas was the key player in Real Madrid’s drive to the league title in 2003, but since then the Primera Liga side’s fortunes have nose-dived.
   The very fact that he has had such a barren time at club level makes the 25-year-old even more determined to enjoy some success with the national side.
   ‘The truth is we’ve had three poor seasons at Real, but that is behind me now. It means I’ve still got a big appetite to play and now I’m totally focused on playing for Spain.
   ‘Joining up with the national team helps you recharge your batteries, renew your ideas and enthusiasm. The timing has been perfect for me.’
   Casillas, captain of Spain when Raul is on the bench, was probably their most under-employed player as they crushed Ukraine 4-0 in their opening match.
   He knows the main event is yet to come, though.
   ‘Right now we are still in the group phase and after the win over Ukraine we are in with a great chance of qualifying,’ he said. ‘But the big prizes are only at stake when you get to the knockout stage. That’s when the real action takes place.

Italy coach Marcello Lippi has admitted he and his team had underestimated the United States following their 1-1 draw against the 2002 quarter-finalists in Kaiserslautern.
   The Azzurri were held by Bruce Arena’s battling side in Saturday’s bad-tempered game which saw three players sent off - two for the US and one for Italy.
   The result means that all four teams in Group E, which also includes Ghana and the Czech Republic, still have a chance of making the last 16.
   Italy’s draw left them needing a point from their their final group game against the Czechs next Thursday to reach the knockout round.
   ‘After our win against Ghana, we thought it was going to be easy against the US but it turned out to be a difficult day,’ Lippi said on Sunday.
   ‘This is a group of steel and the USA’s performance against us proved that.
   ‘On our part there is some bitterness because we had expected a much different performance from ourselves.’
   Lippi took some consolation from the fact that even a win against the US would not have guaranteed qualification for the last 16.
   ‘If we had won, the situation would not have been much different,’ said the 58-year-old.
   ‘We would have been faced with less difficulty, but the race for first place would still be a problem.
   ‘Now first place depends all on us, not anybody else.’
   Lippi admitted the Serie A match-fixing scandal that has engulfed Italian football had affected the players.
   ‘I don’t want to make excuses for our performance against the US, but I have seen how hard the boys have worked in these last few months and I’ve felt the tension,’ he said.
   Lippi sent out a positive message to the Italy supporters, telling them not to give up on the team. ‘I would tell all Italians not to lose faith in us,’ he said.
   ‘We intend to go further in the competition, that’s for sure.
   ‘We don’t expect to dominate every game - we are not robots. It’s not possible. Our fans must understand there are highs and lows, that at times we can make mistakes.’ Lippi revealed midfielder Simone Perrotta may miss the Czech game after picking up a hamstring injury.
   Italy will qualify for the last 16 as Group E winners if they beat the Czechs. The Italians will also finish top if they draw with the Czechs and Ghana don’t beat the USA.

Italy are determined to make amends for their disastrous display against the USA by defeating the Czech Republic in their final first round match and reaching the World Cup’s last 16.
   The Italians were held to a 1-1 draw by Bruce Arena’s battling side in a bad-tempered game here at the Fritz-Walter stadium on Saturday where three players were sent off - two for the US and one for Italy.
   The result means that all four teams in Group E, which also includes Ghana and the Czechs, still have a chance of making the first knockout round.
   A draw against the Czechs will be enough to see Italy through, but the Azzurri players want a victory to restore their battered pride.
   ‘We’ve got to go for it and avoid making calculations,’ said tough-tackling midfielder Gennaro Gattuso.
   ‘We must win, even if a draw is sufficient. It’s dangerous playing for a draw.
   ‘We won’t be hiding. It’s time to keep our feet on the ground and let our football do the talking.’
   Alberto Gilardino, who put Italy ahead with a diving header only for Cristian Zaccardo to level the score with an own goal, was right behind Gattuso.
   ‘Now we’ve got to beat the Czechs,’ said the AC Milan striker.
   ‘It’s a shame I scored the goal that opened up the match, only to end up with a draw. But we’re still top of the group and our destiny is in our own hands. We can do it.’
   Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro insisted all was not lost.
   ‘We’ve made life difficult for ourselves, but we can still do well,’ he said.
   ‘Against the US we suffered a lot, but we have to stay focussed.’
   Italy coach Marcello Lippi blamed his team’s lacklustre performance on tiredness.
   ‘Obviously we expected a better result, but I feel we paid the price for the energy we used up in the Ghana match,’ he said.
   Italy’s Daniele De Rossi was the first player to be sent off, shown a straight red card in the 28th minute for elbowing Brian McBride in the face.
   Pablo Mastroeni followed him down the tunnel a minute before half time after clattering into Andrea Pirlo with a late lunge for another straight red.
   The Americans were reduced to nine men a minute a minute after half time when Eddie Pope picked up his second yellow card. It was only the fourth time in the history of the World Cup that three players had been sent off in the same match.
   Italy were unable to make their numerical advantage count for the remaining 44 minutes and Kasey Keller pulled off two superb saves to deny Alessandro Del Piero as the US held on for a share of the spoils.
   Keller picked up the man-of-the-match award, but paid tribute to his teammates.
   ‘These guys bled today for our country and our team,’ he said. ‘I’m proud of everybody.’

Who do you root for in New York when the Americans and Italians face each other in the World Cup?
   Scores of adoring and frustrated Italians flocked Saturday to Little Italy to cheer the Azzurri as they played the Americans in the first round. The afternoon ebbed and flowed like the Peronis, the Italian beer glued to plenty of nervous hands.
   Every time the Italians missed a chance to score, their fans bellowed deep sighs. When the Italians put one in the net, thunderous cheers washed over the gritty streets.
   When they accidentally put one in the net for the Americans, the grief was undeniable.
   But Italians weren’t they only ones looking for a victory. Thousands of Italian-Americans, New Yorkers and tourists crowded every nook and cranny of Little Italy, and plenty were rooting for the underdog Yanks.
   The game put plenty, including amore, on hold.
   Marco and Valeria Caprari, who live near Bologna, Italy, brought their honeymoon to a halt as they positioned themselves inside an elbow-room-only trattoria showing the game.
   ‘We need to see the game,’ said Valeria, 27.
   Her husband, draped in a blue Italian jersey and unfazed by a phalanx of Americans behind him, confidently predicted 3-1 for the Italians.
   America had never won a World Cup game on European soil. The Italians have won the cup three times. The United States didn’t seem to have much of a chance.
   Still, the Italians watching had their moments of panic.
   When the Americans had a free kick in the first half, Cecilia Bottoni, who also lives near Bologna, covered her eyes and shrieked a desperate, ‘NOOO!’ The Americans missed; she exhaled.
   Peter Carbonara, 26, of Queens, was conflicted. He wanted the Italians to win, but also wanted the Americans to get some credit for building a competitive soccer program.
   He said Little Italy was the perfect place to watch the game because Italy was playing.
   ‘I think if it was the United States playing the Paraguay, it would be a dust bowl,’ he said.
   At one of the oldest cheese stores in America, Alleva, employee Joe Pelmetto, 63, said he came to America in 1978 from southern Italy. His heart, he said, remained with his native land.
   ‘I got to go for the Italians,’ he said in a thick accent.
   John Alleva, 24, whose Italian family opened the store in 1892, had to pull for the United States.
   ‘I was born here,’ he said. ‘I’d also like to see the US prove themselves on a global stage. If they don’t do well, it doesn’t bode well for soccer in the US’
   When play resumed in the second half, a pair of Romans on their honeymoon stood in front of a television, their emotions playing out as the ball flicked back and forth.
   Christina and Angelo Trevi stomped in front of a restaurant called Palermo when the Italians missed a possible goal. They hugged after the referee said an American player was offside when he scored, a goal that would have put the Americans up 2-1.
   In the end, the undermanned US team ground out a 1-1 tie. The Americans were happy. Not so the Italians.
   ‘It was disappointing,’ Vito Abbate of Sicily said. ‘We should have won.’
   But Abbate remained undeterred, that famous Italian zest for life unabated.
   ‘See you at the final. Ciao.’

Mexico coach Ricardo La Volpe gave his players a day off on Sunday to celebrate Father’s Day.
   It was a particularly poignant day for the Mexicans whose keeper, Oswaldo Sanchez, flew home on the eve of the finals to attend the funeral of his father.
   Fifty-year-old Felipe Sanchez, who was due to travel to watch his son play at the finals, died from a heart attack.
   But the Mexican number one returned in time to help Mexico beat Iran 3-1 in their opening game two days later. He also played in his team’s scoreless draw against Angola.
   ‘It is Father’s Day in Mexico and the team had a special mass this morning at the hotel as a tribute to Oswaldo’s dad,’ a spokesman for the Mexican football association said on Sunday.
   ‘Afterwards, the players went to spend the day with their families and celebrate the day.’
   Mexico play Portugal in their final Group D game on Wednesday, needing a draw to reach the second round.

The 300 big screen areas set up across Germany to watch World Cup games have been overrun by such massive crowds that FIFA wants them expanded.
   Berlin’s fan mile, the country’s biggest with dozens of screens, was closed Wednesday after 500,000 jammed inside to watch Germany edge Poland 1-0. The story has been similar across the country.
   ‘If that many people keep coming, they are just too full,’ said FIFA spokesman Markus Siegler.
   Cities with World Cup stadiums have been overwhelmed as the 3 million visitors to Germany and locals from surrounding areas pour in for the all-day parties on game days.
   FIFA and German organizers set up the jumbo screen areas to give people a place to watch matches together when it became clear tickets were extremely scarce. Demand for tickets was at least 10 times the 3 million printed.
   World Cup cities Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt and Dortmund have already expanded their big screen areas, according to Siegler.
   Berlin, however, wants FIFA to foot some of the bill for building out its fan mile. Senate spokesman Michael Donnermeyer said the city also wasn’t sure if it could handle the added traffic or master other logistics.
   The big screen areas have been peaceful, allaying authorities’ fears before the tournament that violent fans could generate trouble there because they weren’t allowed in the stadiums.

Reveling in his status as an ordinary tournament spectator, five-time World Cup coach Bora Milutinovic said he never knew the experience could be so much fun.
   ‘This is the first time in nearly 25 years that I can actually enjoy myself without the stress of having to worry about my team,’ Milutinovic said.
   ‘I had forgotten the World Cup is actually fun. I’ve seen eight matches so far, traveled, met old friends, and generally enjoyed myself tremendously.’
   Milutinovic remains the only man to have coached five different teams in the World Cup, having led Mexico, Costa Rica, the United States, Nigeria and China.
   He said he now prefers to simply watch the soccer.
   ‘But that doesn’t mean I won’t be looking to be back as a coach next time around,’ Milutinovic said.
   He expects Brazil, which eliminated Milutinovic’s China four years ago on its way to the World Cup title, to win yet again.
   Milutinovic gained international fame in 1994 after leading the United States team into the knockout round. The fact that he was coaching the host team in that tournament only enhanced his reputation.
   ‘I’m encouraged by how much the Americans have improved since my time, they completely dominated Italy and certainly deserved to win,’ Milutinovic said. ‘Bruce (Arena) has done a great job with the team and I wish him much success.’
   Although he remains a fixture in soccer circles in both America and his adopted home of Mexico - where he now lives with his wife and daughter - Milutinovic is wildly popular in China, whose team he took to its first-ever World Cup four years ago in South Korea and Japan.
   He retains business interests in China and said it’s a pity that the soccer-mad giant failed to qualify under his successor, Ari Haan, for the World Cup in Germany.

When Germany crashed out of the Euro 2004 finals in Portugal without winning a match, not even the most optimistic fan thought lifting the World Cup two years later was possible, but all of a sudden there is real belief that the dream could come true.
   When Jurgen Klinsmann took over as Germany coach in August 2004 he was ridiculed for setting the target of lifting the trophy on home soil.
   ‘We want to win the trophy. Anything less would be a failure,’ Klinsmann said.
   To emphasise that fact, Germany booked hotel rooms in Berlin for the July 9 final.
   Some Germans claimed Klinsmann had been in the United States too long and said the sun had gone to his head, but now it seems as if Klinsmann’s positive thinking has rubbed off on the fans.
   After the 1-0 win over Poland on Wednesday thousands of fans in Dortmund left the stadium chanting ‘Berlin, Berlin. We’re going to Berlin (for the final) at the top of their voices.
   The win helped Germany secure a spot in the last 16 but there are still three games to win to reach the Berlin final.
   Supporters donned t-shirts with ‘1954, 1974, 1990 and 2006’ in reference to Germany’s World Cup triumphs - although the 2006 edition has yet to be decided.
   Apparently the dates of their previous titles are a good omen for Germany with staticians pointing out that 54 multiplied by 74 equals 3996. If you then subtract 1990, that leaves 2006.
   So is it Germany’s fate to win a fourth World Cup crown on July 9?
   ‘We are going to do it,’ said German fan Joachim Holzhauser, a 38-year-old mechanic, who was strangely sporting a Brazil shirt.
   ‘We have the momentum and home support seems to be pushing the players to a different level.
   ‘Perhaps we do not have the best players in this tournament but we have one of the best teams.’
   What makes the renewed German optimism all the more remarkable is their pessimism in the build-up to the finals.
   A 4-1 drubbing by Italy in March, dubbed ‘the Florence fiasco’, had German fans up in arms and the media predicted an early World Cup exit for the hosts.
   Away defeats to Slovakia (2-0) and Turkey (2-1) - two teams that failed to qualify for the finals - also put doubt in the fan’s minds but Klinsmann, a World Cup winner with West Germany in 1990, remained positive throughout.
   ‘If we win a few matches then everyone will believe in us and we will ride the wave,’ he predicted.
   A 4-2 win over Costa Rica and a last ditch 1-0 victory over Poland has seen Germany qualify for the last 16 with one game to spare and the hosts can top the group with a win over Ecuador on Tuesday.
   ‘Klinsmann, you are already celebrating like a World Cup winner,’ declared Bild, the country’s best selling newspaper.
   The mood in the country has certainly been lifted but evaluating Germany’s chances is difficult given that they have only played two competitive matches - against Costa Rica and Poland - in just under two years. In 23 months under Klinsmann Germany have only lost once at home - 3-2 to Brazil in the semi-final of last year’s Confederations Cup - but have failed to beat a recognised top footballing nation.
   Germany captain Michael Ballack admits the current team is a shadow of West Germany’s team that won their last World Cup in 1990.
   ‘We should not forget that we do not have a team like at the 1990 World Cup or even at Euro 1996,’ Ballack confessed.
   ‘Those sides had a lot more established players with international experience.
   ‘But there are still a lot of things to encourage us and we can certainly do it (win World Cup).’
   If Klinsmann can lead the nation to glory against the odds then there could be a lot more Germans adopting his stay positive philosophy at future World Cups.

Italy’s sports press hit out at the national team and coach Marcello Lippi on Sunday after the Italians were held to a 1-1 World Cup draw by the United States in a match marred by three red cards.
   ‘An Italy of madmen,’ ran the headline on the front page of Corriere dello Sport, which went on to describe its players as ‘confused and nervous’.
   ‘Italy did little, too little in the whole of the second half,’ it added. ‘It seemed like they (the USA) had an extra man. Something had gone wrong for sure.’
   Italy took the lead in Saturday night’s game through Alberto Gilardino, but had to settle for a point after defender Cristian Zaccardo sliced the ball into his own net in the first half.
   Both sides finished the first half with 10 men after the sendings off of Italian Daniele De Rossi and American Pablo Mastroeni. Italy failed to take advantage of their numerical superiority following the 47th-minute dismissal of defender Eddie Pope.
   Papers criticised coach Marcello Lippi for his tactics and substitutions against nine men. It also blasted De Rossi, shown the red card for a blatant elbow on U.S. striker Brian McBride.
   ‘It can’t pass unobserved the numerical superiority that the Azzurri should have taken advantage of during the second half,’ Tuttosport said.
   ‘De Rossi has enormous responsibilities and Lippi would do well to shut the door on his World Cup,’ it said.
   ‘Apart from the suspension, De Rossi should finish his days in Germany on the bench.’
   The Italian press had hoped the team would show sportsmanship at the World Cup which comes when the game at home is being rocked by a corruption scandal.
   Even the more moderate Gazzetta dello Sport struggled to take positives from a match which it called a ‘cold shower after the victory (over Ghana) in the opening match’.
   ‘Looking at the (Group E) standings, with Italy top with four points, one could even talk about a small step forwards, but from the point of view of Italy’s image and their game their performance represents a worrying double step backwards.’

A defiant Michael Owen dismissed fears over his World Cup form here Sunday and insisted he could still make a major impact for England at the tournament.
   The Newcastle United striker has been substituted after less than an hour in England’s two opening Group B victories and has looked short of match sharpness after missing most of last season through the injury.
   Owen’s failure to find the target has led to speculation that his place in England’s starting line-up could be under threat for the first time in five years under coach Sven-Goran Eriksson.
   Eriksson however has indicated that Owen will start in England’s final group game against Sweden on Tuesday—and the former Real Madrid striker is determined to repay his coach’s faith in him.
   ‘I’ve been out for a large part of the season and it’s inevitable that I’m not going to be absolutely on top of my game straight away,’ Owen said after an England training session here Sunday.
   ‘I feel I’m playing all right and coming into a little bit of form. I feel good in training. It’s not a confidence thing as I’ve got the belief about me as I’ve done it before. I don’t feel as if I’m playing poorly, tripping over the ball every time I get it or giving the ball away or anything like that. I just haven’t scored.
   ‘In two games, I’ve played 55 minutes and not scored, it’s not the end of the world. I’ve been in this situation before.’
   Owen, England’s third all-time scorer with 36 goals in 79 games, said the current speculation over his place mirrored the experiences of previous England strikers who came under pressure after enduring lean spells.
   ‘I’ve seen it all before with Alan Shearer, Gary Lineker, players like that have all been criticised in the past,’ Owen said.
   ‘I’ve not scored in games before. At the last World Cup, I don’t think I scored in the group stage, but I did in the second round against Denmark and the quarter final against Brazil.
   ‘I know I can do it at this level and there’s a belief inside me which is different to confidence.’
   Owen acknowledged that he is not in peak condition but insisted that he was fully recovered from the broken foot which ruled him out for almost the entire final five months of the English season.
   ‘Since the back-end of the Premiership season I’ve not missed a training session or a match.
   ‘I had a long rest during the season unfortunately, but since then I’ve not missed a training session or a match and I’m pleased with that.’

Switzerland and Togo were in the same boat as they prepared for their World Cup clash in Dortmund today, looking to make an improvement on their first appearances at these finals.
   The Africans, disrupted by the pay row among the squad which led to Otto Pfister quitting as coach before returning a few days later, turned a 1-0 lead over Group G rivals South Korea into a 2-1 defeat in Frankfurt on Tuesday.
   On the same day, Switzerland ground out an uninspiring 0-0 draw with former world champions France, maintaining their image as a well-organised outfit but without winning too many new fans.
   The Swiss are hoping to create more chances than they did against the French.
   ‘I think we will find more space to attack against Togo,’ said coach Koebi Kuhn. ‘We always try to play attacking football but we know ourselves we are not goal machines.
   ‘Our strikers (Alex Frei and Marco Streller) are coming back from a difficult time with injuries and I think the longer the tournament lasts, the better it will be for them.’
   Kuhn says Togo will be no pushovers. ‘Anyone who thinks Togo will be cannon fodder is completely wrong,’ he said.
   ‘I see them as a strong team, who qualified for the World Cup in a strong group, with two very dangerous forwards in Emmanuel Adebayor and Mohamed Kader Coubadja.’
   Togo coach Pfister is well versed on Swiss football.
   The 68-year-old German is married to a Swiss, lives in Switzerland and has been a player and a coach in that country.
   ‘I know them inside out. If everyone is fit, it should be no surprise how they play,’ Pfister said. ‘I now have to work out (the tactics) of how to beat them. For Togo, this is the last chance.’
   Kuhn said Pfister’s Swiss connections could assist the Togolese team but added that he had also done his own homework.
   ‘Of course it’s no disadvantage he lives in Switzerland and follows Swiss football but it’s the players who have to go out and win the match,’ Kuhn said.
   ‘I think we are also well enough informed about Togolese football.’
   Kuhn is likely to stick with the same team he used against France, although he could bring in attacking midfielder Daniel Gygax at the expense of the more defence-minded Raphael Wicky.
   Pfister will be forced into changes at the back with captain Jean Paul Yaovi Abalo Dosseh suspended after his dismissal against Korea and fellow defender Ludovic Assemoassa out of the tournament after tearing knee ligaments in the same game.

The Spanish camp have poured cold water on a reported clash between their coach Luis Aragones and talismanic striker Raul ahead of today’s Group H test with Tunisia.
   The Real Madrid player has scored a record 43 goals in 95 games for his country but as Spain continue to dream of a place in the final stages Raul is facing life on the bench due to lack of form following an injury-hit season.
   However Spain’s bid to get past the quarter-finals stage for the first time in 56 years has been overshadowed by what are claimed to be exaggerated reports in the Spanish press.
   Despite making a second half substitute appearance in Spain’s 4-0 romp over Ukraine, Raul has appeared down in the dumps over his relegation to the substitutes bench in what.
   On Sunday the Spanish media interpreted his brief but apparently heated discussion with Aragones during Saturday’s training session at their team base in Kamen as a falling-out.
   As Spain prepare for a stiffer test of their World Cup credentials against Roger Lemerre’s 2004 African Nations Cup champions, Aragones admitted that his skipper could be in the doldrums.
   But he was quick to deflate reports of a rift.
   ‘It’s only normal if Raul is a bit concerned about his chances of playing. I would feel the same,’ said Aragones shortly after the team arrived in the southern German city.
   ‘But I don’t see what the fuss is all about. He’s done everything possible to play, and he played 40 minutes against Ukraine. Raul is someone who is modest and isn’t prone to causing problems.’
   Despite Raul’s reported influence in the team, Aragones is a no-nonsense coach whose record with the national side would be hard to argue with.
   Since he took charge after their early exit from the 2004 European Championships the 67-year-old has steered Spain on a 23-match unbeaten run which has left them in a good position to finally break their World Cup hoodoo.
   Raul’s goalkeeper teammate at Real Madrid, Iker Casillas, said that for the players there is no case to answer.
   ‘We regard him (Raul) the way we always regard him,’ said Casillas.
   ‘He’s not used to being in this situation but he’s still an example for the rest of the players.’
   Raul played a part in Spain’s qualifiers, however an injury to his left knee during a league match against arch rivals Barcelona in November of last year left him out of action for three months.

Lionel Messi said he took little notice of statistics after discovering he had become the sixth youngest goalscorer in the history of the World Cup and the youngest Argentine to play in the tournament.
   The gifted forward, who turns 19 on June 24, marked his World Cup debut with the last goal in Argentina’s 6-0 rout of Serbia & Montenegro.
   ‘Sincerely, I don’t think about (statistics),’ Messi told reporters on Saturday. ‘I’m happy that I played, for myself, but I don’t think about those things.
   ‘I was lucky to make my World Cup debut and on top of that score a goal.’
   Pele is the youngest World Cup scorer of all time, the great Brazilian having netted at the age of 17 years and 239 days. The previous youngest Argentine to play in the tournament was Roberto Luis Iraneta, who was 19 when his side lost to Sweden 3-2 in May 1934.
   Messi, the best player at last year’s World Youth Cup won by Argentina in Netherlands, won his eighth senior cap on Friday and scored his second international goal. He said he was pleased to get off the mark at the tournament after sitting out Argentina’s opening 2-1 win over Ivory Coast in Hamburg a week ago.
   ‘It was in a World Cup I got to play my first official (competitive) match since my injury,’ Messi said referring to the pulled thigh muscle he suffered with Barcelona three months ago.
   There had been much talk in the Argentine media since the start of the World Cup about when coach Jose Pekerman would let Messi off the leash.
   ‘When I went on (Pekerman) asked me to play up front, moving about with Carlos (Tevez) and Hernan (Crespo),’ he said.
   ‘The truth is we had a great match but we still haven’t achieved anything,’ said Messi.

Sri Lanka (257/9) beat England (237/9) by 20 runs
   Sri Lanka, boosted by a fine century from opener Upul Tharanga, beat England by 20 runs in the first one-day international at Lord’s on Saturday.
   England, set 258 to win after Tharanga’s 120 took Sri Lanka to 257-9, rarely threatened once they slumped to 66-4. They ended on 237-9 after pacemen Dilhara Fernando and Lasith Malinga took three wickets each.
   Sri Lanka’s second-highest score was extras totalling 42 for an England record, beating the 41 yielded against Sri Lanka in Delhi in 1989.
   England’s batsmen began solidly and their openers took 15 runs off Chaminda Vaas’s fourth over with Marcus Trescothick striking two of the three boundaries in the over.
   But Fernando replaced Vaas and struck with his first ball when stand-in skipper Andrew Strauss on 12 bottom-edged a pull shot to the wicketkeeper. Fernando struck again in his next over when he bowled Ian Bell for seven.
   With big-hitters at the crease in Trescothick and Kevin Pietersen, Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene gambled by taking his third and final `power play’ in the 15th over.
   The England batsmen, behind the run rate, tried to take advantage of the gaps in the field but Pietersen clipped a Malinga delivery to midwicket where Jayawardene took an athletic one-handed catch above his head to remove the danger man for 12.
   Paul Collingwood fell lbw without scoring to Fernando in the next over to give Fernando figures of three for 22 at that stage.
   The eventual fall of Trescothick, bowled around his legs for 67 by spinner Tillekeratne Dilshan, dented England’s victory hopes though all-rounder Jamie Dalrymple, in his second international match, fought impressively for his 67 in 87 balls.
   Earlier, Tharanga, 21, was the only Sri Lanka batsman to play with authority, plundering 14 boundaries.
   England did themselves no favours, sending down 10 wides from the first five overs and 23 in all.
   On a brighter note for the home side paceman Steve Harmison took three for 52 in his first England match since March though eight of the wides were down to him.
   The next game in the five-match series is on Tuesday. The teams drew the Test series 1-1.

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said his team were growing in confidence all the time as they looked to build on a 1-0 lead in their five-match one-day international series with England on Tuesday at The Oval.
   Man-of-the-match Upul Tharanga’s ODI best of 120 at Lord’s on Saturday saw Sri Lanka get off to an impressive start with a 20-run victory.
   Although Jayawardene said he was disappointed that Sri Lanka, after a rapid start, made 257 for nine from their 50 overs it was more than enough as England, shoddy in the field, collapsed to 66 for four.
   What made the defeat all the worse was that England had gifted Sri Lanka a mammoth 42 runs in extras, the most they’d conceded in a one-day international, surpassing the 41 Sri Lanka received in Delhi back in 1989/90.
   Among that tally were 23 wides. Sri Lanka, by contrast, bowled just three.
   It was a fine performance from Jayawardene’s team, who earlier this month came from behind to draw their Test series with England at 1-1 after staving off defeat in the opener at Lord’s in May.
   And this latest win followed on from their two-run victory in Thursday’s Twenty20 clash at the Rose Bowl.
   ‘It’s been a long tour for us and I’m glad the hard work the guys are putting in is paying-off,’ Jayawardene told reporters at Lord’s.
   ‘The way Upul batted, he showed a lot of character and maturity,’ Jayawardene added of the 21-year-old man-of-the-match and left-handed opener, whose hundred was his third at this level and first against England.
   ‘He held the innings together and with the start we had I was disappointed we didn’t get to 300. But the difference was the extras. Our guys were a lot more disciplined than England today.’
   And when they fielded Sri Lanka did not have to rely, as so often in the past, on off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. Instead pacemen Dilhara Fernando and Lasith Malinga took six wickets between them.
   For England, without several first-choice players through injury, including captain Michael Vaughan and key all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, it was another poor performance in the run-up to next year’s World Cup in the Caribbean.
   In 2005, England won just eight of their 22 one-day internationals, while earlier this year they lost a one-day series away to India 5-1.
   England coach Duncan Fletcher has often cited his side’s lack of experience as a reason for their poor one-day form but at Lord’s it was spearhead quick Stephen Harmison, with eight wides, whose radar was most off-target.
   And when England batted, Trescothick excepted, it was 25-year-old Middlesex all-rounder Dalrymple, in only his second one-day international after making his debut against Ireland on Tuesday, who starred.
   ‘Our extras were far more than you’d want in one-day cricket where games are decided by such small margins,’ said stand-in skipper Andrew Strauss.
   ‘We know we’re better than that and we’ll be looking for an improved performance on Tuesday,’ the opening batsman added.
   ‘The bowlers came back well but Sri Lanka were able to build-up some useful momentum in their first 15 overs, which given there was a little bit in the wicket was disappointing.
   ‘Likewise with the batting, at the start of the innings losing too many early wickets put us under pressure. It was a disappointing day at the office for us and it’s best not to dwell on it.
   ‘But I’m still very excited about the players we’ve got,’ said Strauss, who paid tribute to county colleague Dalrymple.
   ‘There’s a lot of talent there. Jamie Dalrymple came through and showed everyone what he could do. He handled the big stage exceptionally well.
   ‘He played the way an experienced batsman would and showed a lot of composure in the heat of the battle.
   ‘If we’d lost two fewer wickets or so we could have chased that total. The onus and the responsibility is on the experienced players to put in perfomances when you’ve got a young side.’

Maria Sharapova insisted her shock DFS Classic semi-final defeat against unseeded American Jamea Jackson on Saturday will not affect her chances of success at Wimbledon.
   Former Wimbledon champion Sharapova was handed only her fourth defeat on grass as Jackson ran out a comfortable 6-4, 6-4 winner at Edgbaston.
   Jackson, 19, is ranked 81 in the world and was playing in her first major semi-final but she showed no signs of stage-fright to stun Sharapova.
   The Russian number one seed and two-time defending champion went into the match with the best all-time record on grass in the history of the sport.
   But she admitted she had no answers against Jackson and said: ‘I ran into a player who played the most unbelievable tennis of her life.’
   ‘I’ll head to London and start preparing for Wimbledon. I just need to practice a few things and keep working hard next week and I’ll look forward to playing my favourite Grand Slam.
   ‘No doubt I’m disappointed to lose, but I’ll be fine tomorrow, and in particular once I start practising on the Wimbledon courts.
   ‘This is by no means a complete disaster. I’ve played four matches in four days, and they’re a good reality check.’
   Jackson added: ‘I’m stunned, shocked. I don’t know what to say. ‘I am sure my mom is freaking out.
   ‘She watches my games online and will have been screaming with every point. I cannot wait to call her.’
   The teenager will meet Vera Zvonareva in Sunday’s final after the Russian beat American Meilen Tu 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in the other semi-final.

Phil Mickelson, bidding for his third straight major title fired a one-under 69 on Saturday to join newcomer Kenneth Ferrie atop the leaderboard after three rounds of the US Open.
   Mickelson’s was one of only two sub-par rounds on the day, while Ferrie settled for a one-over 71, both finishing with a 54-hole total of two-over 212.
   Ferrie’s outward run included an eagle at the 515-yard, par-five fifth hole that moved him to one-under - tied at that point with overnight leader Steve Stricker.
   A bogey at the ninth put him even for the tournament, and he also dropped shots at the 13th and 18th as the 7,264-yard, par-70 Winged Foot West course continued to assert itself.
   Mickelson who started the day four shots off the lead at three-over par, had three bogeys and two birdies on his outward run, and added two birdies coming home.
   Ferrie, came to the 18th with a one-shot lead, but finished with a three-putt bogey after his approach left him in a poor position on the green.
   He said he was satisfied with his first putt, “but the second one kind of bounced and bobbled away. It was a sad way to end the round.”
   Even so, Ferrie gave himself the opportunity to become the first European since Tony Jacklin in 1970 to win the US Open.
   However, the last player to win the US Open on his first appearance was Francis Ouimet in 1913.
   Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy had sole possession of third place after a 72 for 213.
   It was two shots back to a group of four players sharing fourth place on five-over 215.
   They included overnight leader Steve Stricker, who opened steadily but struggled from the turn. His six-over 76 included five bogeys and a double-bogey at the 458-yard par-four 14th.
   Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie, who started the day one shot behind Stricker, also finished on 215, with his greatest troubles coming right at the start.
   Montgomery was five-over through his first four holes after three bogeys and a double-bogey at the 216-yard par-three third.
   England’s Ian Poulter and Fiji’s Vijay Singh carded even par 70s to join the group on 215.
   They were followed by 2003 US Open champion Jim Furyk (74), former Masters champion Mike Weir of Canada and Ireland’s Padriag Harrington.
   Both Weir and Harrington fell afoul of the 450-yard par-four 18th.
   Weir’s double-bogey there derailed a potential sub-par round, and he finished with a one-over 71. Harrington took a triple-bogey seven to complete a 74.
   Five more players shared 11th place on 217.
   They included Sweden’s Peter Hedblom, whose 71 included a hole-in-one at the third.
   England’s Luke Donald, followed up a superb second-round 69 with an even-par 70 for 217.
   Also at seven-over were South African Trevor Immelman, Bart Bryant and Arron Oberholser.

Shane Warne’s former wife has changed her name and moved out of the family home in a bid to put her troubled relationship with the Australian spin wizard behind her.
   Simone Warne told Australian gossip magazine New Idea that from now on she would be known as Simone Callahan, saying she needed ‘closure’ from her failed marriage to Warne, which produced three children.
   ‘It’s my name. It’s my identity and it is symbolic to me that I’m my own person,’ she said in an interview to be published today. ‘This is who I am, not who I was.’
   The couple split last year after she lost patience with Warne when British tabloids reported details of his alleged infidelities on Australia’s Ashes tour of England.
   It was the latest in a series of scandals involving the world’s leading Test wicket taker, including accusations that he bombarded women he met in nightclubs with lewd text messages.
   Earlier this year, Warne said he had been ‘an idiot’ and put the extra-marital escapades down to the loneliness of being on the road touring for months at a time with the Australian cricket team.
   He also described Simone as the love of his life and said they remained ‘like brother and sister’ even though they were in the midst of a divorce.
   However, Simone said she had not consulted Warne about changing her name and moving out of the luxury home they built together in Melbourne.
   ‘I haven’t spoken to Shane about it but, to be honest, his opinion doesn’t really matter to me anymore,’ she said.
   The ex-model has become a minor television celebrity since her split with Warne, appearing on a reality television show called ‘Dancing with the Stars’ and recently being voted on of Australia’s sexiest women by a men’s magazine.
   Meanwhile, Britain’s tabloids continue to revel in Warne’s sex life, with the News of the World last month reporting he had romped with two models and a blow-up doll.
   ‘Shane’s a stallion and very willing to experiment,’ model Emma Kearney told the newspaper. ‘He loved playing around with the inflatable and was up for anything.’

West Indies captain Brian Lara may not have got the fast bowling attack he requested from the selectors but he may get a Warner Park pitch with a lot more bounce and life.
   Officials in St. Kitts have brought Andy Atkinson, the International Cricket Council pitch consultant, into the island to prepare the hallowed turf for the third Test between West Indies and India, starting on Thursday.
   ‘Well, this one wouldn’t have too much grass, but there would be plenty of life otherwise,’ Atkinson said. ‘The trouble is captains request a lively pitch, but the moment the ball starts flying around their ears, they go out and slam curators.’
   After the drawn second Test ended on Wednesday at the Beausejour Cricket Ground, Lara urged officials at Warner Park, and Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica, where the fourth and final Test will be played, to produce faster pitches that would offer greater assistance to his fast bowlers and keep the Indians on the backfoot.
   Lara appealed the West Indies selection panel for a bowler of genuine pace to be included
   in the 13-member squad for
   the Test, but the selectors named an unchanged bowling attack, and brought Marlon Samuels into the side for left-arm chinaman bowler Dave Mohammed.
   India’s batsmen have flourished in the last two innings they have batted in the series.
   In the second innings of the first Test at the Antigua Recreation Ground, they totalled 521 for six declared with Wasim Jaffer hitting a
   maiden double hundred,
   and in the first innings at Beausejour, they gathered
   588 for eight declared, with Virender Sehwag, Mohammed Kaif, and Rahul Dravid getting centuries.
   The four-Test series is still level at 0-0, after the first two Tests at St. John’s and Gros Islet both ended in tension-filled draws.
   The third Test - the first to be held at Basseterre in St. Kitts - will be contested from June 22 and 26, and Kingston stages the fourth and final Test from June 30 to July 4.

Bangladesh A team are looking for an innings victory in their opening four-day match of Zimbabwe tour after they restricted the hosts’ first innings to paltry 116 at the Mutare Sports Club on Sunday.
   Bangladesh A, who scored 393 runs in the first innings, still lead by 161 runs as Zimbabwe A scored 116-2 in the second innings after being asked to follow-on on the second day.
   Left-spinner Enamul Haque (junior) was the hero for the Bangladesh A team having returned with figures of 5-34 in the hosts’ first innings. Pace bowlers Hasibul Hossain and Tapash Baishya scalped two wickets each.

Bangladesh Cricket Board is sending two promising pace bowlers to the MRF Pace Foundation in India for higher training, said a press release on Sunday.
   The pacers – Ziaur Rahman and Sajidul Islam – will undergo fitness training, nutrition and technical lessons for three weeks. During their stay, the pacer duo will also get an opportunity to work with legendary Australian fast b owler Dennis Lillee, who is expected to arrive at the MRF on June 25.
   Both Ziaur and Sajidul showed their talents in the Academy Cup series 2006 and were nominated by the BCB High Performance manager, Allistair de Winter, and senior coach Sarwar Imran.
   The pace bowlers are due to leave for Chennai today and are expected to return home on July 10.

After an action-packed couple of days the BRAC Bank 5-A-Side Football at the ISD hosted only two matches on Sunday with Beximco Pharma registering a big 9-0 victory over Asiatic in the second fixture of the day.
    In the other match, IDLC enjoyed a lone goal victory against Apollo Hospitals. The sponsors BRAC Bank enjoyed the day stamping a 3-0 victory over Bitopi Advertising.

Wimbledon champion Roger Federer equalled Bjorn Borg’s record of 41 consecutive victories on grass with a 6-0, 6-7, 6-2 victory over Czech Tomas Berdych in the final of the Halle Open on Sunday.
   Federer, who was less than convincing in his previous two matches against Olivier Rochus and Tommy Haas, took the first set against fifth seed Berdych in 20 minutes.
   However, the Swiss world number one started making unforced errors and although he served for the set at 5-3, Berdych held and went on to take the tiebreak 7-4.
   Federer, who lost last week’s French Open final to Rafael Nadal, upped pressure on Berdych and broke for 2-1 and 5-2 to take the match.
   Sweden’s Borg, five-times Wimbledon champion, set the open era record for consecutive wins on grass from 1976 to 1981.

Malcolm Speed, the chief executive of the ICC, has strongly dismissed recent complaints that the organisation is biased against Asian countries.
   ‘The ICC is sometimes criticised, and we read this from time to time and we get very offended by it, that we are biased against Asia and somehow we are alleged to be racist,’ he said in a speech to the Asian Cricket Council.
   ‘Our president [Ehsan Mani] is from Pakistan, the chairman of the cricket committee is from India and our chief referee is from Sri Lanka ... think about that for a moment.’
   ‘Cricket’s unique selling point, we hear that term from the marketers, is the Indian subcontinent. In those four countries there is a great passion for cricket. That is 22 per cent of the world’s population. They are huge economies that are growing rapidly. That is our unique selling point and too often we shy away from that.
   ‘Much of our revenue now comes from that region and we should work very hard to make sure that continues to happen.’
   ‘We moved to Asia. It was a deliberate move and there are good reasons to move to Asia. We are only a few hours from Delhi, Karachi, Colombo or Dhaka.
   ‘We are not far from here (Kuala Lumpur) or South Africa, England, Australia or New Zealand. We can get where we need to be.’

Former captain Wasim Akram expects Pakistan to be involved in a tight Test series with England this summer despite winning 2-0 on home soil last winter.
   Their hero then, Shoaib Akhtar, has not played since February due to ankle and knee problems and fellow paceman Rana Naved-ul-Hasan is also an injury doubt. But Wasim said: ‘It looks like it is 50-50 because England are also struggling with fitness and injuries.
   ‘The Pakistan team has got used to Shoaib not playing.’
   Wasim featured in Pakistan sides that won Test series in England in 1987, 1992 and 1996.
   He went on: ‘Shoaib not played for the last six or seven months and they are okay with that but Rana Naved is a big blow because he has been bowling really well for Sussex.
   ‘The Pakistan side is a mix of youth and experience and they are heading the right way.
   ‘Mohammad Asif is a find, Mohammad Sami has picked up again. They are a good bowling side but a bit inexperienced.’
   Asif has joined up with the Pakistan squad after starting the season in English county cricket with Leicestershire. While not quite as effective as naved was at Sussex, he has been a fine performer for his country in their recent Tests and one-day internationals.

Kolkata Police Commissioner Prasun Mukherjee Sunday announced his decision to fight Jagmohan Dalmiya for president in next month’s elections to the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), the state’s apex cricket body.
   ‘The election dates (mid-July) are not yet announced but I inform you formally that I will be fighting for the post of president,’ Mukherjee told reporters at the Calcutta Sports Journalists’ Club here.
   ‘People want a change. There is a feeling that most of the clubs and organisations (affiliates of the CAB) want a change,’ Mukherjee said, but went on to add: ‘There is no point in dragging Dalmiya’s name in this press conference.’
   When asked whether the blessings of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya would help him fight a person of Dalmiya’s stature, he said: ‘It will be good if I get the blessings of the chief minister but you should ask this question to him. I don’t want to comment on the chief minister.’

As the opening phase reaches a climax, it’s turning into the well-behaved World Cup with millions of fans seemingly happy to follow the FIFA maxim that it’s ‘a time to make friends.
   Along the ‘Fan Mile’ in Berlin in the shadow of the Brandenburg Gate and at similar celebration centres erected in the other 11 host cities fans of the 32 participating nations have come together to prove that football and hooliganism are not joined at the hip after all.
   True, months of cooperation between German authorities and their British counterparts ensured many known troublemakers did not manage to travel to the host nation in the first place, while police did arrest two dozen mainly English and German football fans ahead of England’s first match.
   However, almost all of them were released within hours whereas the remainder of the more than 30,000 England fans who descended on Frankfurt - barely half of them having match tickets - were well behaved.
   England fans have won a reputation for violence over recent decades, brawling with Tunisian counterparts at Marseille during France 1998 and again in trouble during Euro 2000 in Belgium.
   But Euro 2004 in Portugal passed off peacefully and with some 3,500 known English hooligans banned from travelling, and more than 80 British police officers working alongside the Germans during the World Cup, the preventative measures appear to be working.
   On the Fan-miles, there is evidence of a cultural shift.
   ‘The police are delighted at the most peaceful World Cup to date,’ trumpeted Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel after the first 20 games and, on cue, the police confirmed that most England supporters have been setting an example.
   ‘It was a pleasure to see the English fans and we hope to welcome them back in the future,’ said Nuremberg police head Gerhard Hauptmannl, who along with his colleagues also had to cope with Jewish and Iranian opposition groups protesting at a World Cup visit by Iranian Vice-President Mohammed Aliabadi.
   ‘They did not come to cause trouble,’ Hauptmannl said of the English army of fans - a sentiment echoed by Nuremberg mayor Ulrich Maly as some donned Bavarian outfits to underpin the mood of cultural interchange at an event which will attract an estimated three million visitors to Germany.
   Fierce footballing rivalry persists between England and Germany but British Ambassador Sir Peter Torry says that pre-tournament ‘don’t mention the war’ pleas to supporters have generally been heard.
   ‘Modern Germany has nothing in common with its Nazi past,’ Torry said in a statement.
   ‘Germany has given a great welcome to the England fans.’
   And they have reciprocated.
   The sourest relations have been between the Germans and the Poles, with almost 500 held after clashes in Dortmund, where Jurgen Klinsmann’s side knocked their neighbours out of the event.
   In Berlin, where Germany face Ecuador on Tuesday, the Fan-Mile behind the Brandenburg Gate, potent symbol of division during the Cold War, has been a meeting point for a melting pot of fans, many cautious visitors whose countries did not even make the finals but who have been caught up in the excitement.
   ‘It’s a wonderful atmosphere. My team is not playing but I am backing Japan and South Korea as they are representing Asia. I also like the Czechs,’ said Jamrat, part of a dozen-strong group of Thai visitors.
   ‘I want England to win. After all, China didn’t make it and I’m a David Beckham fan,’ said Clara, a student from Hong Kong.
   ‘The fan-mile was great fun after Germany beat Poland to qualify for the next round. Now I’m off to Leipzig because my team are playing France there,’ volunteered Hyewon, in Germany with three fellow South Koreans who saw ‘The Reds’ reach the semi-finals on home soil four years ago.
   German fans have set up an unofficial fan-mile on Mallorca, where tourists have headed in their thousands to enjoy their ‘home’ World Cup abroad.
   ‘Germany is celebrating on Mallorca - bookings are up thanks to World Cup tourists,’ Robin Zimmermann, a spokesman for the TUI tourism group told Bild newspaper, which dubbed Playa de Palma ‘the longest fan-mile in the world.’

Goals. They bring joy for some and tears for others, but everyone has his own way of celebrating making his mark on the World Cup stage.
   So far, nobody had shown quite the breathtaking athleticism Nigerian star Julius Aghahowa, who four years ago in Asia turned seven backwards somersaults after finding the net.
   But as the top teams at this year’s event begin finding their form and with it a place in the last 16 so the celebratory routines have been getting slowly more imaginative.
   Ivan Kaviedes of Ecuador got in on the act when he helped to secure his side’s surprise package to the second round after a thumping win over Costra Rica prompted him to take out a yellow Spiderman-style mask and place it on his head.
   The zany move was to pay tribute in part to former international Otolino Tenorio, who died in a traffic accident last year and who also used to bring out a mask dedicated to comic strip heroes.
   Togo preferred to leap as on their prey when they took a shock lead against South Korea
   Portugal’s Pauleta lived up to his ‘Eagle of the Azores’ nickname by spreading his arms wide when he netted the winner against Angola while the Saudi Arabian ‘sons of the desert’ preferred to adopt a prayer stance.
   The trend for outlandish goal celebrations is back, and the race is one for the wackiest, with Kaviedes probably out in front so far.
   The elastic Aghahowa aside, recent years saw Brazil striker Bebeto celebrate on the way to 1994 glory by inaugurating the ‘new dad’ baby-cradling routine, colleagues Romario and Mazinho rushing to join him in what became a favoured triple celebration.
   And who could forget the hip-wiggling performance in 1990 of Cameroon veteran striker Roger Milla, who at 38 thrilled the fans by dancing solo by the corner flag before he was engulfed by teammates?
   Eight years later, Chilean Marcelo Salas impersonated a matador by going down on one knee, a red cape all that was missing as he put rivals to the sword.
   In the eyes bulging category, nobody stands out to date in this year’s finals. Certainly nobody has come close to emulating fiery Italian Marco Tardelli, who looked close to spontaneous combustion after he scored in the 1982 final win over the old West Germany.
   At the other end of the scale, French defender Lilian Thuram sank to his knees and put a finger to his lips after his semi-final double knocked out Croatia in 1998.
   Thuram had never scored for the national side before - and never scored again.
   Here, England striker Peter Crouch may tread new goalscoring ground, but despite
   netting the effort that undid 82 minutes of Trinidad and Tobago’s resistance he is keeping his famed robot dance routine under wraps until such time as he can net for England in the final.
   If scorers have their own way of celebrating their exploits,
   this year has seen goalkeepers show that they can act in
   similar fashion after a save or a victory.
   Mexico keeper Oswaldo Sanchez sank to his knees and looked skyward, then burst into tears after the 3-1 win over Iran as his father had died four days earlier and he had to make a lighting trip home for the funeral.
   ‘It’s a special day for me but I had conflicting emotions,’ he explained, adding his father had been looking down on the side.
   The death and glory theme for keepers went still further as Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeper Shaka Hislop said he was driven on by the memory of former team-mate Mickey Trotman, who died in a car crash while preparing for a World Cup qualifier in 2001.
   Hislop said he felt ‘tears and sadness when I remember Mickey Trotman.’

A pair of English fans went for a ride in their sleep, police said Sunday, failing to wake up when their van crashed into a parked car.
   The two failed to pull the hand brake or leave their Ford Transit in gear when they went to sleep in the vehicle on a street in Mainz, west of Frankfurt.
   At about 1 a.m. Saturday, the van rolled across the road and collided with a parked car. It came to a halt in the middle of the street, blocking traffic.
   The two England fans were blissfully oblivious, police said. Only after officers rocked and banged on the vehicle did one of them eventually roll down the window.
   Police pushed the van back across the road and applied the brakes to prevent a repeat.

Ghanaians poured on to the streets of the capital Accra on Saturday, screaming, waving flags and jumping on the bonnets of cars after their team’s stunning 2-0 World Cup win over Czech Republic in Germany.
   Roars of ‘Go Ghana, the African Brazil’ rose above the sound of car horns as groups of fans cheered from the back of open trucks driving in procession down Oxford Street, a bustling road in the central Osu area of town.
   ‘We have done what we needed to do ... we are going to beat the US about 3-0.
   We shall go to the final, not the quarter-finals,’ said Stephen Adu Asante, an ecstatic T-shirt vendor.
   World Cup debutants Ghana hope to clinch a place in the second round by beating the U.S. in their final Group E game in Nuremberg on June 22.
   Striker Asamoah Gyan fired Ghana ahead in the second minute against the Czechs in Cologne before the Black Stars doubled their advantage eight minutes from time through Sulley Muntari.
   ‘God is great, God is wonderful. I don’t know what to say. I feel happy. We will get to the final,’ said fan Evelyn Azewoda as the street behind her flooded with the national colours of red, yellow and green and people banged pots and pans in celebration.
   The victory gave fans across Africa cause for celebration after disappointing results for other teams from the soccer-mad continent, particularly Ivory Coast’s early elimination and Ghana’s 2-0 defeat by Italy in their opening match.
   ‘All Africans were behind Ghana today,’ said Idy Diallo, a musician in Senegal’s capital Dakar.
   ‘Other nations must respect African teams now, they can see Africa wants to go all the way. We’re going to win the World Cup.’

Becks under fire from
   ‘66 winner
   England’s World Cup-winning right back George Cohen says coach Sven-Goran Eriksson should think about dropping captain David Beckham, saying his performance had become too limited in a side which is ‘poor, stereotyped and mundane’.
   Cohen said England only got into gear against Trinidad and Tobago when Tottenham’s 19-year-old winger Aaron Lennon came on and Cohen told the Independent on Sunday that Lennon’s showing had given the side more width, throwing doubt on the usefulness of the skipper.
   ‘Beckham did get in that looping cross for Peter Crouch’s goal but he had another poor game. The fact is, he’s reduced to taking the corners and the free-kicks. He’s just not got the speed to take him down the wings.
   ‘If he was playing American football, they could bring him on to take the kicks and then take him off again, but unfortunately in this game you can’t do that.’
   
   Munich blues for Neeskens
   Munich is not the luckiest city by a long chalk for former Dutch star Johan Neeskens, currently assistant to Guus Hiddink with the Australians.
   The former member of the Johan Cruyff-led ‘total football’ oranje school lost out in the Bavarian capital in the 1974 World Cup final and this weekend had to be taken to hospital in the city with severe toothache for which he required treatment.
   
   German fan looking for
   eternal Franz-ship with Klinsmann
   German caoch Jurgen Klinsmann has had to battle for acceptance in the media and among fans alike after taking the job two years ago. But two wins into the tournament and he is almost a love object.
   A banner held aloft at the match between Portugal and Iran read ‘Klinsi, marry me.’
   However, it was signed ... Franz.
   
   Flag supplies flagging
   Importers of German flags are worried that demand is outstripping supply to the degree that they will run out within days. The FIG supplier imported 100,000 produced en masse in China but they have sold out and others will take some time to arrive.
   ‘We would have to transport them by sea as it is too expensive by plane,’ explained FIG marketing spokesman Calogero Lo Cicero.
   ‘They would only get here in four to six weeks when the World Cup will be over.’
   
   Franco-German Cup
   rapprochement
   Berlin’s Tagesspiegel showed its Francophile colours Sunday as it headlined its World Cup coverage with ‘Allez Les Bleus’ and subtitled its article ‘things will finally come together’ as the 1998 champions take on South Korea before finishing up with Togo.
   But the paper suggested the French, without a goal in the event since the 1998 final win over Brazil, would be going for broke with David Trezeguet alongside Thierry Henry in a 4-4-2 formation.
   In fact, coach Raymond Domenech has persisted in his strategy of not playing the increasingly disgruntled Trezeguet and will adopt a cautious 4-2-3-1.
   
   Risk of arrest with someone else’s ticket
   A fan who stole a ticket for the match between Germany and Ecuador in Berlin on Tuesday from a car parked in the northern town of Paderborn runs the risk of arrest on entry to the Olympic Stadium as the ticket bears the name of the legal owner.
   Organisers have offered the woman whose ticket was stolen a replacement.
   — AFP