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Spain booked their ticket for the second round of the World Cup after a pulsating 3-1 win over Tunisia in Group H here Monday.
   Spanish icon Raul came off the bench at the start of the second half to equalise Jawer Mnari’s shock eighth-minute opener for Roger Lemerre’s former African champions to end a long period of doubt for Luis Aragones’ men.
   And minutes later Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres struck the first of two goals after beating the Tunisian defence to a through ball from second half substitute Cesc Fabregas.
   Torres, who scored in Spain’s 4-0 thrashing of Ukraine, beat Tunisia keeper Ali Boumnijel from the penalty spot in the dying minutes of a match which Spain easily dominated.
   The victory leaves Spain, who are bidding to get past the quarter-finals for the first time in 56 years, needing only a draw to come top of the group with Saudi Arabia still to play.
   Tunisia had stunned Spain by taking an early lead through Germany-based Mnari, although he was indebted to Ziad Jaziri dogged offensive play as he fought off the Spanish defence.
   Mnari was in the right place at the right time, and more imporatantly unmarked when Jaziri’s cross arrived in the eighth minute.
   Mnari had time to shoot, pick up his rebound from Spain keeper Iker Casillas and then slot the ball home from close range and shock the Spanish.
   Spain had crushed Ukraine 4-0, however Tunisia’s tougher style of play and astute defence proved a much harder obstacle.
   Despite showing chinks in their defensive armour, Spain dominated possession in the first half.
   Raul, who has been fighting to get into Aragones’ side since the start of the campaign, replaced Garcia for the start of the second half while Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas came on for Marcos Senna.
   Spain continued to dominate, and Torres was giving their big defenders all sorts of problems down the wings.
   Aragones then sent strapping forward Joaquin on in place of Villa. Spain immediately began to look more dangerous and were starting to find space behind the packed Tunisian defence.
   In the 71st minute, Raul handed Spain their lifeline.
   A right wing pass from Joaquin went to Fabregas on the edge of the area, and the Arsenal star’s shot forced a rebound from Boumnijel.
   Despite being held by a defender, Raul pounced on the ball to push it with the outside of his foot past Boumnijel at the far post.
   Torres then found himself alone and through on goal in the 88th minute, but after he rounded Boumnijel the keeper blocked his shot.
   The 22-year-old Atletico striker had the chance to atone when the referee pointed to the spot after second half substitute Alaeddine Yahia fouled the Spaniard.
   Torres stepped up and sent his spot kick straight at Boumnijel, before the ball squeezed under his body and into the net.

Ukraine outclassed Saudi Arabia in their crunch Group H game here Monday, firmly setting their stuttering World Cup campaign back on track with a convincing 4-0 win.
   Redemption for the 4-0 mauling Ukraine suffered at the hands of Spain in their opening match came in a brace of goals either side of the interval from Andriy Rusol, Serhiy Rebrov, Andriy Shevchenko and the impressive Maksym Kalinichenko.
   The World Cup debutants, boasting four changes from the Spanish debacle, showed their attacking intent against a toothless Saudi team from the start.
   They took the lead in the fourth minute, Rusol’s knee connecting with an inswinging Kalinichenko corner to send the ball bouncing between Saudi goalkeeper Mabrouk Zaid’s legs and into the goal - the former Soviet republic’s first at the World Cup.
   Rebrov doubled the lead after 36 minutes, the former Tottenham and West Ham player blasting in a curling 35-yard shot that left Zaid rooted to the spot.
   Shevchenko made it three straight after the interval, the European footballer of the year rising above his Asian counterpart Hamad al-Montashari to head a home another Kalinichenko free-kick.
   Kalinichenko got a deserved goal with six minutes remaining, calmly burying a beautifully-weighted Shevchenko cross past a despairing Zaid.
   With the Saudi back four under constant pressure, Kalinichenko and Oleg Rusov proved a real handful down the wings.
   The recalled Rebrov rifled in a cross that former Dynamo Kiev team-mate Shevchencko couldn’t latch on to after 10 minutes.
   Shevchenko, the Ukraine captain who recently became Chelsea’s new record signing, could have doubled the lead after 14 minutes, defender Ahmed Dokhi glancing his header off the line into the path of Rebrov, whose follow-up shot was blasted over the crossbar.
   Shevchenko had yet a second chance four minutes later, just failing to get on the end of a Kalinichenko through ball that split the edgy Saudi defence.
   The captain almost became provider on 20 minutes, his cross just too fast for the onrushing Andriy Voronin who had a clear sight on goal.
   Saudi Arabia’s best chance of the first-half came in the 24th minute, a curling cross by Dokhi deflected by Rusol towards goal and tipped around the post by Oleksander Shovkovsky.
   Any half-time pep talk from Saudi Arabia’s Brazilian coach Marcos Paqueta was quickly dispelled by Shevchenko’s goal a minute after the restart.
   But the Saudi team, bolstered by the introduction of attacking left-back Abdulaziz Khathran, did manage to mount some attacks but the final touches were clumsy and left ineffectual captain Hussein Sulimani wildly gesticulating at his team-mates.
   Omar al-Ghamdi’s one penetrating run into the Ukrainian box ended disappointingly as well, the midfielder rightly shown a yellow card by English referee Graham Poll for diving.
   It was Kalinichenko who proved to be the real thorn in the sides of the ‘sons of the desert’.
   One blistering 20-yard shot in the 64th minute hit the crossbar, but his efforts were later rewarded with the fourth goal.

Switzerland kept their World Cup dream well and truly alive with a 2-0 win over troubled but lively debutants Togo here on Monday.
   Goals in either half from Alexander Frei and Tranquillo Barnetta lifted Kobi Kuhn’s youngsters up to the top of Group G on four points along with South Korea, who await them in their remaining first-round fixture on Friday.
   France, who are lying third and two points adrift after Sunday’s 1-1 draw with the Koreans, take on Togo, who have nothing left to play for but honour.
   The Africans, who only lifted their threat to boycott the game hours before kick-off after their long-running dispute over unpaid bonuses was finally settled, were without suspended captain Jean-Paul Abalo and fellow defender Ludovic Assemoassa.
   The early exchanges were frenetic, with Frei heading into Togo keeper Kossi Agassa’s hands in the eighth minute, and down at the other end Mohamed Kader, who scored in Togo’s opening 2-1 loss to South Korea, sparking Pascal Zuberhuler into action.
   Ricardo Cabanas and Borussia Dortmund winger Philipp Degen were proving menacing for the Togo defence which eventually succumbed to the pressure in the 16th minute.
   Ludovic Magnin crossed from the left for Barnetta to flick on to Frei who tapped in for Switzerland’s first goal of the World Cup.
   This 26th international strike was a redeeming moment for the Rennes forward after he was sent home in disgrace from Euro 2004 after spitting at England’s Steven Gerrard.
   Togo coach Otto Pfister made the first of a series of tactical changes before the half-hour mark, replacing midfielder Kuami Agboh with attacker Moustapha Salifou.
   The Sparrowhawks had said they weren’t in Germany to make up the numbers and the Swiss backline could vouch for that as they pressed hard for the equaliser.
   Patrick Muller prevented Switzerland conceding an equaliser with a fine late tackle to deprive Kader of a clear close-range shot.
   Muller was then at the heart of a vocal appeal by Togo to Paraguayan referee Carlos Amarilla for a penalty in the 33rd minute after the Lyon defender’s tackle on Emmanuel Adebayor, who fell theatrically to the ground although TV replays showed he may have been tripped.
   Barnetta had a shot tipped over the bar early in the second half and shortly after Frei hit over from close range.

England have vowed to end their 38-year winless streak against Sweden here today – even if the reward is a World Cup second round showdown with host nation Germany.
   Fixture scheduling has left England heading into their final Group B match with the identity of their last 16 opponents in their own hands.
   With Germany and Ecuador playing earlier in the day to determine the winners and runners-up in Group A, England will know exactly what they have to do against Sweden to avoid a titanic collision with the Germans.
   But England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson insists, however, that his team, who have already qualified for the last 16 after wins over Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago, are only thinking about beating Sweden and topping the group.
   ‘If you win the group there are a lot of advantages,’ said Eriksson. ‘You have one more day off than your opponents all the way through to the final. So we want to win the group.’
   While a draw would be enough to give England top spot, Eriksson has never beaten Sweden in three attempts during his five-year reign, and would dearly like to see England record their first victory over his homeland since 1968 before he steps down.
   ‘Thirty-eight years – that’s a long time,’ Eriksson said. ‘Before leaving this job I should like to beat Sweden.’
   With victory in mind, Eriksson will hand a first World Cup start to fit-again Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, who resumes his attacking partnership with Michael Owen.
   Rooney’s appearance as a second-half substitute, along with winger Aaron Lennon, gave England a huge lift against Trinidad last week and helped them secure a 2-0 victory.
   ‘We are a different team with Rooney,’ Eriksson said. ‘He’s a great linking player, he holds the ball up, which gives the team time to move out of defence. He’s fantastic at everything when he’s 100 per cent.’
   While England’s performances so far have been poor, Eriksson is confident his team play better when they face better opposition, and believes that Sweden will provide a more accurate gauge of their form.
   ‘We need to play better, of course we do,’ said Eriksson. ‘But we will play better. Against Sweden it will be a completely different game if you compare that to Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago.’
   Rooney’s return in place of Peter Crouch is one of two changes Eriksson is expected to make to his starting line-up.
   Steven Gerrard, who is on a yellow card, is likely to be rested in order to ensure his availability for the beginning of the knockout rounds, meaning a start for Bayern Munich midfielder Owen Hargreaves.
   Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher will continue to deputise for injured right-back Gary Neville, who is struggling with a calf strain.
   Sweden meanwhile are sweating on an injury to Juventus striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who suffered a groin strain during the 1-0 victory over Paraguay.
   Ibrahimovic is one of only a handful of players in the Swedish squad plying their trade in one of Europe’s major leagues, but Lars Lagerback’s men will not be intimidated by England’s star-studded line-up.
   Eleven of the squad have experience of playing in the English Premiership, but only Aston Villa defender Olof Mellberg and Arsenal’s Freddie Ljungberg have become established stars.
   Mattias Jonson, who spent a year with Norwich before their relegation from the top-flight in 2005, said Sweden’s record over England in internationals speaks for itself.
   ‘Some of our players have done well in England, others less so. I don’t know if that has any significance,’ said the Djurgarden forward.
   ‘But we’ve always been difficult to beat when we play England.’
   Former Everton midfielder Tobias Linderoth said the lack of star quality was irrelevant when compared to how the squad gels as a unit.
   ‘Those who perhaps don’t understand much about football, and just look at which clubs players are with, will say England have a better team,’ Linderoth said. ‘But if you look at the team as a whole then we’re just as good.
   ‘We were better than them at the last World Cup and we’re not going into this match with any fear or concern.
   ‘England have done what’s expected of them so far, but we have a lot of energy and belief in our own play,’ he added.

Whenever and wherever Brazil play the victory is not enough – there is the added pressure of playing good football also. I now realise what pressure Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Robinho have to cope with.
   Looking into their game against Australia on Sunday I feel Brazil are yet to gel as a unit. But there are signs that they are getting more combined. I have to praise coach Carlos Albert Pereira for keeping faith with Ronaldo. I really believe Ronaldo will gradually shine. He showed how threatening he could be from the beginning of second half. Another thing that caught my eye is that the Brazilians have started showing the effect of their ages butPereira has enough young gladiators on his bench and Fred was one of them.
   The yellow card shown to Ronaldo shocked me. Why the referees are coming out so harsh I don’t know. A striker who is battling to regain his form remains too excited, he shot the ball into the post, and the game was already stopped. It did not do any harm to game. He could have verbally warned him … not flash the card. The same thing also happened to Hernan Crespo. For no reason the referees can spoil a team’s gameplan with these cards.
   The Australians are the bundle of power and they proved themselves as the real contenders to move into the second round from Group F. I am waiting to see a full-throttle match in the Aussie-Croat duel.
   Croatia produced their best against Brazil but could not keep up the tempo against Japan. Probably the missed penalty had shocked them more than they could absorb. They were never the force as against Brazil, missed the spot-kick and were fortunate that Japan forwards squandered a couple of sure sitters.
   I will feel sorry for the South Koreans if they don’t reach the second round. The fighting spirit, the determination and the physical fitness they displayed are commendable. France looked a team of ageing stars who are just resting on their past successes. I don’t think they will go very far.
   Spain will be looking to ensure their second round berth against Tunisia today while Germany will probably take a relaxed approach against Ecuador.

Germany’s Polish born-striker Lukas Podolski shrugged off his World Cup goal drought on Monday but wasn’t so laid back about the rough treatment he’s received at the hands of a German radio station.
   The 21-year-old Podolski has yet to open his account in the finals and has endured two abject performances in the opening wins over Costa Rica and Poland.
   ‘I know I can play better but I am not getting worried about it,’ a smiling Podolski said.
   However, the smiles soon gave way to a more serious tone when quizzed on a satirical programme broadcast on German radio station WDR.
   The station airs ‘Lukas’s Diary’ which unflatteringly depicts Podolski as an idiot who cannot finish his sentences.
   ‘I can accept a bit of fun but that is below the belt,’ raged Podolski.
   German football chiefs revealed that Podolski will no longer give interviews with state broadcaster ARD, which operates the WDR radio station.
   Away from the controversy, Podolski believes he’ll be back amongst the goals again soon.
   ‘The team’s success is the main thing. We have won two matches and are in the last 16. With a bit of luck I think I will score soon,’ he said.
   ‘I am 21 and three years ago I had no idea I would be playing at the World Cup. I will get more experience here and with Bayern Munich. The level is certainly higher but I am not afraid.’
   Podolski signed for Bayern Munich in a 10-million-euro deal from Cologne shortly before the finals and says he is not anxious at Bayern’s interest in Manchester United’s Dutch international Ruud van Nistelrooy.
   ‘I would like Ruud van Nistelrooy to come to Bayern as he is a world class striker and I could learn a lot from him,’ Podolski said.

The Ghanaian Football Associa-tion apologised on Monday after one of its players waved an Israeli flag to celebrate their 2-0 World Cup win against the Czech Republic.
   Team spokesman Randy Abbey said it was important to point out that the Ghanaian FA was not trying to take sides in the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
   Defender John Paintsil was very popular in Israel where he plays for Hapoel Tel Aviv and had wanted to acknowledge the Israeli fans who had travelled to Germany to support him, Abbey said.
   ‘He is obviously unaware of the implications of what he did. He’s unaware of international politics. We apologise to anybody who was offended and we promise that it will never happen again.
   ‘He did not act out of malice for the Arab people or in support of Israel. He was naive... we don’t need to punish him.’
   Paintsil celebrated the two Ghana goals on Saturday by taking out a small Israeli flag from his sock and waving it above his head. Abbey said neither the Ghanaian FA nor Ghana as a country had a strong political position on the subject and said they were just in Germany for the World Cup.
   ‘We are not in support or against Israel or the Arab nations. We are here to play football, we are not here to do politics.’
   A spokesman for FIFA had said they had no problem with the gesture and Israel’s sports minister Ofir Pines-Paz had been quoted as praising Paintsil for his actions and saying Ghana had gained many Israeli fans.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Monday that the world champions had made him sweat as they saw off gutsy Australia to reach the second phase of the World Cup with a performance that did not convince the media.
   ‘I was very nervous,’ said Lula. ‘I think we are suffering from tension. For myself, it was a long time since I’d been so nervous and tense watching a Brazil match,’ Lula told his weekly radio programme.
   According to the Brazilian media, the Selecao must do much better after two performances which many papers said ‘lacked the magic’ of traditional Brazilian showings.
   ‘A difficult qualification,’ wrote Rio daily O Globo, which noted that Brazil ‘won but by playing badly’ as it said the side had also done aganist Croatia.
   According to Folha de Sao Paulo daily, Brazil ‘are not yet ready’ to play the kind of football which would see them defend their title.
   ‘They lacked brio,’ the newspaper said. Former champion Tostao meanwhile said that against the Aussies and coming off a poor showing against the Croatians ‘Ronaldo moved about a bit but was still not on form.’
   Estado de Sao Paulo daily noted: ‘Only just, but Brazil qualifies.’
   For Jornal dos Sports Brazil ‘qualified - but had to sweat.’
   Sports daily Lance showed a picture of second goalscorer Fred draped in a Brazilian flag whose inscription the daily had doctored to read ‘qualification and progress’ rather than the usual ‘order and progress.’

Mexico say they are unfazed by taking on Portugal’s array of stars such as Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo in their crucial Group D encounter in Gelsenkirchen on Wednesday.
   Portuguese coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, who led Brazil to the 2002 title, is keeping his starting line-up under wraps but that does not worry the Mexicans, who have to go for the win after only following up a win over Iran with a draw against Angola.
   ‘It shouldn’t matter to Mexico whether Figo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Deco or Pauleta play. We know they are important players who make a difference for Portugal, but what matters for us is that Mexico go out there and win to take first place in the group,’ said Mexico’s Argentine-born Villarreal striker Guillermo Franco.
   Mexico, nicknamed the ‘Tri’ after their tricolor flag, have put themselves under pressure with the Angola stalemate.
   ‘A win is vital as that’s the only result which really serves our purpose. Although a draw might well see us reach the next round we are only thinking of winning,’ said midfielder Pavel Pardo.
   Mexico believe Portugal may hand a chance to a few of their fringe players but Pardo said that that would not make the task any easier for the ‘Aztecs.’
   ‘It could be more dangerous as the reserves will want to grab their chance of holding down a first team place - against us they might have that chance.’
   For defender Carlos Salcido ‘the Portuguese will certainly keep back a few players for the next phase,’ where they could meet Argentina or The Netherlands.
   For Franco, whatever the outcome of the Portugal match, future rivals ‘know that in any event they have a tough opponent in Mexico.’

He fled the Balkans as a child, struggled as a refugee in Switzerland, then won acceptance through soccer.
   Now Valon Behrami’s life story is being used as a lesson in tolerance in his adopted home.
   ‘Our national team can teach us how different cultures can live together in our country,’ reads the introduction to Behrami’s story in a booklet distributed in middle schools around Zurich. Other stories feature children of immigrants from Togo, South Korea and France—the three nations in Switzerland’s opening-round World Cup group.
   Nearly 20 per cent of Switzerland’s 7.5 million residents were born elsewhere, and there’s an ongoing debate over whether to restrict immigration. Two years ago, Swiss voters rejected proposals to ease naturalization rules for tens of thousands of foreigners, a result fueled in part by a reluctance to embrace a growing Balkan community.
   In an interview, Behrami said he had been unaware of the work book and the chapter about him.
   ‘This is very important,’ he said after thumbing through its 70 pages. ‘As a child, it’s not so easy when you’re a foreigner.’
   He speaks from experience.
   When Behrami was only five, his family fled civil war in Kosovo and settled in southern Switzerland.
   Life was hard. In Kosovo, his father had been a factory manager, his mother a secretary. In Switzerland, his father worked as a driver and his mother found work cleaning and working in a factory.
   His mother often worked the late shift, Behrami said, so he and his sister would be home alone in the evening.
   At one point, the family was in danger of being deported when their request for political asylum was rejected. They were allowed to stay after years of bureaucratic wrangling and a petition drive by friends who rallied around them.
   Life has eased with Behrami’s soccer success, which has included a quick rise through the Italian league to his current place on the club Lazio. His mother Halime has quit her factory job, he said, though his father Ragib still drives a van to keep busy.

Delighted Saudi Arabian soccer officials have awarded each player 100,000 riyals ($26,670) after the team’s 2-2 draw against Tunisia at the World Cup – a prize they had initially promised only for a victory.
   ‘They are appreciative of the way the team played,’ said Saudi team spokesman Ibrahim Al Goba before their second Group H match against Ukraine on Monday. ‘They’re very pleased.’
   Saudi newspapers reported that the Saudi football federation head, Prince Sultan, had distributed the prize money after ‘the positive draw against Tunisia’ in Wednesday’s match.
   The Saudi royal had promised the players up to 600,000 riyals each, including 100,000 for each victory in the group stage, if they reached the knockout phase.

Germany’s top World Cup marksman Miroslav Klose has denied having a fall-out with his junior strike partner Lukas Podolski.
   The 28-year-old Klose offered some words of advice to Podolski, 21, after his poor showing in the 1-0 win over Poland and newspaper Bild daily claimed there had been a rift between the two Polish-born forwards.
   Klose had not been pencilled in for Monday’s
   press conference but turned out to diffuse the situation before Tuesday’s match with Ecuador.
   ‘There is no problem between myself and Lukas. We get on well,’ Klose said.
   ‘I just said he needed to move more. It was encouragement.
   ‘I was just trying to help him as we all are. He is a young player and we all know he is a sensational striker.’
   While Klose has scored twice in the finals - both goals
   coming against Costa
   Rica - Podolski has failed to hit the net and looked out of his depth.
   There has been speculation that manager Jurgen Klinsmann would take Podolski out of the firing line against Ecuador but Klose refused to give anything away.
   ‘I expect us both to start. I have not heard anything different,’ said the Werder Bremen striker.

Harry Kewell’s on-pitch rant at German referee Markus Merk at fulltime of Australia’s 2-0 loss to Brazil may have repercussions with governing body FIFA.
   The Liverpool ace marched up to Merk and appeared to give him a piece of his mind, remonstrating and pointing his finger at him for some time before stalking off the field. The Australians were later diplomatic about Merk’s controversial display in which he whistled 25 fouls against them, and only nine for Brazil.
   Merk awarded Brazil 26 free kicks to the Socceroos’ 14 in a perplexing performance that often had the Aussies scratching their heads in bemusement.
   The referee issued five yellow cards - to Australians Brett Emerton and Jason Culina and Brazilian skipper Cafu, Ronaldo in the first half and Robinho in the 83rd minute. Second-half substitute Kewell had Australia’s best scoring chance in the 57th minute, but his left-foot volley was high and wide with the goal beckoning after Brazilian goalkeeper Dida made a mess of a high ball in a challenge with Mark Viduka.
   Kewell later played down his altercation with the German official as something in ‘the heat of the moment’, but he could still face FIFA censure.

Ronaldo faces chop
   Star striker Ronaldo was facing the axe from world champions Brazil last night after a touchline row with boss Carlos Alberto Parreira.
   Ronaldo, who was treated by doctors last week after complaining of dizzy spells, was substituted 18 minutes from the end of Brazil’s lacklustre 2-0 win over Australia after another lifeless display.
   Ronaldo and Parreira had an angry touchline exchange before Ronaldo stormed off. He did not join the rest of the squad when they celebrated their victory at the end of the match.
   Parreira did not talk about the row afterwards but he hinted that Ronaldo’s place was in jeopardy when he talked about the contribution made by Robinho and fellow substitute Fred.
   ‘The most important part of the game was when Robinho and Fred came on,’ Parreira said. ‘We got our speed then and succeeded in imposing our style on the match.’
   Before he left Parreira fielded a question from someone whose command of English was less than perfect.
   ‘Is Ronaldo too thick?’ the reporter asked. ‘I don’t know,’ Parreira said. ‘You’ll have to ask our doctor.’ — New Age Desk
   
   Pope prays for a German win
   Football may have lost it’s highest-placed fan when Pope John Paul II died last year but his successor is doing his bit. The new Pope, Benedict XVI, a German, is watching the World Cup on an old black and white TV.
   The 79-year-old pontiff views the matches on a 1970s TV in the roof garden of the block where he has his private apartment in Rome.
   For the record, he’s a Bayern Munich fan.—New Age Desk
   
   Ruud set for Heinze kicking
   Ruud van Nistelrooy is expecting a tough time against Manchester United team-mate Gabriel Heinze when Holland play Argentina on Wednesday.
   The World Cup powerhouses meet in Frankfurt to determine who will qualify for the second round as Group C winners.
   With both teams already through to the knockout phase, Dutch coach Marco van Basten has hinted he could rest several of his players.
   Van Nistelrooy, who scored Holland’s decisive goal in the last game against Ivory Coast, is still expected to lead the line against Argentina which will pit him against club colleague Heinze.
   The rugged defender has overcome a serious knee injury to feature in the World Cup and has impressed at centre half for the current tournament favourites.
   Dutch hot shot van Nistelrooy is delighted by Heinze’s return to action, but is aware the pair’s club allegiance will count for nothing.
   ‘I know Gaby well,’ said van Nistelrooy. ‘I come up against him in training quite often and he’s always a fierce competitor.
   ‘He said he’d kick Wayne Rooney if necessary. He wouldn’t be any different for me.
   ‘The way he is playing is tremendous, but the way Argentina are playing, whoa!
   ‘We saw the end of their 6-0 win over Serbia and we were very impressed.’ — New Age Desk
   
   Cesc desperate
   to seize chance
   Spain youngster Cesc Fabregas is desperate to make the most of his World Cup chance after coming of age this season with Arsenal.
   The 19-year-old has performed superbly in The Gunners’ midfield following the departure of talismanic Frenchman Patrick Vieira to Juventus.
   Fabregas believes the experience he gained this term, including helping Arsenal reach the UEFA Champions League final, has given him the confidence to succeed in Germany.
   ‘Arsenal performed well at tough times with the injuries we had and it meant the young and inexperienced players had to be called on,’ explained Fabregas.
   ‘We had an incredible year getting to the final of the Champions League and finishing fourth in the Premier League. I have learned a lot.
   ‘I have taken a big step in only one year. To be where I am now is something that I could not have contemplated at the start of the season.
   ‘But with work, belief in yourself and luck, things can work out well. I am now at the point when I want to take maximum advantage.’ — New Age Desk
   
   Officials refuse to play ball with Fred
   Fred may have scored for Brazil in the 2-0 win over Australia here on Sunday but he was frustrated by an official in his attempt to keep the ball and give it to his father.
   The 22-year-old Lyon star forward’s father has been present at every training session since his son left for the World Cup.
   ‘I wanted to give it to my father who was in the stands,’ revealed Fred, who celebrated a goal in the Champions League last season by whipping out a baby’s dummy from his shorts and sticking it in his mouth to welcome his first child born earlier that day.
   ‘I wanted to have it signed by all the players and to give it to him,’ added Fred, who made an immediate impression for the auriverde on his debut last November scoring twice against the United Arab Emirates. — AFP
   
   Saudis opt for
   alcohol-free award
   Saudi Arabia have reached a compromise over World Cup man-of-the-match awards which they had boycotted because they are sponsored by a leading beer company, a FIFA source told AFP.
   If a Saudi player wins the prize in the Group H match against Ukraine in Hamburg on Monday, he will be presented with a tankard which does not contain the logo of the company which backs the prize.
   In that way, the kingdom’s team will not be associated with alcohol.
   There is a strict ban on drinking, producing or importing alcohol in the Islamic country with transgressors facing weeks or months in prison or even lashes.
   In Saudi Arabia’s opening match, the man-of-the-match award went to Zied Jaziri of Tunisia after the 2-2 draw. — AFP
   
   Australia battles Brazil and whistles
   As if playing Brazil wasn’t enough, Australia had to put up with fan inteference Sunday night at the World Cup.
   A whistle in the crowd during the game resulted in an Australian player allowing the ball to roll into touch instead of playing on.
   ‘We reacted on that but nothing was done,’ said manager Guus Hiddink. ‘But OK, that’s the way it was. You cannot do anything, but there was whistling. We tried to react (speak) to the officials but they did not react. So what can we do? We don’t have any power.’
   Asked if he would ask FIFA about stewards confiscating whistles in the stands, Hiddink said not much could be done.
   ‘It’s so crowded over there,’ he said of the stands. ‘They can influence the game in the later part. But I don’t think this was decisive ... We have to continue.’
   A sellout crowd of 66,000 saw Brazil’s 2-0 win over the Australians. — AP
   
   Inside knowledge
   Tord Grip helped Sweden reach the semifinals of the 1994 World Cup. Now his job might cause the Swedes to be ousted in the first round.
   Grip was assistant manager of the Swedish national team from 1991-1997. Now he’s assistant to England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, a fellow Swede. And both are trying to orchestrate England’s first win over Sweden in 11 games since 1968 in a Group B World Cup match on Tuesday.
   ‘It is time for us now to show we can beat them and break that long run,’ Grip told the Football Association’s Web site on Sunday. ‘What that would mean in terms of Sweden’s tournament, cannot be in my mind.’
   England only needs a draw to win Group B. Sweden can advance with a draw but should push for a win - a loss coupled with a Trinidad and Tobago win over eliminated Paraguay could send the Soca Warriors through to the next round.
   ‘We have defended very well so far but now I think the players, knowing we have qualified, will come out and play a bit more,’ Grip said. ‘Often the first games are tight because no one wants to lose, but now we will express ourselves more I think. We know we are through already now so that is very good for us. We can be positive and relaxed.’ — AP
   
   Opening omens
   All seven teams that have clinched spots in the second round — Germany, Ecuador, England, Argentina, Netherlands, and Brazil — won their opening match. All six eliminated teams — Iran, Ivory Coast, Serbia-Montenegro, Poland, Costa Rica and Paraguay — lost their opener.
   Of the 23 teams that won their opening match at the 2002 and 1998 World Cups, 20 advanced to the second round. Of the 23 teams that lost their opener, 22 failed to advance. Only Turkey in 2002 managed to lose its opener and reach the second round. The Turks lost to Brazil, tied Costa Rica, then beat China and advanced to the knockout round on goal difference. Once there, they excelled, and ended up finishing third. — AP
   
   Ticket thief caught out at Brazil game
   A thief who stole a woman’s World Cup ticket was arrested after taking her place in the stadium—and finding himself sitting next to her husband.
   Munich police said the stolen ticket was in a handbag that was snatched from the woman as she made her way to Sunday’s game between Brazil and Australia.
   ‘The audacious thief found the ticket and sat down in her place,’ they said in a statement. ‘However, the victim’s husband then sat next to him in the stadium and alerted the police, who arrested the man.’— Reuters
   
   Long-distance
   message
   On the other side of the world from Germany there’s a Portugal fan who is being crowded by bigger worries than how the team does at the World Cup. Xanana Gusmao, the president of former Portuguese colony East Timor, often attends league or international games when he’s on a state visit to Lisbon. Portugal withdrew from the Southeast Asian country near 30 years ago.
   In recent weeks Gusmao’s country has been wracked by violence after a group of soldiers mutinied and exposed deep political divisions.
   On Sunday, Portuguese players unfurled a large banner which Gusmao asked them to show in a public gesture designed to unite the East Timorese people.
   It read, in the Timorese language: ‘Timor Leste, klamar ida deit, povu ida deit’ (East Timor, one soul, one country). — AP

Coming off a lopsided 6-0 victory over Serbia-Montenegro, two-time champion Argentina will try to maintain the momentum against the Netherlands - its toughest rival in Group C.
   It may be difficult.
   Coach Jose Pekerman is expected to make up to a half-dozen changes - Dutch coach Marco Van Basten will do the same for the Wednesday match - with both teams already through to the second round.
   ‘Nobody can take out what we have in our heads,’ midfielder Javier Mascherano said. ‘We’ve set a goal and we’re not going to stop until we achieve it.’
   Mascherano, speaking before Monday’s closed practice, echoed midfield teammate Juan Roman Riquelme after Friday’s game: Argentina can still improve.
   ‘I’m sure we can play better,’ he said. ‘Perfection doesn’t exist in soccer and all the time we try to keep improving.’
   Three players on yellow cards are likely to sit out against the Dutch - strikers Hernan Crespo and Javier Saviola, and defender Gabriel Heinze. Midfielder Luis Gonzalez also has one, but will miss the game in Frankfurt anyway with a left thigh injury.
   Mascherano could also be held out with a toe injury.
   Pekerman hasn’t revealed his changes, but 6-foot-2-inch (1.87 meter) Julio Cruz is likely to replace Crespo up front. Carlos Tevez could come in for Saviola in the small striker spot, and Gabriel Milito is almost certain to replace Heinze at central defender.
   Again, Barcelona’s 18-year-old striker Lionel Messi would be available off the bench after scoring against Serbia in his World Cup debut.
   If Pekerman wants to rest playmaking midfielder Riquelme, Valencia’s Pablo Aimar could fill in. Leandro Cufre may also play at right back, giving Nicolas Burdisso a rest.
   With a superior goal difference, Argentina can win the group with just a draw. The top team is likely to play Mexico, with the second-place team facing Portugal in the knockout round of 16. Looming in the quarterfinals could be host Germany, Ecuador, England or Sweden. Powerful teams like Italy, the Czech Republic, Brazil and Spain can’t face Argentina until the semifinals.
   In their last meeting, the Netherlands defeated Argentina 2-1 in the ‘98 World Cup quarterfinals - Dennis Bergkamp scored in the 89th minute. Argentina defeated the Netherlands 3-1 in the 1978 World Cup championship game, giving the country its first of two World Cup titles.
   Only four players remain on Argentina’s team from the disappointing 2002 World Cup, with 17 of the 23 having played for Pekerman in his decade as the youth-team coach.
   Ditto the Dutch.
   ‘We know the Netherlands is a great team, and they’ve had an influx of young players,’ said Mascherano. ‘They played very well to already reach the second round. It should be a beautiful game because these are two teams that try to play attacking soccer.’

Germany are determined to finish top of Group A with a win over Ecuador in Berlin today with manager Jurgen Klinsmann demanding his team to go into the last 16 of the World Cup on a high.
   Both Germany and Ecuador have already secured their place in the second round and are vying for the right to finish top.
   The group winner will play in Munich and theoretically get an easier draw against the runner-up of Group B although the likely candidates, England and Sweden, would be furious to be regarded as lightweights.
   ‘It is not just about winning the group to get the ideal stadia or play against certain opposition, it is to give us more self confidence,’ Klinsmann said at a press conference on Monday.
   ‘We want to go into the last 16 on a high. It has been a good start and hopefully there are five more games for us.’
   Ecuador need just a draw to finish top of the group meaning Germany must become the first team at the finals to score against the impressive South Americans.
   With this in mind Klinsmann has promised to field his strongest line-up with captain Michael Ballack starting despite being just one yellow card away from missing the second round tie.
   ‘I can’t be afraid (of another booking) otherwise I will not win my tackles and that will not be good for us,’ explained Ballack.
   Christoph Metzelder and David Odonkor are two other Germany players carrying cautions.
   Robert Huth, who recently signed for English side Middlesbrough, could deputise for Metzelder in central defence after the Borussia Dortmund man suffered a minor knee injury.
   Ballack, scorer of 31 goals in 66 internationals, played a more disciplined role in the 1-0 win over Poland and is willing to curb his attacking intentions to give the team more stability in midfield.
   ‘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 said
   ‘It is no good if a few individuals have a great tournament but the team crash out.’
   While Klinsmann is set to risk suspensions to key players his Ecuadorian counterpart Luis Suarez has vowed to rest some weary players.
   ‘Some players are tired so we may rest them but that does not mean we are playing for a draw,’ Suarez said.
   ‘If we play for a draw there is a good chance we will lose the game.’
   Striker Agustin Delgado, who has scored in both of Ecuador’s matches, echoed his coach’s opinion.
   ‘No. We will not settle for a draw. We want to beat Germany and finish top,’ declared Delgado.
   ‘It will be difficult because they have home advantage but I hope it turns out to be a beautiful evening.’
   England and Sweden battle it out for the right to top Group B after the Germany-Ecuador game so neither team will know their opponent until late on Tuesday evening.
   As it stands Germany would play England and Ecuador would take on Sweden.
   ‘It does not matter whether it is England or Sweden,’ said Germany striker Lukas Podolski. ‘If you want to be world champions you have to beat the good teams anyway.’

Few can argue that England has one of the best defensive lines around and keeping a clean sheet in the World Cup is what is driving players like John Terry.
   The Chelsea captain, a rock in central defence and considered by many to have been England’s best player in their first two games, has forged a solid partnership with Rio Ferdinand in the middle which has frustrated strikers.
   Although England failed to dazzle against Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago, the defence looked solid and has yet to concede a goal.
   Terry, now one of the first names on Sven-Goran Eriksson’s team sheet after playing second fiddle for so long to the Ferdinand-Sol Campbell pairing, compares keeping a clean sheet to a striker scoring.
   ‘For the boys at the back it feels the same as grabbing a goal does for the strikers or the midfielders,’ said the 25-year-old as England prepared for their third Group B match against Sweden.
   ‘We get a bigger boost coming off the pitch when we’ve kept a clean sheet and hopefully we can keep that going against Sweden.’
   Terry miraculously prevented England from conceding its first goal with his athletic goal line clearance against Trinidad and Tobago last weekend, but Sweden will be a much tougher task.
   Barcelona’s Henrik Larsson has been one of the deadliest finishers in the world for years while Arsenal’s attacking midfielder Freddie Ljungberg has the ability to pop up and whip the ball home at any time.
   But Terry, recently a father to twins, has utter faith in Ferdinand, Ashley Cole and Gary Neville, his regular partners in the back line, although an injured Neville is likely to be replaced by Jamie Carragher against Sweden.
   England also benefit from having Paul Robinson between the posts and people like Steven Gerrard, David Beckham, Joe Cole and Frank Lampard steering the midfield and powering back to defend when there’s trouble.
   Asked if it was feasible to expect England to go through the tournament without letting in a goal, Terry said: ‘It would be very nice.’
   ‘Obviously there’s some world-class strikers playing for some great teams but the defensive five are going into games desperate not to concede goals.
   ‘That’s our main aim. If we can keep clean sheets we’re going to win games.’
   Both Terry and Ferdinand are born leaders and the Chelsea star, who spearheaded his club to a second consecutive Premier League title last year, admits that he has to work at the partnership.
   ‘A little bit, but the way we get on off the pitch helps as well,’ he said, adding that both of them are talkative and authoratitive on the pitch.
   ‘Rio’s a great talker. He’s a leader on the pitch and so am I. So we talk to each other and help the people around us,’ said Terry.

England’s wives and girlfriends on Sunday gave chanting German fans the red card in an angry showdown at a nightclub.
   The ‘WAGS’ lost their rags as half a dozen locals began taunting them that Germany would win the World Cup.
   Our girls at first tried to laugh it off — before midfielder Frank Lampard’s stunning girlfriend Elen Rives decided she had heard enough.
   She hit the Germans with a verbal volley — telling
   them: ‘F*** off and leave us alone.’
   Other wives and girlfriends joined in the counter-attack until the Germans beat a hasty retreat. An onlooker said: ‘Elen gave the German fans what for and they trooped off looking very sheepish.
   ‘The WAGS clearly don’t stand any messing — particularly from German opposition.’
   The bust-up happened at a club in Baden Baden as wives and girlfriends partied until 4am — getting through £2,000-worth of champagne and other booze.
   The beauties shrieked with laughter as Wayne Rooney’s fiancee Coleen McLoughlin, 20, led the revels at Max’s Club.
   Spanish-born Elen, 28, looked stunning in a low-cut red dress as she arrived at the club with Jermaine Jenas’s girlfriend Sabrina Keogh, 24, and Stewart Downing’s love Michaela Henderson-Thynne.
   Stars of the dancefloor were Joe Cole’s dark-haired girlfriend Carly Zucker, 23, and Michael Carrick’s lover Lisa Roughead, 24.
   The girls and their pals guzzled a dozen bottles of £55 Veuve Clicquot bubbly — plus vodka shots and whisky and amaretto cocktails.
   David Beckham’s sister Joanne, 24, chatted to Ashley Cole’s brother Matthew,
   23.
   Teen sensation Aaron Lennon’s older brother Anthony busied himself lining up rounds for the party. Bar staff were worked off their feet keeping up with the WAGS’ demand.
   The onlooker said: ‘About six guys gathered in front of the girls chanting that they were going to win the World Cup. At first the girls laughed — but the joke wore off. Then they started trying to take pictures — and Elen snapped.’
   Among WAGS who missed the action were Michael Owen’s wife Louise, 25, and John Terry’s fiancee Toni Poole, 23. They were off enjoying themselves elsewhere.
   At 4:00am the clubgoers headed back to their hotel.
   Earlier, England coach Sven Goran Eriksson’s girlfriend Nancy Dell’Olio had hosted a barbecue for the wives and girlfriends in the grounds of the Brenner’s Park Hotel.
   And yesterday, Theo Walcott’s girlfriend Melanie Slade strolled through the town with a pal’s baby.

Germany are renowned as masters in the penalty shootout but manager Jurgen Klinsmann revealed Monday that the World Cup hosts have not been practising spot-kicks in training.
   Germany have already qualified for the last 16 of the competition but Klinsmann is not concerned with the possibility of penalties in the knockout phase, preferring to concentrate on Tuesday’s final group match against Ecuador.
   “We are not practising penalties at the moment,” Klinsmann said at a press conference on Monday.
   “I am just thinking about Ecuador, not England or Sweden. Once we get in the last 16 whoever we face will be tough.”
   If England are paired with Germany in the second round - which is highly possible - the talk of penalty shootouts will be inevitable.
   In the semi-final of the 1990 World Cup West Germany - with Klinsmann leading the attack - eliminated England 4-3 on penalties as Stuart Peace and Chris Waddle missed for England.
   A united Germany then defeated hosts England on penalties in the semi-finals of Euro 1996 with Gareth Southgate missing the decisive penalty.
   England have openly admitted to practising penalties in the build-up to the finals in an attempt to improve a clear flaw in their game.
   On past evidence Germany do not need much practice.

For Emdad Uddin Ahmed, a resident of Baridhara area in Dhaka, it was something beyond his imagination. He loves football, but he has never dreamt of watching a
   World Cup game from the stadium.
   But he is now well on his way to Germany along with his wife and the opportunity was given to them by Emirates, one of the official sponsors of the gala event. Emdad was the first prize winner of the quiz competition, which Emirates ran in daily New Age and Janakantha from May 12 to 24, 2006.
   The tickets to travel to Germany were handed over to Emdad and his wife at a ceremony on Monday at a city hotel. Hanif Zakaria, the Bangladesh area manager of Emirates, formally handed over the tickets to them.
   In addition to Emirates return tickets the couple will
   be given hotel accommodation for two nights and tickets to watch the much-talked-about match of the first phase between Argentina and Holland.
   Emirates also presented a goody bag each to the other 10 winners, who were chosen from over 20,000 entries with 4,000 having all-correct answers.
   Among others, Abdullah bin Shaheen, the airport service manager of Emirates, was also present on the occasion.

Two wins out of two, a maximum six points and early qualification for the last 16 would be enough for most teams. Brazil are different though.
   Fans and media are not convinced by the performances of the reigning champions - a 1-0 win over Croatia in their opener followed by a laboured 2-0 win over plucky Australia.
   ‘Though to the last 16 - but with some difficult moments,’ noted Brazilian sports web portal Lance after a much-criticised Ronaldo, still a goal shy of beating Pele’s tournament goalscoring mark, turned provider for Adriano before substitute Fred bagged a second.
   Fred’s clincher reminded the first team the reserves will seize any chance to make a claim in a team which appears to fear failure – that concept very clearly defined in their homeland as not winning the tournament.
   Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira admits his charges are only just getting to grips with the demands of the event.
   ‘It’s 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,’ said the man who took the auriverde to their 1994 title.
   On that occasion, Italy were dispatched on penalties in a disappointing final and Parreira makes no apologies for a pragmatic approach.
   ‘We played better than we did against Croatia and we will play even better in the next one,’ Parreira said of the match against a Japanese side on the brink of elimination.
   ‘We were better than we were against Croatia. The chances are starting to come,’ said Ronaldo, who Parreira hauled off, as in the first game against Croatia, with 20 minutes remaining.
   Parreira at least does not shrink from removing Brazil’s 2002 talisman from the side with the likes of Fred and Robinho champing at the bit, and conceded that the Real Madrid player is not yet sharp enough after an injury-plagued season ‘to play the 90 minutes.’
   Even Ronaldinho, coming off league and Champions League triumphs with Barcelona, has not yet found his feet and warned that ‘there’s no doubt we have to improve.
   But, saluting Brazil’s patient approach, Parreira promised that ‘from the second round we’ll be on another level, physically as well as technically,’
   ‘The expectations of the first game have passed and we’re on an upward curve,’ Kaka told radio Lance.
   Yet under Parreira, there is the suspicion that Brazil are caught on the horns of a cultural dilemma.
   Yes, they will likely make it a record ten straight wins in the finals by beating Japan and yes, their (ageing) defence is not conceding goals.
   But while the group format allows for a period of grace to iron out the cracks the Brazilians have yet to show they can unleash the fluidity of rivals Argentina, who flattened Serbia and Montenegro as the likes of Javier Saviola, Juan Riquelme and Lionel Messi ran riot.
   So have Brazil started to go a little minimalist, in the fashion of Italy, one side they could meet in the last 16?
   In March, Ronaldo scored the only goal in a friendly win in Russia.
   Then a Swiss select and New Zealand were seen off 8-0 and 4-0 respectively.
   Add clean sheets against the Saudis in a friendly mauling and a 3-0 win over Venezuela to wrap up qualifying and you have to go back to the previous qualifier against Bolivia at high altitude in La Paz for the last time Brazil conceded a goal – eight games ago.
   The last man to score against Brazil in the World Cup was England’s Michael Owen in the 2002 quarter-finals.
   That’s a pretty good case for the defence.
   In Brazil, however, that’s not what they want to see and the case for the offence looks less convincing.
   ‘After two discreet performances the Brazilian attack is the worst at a World Cup since 1990, in Italy – when they were eliminated in the quarter-finals by their rivals Argentina,’ observed Folha correspondent Andre Luis Nery.
   Midfielder Ze Roberto insists there is no need to worry.
   ‘Brazil are coming along nicely and we will get better with each succeeding match,’ he insisted.

Trinidad & Tobago have won plaudits for battling performances against England and Sweden at their first World Cup but the Soca Warriors must now turn acclaim into points to stay in the tournament.
   The Caribbean islanders, who drew 0-0 with Sweden and gave England a fright before losing 2-0, still have a mathematical chance of making the second round if they beat pointless Paraguay in their last Group B game today.
   If Trinidad beat Paraguay in Kaiserslautern and Sweden lose to England in Cologne, second place will be decided on goal difference between the islanders and the Scandinavians.
   Captain Dwight Yorke remains optimistic.
   ‘I am sure they (England) will do that and beat Sweden for us and we have to get the job done versus Paraguay,’ he said.
   ‘We probably will ask them to do us a favour now. The most important thing is that we gave ourselves a chance and people didn’t think we can do that and here we are still biting in there.’
   Coach Leo Beenhakker has received good news on the injury front with goalkeeper Kelvin Jack, who missed the first two games through injury, available again while defender Avery John is back from suspension after his sending off against Sweden.
   Defender Cyd Gray misses out, though, after picking up a leg injury against England.
   Paraguay have nothing to play for but pride after successive 1-0 defeats when, for all their technical astuteness, they failed to translate their possession into goals.
   An underwhelming attack has been firing blanks.
   Coach Anibal Ruiz gambled on the fitness of Roque Santa Cruz but the Bayern Munich striker has struggled to impose himself after an injury-hit season.
   With Jose Cardozo pulling out of the squad through injury days before the finals, only Nelson Haedo Valdez, signed by Werder Bremen in 2001 from amateur club Atletico Tembetary without having played a professional game, has looked a threat.
   Ruiz, whose deal with Paraguay ends after the World Cup, has brushed aside questions over his future and has said he will put out his strongest side against Trinidad.
   Paraguay’s captain and central defender Carlos Gamarra, 35, will make his 110th and final appearance after confirming his international retirement following Thursday’s defeat by Sweden.
   The South Americans have concerns over injured defenders Carlos Bonet and Jorge Nunez but the latter is expected to play.
   Probable teams:
   Paraguay (4-4-2):
   22-Aldo Bobadilla; 21-Denis Caniza, 5-Julio Cesar Caceres, 4-Carlos Gamarra, 3-Delio Toledo; 19-Julio Dos Santos, 10-Roberto Acuna, 13-Carlos Paredes, 16-Cristian Riveros; 9-Roque Santa Cruz, 18-Nelson Haedo Valdez
   Trinidad & Tobago (4-4-2):
   1-Shaka Hislop; 6-Dennis Lawrence, 5-Brent Sancho, 11-Carlos Edwards, 3-Avery John; 9-Aurtis Whitley, 7-Chris Birchall, 18-Densill Theobald, 15-Kenwyne Jones; 14-Stern John, 19-Dwight Yorke

FIFA is pleased players and spectators have noticed World Cup referees producing plenty of yellow cards for sliding tackles and reds for elbowing. The message is getting through.
   After a slow start, referees had dished out five red cards, including three in Saturday’s 1-1 draw between Italy and the United States, and 11 players had received two yellows after the first half of the 48 group matches.
   The Italians finished with 10 men and the United States played almost the entire second half with nine.
   Angola, Australia, Ivory Coast, Japan and the United States have had gripes with refereeing decisions in Germany. But FIFA communications director Markus Siegler said the general standard of refereeing had been solid.
   ‘If you count the number of red and yellow cards ... it’s in proportion,’ he said.
   Before Sunday’s games, referees had handed out 136 yellow cards and 10 reds in 24 matches.
   Daniele De Rossi received a red card and was expecting a harsh sanction for elbowing US forward Brian McBride’s face as he jumped for a header in the 28th minute.
   ‘Yesterday, we had a rather ugly scene, the character of which was one of the issues addressed before the World Cup,’ Siegler said. ‘A phenomenon we’re seeing increasingly with headers—people taking a run up, using their elbows to leap higher. This can lead to injuries.
   ‘This was correctly identified and appropriately sanctioned.’
   The disciplinary committee was deliberating on the penalty for De Rossi.
   Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda sent American Pablo Mastroeni to the locker room in the 45th minute for a studs-up tackle, the American midfielder later claiming the challenge would rate only a yellow card ‘anywhere in the world.’
   Two minutes into the second half, US defender Eddie Pope got his second yellow card of the game for a tackle in which he got the ball first, but still took down an Italian.
   US coach Bruce Arena said referees might be going too far.
   ‘Entering this World Cup, I think there was a real theme that they were going to be very harsh on players, and I think they have,’ he said. ‘The cards are excessive, I believe. It’s just too much in all the games. It’s taking good players out of games.’
   Arena said he’d never seen a match with so many red cards. It was only the fourth time at a World Cup that three red cards had been issued in one match.
   ‘Fouls are being punished too harshly, without warnings. A foul sometimes is just a foul, it’s not a yellow card,’ he said. ‘I think it’s just gotten excessive in the World Cup.’
   The yellows were in accordance with a pre-World Cup stance against cynical fouls on attacking players.
   Siegler said the focus on specific rules should not be misinterpreted.

South Korea coach Dick Advocaat said he would let his players temporarily off the leash to allow them to celebrate snatching a 1-1 draw with 1998 champions France in their World Cup Group G match on Sunday.
   Man of the match Park Ji-sung scrambled the ball across the line in the 81st minute to cancel out Thierry Henry’s first-half strike and earn the plucky South Koreans a priceless point.
   After their 2-1 comeback victory over Togo on Tuesday, the 2002 semi-finalists top the group on four points and next play Switzerland in Hanover on June 23.
   ‘First of all I think it’s important to celebrate the draw because that doesn’t happen very often away from Korea,’ Dutchman Advocaat told a news conference.
   ‘Let the boys celebrate a little bit and from tomorrow night we’ll start thinking about Switzerland.’
   France dominated the first half and should have gone 2-0 ahead in the 32nd minute. Mexican referee Benito Archundia ruled a Patrick Vieira header had not crossed the line while television replays seemed to show it had.
   ‘The chance from Vieira? It was not a goal because it (the result) was 1-1,’ said Advocaat.
   Bringing on winger Seol Ki-hyeon at halftime had changed the match, said Korea’s coach.
   ‘In the second half we were better organised,’ he said. ‘With the extra winger we could put a little bit more pressure on them and control parts of the game and make it a little bit easier because the first half took a lot of energy out of us.’
   Park said he was delighted to be top of the group.
   ‘I’m very pleased we had such a good match against such a strong team,’ said the midfielder. ‘Also because we are top of the group now which nobody expected.’

South Korea’s battling 1-1 draw with 1998 champions France on Sunday revived memories of their remarkable run to the semi-finals in 2002 but also served a reminder that they are not immune from refereeing controversy.
   The Koreans stunned Italy and Spain on their way to a fourth-place finish at the last World Cup but their achievement was overshadowed by allegations of incompetence and even bias against match officials.
   Television replays suggested France should have taken a 2-0 lead in the 32nd minute of Sunday’s match at the Zentralstadion in Leipzig when a Patrick Vieira header looked well over the line despite goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae’s efforts to claw it away.
   Mexican referee Benito Archundia waved play on and further enraged the French in the 85th minute by booking Zinedine Zidane and ruling him out of the next match against Togo.
   In the quarter-finals in 2002, Spain’s players were furious at two controversially disallowed goals and Ivan Helguera had to be restrained from the referee at the end of the match after South Korea sealed victory in a penalty shootout.
   In the previous round, Ecuador’s Byron Moreno turned down Italian pleas for a penalty, wrongly disallowed a goal for offside and sent Francesco Totti off for diving.
   French goalscorer Thierry Henry was visibly angry after the match on Sunday and did not hold back in his criticism of Archundia and his colleagues.
   ‘The referees are pretty quick to give yellow cards for no reason but when it’s about having a proper referee’s decision I did not see one today,’ Henry told reporters. ‘I knew the ball was clearly in and it should have been 2-0.’
   South Korea coach Dick Advocaat dismissed French complaints.
   ‘The chance from Vieira? It was not a goal because it (the result) was 1-1,’ the Dutchman told reporters.
   Vieira was more philosophical about the incident and said he had not complained too vigorously at the time because he was not 100 percent sure the ball had crossed the line.
   ‘I don’t know if the position of the referee was good enough but that’s the way it is,’ Vieira said.
   ‘This time it was against us but so many times it went for us so you just have to live with it.’
   South Korea, who top Group G on four points ahead of France with two, play Switzerland in Hanover on Friday while France take on Togo the same day in Cologne.

Jamie Carragher is an avid football fan and has watched virtually every World Cup game so far.
   One team stands head and shoulders above the rest for the Liverpool star, Argentina, and he is hoping they have peaked too soon.
   England could face Argentina in the final if all goes to plan, and in their current form the South Americans would have to be considered hot favourites.
   ‘I do think Argentina are playing at the top of their game and probably at the moment we’re not playing at the top of ours,’ said Carragher, who was outstanding in last year’s Champions League win over AC Milan.
   But Carragher warned it is not always ideal to hit top form too early. ‘Sometimes it’s good not to peak too early ... although we’d love to be playing the way they are playing with confidence,’ he said.
   ‘But when the knockout stages come hopefully they will have peaked too early.’

Japan may have only the slimmest of chances of beating Brazil for survival in the World Cup, but the Asian champions have not ruled out a ‘miracle win’ over the five-time holders.
   ‘Football throws up some unexpected results,’ Japan coach Zico said after the 0-0 draw against Croatia kept alive both sides’ hopes to reaching the second round. ‘We know how good Brazil are, but we intend to give them a real battle.’
   ‘We are hanging on by the skin of our teeth,’ said goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi whose masterful save of a Croatian penalty kept a clean sheet for Japan in Nuremberg on Sunday.
   ‘I will give all I have. Never mind if I’d get cramps and collapse,’ added the former Portsmouth keeper.
   Kawaguchi repelled a barrage of shots - including a Roberto Carlos free kick - when Japan upset Brazil 1-0 in Miami in the first round of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
   The victory, albeit at an underage level, is fondly remembered at home as the ‘miracle of Miami.’
   Japan also take pride in a 2-2 draw against Brazil in the first round of the Confederations Cup in Germany a year ago.
   ‘We should not be afraid just because our opponents are Brazil. We have experience of playing them before,’ Zico said.
   In World Cup Group-F, Brazil reached the second round on Sunday by defeating Australia 2-0. The Australians beat Japan 3-1 in their opener.
   Both Japan and Croatia trail two points behind Australia and they need to at least win their last group games on Thursday to stay in contention.
   Then, goal difference will decide who gets the second of the group’s two tickets for the knockout stages.
   As for Japan, they must beat Brazil by a margin of two goals, provided that Croatia defeats Australia by no more than one goal.

Michael Owen believes the return of Wayne Rooney could hold the key to ending his World Cup goal-drought as the two strikers prepare to resume their partnership against Sweden.
   Owen believes his failure to hit the target so far in Group B is down to England’s over-reliance on long balls targeting the 6ft 7in striker Peter Crouch as much as poor form on his part.
   But with the fit-again Rooney to return against Sweden, Owen believes England will shift to a style of play better-suited to predatory talents that have netted him 36 goals in 79 internationals.
   ‘If I get someone playing just behind me or in midfield with their head up then I come alive,’ said Owen.
   ‘We’re not going to be playing longer balls because Wayne and myself aren’t that tall. So we’ll try and keep it on the deck.’
   Owen is adamant he remains just as sharp as ever despite a five-month injury lay-off that appears to have taken an edge off his once famously searing pace.
   ‘You’re just not seeing it because we’re not firing on all cylinders at the moment,’ said Owen. ‘If we’re playing well I’ll look as good as I’ve ever been. ‘It’s just a case of us passing the ball and getting into the right areas for me to come alive.’
   Owen was hauled off by coach Sven-Goran Eriksson inside an hour against Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago, prompting speculation that the Newcastle United striker’s position in the team was under threat.

Substitute Fred planned a special Father’s Day gift to celebrate his goal in Brazil’s 2-0 World Cup win over Australia on Sunday.
   ‘I’m going to give the ball as a present to my father,’ Fred told reporters after scoring an 89th-minute goal. ‘I hope I can get everyone else to sign it for him.
   ‘Thank God we were able to win. I’m really happy about scoring a goal so shortly (one minute) after I got on.
   ‘We’ve qualified for the next round so now we’ll be able to play more openly. ‘ Midfielder Ze Roberto said.

Two Portugal football stars unfurled a banner declaring their solidarity with the troubled former Portuguese colony of East Timor on Sunday agreeing to a request from the East Timorese president Xanana Gusmao.
   Defenders Ricardo Carvalho and Andrade took the opportunity at the team’s press conference, the day after securing their place in the last 16 at the World Cup, to make their statement.
   ‘Timor – Leste Klamar ida deit povu ida deit (East Timor – one man and one nation),’ read the banner. A Portuguese team spokesman explained the gesture later.
   ‘It was from a letter sent by (East Timor) president Xanana Gusmao, in view of the delicate situation in the country,’ a team media officer said, according to A Bola magazine.
   East Timor was a Portuguese colony for four centuries until Indonesia invaded and occupied the territory in 1975. It gained independence in 1999 with guerrilla resistance led by Gusmao.

‘I have left him to boil in his own soup. He is a fantastic guy but he must change his computer chip’ - Italy coach Marcello Lippi rages about his midfielder Daniele de Rossi who was sent off for elbowing a US opponent.
   ‘What’s that all about? Put it this way, I wouldn’t have him up on stage with me’ - Sir Mick Jagger on Peter Crouch’s robot dance.
   ‘I’m desperate to beat Sweden before I finish as England coach’ - Sven-Goran Eriksson.
   ‘Of course I’m watching the football - it’s impossible not to get into it. I don’t care if the USA is in the World Cup, I’m supporting England all the way’ - Sex And The City star Kim Cattrall.
   ‘It is only when you stand next to 60,000 Sweden fans in their canary yellow shirts that you can fully appreciate that there is some genetic discrepancy in the world when it comes to handing out cheekbones and good skin’ - TV’s Gabby Logan.
   ‘Tunisia’s goalkeeper Ali Boumnijel is the only player at the tournament who was alive when England won the World Cup in 1966’ - World Cup trivia.
   ‘International football, more than any other, is about occupying the middle ground’ - Jamie Redknapp takes a leaf out of Tony Blair’s book.
   ‘The referee’s always right, even when he’s not’ - Australian midfielder Vince Grella on the performance of German referee Markus Merk.
   ‘You’ve got to criticise someone, so it might as well be me. But I’ve got broad shoulders and I am totally at ease with myself’ - Michael Owen.
   ‘I just don’t think we can say we’ve beaten Japan and give Brazil a run for the money and now we’re out... we’ve got to go for it, second round and mix it with some more big boys’ - Aussie defender Lucas Neill says the Socceroos must aim high.
   ‘Harry Kewell got presented with a gift and I think he was that surprised that he took a second to think about it and it was too late’ - Neill on Kewell missing an open goal in the 57th minute against Brazil.
   ‘At times they struggled to cope with us, which is great’ - Australian skipper Mark Viduka on giving Brazil a fright.

Italy coach Marcello Lippi is toying with the idea of changing his formation for the final group game against Czech Republic.
   Lippi was furious with his team after the game and reports in Italy suggest he will ring the changes for Thursday’s Group E clash with the Czechs.
   The Italy chief will have to make one enforced alteration, with Daniele De Rossi suspended.
   Midfielder Simone Perrotta is also doubtful for the match in Hamburg, while there are concerns over the fitness of attacking duo Francesco Totti and Luca Toni.
   The situation is causing Lippi to mull over his options, with a switch to 4-4-2 mooted for the key tussle with Czech Republic.
   If Lippi opts to alter his tactics, then Mauro Camoranesi and Gennaro Gattuso are due to come into the team, with Toni making way. Alternatively, should the Azzurri coach stick with his 4-3-3 line-up, then Filippo Inzaghi or Vincenzo Iaquinta are due to replace Toni in the side.

France legend Zinedine Zidane is hoping he has not played his last ever game.
   The mercurial playmaker is retiring at the end of the World Cup, but could have already featured in his final competitive match.
   Zidane picked up a booking in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with South Korea which rules him out of the closing Group G encounter with Togo.
   With France having drawn their opening two matches, qualification for the second round in Germany is by no means a certainty.
   But Zidane remains confident Les Bleus can advance and that his career will not draw to a disappointing conclusion.
   ‘I will be suspended against Togo, just like in 1998 against Paraguay,’ Zidane told Canal+. ‘I hope it will happen the same way.
   ‘Even if I am sad to not be on the pitch for the next game, I look far away.
   ‘We will suffer until the end, but we want to go further for the ones who support us.’
   France were held by South Korea courtesy of Park Ji-sung’s late leveller after Thierry Henry had scored early on.
   There was, however, controversy when Patrick Vieira was denied a first half goal, despite the ball seemingly crossing the line.
   Zidane was unhappy the goal was not awarded by the referee and admits South Korea’s equaliser cut deep.
   He added: ‘After half time, we tried to go on playing like we did in the first half.
   ‘And if the second goal had been given as it should have been, that would have given us a boost.
   ‘Right away I knew it was valid. I was very close. I said it to the referee, but he said no. That has distorted the match.
   ‘Conceding a goal like that in the end, that hurts a lot.’

The memories of the greatest night in France’s soccer history are receding faster than Zinedine Zidane’s hairline.
   Nearly eight years on from a glorious World Cup final when they beat Brazil 3-0 at the Stade de France in Paris with Zidane scoring twice, the French are struggling to build a future as glorious as the days they are leaving behind.
   That is not just their long-term future either—it is short-term too because, after allowing South Korea to score nine minutes from time in this Group G match to force a 1-1 draw, their immediate World Cup future is far from assured.
   Zidane may already, after the events at the Zentralstadion,
   be consigned to the history books.
   Booked just before the end for a thoughtless shove on a Korean defender moments after Thierry Henry fluffed a chance that might have won the match, Zidane will be suspended for France’s last group match against Togo next Friday.
   If the French fail to win that match they will almost certainly be out of the tournament and Zidane’s wonderful, brilliant career will be over.
   He has already announced his retirement and has played his last club match, having said goodbye to the Real Madrid fans who saw him at his best. The embers on his illustrious international career are also just flickering in the breeze now.
   There is no longer enough energy, force or power for him to go into the long night of retirement leaving a golden glow behind because Zidane, who has come back from international retirement once to boost France’s ailing World Cup qualification challenge, has just gone on a little too long.
   Coaches often say there is no room for sentiment in football and certainly not at the highest level but coach Raymond Domenech might have
   allowed a little to cloud his decision to include old faithfuls and not put his trust in younger players.
   Zidane no longer moves like he used to, no longer creates space for himself in that unique, magical way that only he has ever done.
   His flicks and passes still find their man, of course, but often they are the safe option.
   The brilliant, telling pass, the vision that opened up the play in ways that few others saw or even knew was there are no longer in his armoury.
   In 1998 Zidane missed two games at the World Cup after a foul almost as pointless as the one he committed here
   when he was sent off for
   stamping on a Saudi Arabian player with the game already won.
   France missed him in the next two games against Paraguay and Italy, but they came through to reach the semi-finals and went on to win the showpiece itself on home soil.
   They did that because, apart from Zidane, they had so many other great players. Now his absence could be a blessing in disguise, with Domenech forced to re-shuffle his starting lineup to pep up his team.
   Zidane was not the only below-par Frenchman here.
   Henry may have scored France’s first goal in the World Cup since the final eight years ago, but he wasted other good chances. For once William Gallas looked flustered and indisciplined at the back.
   Florent Malouda played well enough in midfield, but Patrick Vieira looked jaded and the shot he blasted into the Leipzig night air when it looked easier to score summed up his contribution.
   For their part South Korea seemed to have even fewer ideas and only came to life in the last 10 minutes after
   Park Ji-sung equalised following a quick break down the right.
   Those last few minutes were the best in the entire match when both teams went in search of the winner.
   Poignantly, though, Zidane did not make it to the end.
   Domenech replaced him with three minutes to go when the maestro walked off a pitch perhaps for the last time as a player in his 104th international.
   If it was the end, it was a sad one. But perhaps there is still more to come.
   He at least deserves a better finale.

When the starting whistle blows for Wednesday’s Argentina v the Netherlands, Edwin van der Sar will have reached a milestone, whatever the result.
   The 35-year-old goalkeeper will earn his 112th international appearance and match the mark of 1990s Dutch defender Frank de Boer. With the Netherlands already assured a second-round berth, Van der Sar is bound to break the mark next weekend, most likely against Portugal or Mexico.
   ‘I was focusing on that. Going to the second round was maybe even more important for me than for the others,’ the Manchester United keeper said.
   And when he heard that Dino Zoff won the World Cup for Italy when he was 40, he knew the future still could be bright.
   ‘Hey, I got another chance in South Africa in 2010,’ he said, more in jest than anything else. He knows the demands and vagaries of world-class competition are unpredictable.
   He even had to endure the jokes of his teammates and coach when he suffered cramps in the first match against Serbia-Montenegro.
   ‘If goalkeepers start having cramps, I don’t know any more. Maybe the captaincy is weighing on him,’ Van Basten said.
   All Van der Sar has to do though is point to the statistics - only three goals conceded in the World Cup qualifying campaign.
   His biggest achievement so far is already 11 years behind him, when he won the UEFA Champions League with Ajax. He was close to get an even bigger trophy during the 1998 World Cup. Yet in the semifinals against Brazil in Marseille, he was unable to stop any penalty in the shootout while the Dutch were typically off the mark.
   ‘It was the best team I played with for the Netherlands,’ he said. ‘It was our shot at World Cup glory.’
   So often, penalties have been his undoing. With the ‘Oranje,’ he also lost on penalties in the 1996 and 2000 European championships.
   ‘With a bit of luck, or more certainty, in the penalty shootout we could have gone through to the final. The same in 2000. We missed five penalties in one game. That one hurt also.
   So victory over Sweden in the Euro 2004 quarterfinals, and a save off a penalty from Olof Mellberg, brought some redemption.
   ‘We had a couple of bad experiences but the last one was good and we turned a corner,’ he said.
   Apart from being captain, Van der Sar also is an essential part of the defense. Because of his ball control skills, Van Basten tries to use him as much as possible as a link man between left and right at the back.
   ‘He is able to play the ball from left to right. He has a good vision like a football player. We can use him in that way much better,’ said Van Basten. His footwork is that good that many people don’t even know he is a natural leftie.
   After playing with Ajax, he moved to Juventus for two years and his career seemed to slide downwards when he agreed to play for Premier League also-ran Fulham.
   He said the promises to invest never fully materialized with Fulham, leaving him happy in London but somewhat frustrated professionally.
   ‘So I had to wait for a big club again. Luckily for me, United came in,’ he said.
   Now the future looks bright, and orange.
   ‘I am fortunate to be able to perform for a such a long period on a big stage and I still enjoy it,’ he said.

Polish coach Pawel Janas on Monday faced down growing pressure to resign after he ends a failed World Cup campaign with today’s Group A game against Costa Rica in Hanover.
   Polish media and fans have been calling for Janas’s resignation since defeats against Ecuador and Germany ended the eastern Europeans’ hopes at the group stages for the second consecutive World Cup.
   Football association chiefs have said they would wait until mid-July to decide on the coach’s future.
   But leading national daily Gazeta Wyborcza on Monday quoted sources in the Polish camp as saying Janas would step down after the Costa Rica game.
   ‘I repeat and repeat that this World Cup isn’t over for us yet,’ a visibly angry Janas said, answering a barrage of questions on his future at a news conference at the team’s base.
   ‘We have to face the last game against Costa Rica and then we have to do the analysis afterwards. We will draw our conclusions but we will do so internally.’
   Polish coach Pawel Janas on Monday faced down growing pressure to resign after he ends a failed World Cup campaign with Tuesday’s Group A
   game against Costa Rica in Hanover.
   Polish media and fans have been calling for Janas’s resignation since defeats against Ecuador and Germany ended the eastern Europeans’ hopes at the group stages for the second consecutive World Cup.
   Football association chiefs have said they would wait until mid-July to decide on the coach’s future.
   But leading national daily Gazeta Wyborcza on Monday quoted sources in the Polish camp as saying Janas would step down after the Costa Rica game.
   ‘I repeat and repeat that this World Cup isn’t over for us yet,’ a visibly angry Janas said, answering a barrage of questions on his future at a news conference at the team’s base.
   ‘We have to face the last game against Costa Rica and then we have to do the analysis afterwards. We will draw our conclusions but we will do so internally.’
   Polish press report the most likely candidate to replace Janas is former Wisla Krakow, Ivory Coast and Tunisia manager Henryk Kasperczak, currently the national coach for Senegal.
   ‘You are not helping us with all your reports and your questions,’ experienced midfielder Jacek Krzynowek told one journalist at Monday’s news conference.
   ‘We have to prepare for the last game, so let us do our job.’

Netherlands coach Marco van Basten could rest six players who are walking a disciplinary tightrope for the final Group C table top decider with Argentina in Frankfurt on Wednesday.
   Giovanni van Bronckhorst, John Heitinga, Arjen Robben, Joris Mathijsen, Mark van Bommel and Khalid Boulahrouz all have one yellow card each and another caution could rule them out of the second round.
   ‘We don’t want to take any risks for the next round,’ said van Basten.
   Midfielder Phillip Cocu (ankle) and defender John Heitinga (thigh) are both carrying injuries from Friday’s 2-1 win over Ivory Coast and are doubtful starters.
   Argentina’s Javier Saviola, Gabriel Heinze, Luis Gonzales and Hernan Crespo are also on a yellow card and will sit out Tuesday’s game.
   Both teams have already qualified for the next round and Wednesday’s match will decide who tops the group.
   Either Portugal or Mexico are likely to be waiting in the second round but van Basten insists he will not let his team be distracted by the next stage until they have completed their tricky assignment with Argentina.
   The Dutch have only lost once to the South Americans - in the 1978 World Cup final in Buenos Aires.
   ‘We will play to win,’ said the 41-year-old, who took over from Dick Advocaat following their semi-final exit at Euro 2004.
   ‘We will be proud to finish top of the group by beating Argentina. They are one of the big favourites for the title.
   ‘But even if I knew I would be playing this or that team in Group D, I am not going to alter my tactics at all in the hours before a match. There would be no sense.
   ‘We play to win.’
   Van Basten also paid tribute to his team claiming there is a new spirit in the squad.
   ‘Without the spirit, we could have been beaten by Ivory Coast, but we defended well.
   ‘But we need to improve our possession of the ball when we are being put under pressure by our opponents.’

A last-instant change of mind by goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi kept Japan’s World Cup hopes alive when he saved a penalty in the 0-0 draw against Croatia here Sunday.
   ‘I thought about diving to my right, but then I changed my mind at the last minute. And thankfully it paid off,’ said the 30-year-old.
   Kawaguchi brilliantly saved Darijo Srna’s 21st minute penalty after Dado Prso had been tripped in the box.
   The former Portsmouth reserve dived to his left to punch away a low shot heading into the corner of the net.
   He had aimed to revenge Japan’s 1-0 loss to Croatia in 1998 when the two sides made their debut in the World Cup finals.
   Japan went out with no points from the first round while the Balkan side went on to finish third behind France and Brazil.
   ‘I haven’t saved a penalty for a long time, so today it came at a good time,’ he said.
   ‘If Croatia had scored at that time, it would have been extremely difficult for us to find a way back into the match.’
   Known as the guardian god at home, Kawaguchi has dazzled with extraordinary saves at Japan’s moments of crisis, especially during their march to a third Asian Cup in China in 2004.
   ‘Obviously I was extremely disappointed to miss the penalty, but my teammates were great about it,’ said 24-year-old Srna, who plays for Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk.
   ‘I struck the ball well, but it was a tremendous save from the Japanese goalkeeper.’
   In 1998, Kawaguchi was in goal when playmaker Hidetoshi Nakata’s pass error led to a Croatian counterattack with Davor Suker scoring in the 77th minute.
   That doomed Japan to an eary exit. Suker ended as the tournament’s top scorer with six goals.
   ‘Of course, we will be desparate to get revenge,’ Kawaguchi said on the eve of the grudge match. ‘We have overcome tough situations like this. We should fight on with confidence like men.’
   Both Japan and Croatia, who lost their opening matches, earned one point from the draw, keeping alive their hopes of overtalking Australia for a second qualifying spot in Group F behind five-time champions Brazil.
   Brazil whipped Australia 2-0 in the day’s second match to book an early ticket to the knockout stages.
   ‘Our goalkeeper made a beautiful save that helped us keep a clean sheet,’ Japan coach Zico said.
   ‘It was a truly wonderful save ... that summed up our luck,’ Croatia coach Zlatko Kranjcar said. ‘We were better organised and we created the better chances. That said, I feel that we lost two points today.’

Germany have no preference over their second round World Cup opponents, coach Juergen Klinsmann said on Monday.
   Germany could face historic rivals England in the last 16, depending on the results of the final matches in their groups on Tuesday.
   The hosts need to beat Ecuador to finish top of Group A and avoid the first-placed team in Group B, which will be England if they get at least a draw against Sweden in one of Tuesday’s late matches.
   ‘We really don’t care (who we face),’ Klinsmann said at a news conference on Monday. ‘Once you get into the knock-out phase it’s very tough whoever you face ... (but) we haven’t started practising penalties yet.’
   Germany have won both their games so far but so have Ecuador and the coach has a lot of respect for a team that finished third in South American qualifying behind only Brazil and Argentina.
   ‘Ecuador are one of the top teams at the World Cup and it’s going to be very tough,’ Klinsmann said.
   ‘They deserve our respect because they’ve shown they can play away from home, and not just in Quito high above sea level.’
   Meanwhile, German captai n Michael Ballack said a newspaper interview on Monday: Jurgen Klinsmann should continue to coach Germany after the World Cup because he was good for the team’s long-term development.
   ‘The position of the national coach has become extremely dependent on success over the past years. Everyone thinks only from tournament to tournament,’ said Ballack in an interview with daily Die Welt.
   Ballack said that Klinsmann had motivated a very young team which was missing the big-name talents of previous campaigns.
   ‘A team, which has a lot of scope to develop and which has been rightfully forecast a bright future, has been found,’ said Ballack. ‘I would be pleased if he continued because I think it would be great for German soccer.’
   Ballack, whom German media earlier suggested had fallen out with Klinsmann over tactics, added that the team’s success at the World Cup would also be an important factor.

Frank Lampard has moved to clarify criticism aimed at ex-international players, and called Alan Shearer as a peace gesture.
   The Chelsea star lashed out over the weekend at former England players who have had harsh words about the team’s performances at the World Cup.
   Though Lampard did not name names, British newspapers said his rebuke was directed at former skipper Shearer, now working as a pundit for the BBC.
   In a statement, Lampard insisted he was not targeting any specific individual.
   ‘It is embarrassing for me to have to call Alan and feel the need to apologise for something that I have not even said,’ he said.
   ‘Alan is someone that I have the utmost respect for, both as a person and a former player. Alan was great about it and fully understands how things sometimes get reported but I really think it’s important for people to know the facts.’
   Over the weekend Lampard said: ‘Theres 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.

FIFA will not consider using video evidence or other goal-line technology to determine if a goal has been scored until it is 100 per cent reliable, spokesman Markus Siegler said on Monday.
   The issue was raised again after TV replays suggested France should have taken a 2-0 lead in the 32nd minute of Sunday’s match against South Korea at the Zentralstadion in Leipzig.
   Patrick Vieira’s header looked well over the line despite goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae’s efforts to claw it away.
   Mexican referee Benito Archundia waved play on and the goal did not stand. The teams eventually drew their Group G match 1-1 leaving France’s progress at the finals in the balance.
   World soccer’s governing body FIFA experimented with new technology last year when they used a ball with a microchip in it at the world under-17 championship in Peru.
   If that experiment had proved faultless the same technology would have been used at the World Cup, but Siegler reiterated FIFA’s policy again on Monday.
   ‘The experiment with the chip ball in Peru was ‘not bad’ but it was not 100 per cent conclusive,’ he said.
   ‘We are open about reviewing technological support, but its introduction depends on a system being developed that is 100 per cent reliable, otherwise we will not use it.’
   FIFA have continuously refused to allow video evidence to be used to determine whether a goal is scored or not.
   The governing body’s president Sepp Blatter maintains that football must have a ‘human face’ and that ‘human error’ by referees and players alike is part of the game.
   FIFA are continually working with their various partners on technological advances but, for the time being, none are being considered for use at the World Cup.

France were denied a valid goal in Sunday’s 1-1 World Cup Group G draw with South Korea, an angry Raymond Domenech said on Sunday.
   ‘We did not score one goal but two,’ the France coach told a news conference. ‘The problem is that the referee only allowed us one.’
   He was referring to a incident after 32 minutes at the Zentralstadion when a header by midfielder Patrick Vieira from a corner appeared to cross the line before Korean keeper Lee Won-jae pushed it out.
   ‘We could have been and should have been and normally would have been 2-0 up,’ striker Thierry Henry, who put France 1-0 ahead with a goal after nine minutes, told reporters.
   ‘At that moment we were clearly putting them under pressure,’ Domenech said. ‘We did exactly what we had to. If that goal had been allowed, we would have been in control. That was clearly a turning point in the match.’
   If Mexican referee Benito Archundia had given the goal the match would indeed have been a completely different story.
   Instead, South Korea grabbed a late equaliser that left the French, who started with a dull goalless draw against Switzerland, in danger of another early exit after they failed to survive the group stage at the 2002 finals.
   ‘Referees are pretty quick to give yellow cards for no reason but when it’s about a proper referee’s decision, I did not see one today,’ Henry said.
   He was referring to the second bookings of the tournament for left back Eric Abidal and playmaker Zinedine Zidane which means both will miss France’s last group match against Togo.
   ‘We didn’t complain although we knew the ball was clearly in,’ Henry said of the ‘goal’ that was not given. ‘We had a clear penalty against Switzerland, the ball went in today. Things are not going our way.’
   Domenech ruled out an official protest but said the incident should help convince world soccer’s ruling body FIFA to introduce video to assist referees at major tournaments.
   ‘We’re not going to file a complaint but we keep saying that video is useful to help out referees,’ the France coach said. ‘Sadly, we could not benefit from it today.’

Brazil have insisted all along that they do not want to pick up the baton of favourites - their form to date suggests that could be a wise ploy - and now Argentina are doing the same.
   In the case of the Argentines, their caution belies their welcome attacking football on the pitch as stars such as Juan Roman Riquelme, Hernan Crespo and Lionel Messi have quickly found their feet.
   The Brazilians, who arrived looking for a title defence and a sixth win in all, were being praised to the rafters before they even took to the training pitch, prompting skipper Cafu to issue an early warning against getting carried away.
   Nonetheless, ahead of the narrow win over Croatia the 36-year-old fullback, seeking to become the first man to win the title twice as a captain as well as the first to play in four consecutive World Cup finals, opined that ‘we have the best Brazil team I’ve played in.’
   Even before the ‘real’ Brazil failed to stand up and show their true selves, Cafu added to his credit that ‘now we have to win to prove it.’
   Six points from two games have put a layer of gloss on their tournament to date - as in the case of a similarly lacklustre England.
   But the auriverde, the bookies’ favourtites at 5/2 over 7/2 for Argentina, have not impressed against either the Croatians or the Australians.
   Australian skipper Mark Viduka had forecast before his side’s 2-0 reverse in Munich that Brazil ‘are vulnerable in places,’ adding Croatia should have avoided defeat against a side who ‘are not superheroes or anything like that.’
   Ronaldo and company certainly proved that much in Sunday’s rather fortuitous win which had the Socceroos kicking themselves for not forcing a point which would have seen them put one foot in the second phase for the first time.
   Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said in most un-Brazilian fashion that ‘we imposed ourselves physically,’ while Ronaldo insisted that ‘we were better than we were against Croatia - things are coming together for us.’
   Certainly past tournaments have suggested only a brave man would argue against the Brazilians moving through the gears from now on.
   After squashing Serbia and Montenegro 6-0, Argentina are in contrast wary of peaking too early, with Jose Pekerman’s albiceleste currently looking the team to beat - as Parreira has already acknowledged.
   ‘Argentina are a side on a par with Brazil when it comes to technical quality and they are well prepared. They are cool and not under any pressure,’ according to the man who won the 1994 title for the reigning champions.
   Pekerman may regard such talk as a ploy to share out the pressure on the South American giants.
   One man who knows both countries’ respective merits well is Argentine midfielder Javier Mascherano, who plays his club football with Corinthians in Brazil and who insists the squad is unfazed by the odds shortening on a third Argentine triumph rather than his rivals completing a ‘Hexacampeao’ sixth.
   ‘We are not worried about all the talks about us. We have to think about getting a result against Holland (in the final group game in Frankfurt on Wednesday),’ says Mascherano.
   He admits that ‘now we are one of the favourites - but it isn’t going to go our head.’
   Esteban Cambiasso, the Inter Milan midfielder who completed a wonderful flowing move to net against the Serbs, says Brazil still set the standard even if their ‘jogo bonito’ (beautiful game) has been little in evidence thus far.
   ‘They are right up there because of the way they play and because of the fact they hold the South American, Confederations and world titles,’ insists Cambiasso.
   ‘But Argentina are among other candidates’ for glory on June 9 in Berlin, he went on.
   Whereas Brazil can only match their 2002 showing, the Argentines are on a mission to erase the memory of a flop which comprised a first-phase exit four years ago.
   Yet in the current spirit of treating the favourites’ tag as a hot potato Argentina’s Maximiliano Rodriguez, on target twice against the Serbs, was on Sunday at pains to tell reporters that ‘so far we have only got through the first round.’
   On that early evidence, Argentina do not have to step it up - but the same cannot be said of Brazil.

France’s struggling World Cup stars have insisted they still have a chance of reaching the last 16 despite a second successive draw which leaves their hopes in the balance.
   The 1-1 stalemate against South Korea has left them anxiously eyeing Switzerland’s match with Togo on Monday in a Group G from which all four teams could still progress.
   France will almost certainly have to beat Togo by several goals in their final group match in Cologne on Friday.
   They will have to do it without Zinedine Zidane, who will be suspended after picking up his second booking of the tournament against the Koreans.
   His teammates said they had the added motivation of ensuring that one of his nation’s greatest ever players has a chance of lining up again in his final World Cup.
   The inspirational midfielder who led the French to the 1998 triumph on home soil turns 34 on the day of the match.
   ‘I hope we can give him the birthday present of playing in another match,’ said midfielder Florent Malouda, while veteran defender Lilian Thuram said after the Korea match: ‘We will do everything possible to make sure that this is not his last game.’
   Zidane himself was confident he would be pulling on the France shirt again in the second round.
   ‘I don’t think this was my last match. I’m looking further ahead,’ he said after the South Korea stalemate.
   Willy Sagnol said many people forget that Zidane was suspended for two matches during France’s charge to the title eight years ago.
   ‘There is no real replacement for Zidane, but perhaps we can play differently without him,’ said the Bayern Munich stalwart.
   ‘When Zidane was suspended after a red card in 1998 the team went a long way without him.’
   Goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, a key part of the 1998 side, said it was time France proved they had more determination than four years ago when they crashed out in the first round in South Korea.
   ‘Nothing is said and done yet. We have to show we have guts because we can get out of this situation ourselves.’
   Thierry Henry - who scored his country’s first World Cup goal in eight years when he found the net on Sunday - said there was no chance the team would freeze when it mattered most.
   ‘There is no tension and no annoyance among the players. It’s up to us now. Providing we beat Togo by at least two clear goals we’re safe.’
   If France fail to win the group, they will have to face the winners of Group H, which includes Spain and Ukraine.

FIFA directives to keep their shirt on after scoring might keep many of them under wraps, but the World Cup brings together a swathe of players who don’t mind getting the needle - for the sake of sporting a tattoo.
   The beneedled skin of England skipper David Beckham is well documented but he is far from alone among the 735 players taking part at the event.
   Drawings, messages of undying love, childrens’ names cover arms, backs, legs and necks, as well as other assorted regions.
   Beckham famously has the names of sons Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz as well as that of his wife, Victoria - in Hindi - on his forearm, though some linguistic experts say it contains inaccuracies.
   Under Victoria’s name - ‘it would look tacky if I had Victoria just in English,’ Beckham says - is the Latin phrase At Amem et Foveam, meaning that which I love and adore.
   On one arm he also has his England number seven in Roman numerals - he wore the same number shirt at Manchester United but has worn 23 at Real Madrid - and a number of other additions including a winged guardian angel across the back of his neck and a Michelangelo angel on his right arm.
   ‘My dad had three tattoos of his own and so the idea has been with me since I was a kid,’ the player once explained, commissioning specialist Louis Malloy to do each one.
   Luis Gonzalez of Argentina comes close to rivalling ‘Becks’ as he has ten tattoos of his own, including the signature of Diego Maradona and also the name of his wife Pamela in Chinese. Others include the initials of his family, a rose on his left leg and a depiction of Jesus on his right.
   Another Argentine, Fabrizio Coloccini, has a tattoo depicting his deceased mother on his chest at heart level.
   Spanish defender Sergio Ramos has the names of his parents on his forearm while Spain striker Fernando Torres, in a possible bid to emulate Beckham, has an Indian inscription on one arm.
   Italy are also in on the act with ‘Roman’ Francesco Totti having a gladiator tattoo.
   Brazil take a religious approach with Adriano opting for a forearm slogan ‘Jesus lives with me’ while Serbian star Mateja Kezman has an image of Christ on his right arm.
   And England striker Wayne Rooney has a Celtic cross on his right arm.
   On his back the same player has the word ‘then’ as he and a friend had a catchphrase, ‘okay then.’
   The friend now sports the ‘okay.’

Coach Marco van Basten has got the Dutch players pulling together for once and been rewarded with a place in the last 16 of the World Cup.
   Van Basten took charge in 2004 and has ditched big names like Patrick Kluivert and Clarence Seedorf. His young squad has so far managed to avoid the internal squabbles that have marred so many Dutch campaigns in the past.
   The Dutch have beaten Serbia & Montenegro 1-0 and the Ivory Coast 2-1, qualifying for the second round before Wednesday’s final Group C match against Argentina.
   Van Basten, one of the great players of his generation, is pleased with the progress so far, but sees room for improvement.
   ‘Against Ivory Coast we did not play well in the second half but the team showed spirit and kept fighting and that makes me proud to see a real team,’ he told reporters.
   ‘But it is not only the spirit that is important, we also want to dominate and control matches completely and during the first two matches that still was not satisfying.
   ‘We are trying to improve that not only in the training sessions but also by showing and discussing videos.’
   The Dutch, beaten World Cup finalists in 1974 and 1978, have an unhappy history of disputes at major tournaments.
   Van Basten experienced this first hand in 1990 when the then European champions failed to blend as a group and went out in the second round to eventual winners West Germany.
   The Dutch reached the World Cup final in Germany in 1974 but lost to the hosts.
   Their preparations were disrupted after a German newspaper published colourful reports about a party at their hotel, leaving the players with plenty of explaining to do to their wives and girlfriends.
   Four years later Johan Cruyff, the central figure in the 1974 team, and midfielder Wim van Hanegem pulled out of the World Cup squad. A weakened team made it to the final only to lose to hosts Argentina.

France’s lacklustre 1-1 draw with South Korea drew negative reaction from the country’s press on Monday with the front page headline of l’Equipe summing things up with headline: ‘Despair.’
   The major newspapers said France simply lacked the ability to hold on to their lead which has put them under pressure for their final Group G match against Togo.
   ‘We’re doing badly,’ said the front page headline of Le Parisien, adding in the inside pages: ‘Another draw which puts the Blues up against it.
   ‘France must now beat Togo in four days time by two goals and with Zidane suspended because they were not able to keep their grip on a match they controlled for long periods.’
   France Soir, whose front page headline read ‘A draw which brings tears to our eyes,’ following the 0-0 score against Switzerland, this time merely said ‘Nul’ which is a play on words meaning both useless as well as a drawn result.
   ‘France chicken out,’ was the headline in La Liberation in its special supplement, adding: ‘Though they had more energy than against Switzerland, France finally cracked at the end of the game. Qualifying for the second round is now more complicated.’
   L’Equipe merely described the drawn result on its front page as ‘despair,’ adding ‘a football match never finishes in the 60th minute,’ illustrating France’s poor showing towards the end of the match .
   France’s regional newspapers were just as scathing on France’s performance.
   La Republique du Centre said France were poor and ridiculed the ‘official statements from team officials which said France were united, doing well and were getting stronger by the day.’
   The Haute-Marne newspaper said: ‘Those who were looking for a resurrection by the national team or some kind or turning point so they would forget their upheaval and poor form will now have to re-evaluate.
   ‘The goose is not yet cooked, but its starting to look pinkish.’

Sven Goran Eriksson is ‘desperate’ to beat his home nation Sweden and concedes he could play England captain David Beckham at full back for the Group B decider.
   England meet Sweden in Cologne today knowing a draw would send Eriksson’s men through to the second round as group winners.
   But The Three Lions have a poor record against the Swedes and have not beaten the Scandinavian country in almost 40 years.
   Eriksson is aware of the history behind the match and is anxious to lead his adopted nation to victory over the country of his birth.
   ‘I’m desperate to beat Sweden before I finish as England coach,’ Eriksson told The Sun.
   ‘I really want to beat Sweden once and for all.
   ‘It has been 38 years since an England win and it’s about time we broke this long tradition.’
   Regarding his selection for Tuesday’s match, Eriksson is toying with the idea of playing Real Madrid midfielder Beckham at right back.

The tale of a bungling World Cup ticket thief who got his just desserts turned out on Monday to be an accidental invention of German police.
   Munich police had released a statement about the ‘audacious thief’ who snatched a woman’s handbag, found the ticket inside and sa down to watch Brazil play Australia on Sunday— only to find himself next to her husband, who alerted the police.
   But a police spokesman later said the statement had mixed up two different cases—one of which did involve a Brazilian woman having her handbag and ticket stolen—and the encounter between thief and husband never took place.
   ‘It was a mistake...In the course of the investigation we realised we had mixed up things that didn’t belong together,’ he said.

Coach Duncan Fletcher has asked for understanding from fans for the rest of the one-day series against Sri Lanka after England lost the opening game.
   Five of Fletcher’s first-choice side are missing the series, which continues at The Oval today, through injury.
   ‘Last year we played well against Australia in the one-day series - people keep forgetting,’ he said.
   ‘If you take two players out it makes a difference. Take four or five out and it’s a huge gap to fill.’
   England’s 20-run defeat at Lord’s on Saturday was their 11th in their last 15 matches.
   Michael Vaughan (knee), Ashley Giles (groin), Simon Jones (knee) and James Anderson (back) have been out of action since the start of the season.
   Andrew Flintoff was ruled out of this series as he rests an injured left ankle. Squad newcomers Glen Chapple (abdominal strain) and Ed Joyce (ankle) have since joined the casualty list.
   Kabir Ali, a seamer and lower-order batsman, joined the squad as cover for Chapple while England opted not to replace Joyce with Ian Bell and Alastair Cook in the squad.
   The injury crisis has at least allowed the hosts to give young players an opportunity to step up and Jamie Dalrymple stood out with 67 from 87 balls on his home ground on Saturday.
   But the 25-year-old said: ‘The bottom line is the result of the game.
   ‘I can take small personal satisfaction in hindsight, but obviously we’re all disappointed to be 1-0 down and keen to put it right.
   ‘I’ve had the chance to play a couple of games a cricket that maybe I wasn’t expecting to play in, I’ve enjoyed it and I’ll keep trying to do that.’
   Meanwhile, fast bowler Dilhara Fernando will look to build on a strong showing on his return to the Sri Lanka side.
   Fernando, who had struggled with a no-ball problem, took 3-51 and captain Mahela Jayawardene said: ‘He has shown a lot of character to come back after some time.
   ‘He worked hard back home and has shown hunger to get back into the side, which is excellent.’

Geoff Ogilvy won the 2006 US Open here on Sunday, as Phil Mickelson’s bid for a third straight major golf title exploded on the back nine at Winged Foot.
   Ogilvy won a war of attrition to become just the second Australian, after David Graham in 1981, to win the US open crown.
   The 29-year-old from Adelaide did it with a final round 72 for a five-over-par total of 285. He was already in the clubhouse when Mickelson took a one-shot lead into 18.
   Mickelson, the reigning US PGA and Masters champion took a double bogey to fall into a tie for second on 286 with Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie and 2003 US Open champion Jim Furyk.
   Mickelson finished with a 74, Montgomerie 71 and Furyk 70.
   Montgomerie, once a dominant figure in golf who is still searching for his first major title at the age of 42, came to 18 tied with Mickelson for the lead after a stunning birdie putt at 17.
   He found the fairway, then came the familiar heartbreak. He hit into the greenside rough en route to a double-bogey.
   Behind him, Mickelson, who missed all seven fairways on the back nine, was in trouble again.
   He drove left, then his second shot from in front of a hospitality tent ricocheted off a tree as he too ended up with a double.
   ‘I still am in shock,’ Mickelson said. ‘I just can’t believe I did that. I’m such an idiot. I didn’t hit a fairway all day.’
   Furyk bogeyed the last, while Ogilvy, keeping his cool in the steaming weather, parred his final four holes.
   He had been steady on the front as well, moving as low as one-over and briefly taking the lead, but had appeared to have missed his chance when a bogey at 14 put him two strokes behind Mickelson.
   ‘I think I’m the beneficiary of a little bit of charity,’ Ogilvy said.
   The heat and humidity added an extra dimension of difficulty to a Winged Foot course that had already proven tough enough.
   The lowest score in the final round was a one-under 69, carded by Englishmen David Howell and Paul Casey, Australian Nick O’Hern and Jeff Sluman.
   England’s Kenneth Ferrie, who started the day tied for the lead with Mickelson at two-over, posted a 76 to finish at eight-over.

Li Na became the first Chinese singles player to breach the top 30 in the world on Monday and looks set to become her country’s first seed in the singles draw of a grand slam tournament later this week.
   The 24-year-old right-hander moved up two places to 30th in the WTA entry rankings after making it into the third round of the Edgbaston grasscourt tournament last week, where she lost to Russian Maria Sharapova.
   With the start of the Wimbledon championships just a week away, Wuhan-born Li is almost certain to be one of the 32 seeds at the grasscourt grand slam as the All England Club tend to follow the WTA rankings for the women’s draw.
   Li, who has never played at the grasscourt grand slam before, was the first Chinese woman to win a WTA tour title when she triumphed as a qualifier at Guangzhou in October 2004.
   The previous highest singles ranking for a Chinese woman was held by Peng Shuai, who was 31st in the world in August last year.
   While China’s women have been a force of sorts in doubles for some time — Li Ting and Sun Tiantian won gold at the 2004 Olympics while Zheng Jie and Yan Zi claimed the Australian Open title in January — they have made good progress on the singles front this year.
   Although they cannot challenge the 13 Russians and 11 Americans in the top 100, there are now six Chinese women ranked 100 or better with Zheng seven places behind Li and 20-year-old Peng still inside the top 50 at 41st.
   Zheng, who will be 23 next month, won her second career title at Estoril last month after Li was forced to withdraw injured during the first all-Chinese singles final in WTA tour history.
   China’s tennis success has been exclusively female, however, and the highest-ranked men’s player is Yu Wang at a lowly 351st in the world.
   Meanwhile, the advent of the grass court season has witnessed Sania Mirza’s resurgence with the Indian teenager jumping three places to 38th in the latest WTA rankings today.
   The 19-year-old, who had been afflicted by injuries and slipped to 41 after her low key performances on clay courts, registered her first third-round appearance of the year at the USD 200,000 DFS Classic in Birmingham last week.
   US-based Shikha Uberoi maintained her 165th position while Delhi-based Ankita Bhambri slid 14 places to 363rd and her younger sister Sanaa came down crashing 48 places to 570th. Seasoned Rushmi Chakravarthi dropped 11 spots to 453rd.
   There was some good news in the men’s section with Rohan Bopanna gaining 15 spots to be placed 252nd to be the highest ranked Indian on the ATP Tour.
   Bopanna came through three rounds of qualifying to earn a first round main draw date with world number one Roger Federer at Halle, Germany, last week.
   The 26-year-old went down in straight sets but earned the biggest pay cheque of his career of Rs 3.5 lakh.
   Prakash Amritraj is at 285th while Karan Rastogi had the next best ranking of 330.
   Harsh Mankad slid 28 rungs to be at 394.
   In the doubles, Leander Paes (15th) and Mahesh Bhupathi (24th) retained their last week’s rankings.

Cricket Australia said the first Ashes tickets offered to the general public were snapped up quickly Monday, with the first four days of the Sydney and Perth Tests selling out within minutes.
   Some 340,000 tickets for England’s tour Down Under will be available to the general public over the next week after a two-week period of exclusive sales to members of the so-called Australian Cricket Family (ACF) expired last Thursday.
   Those sales generated complaints from fans that the way tickets were being distributed was favouring scalpers who were offering tickets at hugely inflated prices on the Internet.
   In response, Cricket Australia reduced the ticket cap per customer from 10 to four, introduced staggered release dates across the country and made the tickets available over-the-counter from booking outlets, rather than just online or through telephone booking. The new system was put to the test Monday when hundreds of people queued outside ticket offices in Sydney, Adelaide and Perth from early morning to secure the first seats offered under the new system.
   But the tickets quickly disappeared, with the first four days of the Tests in Perth and Sydney selling out within 35 and 40 minutes respectively.
   Seats to the first four days of second Test at Adelaide were all gone within two hours, Cricket Australia said.
   Tickets for the first Test in Brisbane go on sale Tuesday and the fourth Test in Melbourne on Wednesday.
   England won the Ashes for the first time in 18 years last September, prompting huge interest in the upcoming series in Australia.
   In an attempt by officials to prevent members of England’s ‘Barmy Army’ swamping Australian grounds for the highly-anticipated series, ACF members had previously to supply an Australian residential address before they could buy tickets.

Indian batting star Sachin Tendulkar is set to make his comeback after surgery on his left shoulder.
   He has agreed to play a series of games for English club side Lashings, the first in Cambridge on Wednesday.
   ‘This is a great opportunity for me to get back into cricket, to get some batting practice, and to play matches that will help raise money for charity. I get the chance to play alongside international players, but not in games where every run counts,’ he said.
   Tendulkar has not played since the Test series against England in March after rupturing a tendon in his shoulder. But he has set his sights on making an international comeback when India travel to Sri Lanka for a triangular one-day series in August, also involving South Africa.
   Lashings have attracted numerous star names to play for them in recent years and their current squad includes Courtney Walsh, Richie Richardson, Phil DeFreitas, Chris Cairns, Aravinda de Silva and Rashid Latif. But the signing of Tendulkar is by far the biggest coup for chairman David Folb.
   ‘With India being such a cricketing powerhouse, it is very exciting for us to have one of their biggest stars playing for us, attracting a whole new audience to Lashings games.
   ‘Sachin Tendulkar’s appearance for us will allow people to come and see one of the world’s best ever players in action here in the UK,’ he said.
   ‘The unique thing about Lashings World XI matches is just how close spectator get to our cricketing stars.’
   Lashings will play Cambridge University Cricket Club at Fenner’s on Wednesday, to be followed by a game at Reigate CC next Sunday.
   The following weekend the bowlers of Middleton CC in West Sussex will have a chance to bowl at Tendulkar, who will conclude his stint with Lashings in a match against Sutton Valence School in Kent on 6 July. He is hoping for a change of fortune after a string of injuries that have kept the him out of action for long periods.
   Last year he was sidelined for six months after needing surgery for tennis elbow and is still unsure how his most recent problem was caused.
   ‘The doctors said I must have fallen on it,’ he commented.

Joey Carew, convenor of the West Indies’ selection panel, agrees that pitches in the Caribbean need to improve, but he failed to give reasons why Brian Lara’s appeal for a genuine fast bowler for the third Test against India were ignored.
   Carew, a former Trinidad and Tobago captain and West Indies opening batsman, was speaking against the backdrop of Lara’s plea for more helpful surfaces for the last two Tests at Basseterre and Kingston, as well as a genuine fast bowler to exploit India’s weakness to this type of bowling.
   ‘We need better pitches in the Caribbean,’ Carew told the Trinidad Guardian newspaper. ‘Look at India, they cannot even bowl us out twice.
   ‘Looking at our bowling attack, a major factor has so far been the absence of Fidel Edwards through injury. He was an essential part of our attack and would have provided the pace that is necessary to be penetrative on such pitches.’
   Lara suggested that fast bowlers like Jermaine Lawson be considered for selection in the absence of Edwards, who has been sidelined since the first Test at the Antigua Recreation Ground with a right hamstring injury. Carew however, gave reasons why Lawson would not be considered.
   ‘Brian said that he spoke to some people who said that Jermaine Lawson, the quickie from Jamaica, is ready, but we still have our doubts about his bowling action,’ Carew said.
   ‘He has been called internationally for throwing, and even in a local match. For Lawson to be included in the team, we must see him bowling at top pace with a clean action.’
   Carew noted he thinks the ideal bowling combination would see three fast bowlers, a spinner, and all-rounder Dwayne Bravo forming the attack.
   ‘You see when you have this kind of composition, you have an attack that can perform on any surface, because there is variety at your disposal,’ he said.
   Carew gave no reasons though, why unorthodox left-arm spin bowler Dave Mohammed was omitted from the 13-member squad for the third Test, but he believes West Indies will begin winning Test matches again soon.
   ‘I think that pretty soon, these guys will break the ice and start winning matches for us,’ he said. ‘So far, we have had some encouraging signs, and it is just a matter of time before they make the breakthrough.
   ‘What I would like to see happening at present is our batsmen compiling more runs. We have been drawing matches, and even if we cannot win matches presently, then they should not be struggling to draw games.’
   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.

Bangladesh A are just 78 runs away from victory in their opening four-day match of the Zimbabwe tour after they finished the third day’s play on 34-1 at the Mutare Sports Club on Monday.
   Earlier, Zimbabwe A, who conceded a 277-run deficit in the first innings, redeemed themselves in the second innings to finish on 388 runs in 115.5 overs with Test batsman Stuart Matsikenyeri contributing highest 127 runs.
   It left the visitors needing 112 runs for victory and they were well on their course at the end of the day. Left-arm spinner Enamul Haque (junior) starred for the Bangladesh A team again returning with 4-78 that took his match tally to nine wickets.

ISD thrashed Interspeed 3-1 in the BRAC Bank 5-A-Side Football at the ISD playground on Monday.
   Pan Pacific emulated ISD with the same 3-1 margin win against HSBC to take away the full points.
   But sponsors BRAC Bank failed to produce a winning touch as Aktel held them to a 2-2 draw.

In its bid to get the maximum out of Jonty Rhodes’ 14-day stint as fielding coach, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has prepared a CD containing the South African’s coaching tips to be distributed among regional academies and schools.
   ‘The CD will be edited and then its copies will be distributed to all the regional academies and schools to create a vision about fielding in modern day cricket,’ the Associated Press of Pakistan quoted a PCB spokesman as saying.
   Rhodes is also busy addressing a four-day seminar on fielding for coaches here and will be conducting workshops for the Pakistan A team before their tour of Australia next month.
   The CD has been made by PCB coach Shahid Aslam and has Rhodes speaking on his career’s experiences.
   ‘It will be a very beneficial venture for the upcoming cricketers to discipline themselves in fielding which later on becomes a problem for them no matter how mature they are in international or Test cricket,’ he said.

Geoff Ogilvy, whose victory in the US Open on Sunday gave Australia its first major golf title in 11 years, had time during his title run to keep an eye on Australia’s World Cup team.
   ‘I thought we looked fantastic. We looked a really good football team,’ said the 29-year-old of Australia’s performance against Brazil.
   The match was televised here a few hours before Ogilvy teed off on Sunday, and the Socceroos made Brazil work hard for a 2-0 victory.
   Ogilvy became just the second Australian to win the US Open, after David Graham in 1981. And he’s the first Aussie to win one of golf’s four major titles since Steve Elkington won the PGA Championship in 1995.
   He was pleased the Australian footballers have been able to make a World Cup breakthrough of their own.
   Australia’s 3-1 victory over Japan gave them their first match win, and their first goals, in two World Cup finals appearances in 32 years.
   The loss to Brazil, although ‘disappointing,’ left them needing a draw against Croatia to advance.
   ‘Not a bad result, now the draw gets us through. That’s all we needed to do, stop the whitewash so we could get through,’ Ogilvy said.
   Ogilvy, speaking at the tradtional post-tournament champion’s press conference, brought himself up short when he remembered the reputation of most Americans as football-phobes.
   ‘Obviously, I’m only talking to the Australians and English in here,’ he said. ‘But I was very impressed. I thought they did very well.’

Lleyton Hewitt defeated James Blake, 6-4, 6-4 Sunday to join Boris Becker and John McEnroe with four titles at Queen’s club.
   Victory marked the first title for former world number one Hewitt in 18 months since the Australian lifted the Sydney crown in January 2005.
   Blake beat Hewitt in their last meeting, the final in Las Vegas in February.
   Hewitt now stands 7-1 in his career series against the American. Hewitt won his first three Queen’s trophies from 2000 to 2002.

Sourav Ganguly is determined to use his five-week stint at Northamptonshire to regain his place in the India side.
   The 33-year-old batsman lost the India captaincy last year and was left out of the squad currently in the Caribbean.
   He told BBC Radio Northampton, ‘I want to put runs on the board and get back into the national team.
   ‘I’m not here from a financial point of view - it’s important to perform. I still feel I’ve got a lot of cricket in me and every run will be watched.’
   Ganguly, who has previous experience of county cricket with Lancashire in 2000 and Glamorgan last year, will cover for Chris Rogers while he is on duty with Australia A.
   The left-hander believes playing in Twenty-20, one and four-day cricket, will help hone his game as he looks to force his way back into the Indian selectors’ thoughts.
   He is expected to make his debut on Sunday in the C&G Trophy game with Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge and also line-up in the four-day game against Pakistan next month.
   Ganguly added, ‘I hope I can help the county and this is of mutual benefit to us.
   ‘The conditions will help my bowling, it swings around a bit and I enjoy this part of the world.
   ‘I have emotional attachments here because I played my first Test in 1996 at Lord’s.
   ‘I’m sure I can learn from the Northamptonshire players and it’ll be good for both of us.’

Pakistan have received some positive news ahead of their tour to England with Mohammad Yousuf passed fit for their two-day practice match at the Gaddafi Stadium.
   He has been suffering from a back problem but Inzamam-ul-Haq has confirmed Yousuf is ready to play.
   ‘Yousuf did not practice with the team on Saturday and Sunday due to back problems and has taken a three-day rest before the match,’ he told the Press Association.
   ‘The problem with Yousuf is not serious and such fitness problems are part of the game. He will be fit to play.’
   Yousuf is a key part of Pakistan’s strong middle order along with Inzamam and Younis Khan. When England toured Pakistan before Christmas he scored 342 in the series, including a career-best 223 in the final Test at Lahore.
   Pakistan have been hit by a series of injury problems to their pace attack in the build up to the tour with Shoaib Akhtar ruled out of the Tests and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan doubtful after picking up a groin injury.

Three of India’s most promising young cricketers arrived in Australia on Monday to begin the six-week ‘Border-Gavaskar’ scholarship programme.
   Kshemal Vaingankar, Gaurav Dhiman and Pinal Shah will train at the Commonwealth Bank Centre of Excellence in Brisbane, and compete in next month’s Emerging Players Tournament, giving them valuable match practice in Australian conditions.
   The scholarship programme, named after former captains Allan Border and Sunil Gavaskar, was founded in 2000 by Cricket Australia and the Australia-India Council. The centre’s head coach Tim Nielsen said the program helped foster strong cricketing relations between the two countries and said the trio would benefit enormously.
   ‘We pride ourselves on delivering the best cricket programs available and the three scholarship winners will walk away with a lot more experience and understanding of cricket at the elite level and of Australian conditions,’ he said in a statement.
   Vaingankar, a right arm medium pace bowler, plays for the Mumbai Cricket Association in the under-22 age group and was also selected for the All India University Team. Dhiman was a member of the Karnataka State Cricket Association team which visited Australia in 2005. Keeper Shah plays for the Baroda Cricket Association and, like Dhiman, was a member of the India under-19 team for the last World Cup.

Thousands of bleary-eyed South Koreans trooped to work Monday tired but happy after staying up all night to watch their team draw 1-1 with France in the World Cup.
   ‘We have overcome,’ said the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper, showing a full-page colour photo of hero Park Ji-Sung
   and his teammates jigging down the pitch in Leipzig, Germany.
   Police said more than 700,000 supporters spent the night on the streets to cheer on the team in front of big-screen TVs. Millions more watched at home, with live broadcasts provided by all three major networks.
   Park, the Manchester United midfielder, was the toast of the nation after his 81st minute goal tied the match, keeping South Korea’s hopes alive of reaching the second round from Group G.
   Some 300,000 fans, mostly young, cheered lustily all through the match even though Korea were behind 1-0 from the ninth minute. But an explosion of joy erupted when Park hit the target.
   ‘Park Ji Sung kicks off a morning of fenzy,’ read the headline in the biggest selling newspaper, the Chosun Ilbo, which delayed a print run until after the final whistle.
   Other major newspapers put out special editions featuring front-page photographs of man-of-the-match Park.
   Some companies including Yahoo! Korea and ING Life were opening an hour late while some cancelled morning work to give the tired fans a chance to sleep it off, newspapers said. At least two schools in Seoul cancelled classes.
   South Korea’s Red Devil fans, decked out in red shirts, danced the night away, many wearing the most popular accessory for supporters—toy devil’s horns on headbands that light up at night.
   More than 60,000 people crammed the World Cup
   stadium to the west of the
   city center, many wearing shirts displaying the slogan ‘Again 2002.’
   Four years ago the national side reached the semi-finals of the World Cup when it was played on home soil.
   World Cup suppport hit fever pitch in 2002, when millions took to the streets of Seoul and other cities to cheer on the national side.
   With matches taking place overnight this time, police said that attendances at giant TV locations were expected to be smaller.
   Even so the fans—many of them students—turned the central plaza in Seoul into a sea of red.
   ‘It feels so good. Just like 2002,’ said Lee Kang, a Seoul office worker, on his way home after watching the match at the plaza.
   He said that four years ago South Korea opened their World cup account with a win and a draw—and then went all the way to the last four.
   ‘The South Korean squad has taken the same track as it did four years ago—to reach the semi-finals,’ he said.
   ‘I’m so happy, so happy. Let’s get through to the round of 16,’ said Song Dong-Hyuk, 21, a college student in a Red Devil tee-shirt threading his way through the morning crowds.
   South Korea is in Group G with France, Switzerland and Togo, and will play Switzerland in their last group game on Friday.
   They beat Togo 2-1 in their opening match on June 13.
   Two teams from each group progress to the next round, and the match against Switzerland is likely to determine which two make the cut.

Is the goalkeeper a fliegenfanger? Was that goal a Maradona? Should the ball be passed to the porteur d’eau or the trequartista?
   No comprendo? Then you’re obviously not fluent in socceranto, a football language hastily cobbled together by an English schoolboy and an American-Argentinian student.
   They believe the game needs a common tongue to benefit both players and fans.
   ‘Things are all very well when, say, Ecuador plays Costa Rica or Ghana meets the USA,’ said 16-year-old Ted Freedman, the English co-author of Socceranto: Birth of a Language.
   ‘But what about when Japan plays Brazil or Ukraine meets Saudi Arabia?’
   The 32 teams taking part in the World Cup share 18 official languages so, the authors argue, football needs an international tongue that all recognise.
   It’s based on Esperanto, the world language invented in 1887, and football phrases, words and names drawn from throughout the world.
   So a fliegenfanger is the word for a useless goalkeeper derived from the German word for flycatcher.
   Maradona is the word for a goal scored with the use of the hand as in the Argentinian’s infamous strike against England at the 1986 World Cup.
   In midfield, the porteur d’eau would be the defensive holding player in the style of former French international Didier Deschamps, often condemned as a water carrier.
   The trequartista would be more flamboyant, the playmaker, from the Italian, a player who operates between midfield and attack, threequarters of the way up the pitch.
   ‘Soccer has become the most international game in the world and the most globalized industry,’ said co-author Ignacio van Gelderen.
   ‘This is just the launch of a long-term project. Or, as we say in Socceranto, it’s ‘early doors’ (early in the game). We hope that Socceranto will develop in time into a richer, more international, more distinct and fully-fledged language.
   ‘We hope this World Cup will help.’
   Many of the phrases used are based on Brazilian names and, not surprisingly, used to describe flair and flamboyance.
   A Ronaldinho is a no-look pass, a Kaka is a volley, a Pele, a bicycle kick and a Roberto, a banana kick, in honour of Roberto Carlos and Roberto Rivelinho.
   Other players are in the dictionary but associated with times in their careers they would rather forget.
   A Baggio is a missed penalty after the Italian star’s bungled spotkick in the shootout in the 1994 final against Brazil; a Caniggia remembers the Argentinian attacker who managed to get sent-off while sitting on the bench against Sweden in 2002.
   Poor old Jurgen Klinsmann, currently on a high for coaching Germany into the second round here, also makes the book.
   A Klinsmann is a dive in memory of the German’s playing days when he had a reputation for going down too easily in the penalty area.
   Your step-by-step guide to Socceranto:
   Fliegenfanger: Useless goalkeeper, derived from German word for flycatcher Maradona: Goal scored with the hand Baggio: Missed penalty Caniggia: Sending-off Klinsmann: Dive Baguette: Tall or lanky player Harry Potter: Midfield wizard
   Fusilia: Defensive wall, derived from Spanish term for execution wall, refers to dangers of standing in the wall and being struck in the genitals by a ball Mister: Manager or coach Rustico: Player with few skills, a donkey from the Spanish/Latin American word meaning rustic

They may have so far failed to sparkle on the pitch but one thing Portugal are not lacking in this World Cup is support.
   Buoyed by Portugal’s first advance to the second round of a World Cup in 40 years, around 10,000 fans decked out in red, green and gold turned up to watch the side train on Sunday.
   In full voice, they cheered for the usual suspects—Luis Figo, Cristiano Ronaldo and Deco—as they warmed up with laps around the pitch. Some even waved homemade banners emblazoned with ‘Portugal are Champions’.
   Julio Romano wore a red shirt with Eusebio 66 on the back, harking back to the 1966 World Cup when Portugal reached the semi-finals before losing 2-1 to England.
   ‘It’s historic,’ he told
   Reuters. ‘And we are thrilled to be here in Germany to witness that.’
   Like many of the estimated 140,000 Portuguese living in Germany, Romano’s family emigrated seeking better employment opportunities. After 34 years, Romano has no plans to leave, but says he is ‘still Portuguese in my heart.’
   The sleepy town of Guetersloh, where Portugal have trained some of the time, has around 700 Portuguese residents, according to Romano who is vice-President of folklore at the Guetersloh Portuguese Association (APG).
   ‘People in Guetersloh have never seen an event like this,’ he said nodding towards the thousands of singing fans.
   ‘The team has plenty of support. People have come out today because it is a Sunday, but also because of Portugal’s achievement.
   ‘They are getting better and better each game and against Iran they reached the level
   they were at Euro 2004,’ he
   said.
   Defender Ricardo Carvalho said the side were delighted with the passionate backing they had received in Germany.
   ‘It is important for the national team for people to support us. It gives us a good feeling
   and I hope it continues,’ he said.
   Portugal won both their opening World Cup Group D games, guaranteeing a place in the second round even without a win against Mexico on Wednesday in Gelsenkirchen.
   But on behalf of the Portuguese community, Romano appealed to the side to think of former colony Angola, who Portugal beat 1-0 in their opening game, when playing the Mexicans.
   ‘We want the side to help Angola.
   ‘If Portugal beat Mexico and Angola beat Iran, then it would be a wonderful thing for these two brothers to go through together,’ he said.
   Angola face Iran in their final Group D game in Leipzig on Wednesday.

Street cleaners in the World Cup city of Leipzig got a pleasant surprise on Monday morning when they discovered South Korean fans had done their work for them.
   After celebrating the team’s 1-1 draw with 1998 champions France in the eastern German city late on Sunday, the fans cleared plastic cups and waste paper into garbage bags before the cleaners arrived for work at 5 am.
   ‘It was great. It made our work much easier,’ said Ute Brueckner, a spokeswoman for the city cleaning service. The cleaners finished their work about two hours earlier than normal thanks to the Koreans’ help, she added.

Germans borrow 1966 ball
   Germany have borrowed the orange ball used in England’s 1966 final win over this year’s hosts.
   The ball’s usual home is the National Football Museum in the northern English town of Preston but from Monday it will be a prime attraction at the German Sports and Olympic Museum ahead of the England-Sweden match in Cologne.
   The National Football Museum’s director Kevin Moore escorted the ball from Waterloo and explained: ‘The Germans were keen to put the ball on display and we thought it was a nice gesture to take it over.
   ‘The ball is one of our most popular objects and we don’t like to take it out too often.’
   The ball is now owned jointly by the Daily Mirror newspaper, Eurostar and the Virgin Group, but spent 30 years in the hands of Helmut Haller, who scored West Germany’s first goal in the 1966 final.
   End game most important
   for Robinho
   Brazilian star Robinho says he doesn’t mind being patient for a place in the Brazil starting line-up as long as he can achieve the aim by the final, assuming the champions get that far.
   ‘It’s better to end a World Cup than to start one,’ said the Real Madrid youngster, who Carlos Alberto Parreira plans to use as his grand alternative if Ronaldo’s firepower does not spark in time.
   Robinho has appeared as sub in both of Brazil’s games so far, with Ronaldo twice taken off, and has edged ahead of Juninho as Parreira’s ‘12th man.’
   Tickety boo
   A man who stole a ticket from a woman’s bag for Brazil’s win over Australia had his come-uppance when he sat down to watch. Next to him was the husband of the woman whose ticket was taken and the police were duly called.
   The great escape
   A ten-year-old boy caused a stir and had to be hauled home by the police when he eluded his father to go and watch a match on giant screens at the Fan-Mile in Hamburg. The youngster took the metro into the city and ended up in the ‘entertainment quarter’ of Sankt Pauli, the port city’s notorious red light district.
   Ice ice baby
   A Dutch fan has won a 14-carat ball worth 75,000 euros (90,000 dollars) after correctly estimating how long it would take for a 22-tonne block of ice to melt in Berlin’s Treptow park.
   Aided by the hot weather the block melted in precisely seven days, 16 hours, 19 minutes and six seconds.
   The Dutchman saw off competition from 40,000 internet entrants to claim his booty.
   Podolski not into satire
   German striker Lukas Podolski is threatening to stop giving interviews to German radio station WDR after finding some of its satirical World Cup content about him below the belt.
   The station broadcasts a humorous ‘Lukas’s diary’, but Poldi has not seen the funny side. ‘When it comes to something so low you have to defend youself,’ said his agent Kon Schramm.
   WDR says it will continue with the series regardless.
   Poetic licence?
   The World Cup is a potential boon for the German television licence authority as its snooper-vans chase after non-payers.
   ‘We are reinforcing our teams during the World Cup,’ a spokesman said.
   The snooper vans have a simple enough method of gaining a tip off as fans shout out every time there is a goal.
   Cech mate
   Czech keeper Peter Cech says he tried to persuade Argentine referee Horacio Elizondo to scrub a yellow card for Asamoah Gyan after the Ghanaian took a penalty before the man in the middle had blown his whistle.
   ‘He took it as he heard a whistle behind the goal. He is innocent,’ said the Chelsea shot-stopper following the Black Stars’ 2-0 win.
   The booking means Gyan sits out the final group game against Team USA.
   — AFP